Directed by Nicholas Meyer
Story by Leonard Nimoy, Lawrence Konner and Mark Rosenthal
Screenplay by Nicholas Meyer and Denny Martin Flinn
Music by Cliff Eidelman
Stardate 9522.6
Premiered December 6, 1991
Directed by
Nicholas Meyer
Story by
Leonard Nimoy, Lawrence Konner and Mark Rosenthal
Screenplay by
Nicholas Meyer and Denny Martin Flinn
Music by Cliff Eidelman
Stardate 9522.6
Premiered
December 6, 1991
Lieutenant
Valeris; Starfleet
officer who was part of the conspiracy to assassinate Klingon
Chancellor Gorkon in 2293. Valeris had been mentored by Spock, and
was the first Vulcan to graduate at the top of her class at Starfleet
Academy. Although fiercely logical, Valeris feared the changes that
would be wrought when a new era of peace came upon the Federation.
She was arrested at the Khitomer peace conference for her role in the
assassination of Gorkon.
Sarek; Sarek
helped lay the groundwork for the historic Khitomer peace accords
with the Klingon Empire, sending Spock to meet Chancellor Gorkon and
to open a dialog following the disastrous explosion of the Klingon
moon, Praxis, in 2293.
Yeoman Samno and Yeoman Burke; Crewmembers aboard the Starship Enterprise-A who were the "hit men" who carried out the assassination of Klingon Chancellor Gorkon in 2293. Samno and Burke were later murdered, apparently by Valeris, in order to protect others involved with the conspiracy.
Crewman
Dax; Crew
member aboard the Starship Enterprise-A in 2293. Incriminating
evidence, magnetic boots, were planted in Dax's personal locker,
implicating him in the murder of Chancellor Gorkon, but Dax's foot
structure was clearly unable to fit boots designed for humans.
Cartwright, Admiral; Starfleet Command officer. Cartwright presided over emergency operations from Starfleet Headquarters in San Francisco when an alien probe threatened the Earth in 2286. Politically conservative and extremely wary of the Klingon government, Cartwright opposed the peace initiative of Klingon Chancellor Gorkon, and participated in the conspiracy with Klingon General Chang for Gorkon's assassination in 2293.
General
Chang; Chief
of staff to Klingon Chancellor Gorkon. A proud warrior, Chang was
also fond of quoting William Shakespeare and other luminaries. Chang
feared the changes that peace would bring and conspired with
Starfleet Admiral Cartwright and others to assassinate Gorkon in an
effort to block Gorkon's peace initiative. Chang was killed at
Khitomer when attempting to disrupt the peace conference there in
2293. In addition to Chang's numerousShakespearean quotes, his demand
in court that Kirk answer a question without waiting for a
translation is a 
paraphrase of American Ambassador Adlai Stevenson, who made the same
demand of Soviet Ambassador Valerian Zorin at the United Nations
during the Cuban missile crisis in 1962.
Azetbur; Daughter of Klingon Chancellor Gorkon, Azetbur ascended to lead the Klingon High Council after the assassination of her father in 2293. As chancellor, Azetbur continued Gorkon's peace initiative with the Federation, concluding with the historic Khitomer peace accords.
Chancellor
Gorkon; Leader
of the Klingon High Council, assassinated in 2293 by forces that
sought to blockhis efforts for peace with the United Federation of
Planets. His daughter, Azetbur, succeeded Gorkon.
Klingon
Ambassador; Representative
of the Klingon government in 2286. The ambassador attempted to
secure the extradition of James Kirk so that he could be brought to
trial for alleged crimes, including the theft of a Klingon
spacecraft. The Klingon ambassador believed, mistakenly, that Kirk
had participated in the development of Project Genesis with the
intent of using it as a weapon against the Klingon people. The
Klingon ambassador vehemently opposed efforts to free James Kirk and
Leonard McCoy from Klingon custody after the two had been arrested 
on
charges of murdering Chancellor Gorkon in 2293.
