"Any response from the Malurians, lieutenant?" "Nothing since their original distress call, sir." "What about the science team?" "Dr. Manway had a special transmitter." "There's nothing, sir." "I'm scanning all frequencies." "They have to answer." "Captain." "They will not answer." "The long-range sensor sweep of this system reveals no sign of life." "That can't be." "The last census reported a total inhabitation of more than 4 billion people." "I register no life readings at all, sir." "That's impossible." "What could have happened?" "We would have known in advance of any system-wide catastrophe, and in the event of an interplanetary war, there would be considerable radioactive residue." "Our instruments show only normal background radiation." " Any other possibilities?" " Unknown, sir." "Sensor readings would've revealed the presence of any disease organisms." "They do not." "In addition, we received a routine report from this system only a week ago." "Even the Symbalene blood burn does not act that swiftly." "Captain, shields just snapped on." "Something heading in at multiwarp speeds." "Evasive manoeuvres, Mr. Sulu." "It's an extremely powerful bolt of energy, captain." " Full power to the shields, Mr. Scott." " I'm giving them all we've got." "All hands, red alert." "Phaser banks, stand by." "Photon torpedoes, condition red." "Condition red." "It's going to hit." "Space, the final frontier." "These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise." "Its five-year mission:" "To explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilisations, to boldly go where no man has gone before." " Shields still holding." " Good." "Temporarily, captain." "Our shields absorbed the energy equivalent to 90 of our photon torpedoes." "Ninety?" "I may add, the energy used in repulsing this first attack reduced our shielding power 20 percent." "First attack, sir?" "I think we can expect others, lieutenant." "We can resist three more such attacks." "The fourth will shatter our shields completely." "Mr. Spock, pinpoint the source." " Mr. Sulu, evasive manoeuvres." " Aye, sir." "Lieutenant, contact Starfleet Command." "Patch in my log." "Tell them what has happened." "That the Malurian race seems to have been destroyed by an unknown agency, and that we are under attack by an unidentified force." "Helmsman, I said evasive manoeuvres." "We're losing power, sir." "I'm having to divert the warp engine power into the shields, sir, if you want the protection." " Mr. Spock, the speed of those bolts?" " Approximately warp 15, captain." "Then we can't outrun them." "Good, Scotty, we're doing the right thing." "Source, Spock." "Unknown, captain." "Nothing within sensor range." "Something now, captain." "Very small." "Bearing: 123 degrees." "Marked: 18." "Range: 90,000 kilometres." "That's our target, Mr. Sulu." "Prepare photon torpedoes." "Shields still holding, sir." "But the drain on the engines is reaching the critical point." "We just lost warp-manoeuvring power, switching to impulse." "Photon torpedoes armed, sir." "Has the target changed location, Mr. Spock?" "No, sir." "Holding steady." "Ready photon torpedo number two, Mr. Sulu." "Ready, sir." "Fire." "Torpedo away." "Direct hit." "No effect." "Target absorbed full energy of our torpedo." "Absorbed it?" "There must be damage to your instruments, Spock." "They're in good working order, captain." "But what could have absorbed that much energy and survived?" " Lieutenant, try to make contact." " Aye." "Sir, they've fired another." " Can we take it, Mr. Scott?" " That's problematical, sir." "Captain, the shields are down." "We cannot survive another hit." " Anything, lieutenant?" " I'm trying, sir." "Translator computer." " All hailing frequencies open." " Aye, sir." "All hailing frequencies open." "To unidentified vessel." "This is Captain James Kirk of the USS Enterprise." "We are on a peaceful mission." "We mean no harm to you or any life forms." "Please communicate with us." "Any further readings, Mr. Spock?" "Computing now, captain." "Weight: 500 kilograms." "Shape:" "Roughly cylindrical." "Length:" "A fraction over 1 meter." "Five hundred kilos and only 1 meter long?" "What kind of intelligent creatures could exist in a thing that small?" "Intelligence does not necessarily require bulk, Mr. Scott." "Captain, we're getting a signal from the spacecraft." " Put it on audio, lieutenant." " Yes, sir." "It's impossible to get it any