- Captain James T. Kirk: The thralls have no freedom, Shahna. You don't think or do anything but what the Providers tell you.
- Shahna: What else would one do?
- Captain James T. Kirk: Love, for one thing.
- Shahna: What is... love?
- Shahna: You... you risked bringing their anger on yourself. Why did you do it?
- Captain James T. Kirk: It's the custom of my people... to help one another when we're in trouble.
- [he kisses her passionately]
- Shahna: And... And this... is this... also helping?
- Captain James T. Kirk: [smiles] You could call it that.
- Shahna: Please... help me once again.
- [and he does]
- Spock: They are not within the confines of this solar system.
- Dr. McCoy: It's been nearly an hour. Can people live that long as disassembled atoms in a transporter beam?
- Spock: I have never heard of a study being done, but it would be a fascinating project.
- Dr. McCoy: Fascinating? Those people are friends of ours out there, if they're still alive.
- Spock: Precisely.
- Dr. McCoy: Well, the odds are not good.
- Spock: No, I would say approximately 400...
- Dr. McCoy: Don't quote odds and don't give me any more dispassionate logic, Mr. Spock, just keep looking for them.
- Spock: I would welcome a suggestion, doctor, even an emotional one, as to where to look.
- Dr. McCoy: The first time you've ever asked me for anything and it has to be an occasion like this.
- Captain James T. Kirk: I didn't realize I was so hungry. Whatever you call this, it was very good.
- Shahna: It is nourishment. We call it that.
- Captain James T. Kirk: Nourishment. Well, that's very practical.
- Galt: You begin, Uhura.
- Uhura: No!
- Galt: It is not allowed to refuse a training exercise.
- Uhura: I don't care whether it's allowed or not. I will not do it.
- Captain James T. Kirk: None of us will do it, Galt.
- Galt: It is part of your training. The Providers wish it.
- Captain James T. Kirk: The devil with the Providers!
- Chekov: Cossacks.
- Spock: Doctor, I do not respond to hunches. No transporter malfunction was responsible for the disappearance. They were not within the Gamma system. A focused beam of extremely high-intensity light was directed into the Gamma system from the trinary system we are now approaching. No known natural phenomena could have caused that beam. Does that clarify the situation?
- Dr. McCoy: No, it doesn't, Mr. Spock. It's still a fancy way of saying that you're playing a hunch.
- Captain James T. Kirk: We're free people. We belong to no one.
- Provider #2: Such spirit. I wager fifteen qualtoos that he is untrainable.
- Provider #3: Twenty quatloos that all three are untrainable.
- Provider #2: Five thousand quatloos that the newcomers will have to be destroyed.
- Captain James T. Kirk: My people pride themselves on being the greatest, most successful gamblers in the universe. We compete for everything: power, fame, women, everything we desire, and it is our nature... to win.
- Captain James T. Kirk: The thralls will be trained?
- Provider #1: They will be trained. We have said it.
- Captain James T. Kirk: I think you'll find it a much more exciting game than the one you've been playing.
- Captain James T. Kirk: Shahna, where were you born?
- Shahna: Born? I have been here always.
- Captain James T. Kirk: Your parents. Where... where are they? Your mother and father.
- Shahna: She who bore me was killed in a freestyle match.
- Captain James T. Kirk: Freestyle?
- Shahna: You will learn all these things.
- Captain James T. Kirk: Captain's log, supplemental. Stardate, unknown. Our strange captivity continues. This planet is called Triskelion. We do not know its location. We do not know who controls it. Its dangers are abundantly clear
- Shahna: Oh, we, too, have mates. When it is time to increase the herd, my provider will select one for me.
- Captain James T. Kirk: On Earth, we select our own mate, someone we care for. On Earth, men and women live together, help each other, make each other happy.
- Shahna: I do not think your words are allowed.
- Provider #3: You and your people are most challenging.
- Provider #2: Yes, most challenging. It was hoped that such new blood would stimulate our stock of thrall. How unfortunate that you must be destroyed.
- Captain James T. Kirk: [closing the terms of a wager] If we lose? We will remain here, the entire crew of the Enterprise, the most stubborn, determined competitors in the universe. We'll become thralls, enter your games, obey your orders without rebellion. You'll be assured of generations of the most exciting wagering you've ever had.
- Provider #1: Your stakes are indeed high, Captain.
- Captain James T. Kirk: Not for true gamesters.
- Provider #2: We will accept your stakes on one condition.
- Captain James T. Kirk: Name it.
- Provider #1: As leader of your people, your spirit seems most indomitable. We suggest you alone, pitted against three contestants of our choosing.
- Captain James T. Kirk: Three against one? Those are pretty high odds.
- Provider #2: Not for true gamesters, Captain.
- Captain James T. Kirk: Your... your terms are unfair.
- Provider #1: On the contrary, they're extremely fair, since your alternative is death.
- Scott: Scott to bridge.
- Spock: Spock here.
- Scott: Mr. Spock, the captain, Lt. Uhura, and Chekov - they vanished. They got onto the transporter platform and they just vanished.
- Spock: I presume you mean they vanished in a manner not consistent with the usual workings of the transporter, Mr. Scott.
- Scott: Why, of course, I mean that. Do you think I'd call you if they just beamed down?
- Spock: Have you reversed controls?
- Scott: I've made all the proper checks: There was nothing, there was no flash of light, nothing. They were gone.
- Spock: Power surge?
- Scott: Not down here. All the dials were right and the transporter was functioning properly.
- Spock: Recheck your equipment, Mr Scott. I'll scan for them on the planet's surface. Spock out.