Friday 03 September 2010

To Attain the All

From the bridge of the Enterprise, the crew is studying a group of artificial looking planets in orbit around a star "like pearls on a string." Kirk is awed over a civilization that can move planets around as though they were billiard balls. Xon points out that there is no energy or life ,readings, and that the ruins are actually billions of years old. Suddenly they vanish from the sector of the galaxy they were in, and find themselves in what is described as a "chaotic rainbow maelstrom universe of swirling colors."

The bridge crew attempts to sort out the facts so that they can get their bearings. Uhura tries to communicate with Starfleet Command, but these efforts are fruitless. No transmissions will go out and none are received. Ship sensors are unable to determine their location. Scotty, in the meantime, is shocked to find that somehow the matter/antimatter nacelles are actually composed of a third state of matter. The result is that he can't tell if the warp drive is capable of functioning or not. They soon determine that the only thing functioning properly is the life support system. Everything else is in utter chaos.

A bald, blue skinned alien, who identifies himself as The Prince, suddenly appears on the bridge. He is the last of the First Ones, the ancient race discussed at the outset which had the ability to rearrange entire solar systems to suit their whim. Kirk is incredulous, demanding to know exactly what is going on. The Prince explains that he is responsible for their being here and that this area of space has been designed to teach the galaxy of the Lost Ones, if they can prove themselves worthy of "Attaining the All." Decker and Xon, as representatives of Earth and Vulcan, are invited to come down to the planetoid so that they can attain the aforementioned knowledge. Kirk requests that the Enterprise be freed as a sign of good faith. Xon interjects that the alien is showing no signs of life. The Prince disagrees, explaining that he has moved beyond living as a mortal defines the word. Again the captain demands the freedom of his ship, but The Prince counters that the only way for the Enterprise to leave is for the knowledge of the Lost Ones to be imparted to them. If Kirk decides that his people are not destined to attain the all, then the starship will remain exactly where it is for all eternity. It is decided that there is no choice in the matter. Decker, Xon and The Prince are instantly gone.

Reappearing in the maze-like interior of the planetoid, The Prince tells the pair that they must maneuver their way through it and reach the primary computer banks where the knowledge is awaiting them. If they are able to do this, then it will prove their worthiness to obtain the prize which lies in waiting. With that, The Prince vanishes and they find themselves upside down on the "immaterial" ceiling. Decker begins to approach the situation logically, while Xon tries to study it through human intuition. As a result, they find themselves right­sideup. When The Prince asks if they have begun to learn, they find themselves nodding in the affirmative. In Enterprise sickbay, McCoy and Chapel have gotten into a heated argument over the prognosis of a patient. In the midst of their fight, The Prince appears before them, explaining that they should merge closer with each other. After a moment's time, McCoy begins saying things which sound a bit like what Chapel would say, and vice versa. The Prince seems quite pleased.

Cutting back and forth between the maze and the Enterprise, the treatment informs us that everybody seems to be switching personality traits to some degree. The only one unaffected by all this is Kirk, and this is chalked up to the loneliness of command. As a result, he sees what is happening and realizes that he hasgot to move quickly to stop it before the results are disastrous.

Gambling, Kirk informs The Prince, wherever he may be, that if contact is not made with Decker and Xon, then he will destroy the Enterprise and all the people aboard her. In response The Prince states that Kirk has won, but communication must be made telepathically through the minds of Xon and Ilia. On the bridge she begins to speak in Xon's voice, which allows the Vulcan to speak to Kirk and hear through Ilia's ears. Xon tells Kirk that they are nearing their goal. In the background, Uhura mouths these words as well. It seems that she too has become a part of this psychic link-up. Kirk wants to speak to Decker, and the commander begins to speak through the Deltan's mouth. Using the father-son relationship between them, Kirk is partially successful in bringing Decker out of this euphoric state of being. At that moment, the Enterprise lurches and The Prince states that only a mental link-up between the captain and Scotty can save the vessel. This is done, and they are successful. Suddenly it seems as though the entire group is locked in the same link. Every time Kirk proposes a question, they all respond in unison. The captain continues in his attempt to keep Decker from falling completely under the influence of the mind-link.

In the maze, Xon, Decker and The Prince enter the central chamber of the planetoid. There they find "an eerily glowing globe about twice the size of a basketball on a plain ped­estal" (sounds remarkably like Sargon in "Return to Tomorrow"). Xon places his hands against the globe, and it is suddenly apparent that he is undergoing an incredible experience. Decker seems to be feeling the same thing. The Prince appears on the bridge, and the entire crew turns to Kirk and in unison explains that the All has been attained. A moment later the, truth comes forth, a line at a time from each of the bridge crew. They reveal that The Prince is only a holographic image generated from the globe, which explains why he has been able to appear in more than one place at the same time. The First Ones, which were mentioned earlier, gave up both their bodies and identities to become godlike minds–the All, which is based within the globe that Xon had made contact with. The real plan called for the Enterprise to be merged with the All, and then the All, having acquired physical bodies, would be able to go deep into space and merge with all intelligent beings in the galaxy. The Prince thinks this is fair, because although humanoid life will lose its individuality, it will gain immortality. Now it is Kirk's turn to attain the All, or he will die. The bridge crew approaches him menacingly. Kirk begins to appeal to Will Decker, trying to convince him that he should retain his humanity and not let the All do this.

