[Transporter room]

KIRK: Have you identified the vessel, Mister Spock?
SPOCK: Yes Captain, but you may find it difficult to believe. The vessel is registered to Carter Winston.
MCCOY: That's impossible, Spock. Carter Winston's been missing over five years.
(Kyle beams aboard a fair-haired man)
MCCOY: Incredible. It is him.
KIRK: Carter Winston.
CARTER: It seems you gentlemen know me.
KIRK: There are few in the Federation who wouldn't recognise your face, sir. I'm Captain James Kirk, commanding this vessel. Mister Spock, my first officer, Doctor McCoy, senior medical officer.
MCCOY: I'm especially honoured to meet you, Mister Winston. My daughter was going to school on Cerberus about ten years ago when the crop failure occurred. The entire population would've starved, Jim, if Winston here hadn't used his personal fortune to bring in enough food and goods to carry them through the crisis.
KIRK: One of the many stories I've heard about you, Mister Winston. It's an honour for all of us to have you aboard.
SPOCK: There is one person aboard who should be especially happy to learn you are alive, Mister Winston. Lieutenant Anne Nored of our security detail.
CARTER: My fiancee? Anne's aboard this starship?
SPOCK: We will notify her as soon as we've verified your credentials, Mister Winston. If you have your identity tapes with you
MCCOY: Spock! Of all the cold-blooded, inhospitable requests I've ever heard.
SPOCK: I believe our regulations are quite clear, Doctor. An immediate identity check and medical examination are a standard requirement at this point.
KIRK: Spock is right as usual, Bones.
CARTER: And I understand, of course. My credentials, Captain.

The Enterprise has rescued a living legend, the foremost space trader of our time. Carter Winston has acquired a dozen fortunes only to use his wealth time and again to assist Federation colonies in times of need or disaster.

[Briefing room]

SPOCK: Library computer, verify record tape on Winston, Carter.
COMPUTER: Working. Identification positive. Fingerprints positive. Voice print positive. All licenses and registration in order.
KIRK: Visual display of owner. Checks out. It seems we'll have a distinguished passenger with us for a while.

[Sickbay]

CARTER: Is there some problem, Doctor?
MCCOY: This instrument seems a little off. I've never gotten quite this reading from a human before.
CARTER: Are you suggesting I'm not quite human, Doctor?
MCCOY: Of course not. Anyway, it's just a fraction off normal. It's probably the instrument. They need to be recalibrated every so often.
(Chapel enters)
CHAPEL: The Captain is inquiring if the examination is completed, Doctor.
MCCOY: Yes, I suppose so.
CHAPEL: And Lieutenant Nored is waiting to see Mister Winston once you've certified his medical condition.
MCCOY: Well, I certainly don't want to keep you any longer from your fiancee. Show her in.
(McCoy and Chapel leave, and a brunette enters)
ANNE: Oh, Carter.
CARTER: I'm sorry, Anne. I never thought we would meet again.
ANNE: Carter, what is it?
CARTER: When I left on that last trip, I fully intended to come back and marry you, but my ship was disabled and I crashed on Vendor. I'm told I was lucky I survived.
ANNE: But you did survive. You're alive, and we're together again.
CARTER: Anne, I'm changed. First there was surgery, skin graft, regrowth of bone. After they put me together, they assigned one of their people to me, and he nursed me back to health.
ANNE: But, you said you've changed. How? I don't see any change.
CARTER: It's over between us, Anne. I'm sorry, I can't explain why but, I can't marry you. Ever.

[Bridge]

KIRK: Take the conn, Mister Spock. I'll be in my cabin completing the report on Winston's rescue.

[Kirk's quarters]

KIRK: Come.
CARTER: I hope I'm not intruding, Captain.
KIRK: No, please come in, Mister Winston.
CARTER: I've been down to examine my ship. They stowed it in the shuttlebay.
KIRK: Yes, I'm afraid it's pretty badly damaged. It's hardly worth salvaging right now. I've had our engineering officer, Mister Scott, examine it and make a report. It's here somewhere. He doesn't think there's anything left in your ship except scrap value.
(Behind his back, Carter Winston crosses his arms and glows, then turns into a an orange creature poised on six slender tendrils. It drapes a tendril around Kirk's shoulder. He falls unconscious and the thing places him gently on his bed. Then the creature turns into James Kirk.)

