
Leaning forward in her chair, Abramowitz added, "Mr. Daltren tells me that on his planet, all forms of
public transportation, even most orbital and interplanetary travel, are run almost exclusively via automated
computer control. It's been that way for generations, with nearly flawless performance and safety
records. Their society isn't as reliant on computers as, say, the Bynars, but it is similar to Earth's
dependence on them during their equivalent level of technology at the start of the twenty-third century. At
the rate they're progressing, however, they could rival the Bynars in a century or so."
"Quite impressive, if ye ask me,"Scott said."However, I'd be remiss if I dinna point out that in my
experience, such dependence on automation isn't always a good thing."
"You speak wisely, Captain," Daltren said. "For all the wonders our computers are capable of, the one
aboard my ship could not have foreseen what happened to us, nor could it have predicted that the
specialists charged with its care would be killed." Pausing a moment, he cast a downward glance to the
conference table, and Gomez saw the pain at the loss of his companions in the Senuta's eyes. Shaking his
head, he continued. "I sincerely hope that unfortunate instances such as this, rare though they may be, will
serve to remind my people of the potential folly for entrusting ourselves so completely to the power of the
machines."
Gold nodded soberly. "We've seen our fair share of societies that got themselves into trouble by relying
too much on computers. I can certainly sympathize with your sentiments, Daltren."
Gomez agreed as well. "We've encountered two in the past few months alone." The chaos that had
ensued when Ganitriul, the mammoth computer system that had overseen for millennia every facet of life
on the planet Eerlik, began to malfunction remained a particularly powerful memory.
"I appreciate your insight," the Senuta captain replied. "But you must understand that my people have
relied on automation for so long that I fear we may forever be enraptured by its spell. Adopting any kind
of philosophy that lessened that dependence would undoubtedly be met with stark resistance."
From the viewscreen, Scott said,"Take heart, sir. You at least have the presence of mind to know the
dangers and limitations of allowing computers to have so much control. There have been numerous
societies that dinna have that luxury."
Smiling, Gold said, "If anyone here would know about that, it's you, Captain Scott. How many planetary
supercomputers did Captain Kirk end up convincing to turn themselves off, anyway?"
"More than his share, I'm afraid,"Scott replied, chuckling."And of course ye know about one of them,
that blasted contraption they called Landru."
Gomez could not help smiling as she remembered theda Vinci 's recent encounter with a group of
Ferengi who had managed to acquire components from the world computer that Captain Kirk and the
Enterprise had encountered more than a century before.
"That was one of Captain Kirk's earlier missions," she said, a playful grin on her face, "so he hadn't quite
polished his computer deactivation skills yet. If your mission to Beta III had come a few years later, there
would have been nothing left for us." Of course, Gomez knew that theEnterprise 's original encounter with
the Landru computer had been at least indirectly responsible for the evolution of the S.C.E. into the
organization it was today.
"We only thought we were finished with Landru when Captain Kirk turned the beastie off,"Scott replied.