Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan Quotes

[after being surrounded by Klingons in a starship simulator]

Saavik: Any suggestions, Admiral?

Kirk: Prayer, Mr. Saavik. The Klingons don't take prisoners.

McCoy: Admiral, wouldn't it be easier to put an experienced crew back on the ship?

Kirk: Galloping around the cosmos is a game for the young, Doctor.

[Leaves]

Commander Nyota Uhura: Now what is that supposed to mean?

Carol Marcus: Please tell me what you're feeling.

Kirk: There's a man out there I haven't seen in fifteen years who's trying to kill me. You show me a son that'd be happy to help. My son... my life that could have been... and wasn't. How do I feel? Old... worn out.

Carol Marcus: Let me show you something that will make you feel young as when the world was new.

[On whether Kirk should assume command from Spock]

Spock: If I may be so bold, it was a mistake for you to accept promotion. Commanding a starship is your first, best destiny; anything else is a waste of material.

Kirk: I would not presume to debate you.

Spock: That is wise. Were I to invoke logic, however, logic clearly dictates that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.

Kirk: Or the one.

Spock: You are my superior officer. You are also my friend. I have been and always shall be yours.

Khan: [holds the dying Joachim] Joachim?

Joachim: Yours... is... superior...

[dies]

Khan: I shall avenge you.

Joachim: We're all with you, sir. But, consider this. We are free. We have a ship, and the means to go where we will. We have escaped permanent exile on Ceti Alpha V. You have defeated the plans of Admiral Kirk. You do not need to defeat him again.

Khan: [paraphrase from Melville's Moby Dick] He tasks me. He tasks me and I shall have him! I'll chase him 'round the moons of Nibia and 'round the Antares Maelstrom and 'round perdition's flames before I give him up!

Kirk: [hailing Khan] This is Admiral Kirk. We tried it once your way, Khan, are you game for a rematch? Khan, I'm laughing at the "superior intellect."

Khan: Full impulse power!

Joachim: No, sir! You have Genesis! You can have whatever...

Khan: [grabs Joachim in anger] FULL POWER! DAMN YOU!

[Kirk and McCoy are beaming down to Regula One]

Spock: Jim, be careful.

McCoy: *We* will!

[Kirk remotely commands Reliant's shields to drop]

Joachim: Our shields are dropping.

Khan: Then raise them!

Joachim: [pounds fists on console] I can't!

Khan: The override. Where's the override?

[after allowing the simulated Enterprise to be destroyed]

Saavik: Permission to speak freely, sir?

Kirk: Granted.

Saavik: I do not believe this was a fair test of my command abilities.

Kirk: And why not?

Saavik: Because... there was no way to win.

Kirk: A no-win situation is a possibility every commander may face. Has that never occurred to you?

Saavik: No, sir, it has not.

Kirk: And how we deal with death is at least as important as how we deal with life, wouldn't you say?

Saavik: As I indicated, Admiral, that thought had not occurred to me.

Kirk: Well, now you have something new to think about. Carry on.

Spock: The Kobayashi Maru scenario frequently wreaks havoc on students and equipment. As I recall you took the test three times yourself. Your final solution was, shall we say, unique?

Kirk: It had the virtue of never having been tried.

Saavik: Admiral, may I ask you a question?

Kirk: What's on your mind, Lieutenant?

Saavik: The Kobayashi Maru, sir.

Kirk: Are you asking me if we're playing out that scenario now?

Saavik: On the test, sir... will you tell me what you did? I would really like to know.

McCoy: Lieutenant, you are looking at the only Starfleet cadet who ever beat the no-win scenario.

Saavik: How?

Kirk: I reprogrammed the simulation so it was possible to rescue the ship.

Saavik: What?

David Marcus: He cheated.

Kirk: I changed the conditions of the test; got a commendation for original thinking. I don't like to lose.

Saavik: Then you never faced that situation... faced death.

Kirk: I don't believe in the no-win scenario.

Saavik: [speaking to Spock in Vulcan] He's never what I expect, sir.

Spock: What surprises you, Lieutenant?

Saavik: He's so - human.

Spock: Nobody's perfect, Saavik.

McCoy: Where are we going?

Kirk: Where they went.

