STAR TREK - TOS - 65 - Windows on a Lost World

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STAR TREK (R)

WINDOWS ON A LOST WORLD

Chapter One

Captain's Log, Stardate 5419.4

The Enterprise is approaching the

Dulciphar star cluster, once the most densely

populated region in this sector of the galaxy.

Our mission routine archaeological inventory

of the ancient civilizations in the cluster. To that

end, ship's personnel has been supplemented

by a twenty-person team of researchers from the

University of Nexqualy on Perren IX,

led by Dr. Abdul Ramesh Kaul. Dr.

Kaul is the Federation's foremost authority on the

Meztorien culture, whose ruins are widely

scattered throughout this quadrant. It is a distinct

honor to be associated with such eminent scholars

as Dr. Kaul and his team.

"Why me?" Ensign Pavel Chekov

demanded, breaking his stride to lift his arms toward

the ceiling as if imploring some unseen deity

to answer his question. "Why do I have to be the person

who gets stuck with the Djelifan? To listen to her

talk, you would think that God Herself was from

Djelifa and that She used that planet as Her

base for creating the Universe."

Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu ducked his head

to hide a grin. "Do you have proof She didn't?"

Turning the last corner to the turbolift, he

glanced at Chekov from the corner of his eye. As

he expected, Chekov still hadn't gotten the

joke. While Chekov claimed half the

Federation's technology was invented in his native

Russia, the matriarchal Djelifans knew

that everything in the Universe came from their planet.

Whoever paired the visiting archaeologists with

"buddies" among the Enterprise's crew had

obviously been thinking of Chekov's Russian

provincialism when assigning him to work with the

Djelifan post-doctoral researcher,

Talika Nyar. As they reached the turbolift

Sulu gave an apologetic shrug. "Besides,

I didn't get teamed up with any prize.

Meredith is so shy she's hardly spoken three

words to me."

"At least she's attractive." Chekov

stepped into the turbolift. He glanced toward the

intercom receiver.

The orangish-yellow star grew larger and brighter

in the viewscreen, its attendant planets

gleaming like diamond chips in their sun's

reflected light. Captain James T.

Kirk studied the image, trying to guess what

discoveries they would make here. The familiar

rhythms of his ship flowed around him soothingly--

Uhura's voice directing intraship

messages, Chekov and Sulu adjusting the

ship's approach, Spock at his station

correlating the sensor readings as they came in.

He let his anticipation build until he had

to know what this solar system held for them.

"Report, Mr. Spock."

The Vulcan raised his head from his scanner

display and faced Kirk, his movements controlled

and economical. "We are approaching the

Careta system. The star is classified as

F9 and has been fading gradually for the last

500,000 years. It is orbited by ten

planets, most of them small, and has a broad

zone of widely scattered asteroids between the fifth

and sixth planets. The third and fourth planets

are currently in the habitable zone, although the

climates of both are marginal. At present,

neither shows long-range readings that would indicate the

presence of intelligent life."

"In other words, two possible choices for us

to explore." Kirk glanced at the viewscreen,

trying to guess which planet was the more likely

candidate before Spock launched into another round of

statistics.

"The possibility also exists that artifacts

remain in the asteroid belt." Spock's voice

held a note of reproof, as if chiding Kirk

for jumping to so hasty and unscientific a

conclusion. "The Meztoriens often established

orbiting habitats in remote sections of

systems that they did not otherwise occupy. A

detailed survey would be required to establish

whether such habitats were present in this system."

Knowing he would regret it, Kirk took the

bait. "How long would it take to perform such a

survey?"

"It will take 7.25 days to scan the asteroid

belt with sufficient resolution to insure that we have

not missed any potential Meztorien

artifacts." Spock paused, raising one

eyebrow. "We should, in any case, conduct such

a survey. If we confine ourselves

to investigating only the planets, we risk

overlooking significant discoveries. This

quadrant contains an anomalously high number

of "orphan" archaeological sites for which we

have no context. It is possible that the smaller

planetary bodies or the asteroid belt may

contain information that will allow us to determine

predecessor or successor cultures for some of

these isolated remains."

