From: dans@ns.ca   
      
   What purpose does the Aztec pattern on Federation starships serve ?   
   Is it there for a technical reason, appearance-only (aesthetics), a   
   sci-fi reason, or all of the above ?  I've tried to find an answer on   
   the Internet, but no luck.  It's probably something obvious, but it   
   escapes me.   
   There are a lot of websites that describe it, how to make a pattern   
   yourself for model builders, but not the "why" it was created, or what   
   does it "mean", in the Star Trek mythos or outside of it.   
      
   Thanks.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)