Why did Vejur's probe attack Spock?

[Captrek]

When Vejur’s probe was reading the computer and Spock smashed the computer console with his fists, the probe attacked Spock. The probe did not return to reading the computer, which indicates either that it had completed its task, or Spock had accomplished his. In either case, why did the probe attack Spock? What logical purpose did it serve? Vejur had no emotions, so it couldn’t have been angry and out for revenge against something it doesn’t even recognize as a life form.

 

[RoJoHen]

V'Ger probably did it to prevent Spock from interfering further.

 

[Captrek]

V'Ger probably did it to prevent Spock from interfering further.

Like I said, either Vejur was finished with the computer, or the damage had been done. If Vejur had continued (or attempted) to scan the computer after attacking Spock, your explanation would fit.

 

[RoJoHen]

V'Ger probably did it to prevent Spock from interfering further.

Like I said, either Vejur was finished with the computer, or the damage had been done. If Vejur had continued (or attempted) to scan the computer after attacking Spock, your explanation would fit.

Or maybe V'Ger was trying to prevent Spock from interfering in anything it was trying to do, not just scanning the computer.

The creatures on board Enterprise were an infestation. V'Ger, even if it was an emotionless machine, would punish/destroy the infestation if it got in the way.

 

[Christopher]

In either case, why did the probe attack Spock? What logical purpose did it serve? Vejur had no emotions, so it couldn’t have been angry and out for revenge against something it doesn’t even recognize as a life form.

I think it's a mistake to characterize the probe's action as an attack. V'Ger didn't see it as an act of violence, merely an act of data collection. The Ilia probe described it as "reduc[ing] to data patterns." When the probe first arrived, Kirk told everyone not to interfere. ("Absolutely I vill not interfere!") So as far as the probe was concerned, those organic bodies around it were just inert objects, not worthy of its attention as it studied the information contained in the machine entity called Enterprise. But then one of those organic bodies demonstrated mobility and damaged its host, interrupting the probe's data download. That demonstrated that the organic bodies were worthy of further investigation, so the probe attempted to take a sample. And it wasn't too picky about which sample it took, since when Ilia got in the way, the probe took her instead of Spock. That makes it pretty clear that it wasn't specifically an act of retaliation against Spock.

 

[Shatmandu]

Vejur had no emotions, so it couldn’t have been angry and out for revenge against something it doesn’t even recognize as a life form.

In the first draft of the script, it says Vejur was still upset after saving all his paper route money for three months and buying this from the guy up the street:

Joe, noted Trek historian, still bitter