Saturday 04 February 2012

Lord Bobby’s Obsession

The Enterprise is en route to deliver life vaccines to the dying colony on Hathor-17, when it detects a derelict vessel called the Niobe. Radio signals are detected, but they simply cannot stop. They do not have the time.

At that moment, both Sulu and Illa note that something strange is happening. It seems that a tractor beam of some sort is being emitted from the other vessel and it is acting as a kind of "grappling hook," which, as a result, is creating a drag that causes the starship to slow down. Deflectors are useless. Uhura attempts communication, but there is no sensible response. The signals, which are described as "incoherent," are decoded, and all signs seem to point to the fact that it is actually a 19th century folksong. Just then, the Enterprise comes to a complete halt. There is no choice but to send a boarding party over to investigate. Things go from bad to worse when they realize that the Niobe's tractor beam is actually feeding off the sta­ship's engines, which are threatening to overheat.

Kirk has the computer give him a history of the smaller vessel, and he learns that the Niobe was a prototype sent out from Earth 20 years earlier, and that it has been equipped with a doomsday device to prevent its information from falling into the wrong hands. It had only been a short matter of time after its initial launch when it encountered, and was damaged by, a Klingon cruiser. The captain's dilemma is that the ship cannot be destroyed for fear of unleashing its awesome destructive power, but they must somehow find out what is controlling it.

Decker is in the transporter room, beaming over with the boarding party. He is horrified to discover that only Jennifer York, to whom he has been recently engaged, is transporting. Taking a dangerous risk, he jumps into the beam and shares her platform. They materialize on the Niobe. Decker attempts to contact the Enterprise, but is unable to because of a force field. Seeing no alternatives, they begin to make their way through the ship. En route they encounter "a number of nasty little shocks or tricks," and it rapidly becomes apparent that they are beginning to fall under a hypnotic spell of some kind which is leading them towards the bridge of the ship.

Once there, they are introduced to Lord Bobby of Yorkshire, who claims responsibility for all that they have been through. This person is dressed in Edwardian style, and claims that he is lonely for someone like Jennifer, whose voice he heard from the Enterprise bridge. He deems her a kindred spirit. Outraged, Decker explains that they were distracted from a mission which could literally mean life or death to a colony of people.

Realizing that his reasoning may not be strong enough for the humans, Lord Bobby utilizes his hypnotic abilities to convince them that he is actually suffering from a tropical fever, and that he desperately requires the attention of a physician. Decker asks him about the doomsday device, and is told that Lord Bobby had stowed away on the Niobe and stepped out into the open after a time to find that he was the only one on board. Apparently the crew had jettisoned the device, so any fears are groundless.

Within moments, Decker can sense the growing bond between Jennifer and Lord Bobby. According to the treatment we "also begin to note a subtle evasiveness about Lord Bobby, as well as a tendency not to let you get too close to him." Decker suddenly finds that he can contact Kirk, and is given permission to beam Lord Bobby on board the Enterprise so that the man can receive medical attention. For reasons that aren't explained in any detail, Bobby seems to lose his hypnotic hold for just an instant, and Decker sees him as a "clammy humanoid slug," while Jennifer doesn't. Full power is exuded again, and the monstrous image is gone.

Kirk accompanies Lord Bobby to sickbay and begins questioning him. In the meantime, the Enterprise has been able to break free of the tractor beam and is moving straight ahead. Ilia is shocked to find that the Niobe actually seems to be following them, and persists even after Sulu implements evasive maneuvers. Back in sickbay, Kirk, now under the alien's hypnotic abilities, accepts his strange story and "sympathizes" with Bobby's desire to want to return to Yorkshire.

Xon has been attempting to figure out exactly how the Niobe is following them when there is no one on board to pilot her. He develops several theories and proceeds to sickbay so that he may inform Kirk. Arriving, the Vulcan sees Lord Bobby for what he really is, and gets the captain out of the room so that he can explain that he has been under some strange form of alien hypnosis, to which only Xon seems to be immune (for which we're never told the reason).

Recognizing his own limitations in this particular situation, Kirk asks Xon to take charge of Lord Bobby. The Vulcan's primary concern is to stop the Niobe from tagging behind them. The alien proclaims that he has nothing to do with the other ship, while at the same time realizing that somehow Xon is immune to his power. To regain the upper hand, he uses his telepathic abilities to have the Niobe re-engage its tractor beam, thus stopping the Enterprise once again.