Klingon
Defence Attorney; Klingon
official who unsuccessfully defended Kirk and McCoy in 2293 when the
two Starfleet officers were placed on trial for the assassination of
Chancellor Gorkon. Colonel Worf was the grandfather of Enterprise-D
security officer Worf, and father of Mogh.
Brigadier Kerla; Military advisor to Klingon Chancellor Gorkon, and later to Chancellor Azetbur. Kerla opposed Gorkon's 2293 peace initiative.
Martia;
Chameloid
(shape-shifting) inmate at the Klingon prison asteroid Rura Penthe
at the time 
Kirk
and McCoy were imprisoned there for the murder of Klingon Chancellor Gorkon.
Ambassador
Nanclus; Romulan
ambassador to the United Federation of Planets. In 2293, Nanclus was
part of a conspiracy between Starfleet Admiral Cartwright and Klingon
General Chang to obstruct Chancellor Gorkon's peace initiatives.
Lieutenent
Dmitri Valtane; Science
officer aboard the U.S.S. Excelsior under the command of Captain
Sulu in 2293. Lieutenant Valtane did not realize that he was the host
to a parasitic memory virus living in his brain. Valtane was killed
in 2293 when the Excelsior fought several Klingon battle cruisers
near the Azure Nebula. At the moment of his death, the memory virus
migrated from Valtane to then-Ensign Tuvok. "Flashback" (VGR).
Captain
Klaa; Klaa
served as translator in 2293 when Kirk and McCoy were tried for the
murder of Chancellor Gorkon.
Colonel
West; Starfleet
officer who conspired with Admiral Cartwright and Klingon General
Chang to obstruct Chancellor Gorkon's peace initiatives in 2293. West
was the triggerman who, disguised as a Klingon, unsuccessfully
attempted to assassinate the Federation Council President at the
Khitomer conference.
Federation President; Leader of the representative council governing the United Federation of Planets.
Starfleet
The Trial
Rura Penthe
Chang's ship
Khitomer
A
colossal explosion on the Klingon moon Praxis sends intense shock
waves through space, which are encountered by the USS Excelsior in
its third year of duty under Captain Sulu. The Excelsior is damaged
by the leading edge of the energy burst, but regains her balance.
When offered assistance, the Klingons tell Sulu to mind his own
business and stay out of their territory.
Later, on Earth, the command crew of the Enterprise is invited to a top priority, high-security briefing at Starfleet Headquarters, where it is revealed that one of the Klingons's' main sources of power, located on Praxis, released radiation that will eat away the Klingon home world's ozone layer in roughly fifty years, and the Klingons, whose economy is devoted entirely to military development, are unable to combat the deterioration of their planet without aid. Spock, acting as an ambassador, has opened the door for discussions with Chancellor Gorkon of the Klingon High Council, and has taken the liberty of volunteering Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise - both of which are three months away from mandatory retirement as Starfleet prepares to decommission the ship itself - for the duty of escorting Gorkon and his party to the first Federation-Klingon peace talks.
Over dinner on the Enterprise, the Klingons and the Starfleet officers seem to be unable to avoid eventually insulting or offending each other, and General Chang seems more interested in Kirk's reputation as a warrior than in peace. The Klingons return to their ship, and shortly afterward, torpedoes from the Enterprise's direction pummel Gorkon's ship, and two figures in Federation space suits beam aboard and kill the Chancellor and many of the Klingon crew. Still unsure of what has happened - Scotty finds that none of the Enterprise's torpedoes have been fired - Kirk surrenders when Chang threatens to fire on the Enterprise point-blank. Kirk and McCoy beam over, where McCoy tries to save the dying Gorkon, but with Federation medicine's limited knowledge of Klingon anatomy, McCoy cannot prevent Gorkon's death. Kirk and McCoy are arrested and given a trial where Chang's unusual evidence - including entries from Kirk's personal log stating his distrust of Klingons since they killed his son - insinuates that Kirk was behind the assassination. Kirk and McCoy are sentenced to work for the rest of their lives in the dilithium mines on Rura Penthe.