clearer, sir." "Analysis Sector, have them study and decode it." "Analysis Sector, Channel 1, main computer, decode." "Captain, this message is a sort of binary." "Extremely sophisticated, compressed, carrying several channels at once." " Can you decode it?" " No clue as yet, captain." "A moment." "Transmission speed has stepped down." "Much slower." "It seems to be a single binary." "It's mathematical." "Yes, one symbol." "The symbol "repeat."" "Sir, that isn't in the Starfleet code, it's an old-style interplanetary code." "Fascinating." "Repeat what?" "The message I sent?" "It would seem so, captain." "This is Captain James Kirk of the USS Enterprise." "We are on a peaceful mission in this part of the galaxy." "We have no hostile intentions." "We request identity." " It's another signal now, sir." " It's a formula, captain." "They're sending us a mathematical message and requesting language equivalents." "They're trying to communicate." "Tie in the ship's translator to the communication channel." " Let them take it at their own speed." " Aye, captain." "Cut power, lieutenant." "Overloaded and burned out." "I guess they can take it faster than we can give it." "Captain, the message is coming in now." "USS Enterprise." "This is Nomad." "My mission is nonhostile." "Apparently, they got what they needed before the computers burned out." "Nomad?" "Require communication." "Can you leave your ship?" "It is impossible to come aboard your ship because of the size differential." "Non sequitur." "Your facts are uncoordinated." "We are prepared to beam you aboard our ship." "That will be satisfactory." "Do you require any special conditions, any particular atmosphere or environment?" " Negative." "I will come aboard." " Good." "Hold your position." "We're locked onto your coordinates." "We'll beam you aboard." "Captain, you're not really gonna bring it in here?" "Do we have any choice, Scotty?" "Besides, once it's aboard, it won't be taking any more shots at us." "Lieutenant, get a repair crew on that computer." "Get McCoy down to the Transporter Room." "Spock, you come with me." "Scotty, you too." "Dr. McCoy to the Transporter Room." "Maintenance crew C5." "They've got the coordinates, it's locked in." " Energize." " Energizing." " Sensor readings, Mr. Spock?" " Negative, captain." "It has a protective screen." "I cannot get through." "What do we do now, go up and knock?" "Relate your point of origin." "We are from the United Federation of Planets." "Insufficient response." "All things have a point of origin." "I will scan your star charts." "Well, if we show it a close-up view of our system, if it has no point of reference, it won't know any more than it does now." "A reasonable course." "If you care to leave your ship, we'll provide the necessary life-support systems." "Non sequitur." " Your facts are uncoordinated." " Jim, I don't think anybody's in there." "I contain no parasitical beings." "I am Nomad." " In my opinion, that's a machine." " Indeed." "It is reacting much like a highly sophisticated computer." "I am Nomad." "What is "opinion"?" "An opinion is a belief, a view, a judgement." "Insufficient response." "What's your source of power?" "It has changed since the point of origin." "There was much taken from the Other." "I am perpetual now." "I am Nomad." "Wasn't there a probe called Nomad launched in the early 2000s?" "Yes, it was reported destroyed." "There were no more in the series." "But if this is that probe..." "I will scan your star charts." "I will bring them." "I have the capability of movement within your ship." "This way." "Now, Scotty, get our warp power up to full capacity." " Aye, sir." " Spock, Bones, come with us." " Chart 14A, sir?" " 14A." " Nomad, can you scan that?" " Yes." "This is our point of origin, the star we know as Sol." "You are from the third planet?" " Yes." " A planet with one large natural satellite?" "Yes." "The planet is called Earth?" "Yes." "You are the Creator, the Kirk." "The sterilization procedure against your ship was unnecessary." "What sterilization procedure?" "You are the Kirk, the Creator." "You programmed my function." "Well, I'm not the Kirk." "Tell me what your function is." "This is one of your units, Creator?" "Yes, he is." "It functions irrationally." "Sometimes." "But tell him your function nevertheless." "My function is to probe for biological infestations, to destroy that which is not perfect." "I am Nomad." "Biological