Kirk suppressed a groan. By now, he

thought, he should know when to keep his mouth shut.

"I'll make you a deal, Mr. Spock. You can

survey all the asteroids you like if we find

something on one of those planets to keep our

passengers busy in the meantime. They're getting

anxious to do some serious work."

"Agreed, Captain, although I recommend that

we conduct the asteroid survey regardless."

"We'll see, Spock. First, let's see

what's on the planets." And hope it's big

enough to keep the archaeologists busy for a while!

"Yes, Captain." Spock turned back

to his sensors. Kirk watched him for a moment,

then shifted his attention to the main viewscreen.

Third planet or fourth? Which would it be?

By late afternoon the verdict was in the fourth

planet. After listening to Spock's summary,

Kirk scheduled a briefing for the Enterprise's

researchers and the visiting archaeologists to plan

their investigation.

Kirk, Spock, and McCoy took seats

on one side of the table and waited for the

archaeologists to sort themselves into their places.

Each had brought a personal datapad and several

data tapes, as if unsure what information they

needed for the briefing.

"Forgive our disarray," Dr. Abdul

Ramesh Kaul said with an apologetic smile.

"We try always to be completely prepared."

Kaul was a short, wiry man with teak-colored

skin darkened by the recent weeks of fieldwork.

He was bald except for a narrow fringe of

silvery-gray hair, and he regarded everything with

an impish twinkle in his eye. His two chief

assistants for this system--selected by lot,

Kirk had been told, to rotate the work and the

experience among the team--could not have been chosen

to provide a greater contrast to each other or to their

leader.

One glance at Dr. Talika Nyar

identified her as a native of a high-gravity

planet. She was short and wide, with mousy brown

hair and a huge beak of a nose; her sturdy

bones and powerful muscles made Kirk feel

frail in comparison. Her planet, Djelifa,

had recently joined the Federation, and Talika's

assignment to this expedition was the first contact anyone

on the Enterprise had had with her people. So far

Kirk had heard mixed reviews about

Talika's interactions with his crew. Djelifa

was a strongly matriarchal society--the strongest

in the Federation, if the sociologists' reports

were true--and Talika was having trouble accepting the

equality that prevailed on the Enterprise. The

glare with which she answered Kirk's scrutiny did

not convince him of her willingness to cooperate with his

officers.

In contrast, Dr. Meredith Lassiter was

delicate and willowy, with luminous white-blond

hair and sea-green eyes. Her physique

suggested that she had been raised on the Moon or

a low-gravity orbital habitat, but she had not

volunteered any information about her background. The

few times Kirk had seen her with other people, she had

avoided all eye contact and had only spoken

when asked a direct question. Lassiter slid

into her seat and began fiddling with a data tape,

staring at it as if it would vanish if she looked

away. She seemed as out of place on the

archaeological team as the Djelifan.

When everyone was settled Spock called up his

scans of the planet. "Careta IV is a

class-M planet, with a gravity 0.85 of

Earth. The oxygen content of the atmosphere is below

optimum for humans, although it is well within the

range tolerated by Vulcans. The climate is

cool to cold at most sites, due to the cooling

of the star in this solar system. Preliminary scans

have identified a number of sites worthy of

exploration."

Kaul nodded at Lassiter, who looked up

from the data tape and stared at the wall behind

Spock. "We have run analyses on the five

largest sites to select our initial survey

target." Her voice was soft and whispery, like the

rustle of dry leaves in a forest. "Each site

has unique characteristics that should be explored, but

we feel that Site J3 is the best choice for

our first look at the Caretian

civilization."

Talika requested a closer view of the

site. The screen zoomed in on the area, a

rolling flood plain below columned cliffs carved

from dark, fissured rock. Low mounds marked the

ruins of several large structures. Shadowed

lines, enhanced by the ship's computer, formed a

broken grid across the site. "Sensors less

weathering, more shelter at Site J3 show.

