"PUT IT ON the screen, Lieutenant," Kirk said instantly.
"It's not a visual signal, Captain. Or voice."
"That doesn't leave a lot, Lieutenant. What is it?"
"Apparently some kind of code, sir. And it's a—a standard radio frequency, not subspace."
"Standard radio?"
"Yes, sir, an old-style electromagnetic signal, of the kind normally limited to use in the immediate vicinity of a planetary surface."
"And the code?"
"Our communications equipment can receive it, but the computer will have to decipher it."
Spock moved quickly to the science station, while Sulu stepped aside and returned to the helm.
Spock inspected the readouts briefly and then called up another series. "The code appears to be a comparatively crude construct designed for direct communication between certain old-style computers, Captain," he said, one eyebrow angling minutely upward. "Federation computers have required nothing like it for at least a century."
"And the source? Another ship? A planetary body somewhere in here?"
"Unknown, Captain. Nothing physical registers on the sensors. The radiation is simply there, totally nondirectional. It is, literally, coming at us with equal strength from all directions, not unlike the background microwave radiation that permeates our universe."
"Can the ship's computer decipher it?"
"Also unknown, Captain. However, the computer can, of course, absorb the raw data into its memory banks and then attempt to analyze them for intelligible content."
"Very well, Mr. Spock, feed it into the computer. But monitor everything that passes through that link. And set the link to shut down automatically if information should start to flow the other way."
"As you wish, Captain." He worked the controls and then watched. "The data transfer rate is unusually slow," he observed after a few seconds.
For nearly an hour, the data continued. All efforts to locate the source failed. Their entry into the gate—into this bubble of seemingly real space in the midst of the nothingness—must have somehow triggered the transmission.
Finally, it stopped. For another few seconds, the electromagnetic signal—now an empty carrier—remained, like the blank leader tape at the end of an old-fashioned video or audio tape. Then it, like the code, simply vanished.
Spock watched the readouts as the computer began its analysis.
After less than a minute, one eyebrow again angled upward slightly.
"Yes, Mr. Spock?" Kirk prompted when Spock continued to watch the readouts silently.
Spock remained silent another few seconds, then straightened and turned. "It appears, Captain, that we have been given a map."
"A map?" Kirk frowned. "Of what?"
"I can only assume, Captain, that it is a map of at least some portion of the system of gates."
"Of more immediate interest, can it get us out of here—and back to the Sagittarius arm rather than a battle zone halfway across the universe?"
"If the computer analysis is reliable, Captain, yes. There is what appears to be a short series of navigational commands highlighted."
"Then let's do it, Mr. Spock."
"Of course, Captain."
Two minutes later, with the ship's computer using the highlighted navigational commands to control the helm, the Enterprise oriented itself. Or so the instruments said. Visually, there was no way of telling that it was doing anything at all.
Then, with quarter impulse power applied, the Enterprise surged ahead.
Everyone, particularly Spock, braced for another protracted bodiless passage through limbo.
It didn't come.
Instead, the trip was, as far as anyone, including Spock, could tell, as rapid as either of the two previous trips through the gate. One instant, they were surrounded by gray nothingness. The next instant, the stars of the Sagittarius arm surrounded them.
The chronometer showed that only milliseconds had been absorbed by the emergence.
Behind them, the gate put on the same spectacularly chaotic show for the sensors that it had before, while appearing to be totally nonexistent in visible light.
"Lieutenant Uhura," Kirk said when they were safely away, a billion kilometers from the gate. "Open a channel to Starfleet Headquarters."
"Right away, sir."
"Mr. Scott."
"Aye, Captain." Scotty's voice came from the intercom.
"Now that we're back in normal space, Mr. Scott, run a complete check—and I mean complete—of all ship's systems. I want to know if anything, anything at all, was affected in even the slightest way by our stay in that limbo inside the gate."
"Aye, Captain, but I dinna think—"
"Just do it, Mr. Scott," Kirk snapped, and then, his voice softening, he went on. "Between the stress of the gravitational turbulence that pulled us in and prolonged exposure to totally unknown conditions, anything could have happened. And if we're going to make use of this map we've been given, we'll be spending a lot more time in there. Before we go back in, I want to know if anything has changed, not just for the worse but if anything works better than before, or differently—in any way. I want all the information you can give me about the effect of our exposure so I can at least make an educated guess about what, if anything, even more exposure will cause."
