None of the additional ships were warships, which eased Spock's concerns about military buildups or related posturing. Captain Ulila set the Waterbourne to patrolling the orbit of the station at the limits of their sensor range once their initial scouting pass was completed, and the other three vessels took up positions near the Enterprise.

These other ships were, according to Jim, two more exploration vessels, both roughly the size of the Enterprise and of the same black, long-bodied configuration Spock knew from prior encounters, and a smaller, multi-purpose ship intended for use where its larger cousins were at a disadvantage. That one was maybe a fifth the size of the rest, with a trim, curved, stretched-diamond shape in charcoal gray and green. This smaller ship launched a blue-black shuttle minutes after arriving, and the captain made arrangements for it to land in the hangar bay. He left the conn to Sulu, and took Spock with him down to greet the Praxidi's liaison.

"They said he's an expert on this kind of thing," Jim explained once they were in the turbolift. "I suspect he'll be running their end of the show, in terms of actually deciding what they do."

Spock absorbed the numerous unvoiced aspects of what Jim said: Captain Ulila was not in charge, and for the Praxidi to have an expert meant- "They have encountered structures like this before?"

"I got that impression from the Pilots, but I don't think the previous finds were still functional, much less inhabited."

The lift doors opened and they stepped out into the hangar. The Praxidi shuttle's arcing lines and dark color were a stark contrast to the angular, gray and white shapes of the Enterprise's counterparts. The single figure standing next to it was equally striking: they were a little shorter than Spock, and had pale blue chitin, glittering black exoskeletal augmentations, and dark red eyes. Their nerve bundles were short and thick, and only brushed the base of their neck, and the shirt of their simple outfit was edged in elaborate, silver scroll work.

When Jim and Spock came to a stop, the Praxidi bowed and made a complex, almost dance-like gesture with their hands, then straightened.

"Greetings, Captain Kirk, Commander Spock. I am Master Arkoryx of the Explorers' Guild." Their voice was a light alto, with a more clipped pronunciation than Captain Ulila had used. Spock wondered if the difference represented some form of accent.

Jim dipped his head to return the greeting, and Spock followed suit, then asked, "Might I inquire as to what you are a Master of?"

"Celestial Archeology, Commander." Spock tilted his head, and Arkoryx explained, "Our people divide their exploration of space into very specific segments, so as to focus our energies in the most efficient manner possible. I specialize in phenomena and races that have only left remnants of past existence."

"Quite intriguing." Spock was considering which of his myriad questions to ask when Jim cut in.

"How about we take Arkoryx to your lab, Spock, so you can go over all the data we've gathered with him." He gave Spock a look that made his intent-getting down to business-quite plain.

Spock tacked another question onto his growing list: how the captain could identify Praxidi gender. "Of course, Captain. Master Arkoryx, if you would follow me."

"Thank you, Commander, it would be my pleasure."


Spock had set aside one wall display for working on all data pertaining to the magnetar and its orbiting station, and when they arrived, Mr. Scott was muttering to himself and shoving equations and data tables around. He glanced over his shoulder as they approached, then turned to face them when his eyes landed on Arkoryx.

"Captain, Commander. I was just going over the probe data, trying to square it with how that station's fancy shield works." He hesitated, glancing from the captain to Arkoryx, and Jim waved between them.

"Scotty, this is Master Arkoryx. Arkoryx, this is Mr. Scott, our Chief Engineer."

"It is always an honor to meet the ship's Master Engineer," Arkoryx said, dipping his head. Scott flushed and returned the gesture.

"Ah, right, and it's an honor to meet you too."

Scott's unease at Arkoryx's presence was obvious to Spock, so he sought to distract him. "Mr. Scott, if you could please describe the current status of your findings."

"Sure, sure." Scott dragged down a detailed diagram of the station, and as he began to talk, he relaxed. "The shield's being projected by these pylons," he tapped above and below the center cage at two sets of prongs that ringed either end, "on that structure in the center, and the magnetic fields off the power source are holding it in place. Marcus is still crunching the numbers, but she'll have a basic idea of the specifics soon." He put his hands on his hips and nodded at the cage. "It's not a surprise all the telescopes thought it was a neutron star-it's behaving a lot like one, and the probes sure think it is."

Arkoryx considered the data and the schematic. "Perhaps, Engineer Scott, that is because it is one."

Jim looked to Spock, and Spock thought over the idea. Scott, on the other hand, scoffed.

"A neutron star isn't like some lump of dilithium you can just pick up and, and cart to your space station and stick in the furnace. It's a star, for Christ's sake." Arkoryx regarded him placidly, and Scott grew only more flustered. "Are you telling me whoever made this built it around a neutron star?"

"Given the readings from your ship and ours, it would appear that is, at the least, a possibility to consider."

"Assuming the race was advanced enough, they could have used some of the star's initial mass as material to build the station," Spock added.

Scott grunted, and though he didn't look convinced, said, "Well, whoever they were, I don't know that I'd want to meet them. A race has to be downright crazy to do a thing like that."

"It is unlikely that will occur, Engineer Scott."

Jim frowned. "So you don't think the beings on the station are the creators?"

"No, Captain Kirk. Given the contents of the distress call, your data, and our previous findings, I do not believe that to be the case."

Spock was not surprised when Jim sprang at the opening. "So this isn't the first one of these you've found."

"No," Arkoryx confirmed. Mr. Scott muttered, "Fantastic," under his breath, and Arkoryx continued. "Certainly it is the most advanced, and the first that is still functional and has living beings still within it. We will have to update our measure of its creators' technological skill level several orders of magnitude."

Spock raised an eyebrow. "And who would those creators be?"