Still in the maze, but having heard the captain's words, Decker struggles within himself. Finally he touches the globe and is filled with "unholy ecstasy." He removes his hands, still partially himself, and vanishes. He materializes in a corridor near Kirk and joins the others in pursuing him. Once more Kirk tries desperately to remind him of who and what he is. Decker struggles again, and finally manages to snap himself out of the mind-link.

They proceed to engineering where they get into a fight with Scorh. The stress of this battle snaps the chief engineer from the link as well. The trio fight their way to the transporter room, sealing the door behind them. Decker, believing he remembers the proper coordinates, suggests that if they beam the globe contafning the All deep into space, den it will be helplessly out of contact with the planetoid, which is its source of power.

The crew breaks through the door and is moving in for the kill, when the globe and Xon are beamed aboard the ship. The Enterprise is abruptly back in its own space, and the crew swiftly returns to normal.

Some time later, back on the bridge, Kirk, Xon and Decker are debating over how they should dispose of the globe. Xon suggests that, logically, the globe should be dispersed into space, thus putting an absolute end to its power. Kirk disagrees. "Maybe we can teach the First Ones a lesson in something that they with all their knowledge haven't attained yet–mercy," he says.

Scotty is ordered to beam the globe, in one piece, towards the Andromeda galaxy. Considering that it will take billions of years for it to get there, Kirk hopes that it will provide the All with an opportunity to learn about mercy and humility.

There is a certain attraction in the crew attempting to attain the all–a promise of greatness. The only problem with Norman Spinrad's tale is that it's too similar to "Return to Tomorrow," and it is a bit disconcerting to see the repetition of ideas. Still, one can assume that Spinrad would have done a highly creative job of developing this treatment into a full fledged teleplay that would branch off in different directions.

In a letter to Producer Harold Livingston dated July 29, 1977, Spin­rad detailed his initial thoughts concerning To Attain the All. In that version, Kirk and Xon discover an artificial planet and beam over to it, where they learn that in actuality it is a living computer. A search for ancient knowledge begins, with the Vulcan believing that this will give him the opportunity to eclipse his predecessor, Mr Spock, in knowledge and wisdom (of course one must question how sympathetic the audience would be to a Vulcan driven by such human emotion).

According to this document, Kirk and Xon go through much the same motions that the others did in the full treatment, and they "overcome strange pitfalls which sometimes pit them against each other, pick up odd bits of new knowledge, develop telepathic powers, go through subtle personality changes and become more and more like the alien race itself, particularly the Vulcan." McCoy, via the communicator, continues to remind Kirk of his humanity, much as the captain did Decker in the treatment. Xon has fallen completely under the spell of the All, and Kirk is the only one who can keep him from bringing this alien presence aboard the ship. Kirk partially merges with the computer entity, while still managing to hold on to his own identity. Scotty beams them to safety and the planetoid, perhaps out of hopelessness, self destructs; its knowledge lost forever.

On August 4, 1977, Gene Roddenberry wrote a memo to Livingston which said, in part, "We could use any ideas (which) might make this story work. Spinrad is brilliant and he is onto the right thing." Negatively speaking, he noted that the production probably could notafford the maze as described. "Also," he wrote, "it is largely a two-man story with them interacting with a 'hidden power.' It is hardly action-adventure. The jeopardy is mostly intellectual."

The entire Star Trek II company was very excited by Spinrad's full treatment. Roddenberry in particular had positive feedback, suggesting that perhaps the alien power could sway the Enterprise crew over by offering to give the individual whatever it was that they desired most. This, he pointed out, was similar but different to the premise of the original Star Trek's first season episode, "The Naked Time." Unfortunately, this idea was never taken any further, as the series itself was to be dropped shortly thereafter.

"They were going to do a two hour pilot," said Spinrad, recalling his involvement with Star Trek II, "and commissioned X number of scripts and Y number of treatments. To Attain the All was a treatment that never went any further, and they went the movie route instead and threw out all the scripts and treatments. I don't remember where the idea came from, except that I've always been fascinated with the high mind concept, which I have dealt with in books. It would have made a great TV piece because it's all in the acting. They all take on each other's characteristics which is something really weird and strange that wouldn't be as interesting in a novel, but would as a film or play. Something oral. Something with acting."