McCoy: Suppose they went *nowhere*?

Kirk: Then this will be your big chance to get away from it all.

Khan: Captain, Captain, Captain... save your strength. These people have sworn to live and die at my command two hundred years before you were born. Do you mean he never told you the tale? To amuse your Captain, no? Never told you how the Enterprise picked up the Botany Bay, lost in space from the year 1996 with myself and the ship's company in cryogenic freeze?

Capt. Terrell: I've never even met Admiral Kirk.

Khan: 'Admiral?' 'Admiral!' 'Admiral'... Never told you how 'Admiral' Kirk sent seventy of us into exile in this barren sandheap with only the contents of these cargo bays to sustain us?

Chekov: You lie! On Ceti Alpha Five there was life! A fair chance...

Khan: [shouts] THIS IS CETI ALPHA FIVE! Ceti Alpha Six exploded six months after we were left here. The shock shifted the orbit of this planet and everything was laid waste. 'Admiral' Kirk never bothered to check on our progress. It was only the fact of my genetically-engineered intellect that allowed us to survive. On Earth, 200 years ago, I was a prince with power over millions.

Chekov: Captain Kirk was your host. You repaid his hospitality by trying to steal his ship and murder him!

[Khan, about to put Ceti Eels in Terrell and Chekov's ears]

Khan: You see, their young enter through the ears and wrap themselves around the cerebral cortex. This has the effect of rendering the victim extremely susceptible to suggestion. Later, as they grow, follows madness and death.

Chekov: Khan, listen to me...

Khan: These are pets, of course. Not quite domesticated.

Saavik: You lied!

Spock: I exaggerated.

Kirk: Hours instead of days! Now we have minutes instead of hours!

Dr. McCoy: You're hiding... hiding behind rules and regulations.

Kirk: Who am I hiding from?

Dr. McCoy: From yourself, Admiral.

Kirk: Don't mince words, Bones. What do you really think?

Dr. McCoy: Jim, I'm your doctor and I'm also your friend. Get back your command! Get it back before you turn into part of this collection, before you really do grow old.

[Terrell and Chekov have beamed down into a sandstorm]

Capt. Terrell: Chekov, are you *sure* these are the correct coordinates?

Chekov: Captain, this is the garden spot of Ceti Alpha Six!

David Marcus: Remember that overgrown Boy Scout you used to hang around with? That's exactly the kind of guy...

Carol Marcus: Listen, kiddo, Jim Kirk was *many* things, but he was *never* a Boy Scout!

[first lines]

Saavik: Captain's log: Stardate 8130.3. Starship Enterprise on training mission to Gamma Hydra, section 14, coordinates 22-87-4. Approaching Neutral Zone; all systems normal and functioning.

Sulu: Leaving section 14 for section 15.

Saavik: Standby. Project parabolic course to avoid entering Neutral Zone.

Sulu: Aye, captain.

David Marcus: Well, don't have kittens. Genesis is going to work. They'll remember you in one breath with Newton, Einstein, Surak.

Carol Marcus: Thanks a lot. No respect from my offspring.

[Khan discovers the Enterprise and realizes it isn't as badly damaged as he thought]

Khan: There she is! There she is! Ah... not so wounded as we were led to believe. So much the better!

Kirk: I suppose you're about to remind me that logic alone dictates your actions?

Spock: I would not remind you of that which you know so well.

[Discussing the effects of the Genesis torpedo]

McCoy: Dear Lord. You think we're intelligent enough to... suppose... what if this thing were used where life already exists?

Spock: It would destroy such life in favor of its new matrix.

McCoy: Its "new matrix"? Do you have any idea what you're saying?

Spock: I was not attempting to evaluate its moral implications, Doctor. As a matter of cosmic history, it has always been easier to destroy than to create.

McCoy: Not anymore; now we can do both at the same time! According to myth, the Earth was created in six days. Now, watch out! Here comes Genesis! We'll do it for you in six minutes!

Spock: Really, Dr. McCoy. You must learn to govern your passions; they will be your undoing. Logic suggests...

McCoy: Logic? My God, the man's talking about logic; we're talking about universal Armageddon! You green-blooded, inhuman...