Arkoryx's nerve bundles shifted. "We have no name for them beyond the First, because we believe they may very well be one of the earliest space-faring races or groups thereof, if not that which their name would imply. Therefor it would be presumptuous to call them otherwise."

"And you believe them to be gone?"

"Gone would be the most accurate description, Commander. Though it is possible they are all dead, it is equally likely they simply left this galaxy for another-in fact, they may not have been from our galaxy to begin with. The knowledge required to construct a space station of this type which could function for thousands of years without significant failure suggests individuals capable of moving through the universe with ease. Despite all of our findings, we know little of them, yet this much seems certain: whenever they came across something or someone which interested them, they used it to whatever purpose struck their whim."

In his peripheral vision Spock saw Jim swallow, and he suspected more than just the distress call was weighing on the captain's mind. Jim nudged the subject by saying, "And the other structures you found?"

If Arkoryx noticed Jim's reaction, Spock couldn't tell. "In all previous finds, there were only the barest remains of any occupants, all dead for countless Maxima, and the structures were barely intact. They were not functional in any sense. Additionally, they were all orbiting planets, moons, or more conventional stars, and had very mundane power sources."

Spock said, "Regarding the star. All of our data suggests it is a magnetar, and its surface stress is reaching dangerous levels. I estimate the probability of a starquake occurring within the next year to be 96.2%."

"And Chekov has told me several times we don't want to be within fifty light-years when that happens," Scott added.

Arkoryx flicked the fingers of one hand. "Our stellar surveyors have reported similar findings. Certainly, we will need to proceed with caution and haste in equal measure."

"Ah, speaking of proceeding." Scott nodded his head at the data display. "I don't know how much more we'll get from just probes and long-range scans. We're about at the limit of what we can detect without taking readings with more sensitive equipment, and that's not going...to..." Scott's voice died, and Spock followed his gaze to the captain, who was staring across the room. Scott glanced at Spock, concern obvious.

"Captain?" Spock asked, and Jim blinked, though was some time in replying.

"I think they're trying to talk to us."

Scott looked not in the least reassured by that cryptic remark. Arkoryx regarded Jim with what Spock could only assume was intense scrutiny, and Spock found it bothered him more than just a little. (It was one thing for him or Drs. Riley or McCoy to observe the captain's interactions with Praxidian technology, and quite another for a Praxidian to do so.) He resisted the urge to step between Arkoryx and Jim, and instead mustered his patience and asked, "Who, Captain?"

"The inhabitants on the station." Jim grimaced. "They need to learn to work on their volume control."

"Captain, do you mean they have found a way to connect to the Pilots' channel?"

Jim focused on Arkoryx. "No, we were picking up a new signal coming off the station, so the Pilots routed it in."

"And what do the inhabitants of the station say?" Spock asked.

Jim was looking at the floor now. "They're being held captive by a computer," he shook his head, "an artificial intelligence. They've been working on freeing themselves, but it's slow going, because the AI runs most of the station." His features went still with surprise. "Apparently the AI...made them."

Scott's eyes went wide. "Made them?"

"A curious notion," Arkoryx said, and one of his hands fidgeted. "Why would a synthetic, computer intelligence need biological beings?"

"Some of the controls of the station are keyed to the races that built it, so the AI can't control it completely." Jim narrowed his eyes. "It made them in an attempt to get around those lockouts." His expression cleared, and he looked at all of them once again. "The AI connected some of them to the station's network so it could control them, but they figured out how to free themselves and took over the communications array."

Arkoryx gestured at one of the wall displays. "In that case, perhaps we could speak to them through our ships' communications?"

Jim's eyes flicked to one side, and he licked his lips. "Ah, that was definitely a no. They don't want the AI eavesdropping. They're worried it could still find ways to listen in."

Though it was inconvenient to have a communication bottleneck with the captain and the Pilots, Spock also thought it was a reasonable concern. He said, "If they are unwilling to communicate with us directly, it would be prudent of us to find another was to ascertain the veracity of their claims, to whatever extent we can, before deciding on further action."

Jim ran his hands through his hair. "Yeah. I don't know that there's any way we can tell if they're lying to us over the channel."

"Even if there was, Captain, a race created by an advanced artificial intelligence might well be able to circumvent such detection." Arkoryx's fingers worked. "There is one initial test we can perform. Engineer Scott, what would you require to take more sensitive readings?"

"We need to get to the station." Scott pulled up the station diagram on the wall panel. "Thing is, it's clear they didn't expect anyone to land on it-there's not a docking collar or hangar in sight. To say nothing of how they apparently," he gave Arkoryx a dubious look, "built it around a neutron star sitting next to a magnetar. That probably means they transported on and off of it, and that means there's a way through that shield without dropping it, and a receiving pad in there somewhere. Maybe a few of them." Scott looked at the captain, who was staring at the display. They all waited, and their patience was rewarded.

"There's several, but the Inhabitants only have control of one." Satisfaction flickered across his features. "It's the closest one to the computer core, which they also control. They're explaining how it works to the Pilots."

Spock discerned Arkoryx's intention. "We can compare the information they provide to a method we work out separately, and see if they are in agreement."

"Precisely, Commander. It is of course not a full test of their sincerity, but it is a beginning. Captain, if you would allow me some time, I will contact Captain Ulila and discuss some possibilities should the Inhabitants' data prove reliable."

"Like putting a landing party on the station?"

Arkoryx's nerve bundles flicked, and Spock took it to mean 'landing party' had a specific meaning in this case-probably a military meaning. "If we must. There may be alternatives."

Jim gave Arkoryx a long, intense look, then moved towards towards the turbolift. "We'll take you back to your shuttle. Mr. Scott, you should have the Inhabitants' data in a few minutes."

"Aye, Captain."

Spock followed behind Jim and Arkoryx, turning the new development over in his mind.