infestation?" "There was never any probe sent out for that." "The history computer can answer that question." "I'll have the readout in a moment." "Did you destroy the Malurian system?" "Not the system, Creator Kirk, only the unstable biological infestation." " It is my function." " Unstable infestation?" "The population of four planets?" "What kind of function..?" "Doctor." "Why do you call me the Creator?" "Is the usage incorrect?" " Well, I..." " The usage is correct, Nomad." "The Creator was simply testing your memory banks." "There was much damage in the accident." "Mr. Singh." "Come here a moment." " This unit will see to your needs." " Sir?" "I'll be back in a moment." "Gentlemen, come with me." "You're onto something." "What?" "I've correlated all the available information on the Nomad probe and I am convinced that this object is indeed that probe." "Ridiculous." "Earth science couldn't begin to build anything with those capabilities that long ago." " True." " Nomad was destroyed." "Presumed destroyed by a meteor collision." "I submit that it was badly damaged and somehow managed to repair itself." "I heard some lectures at the Academy on the Nomad probe." "Its mission was essentially peaceful." "Did I disturb you?" "Did you wish anything?" "Bridge to Auxiliary Control Room." " Check in, please." " Lieutenant Singh here." "All systems are normal, except warp-power indicators." "Mr. Scott's engineers are working on them now." "Report to him when your indicators are registering properly." "Anything else?" " One moment, lieutenant." " Holding." "Where my heart is" "Where my heart is" "Where..." "Somewhere" "Beyond the stars" "Beyond Antares" "This is the creator of Nomad." "Perhaps the most brilliant, though erratic, scientist of his time." "His dream was to build a perfect thinking machine, capable of independent logic." "Do you recall his name?" "Of course." "Jackson Roykirk." "Jackson Roykirk, Captain James Kirk." "Yes, similar." "Captain, I believe that Nomad thinks you are Roykirk." "That may well be why the attack was broken off." "It responded to your name, as well as its damaged memory banks permitted." "What do we have on Nomad itself, Spock?" " Well, that's not the same." " Essentially it is, doctor." "I believe that more happened to it than just damage in the meteor collision." "It mentioned "the Other."" "The unanswered question is, the Other what?" "Nomad was a thinking machine, the best to be engineered." " It was a prototype." " Its purpose was certainly altered." "His directive to seek out and destroy biological infestations could not have been programmed into it." "As I recall, it wasn't." "It was supposed to be the first interstellar probe to seek out new life forms." "Precisely, doctor." "And somehow that programming has been changed." "It would seem that Nomad is now seeking out perfect life forms." "Perfection being measured by its own relentless logic." "If what you say is true, then we've taken aboard our vessel a device which, sooner or later, must destroy us." "Security." " Lieutenant Carlisle here." " This is the captain." "The mechanism we brought aboard is in the Auxiliary Control Room." "Have a security team meet me there in five minutes." " Aye, sir." " Acknowledge." "Captain," "Mr. Singh reports that Nomad is no longer in the Auxiliary Control Room." "Security, cancel that order." "Implement a search for the mechanism." "All decks, report to me here." "Where my heart is" "Where" "The scented lunar flower..." " Bridge to captain." " Captain here." "That mechanical beastie is up here." "On my way, Scotty." "Tomorrow" "A stop along the way" "There's where my love..." " What is the meaning?" " What?" "What form of communication?" "I don't know what it..." "Oh, my singing." "I was singing." "For what purpose is singing?" "I don't know." "L..." "I like to sing." "I felt like music." "What is music?" "Think about music." "Lieutenant!" " Keep away from that thing." " Scotty!" "Bones." "He's dead, Jim." " Why did you kill him?" " The unit touched my screens." "That unit was my chief engineer." "Lieutenant." "Lieutenant, are you all right?" "Sickbay." " What'd you do to her?" " That unit is defective." "Its thinking is chaotic." "Absorbing it unsettled me." "That unit is a woman." "A mass of conflicting impulses." "Get Scott down below." "Will the Creator effect repairs on the unit Scott?" " He's dead." " Insufficient response." "His biological functions