Kirk: Stand by to receive our transmission.

[sotto voce]

Kirk: Mr. Sulu, lock phasers on target and await my command.

Sulu: [sotto voice] Phasers locked.

Saavik: Humor. It is a difficult concept. It is not logical.

Kirk: We learn by doing.

David Marcus: Lieutenant Saavik was right: You never have faced death.

Kirk: No. Not like this. I haven't faced death. I've cheated death. I've tricked my way out of death and patted myself on the back for my ingenuity. I know nothing.

David Marcus: You knew enough to tell Saavik that how we face death is at least as important as how we face life.

Kirk: Just words.

David Marcus: But good words. That's where ideas begin. Maybe you should listen to them. I was wrong about you. And I'm sorry.

Kirk: Is that what you came here to say?

David Marcus: Mainly. And also that I'm proud - very proud - to be your son.

McCoy: He's not really dead. As long as we remember him.

Kirk: It's a far, far better thing I do than I have ever done before. A far better resting place that I go to than I have ever known.

Carol Marcus: Is that a poem?

Kirk: No. Something Spock was trying to tell me. On my birthday.

McCoy: You okay, Jim? How do you feel?

Kirk: Young. I feel young.

Captain Terrell: Sir, I demand...

Khan: You are in a position to demand *nothing*. I, on the other hand, am in a position to *grant* nothing.

[Saavik has just left the turbolift]

Dr. McCoy: Did she change her hairstyle?

Kirk: I hadn't noticed.

Dr. McCoy: Wonderful stuff, that Romulan Ale.

[Kirk has been informed of an incoming transmission from Dr. Carol Marcus]

Dr. McCoy: It never rains but it pours.

Kirk: As a doctor, you of all people should be aware of the dangers of reopening old wounds.

[Chekov has noticed an energy flux reading on the scanner, prompting Terrell to contact Dr. Carol Marcus]

Captain Clark Terrell: Maybe it's something we can transplant, uhm?

Cmdr. Pavel Chekov: You *know* what she'll say.

[Kirk unwraps Bones' birthday present]

Kirk: Romulan Ale. Why, Bones, you know this is illegal.

McCoy: I only use it for medicinal purposes.

Crewman: Sir! The mains are back on line!

Kirk: Bless you Scotty! Go, Sulu!

Kirk: Kirk to Enterprise.

Spock: Spock here.

Kirk: Captain Spock, damage report.

Spock: Admiral, if we go "by the book". like Lieutenant Saavik, hours could seem like days.

Kirk: I read you captain. Let's have it.

Spock: The situation is grave, Admiral. We won't have main power for six "days". Auxiliary power has temporarily failed. Restoration may be possible, in two "days". By the book, Admiral.

Kirk: Meaning you can't even beam us back?

Spock: Not at present.

Kirk: Captain Spock, if you don't hear from us within one hour, your orders are to restore what power you can, take the Enterprise to the nearest star base, and alert Starfleet Command as soon as you're out of jamming range.

Commander Nyota Uhura: Sir, we won't leave you behind!

Kirk: Uhura, if you don't hear from us, there won't be anybody behind. Kirk out.

Joachim: [Enterprise is running with shields down] They still haven't raised their shields.

Khan: Raise ours.

[Joachim raises shields]

Spock: Their shields are going up.

Khan: Lock phasers on target.

Joachim: [looks at targeting computer] Locking phasers on target.

Spock: They're locking phasers.

Kirk: Raise shields!

Khan: Fire!

[Joachim fires phasers]

Preston: I believe you'll find everything ship-shape, Admiral.

Kirk: Oh, do you? Do you have any idea, Midshipman Preston, how many times I have had to listen to Mr. Scott on the comm, telling me his trouble? Do you have any idea of the ribbing I've had to endure in the officers' mess... to the effect that the Enterprise is a flying death trap?

Preston: Oh, no sir! Wha... this is the finest engine room in the whole Starfleet! If the Admiral can't see the facts for himself, then, with all due respect, he's as blind as a Tiberian bat!

Scotty: Ahem!

Preston: Sir!

Kirk: Midshipman, you're a tiger.

Scotty: My sister's youngest, Admiral. Crazy to get to space.