Better preserved should artifacts from destruction

by natural causes be." Talika's voice was

low and gravelly, a match for half the baritones

in the ship's glee club. Although her command of

English was excellent, her sentences were heavily

influenced by the rhythms of her native

language. "Small burial of major

structures later abandonment than elsewhere

suggests."

Spock focused the screen on a large mound

near the cliffs. "This structure was one of the last

built on the planet, judging by the thickness of the

soil covering and the spectral analyses of the

quarries in the vicinity. From the readings it is

impossible to determine when these structures were

abandoned, but we estimate an age in excess of

100,000 years."

Kaul leaned forward, drumming his fingers against the

table. His skin was almost as dark as the pseudowood

fini sh. "A hundred thousand years is somewhat

younger than we would expect for Meztorien ruins

in this sector. By then the Meztoriens in the

nearby clusters had succumbed to the Darneel

invasion, and the surviving fragments of their empire

had fallen into a dark age from which they never emerged.

Construction on even such a modest scale as the

ruins we see here would have been beyond their

capabilities."

Kirk nodded to close down the scientific

speculations. Clearly they were not going to get any

answers without going down to the planet. "Mr.

Spock, what's your recommendation?"

Spock glanced at his display. "The extreme

antiquity of these ruins makes it virtually

impossible to date them from orbit. To obtain

precise information we will have to beam down to the

planet. I concur with the recommendation of Dr.

Kaul's team to study Site J3 first. In

addition to the scientific reasons they have already

cited, the location offers a sheltered area to set

up a base camp."

McCoy nodded. "The vegetation is sparse in

this area due to a combination of low rainfall and cool

temperatures. This minimizes the chances of

running into dangerous native life-forms. About

all we'll have to watch out for is this world's

equivalent of poisonous snakes or insects.

Beyond that, the biggest danger is going to be tripping

over ourselves and our equipment."

"Does anyone else have anything to add?"

Kirk checked the group's reactions. The

archaeologists appeared eager to get down to the

planet, and Kirk saw no reason to deny them

their wish. "Very well. We'll run detailed

sensor scans of the site while Dr. Kaul's

people work out their excavation plan. The survey team

will beam down at first light. Meeting dismissed."

Kirk made his escape before anyone dragged

him into the detailed planning. As the door whisked

shut behind him, he heard Spock launch into a

technical discussion of the types of sensor information

he could obtain for the archaeologists. Grinning

to himself, Kirk headed for the relative peace of the

bridge, where he could decide who from the

Enterprise was joining the landing party.

"It's not fair!" Chekov grumbled, staring at

his landing party assignment. He deactivated the

screen and turned away, Sulu falling in step

with him as they left his quarters and headed for the

recreation room. "Why do I have to accompany her

to the planet, just because I got assigned to show her

around the Enterprise?"

"Some people have all the luck." Sulu's

expression was bland, disguising his relief at

missing this particular planetside excursion.

Although he couldn't justify the feeling, he was

glad he had been assigned to supervise the

comprehensive sensor scans Spock had ordered

of the planet and the solar system. "Besides, weren't

you the one who was talking about specializing in the

sciences? Maybe even trying for Mr.

Spock's job when he gets promoted?"

"Me?" Chekov's voice cracked on the

rising note. "I have just decided to change my

specialization. To something safer, like security."

"Then you could beam down to Careta to help

muscle the equipment into place." Sulu

chuckled and waved to some friends who were hurrying

to catch the turbolift. "I don't think you're

going to win this one, Pavel. The gods

seem to want you on that landing party."

"While you get to stay on the ship, doing all

of Mr. Spock's sensor scans. This time I

envy you. Normally I would prefer being in the landing

party, but this time I do not." He gave Sulu a

rueful grin.

Sulu nodded, his expression gone sober. "I

know what you mean. I can't put my finger on it,

but I wish we'd given this planet a miss."

