any response from melurians, lieutenant? nothing since their original distress call, sir. what about the federation science team working there? dr. manway had a special transmitter. there's nothing, sir. i'm scanning all frequencies. they have to answer. captain. answer. the long-range sensor sweeeeof this system reveals no sign of life. well, that can't be. the last census reported a total inhabitation of more than four billion people. i register no life e adings at all, sir. that's impossible. what could have happened? we would have known in advance of any system-wide catastrophe.

dioactive residue. our instruments show only normal background radiation. any other possibilities? unknown, sir, since the readings would have revealed the presence of any disease organisms. they do not. in addition, we received a routine report from this system only a week ago. and the cycyeline blood burn does not act that swiftly. captain, shields just snapped on. something heading in at ultrawarp speeds. evasive maneuvers, mr. sulu. an extremely powerful bolt of energy, captain. full power to the shields, mr. scott. giving them all we g g. all hands, red alert. phaser banks, stand by. photon torpedoes, condition red, condition red.

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 civilizations...

temporarily, captain. our shields absorbed energy equivalent to 90 of our photon torprpoes. 90? i may add the energy used in repulsining this first attack reduced our shielding power 20%. first attack, sir? i think we can expect others, lieutenant. we can resist three more such attacks. the fourth will shatter our shields completely. mrmrspock, pinpoint the source. mr. sulu, evasive maneuvers. aye, sir. patch in my log. tell them what has happened. da tell them the entire melurian race n unknown agency, and that we are under attack by an unidentified force. helmsmen, i said evasive maneuvers. we're losing power, sir. i'm having to divert the warp engine power into the shields, sir, if you wanan the protection. mr. spock, speed of those bolts. then we can't outrun them.

source, spock. unknown, captain. nothing within sensor range. something now, captain. very small. bearinin- 123 degrees. mark--18. range-- 90,000 kilometers. that's our target, mr. sulu. prepare photon torpedo. shields still holding, sir, but the drain on the engines is reaching the critical point. rp maneuvering power. switching to impulse. photon torpedoes armed, sir. has the target changed location, mr. spock? no, sir. holding steady. ready photon torpedo number 2, mr. sulu. ready, sir. firere torpedo away.

no effecec 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. sir, they've fired another. can we take it, mr. scott? that's problematical, sir. captain, shields arardown. 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. of the u.s.s. enterprise. we are on a peaceful mission. we mean no harm

any further readings, mr. spock? compmping now, captain. weight--500 kilograms. shape-- roughly cylindrical. length-- a fraction over 1 meter. 500 kilos and only 1 meter long? what kind of intelligent creatures can exisisin a thing that small? intelligence does not necessarily require bulk, mr. scott. captain, we're getting a signal from the space craft. put it on audio, lieutenant. yes, sir. [indistinct chattering] it's impossible to get it any clearer, sir. analysis sector. have them m udy and decode it. analysis sector, channel 1, main computer. decode. [chattering]

extremely sophisticated, compressed, carrying several channels at once. can you decode it? no clue as yet, captain. a momentnt transmission speed has stepped down. much slower. seems to be a single binary. it's mathematical. yes, onene symbol-- the symbol repeat. sir, t tt 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 u.s.s. enterprise. we are on a peaceful mission in this part of the galaxy. we have no hostile intentions. we request identity. [chatterinin

they're sending us a mathematical message and requesting language equivalence. 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. i guess they take it faster than we can give it. captain, the message is coming in now. [computerized voice] u.s.s. enterprise, this is nomad. my mission is non-hostile. apparently, they got what they needed before the computers burned out. nomad. require communication.

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. captain, you're not really going to bring that thing 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 dr. mccoy down to the transporter room. spock, come with me. scotty, you, too. dr. mccoy, to the transporter room. maintenance crew, c5. we've got the coordinates, jim. it's locked in. energize.

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insufficient response. all things have a point of origin. i will scan your star charts. if we show it a closeup view of our system, it has no point of reference. ititon't know any more than it does now. a reasonable course. if you care to leaveveour 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 sophisticateddcompu. i am nomad. what is opinion? opinion is a belief, a view, a judgment. insufficient response. what's your source of power?

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.

w, scotty, get our warp power up to full capacity. aye, sir. spock, bones, come with...us. chart 14-a, sir? 14-a. nomad, can you scan that? yes. this is ouou point of origin-- the star we know as sol. you are from e third planet? yes. a planet with one large natural satellitit yes. the planet is called earth? yes.

the kirk. the sterilizatatn procedure against your ship was unnecessary. whwh sterilization procedure? you are the kirk, the creator. you programmed my function. well, i'm not the kirk. tell me what's your function. this is one of your units, creator? yes, he is. it functions irrationally. sometimes. my functionnis 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. i believe the history computer can answer that question. and i'll have the readout in a moment.

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 creator was simply testing your memory banks. in the accident. mr. singh. comemeere a moment. this unit will see to your needs. sir? i'll be back in a moment. gentntmen, come with me. you're on to something, spock. i've correlated all the available informatioio on the nomad probe, and i'm convinced that this object is indeed that probe.

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 w w 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 u sh 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.

anything else? one moment, lieutenant. holding. [humming] [uhura humming] ? 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. inde his dream was to build a perfect thinking machine, pendent logic. you recall his name. of course. jackson roykirk. jackson roykirk. captain james kirk.

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 belilie 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 that could be engineered. it was a prototype. its purpose was certainly altered. its directive-- to seek out and destroy biological infestations-- could not have been the program in 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 proroamming has been changed. it would seem that nomad is now seeking out perfect life forms,

if what you say is true, then we've taken aboard our vessel a device which sooner or later must destroy us. security. lieutenant carlyle here. this is the captain. is in the auxiliary control room. have a security team meet me there in 5 minutes. aye, sir. acknowledge. that nomad is no longer in the auxililry control room. security, cancel that order. implement a full search for the mechanism. all dedes report to me here. [humming] ? where my heart is ? where ? god sent a miracle bridge to captain.

onony way, scotty. ? tomorrow ? the path along the way ? ? there's where my love-- ? what is the meaning? 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. i--i like to sing. i felt like music. what is musisi

lieutenant! keep away from that-- scotty! bones.

why did you kill him? the unit touched my screens. that...

lieutenant. lieutenant, are you all right? sick bay. what did 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.

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, he'll need tapes on general anatomy, the central nervous system, and then one on the physiological structure of the brain. and we'd better give it all the neurological studies we have, as well as tracings of scotty's hyperencephalogram. nomad, i have arranged the tapes for flash feed at the top speed of the computer. please do not draw the information

creator, the unit scott is a primitive structure. insufficient safeguards built in. breakdown can occur from many causes. self-maintenance systems of low reliaiality. repair it. where is the unit scott now? the body is in sick bay. show me sick bay. dr. mccoy will show you.

on nomad. pick him up in sick bay. no reaction, doctor. i could have told you that without looking. [heartbeat] what are the lot of you starininat me for? it's unbelievable. fascinating. how didii get here? how did i-- [kirk] it's all right. that thing did something to lieutenant uhura! scotty, she's being taken care of. it's all rigig. just take it easy and lie down, scotty. we just want to check you out.

information to me w w 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.