Kirk: Every young man's fantasy. Seem to remember it myself.

[last lines]

Spock: [closing monologue] Space: the final frontier. These are the continuing voyages of the starship Enterprise. Her ongoing mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life forms and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.

[David attacks Kirk]

Kirk: Where's Dr. Marcus?

David Marcus: I'M Dr. Marcus!

Carol Marcus: Jim!

McCoy: [handing Kirk a birthday gift, after Kirk hands him the Romulan ale] Now you open this one.

Kirk: [taking gift] I'm almost afraid to. What is it, Klingon aphrodisiacs?

McCoy: No. More antiques for your collection.

Kirk: [reading] "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." - Message, Spock?

Spock: None that I'm conscious of. Except of course; happy birthday! -Surely the best of times.

[Terrell disobeys Khan's order to kill Kirk, who taunts Khan over the communicator]

Kirk: Khan, you bloodsucker! You're going to have to do your own dirty work now! Do you hear me? Do you?

Khan: Kirk? Kirk, you're still alive, my old friend?

Kirk: Still, "old friend"! You've managed to kill just about everyone else, but like a poor marksman, you keep missing the target!

Khan: Perhaps I no longer need to try, Admiral.

David Marcus: Oh, no! Let go! He can't take it...!

[Khan beams the Genesis device away]

Kirk: Khan... Khan, you've got Genesis, but you don't have me. You were going to kill me, Khan. You're going to have to come down here. You're going to have to come down here!

Khan: I've done far worse than kill you. I've hurt you. And I wish to go on hurting you. I shall leave you as you left me, as you left her; marooned for all eternity in the center of a dead planet... buried alive! Buried alive...!

Kirk: KHAAANNNN!

[echo]

Kirk: KHAAANNNN!

Joachim: They're still running with shields down.

Khan: Of course! We are one big, happy fleet! Ah, Kirk, my old friend, do you know the Klingon proverb that tells us revenge is a dish that is best served cold?

[pause]

Khan: It is very cold in space!

McCoy: [grabbing Spock's arm] You're not going in there!

Spock: Perhaps you're right. What is Mr. Scott's condition?

McCoy: [turns to Scotty] Well I don't think that he...

[Spock use the vulcan nerve pinch on McCoy]

Spock: I'm sorry, Doctor, I have no time to explain this logically.

[sits McCoy down and performs mind meld]

Spock: Remember!

Kirk: Physician, heal thyself!

McCoy: [Lying on the floor, propping himself up on one elbow] Is that all you've got to say? What about my performance?

Kirk: I'm not a drama critic!

Kirk: Khan!

Khan: You still remember, Admiral. I cannot help but be touched. I, of course, remember you.

Kirk: Khan, how do I know you'll keep your word?

Khan: Oh, I've given you no word to keep, Admiral. In my judgment, you simply have no alternative.

Kirk: Time?

Saavik: Three minutes, thirty seconds.

Kirk: Distance from Reliant?

Chekov: 4000 kilometers.

Sulu: We're not going to make it, are we?

[Kirk turns to look at David, who slowly shakes his head]

Kirk: I hate inspections.

Sulu: I'm delighted. Any chance to go aboard the Enterprise.

Kirk: Well, I for one am glad to have you at the helm for three weeks. I don't think these kids can steer.

Kirk: [Kirk is reacting - badly - to Spock ordering Saavik to take the Enterprise out of spacedock, something she has never done before]

McCoy: Do you want a tranquilizer?

Kirk: [shakes head quickly]

Kirk: Engine room. Well done, Scotty!

McCoy: Jim... I think you'd better get down here.

Kirk: Bones?

McCoy: Better hurry...

Saavik: Trouble with the nebula, sir. All that static discharge and gas will cloud our visual display. Tactical won't function, and shields will be useless!

Spock: Sauce for the goose, Mr Saavik - the odds will be even!

Kirk: [to McCoy, who is still lying where he fell during Saavik's simulation] Physician, heal thyself.

McCoy: Is that all you've got to say? What about my performance?

Kirk: I'm not a drama critic!

McCoy: [Kirk runs in to the engine room and sees Spock inside the reactor compartment. He rushes over but McCoy and Scotty hold him back] No! You'll flood the whole compartment!