Ilia turns out to be immune to Bobby's hypnosis as well, so it is she and the Vulcan who realize that he is obviously seeking something. Logically, the longer the Enterprise is forced to remain immobile, the worse the situation with the colonists will get and the more likely it will be that the Enterprise will bring the alien to Yorkshire.

Kirk comes up with the idea of using Jennifer to persuade lord Bobby to release the Enterprise. Naturally Decker is nottoo pleased with this, but he follows orders. Jennifer approaches Bobby, and the two engage in a conversation where it is established that in sofar as he can possibly be human, he is in love with her. Opening up his heart to her, he explains that he spent his childhood on "a planet colonized by Earth people from the Brittanic Commonwealth, whose 'superiority' and 'style' he had always admired." He had stowed away on the Niobe in the hope that he would someday be brought to the planet Earth.

The author explains that despite the fact he has been manipulating the crew, this exchange of dialogue would create sympathy for Lord Bobby for the simple reason that he is merely attempting to fulfill a dream. Essentially he wants to be human.

Jennifer tries to explain, despite his lack of understanding, how important it is for them to follow through with their mission. Ilia is disgusted by the fact that the human woman is unable to see through the hypnosis, and still remains somewhat smitten by the alien. Meanwhile, the situation on Hathor-17 is worse. Kirk threatens to destroy the Niobe if the Enterprise is notfreed. Lord Bobby merely laughs in response, stating matter of factly that the Enterprise would be destroyed as well. Kirk makes another attempt to board the smaller craft to disengage the tractor beam. Decker's landing party is unable to beam away.

The commander suggests that they use a shuttlecraft which he feels might be able to bypass the force field (why he would think this is never explained). Kirk agrees with this, but wants an unmanned craft to launch first for safety reasons. The shuttle takes off, approaches the Niobe and is destroyed. Lord Bobby laughs this off, but it isobvious that he hasgrown somewhat weaker.

In a confrontation in the briefing room, Lord Bobby suggests that the Enterprise travel backwards in time, drop him and Jennifer off in 19th Century Victorian England and then proceed back to their mission, which will actually gain them time.

"Out of the question," responds Kirk. "It is against standing orders to tamper with Earth's past history, particularly by introducing an alien life form."

Angry, Lord Bobby uses his powers to make everyone, with the exception of Xon and Ilia, feel as though their blood is freezing. Perhaps this will convince them. When they are on the verge of death, he releases them and imposes a 15 minute deadline for a decision to be made. As the alien departs the room, McCoy points out that it seems that he desperately needs to restore his powers.

"Maybe," suggests McCoy, "if we can somehow destroy his dream simply by letting it come up against the jagged edges of reality . . . "

This makes sense to Kirk. Xon and Scotty will continue to work on a way to escape from the Niobe, while Jennifer will continue to attempt to make him see their side of the situation. She takes him to the recreaction room, where holographic images reveal what England looks like in this current time period. Studying them on a viewscreen, Decker is concerned about her feelings for the alien. Will she soon put her feelings above her loyalty to the ship?

All attempts at disarming the Niobe's hold on the Enterprise meet with failure. At the same time, communiqués from Starfleet Command constantly remind Kirk of how serious the situation is on Hathor-17. It is Chekov who suggests that they might have to kill Lord Bobby. Kirk disagrees, pointing out that the alien was probably smart enough to rig the doomsday device in such a way that only his telepathic abilities will keep it from detonating.

In the recreaction room, Lord Bobby watches the images that Jennifer has programmed into the "holovision," but this does not deter him in the least. "Nothing," he says, "could be nobler than to die for the preservation of such a way of life." Jennifer is somewhat distraught, but, strangely enough, finds herself drawn even closer to him.

Kirk and Decker burst into the room, with the captain claiming that he challenges Lord Bobby for Jennifer's love. He asks the woman if she is actually in love with a human being who calls himself Lord Bobby, or is it in reality an alien being who is making her believe that he is human? Jennifer does not care one way or the other. Kirk suggests that if what she says is true, that the alien reveal his true self. Lord Bobby looks at her pleadingly, quite aware of human standards of beauty, and reverts to his true self. Despite being trained to accept a variety of alien life forms, there is nonetheless the slightest trace of horror and disgust in her eyes. Lord Bobby resumes his human form, and there are "tears of bitterness in his eyes." The only reason he had not activated the doomsday device was because he did not wish to destroy this woman he had fallen in love with.