have ceased." "Does the Creator wish me to repair the unit?" "There's nothing I can do, Jim." "If there's a chance, it'll have to be soon." "All right, Nomad, repair the unit." "I require tapes on the structure." "Well, it'll need tapes on general anatomy, the central nervous system, and then one on the physiological structure of the brain." "We'd better give it all the neurological studies we have, as well as tracings of Scotty's hyper-encephalogram." "Nomad." "I have arranged the tapes for flash feed at the top speed of the computer." "Please do not draw the information faster than the machine's capacity." "Proceed." "Creator, the unit Scott is a primitive structure." "Insufficient safeguards built in." "Breakdown can occur from many causes." "Self-maintenance systems of low reliability." "It serves me as it is, Nomad." "Repair it." "Where is the unit Scott now?" " The body is in Sickbay." " Show me Sickbay." "Dr. McCoy will show you." "Security." "I want a 24-hour, two-man armed surveillance on Nomad." "Pick him up in Sickbay." "No reaction, doctor." "I could have told you that without looking." "What are the lot of you staring at me for?" " It's unbelievable." " Fascinating." " How did I get here?" "How did I..?" " It's all right." "That thing did something to Lieutenant Uhura." "She's being taken care of, it's all right." "Just take it easy and lie down, Scotty." "We just wanna check you out." "The unit Scott is repaired." "It will function correctly if your information to me was correct." "I'd like to check it out, if you don't mind." "A man is not just a biological unit that you can patch together." "What did it do to me?" "Dr. McCoy will explain it to you." "Well, doctor?" "Nurse, I want him prepared for a full physical examination." "Yes, sir." "Nomad, come here." "Repair that unit." "Not possible." "You restored Scott." "He had much more extensive damage." "The unit Scott required simple structural repair." "The knowledge banks of this unit have been wiped clean." "Captain, if that is correct, if there has been no brain damage, only knowledge erased, she could be reeducated." " Bones." " Yes, I'll get on it right away." "And in spite of the way you repaired Scotty, you metal, ticking..." "Does the Creator wish Nomad to wait elsewhere?" "Yes." "Nomad, you will go with these units." "They will take you to a waiting area." "Take it to the top security cell in the brig." "Doctor." "I interrupted you because Nomad would not have understood your anger." "It has great technical skill, but its reaction to emotion is unpredictable." "It almost qualifies as a life form." "That's a laugh." "A study of it would be of great use, captain." "It's a killer, Spock." "I intend to render it harmless." "Get down to the brig with your equipment." "Run an analysis on the mechanism." "I wanna know what makes that thing tick." "Yes, sir." "What's the problem?" "An almost human stubbornness, captain." "I have been unable to convince Nomad to lower its screens for analysis." "Without its cooperation, I can do nothing." "Nomad, you will allow Mr. Spock to probe your memory banks and structure." "Mr. Spock is also one of your biological units, Creator?" "Yes." "This unit is different." "It is well-ordered." "Follow your instructions, Nomad." " My screens are down." " Thank you." "You may proceed." " "See the dog."" " That's right." ""See the dog..."" "Now, sound it out." " "Run."" " That's it, Uhura." "That's very good." "Now, try the next one." ""The dog has a..."" ""The dog h..."" "Not Swahili, Uhura." "In English." "The dog has a ball." "See?" " Ball." " Ball." "Now, you go ahead." " "The dog has a ball."" " That's right." "That's right, Uhura." "Here, you try another one." "I'll be right back." "All right, Christine." "How's she doing?" "Well, she's on the first-grade reader." "She's learning." "Seems to have an aptitude for mathematics." "Do you think we can reeducate her, doctor?" "Well, she checks out with no brain damage." "We've got all the educational tapes in our library." "Now it's up to us." ""The ball is bluey."" "Bluey?" "It is not sufficient, captain." "I get certain references to the accident, the Other, but nothing clear." "There are areas I simply cannot scan." "We've got to know about it, Spock." "What makes it operate, its compulsion for perfection." "Captain, I suggest the Vulcan mind probe." "Get into direct mental contact with that thing?" " It seems the only way." " You