"A ghost planet?" "I suggest no supernatural explanation, captain." "I merely point out that the facts do not fit any known categories of planets." "Let's take the facts one by one." "They should explain something." "Undoubtedly." "The age of this planet would seem to be only a few thousand years." "It would be impossible for vegetation to evolve in so short a period." "Its size is approximately that of Earth's moon." "But its mass and its atmosphere are similar to Earth." "That would be difficult to explain." "It would be impossible, captain." "An atmosphere could not evolve in so short a period of time." " And yet it has." " Evidently." "But the inconsistencies are so compounded as to present a seemingly impossible phenomenon." " But a fascinating one, Mr. Spock." " Precisely, captain." "It would bear closer investigation, it would seem, if we are to provide Starfleet with an accurate report." "Lieutenant, send Dr. McCoy to the Transporter Room for survey party." " We'll also need geologist D'Amato." " Aye, aye, sir." "Beam down coordinates for the Transporter Room." "Mr. Sulu, you'll accompany me." "Mr. Spock, you have the conn." "Lieutenant Rahda, report to the Bridge immediately." "This expedition should be a geologist's dream, Mr. D'Amato." "Well, the opportunity to explore so young a planet is an incredible bit of luck, captain." "If Mr. Spock is correct, you'll have a report to startle the Fifth Interstellar Geophysical Conference." " Why?" "What is it, Jim?" " A planet even Spock can't explain." "Prepare to transport." "Energize." "Wait." "You must not go." " Jim, did you see what I saw?" " That woman attacked Ensign Wyatt." " Kirk to..." " Captain." "Captain." "Mr. Spock, are you all right?" "Yes." "I believe no permanent damage was done." "What happened?" "The occipital area of my head seems to have impacted with the arm of the chair." "No, Mr. Spock, I meant, what happened to us?" "That we have yet to ascertain." "Mr. Spock." "The planet's gone." "What kind of earthquakes do they have in this place?" "I don't know." "Any more like that, they'll tear the planet apart." "Captain, this tremor we felt, if that's what it was..." "And it's like no seismic disturbance I've felt before." " I got a reading of almost immeasurable power, but it's not there anymore." "Could seismic stress have accounted for it?" "The reading I got had nothing to do with a seismic force." "That's very strange." "And that woman." "Kirk to Enterprise." "Kirk to Enterprise." "Come in." " Shock may have damaged it." " It's gone." "The Enterprise." "It's gone." "He's right." "There's nothing there." "How could it just be gone?" "What the devil does that mean, Jim?" "For one thing, it means we're stranded." "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." "The Enterprise must have blown up." "That would explain the high-radiation readings, wouldn't it, if the matter..?" "Shouldn't we stop guessing, Mr. Sulu, and try and establish a pattern?" "I get no readings of high-energy concentration." "If the Enterprise had blown up, it would have left a high residual radiation." "Could it be the Enterprise hit us?" "Hit the planet?" "Once in Siberia there was a meteor so great that it flattened whole forests and was felt as far..." "Mr. Sulu, if I'd wanted a Russian history lesson," "I'd have brought along Mr. Chekov." "This is a matter of survival, gentlemen." "Without the Enterprise, we need food, and we need water, and we need them fast." "I want a detailed analysis made of this planet and I want it now." " Aye, sir." " Yes, sir." "Mr. Sulu." "Engineering, no damage." "All power levels normal." "Damage-control report:" "Ship functioning normally." "Many bumps and bruises." "One casualty, Mr. Spock." "The transporter officer." "He's dead." "Dead?" " Spock to Sickbay." " Sickbay." "Dr. M'Benga." "Report on the death of the transporter officer." "We're not sure." "Dr. Sanchez is conducting an autopsy right now." "Give me a full report as soon as possible, please." "Spock out." "Mr. Scott, have the transporter checked for possible malfunction." "Aye, sir." "No debris of any kind, sir." "I've made two full scans." "If the planet had broken up, there would be some sign." "What bothers me