The Shat boldly goes on another trek

LOS ANGELES -- All right, now, we already know how Catherine Hicks felt about that tender little romantic moment in "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home," the one where she shares a gentle kiss with Adm. James T. Kirk and after he says "Beam me up, Scotty," she leaps into his arms and travels with him to the 23rd century.

We remember the wistful tone in her voice when she said that she argued for the scene, "because every farewell should have at least one violin." We know all the mushy stuff. But here is William Shatner to explain the same scene:"You know, Kirk has always had a history of being a bit of a ladies' man. So this wasn't exactly his first kiss in 'Star Trek' history. Actually, it wasn't even so much of a love scene. Romance takes time, and he's in a big hurry to get those humpback whales back to the 23rd century. When you're saving the world, you don't have time to pause and think."

If Adm. Kirk has a girl in every spaceport, Shatner himself apparently makes friends less easily. When asked about what I presumed was the long-standing bond of friendship among the "Star Trek" gang, who are celebrating the 20th anniversary of the first televised voyage of Starship Enterprise, he responded with a rather detached analysis:

"The truth is this. Leonard Nimoy and I are very dear friends. We don't see each other too much socially, but we feel a certain brotherhood, a fondness. Both of us are fond of DeForest Kelley (who plays "Bones" McCoy, the space surgeon). But we see him less. We all had lunch today, laughing and scratching. We share 20 years, if not of soul-binding friendship, then of respect.

"The rest of the cast is more distant. Even while we were making the television series, we would work so hard, we didn't have time to socialize much, and in the intervening years, there was no real association. Making the film was a long, arduous process, and between shots, I preferred to spend most of my time in my dressing room, reading. I didn't see too much of the cast. There wasn't a lot of camaraderie. But with the three of us, it's very real."

Was the friendship between Nimoy and yourself threatened when he became your director for the past two movies? Suddenly one old friend was telling the other what to do.

"We cotton to one another," Shatner said. "We fought the good battles together. We would fight Gene Roddenberry (the TV series' creator) when he was wrong. There'd be a situation like when they wanted me to hold some object in my hand because they wanted to market it as a toy, and I would refuse. Leonard and I stuck together on those fights.

"Then came the day when Leonard was to direct. I was now alone as an actor against management, which Nimoy represented as the director. That was sometimes hard. But in another way it was good, because with Leonard directing, it was like the Enterprise crew had mutinied, and taken control of the ship: We were at last directing our own fates.