Suddenly he grows contemptuous of human hypocrisy, and he reassumes his real body. With death soon to come, he has no qualms at being himself. Jennifer steps forward and explains that if he will spare the Enterprise, then she will go back to the Niobe and share his dreams of Yorkshire for all eternity. He is touched by this, but there is a certain level of suspicion in him as well. Knowing his sense of honour, she offers to marry him to prove that she means what she says. The recreaction room is transformed into a replica of a village church, "familiar to Lord Bobby from something he might have read in Tro­lope or Hardy or Thackeray." He agrees, but remains on his guard.

While this is going on, Xon and Scotty continue their attempts to find a way of protecting themselves from the doomsday device. Xon believes that by channeling all power, including gravity and recycled air, to the shields, they would be able to gene­ate enough power to protect the Enterprise.

The wedding is taking place, and during the ceremony Kirk objects, explaining to Lord Bobby that there is no longer a threat to them. His options are to beam back over to the Niobe or watch the vessel be destroyed. The captain shows him Xon's computer projections, and the alien realizes that he has indeed lost. He is more devastated by the fact that he has lost all faith in the thing called human love. Jennifer says nothing, and this adds to his bitterness. He decides to beam back over to the Niobe. Everyone is shocked when Jennifer is determined to cany through with her commitment to Lord Bobby. She will go back to the Niobe with him, and do her best to provide him with love. Touched, he reverts to his human persona.

Decker's eyes fill with tears as Jennifer and Lord Bobby prepare to beam over to the other craft. Lord Bobby sees the look shared by the two humans and, in his own estimation of nobility, nudges her off the transporter platform and "returns to his sterile, untroubled world of pure Illusion."

"Lord Bobby" has some interesting ideas and is a touching tale of honour and sacrifice, dealing with the age­old theme of "beauty being only skin deep." Lord Bobby seems somewhat reminiscent of Trelene in "The Squire of Gothos" episode of the original series. One glaring problem with the story is the lack of explanation for Lord Bobby's waning power. Why is this happening? And what will he do to replenish it?

Gene Roddenberry had a number of questions as well. For instance why would an alien get this obsession about 19th Century England? Even if he had survived on a Klingon vessel, how could this be the only Earth history on board? How can a vessel older than the Enterprise possibly manage to hold the starship? "These questions," wrote Roddenberry, "will have to be answered in the full outline before we can even consider putting it into script."

Some time later the Basic concept of the story was altered, and it worked far more effectively. What follows is a brief recap: Starfleet sensors detect a possible intrusion of the Neutral Zone by a Romulan vessel. The Enterprise is ordered to investigate the situation. En route the starship encounters Lord Bobby's smaller craft. Uhura picks up singing, but all attempts at communication meet with failure.

A boarding party beams over to the derelict, and they immediately determine that this is an alien spacecraft, which is why it isso shocking to see Lord Bobby (who is described pretty much the same way he was in the step outline). He explains that he is actually Lord Robert Standish, the third Earl of Lancashire who was kidnapped from Earth by aliens at the beginning of the 20th Century. He had gotten involved in a space battle of some sort, and he was left with no way to get back to Earth. Out of a "matter of principle" he killed his captors, and has spent the rest of the time with his books of English literature.

Lord Bobby is overjoyed when he realizes that nearly the entire complement of crewmembers come from Earth, and he wants nothing more than for them to take him home. As before, he is instantly smitten by Jennifer, and he does his best to charm her. She is moved by his efforts.

Obviously this story is too much to believe, if for no other reason than it would place Bobby's age at about 400. There hasgot to be another answer, and Xon hopes he will find it via a computer chip he discovers on the other ship. If it can be modified for the Enterprise's computers, perhaps it will shed some light on the situation. Once the boarding party has returned to the Enterprise and the investigation begins, they suddenly find themselves surrounded by five Romulan vessels, which launch an immediate attack. The warp drive is disabled.

