as I was shaping the clay, the image of the mask was exceptionally clear in my mind. The design seemed to flow naturally. Have you been in my quarters? No, Counsellor. Someone left an object in my room. Some kind of artefact. It has something very similar to this. You don't know anything? I do not. Excuse me, Counsellor. Can you help me with my terminal? It's not working right. Perhaps we should investigate this matter further. The symbols don't match anything in the linguistics banks. Some alien information has been downloaded into our computer core. I don't know how, but it's reconfiguring our systems. - How did it get in? - I traced it to the sensor array. The sensors? They've been scanning that comet for 18 hours. Those energy readings from the comet. That sensor echo. - We don't know what's inside. - It's time we found out. Could we use phasers to melt down the shell of the comet? A dispersed wide-field beam might do the trick. We'll work out the firing parameters. What do you think, Data? What's wrong? I believe I recognise these symbols. - How? - I do not know. You think your systems have been affected? It is a possibility. I do not believe my systems are impaired. But I will run a full diagnostic to make certain. What do you think they mean? Boundary. Border. Road. Companion. Message. Messenger. What's that one? Death. Captain, phasers are set for wide dispersal. Ten percent maximum power. The beam will terminate once the core is reached. Very well, Mr Worf. Fire. Phasers have terminated. Mr Data, what are we looking at? Is it a ship? I do not know, sir. The object is nearly solid. It is composed primarily of fortanium and several unknown materials. It is over 87 million years old. That's older than the comet. Could someone from the system have built it? There are no technologically advanced cultures in that system now. But perhaps, 87 million years ago, there were. Why would they hide something like that inside a comet? Possibly, it accumulated those frozen gases over time as it travelled through space. In any case, it's responsible for our system anomalies. They're using our sensor beam to transmit information into our computers and replicators. But the question remains, what is its purpose? Captain, I believe this object is an informational archive. - Why do you say that? - I do not know. However, I seem to have an intuitive understanding of its function. Data, the internal structure is pretty complex. Its repetitive node configuration might suggest a database. But it could be anything. I don't see how you can know for sure what it is. Do you believe you are in communication with that object? It is a possibility, sir. I recommend a level-one diagnostic of my positronic net to determine if that is the case. Very well. Mr La Forge, give him a hand. Do you think it's just making contact? It's possible. But if that is an archive from an ancient civilisation, we should allow it to do so. But we must be careful. Mr Worf, keep an eye on the sensors. Any danger, sever the connection. Aye, sir. Come. - Captain? - Come in, Number One. We've confined the system corruption. It won't spread any further. But we still have alien symbols floating around on our computer. This is quite a collection. I've seen these all over the ship. They all look the same. Primitive and non-functional. Ceremonial and deceptively primitive. Only an advanced society could have built that object out there. These artefacts played a ritualistic role in that society, I think. Do you think Data could be right? Could this be some alien library? It's possible. If so, it's a find of enormous significance. That library seems designed to do so much more than store information. Who knows what we might learn from this? I keep seeing this design. It is of particular significance. What could it mean? The concept of ------------------------------ Читайте также: - текст Друзья - Сезон 8 на английском - текст Фламандская доска на английском - текст За двумя зайцами на английском - текст Поезда и Автомобили на английском - текст Каникулы на английском |