is the stars, Mr. Spock." " The stars." " Yes, sir." "They're wrong." " Wrong?" " Yes, Mr. Spock." "Look." "Now, here's a replay of the star pattern just before the explosion." "A positional change." "It doesn't make any sense." "But somehow, I'd say, that in a flash, we've been knocked 1,000 light years away from where we were." "990.7 light years to be exact, lieutenant." "That's not possible." "Nothing can do that." "Mr. Scott, since we are here, your statement is not only illogical but also unworthy of refutation." "It is also illogical to assume that any explosion, even that of a small star going supernova, could have hurled us a distance of 990.7 light years." "The point is it shouldn't have hurled us anywhere." "It should have destroyed us immediately, vaporised us." "That is correct, Mr. Scott, by all the laws that we know." "There was no period of unconsciousness." "Our ship's chronometers registered a matter of only a few seconds." "Therefore we were displaced through space in some manner which I am unable to fathom." "What you're saying is that the planet didn't blow up." "The captain and the others, they're still alive." "Please, Mr. Scott, restrain your leaps of illogic." "I have said nothing." "I was merely speculating." " Sickbay to Mr. Spock." " Spock here." "You asked for an autopsy report." "It's only preliminary, but the cause of death seems to have been cellular disruption." "Explain." "It's as though every cell in the body had been individually blasted from inside." "Would any known disease organism do that?" "Dr. Sanchez has ruled that possibility out, sir." "Please keep me fully advised." "Spock out." "He was in the Transporter Room." "Someone may have entered after Captain Kirk and his party left." "Mr. Scott, since the Enterprise is obviously functional," "I suggest we return to our starting place at top warp speed." "Aye, sir." "But even at that, it will take us a while to get there." "In that case, Mr. Scott, I suggest we start at once." "Can you give me warp 8?" "Aye, sir." "And maybe a wee bit more." "I'll sit on the warp engines myself and nurse them." "That position, Mr. Scott, would not only be unavailing, but also undignified." "Lieutenant Rahda, plot a course..." "Already plotted and laid in, sir." "Good." "Then prepare to come to warp 8." " Your report covers all vegetation?" " Yes, captain." "All vegetation is inedible." "Poison to us." "If the Enterprise has been destroyed, you know how long we can survive." "Yes." "I don't see any water, but there must be some to grow the vegetation." "A source of water would stretch our survival." "Did you see any evidence of rainfall?" "No, sir." "And I haven't seen any evidence that there ever has been any rainfall." "But there is Earth-type vegetation." "Is it possible the vegetation could absorb the water directly from the air?" "Yes, that's possible." "There's also the possibility of underground water." "Yes, sir, could be." "Sulu's picked up an organism that's almost a virus." "Like a plant parasite." "And it's the nearest biological form of life that I can find." "This apparently is gonna our home for as long as we can last." "I suggest we find out as much as we can about it." "We'll split up." "D'Amato, see if you can find underground water." " Yes, sir." " Sulu, run an atmospheric analysis." "Bones, see if you can find out anything about the vegetation and your parasite." "How do they get their moisture?" "If you can discover how they survive, maybe we can." "Sulu to captain." "Kirk here." "Captain, I was making a standard magnetic sweep." "From zero, I suddenly got a reading that was off the scale, then a reverse of polarity and..." "Now I get nothing." "I've never seen anything like this reading." "Like a door opened and then closed again." "Kirk out." "Do not be afraid." "I'm not." "Geological disturbances don't frighten me." "I've come here to study them." " They're my speciality." " I know." "You are Lieutenant D'Amato, senior geologist." " That's right." "How did you know that?" " From the spaceship Enterprise." "Yes, and we're stranded here." "Have you been talking to my friends?" "Do not be afraid." "I'm not afraid." "I am for you, Lieutenant D'Amato." "You're..." "You're