[Sickbay]

CHAPEL: Well, I can't find anything wrong with these instruments, Doctor. They check out, but the readings are still slightly off. What about the rest of the tests on Winston?
MCCOY: Well, some are off and some aren't. It has to be our error. Come on. We'll start from the beginning and this time we're going to find the answer.

[Bridge]

(Kirk enters)
SULU: Weren't you going to your cabin, sir?
KIRK: Mister Sulu, lay in a direct course for Ratar Three.
SULU: Through the Romulan Neutral Zone, sir?
KIRK: That was the order, helmsman.
SULU: But sir, if we're caught there, the Romulans can confiscate the ship. The treaty
KIRK: I know the terms of the treaty, Mister Sulu, and I believe you heard my order.
SULU: Aye, aye, sir.
SPOCK: Captain, the extreme long-range sensors show something in the Zone. At this distance, I cannot determine precisely what it is. It could be a trading vessel like Winston's. But it does not seem prudent to take the risk of trespass into the Zone.
KIRK: Mister Spock, I've spoken to Winston on this at some length. He has assured me it is absolutely vital to get to Ratar Three in the shortest possible time. The survival of the entire planetary population may depend on it.
SPOCK: An admirable mission, Captain, but if we endanger our ship
KIRK: I wouldn't have ordered it if I didn't feel it safe, Spock. Winston says his sensors detected no Romulans when he came through the Zone last week. I'm satisfied he's telling the truth, and his word is considered good. Isn't it?
SPOCK: That has been his reputation.
SULU: Course laid in, sir.
KIRK: Execute.
SULU: On course, sir.
KIRK: You have the conn, Mister Spock.

Ship's log, stardate 5148.7. First Officer Spock recording. The Captain's course change has taken us deep into the Romulan Neutral Zone.

[Bridge]

(Kirk has woken up in his quarters)
KIRK: I'll take the conn, Mister Spock.
SPOCK: Is something wrong, Captain?
KIRK: I'm not sure. I went down to my quarters to dictate the accident report and I seem to have fallen asleep. I've never done that before.
SPOCK: Perhaps you needed the rest. We are on course through the Neutral Zone, sir.
KIRK: The Neutral Zone? We have no authorisation to enter it. Did you order a course change, Spock?
SPOCK: No, sir. You did.
KIRK: Ridiculous. No captain of the Starfleet would do that unless it was a matter of life and death.
SPOCK: I believe that was the reason you gave, Captain.
SULU [on monitor]: Weren't you going to your cabin, sir?
KIRK [on monitor]: Mister Sulu, lay in a direct course for Ratar Three.
SULU [on monitor]: Through the Romulan Neutral Zone, sir?
KIRK [on monitor]: That was an order, helmsman.
KIRK: That's enough, Spock. Mister Scott, take the conn. Spock. Mister Sulu, plot a course to take the Enterprise out of the Neutral Zone at warp eight. Lieutenant M'Ress, put the ship on Yellow Alert.

[Turbolift]

KIRK: Mister Spock, I don't remember giving those orders. I left the Bridge, went to my quarters and fell asleep. That's all.
SPOCK: Perhaps Doctor McCoy should examine you, Captain.
KIRK: Definitely. I've become subject to blackouts, I'm a possible danger to the safety of the ship. I can't allow that.