At Spock's command, the Enterprise conveniently develops a malfunction that prevents them from receiving Starfleet's order to return home while the crew searches for the equipment used by the two Starfleet officers who assassinated Gorkon. A few leads appear, but then are revealed to be false alarms - someone is deliberately trying to lead the investigation off track. In the meantime, Kirk and McCoy fight for their lives on Rura Penthe but are helped by exotic fellow prisoner Martia, who warns Kirk that even in the penal colony, there is a price on his head. Martia helps them escape, hoping that Kirk, who she says is the most attractive prisoner to appear in a long time, will repay her somehow. During their escape, Martia is revealed to be a shapeshifter, and perhaps not even a true female. Kirk realizes that the escape has been too easy and that Martia is the one out for he and McCoy. Martia changes into a copy of Kirk, but when the prison guards catch up, Kirk tricks them into shooting Martia instead. Bluffing their way past Klingon border guards, the Enterprise crew beams Kirk and McCoy up just before the two would have been executed.
After returning to the Enterprise, Kirk and the others discover two dead crewmen - the assassins - and realize that there is one more conspirator. Kirk suggests laying a trap by announcing to the crew that the dead crewmen are alive and in sick bay awaiting the court reporter, which would lure the culprit to sick bay to kill the two crewmen before they could talk. The ploy works, and the conspirator is Lt. Valeris, Spock's trusted protégé'. Spock forces a mind-meld with Valeris to find out who the main conspirators are, and discovers that Klingons and a member of the Federation top brass are already cooperating peacefully - to ensure that peace is destroyed by the assassination of the President of the Federation. Kirk contacts Captain Sulu, and their two ships head for Khitomer to save the President and reveal the conspirators, but time - and Chang's prototype Bird of Prey that can fire while cloaked (the real source of the attack on Gorkon's ship) - are against their efforts to save the negotiations.
Kirk
-- William Shatner
Spock
-- Leonard Nimoy
McCoy
-- DeForest Kelley
Scott
-- James Doohan
Chekov
-- Walter Koenig
Uhura
-- Nichelle Nichols
Sulu
-- George Takei
Lt. Valeris --
Kim Cattrall
Sarek
-- Mark Leonard
Excelsior
Communications Officer
-- Grace Lee Whitney
Yeoman Samno
& Yeoman Burke
Admiral
Cartwright -- Brock Peters
Chief in
Command -- Leon Russom
Federation
President -- Kurtwood Smith
Chang --
Christopher Plummer
Aztbur --
Rosana DeSoto
Chancellor
Gorkon -- David Warner
Klingon
Ambassador -- John Schuck
Klingon
Defense Attorney -- Michael Dorn
Kerla -- Paul Rossilli
Klingon Judge
-- Rober Easton
Klingon
Officer -- Clifford Shegog
Klingon
Commander -- W. Morgan Sheppard
General Stex
-- Brett Porter
Excelsior
Officer -- Jeremy Roberts
Excelsior
Engineer -- Michael Bofshever
Excelsior
Navigator -- Angelo Tiffe
Excelsior
Communications Officer -- Christian Slater
Martia -- Iman
The Brute --
Tom Morga
Klingon
Translator -- Todd Bryant
Behemoth Alien
-- John Bloom
First Klingon
General -- Jim Boeke
Munitions Man
-- Carlos Cestero
Young Crewman
-- Edward Clements
Martia as a
child -- Katie Jane Johnston
Prisoner at
Rura Penthe -- Douglas Engalla
Second Klingon
General -- Matthias Hues
Nanclus --
Darryl Henriques
Sleepy Klingon
-- David Orange
Military Aide
-- Judy Levitt
Adc -- Shakti
Crewman Dax --
Michael Synde
Dmitri
Valtane -- Jeremy Roberts
Colonel West --
Rene Auberionois