the woman on the Enterprise." "I am only for D'Amato." "Lucky D'Amato." "Wanna have a conference about sharing food and water." "Do not call the others." "Please." " McCoy to Kirk." " Kirk here." "Jim, I just got a life-form reading of tremendous intensity." "Suddenly it was just there." " What do you mean, "just there"?" " Just that." "All levels were normal and then I get this biological surge of life-form registering." "No." "Now it's gone." "As though a door opened and closed." " Yes." " What direction?" " Zero-eight-three." " Hang on." "D'Amato's section, come in." "Kirk to D'Amato." "Come in." "Come in." "Bones, Sulu, D'Amato doesn't answer." "I'll be right there." "Bones!" "Jim, every cell in his body's been disrupted." "Jim, what are you doing?" "Digging a grave." "Poor D'Amato." "What a terrible way to die." "There are no good ways, Sulu." " That's the same red rock." " My phaser didn't cut through." "Whatever it is, it has a mighty high melting point." "Eight thousand degrees centigrade." "It looks like igneous rock, but infinitely denser." "This whole planet must be made up of this substance, covered over by topsoil." "Mr. Sulu, it might explain this place a little better if we knew what the substance is." "I know it was D'Amato's field, but see what you can find out." "Yes, sir." "Well, I guess a tomb of rocks is the best we can provide for D'Amato." "Yeah." "It might be the most suitable memorial at that." "I wonder what killed him." "I don't know." "But something or someone did." "We're holding warp 8.4, sir." "If we can maintain it, our estimated time of arrival is 11 and one-half solar hours." "11.337 hours, lieutenant." "I wish you would be more precise." "Scott to Bridge." "Scott to Bridge." " Spock here." " Mr. Spock, the ship feels wrong." ""Feels," Mr. Scott?" "I know it doesn't make sense." "Instrumentation reads correct but the feel is wrong." "It's something I can't quite put into words." "That is obvious, Mr. Scott." "I suggest you avoid emotionalism and simply keep your instruments correct." "Spock out." "It looks so lonely there." "It would be worse if he had company." "Doctor, how can you joke about it?" "I'm not joking." "Until we know what killed him, none of us are safe." "We've gotta figure this out and devise a defence against it." "Is it possible the rocks have life?" "You remember on Janus VI, the silicon creatures..." "But our instruments recorded that." "They were life forms." "They registered as life forms." "Unless we're dealing with beings..." "Intelligent beings who can shield themselves." "Beings intelligent enough to have destroyed the Enterprise?" "That's the problem, Sulu." "We have only questions." "No answers." "Watkins." "Check the bypass valve on the matter/antimatter reaction chamber." "Make sure it's not overheating." "But, Mr. Scott, the board shows correct." "I didn't ask you to check the board, lad." "Yes, sir." "Who are you?" "My name is not important." "Yours is Watkins." "John B." "Engineer Grade 4." "You know all about me." "I've never seen you before." "Show me this unit." "I wish to learn." "This is the matter/antimatter integrator control." "That's the cutoff switch." "Not correct." "That is the emergency overload bypass, which engages almost instantaneously." "A wise precaution considering it takes the antimatter longer to explode once the magnetic flow fails." "I am for you, Mr. Watkins." "Mr. Scott, there's a strange woman who knows the plan of the Enterprise." "Oh, you poor lad." " Scott to Bridge." "Scott to Bridge." " Spock here." "My assistant, Watkins, is dead." "Do you know what he died of, Mr. Scott?" "I didn't see it happen, but his last words were a warning cry about some strange woman." "Security alert, all decks." "Female intruder, extremely dangerous." "Security alert, all decks." "Conclusions." "The basic substance of this planet is an alloy of diburnium-osmium." "It couldn't have evolved naturally." "Captain, it doesn't make sense." "In fact, nothing about this planet makes sense." "Except for a momentary fluctuation on your instruments, this planet has no magnetic field." "The apparent age of these rocks is only a few thousand years." "No known process could evolve the plant life