Suder: Look. And you said they were incompatible.
Tuvok: You have confirmed the genetic structure?
Suder: An entirely new species. I'm going to name it after you. The Tuvok Orchid.
Tuvok: That is an honor you should reserve for yourself, Mister Suder. You gave this species life.
Suder: And you gave me life. All of this is because of you. Because of the meld.
Tuvok: The meld may have introduced you to my interest in floriculture, but you have embraced it entirely on your own, and discovered a unique talent within yourself in the process.
Suder: I used to think the only talent I had was a talent for killing. Please. It's my way of saying thank you.
Tuvok: Very well. I accept.
Suder: Tuvok, I want to do something for the ship. I'm not asking you to let me out of confinement. I accept my punishment. But if I could just, just contribute somehow.
Tuvok: What contribution do you feel you could make from your quarters?
Suder: I was, I was thinking I might adapt some of the genetic engineering techniques I've developed for the orchids to make the airponic vegetable garden more productive.
Tuvok: Your attitude is admirable. I will discuss it with the Captain.
Suder: Do you think she'll agree?
Tuvok: We'll see. Now, shall we begin? Notice your mind working, how it plans for the future, visits the past. Notice those thoughts and set them aside. Turn your attention to the white light that is your breath.
Kim: Captain, we're being hailed on a subspace frequency.
Janeway: Are there ships in the vicinity?
Paris: Negative. Tracking the source. Seems like it's coming from an unmanned buoy, coordinates one four zero mark three one seven.
Kim: It looks like a Kazon signal, Captain.
Janeway: Take us out of warp. Open a channel.
Seska: Chakotay, they're going to take your son. When Culluh saw the baby. I hear them coming. I don't have much time. When he saw the baby wasn't his. Please Chakotay, help us. Not for me, for your son.
Culluh: I told you to stay out of here.
Seska: No, please don't. Don't take him! I beg you. No! Please, no!
Culluh: I'm taking him!
Seska: No!
Chakotay: This is not my responsibility! She has no right to expect me to
Janeway: She knows you, Chakotay. She knew how you'd react when you saw your son in danger.
Chakotay: I have a duty to this crew. I can't just leave and go looking for the child.
Janeway: And I'd never consider letting you go into a Kazon-Nistrim stronghold by yourself. If we do this, we do it together. That's something else Seska would know, too.
Chakotay: Do you think it's a trap?
Janeway: Do I think Seska is capable of manipulating you and me with this? Oh, yes.
Chakotay: On the other hand, it was time for her to deliver, and that baby we saw did look part Cardassian and part human.
Janeway: And knowing Culluh, I'm sure his pride was wounded when he realized the child wasn't his. It makes sense, Chakotay. It might all be true.
Chakotay: Still, the safest thing would be to ignore this message and resume our course.
Janeway: I'm not going to resume our course just yet. I want you to think about it, Chakotay. This has to be your decision. If you choose to go after him, I know I speak for the entire crew, Starfleet and Maquis alike, when I say we'll stand behind you.
Chakotay: A-koo-chee-moya. We are far from the sacred places of our grandfathers. We are far from the bones of my people. But I ask, on this day of sorrow and uncertainty, that the wisdom of my father find me and help me understand my dilemma. Speak to me, Father. Speak to me in my dreams.
Kolopak: I've never seen you so troubled, Chakotay.
Chakotay: I have a son, Father.
Kolopak: A son, Chakotay? Oh. This is the reason for your despair. Was he born with two arms and two legs and a heart that beats?
Chakotay: Yes, but
Kolopak: Then it's a cause for celebration. You will make a fine father. You needn't worry.
Chakotay: I'm not sure I'm willing to be a father to him.
Kolopak: Hmm. Not willing?
Chakotay: He was born without my consent. I had no part in it.
Kolopak: No part in it? Well, it's been a long time, so forgive me, but it seems that I had to play a part before your mother could conceive.
Chakotay: My DNA was taken from me, used by a woman to impregnate herself without my permission.
Kolopak: I see. You're trying to decide whether you should accept the child in your heart.
Chakotay: It's more than that.
Kolopak: But it must begin with that!
Chakotay: How do you take a child into your heart who is forced upon you by a mother's deception?
Kolopak: He knows nothing of deception. He is innocent. Centuries ago, when the women of our tribe were raped by white conquerors, many gave birth to their children, and we did not reject them. They were accepted by the tribe. One was a direct ancestor of ours, Chakotay. His name was Ce Acatl. He became a great leader of our people. Here is a man who was given life without his mother's consent. Are you so different from her? And is your child so different from Ce Acatl?
Chakotay: No.
Kolopak: He is your son, Chakotay, and he is a child of our people.
Neelix: I've been in touch with the Talaxian mining colony on Prema Two. They're willing to come to our assistance if we run into trouble.