[McCoy's office]

MCCOY: Oh, Winston. I was just finishing the tests I ran on you. I don't think
(But Winston has done his transformation into the alien, sent him to sleep and has dragged the body away)
(Later)
ANNE: Doctor McCoy?
MCCOY: Can I help you?
ANNE: I don't know, Doctor. I just thought. Well, I have to talk to someone.
MCCOY: Oh now, let me guess. It's you and Carter Winston. He told me a little about it when I examined him.
ANNE: Doctor, what do I do? I still love him.
MCCOY: Well, I'm sure he'd like to feel the same way about you, Anne, but that may be impossible. Five years, that's a long time. People change.
ANNE: I haven't. What can I do?
MCCOY: Well, if he asked you to forget him, I think you should try to do just that. Do you think he'd want to deceive you?
ANNE: Oh no. He's the gentlest, most thoughtful man I've ever known.
MCCOY: Yes, but, my dear, if he doesn't want you and he has asked you to forget him, then I suggest you take that as an honest concern for you and do it. Forget Winston.
(Kirk and Spock enter)
ANNE: Thank you, Doctor. I'll consider your advice. (leaves)
MCCOY: What can I do for you, Captain?
KIRK: I want a complete medical examination, Bones. Something's just happened
MCCOY: I'm afraid I'll have to make it later today, Captain. I have too many tests to process right now.
SPOCK: Carter Winston's?
MCCOY: That one's done. Tested out normal.
SPOCK: Are you sure there is no possibility you made an error?
MCCOY: Well, there's always that possibility. I'll go over them again if you like.
KIRK: No, that won't be necessary. I'll come by later for that examination. Let's go, Spock.

[Corridor]

SPOCK: Captain, did you notice Doctor McCoy's reaction when I asked him if there was any possibility he might have made an error?
KIRK: He said there's always that possibility. And that's not like Bones at all. Come on.

[McCoy's office]

(No one is there)
SPOCK: There are not many places one could hide in here.
(There's a groan from behind the door)

[Medical lab]

MCCOY: I must have taken a little nap.
SPOCK: Doctor, you are a man of curious habits, but I have never known you to nap on the laboratory floor.
KIRK: There's something wrong about this room.
(He goes over to a biobed)
KIRK: All right, Winston. You can come out now. I suggest you show yourself, Winston, or whatever you are.
MCCOY: Did you say I'm a man of curious habits? Jim's talking to a table.
SPOCK: I don't think so, Doctor.
KIRK: There used to be only two examining tables in this room. Now there are three.
SPOCK: I just realised that.
KIRK: This is a vial of Orientine acid, Winston. It will burn through almost anything but this crystal. If you've never seen it work, I'll demonstrate on you.
(The table transforms into the alien)
MCCOY: I saw that, but I don't believe it.
SPOCK: A Vendorian, Doctor. Their planet is quarantined, and few people ever do see them. Their ability to rearrange their molecular structure into anything with the same general size and mass and their practise of deceit as a way of life puts them off limits.
KIRK: Mister Spock, get a security team down here on the double.
MCCOY: Jim!
(The Vendorian attacks all three of them at once and escapes down the corridor)
SPOCK: Spock to Bridge. Put me on ship's audio.

[Corridor]

SPOCK [OC]: All security teams, intruder alert. Repeat, intruder alert. The intruder is a Vendorian capable of assuming any shape or identity.
(It changes into Carter Winston and looks for somewhere to hide. A phaser is pointed at it)
CARTER: Anne, what are you doing?
ANNE: My job. It isn't hard to guess who the intruder is. You're the only stranger aboard, Carter.
(But he knocks the phaser out of her hand, and gets away just she picks it up again and Kirk arrives)
KIRK: Lieutenant Nored, you could've stopped him. Why didn't you fire?
ANNE: I, I couldn't. I knew he had to be the intruder, Captain, but I couldn't harm the image of the man I loved.
KIRK: Lieutenant, he is not the man you loved. Carter Winston is dead.
ANNE: I know that too, now.
SPOCK: Security teams report no sign of the alien on this deck, Captain.
KIRK: I was afraid of that. Once out of our sight, he can become anyone or anything aboard this ship.
(Red Alert sounds)
KIRK: Bridge, this is the Captain. What's happened?

[Bridge]

SCOTT: Two Romulan battle cruisers, Captain. And they're heading right for us.