they have here in that short space of time." "Are you suggesting this might be an artificial planet?" "But, captain, where are the people who made it?" "Why can't we see them?" "Planet might be hollow." "They might be shielding themselves from our sensor probes." "It's dark." "Let's get some rest." "Tomorrow we'll have to find some food and some water, or it's going to be a very unpleasant stay." " While it lasts." " I'll take the first watch, sir." "All right." "Take D'Amato's tricorder." "Set it for automatic distress." " You never can tell." " Aye, sir." "Spock to Sickbay." "Have you completed the autopsy on Watkins, doctor?" "Yes, we have, Mr. Spock." "Was the cause of his death the same as that which killed the transporter officer?" "Well, the pattern of cellular disruption was the same." "But as to the cause, well, your guess is as good as mine." "My guess, doctor, would be valueless." "I suggest we refrain from guessing and find some facts." "Spock out." "The power of this intruder to disrupt every cell in a body, combined with the almost inconceivable power required to hurl the Enterprise such a distance," "speak of a very high culture and a very great danger." "You mean that one of the people that threw us 1,000 light years away from that planet is onboard and killing our people?" "A reasonable assumption, Mr. Scott." "Then you're right, Mr. Spock." "Watkins must have been murdered." "I sent him in to check the matter/antimatter reactor." "There are no exposed circuits there." "It couldn't have been anything he touched." "If there are more of those beings on that planet, the captain and the others are in very great danger." "I am unarmed." " Who are you?" " That is not important." "You are Lieutenant Sulu." "You were born on the planet Earth." "You are helmsman for the Enterprise." "How do you know this?" "Where did you get this information?" " Are you from this planet?" " I am from here." "Then the planet is hollow." "Who killed Lieutenant D'Amato?" "All right." "The captain will want to talk to you." "That way." "Move." "You do not understand." "I have come for you." "What do you want?" "I want to touch you." "You were on the Enterprise." "Keep back." "Stop or I'll shoot." "I don't wanna have to kill a woman." "Captain Kirk!" "Captain Kirk!" "Hold it." "Who are you?" "I am for him." "I am for Lieutenant Sulu." "Don't let her touch you, captain." "That's how D'Amato died." "Phasers won't stop her." "I am for Lieutenant Sulu." "Please." "I must touch him." "How can you destroy others and not me?" "I don't want to destroy." "I don't want to." "Who are you?" "Why are you trying to kill us?" "Only Sulu." "I mean you no harm." "Are there men on this planet?" "Please, I must touch him." "I am for Lieutenant Sulu." "No!" "Bones, did you see that?" "Maybe Spock was wrong." "Perhaps this is a ghost planet." "All I know is that she almost made a ghost out of Sulu." "His shoulder, where she touched it, every cell has been disrupted." "Exploded from within." "If she'd gotten a good grip on him, Jim..." "How can such people be, captain?" "Such evil, and she's so..." "So beautiful." "Yes, I know." "Security sweeps of all decks are negative, Mr. Spock." "No evidence of intruder." "Very well." "Cancel red alert but maintain increased security." "Aye, sir." "All decks cancel red alert." "Maintain increased security." "Update our subspace report to Starfleet to include "security search:" "Results negative."" "How did she get off the ship, sir?" "Presumably, the same way she got on." "Yes, sir." "Mr. Spock, what are the chances of the captain and the others being alive?" "Lieutenant, we are not engaged in gambling." "We are proceeding in the only logical way, to return to the place where they were last seen and factually ascertain whether or not they still live." "Yes, Mr. Spock." "Mr. Spock, speed has increased to warp 8.8." " Bridge to Engineering." " Scotty here." "I see it." "It's a power surge." "I'm working on it." "Reduce speed until I locate the trouble." " Very well." "Reduce speed to warp 7." " Aye, sir." "Warp 7." "Mr. Spock." "Our speed has increased to warp 8.9 and still climbing." "Bridge to Engineering." "Negative effect on power reduction." "Speed