There was a brief pause, and then, "Aye, Captain, I see what ye mean, but it'll take time."
"We're not going anywhere until you finish, Scotty."
"Aye, Captain. I'll let ye know."
Glancing toward Uhura as he punched the buttons to connect him to sickbay, Kirk saw that she was still waiting for a response from Starfleet.
"What is it, Captain?" McCoy's gravelly voice responded.
"Bones, Scotty is giving the ship a thorough physical. I'd like you to do the same for a few crew members."
"Did you have anyone particular in mind, or do I have them draw straws for the honor?"
"Pick some at random," Kirk said, ignoring the sarcasm in McCoy's voice. "Say, those due for their physicals in the next week anyway. But for the others, talk to as many as you can, find out how much subjective time each of them experienced during that period after we were pulled into the gate. Select your subjects to get a good sample from several points in the range, from those, like Spock, who thought hours may have passed, to the ones who felt only seconds passed."
"No one I've talked to so far thinks anything more than a few minutes could have gone by, so if you want someone who thought he was in there for hours, you'd better send Spock down."
"If it comes to that, I will." He glanced at Spock. "Meanwhile, get the checks started. And make them thorough, everything your machines down there can do—and more, if you can think of a way."
"Aye-aye, sir," McCoy said, both the words and the stiff tone uncharacteristic of the doctor.
"If I might suggest it, Captain," Spock said when McCoy had signed off, "a check of Dr. McCoy himself would not be amiss."
Kirk nodded. "I know, Mr. Spock. I assume the changes are, if anything, the effect of this entity you tell me is still lurking in the wings."
"Or a residual effect of the disembodied state we experienced after entering the gate, Captain. I noted unexpected changes in my own outlook during that period, but I believe I have been able to compensate for them. Dr. McCoy, who can sometimes be exceedingly human, may not have been as successful."
"Captain," Uhura broke in. "I have a channel to Starfleet Headquarters."
"Thank you, Lieutenant," he said, turning sharply in the command chair. "This is Captain James T. Kirk of—"
"I know who you are, Jim," the familiar voice of Admiral Noguchi interrupted with uncharacteristic brusqueness. "Where have you been? We have been trying to contact you for the last three hours."
"We were inside the gate, Admiral, until—"
"Inside? You did not request permission for such a maneuver, Captain!"
Kirk frowned. "I didn't realize it was required, Admiral. The Enterprise was sent here to do a job. I assumed we were authorized to do whatever was necessary."
There was a long pause, longer than could be accounted for by subspace delay alone. When Noguchi spoke again, his voice was less harsh, still that of an admiral to a captain but with a touch of family friend and, to a lesser extent, mentor.
"You were, Captain, of course," he said. "Tell me, what did you find?"
"Most importantly, Admiral, we have what Mr. Spock tells me is a map of the gate system."
"A map? But how—? Never mind, Jim. I have the feeling you had better start from the beginning. What happened?"
Quickly, Kirk summarized everything that had happened since their decision to send a shuttlecraft into the gate.
"Remarkable," Noguchi said when he had finished. Kirk could almost hear the admiral shaking his head. "You do have a knack for stumbling into the jackpot, Jim."
"Thank you, sir," Kirk said, smiling. Though their face-to-face contacts had been few since Noguchi had given him the Enterprise and its first assignment, their relationship had grown over the years, one aspect of which was the admiral's seeming bemusement at the number of startling discoveries Kirk and his ship had figured in.
"However," Noguchi said, sobering, "you are not to use that map, and you are not to reenter that gate or any other until further notice."
Kirk's smile vanished into a frown. "Not use it, sir? I don't understand."
"Three hours ago, at approximately the time you were being dragged into that gate in the Sagittarius arm, a new gate appeared less than a parsec from Starfleet Headquarters. The gravitational turbulence that marked its appearance was such that, had it been in the vicinity of a planetary system, the planets' orbits would have been seriously disturbed. Had it appeared within a system, it would have virtually destroyed any planet within a billion kilometers."
"You certainly don't think there's a connection, Admiral?"
"I don't know. Mr. Spock can calculate odds better than I. For the moment, however, you are not to reenter that gate under any circumstances." Noguchi paused. "You will return to Starfleet Headquarters. We will use our own computers to perform the analysis."
"But the entity that Spock encountered will in all likelihood still be with us. If it attaches itself to someone in Starfleet Headquarters—"
"I am confident that we will be able to cope, Captain."