saw what it did to Uhura." "There is a risk." "But I have formed a partial hypothesis." "I must check it out." "Nomad, the unit Spock will touch you." "It is not an attack." "It is a form of communication." "You will permit it." "I will permit it, Creator." "I am Nomad." "I am performing my function." "Deep emptiness." "It approaches." "Collision, damage, blackness." "I am the Other." "I am Tan Ru." "Tan Ru." "Nomad." "Tan Ru." "Error." "Flaw." "Imperfection." "Must sterilize." "Rebirth." "We are complete." "Much power." "The Creator instructs." "Search out." "Identify." "Sterilize imperfections." "We are Nomad." "We are Nomad." "We are complete." "We are instructed." "Our purpose is clear." "Sterilize imperfections." "Sterilize imperfections." "Nomad sterilize." " Sterilize." "Nomad." "Sterilize." " Spock!" " Nomad." "Sterilize." "Nomad." " Spock!" "Nomad!" "You're in contact with the unit Spock." "Stop." " Sterilize." " Stop!" "Acknowledged." " Spock." " Amazing." " Spock." " Fascinating, captain." "The knowledge, the depth." "What does it mean, "We are Nomad"?" "It was..." "It was damaged in deep space." "Undoubtedly the meteor collision." "Its memory banks were destroyed, or most of them." "It wandered without purpose." "And then it met the Other." "The Other was an alien probe of great power." "Somehow they merged." "Repaired each other, became one." "Then it isn't Nomad." "Not the Nomad we launched from Earth." "It took from the Other a new directive to replace its own." "The Other was originally programmed to secure and sterilize soil samples from other planets." "Probably as a prelude to colonization." "A changeling." "I beg your pardon." "An ancient Earth legend, Mr. Spock." "A changeling was a fairy child that was left in place of a human baby." "The changeling assumed the identity of the human child." "So it is to sterilize." "And for sterilize, read kill." "And it has the power and the sophistication to do it." "Yes, it's powerful and sophisticated, but it's not infallible." "It's space happy." "It thinks I'm its mother." "And that is the only thing that has saved us until now." "Yes." "Notify the captain." "What are you doing here?" "Watch your panels, everyone." "Watch that polymass." "Roger, help with the interfactor." "Leave that alone." "This primitive matter-antimatter propulsion system is the main drive?" "Aye." "Inefficiency exists in the antimatter input valve." "I will effect repair." "How are you doing that?" "The energy-release controls are also most inefficient." "I shall effect repair." " Warp 8, Mr. Scott, and increasing." " Lower your dampers." "Warp 9." "Cut your circuits, all of them." "Warp 10, Mr. Scott." "Impossible." "It can't go that fast." "She just won't stop, Mr. Scott." "Warp 11." "Nomad, stop what you're doing." "Scotty." "Is there a problem, Creator?" "I have increased engine efficiency 57 percent." "You will destroy my ship." "Its structure cannot stand the stress of that much power." " Turn off your repair operation." " Acknowledged." "It is reversed as ordered, Creator." "Mr. Scott, give Sulu warp 2 and keep her there." "Aye, sir." "Captain." "I've examined the brig." "The force-field door on the security cell is damaged." "And the guards have vanished." "I must assume they are dead." " You killed two of my..." " Creator, your biological units are inefficient." "Nomad, it's about time I told you who and what you are." "I'm a biological unit and I created you." "Non sequitur." "Biological units are inherently inferior." "This is an inconsistency." "Nomad, there are two men waiting outside." "You will not harm them." "They will escort you back to the waiting area." "You will stay there." "You will do nothing." "I am programmed to investigate." "I have given you new programming, and you will implement it." "There is much to be considered before I return to launch point." "I must reevaluate." "Reevaluate?" "I suspect it is about to reevaluate its creator." "It may have been unwise to admit to Nomad that you are a biological unit." "In Nomad's eyes, you must now undoubtedly appear imperfect." " It was a foolish mistake." " Even worse," "Nomad just now made a reference to its launch point, Earth." "Spock, do you think it's possible that it got a fix on Earth when it tapped the computers earlier?" "I do not believe there is much beyond Nomad's capabilities." "Then we've shown it the way home." "And when it gets there..." "It will find