Kirk: He'll die!

Scotty: Sir! He's dead already.

McCoy: It's too late.

[They let go and Kirk walks to the glass and pushes the intercom button]

Kirk: Spock!

[Spock slowly walks over to the glass and pushes the intercom]

Spock: The ship... out of danger?

Kirk: Yes.

Spock: Do not grieve, Admiral. It is logical. The needs of the many, outweigh...

Kirk: The needs of the few.

Spock: Or the one. I never took the Kobayashi Maru test until now. What do you think of my solution?

Kirk: Spock.

[Spock sits down]

Spock: [Gasping] I have been... and always shall be... your friend.

[he places a Vulcan salute on the glass]

Spock: [Gasping] Live long... and prosper.

[Spock dies]

Kirk: No.

Dr. McCoy: [Spock is preparing to enter the radiated warp core] Are you out of your Vulcan mind? No human can tolerate the radiation that's in there!

Spock: As you are so fond of observing, doctor, I am not human.

Cadet: Sir! The Mains are back online

Kirk: Bless you Scotty! Go Sulu!

Spock: [1:18:38] She can still outrun us and outgun us. But there is the Mutara Nebula at 153 mark 4.

Kirk: Scotty, can we make it inside?

Scotty: The energizer's bypassed like a Christmas tree, so don't give me too many bumps.

Kirk: No promises. On your way.

Kirk: I assume you're loitering around here to learn what efficiency rating I plan to give your cadets.

Spock: I am understandably curious.

Kirk: Why, bless me, Doctor, what beams you into this neck of the woods?

McCoy: [giving him a birthday gift] Beware Romulans bearing gifts.

Kirk: [receiving a pair of antique eyeglasses] Why, Bones, this is... charming.

McCoy: For most patients your age, I'd recommend Retinax 5.

Kirk: I'm allergic to Retinax.

McCoy: Exactly. Cheers.

Kirk: Cheers.

[taking a sip of Romulan ale, the taste obviously doesn't agree with him]

Kirk: [forcing himself to swallow] Ahh.

Chekov: Botany Bay?

[recognizing the name]

Chekov: Botany Bay! Oh, no! We've got to get out of here now. Damn!

Capt. Terrell: What about...

Chekov: Hurry!

Capt. Terrell: What about the...

Chekov: Never mind that. Hurry! Hurry!

Capt. Terrell: Chekov, what's the matter with you?

Chekov: Khan.

Khan: [to Captain Terrell] I don't know you.

[turning to Chekov]

Khan: But you... I never forget a face. Mr... Chekov. Isn't it? I never thought to see your face again.

Capt. Terrell: Chekov, who is this man?

Chekov: A criminal, Captain. A product of late 20th-century genetic engineering.

Khan: You didn't expect to find me. You thought this was Ceti Alpha VI. Ahh. Why are you here?

[as Chekov remains silent, Khan picks him up by a handle on the front of his spacesuit]

Khan: Why?

[putting him down]

Khan: Allow me to introduce you to Ceti Alpha V's only remaining indigenous life form.

[picking up a pair of pincers, he sticks it into a cage; hissing, an insect-like create bites at it]

Khan: What do you think? It killed 20 of my people, including my beloved wife.

[holding it down, he carefully picks two smaller insects out of its back]

Khan: Oh, not all at once. And not instantly, to be sure.

Kirk: Mr. Scott, you old space dog. You're well.

Scotty: Oh, I had a wee bout, sir, but, uh, Dr. McCoy pulled me through.

Kirk: Wee bout of what?

McCoy: Shore leave, Admiral.

Kirk: [on board the Enterprise for an inspection] Well, shall we start with the engine room?

Scotty: We'll see you there, sir, and everything is in order.

Kirk: That'll be a pleasant surprise, Mr. Scott.

Kirk: Well, Mr. Scott, are your cadets capable of handling a minor training cruise?

Scotty: Give the word, Admiral.

Kirk: Mr. Scott, the word is given.

Scotty: Aye, sir.

McCoy: Admiral, what about the rest of the inspection?

[Jim mouths "later"]

Sulu: We are free and clear to navigate.

Saavik: Course heading, Captain?

