Tomorrow and the Stars

"Tomorrow and the Stars" was the first of 13 regular episode scripts prepared for the abortive development of the television series Star Trek: Phase II. Although the episode went unproduced, a detailed synopsis was published in the reference work Phase II: The Lost Series.

In this story, in the Phase II continuity, a transporter malfunction trapped Captain James T. Kirk near Pearl Harbor in December 1941.

Publisher's description

 * Introduction, The First Thirteen Episodes
 * These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise… on its second five-year mission... to boldly go where no one has gone before... again.

Summary
A battle with a Klingon ship left the Enterprise transporter damaged and Pavel Chekov suffering from exposure to Iridium-7. When the ship reached Earth orbit, Captain James T. Kirk also began to exhibit symptoms from the radiation. Montgomery Scott and Xon believed the transporter was reasonably safe, and since any delay could kill Chekov, he and Kirk were beamed down for treatment with Christine Chapel and a medical team. Everyone arrived except Kirk.

Kirk reformed in a transparent state in the back yard of the house of Elsa Kelly, wife of an officer in the United States Navy. She was spooked by his appearance, but told him that they were in Honolulu, Hawaii. She accepted that he was not a spy and sympathized with his inability to touch or eat anything. When Richard Kelly returned early that evening, Kirk hid in their automobile and rode with them to an officer's dance. While Richard sought General to discuss his fears of an impending war, Elsa and Kirk went for a walk on the beach. Military police officers approached them, but retreated when they noticed Kirk's transparency.

The two returned to Elsa's house, with Kirk revealing he was the commanding officer of a starship from the future. Aboard the Enterprise, Scott, Xon and Willard Decker discovered that Kirk was transported through time to Pearl Harbor the day before the Japanese attack in December 1941. Scott established contact with Kirk — the transporter could not beam him back but it did restore his opacity. Kirk and Elsa hugged each other.

They left the house to go to one of her friends on the mainland, but were spotted by Richard. Once at the friend's house, Kirk and Elsa tried using 1941 equipment to enhance his communicator. While going for a walk on the beach, they realized that they loved each other. Meanwhile, believing Kirk to be a spy, Richard and officers from the Office of Naval Intelligence entered the house and found the communicator. Elsa and Kirk fled in her car.

Scott and Xon recreated the transporter malfunction and were able to beam Leonard McCoy and Decker within two kilometers of Kirk. Kirk and Elsa parked and overheard the sounds of war planes approaching. She wanted to warn her husband and the rest of his crew stationed on the USS Arizona (BB-39), but Kirk resisted, wary of altering history. As Bombs started falling, she left to help, just as McCoy and Decker arrived. The Starfleet officers beamed back to the Enterprise.

Later, Counselor Ilia visited Kirk in his quarters and used Deltan techniques to help Kirk dwell on the bright side of his experiences with his lost love.

Characters

 * Christine Chapel • Pavel Chekov • Willard Decker • Elsa Kelly • Richard Kelly • James T. Kirk • Leonard McCoy • Montgomery Scott • Hikaru Sulu • Nyota Uhura • Xon

• Ilia

Starships and vehicles

 * automobile • USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) (refit heavy cruiser) • unnamed Klingon starships

airplanes • USS Arizona (BB-39)

Locations

 * Earth (Honolulu • Pearl Harbor • Hawaii)

Races and cultures

 * Deltan • Human (American • Japanese) • Klingon • Vulcan

States and organizations

 * Office of Naval Intelligence • United States Navy • Starfleet (command division • operations division • sciences division)

Science and technology

 * bomb • communicator • main computer • microtape • poison • telephone • time travel • transporter • tricorder • universal translator • weapon

Ranks and titles

 * admiral • captain • chief engineer • commander • commanding officer • counselor  • doctor • • ensign • Federation Starfleet ranks (2270s) • lieutenant • military police officer • officer • rank • spy • Starfleet ranks

Other references

 * 1930s • 7 December 1941 • bridge • Captain's log, USS Enterprise (NCC-1701), 2273 • coordinates • dimension • flower • fruit • Iridium-7 • Japanese language • jungle • kilometer • language • minute • mountain • ocean • quarters • radiation • second • space • Starfleet uniform • Starfleet uniform (early 2270s) • starship • time • transporter room • war • week

Background

 * As a springboard, Gene Roddenberry provided an unused story idea from his Genesis II production to writer Larry Alexander. Alexander's first treatment, "Ghost Story", involved Kirk being sent backwards in time on an alien planet and resulted in the deaths of everyone on the surface. Roddenberry liked the time travel element, but suggested that Kirk instead travel to Pearl Harbor. Alexander completed his final draft script on January 18, 1978.
 * Larry Alexander chose to handle Xon as Spock "from a character point of view".
 * The 1980 movie The Final Countdown explored a similar premise. In the film, a freak storm transported the US Navy nuclear aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN-68) near Pearl Harbor on December 6, 1941. The ship's captain, played by Kirk Douglas, also faced the choice whether to alert local authorities of the imminent Japanese attack.
 * In this story, Ilia was introduced as the ship's counselor, a starship role that would be explored further through the character of Deanna Troi.

Related stories

 * – Kirk fell in love with Edith Keeler after time travel to 1930.
 * – Time travel to Earth in 218 BC.
 * – Time travel to Earth in 1855 and 1955.
 * SS TOS (Mind-Sifter) – Another trip to Earth in 1955.
 * SS TOS (Visit to a Weird Planet Revisited) – Time travel to Hollywood, California in 1967.
 * – Time travel to Earth in 1968.
 * – Time travel to Earth in 1969.
 * – Time travel to Earth in 1983.
 * – Time travel to Earth in 1986.
 * – Time travel to Earth in 2045.