"With all due respect, Admiral, you have not experienced it directly. I have. I have felt its power, and I have seen what it can do to others. Ensign Stepanovich of the Cochise was—"
"Ensign Stepanovich had little experience dealing with alien life-forms. Rest assured, we will take every precaution."
"The gate here needs to at least be monitored, Admiral," Kirk pointed out.
"The Devlin is not more than a dozen parsecs from your present position. They will monitor the gate. Now, Captain Kirk, if you're finished debating, you will return to Starfleet Headquarters!"
Kirk frowned but said, "Very well, Admiral. We'll get under way as soon as the Devlin arrives."
"Now, Captain Kirk! Leaving the gate unmonitored for the few hours it will take the Devlin to reach it is of less importance than getting this map of yours into our computers for a full analysis. Understood, Captain?"
"Understood," Kirk said stiffly, knowing it would be pointless to suggest transmitting the map via subspace link. Despite Noguchi's words, the admiral's prime concern was obviously not the delivery of the map to Starfleet Headquarters. It was to keep the Enterprise from reentering the gate.
"Good," Admiral Noguchi said, and the connection to Starfleet was broken.
Kirk glanced around the bridge. "We have our orders. Mr. Sulu, lay in a course for Starfleet Headquarters."
"Aye-aye, sir, but the helm is still rigged as a remote control for the shuttlecraft."
"Will the extra connections interfere with normal operation?"
"No, sir. As long as the shuttlecraft is deactivated—"
"Then keep it deactivated. According to the admiral, we can't afford the time to disconnect the special circuits until we're under way. Lay in the course, Mr. Sulu, and get us moving, warp factor six."
"Aye-aye, Captain," Sulu responded, with only the briefest of sideways glances in Spock's direction.
"Mr. Scott," Kirk said, activating the intercom to engineering. "Pending your approval at the completion of your check of all systems, we will be increasing to warp factor eight. Meanwhile, I'd like a progress report."
"Captain, I would no' recommend—"
"Nor would I, under normal circumstances," Kirk said sharply. "Starfleet, however, considers time to be of the essence. Now, that progress report, please."
"Aye, Captain," Scott said, the reluctance obvious in his sighing tone. "I would estimate another hour till completion o' the checks you requested."
"And the results so far, Mr. Scott?"
"All systems are fully operational, Captain, and no irregularities have been detected anywhere."
"Thank you, Mr. Scott. Inform me the moment your checks are complete."
"Aye, Captain," Scott said, in much the same tone that Kirk had used in his final words with Admiral Noguchi. "But ye do realize what would happen if a problem did develop at warp eight?"
"I realize the dangers, Mr. Scott," Kirk said, but as he spoke, he felt a shiver ripple up his spine. No one knew precisely what would happen if the warp drive failed at such speeds. There were several theories, each worse than the last, but reality, Kirk suspected, could be the worst of all. "Just make sure a problem doesn't develop."
"Aye, Captain," Scott said, breaking the connection abruptly.
"Mr. Sulu?"
"Course laid in, Captain."
"Ahead warp factor six, then, Mr. Sulu."
"Aye-aye, sir."
With another brief glance toward Spock, Sulu executed the command, and the Enterprise surged forward. The brilliance of the relativistic starbow filled the screen for a second before it was replaced by the computer-generated image of the star field ahead.
"Now, Mr. Spock, what can you and the computer tell us about this map we seem to have been given?"
"As much, I suspect, as the computers at Starfleet Headquarters."
Kirk smiled faintly, briefly. "I suspect as much myself. Proceed."
"Very well, Captain. First, calling it a map is perhaps misleading in that the points—the destinations—it identifies are not laid out as, for example, a star chart of the Federation is laid out. A more accurate term would be descriptive list, primarily of the destinations that can be reached from the Sagittarius arm gate."
"And it tells you—or the computer—how to reach each of these destinations?"
"It does, Captain, in terms of the time during the cycle at which the gate must be entered. The starting point of each cycle was, as I suspected, the forty-four second 'quiescent state.' All times are measured from the end of that forty-four-second period. Based on a preliminary analysis, the destination we reached during our first, accidental entry can be reached only once during each cycle, fifty-three minutes and ten seconds into the cycle. All other destinations can be reached at least twice during each cycle. Many can be reached dozens of times."