Kirk: [Spock glances at him] Captain's discretion.

Spock: Mr. Sulu, you may... indulge yourself.

Chekov: Ah, Dr. Marcus. Good. We're en route to you and should be there in three days.

Carol Marcus: En route? Why? We weren't expecting you for another three months. Has something happened?

Chekov: Nothing has happened. Ceti Alpha VI has checked out.

Carol Marcus: Then I-I... I don't understand why you're coming...

Chekov: We have received new orders. Upon our arrival at Regula-1, all materials of Project Genesis will be transferred to this ship for immediate testing on Ceti Alpha VI.

David Marcus: Who in the hell do they think they are?

Carol Marcus: [shushing him and the other scientists] Will you please get quiet? Commander Chekov, this is completely irregular.

Chekov: I have my orders.

David Marcus: Pin him down, Mother. Who gave the order?

Chekov: The order comes from... Admiral James T. Kirk.

Carol Marcus: This is completely improper, Commander Chekov. I have no intention of allowing Reliant or any other unauthorized personnel access to our work or materials.

Chekov: I'm sorry that you feel that way, Doctor. Admiral Kirk's orders are confirmed. Please prepare to deliver Genesis to us upon our arrival. Reliant out.

Khan: Well done, Commander.

Chekov: You realize, sir, they will attempt to contact Admiral Kirk and confirm the order.

Kirk: You're bothered by your performance on the Kobayashi Maru.

Saavik: I failed to resolve the situation.

Kirk: There's no correct resolution. It's a test of character.

Saavik: May I ask how you dealt with the test?

Kirk: [trying to be funny] You may ask.

[seeing she's not getting it]

Kirk: That's a little joke.

Carol Marcus: Why are you taking Genesis away from us?

Kirk: Taking Genesis? Who's taking Genesis? Who-who is... who is taking Genesis?

Carol Marcus: I can see you, but I can't hear.

Kirk: Carol!

Carol Marcus: Jim, did you give the order?

Kirk: What order? Who's taking Genesis?

Carol Marcus: Please help us, Jim.

Kirk: I'm trying...

Carol Marcus: I will not let them have Genesis without proper authorization.

Kirk: Have Genesis? Who's taking...

Carol Marcus: On whose authority can they do this?

Kirk: No one's authority.

Carol Marcus: Jim...

Kirk: [trying to get a clearer signal] Uhura, what's happening?

Commander Nyota Uhura: Transmission jammed at the source, sir.

Kirk: Alert Starfleet Headquarters.

Kirk: We have a problem. Something may be wrong on Regula-1. We've been ordered to investigate.

Spock: If memory serves, Regula-1 is a scientific research laboratory.

Kirk: I told Starfleet Command all we had was... a boatload of children, but we're the only ship in the quadrant. Spock, these cadets of yours, how good are they? How will they respond under real pressure?

Spock: As with all living things, each according to his gifts. Of course, the ship is yours.

Kirk: No, that won't be necessary. Just get me to Regula-1.

Spock: As a teacher on a training mission, I am content to command the Enterprise. If we are to go on actual duty, it is clear that the senior officer must assume command.

Kirk: It may be nothing. Garbled communications. You take the ship.

Kirk: An emergency situation has arisen. By order of Starfleet Command, as of now, 1800 hours, I'm assuming command of this vessel. Duty officer, so note in the ship's log. Plot a new course for space laboratory Regula-1. Engine room. Mr. Scott.

Scotty: Aye, sir.

Kirk: We'll be going to warp speed.

Scotty: Aye, sir.

Sulu: Course plotted for Regula-1, Admiral.

Kirk: Engage warp engines.

Saavik: Prepare for warp speed.

Sulu: Ready, sir.

Kirk: I know that none of you were expecting this. I'm sorry. I'm going to have to ask you to grow up a little bit sooner than you expected.

Commander Nyota Uhura: There's no response from Regula-1.

Spock: But no longer jammed.

Commander Nyota Uhura: No, sir. No nothing.

Spock: [wandering over to the captain's chair] There are two possibilities: they are unable to respond, they are unwilling to respond.

Kirk: How far?

Spock: 12 hours, 43 minutes, present speed.

