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18			    BALANCE OF TERROR
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WRITER: Paul Schneider

GUESTS: Mark Lenard (Romulan Commander)
	Paul Comi
	Lawrence Montaigne
	John Warburton
	Stephen Mines
	Barbara Baldavin
	Garry Walberg

AIRED:	December 15, 1966

HACK-MAN rating: .440
Usenet rating:   .809

QUOTES:
=======

 - "We are of a kind, you and I.  [Under  other circumstances] I could have
   called you friend."  --Romulan Centurion
 - "[Scotty, you've earnwed your pay for the week.]" --Kirk (and/or in "The
   Doomsday Machine")


			    BALANCE OF TERROR

PLOT:
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Kirk matches wits against the Romulan commander,  trying to  guess his next
moves, after  following  a  shadow  into the  neutral zone  near where some
outposts were destroyed.

Now the  Romulans  have  a  cloaking device  and superior  weapons, but the
Enterprise has superior speed (to  the point  that they  can almost out-run
the photon torpedoes [or were these just Romulan energy  disruptors?]!)  An
Enterprise crew member (Mr  Styles) is  prejudiced against  Spock when they
see that Romulans look like Vulcans.  The two races were once a single race
according to Spock.

FACTS:
======
 - Astrodidium is the hardest metal known to science.
 - Enterprise phasers are short bursts like photon torpedoes.
 - Uhura takes over navigation.
 - Mr Styles is this week's dork.
 - Neutral zone outposts 2(?), 2, 4, and 8 were trashed by the Romulan ship
   before  the  Enterprise was able to engage  (#4 was the one they saw get
   destroyed on the viewer).
 - Karl says this is the  first encounter with  the Romulans.   I think the
   show said it is the first time any  Federation people have *seen* a Rom-
   ulan,  but that  the Earth  and the Federation fought a nuclear war with
   the Romulans 100 years ago (before they had viewer screens).
 - The "Bridge  Crew"  at Princeton think it is the first encounter between
   the species to occur in several decades.

OPINIONS:
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Would have been better without Styles, but it introduced a  good enemy, new
technology, and a further look into Vulcan history.