is still increasing." "Aye, Mr. Spock, and I've found out why." "The emergency bypass control of the matter/antimatter integrator is fused." "It's completely useless." "The engines are running wild." "There's no way to get at them." "We should reach maximum overload in about 15 minutes." "I would calculate 14.87 minutes, Mr. Scott." "Those few seconds will not make any difference, Mr. Spock, because you and I and the rest of the crew will no longer be here to bandy it back and forth." "This thing is going to blow up." "And there's nothing in the universe that can stop it." "There's a layer of necrotic tissue a few cells thick." "A normal wound would heal quickly." "She just touched me." "How could it happen so fast?" "That's a good question." "She touched the transporter chief and he collapsed immediately." "She apparently got to D'Amato." "We saw what happened to him." "Question is, why are you alive?" "Captain, I'm happy the way it turned out." "Jim." "What kind of power must she have?" "The power to totally disrupt biological cell structure." "Sulu's alive because I intervened." "But that raises an even worse question." "Why didn't she kill you?" "She's not through yet." "It's useless." "And there's no question, it's deliberate." " Sabotage." " Aye." "And a thorough job." "The system's foolproof." "Whoever murdered Watkins sabotaged this." "You said it was fused." "How?" " Well, that's what worries me." " "Worries," Mr. Scott?" "Well, it's fused all right, but it would take all the power of our main phaser banks to do it." "Interesting." "I find nothing interesting in the fact that we're about to blow up." "No." "But the method is fascinating." "Whatever did this is still aboard this ship." "I fail to understand why you've cancelled the security alert." "A force that could hurl us 990.7 light years away, and at that distance, still be able to sabotage our main source of energy, will not be waiting around to be taken into custody." "Aye." "As I recall the pattern of our fuel flow, there is an access tube leading to the matter/antimatter reaction chamber." "Aye, there's a service crawlway, but it's not meant to be used while the integrator operates." "Still, it is there." "And it might be possible to shut off the flow of fuel at that point." "What with?" "Bare hands?" "A magnetic probe." "Any matter that comes in contact with antimatter triggers the explosion." "And I'm not even sure a man can live in a crawlway in the energy stream of the magnetic field that bottles up the antimatter." "I shall try." "You'll be killed, man." "Unless a solution is found quickly, that fate awaits all of us." "Aye." "You're right." "What have we got to lose?" "But I'll do it, Mr. Spock." "I know every millimetre of that system." "I'll do whatever has to be done." "Very well, Mr. Scott." "You spoke of the feel of the ship being wrong." "Aye." "It was an emotional statement." "I don't expect you to understand it." "I note it, Mr. Scott, without necessarily understanding it." "I propose to run an analysis through the ship's computers comparing the present condition of the Enterprise with her ideal condition." "Mr. Spock, we don't have time for that." "We have 12 minutes and 27 seconds." "I suggest you do whatever you can in the service crawlway while I make the computer study." "Sulu, do you feel strong enough to move about?" " I feel fine, captain." " Is he, Bones?" "He's in fair shape." "All right." "Whatever destructive power this woman has seems to be aimed at one specific person at one specific time." "If I'm correct, when she reappears, the other two might be able to protect the one she's after by interposing their bodies." "No weapons seem to affect her." "But, captain, how does she know about us?" "Does she read our minds?" "Phaser on overload." "Controls are fused." "Drop." "Apparently she can destroy our weapons as well as destroy us." "Come on, let's go." "All right, lads." "Get the crawlway door open." "Hand me the tools." "Communicator." "All right." "Head first." "I hope Mr. Spock knows what he's doing." " Scott to Bridge." " Go ahead, Mr. Scott." "I've sealed off the aft end of the service crawlway and I've positioned explosive separator charges to blast me clear of