Kirk: "Give up Genesis," she said. What in God's name's it mean? Give it up to whom?

Spock: It might help my analysis if I knew what Genesis was, beyond the biblical reference.

Kirk: Computer, request security procedure and access to Project Genesis summary.

Computer: Identify for retina scan.

Kirk: Kirk, Admiral James T.

Computer: [scanning his eye] Security scan approved.

Kirk: Summary, please.

Carol Marcus: [a video file plays] Project Genesis. A proposal to the Federation.

Spock: Carol Marcus.

Kirk: Yes.

Carol Marcus: What exactly is Genesis? Well, put simply, Genesis is life from lifelessness. It is a process whereby molecular structure is reorganized at the subatomic level into life-generating matter of equal mass. Stage one of our experiments was conducted in the laboratory. Stage two of the series will be attempted in a lifeless underground. Stage three will involve the process on a planetary scale. It is our intention to introduce the Genesis Device into a pre-selected area of a lifeless space body; a moon or other dead form. The device is delivered, instantaneously causing what we call the Genesis Effect. Matter is reorganized with life-generating results. Instead of a dead moon, a living, breathing planet capable of sustaining whatever life forms we see fit to deposit on it.

Spock: Fascinating.

Carol Marcus: The reformed moon simulated here represents the merest fraction of the Genesis potential, should the Federation wish to fund these experiments to their logical conclusion. When we consider the cosmic problems of population and food supply, the usefulness of this process becomes clear. This concludes our proposal. Thank you for your attention.

Spock: It literally is Genesis.

Kirk: Power of creation.

Spock: Have they proceeded with their experiments?

Kirk: Well, the tape was made about a year ago, so I can only assume they've reached stage two by now.

Saavik: Admiral, sensors indicate a vessel in our area closing fast.

Kirk: What do you make of her?

Saavik: It's one of ours, Admiral. It's Reliant.

Spock: Reliant?

Kirk: [of the adrift Reliant] Is it possible their comm system has failed?

Spock: It would explain a great many things.

Commander Nyota Uhura: I'm getting a voice message. They say their chambers coil is overloading their comm system.

Kirk: Spock?

Spock: Scanning. Their coil emissions are normal.

Kirk: [after the Enterprise is fired upon] Damage report.

Spock: They knew exactly where to hit us.

Kirk: Who? Who knew were to hit us? And why?

Spock: One thing is certain. We cannot escape on auxiliary power.

Kirk: Visual. Sulu, divert all power to phasers.

Spock: Too late.

Kirk: [seeing in incoming photon torpedo] Hang on!

Kirk: Scotty, what's left?

Scotty: Just the battery, sir. I can have auxiliary power in a few minutes.

Kirk: We don't have a few minutes! Can you give me phaser power?

Kirk: A few shots, sir.

Spock: Not enough against their shields.

Kirk: Who the hell are they?

Commander Nyota Uhura: Admiral, the commander of the Reliant is signaling. He wishes to discuss terms of our surrender.

Kirk: Put it on screen.

Commander Nyota Uhura: Admiral...

Kirk: Do it! While we still have time.

Kirk: If it's me you want, I'll have myself beamed aboard. Spare my crew.

Khan: I make you a counter-proposal. I'll agree to your terms if, *if*, in addition to yourself, you hand over to me all data and material regarding the project called Genesis.

Kirk: [playing dumb] Genesis? What's that?

Khan: Don't insult my intelligence, Kirk.

Kirk: Give me some time to recall the data on our computers.

Khan: I give you 60 seconds, Admiral.

Spock: [Khan is requesting all data relevant to Project Genesis] At least we know he doesn't have Genesis.

Kirk: Keep nodding as though I'm still giving orders. Mr. Saavik, punch up the data charts of Reliant's command console.

Saavik: Reliant's command?

Kirk: Hurry.

Khan: 45 seconds.

Spock: The prefix code?

Kirk: It's all we've got.

Spock: Reliant's prefix number is 16309.

Saavik: I don't understand.

Kirk: You have to learn why things work on a starship.

Spock: Each ship has its own combination code...

Kirk: To prevent an enemy from doing what we're attempting. We're using our console to order Reliant to lower her shields.