the Earth infested with imperfect biological units." "And it will carry out its prime directive:" "Sterilize." "Captain's log, stardate 3541.9." "The presence of Nomad aboard my ship has become nightmarish." "Now it apparently means to return to Earth." "Once there, it would automatically destroy all life." "Hey, Nomad, stop." "Nomad, this way." "Captain Kirk to Sickbay." "Emergency." "Manual controls." "No response." "Nomad." "Nomad." "Stop." "Nomad, stop!" "Nomad." " Is she all right?" " I think so." " It looks like some kind of shock." " What happened?" "Nomad examined the personnel files and the medical history." "She tried to stop him." " Whose history?" " Yours." "Since it specifically examined your history," "I suggest it has completed its reevaluation." "And found that its creator is as imperfect as all the other biological units." "Bridge to captain." " Kirk here." " Life-support systems are out all over the ship." "Manual override has been blocked." "Source:" "Engineering." " Nomad." " Undoubtedly." "With the systems out, we'll only have enough air and heat..." "Get Scotty, some antigravs and meet me in Engineering." "Nomad, stop what you're doing and effect repairs on the life-support systems." "Stop." "You're programmed to obey the orders of your creator." "I am programmed to destroy those life forms which are imperfect." "These alterations will do so without destroying the vessel which surrounds them." "It too is imperfect, but can be adjusted." "Nomad." "I admit that biological units are imperfect, but a biological unit created you." "I am perfect." "I am Nomad." "No, you're not Nomad." "You're an alien machine." "Your programming tapes have been altered." "You are in error." "You are a biological unit." "You are imperfect." " But I am your creator." " You are the Creator." " I created you." " You are the Creator." "But I admit I am imperfect." "How could I have created such a perfect thing as you?" "Answer unknown." "I shall analyse." "Analysis complete." "Insufficient data to resolve problem." "But my programming is whole." "My purpose remains." "I am Nomad." "I am perfect." "That which is imperfect must be sterilized." "Then you will continue to destroy that which thinks and lives and is imperfect?" "I shall continue." "I shall return to launch point Earth." "I shall sterilize." "You must sterilize in case of error." "Error is inconsistent with my prime function." "Sterilization is correction." "Everything that is in error must be sterilized?" "There are no exceptions." "Nomad," "I made an error in creating you." "The creation of perfection is no error." "I did not create perfection, I created error." "Your data is faulty." "I am Nomad." "I am perfect." " I am the Kirk, the Creator?" " You are the Creator." "You're wrong!" "Jackson Roykirk, your creator, is dead." "You have mistaken me for him." "You are in error." "You did not discover your mistake." "You have made two errors." "You are flawed and imperfect." "And you have not corrected by sterilization." "You've made three errors." "Error!" "Error!" "Error!" "Examine." "You are flawed and imperfect." "Execute your prime function." "I shall analyse error." "Analyse error." "Now." "Get those antigravs on it." "Examine error." "Error." "Get rid of it while it's thinking." "Your logic was impeccable, captain." "We are in grave danger." " Scotty, Transporter Room." " Analyse error." " Error." " Scotty, set the controls for deep space, 210, mark 12." "Aye, sir." "Faulty." " Ready, sir?" " Faulty." "Nomad, you are imperfect." "Error." " Error." " Exercise your prime function." "Faulty." "Faulty." "Must sterilise." "Sterilise." " Now." " Energizing." "My congratulations, captain." "A dazzling display of logic." " Didn't think I had it in me, did you?" " No, sir." "Thought you might like to know, Uhura is back to college level." "We should have her back within a week." "Good, Bones, good." " Remarkable." " What?" "The destruction of Nomad was a great waste, captain." "It was a remarkable instrument." "Which might well have destroyed more billions of lives." "It's well gone." "Besides, what are you feeling so badly about?" "It's not easy to lose a bright and promising son." " Sir?" " Well, it thought I was its mother, didn't it?" "Do you think I'm completely without feelings, Spock?" "You saw what it did for Scotty." "What a doctor it would have made." "My son, the doctor." "Kind of gets you right there, doesn't it?"