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 In
2271 an unknown, cloud-like entity descends upon
several Klingon vessels and destroys them. Having
monitored the surprise attack, Federation space
station Epsilon Nine is still unable to prevent
itself from becoming the next victim of this vast,
mysterious energy cloud.
Meanwhile, on
Vulcan, Spock is preparing to undergo the rite of
Kolinahr -- the achievement of total Vulcan logic
-- and the purging of all remaining emotion. Just
then Spock's human half stirs in response to the
cloud entity, interrupting his meditation and
forcing the Vulcan masters to withdraw Spock's
admission to their ranks.
On Earth, the
U.S.S. Enterprise is readying to investigate the
cloud entity. Admiral Nogura is persuaded by
Admiral James T. Kirk to hand over command of the
newly refit Starship Enterprise to him, superseding
the vessel's present captain, Will Decker, who is
unhappy with this new situation. Arriving on board
the Enterprise, Kirk requests that Dr. Leonard
McCoy, retired now, be recalled into service as the
starship's doctor. An unchanged, blustery Dr. McCoy
comes aboard and replaces Dr. Christine Chapel, who
steps down out of respect. Also on board is a
Deltan navigator, Ilia, who in the past was
romantically involved with Will Decker.
In a tragic
accident, two crew members are killed in a
transporter malfunction -- one of which was the new
Vulcan science officer, Sonak.
The accident
behind them, Kirk gathers much of the crew together
to deliver a mission briefing, stressing the
enormous power of the entity they are faced with.
After a relatively uneventful departure from
Earth's drydock facilities, the U.S.S. Enterprise
is suddenly faced with a giant wormhole and Kirk,
unfamiliar with the design of the new vessel,
almost allows the wormhole to destroy the ship. The
U.S.S. Enterprise escapes, however, and is hailed
by a courier vessel bearing Kirk's new science
officer. Overcome with joy at seeing Spock, Kirk is
soon confronted with a cold, withdrawn stranger.
The starship
eventually encounters the cloud-like being, yet the
entity proves to be too strong, damaging the U.S.S.
Enterprise on all levels and leaving the starship
stricken. When Spock attempts to communicate with
the cloud by sending messages of non-aggression, a
probe is triggered and sent from the center of the
cloud. The crew can only watch helplessly as the
probe accesses the U.S.S. Enterprise's consoles and
computers, accumulating data from all parts of the
ship. In his attempt to stop the violation, Spock
is attacked, whereupon the probe vanishes with
Ilia.
The U.S.S.
Enterprise is then seized by a tractor beam and
pulled inside the cloud to a large chamber. Another
probe, in the form of Ilia, appears and tells them
that it has been sent by "V'Ger" to study the
carbon-based units that "infest" the starship.
Furthermore, the crew learns that V'Ger is on its
way to Earth to join with its "Creator."
In an attempt to
establish contact with V'Ger, Kirk trades on
Decker's past association with Ilia and assigns
Decker to work with the probe. The Ilia-probe tells
him that the carbon-units will be patterned for
data storage.
Deciding that the
best method of gathering more data about V'Ger is
directly from the source, Spock dons a thrust suit
and leaves the ship. His incredible visual journey
to the center of the cloud culminates when Spock
sees images of everything that V'Ger has
experienced. Spock tries to mind-meld with the
life-form, but is short-circuited and barely makes
it back to the U.S.S. Enterprise. Taken to sickbay,
Spock informs Kirk that his mind-meld did allow him
to learn that V'Ger is lonely and seeking to learn
why it was created. Furthermore, it is learned that
a machine planet built the cloud and craft that
house V'Ger.
V'Ger arrives at
Earth and signals its Creator. When there is no
response, V'Ger blasts energy bolts at the planet
in an attempt to rid it of all its carbon
infestations. Forced to act, Kirk tells V'Ger he
knows why the Creator has not answered. The
Ilia-probe, interested by Kirk's remark, says it
will cease its attack when Kirk explains. But Kirk
replies he will answer to no one but V'Ger itself.
With some trepidation, Kirk, Spock, McCoy and
Decker are lead by the Ilia-probe outside the ship
to the "brain" of V'Ger. At the center of the
chamber, the Starfleet officers are surprised to
discover that V'Ger is in reality a twentieth
century Earth robot space probe. In fact, a mounted
plaque looks as though it reads "Voyager 6."
Kirk and his crew
discover that the probe disappeared into a black
hole and emerged at the other end, crash landing on
a planet inhabited by living machines. After
repairing the probe, the machines then followed its
programming -- observe and transmit readings to
NASA. Spock deduces that these living machines
interpreted those long-ago orders as "Learn all
that is learnable and return that information to
the Creator."
When the U.S.S.
Enterprise transmits old Voyager codes, the V'Ger
transmits all of its information. Then,
unexpectedly, V'Ger insists that the Creator come
in person to finish the sequence. When he realizes
that V'Ger wants to physically merge with its
Creator, Will Decker volunteers. Decker and Ilia
join together and merge into a glowing,
non-corporeal entity, which disappears.
The U.S.S.
Enterprise crew humbly realize that a new life form
has just been created. The experience has left
Spock more at peace with himself and he decides not
to return to Vulcan. Kirk has command of his
beloved U.S.S. Enterprise and McCoy is back in
charge of sickbay.
Having witnessed
events suggesting that "the human adventure is just
beginning," Kirk commands the starship out to space
for a real shakedown cruise and future missions.
Cast:
William Shatner
as James Tiberius Kirk™
Leonard Nimoy as Spock™
DeForest Kelley as Leonard H. McCoy™
James Doohan as Montgomery Scott™
Nichelle Nichols as Uhura™
George Takei as Hikaru Sulu™
Walter Koenig as Pavel Andreievich Chekov™
Majel Barrett as Christine Chapel™
Guest
Cast:
Persis Khambatta
as Lt. Ilia
Stephen Collins as Capt. Will Decker
Grace Lee Whitney as Janice Rand
Mark Lenard as Klingon Captain
Director: Robert
Wise
Story By: Alan Dean Foster
Written By: Harold Livingston
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