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Cover Blurb:
FROZEN SLEEP in the depths of space!
Synopsis
Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, Scotty, and Doctor McCoy put on space suits and
leave the Enterprise in order to recover the space capsule of Dr. Bleikoff, who
has been in cryonic suspension due to an incurable disease for many years. As
they work, Kirk tells them that Dr. Bleikoff had received the Nobel Prize for
astrophysics for his theory of the origin of the universe. Bleikoff had been a
peace activist, and had stood against the establishment, in order to bring his
message of peace to the people. The Captain explains that Bleikoff had been
responsible for ending the great war that Earth had been involved in. After he
had fallen ill, he had agreed to be frozen in space, to await a cure. "And
we've got that cure aboard the Enterprise!" Kirk says. "Quite an
honor for me!".
Once aboard the ship, the four men go to a sealed medical compartment to
revive Dr. Bleikoff. First, they strip down to undergo a "steri-bath".
The ray bath swiftly kills all external bacteria. (And has the men laughing
hysterically, with the exception of Spock.) With the others assisting, Dr.
McCoy begins the life restoration. A crackle of energy shoots forth as they
open the coffin. Spock tells the others that it is probably just a burst of
static electricity. The patient's blood is "recycled", and a jolt of
revitalizing energy is delivered. Nothing happens! Just as McCoy is giving up
hope, Dr. Bleikoff awakens. His first words are "Good day! I... I wonder
if I might have a... cup of tea?".
As soon as the quarantine is lifted, Enterprise crew members quickly
begin to gather around the professor to ask his opinion about current political and
social matters. Dr. Bleikoff asks Kirk if he can take an anonymous trip around
the Earth before all of the receptions and interviews that await him. Kirk
refuses, saying that he is much too important to be treated that way. Strangely,
Lieutenant Sulu becomes angered at the Captain's response. He and the other crew
members present demand that Kirk follow Dr. Bleikoff's wishes. "Well I'll
be!" says Scotty. "This is almost a mutiny!". The Captain
finally agrees to try to obtain permission from H.Q.
Later, Kirk tells Dr. Bleikoff that he has gotten approval for five days
of anonymity. He and the other officers will be Bleikoff's escorts in a secret
trip around Earth. Just as the Captain finishes telling him this, a group of
crewmembers at the door begin singing "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow"
to Kirk. Spock is puzzled by their strange swings of emotion.
On Earth, Kirk shows Bleikoff the Eiffel Tower, which now has a huge
ball on the top. He explains that it is part of a world-wide system to protect
from invasion from space called E.D.S., the Earth Defense Screen. Later they
visit the Statue of Liberty, the Great Pyramids, and remote mountains, where the
party observes more E.D.S. installations. "E.D.S. is fundamental to Earth
security!" says Kirk. On the last day of the anonymous tour, Dr. Bleikoff
is recognized by journalists, so a full-scale press reception is held. Bleikoff
criticizes the modern world for being "loveless". The journalists are
shocked, but then strangely begin to agree with Bleikoff. The story of how "love
is dead" is quickly spread around the world.
At a public reception in Rome, Dr. Bleikoff calls for the people of the
world to abandon science, and "bring back love". The crowd begins
chanting "Bring back love!". Spock tells Kirk that he is uneasy. "I
have that feeling again, Captain!" he says. "The same feeling I had
aboard the ship when the crew challenged you."
Later, in the chambers of the supreme council, the Chancellor tells Kirk that
the Council does not care for Dr. Bleikoff's proclamations. The Chancellor goes
into a meeting with Bleikoff to tell him to stop. When he comes out, however,
he is in complete agreement with everything Bleikoff stands for!
Captain Kirk and his party continue to escort the Doctor. While
visiting Mount Rushmore, Bleikoff tells them of his new plan to destroy the "spheres
of hate" that make up the E.D.S. system. Later that night, at a rally in
Mariana City, "30,000 feet beneath the Pacific," the Doctor tells a
huge crowd to get rid of E.D.S. He does not advocate violence, but rather he
tells them to convince the majority to destroy the defense system. The audience
is whipped into a frenzy.
Kirk, Spock, Scotty, and McCoy meet later in their room at an undersea
hotel. Mr. Spock suggests that Bleikoff is transmitting mass hypnosis waves
through radio. "But why?" McCoy asks. Kirk theorizes that Dr.
Bleikoff's capsule was intercepted in space, by aliens who knew that he would
eventually be returned to the planet. The aliens used him as a "time bomb",
and performed some operation that planted thoughts in his brain, and gave him
the ability to hypnotize others in the hopes that he would convince Earth to
lower her defense screen. Scotty asks why they are the only four people not
affected by the hypnosis. McCoy tells him that he believes the "shock"
they felt when the coffin was opened was actually an "immunity ray",
left by the aliens to safeguard themselves from being hypnotized when they
checked on the space capsule. He goes on to suggest that the alien civilization
was destroyed before they could make the final check. (Good theory!)
In New Chicago, Dr. Bleikoff and the Enterprise crew prepare to board a
rocket that will take them to New Jerusalem, where Bleikoff is to deliver a
worldwide appeal to destroy E.D.S. McCoy bribes a security guard to set up an
old x-ray machine as a "security measure" so that he can check for the
presence of a computer brain in Bleikoff's skull as he passes through it.
Bleikoff becomes frantic, and refuses to go through the machine. Kirk tells the
guard to let him pass anyway. The Enterprise crew becomes convinced that their
theory is correct, and that Dr. Bleikoff has some type of alien device in his
head.
When the group arrives in New Jerusalem, Bleikoff has the Enterprise
crew taken into custody. He suspects they are plotting to stop him. At the
studio, Bleikoff begins broadcasting to the world. He calls for the people to
destroy the E.D.S. spheres. People all over the Earth form mobs, and get ready
to wreck the structures.
Kirk and the others are able to escape from their guards. They sneak
back into the studio where the Doctor is delivering his disarmament speech. All
over the world, people watch as Kirk confronts Bleikoff, and accuses him of
being a "computerized corpse". Bleikoff attacks Kirk, but the Captain
uses a large magnetic eraser on him. "Harmless to brains made of blood and
tissue!" he says. "But deadly to an electronic brain!".
Bleikoff collapses to the floor, his artificial brain destroyed, and the
citizens of Earth come back to their senses and stop attacking the E.D.S.
spheres. "Imagine!" Scotty says later on the Enterprise, "All
that time we were the only independent minds on Earth!". "Actually,
Mr. Scott," Spock says, "I've always found your mind to be completely
independent of logic!"
(Summary by Mark Lookabaugh)
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STAR TREK is a Registered Trademark of Paramount Pictures
Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Gold Key is a registered trademark
of Western Publishing Corp.
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Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, Scotty, and Doctor McCoy put on space suits and
leave the Enterprise in order to recover the space capsule of Dr. Bleikoff, who
has been in cryonic suspension due to an incurable disease for many years. As
they work, Kirk tells them that Dr. Bleikoff had received the Nobel Prize for
astrophysics for his theory of the origin of the universe. Bleikoff had been a
peace activist, and had stood against the establishment, in order to bring his
message of peace to the people. The Captain explains that Bleikoff had been
responsible for ending the great war that Earth had been involved in. After he
had fallen ill, he had agreed to be frozen in space, to await a cure. "And
we've got that cure aboard the Enterprise!" Kirk says. "Quite an
honor for me!".
