resume stations.
Well, Mr. Decker,
it seems my bluff has been called.
I'm afraid our hand
is pretty weak, Captain.
Mr. Chekov, when do those devices
reach final position?
Twenty-seven minutes. Mark.
- Engineering.
- Scott here.
Mr. Scott, be prepared to execute
Starfleet order 2-0-0-5.
When, sir?
On my command.
Aye, sir.
Why has the captain
ordered self-destruct, sir?
I would say, lass,
because he thinks--
he hopes that when we go up,
we'll take the intruder with us.
Will we?
When that much matter and antimatter
are brought together...
oh, yes, we will indeed.
Eighteen minutes
to device activation, sir.
Gravity control,
get me an all-decks readout.
Starfleet has been apprised
of our situation, Captain.
Crew status is 1-7-2
at duty stations...
2-4-8 of fi-duty...
11 in sickbay 0-9'er.
Tractor beam remains constant.
We are 1 7 kilometers
inside the vessel.
Engineering, show me
your pylon stress readings.
Deck4, that temperature
should read 1-0-1-3 degrees.
Please confirm.
Spock.
Mr. Spock.
Not for us.
No, Captain, not for us.
For V'Ger.
I weep for V'Ger
as I would for a brother.
As I was when I came aboard...
so is V'Ger now--
empty, incomplete and searching.
Logic and knowledge are not enough.
Spock, are you saying
that you found what you needed...
but V'Ger hasn't?
What would V'Ger need
to fulfill itself?
Each of us...
at some time in our lives,
turns to someone--
a father, a brother, a god...
and asks...
''Why am I here?
What was I meant to be?''
V'Ger hopes to touch its creator...
to find its answers.
''Is this all that I am?
Is there nothing more?''
Captain.
Forward motion slowing, Captain.
Captain, I believe
that is our destination.
I read an oxygen-gravity envelope
forming outside the Enterprise.
Forward motion stopped, Captain.
V'Ger.
Sir, I've located the source
of V'Ger's radio signal.
It's directly ahead.
That transmitter is a vital link
between V'Ger and its creator.
The carbon units
will now provide V'Ger...
with the required information.
Mr. Spock. Bones.
Mr. Decker, I will contact you
every five minutes.
Captain.
I'd like to go along.
Mr. Sulu, you have the com.
V'Ger.
''V... G-E-R.''
V'Ger.
''V-O-Y-A-G-E-R.''
Voyager.
Voyager 6.
NASA. National Aeronautics
and Space Administration.
Jim...
this was launched
more than 300 years ago.
Voyager series.
Designed to collect data...
and transmit it back to Earth.
Captain...
Voyager 6 disappeared into what
they used to call a black hole.
It must have emerged
on the far side of the galaxy...
and fell into the machine planet's
gravitational field.
The machine inhabitants found it
to be one of their own kind--
primitive, yet kindred.
They discovered its simple
20th-century programming--
collect all data possible.
Learn all that is learnable.
Return that information
to its creator.
Precisely, Mr. Decker.
The machines
interpreted it literally.
They built this entire vessel...
so that Voyager could actually
fulfill its programming.
And on its journey back...
it amassed so much knowledge...
it achieved consciousness itself.
It became a living thing.
Kirk unit.
V'Ger awaits the information.
Enterprise...
order up the ship's
computer library records...
on the late 20th-century
NASA probe Voyager 6.
Specifically, we want
the old NASA code signal...
that instructs the probe
to transmit its data.
- And fast, Uhura, fast.
-Aye, sir.
That's what it's been signaling--
its readiness
to transmit its information.
And there's no one on Earth...
who could recognize the old signal
and send a response.
The creator does not answer.
V'Ger.
V'Ger.
V'Ger!
We are the creator.
That is not logical.
Carbon units
are not true life-forms.
We will prove it.
We will make it possible for you
to complete your programming.
Only the creator
could accomplish that.
Enterprise?
We have just received
the response code, Captain.
Set the Enterprise