The Romulan Commander states that the Enterprise had entered the Neutral Zone, which was in direct violation of the peace treaty between their two peoples. The Federation crew is to be considered prisoners of war and are ordered into Romulan territory "for questioning and detention." Due to the fact that the warp drive is nonfunctional, the Enterprise cannot resist the Romulan tractor beam which pulls them along. Kirk argues that they had been on a humanitarian rescue mission, which is the reason for their entering the Neutral Zone in the first place. The commander will hear nothing of this. He does not relish this newfound peace between the Federation and his people, and he feels that this violation is proof that the humans cannot be trusted. The only thing Kirk is able to do is convince the Romulans to tow-in Lord Bobby's ship as proof of his story.

Xon begins working on adapting Bobby's computer to that of the Enterprise, and Kirk orders Bobby to be examined by Doctor McCoy. While this is going on, the history section of the vessel is told to look back to the beginning of the 20th Century to see if there is any record of a Lord Robert Standish. Kirk also turns his attention back to the Romulans, feeling that they have fallen into a "carefully engineered trap."

The results of McCoy's medical exam. come through, and it seems that Bobby is a normal 30 year old, but closer scrutiny reveals that his DNA most definitely is not human. History reports that there was a Robert Standish who mysteriously vanished in the year 1902. So there does seem to be some validity to his story.

Following this success, Xon states that he has managed to tap into the alien's computers. It turns out that Bobby had been a scientist on his native planet and was working on "a most complex and dangerous piece of weaponry when the strain of it had resulted in his race's equivalent of a nervous breakdown." His people had a method of dealing with insanity in which a mentally deficient person would be "dropped" into a society in which such behaviour would be a natural, painless therapy for the afflicted until such time as they were cured. Bobby had been going through such a process, when he was withdrawn before being completely cured. The hopes of his people were that he could somehow save them from destruction. To save time in doing whatever it was that he was supposed to do (and, again, we are never told exactly what), his ship cut through Romulan territory and was attacked. Xon adds that Federation records do concur with the fact that Bobby's planet was destroyed.

Memory drugs are administered to the alien, and his mind begins to clear. According to the outline he is horrified on "two counts." First, because he is not really English and, second, he feels at least partially responsible for what had happened to his planet. His people were counting on him, and he failed. In the hopes of redeeming himself, he discusses with Xon the possibility of turning his ship into a bomb so powerful that it will be able to destroy all five Romulan vessels, thus allowing the Enterprise to escape. The timing, he adds, is critical, otherwise the Enterprise herself might be destroyed in the explosion.

Lord Bobby also states that in order to carry this plan through, he will have to revert to his true "repugnant" self so that he can operate the other ship, and he will have to pilot it until the moment of detonation, which means that he will probably be sacrificing himself. Nonetheless, honour demands it. Bobby and Xon beam over to the derelict.

Jennifer, who, as in the original draft, is smitten with Bobby, learns of his plan, and beams over via an auxiliary transporter. She searches him out and finds him in his true form. Horrified when he sees her, Bobby begins to make his way towards the chamber that will change him back into human form, but Xon restrains him, pointing out that there is not enough time for such cosmetics. He needs to hold Jennifer, and throws the Vulcan to the side. Overcoming the initial shock, Jennifer says that she would rather hold him in his true form, and accept him as he really is. She still loves him no matter what he looks like. The nobility and honour of his heart is what attracted her to him in the first place.

Back on the Enterprise, Decker states that according to the records, there is no way for the derelict craft to have drifted into the Neutral Zone. In other words, somebody had to have deliberately placed it there. The squadron of Romulan ships had used it to bait a trap, and Decker thinks Kirk should confront the Romulan Commander with this fact. The captain concurs, but he wants to wait until repairs on the warp drive have been completed.

Some time later, the warp drive is ready and Lord Bobby's bomb is rigged. The plan calls for the Enterprise to go from sub-light to warp eight instantly, and before the Romulans can react they will be destroyed by the explosion.

Kirk finally confronts the Romulan Commander with the realization that this whole thing had been a trap. The Commander congratulates him, but points out that he will never live to tell anyone about it. The Romulan vessels move in for the kill, but Enterprise warps away and Bobby's device explodes, destroying everyone there. Kirk orders a computer log of these events to be dispatched to the high command of the Romulans so the reality of the situation will be made clear.

The second version of "Lord Bobbý' works a lot better than the original, answering many of the questions posed by Gene Roddenberry and others. This time everything seems much more logical, and Bobby actually comes across as heroic rather than a scoundrel. In addition, his sense of honour remains intact. The Romulans would no doubt have added an element of suspense if this outline had gone to script, and the episode would have given this highly neglected race an opportunity to strut their stuff.