How they could've fixed the whole thing in the reshoot.
The movie is unchanged up until the point where Kirk and Picard leave the Nexus and confront Soran. At which point, they ultimately fail to stop the mad El-Aurian, the missile still goes off and they wind up right back in the Nexus.
“Well,” Kirk remarked, “that didn’t work.”
“We’re picking the wrong time period,” Picard surmised, “but I can’t just throw him in the brig without some justification.”
“Wait a minute,” Kirk said, “didn’t you say he was on the Enterprise-B?”
“Yes, when it encountered the Nexus, and you were…”
Kirk ignored the last bit, “Captain, go back to whatever point you want before this mess started. I’ve got an idea that just might fix everything.”
Picard paused, then said, “I hope you know what you’re doing.”
“So do I.”
The two men shook hands. “Good luck, Captain,” Picard said.
“You, too, Captain.”
The screen goes white, as we leave the Nexus for…
Sickbay on the Enterprise-B. A frantic and bloodied Soran struggled with Chekov. “No! Don’t you see, I’ve got to get back!”
A hand clamped down on Soran’s shoulder and spun him around. He found himself staring into the intense eyes of Captain Kirk.
“Come with me,” Kirk said.
“Keptin?”
“Not now, Chekov,” as Kirk hurried the confused Soran out of the crowded sickbay.
The Enterprise-B is rocked violently by another discharge from the Nexus, as Kirk and Soran reach the main deflector control room.
“You understand what you have to do?” Kirk asked.
“Yes, Captain,” Soran said, still slightly frantic, but with a fresh determination. “Thank you.”
“Don’t mention it, now GO!”
Kirk watched from the doorway as Soran quickly made the adjustments to the defelctor.
“Cap’n,” Scotty said over the intercom, “we need that deflector pulse in one minute or we’re all dead!”
“Now you know how it feels,” Kirk said under his breath, then louder, “Almost ready, stand by!”
Soran finished the adjustments, then stepped back, and turned to face the forward bulkhead, his arms outstretched in anticipation.
“NOW, SCOTTY!” Kirk yelled as he sprinted down the corridor.
The graviton pulse lanced out from the Enterprise-B’s deflector dish, breaking the hold of the Nexus on the ship. As the ship pulls away, one last tendril reached out and took a ragged bite out of the secondary hull.
Scotty came lumbering around the corner to see Kirk looking out into gash in the hull, just beyond the environmental force field that stood between them and the hard vacuum of open space.
“Are ye all right, Cap’n?”
“I’m fine, Scotty.”
Scotty looked out into the void. “Was there anyone in there?”
“Yeah, one of the El-Aurians.”
“Poor soul.”
“He’ll be fine.”
Scott looked at his captain like he’d just grown a second head.
“I’ll explain later.”
Harriman and Chekov came running down the corridor.
“Captain Harriman,” Kirk said, “What do you say we get this ship back to Earth and these refugees some proper medical care? I’ve got a few choice words for the headquarters genius who decided to send this ship out with only half her systems installed…”
Flash forward seventy-eight years, the bridge of the Enterprise-D.
“Message coming in for you, Captain,” Worf reported. “Your brother, thanking you for your warning about the malfunctioning heating unit.”
“Thank you, Mr. Worf,” Picard said, suppressing a smile.
Counselor Troi gave him a look, sensing his emotional uptick. “Something you’d like to talk about, Captain?”
“Later, Counselor.”
“We should start getting ready,” Riker said, “Mr. Worf’s promotion ceremony is in just a couple hours.”
Picard heard the Klingon growl.
“Number One, perhaps we should rethink the scenario for Mr. Worf’s promotion. After all, it is his party.”
Worf let out a sigh of relief. “I will have an alternative prepared within the hour.”
“No hurry, Mr. Worf, and no need for theatrics if you don’t want them. If you want to go with a simple ceremony in Ten Forward, that will quite all right.”
“Thank you, Captain. I will make arrangements with Guinan.”
“Mr. Data, how long until we reach the Armagosa Array?”
“ETA two hours, fifteen minutes at our current speed.”
“Very good. You have the conn, Number One. I’ll be in my quarters, following up on that message from my brother.”
The Enterprise-D sails off, movie ends, everybody’s happy.
