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Crandall or not, he's going to need more help than any of the rest of us."
    Then he was loping down the corridor to the turbolift. Seconds later he stepped onto the bridge.
    "What is it, Mr. Scott?" he asked even before the doors hissed shut behind him.
    Scott, standing and vacating the command chair, pointed at the viewscreen. "We've picked up somethin', Captain, I canna be sure what."
    His eyes on the screen, Kirk settled into the command chair. The object on the screen, a hexagonal cylinder, was turning slowly, not about the axis of the cylinder but not quite end over end either.
    "Details, Mr. Spock."
    "Mass approximately one hundred thousand kilograms. Range approximately fifty thousand kilometers. No life forms indicated on board, and it is not under power."
    "A derelict?"
    "Perhaps, Captain. There is, however, an operating power source on board, and a primitive sensor field surrounds it, maximum range of ten thousand kilometers."
    "Mr. Chekov, can you determine its point of origin?"
    "No, sir. It is moving less than one hundred kilometers per second, and its flight path does not intersect any star within two parsecs."
    "To travel that distance at that speed, Captain," Spock volunteered, "would have taken twenty thousand standard years. Additionally, there is no indication that the object contains a propulsion system, either impulse or warp drive."
    "Could it be a beacon of some sort, Mr. Spock? One that has gone dead for one reason or another? A warning beacon, perhaps?"
    "It is possible, Captain."
    Kirk nodded thoughtfully. "Any signs of gravitational turbulence in the object's vicinity?"
    "Negative, Captain. I take it, however, that you are suggesting a possible connection between this object and the missing gate?"
    "Not suggesting as much as hoping, Spock. I was thinking in terms of lighthouses and rocky coasts, actually. Or, more optimistically, navigation markers."
    "A possibility, Captain, but a remote one, considering the apparent instability of the gates."
    "I know, Spock, but it's worth looking into."
    "Of course, Captain."
    "Very well. Mr. Sulu, impulse power. Take us in to ten thousand kilometers."
    "Impulse power, sir."
    As the Enterprise moved forward, the object grew on the screen. Soon, blemishes began to appear on its surface, discolorations that might have come from age or radiation or both. Here and there, openings appeared, some jagged, some smooth, as if designed into the object. None was larger than a meter in diameter.
    "There are remnants of a second power source, Captain," Spock said as he studied his sensor readings. "Primitive hydrogen fusion, if I am interpreting the residual readings correctly."
    "And the one still operating?"
    Spock made a small adjustment to a control. "Antimatter, Captain, though of comparatively low power and very low efficiency. And it would appear to be unshielded."
    "Unshielded? By design or the result of damage?"
    "Impossible to tell, Captain. But it is operating, which would indicate that any damage to the antimatter core itself is minimal."
    "How close is it safe to approach?"
    "With our deflector shields up, Captain, no limit. Otherwise, I would recommend maintaining a minimum separation of one hundred kilometers."
    "Ten thousand kilometers, Captain," Sulu reported. "Holding position on impulse power."
    "Anything else in sensor range, Mr. Spock?"
    "Nothing, Captain."
    Kirk studied the screen another moment, and then: "Take us in another thousand kilometers, Mr. Sulu."
    "Aye-aye, sir."
    "The power usage within the object is increasing, Captain," Spock said, not looking up from his instruments. "I would say that it has detected our presence."
    As the science officer spoke, the image on the forward screen began to slow its tumbling motion.
    "All stop, Mr. Sulu," Kirk snapped. "Let's see what it's up to before we move any closer."
    "Power usage still increasing, Captain," Spock reported. "And the object's sensor beams are strengthening. They are being brought to a