the ship if I rupture the magnetic bottle." "I'm so close to the flow now it feels like ants crawling all over my body." "Mr. Scott, I suggest you refrain from any further subjective descriptions." "You now have ten minutes and 19 seconds in which to perform your task." "Mr. Spock, we're at warp 11.2 and accelerating." "I heard that." "The ship's not structured to take that speed for any length of time." "You now have ten minutes and ten seconds." "All right, Mr. Spock." "I'm starting to open the access panel now." "Access to the flow itself." "If the magnetic flow jumps, you must jettison me." "The safety control will not hold more than two seconds if I rupture the field." "I'm aware of these facts." "Please get on with the job." " Computer?" " Working." "Analysis on my comparison coordinates." "Unable to comply." "Comparison coordinates too complex for immediate readout." "Will advise upon completion." "I've removed the access plate and I've got static-electric charges dancing on the instruments." "Looks like an aurora borealis in there." "Lieutenant Uhura, you are monitoring the magnetic force?" " Oh, yes, sir." " Please do not take your eyes off it." " Aye, sir." " Lieutenant Rahda, arm the pod jettison system." "Aye, sir." "I'll jettison the pod at the first sign of trouble." "Not until my order." "Yes, sir." "Warp 11.9." "Mr. Scott, what is your situation?" "It's hard to see." "There's so much disturbance that any attempt to get at the flow would rupture the magnetic field." "You have eight minutes, 41 seconds." "I know what time it is." "I don't need a blooming cuckoo clock." "Captain, I'm getting that strange magnetic sweep again." " From zero to off the scale." " Yes." "Like a door opening." "Who have you come for this time?" "For you, James T. Kirk." "Commander of the Enterprise." "Keep behind us, Jim." "Why do you wanna kill us?" "For defence." "You are Captain James T. Kirk, commander of the Enterprise." " Then why do you wanna kill me?" " You are an invader." "We're here on a peaceful mission." "It's you who've killed our people." "We mean no harm to you." "We wanna leave peacefully." "Captain, I'm getting no life-form register." "An android?" "No, that would give a mechanical reading." "I'm getting nothing." "Who are you?" "I am Losira." "Commander." " Commander of what?" " Of this station." "Station?" "Station?" "Where?" "How do you feel about killing me?" "Feel?" "Killing is wrong." " Stay between us." " You must not penetrate this station." "Please, I must touch you." "You want to kill me?" "No." "Then why do it if you don't want to?" "I am sent." "By whom?" "We defend this place." "Are there others on this planet?" "They are no more." "How long have you been alone?" "Are you lonely?" " She must be somewhere." " She's not registering." "And there's this power surge, right off the scale." "Like a door closing." "It must be near here." " Is the power level still holding, Jim?" " Right off the scale." "It's remained at a peak ever since she disappeared." "The entrance is here." "You think we're being invited in?" "Certainly looks like it." "And the invitation doesn't exactly relax me." "I'd rather be on the Enterprise, sir." "I agree." "We've been led here." "Why?" "I don't know." "But whatever civilisation exists on this planet is in there." "And without the Enterprise, gentlemen, the only source of food and water is in there." "Let's go." "Computer readout." "Comparison analysis complete." "Continue." "Transporter factor M7 reassembled outphase.0009." " Fifty-seven seconds to go, sir." " Understood." " Mr. Spock?" " Spock here." "I'm gonna try to cut through the magnetic flow." "But if the probe doesn't precisely match the magnetic flow, there will be an explosion." "Starting right now." "Magnetic-force indicator jumping, Mr. Spock." "Mr. Scott, ease off." "Magnetic force has dropped to normal, sir." "Warp 13.2, sir." "Computer, for outphase condition, will reverse field achieve closure?" "Affirmative, if M7 factor maintained." "Mr. Scott, reverse polarity on your magnetic probe." "Reverse polarity?" "That is correct, Mr. Scott." "That will take some doing." "What purpose could it..?" "Please commence." "I'll explain." "You were correct in