He clapped Chekov on the shoulder. "If it's

any consolation, I'll be riding herd on the

sensors the whole time. If you get into any

trouble, we'll beam you up in a flash."

"That is very reassuring." Chekov's tone said

differently. A lot could happen in the time it

took to realize someone was in danger. "I would

find it more reassuring if you would tell me what

trouble we should expect."

"Isn't that Mr. Spock's department?" The

recreation room door opened for them. They stepped

through and Uhura waved for them to join her. Sulu

acknowledged her signal, and went to get himself a

cup of tea. "I mean, knowing everything before we

need the information?"

"I suppose." Chekov looked glum. "But

this is one planet I think the Enterprise could

do without."

"Are you sure about this mission, Jim?"

McCoy asked, sliding lower in the chair in

Kirk's cabin. "Is it just me, or is there

something strange about this planet?"

Kirk fiddled with his coffee cup, lifting it,

then returning it to the table without tasting the tepid

beverage. He glanced toward Spock, who was

studying the edge of the table with a look of intense

concentration that triggered warning bells in Kirk's

head. "Would you be more specific, Bones?"

"Oh, that's right. You missed the discussions this

afternoon." McCoy knocked back the remains of his

coffee, grimacing at the taste. "I listened

to Dr. Kaul and his people, and the longer I listened, the

more nervous I got. There's something decidedly

odd about this planet, and no one quite knows what

to make of it."

"Spock? What's this about?"

Spock straightened, shifting his attention

to Kirk's face. "Some of the survey results

are inconsistent. For example, there are

distortions in the planet's magnetic

field near several of the major sites. Also, the

grid patterns associated with the buried cities

do not match anything left by the Meztorien

civilization, although Dr. Kaul has not

acknowledged this."

"That's understandable, Spock." Laughter pulled

up the corners of McCoy's mouth. "He's

spent the last fifty years studying the

Meztoriens. Do you really expect him to jump

with joy at the thought that these ruins might have been

built by someone else?"

"Continue, Spock. What else should I

know?" Kirk gulped the last mouthful of his

coffee. It tasted as terrible as he had feared.

"Our scans revealed several other

anomalies that I am unable to explain at this

time. The civilization on this planet appears to have

disintegrated rapidly and completely, with few or

no survivors. On the other hand, for their

apparent age the ruins are remarkably well

preserved and are surprisingly close to the

surface. One would expect considerably more

destruction after a hundred thousand years."

McCoy grimaced, as if the discrepancies

left an unpleasant taste in his mouth. "Or

new colonists to take over the abandoned real

estate. It isn't natural for a habitable

planet to be this deserted."

Spock nodded. "That was the other peculiarity that

everyone noticed. I have ordered a detailed

inventory of the planet's natural resources

to determine if a crucial deficiency

prevented another race from colonizing this

planet. It is unlikely that all those passing

through this sector missed the Careta system in the

course of their explorations."

"What you're saying is ..." Kirk paused,

fiddling with his empty cup. The facts kept

pointing to the same conclusion. "There is no

obvious reason to avoid this planet, yet

everyone who has come through here in the last hundred

thousand years seems to have done exactly that."

"We better watch our step down there,

Jim," McCoy said, finishing the thought for

Kirk. "Whatever scared everyone else off might

still be waiting for us."

"Warning noted, Bones. Do you have any

suggestions on finding out what this is before we beam

down?" Kirk paused for McCoy to answer, but

got only the silence he expected.

"In that case, gentlemen, we will have to be very

careful until we find out what surprises the

inhabitants of Careta IV left behind." He

couldn't quite keep the grin of pleasure off his

face. Archaeological missions were usually

dull and slow-paced, much too tame for his liking.

A mystery promised to liven this one up. The last

few weeks had been peaceful and relaxing, a

re/l change from their previous assignment, but

now Kirk was ready for some action. The grin

widened as he considered doing a little investigation of

his own. Yes, perhaps Careta IV wouldn't be so

boring after all.