Spock: Assuming he hasn't changed the combination. He's quite intelligent.

Sulu: [after the Reliant is disabled] Sir, you did it.

Kirk: I did nothing, except get caught with my britches down. I must be going senile. Mr. Saavik, you go right on quoting regulations. Meantime, let's find out how badly we've been hurt.

Scotty: [one of his cadets has been killed] He stayed at his post when the trainees ran.

Spock: [calling on the intercom] Admiral, this Spock.

Kirk: Yes, Spock.

Spock: Engine room reports auxiliary power restored. We can proceed at impulse power.

Kirk: Best speed to Regula-1. Kirk out.

McCoy: I'm sorry, Scotty.

Kirk: Sensors, Captain.

Spock: Scanners and sensors are still inoperative. There's no way to ascertain what's inside the station.

Kirk: No way of telling if Reliant is still in the area.

Spock: Precisely.

Kirk: What do you make of that planetoid beyond?

Spock: Regula is Class D. It consists of various unremarkable ores, essentially a great rock in space.

Kirk: And Reliant could be hiding behind that rock.

Spock: A distinct possibility.

Kirk: I'm going down there.

McCoy: Khan could be down there.

Kirk: He's been there. Hasn't found what he wants. Can you spare someone? There may be people hurt.

McCoy: Yeah. I can spare me.

Saavik: Begging the Admiral's pardon. General Order 15. "No flag officer shall beam into a hazardous area without armed escort."

Kirk: There's no such regulation.

[getting her point]

Kirk: All right. Join the party. Mr. Spock, the ship is yours.

Carol Marcus: I don't understand. Who's responsible for all this? Who is Khan?

Kirk: Well, it's a long story.

David Marcus: We appear to have plenty of time.

Kirk: Is there anything to eat? I don't know about anybody else, but I'm starved.

McCoy: How can you think of food at a time like this?

Kirk: First order of business: survival.

Carol Marcus: There is food in the Genesis cave, enough to last a lifetime; if necessary.

McCoy: We thought this was Genesis.

Carol Marcus: This? It took the Starfleet Corps of Engineers ten months in space suits to tunnel out all this. What we did in there, we did in a day.

Kirk: [seeing the Genesis cave] You did all this in a day?

Carol Marcus: The matrix formed in a day. The life forms grew later at a substantially accelerated rate.

McCoy: Jim! This is incredible! Have you ever seen the like?

Kirk: [of his son David] I did what you wanted. I stayed away. Why didn't you tell him?

Carol Marcus: Oh... how can you ask me that? Were we together? Were we going to be? You had your world, and I had mine. And I wanted him in mine, not chasing through the universe with his father. Actually... he's a lot like you. In many ways.

Saavik: Spock, you know Dr. Marcus.

Spock: Why, of course.

Carol Marcus: Hello, Mr. Spock.

McCoy: I'm taking this bunch to Sickbay.

Saavik: By the book?

Kirk: By the book. Regulation 46A: if transmissions are being monitored during battle...

Saavik: No uncoded messages on an open channel.

Spock: [Kirk heads for a turbolift] They're inoperable below C deck.

Kirk: What is working around here?

Spock: Not much, Admiral. We have partial main power.

Kirk: That's it?

Spock: Best we can do in two hours.

Spock: Sporadic energy readings, port side aft. Could be an impulse turn.

Kirk: He won't break off now. He followed me this far. He'll be back. But from where?

Spock: Scanning an energy source on Reliant. A pattern I've never seen before.

David Marcus: [looking over his shoulder] It's the Genesis wave.

Kirk: What?

David Marcus: They're on a build-up to detonation.

Kirk: How soon?

David Marcus: We encoded four minutes.

Kirk: We'll beam aboard and stop it.

David Marcus: You can't.

Commander Nyota Uhura: Bridge to Admiral Kirk.

Kirk: Kirk here.

Commander Nyota Uhura: Sir, there's a message coming in for you from station Regula One. Doctor Carol Marcus.

Kirk: [pause] I'll take it in my quarters, Uhura.

McCoy: Never rains, but it pours.

Kirk: As a doctor, you of all people should know the dangers of re-opening old wounds.

McCoy: [after Kirk exits] Sorry.