as the red effulgence fills the room with more of the radiation. McCoy is shoved against the little beast they were examining, and with the speed of a raccoon, the alien creature strikes, in panic. It sinks its tiny fangs into McCoy’s hand.

11 CLOSE UP ON McCOY

as he screams, his eyes squinch shut in pain, and he pulls his hand away from the creature, suddenly thrusting it against his mouth to stop the pain. But we see on the back of the hand, in that fleshy area just behind and between the thumb and first finger, three tiny flaming red dots where the beast has bitten.

MCCOY

(strangled)

The poison…

12 WIDER SHOT—FAVORING SPOCK

as the Enterprise stabilizes. The red glow is still there. McCoy stumbles, begins rocking back and forth as though he is in terrible anguish. Spock tries to help him, but McCoy turns away. His back is to us, and he is twisted over as though shot in the stomach. Then he straightens up sharply, and as Spock moves toward him again he suddenly grabs a long-necked retort from a table and swings it in a whistling arc, crashing it against Spock’s temple. Spock is hurled backward and goes slamming into a bulkhead, hits and falls face forward. The two Enterprise Crewmen, who have, for the most part stayed in the b.g. or moved to assist Spock, now go for McCoy. They grab him from either side, and with startling agility he pulls his arms free and clubs them together. They go down and McCoy turns SUDDENLY TO FACE CAMERA as CAMERA ZOOMS IN on his face:

He has been changed. Not Jekyll-Hyde. More subtle than that. Spots of color, flaming in his cheeks, his eyes quite mad, whirling discs dilated and dark. A very indefinable something wrong that tells us very simply and directly that the poison is in his system and he has gone berserk. He STARES INTO CAMERA several beats, to give us a good look, then PLUNGES INTO CAMERA and

FRAME TO BLACK:

13 ANGLE IN CORRIDOR—McCOY

as BLACK FRAME becomes McCoy RUNNING AWAY FROM CAMERA down the corridor. ALARMS SOUND OVER AND OVER.

14 REVERSE ANGLE—CORRIDOR—McCOY

as he comes DASHING TOWARD CAMERA and CAMERA PANS WITH him as he turns sharply and the door before him sighs open, and he rushes inside. We HEAR Sulu’s VOICE OVER intership comm system:

VOICE OF SULU

(filter)

Security Alert! Find and restrain Dr. McCoy at once. Security Alert!

(repeats this over and over

as action proceeds)