- [last lines]
- Capt. Kirk: Captain's Log, stardate 1313.8: add to official losses Doctor Elizabeth Dehner - be it noted she gave her life in performance of her duty; Lieutenant Commander Gary Mitchell, same notation.
- [to Spock]
- Capt. Kirk: I want his service record to end that way; he didn't ask for what happened to him.
- Spock: I felt for him, too.
- Capt. Kirk: [amazed] I believe there's some hope for you after all, Mr. Spock.
- Lt. Mitchell: Hey, man, I remember you back at the Academy; a stack of books with legs! The only thing I ever heard from an upperclassman was, "Watch out for Lt. Kirk! In his class, you either think, or sink!"
- Capt. Kirk: I wasn't THAT bad, was I?
- Lt. Mitchell: If I hadn't aimed that little blond technician at you...
- Capt. Kirk: You what? You... you PLANNED that?
- Lt. Mitchell: Well, you wanted me to think, didn't you? I outlined her whole campaign for her!
- Capt. Kirk: I almost MARRIED her!
- Lt. Mitchell: You better be good to me. I'm getting even better ideas here.
- Mister Spock: He's reading faster now than just a few moments ago. Is that Gary Mitchell, the one you used to know?
- Spock: We'll never reach an Earth base with him aboard. You heard the mathematics of it. In a month, he'll have as much in common with us as we'd have with a ship full of white mice.
- Capt. Kirk: I need a recommendation, not vague warnings.
- Spock: Recommendation one: there's a planet a few light days away from here, Delta Vega. It has a lithium cracking station; we may be able to adapt some of its power packs to our engines.
- Capt. Kirk: And if we can't? We'll be trapped in orbit there. We haven't enough power to blast back out.
- Spock: It is the only possible way to get Mitchell off this ship.
- Capt. Kirk: If you mean strand Mitchell there, I won't do it! That station is fully automated; there's not a soul on the whole planet. Even the ore ships call only once every 20 years!
- Spock: Then you have one other choice: kill Mitchell while you still can.
- Capt. Kirk: [offended] Get out of here.
- Spock: It is your only other choice, assuming you make it while you still have time!
- Capt. Kirk: Will you try, for one moment, to feel? At least act like you got a heart! We're talking about Gary!
- Spock: The captain of the Valiant probably felt the same way, and he waited too long to make his decision. I think we've both guessed that.
- Capt. Kirk: [drained] Set course for Delta Vega.
- [During a game of chess]
- Spock: I'll have you checkmated your next move.
- Kirk: [chuckles] Have I ever mentioned you play an irritating game of chess, Mr. Spock?
- Spock: Irritating? Ah, yes... one of your Earth emotions.
- [Kirk checkmates Spock]
- Kirk: Certain you don't know what irritation is?
- Spock: The fact one of my ancestors married a human female...
- Kirk: Terrible, having bad blood like that.
- Lt. Mitchell: He's a fool. A fool! He'd seen those points and he hadn't noticed their condition.
- Dr. Dehner: How do you know?
- Lt. Mitchell: The image of what he'd seen was still in his mind.
- [Dr. Elizabeth Dehner breathes her last]
- Dr. Dehner: I'm sorry. You can't know what it's like to be almost a god.
- Lt. Mitchell: I don't understand it all yet, but if I keep growing, getting stronger, why, the things I could do! Like maybe a god could do!
- [first lines]
- Capt. Kirk: Captain's log, stardate 1312.4. The impossible has happened. From directly ahead we're picking up a recorded distress signal, a call from a vessel that has been missing for over two centuries.
- [Kirk visits Lockwood in Sickbay]
- Lt. Cmdr. Gary Mitchell: [without turning] Hello, Jim.
- [turning now toward Kirk, amused]
- Lt. Cmdr. Gary Mitchell: Hey, you look worried.
- Capt. Kirk: [humorless smile] I've been worried about you ever since that night on Deneb IV.
- Lt. Cmdr. Gary Mitchell: [chuckles] Yeah, She was nova, that one. Not nearly as many after-effects this time, except for the eyes. They kind of stare back at me when I'm shaving.
- Capt. Kirk: [walking toward the bed] Do you feel any different?
- Lt. Cmdr. Gary Mitchell: Well, in a way I feel better than I've ever felt before in my life. It actually seems to have done me some good.
- Capt. Kirk: How?
- Lt. Cmdr. Gary Mitchell: Well, I'm getting a chance to read some of that long haired stuff you like.
- [hands Kirk some of the library tapes he's been reading]