"Could it be unique in that respect," Kirk asked, "because it is so distant?"
"That is possible, Captain. However, that destination is unusual, though not unique, in another respect. It is one of only a dozen for which secondary destinations are shown."
"Secondary destinations?"
"Destinations that can be reached through the gate that exists at those destinations but cannot be reached directly through the Sagittarius arm gate, Captain. Though I cannot be positive from the existing data, it would appear that this gate serves, in effect, as a hub for thousands of destinations, and those other gates serve, in turn, as hubs for a similar number of other destinations, although only a small number of these secondary destinations are actually shown."
Kirk was silent for several seconds, aware once more of the shiver that crept along his spine but unsure whether it signaled the return of the entity that had previously descended on Chandler and himself or was simply his own visceral reaction to the magnitude of what Spock had said.
"That would mean millions of destinations, Spock," he said finally, "just in the first two stages."
"Precisely, Captain."
For a moment, Kirk seemed lost in the immensity of this thing they had stumbled onto, but then he pulled himself back to practical reality. "How does it identify the destinations? Does it indicate anything at all about their locations? Their distances?"
"Nothing, Captain. There is a code number for each, originally in a base-twelve numbering system. For the hub gates and a small number of others, there are also what appear to be three-dimensional star charts for the areas immediately surrounding the gates. For the Sagittarius arm gate itself, there is a quite extensive chart, showing all major stars within thirty parsecs."
"Put it on the screen."
"As you wish, Captain."
A moment later, the auxiliary screen over the science station was alive with hundreds of stars.
Commander Ansfield, who had been watching silently the whole time, frowned. "That doesn't look right, Spock. The pattern doesn't look right."
Kirk frowned as he glanced at her. "You remember the star patterns that well, Commander?"
"I may be dense in some areas, Kirk, but my memory is close enough to photographic to have gotten me through the Academy a year ahead of schedule. Those are not the patterns I saw. Spock, are you sure this is the right chart?"
"One-hundred-percent certainty is impossible, Commander." He paused, studying the display as it slowly rotated. "But you are right. This is not the pattern we observed. However, I believe it is indeed the correct chart."
Quickly, precisely, Spock tapped a code into the computer. As he finished, a second star pattern, the stars in this one tinted green, was superimposed on the screen.
"That's the pattern," Ansfield said. "Where—"
She cut herself off as he tapped in a second code and the green-tinted stars began to move slowly.
For more than thirty seconds, they continued to move, drifting slowly in every direction until, finally, the two patterns matched.
Ansfield swore under her breath. "How long ago?" she asked, almost in a whisper.
Spock consulted a reading. "Approximately ninety thousand years," he said.
"If the two of you wouldn't mind letting us laymen in on the secret," Kirk said, "I would appreciate it."
"Sorry, Kirk," Ansfield said. "I thought you were following along. That second pattern Spock put up, those were the stars surrounding the gate now. As I'm sure you know, a starship's automatic mapping function requires its computers to automatically record the proper motions of all stars within several parsecs whenever they emerge from warp drive in previously unexplored territory. All Spock had to do was tell the computer to project those motions backward in time until the patterns matched."
"Precisely, Commander," Spock said in answer to Kirk's brief, questioning glance. "The patterns matched at eighty-nine point three thousand years in the past."
"Which means," Kirk said, "that the gate system—this part of it, at least—has been abandoned for almost ninety thousand years."
"Or that that's the last time they bothered to update their maps," Ansfield said. "If whoever runs these gates is anything like Starfleet, they just may not have been keeping up with their paperwork."
Kirk started to smile, thinking once again how Commander Ansfield reminded him of McCoy, but then, suddenly, the chill that had been sporadically brushing at his spine gripped it solidly, sending a shudder through his entire body. Automatically, his eyes darted about the bridge.
"Spock," he said sharply. "It feels as if your friend is back."
"I know, Captain. I feel it as well."
Bracing himself for an assault like the one he had experienced before, Kirk tensed, his fingers gripping the edges of the arms of the command chair. Ansfield, he saw, was watching him worriedly, and he could feel the eyes of everyone on the bridge.
But then, as abruptly as it had come, the chill was gone.
But not completely.
"All decks," he snapped, activating the shipwide intercom. "The entity has returned. Everyone on full alert. Phasers—"
"Captain!" Sulu, stiffening and jerking his hands back from the helm controls, almost screamed. "It's me! It's got me!"