Chapter Two

There was something about materializing on a new

planet, Kirk thought as the transporter beam

released him--a special zip in the air, a

distinctive shiver in the ground beneath his feet. He

had never been able to define, even to himself, why the

first few seconds on any planet seemed so

charged with hidden potential. It wasn't because he

was the first human to stand on a particular world, because

he had experienced the same feeling his first time on

such long-established human colonies as Deneb

II or Rigel IV. And it wasn't because a

planet deviated from the Earth--normal conditions

of the Enterprise. Any of the differences on

Careta IV could be programmed into the ship's

environmental controls. After running through all the

possible explanations yet again, Kirk was left

with the last and least satisfying answer--that the

brief, charged excitement just after he

materialized occurred because this was the first time that

he, James T. Kirk, had stepped onto this

particular world.

Kirk moved away from the beam-down point

to let the next group materialize. Spock

followed him, activating his tricorder to scan the

area for the fine details the ship's sensors could not

detect. The four security guards fanned out

to confirm the landing site for the Columbus, checking

the terrain and other site factors against the

Enterprise's sensor readings. Columbus

carried a cargo of excavating tools, power

packs, and other heavy equipment, and the

archaeologists wanted the shuttlecraft close

to their working site without having it on top of any

important artifacts.

Talika, Chekov, Kaul, and three

archaeological technicians mat erialized

next. The scientists unlimbered their

tricorders and began an in-depth site

survey. Chekov joined Kirk, watching the

archaeologists with a wary expression on his boyish

face. "What is our plan, Captain?"

"Right now we wait for the experts to tell us."

Kirk looked around. From the ground the site

appeared larger and more desolate than it had from the

crisp, impersonal reports of the ship's

sensors. Immense walls of fissured

basalt, fractured into columns, reached for the

sky like a staircase designed for giants. The

thousand-meter vertical sweep of the cliffs was

interrupted by irregularly spaced ledges covered

with shattered rock. More talus had collected below

the towering basalt walls, burying some of the ruins.

A fast-moving river, as wide as the two

kilometers of flood plain between it and the cliffs,

swept past. Its surface was ruffled

to white-rested waves by the stiff breeze blowing

up the canyon. A hundred-meter-long tree,

stripped of foliage, revolved lazily in the

current as it raced downstream. Closer to them,

sparse blades of dried grass and a few

sagebrush-like bushes rustled in the wind.

Spock rejoined Kirk and Chekov, studying

his tricorder with an air of intense concentration.

"This is most unusual. My tricorder readings

suggest that these ruins are almost twice as old as

we originally estimated."

Chekov whistled. "That would make them over two

hundred thousand years old." He shook his head

in disbelief.

"I take it that our friends will have some trouble dealing

with that age?" Kirk frowned, trying to remember the

history of this sector. He wasn't sure, but

he thought that the Meztorien civilization had

risen about 150,000 years ago. If

Spock's newest readings were correct, these

ruins were far too old to belong to any known

civilization. They might belong to one of the

"orphan" cultures that Spock had mentioned

earlier, but most of those ruins were even older than

two hundred thousand years.

"That is correct, Captain." Spock

adjusted his tricorder and scanned the area again.

"The earliest known Meztorien ruins are dated

at 172,500 years before present. It

is possible that these structures come from an earlier

period of the Meztorien civilization, but that would

require a drastic revision of our current

theories concerning their expansion into this part of the

galaxy."

"As I recall, the Meztorien expansion

is one of the better-documented events of that era."

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摘要：

STARTREK(R)WINDOWSONALOSTWORLDChapterOneCaptain'sLog,Stardate5419.4TheEnterpriseisapproachingtheDulcipharstarcluster,oncethemostdenselypopulatedregioninthissectorofthegalaxy.Ourmissionroutinearchaeologicalinventoryoftheancientcivilizationsinthecluster.Tothatend,ship'spersonnelhasbeensupplementedbyat...

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