Captain's log, supplemental. Due to interference by the alien Vendorian aboard, the Enterprise has been detected violating the Romulan Neutral Zone. By the terms of our treaty, the Romulans have a legal right to seize and impound the Enterprise. To complicate matters, we have not been able to apprehend the Vendorian responsible for putting us in this position.

[Bridge]

ROMULAN [on viewscreen]: You appear to have a propensity for trespassing in the Neutral Zone, Captain Kirk.
KIRK: It was not deliberate, I assure you.
ROMULAN [on viewscreen]: It never is. But the rules of the treaty are clear. To contravene them would mean war. You will surrender your ship, Captain. We will release you and your crew at the nearest outpost that guards the Neutral Zone.
KIRK: I'd like a few minutes to inform my crew.
ROMULAN [on viewscreen]: Very well. Five minutes, no more.
KIRK: Kirk to Security. What's the status on the search for the Vendorian?
ANNE [OC]: No progress yet. We have all decks patrolled, but no one has seen him.
KIRK: Carry on, Lieutenant. The Romulans were expecting us, Mister Spock. That wreck of Winston's ship was the bait to get a Romulan spy onboard. And what better spy than a Vendorian who can shape at will. When I went down to my cabin, he must have put me out long enough for him to return to the Bridge and order the course change.
SPOCK: It would seem so.
KIRK: Open a hailing frequency Lieutenant M'Ress.
M'RESS: (a lioness with a very long flowing mane) Hailing frequency open, sir. They're waiting for us.
ROMULAN [on viewscreen]: I assume you are now ready to turn your ship over to us, Captain.
KIRK: Wrong assumption.
ROMULAN [on viewscreen]: Captain, you are outnumbered, outgunned and in the wrong. I admire your courage, but I
KIRK: I have no choice, Commander. You lured me here in direct violation of the treaty.
ROMULAN [on viewscreen]: Lured, Captain? How could we lure a Starfleet vessel into the Neutral Zone?
KIRK: Through the use of a spy using the human form of Carter Winston.
ROMULAN [on viewscreen]: A spy? Come now, Captain. Your imagination is creative but obviously out of control.
KIRK: You used a Vendorian, which, I might add, is also a violation of the treaty.
ROMULAN [on viewscreen]: Your five minutes are up, Captain. Either surrender your ship or prepare to fight.
KIRK: I will not surrender my ship.

[Engineering]

(Scott finds a man messing inside a panel)
SCOTT: What are you doing?
(The man grabs his throat, knocking him out, then carries on)

[Bridge]

SULU: Captain, our deflector shields are coming down.
KIRK: Bridge to Engineering. Scotty, what's happened to the shields?

[Engineering]

GABLER: Mister Scott isn't here, sir.
KIRK [OC]: Get those shields

[Bridge]

KIRK: Up again now.
GABLER [OC]: I can't, sir.
SULU: Hangar doors on the shuttlecraft deck are opening, sir. The Vendorian must be trying to escape.
KIRK: We need him. Override the controls and shut those doors.
SULU: Doors closing, sir.
KIRK: Spock, take the conn. Talk to the Romulans. Try to stall them. And send a security team to the hangar deck. I'll be in Engineering.

[Bridge]

KIRK; What happened?
SCOTT: I don't know, sir. I came up here to check the backup systems, and there was a crewman taking this panel apart. That's all I remember.
KIRK: How long will it take to fix?
SCOTT: Two hours, at least.
KIRK: Get on it.

[Corridor]

ANNE: You're not getting past me this time. I've learned my lesson.
CARTER: Yes. He said you were like that, practical as well as warm and lovely. You're everything he said you were.
ANNE: Carter? What did he say?
CARTER: Many things. Some were only feelings, deep feelings he couldn't always express. He did love you.
ANNE: How did he die?
CARTER: Winston crashed on our planet, and he was tended by a Vendorian. Me. He lived for almost a year before his body ceased to function.
ANNE: You are so much like him, his voice, his mannerisms.
CARTER: That is the way of our people. The longer we stay in another's form, the more we take on its memory, emotion, attitudes. Not totally, but a great deal as time passes.
ANNE: He did say he loved me.
CARTER: As I do. In a sense, I feel some of the emotions he felt. His love for you was very strong. Because I was there, it did not end when he died.
ANNE: Carter.
CARTER: Anne, this is what I am. (changes into Vendorian shape) Can you love this? (changes back) You see why I told you it would be best to forget me?
(Kirk arrives)
KIRK: But unfortunately, I can't.
(The Romulans fire at the ship, and Kirk and Anne are knocked off their feet. Carter escapes)

