A Star Trek that almost was: Kitumba by John Meredyth Lucas

EXT. SPACE

as the new Enterprise hurtles by, its
speed enormous.

INT. BRIDGE - CLOSE SHOT - UHURA

UHURA rises from the communication station.
CAMERA PANS her across to Kirk. She
holds out her electronic slate.

 UHURA
Signal from Starfleet Command, Captain.
Just decoded.

Kirk studies it, turns to ILIA.

 KIRK
Lieutenant, plot a course to Starfleet
Command.

 ILIA
(surprised)
Star Fleet --
(sees Kirk's expression)
Aye, aye, Sir.

 KIRK
We're ordered to pick up a patient suffering
from radiation burns.

 DECKER
Surely Starfleet has more complete hospital
facilities than --

 KIRK
Yes. And, with all the tension in this part
of the galaxy, there must be a better use
for the Enterprise. But it's an order.

DECKER is about to add something. Seeing
Kirk's expression, he decides against it.

If you've read Star Trek: Phase II: The Lost Series, or Lost Voyages of Trek and The Next Generation, or The Star Trek That Never Was, you've probably wanted to read some of the scripts for that unproduced Phase II series, and not just the ones that ended up being filmed in significantly different forms. For example, "Kitumba," the epic two-parter about the Klingon Empire, which would have shown us something very diferent from the Klingons we later saw in the movies and Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Now, a resourceful Star Trek fan who posts on the TrekBBS as The God Thing has made available the first part of Kitumba, scanned from a copy of the original script, with the second part on the way. You may want to read TGT's posts on the subject. Or you may want to download files 1, 2, and 3 as soon as possible. Either way, we owe TGT and fellow TrekBBS user Lecter, who provided the web space, a lot of thanks for this. Keep it up, guys.

(Now playing: Slits, "Adventures Close to Home," Cut.)