your "feel."" "The Enterprise was put through a molecular transporter and reassembled out of phase." "Reverse polarity should seal the incision." "No time for theory." "I just hope you're right." "Twenty seconds, Mr. Spock." "I'm doing the best I can." "Wait." "It's stuck." "It's stuck." "Push the button." "Please continue, Mr. Scott." "Don't be a fool." "Push the button." "It's your last chance." "Don't be sentimental." "Push it." "I'm gonna die anyway." "Please continue." "It's loose." "But there's no time." "Push the button." "Nine seconds, eight seconds, seven seconds, six seconds, five seconds, four seconds, three seconds, two seconds, one." "Mr. Spock, now." "Warp 14.1." "Warp 14." "Magnetic forces steady." "Warp 13.9 and dropping." "Mr. Scott, you have accomplished your task." "You might at least say thank you." "For what purpose, Mr. Scott?" " What is it in you humans..?" " Never mind." " That requires an overwhelming display of emotion in a situation such as this?" "Two men pursue the only reasonable course of action indicated and yet you feel that something else is necessary." "Who have you come for?" "Form a circle." "You see?" "You'd better tell us." "Tell us." "Who have you come for?" "Who have you come for?" "You're a very determined woman." "For me?" "I am for James T. Kirk." "Gentlemen, I need your help." "Please." "I must touch you." "I beg it." "It is my existence." "We've seen the results of your touch." "But you are my match, James Kirk." "I must touch you." "Then I will live as one, even to the structure of your cells, the arrangement of chromosomes." "That is how you kill." "You'll never reach me." " Watch out!" " I am for McCoy." "That computer must be programming these replicas." "Women match our chromosome patterns after they touch us." "It's a very painful affair, I can tell you." " I am for Sulu." " Shift positions." "Captain, we can no longer protect each other." "Spock!" "The computer!" "Destroy it!" "Oh, Mr. Spock, I certainly am glad to see you." "I thought the Enterprise had been destroyed." "I had the same misgivings about you, captain." "We returned and picked up your life-form readings only a moment ago." "Returned from where?" "From where this brain had the power to send the Enterprise:" "990.7 light years across the galaxy." "What a remarkable culture this is." "Was, Mr. Spock." "Its defences were run by computer." "I surmised that, captain." "Its moves were immensely logical." "But what people created this?" "Are there any representatives here?" "There were replicas of one of them." "But that power to re-create them has been destroyed." "That is a loss, captain." "Well, you wouldn't have thought so, Mr. Spock, if you'd been among us." "My fellow Kalandans, welcome." "A disease has destroyed us." "Beware of it." "After your long journey, I'm sorry to give you only a recorded welcome." "But we who have guarded the outpost for you will be dead by the time you take possession of this planet." "I am the last of our advanced force left alive." "Too late the physicians discovered the cause of the sickness that kills us." "In creating this planet, we have accidentally produced a deadly organism." "I have awaited the regular supply ship from home for medical assistance, but I doubt now whether it will arrive in time." "I will set the outpost controls on automatic." "The computer will selectively defend against all life forms but our own." "My fellow Kalandans," "I, Losira, wish you well." "The previous ships probably spread the disease all through their people." "The supply ship that she was waiting for never came." "All these thousands of years she's been waiting to greet people who were dead." "To do the job of defence, the computer projected a replica of the only image available:" "Losira's." "The computer was too perfect." "It projected so much of Losira's personality into the replica that it felt regret, guilt, at killing." "That bought us the time we needed to destroy it." "She must have been a remarkable woman." "And beautiful." "Beauty is transitory, doctor." "However, she was, evidently, highly intelligent." "Kirk to Enterprise." "Five to beam up." " I don't agree with you, Mr. Spock." " Indeed, captain?" "Beauty survives."