[Bridge]

(Kirk enters)
SPOCK: Direct hit, Captain. Damage to the secondary propulsion system. The commander has apparently decided to fight.
M'RESS: The Romulan commander is signalling, sir. I'll put it on the screen.
ROMULAN [on viewscreen]: Captain Kirk, all our main batteries are trained on you. To resist would be useless and wasteful of lives. Do you surrender?
KIRK: Without deflectors, we're just a clay pigeon for them.
SPOCK: Practicality does suggest capitulation, Captain.
SULU: Captain, the deflector shields are coming up again.
KIRK: That's only one shield.
SULU: Yes, sir, but it is between us and the Romulans.
KIRK: Mister Sulu, aim for the propulsion units of the lead Romulan vessel. Prepare to fire phasers and photon torpedoes in combination.
SULU: Phasers and torpedoes ready, sir.
KIRK: Fire.
(They disable the first ship)
SPOCK: Second vessel firing now, sir.
KIRK: Lock on second target.
SULU: Ready, Captain.
KIRK: Fire.
SPOCK: Strange. We did no damage, but the Romulan is retreating anyway.
KIRK: They may believe we do have their spy. Scan the other vessel for damage, if you will, Mister Spock.
SPOCK: Second vessel power supply out. Crew unharmed. They should be able to repair the ship in a few days.
KIRK: Good work, Mister Scott. That deflector shield went up just in time.
SCOTT: But sir, I haven't finished repairing the shield. I told you it'll take hours, and it will.
SPOCK: Interesting.
KIRK: Then what was? Winston.
SPOCK: It is not outside the realm of probability. If he could rearrange his own atoms to become an examination table, one would have to assume he could become a deflector shield.
SCOTT: Will someone tell me what's going on?
(The Vendorian enters)
SCOTT: What manner of beastie is that?
SPOCK: Your deflector shield, Mister Scott.
ALIEN: I assume the danger to your ship is over.
KIRK: It is.
ALIEN: As it should be. I'm sorry if I endangered your vessel.
KIRK: Why did you do it?
ALIEN: Among my own people, I am a non-producer, useless. An outcast fit only to do those tasks of the lowest order. The Romulans offered me a life, something of value I could do. It is important to be of value to someone.
KIRK: What changed your mind about the Romulans?
ALIEN: It seems, Captain, that I am more Carter Winston than I knew. He loved life. He loved Anne. I couldn't allow the Romulans to harm any of you because of him.
KIRK: I understand.
ALIEN: What will happen to me now?
KIRK: You'll have to stand trial. But you did save the Enterprise from the Romulans, and I will recommend that be taken into consideration.
ALIEN: Thank you, Captain.
(The Vendorian changes into Carter Winston)
KIRK: In the meantime, I'm afraid I'll have to keep you under guard. I think we've had enough of that little trick.
ANNE: Captain, could you assign me that duty.
CARTER: But you've seem me. You know what I am.
ANNE: Form doesn't seem terribly important to me. As Carter Winston or even just part of him, there's a better life for you than anything the Romulans might offer. Can we talk about that?
CARTER: I don't know. I
KIRK: You have the guard detail, Lieutenant.
(McCoy enters as Anne and Carter leave)
MCCOY: You caught him.
SPOCK: Acute observation, Doctor.
MCCOY: I'm glad to see him under guard, Jim. If he'd turned into a second Spock, it would've been too much to take.
SPOCK: Perhaps. But then two Doctor McCoys just might bring the level of medical efficiency on this ship up to acceptable levels.