Paris: That's good for about forty hours if we average warp two. After that we're out of their comm. range.
Janeway: Well, it's nice to know we have friends in the area. Thank you, Neelix.
Tuvok: I recommend a full diagnostic of our tactical array prior to the start of the mission, Captain.
Janeway: Agreed. But I want more from Tactical, Lieutenant. I want to anticipate a trap, and I want a few tricks up our sleeves if we need them.
Kim: Captain. I could program the deflector grid to make it look like we have help on the way. I'll show you what I mean. Excuse me, Doctor.
Torres: Echo displacement.
Kim: Exactly. This is how we'd look to the enemy's sensors. If we generate multiple decoy images like these, the Kazon would think that ships are coming toward us. We could create as many as we want.
Janeway: That's a good start, Harry. It should distract them for a while. But what else can we do if we're eventually intercepted by a superior force?
Emh: If you don't mind, I do have something to add.
Emh: Thank you. Captain, I hesitate to offer suggestions in a field of endeavor that is not within my usual area of expertise.
Janeway: Please, Doctor, your suggestions on any subject are always welcome.
Emh: Really? In that case, you may expect several more on a variety of matters in the near future. Right now may I suggest that we also consider attempting to create an actual holographic illusion of friendly ships?
Torres: With all due respect, Doctor, we can't even figure out how to project you into this room. How are we supposed to create holographic ships in space?
Emh: I would humbly submit that my program is far more sophisticated than your run of the mill hologram. In fact, projecting the illusion of a large, three-dimensional object has been a trick of magicians for centuries.
Paris: We'll just do it with mirrors.
Emh: Mister Paris's predictable attempts at humor notwithstanding, that is precisely what I would suggest. Installling holo-emitters along the hull with parabolic mirrors to enlarge the images as they are reflected into space.
Kim: We're going to use up a lot of our power reserves trying to pull it off.
Chakotay: If these ships can fool the Kazon, it's worth it.
Tuvok: But can they? If the Kazon scan the holograms, they will immediately realize there are no life signs on board, no power signatures.
Janeway: Okay, so we can't fool them for long, but maybe it'll be long enough. It's an advantage, and we'll need every advantage we can get on this mission. Work with the Doctor on it, B'Elanna. Mister Kim. Cut power to all systems to minimum requirements. I don't want to show up on any Kazon long range scanners. Mister Paris, locate the warp signature from Culluh's ship and set a course to follow, warp two.
Paris: Aye, Captain.
Janeway: Dismissed.
Chakotay: Uh, excuse me, but there is one more thing. Thank you.
Chakotay: It's not Culluh's ship. Looks more like a shuttle.
Janeway: Slow to impulse. Set an intercept course, Mister Paris. Have they indicated the nature of the distress?
Kim: Just a signal, Captain. No response to our hails.
Janeway: Let's go to Red alert.
Kim: Visual range.
Janeway: On screen.
Kim: Showing one life sign, adult Kazon male. He's in critical condition.
Janeway: Janeway to Sickbay. Prepare to receive an emergency transport.
Kes: Standing by, Captain.
Janeway: Commander. Mister Tuvok, you have the Bridge. Remain at Red alert.
Tuvok: Aye, Captain.
Kes: His hip is broken. Showing severe inflammation in the bronchial tissue.
Emh: It appears he inhaled noxious gasses vented in the damaged shuttle. Forty milligrams pulmozine.
Chakotay: I know this man. His name's Teirna. He's one of Seska's aides. She had him work me over when I was on their ship.
Teirna: Seska is dead. Seska thought that she could manipulate the Maje. She bragged about it to me more than once. But this time, she was wrong. We had just launched the buoy with the message for you. Then they came for her. They cut her throat as Culluh watched. He ordered them to execute me, but I bribed one of the guards to get me to a shuttle. As soon as he saw it leaving, Culluh opened fire, destroyed my life support systems. He left me in space to die.
Chakotay: What about the child?
Teirna: Taken to the Gema Four colony to be raised as a servant.
Chakotay: We'll be needing your help getting to the Gema system.
Teirna: You're going after him? This ship, alone? I want nothing to do with this. I'm not taking you into Nistrim space.
Chakotay: Under the circumstances, I'd say you don't have much of a choice.
Chakotay: What's his prognosis?
Emh: He'll be on his feet in a day or two but there's still a number of things we need to keep an eye on. He's had a nasty concussion, spinal cord trauma and a polycythemia, the cause of which I've yet to discover.
Chakotay: Polycythemia?
Emh: An abnormal increase in the number of red blood cells.
Chakotay: I'd like you to run an autonomic response analysis the next time I question him.
Emh: I'm afraid that won't help you determine if he's telling you the truth, Commander. An ARA depends on making a baseline comparison with the known response for a given species. Any Tom, Dick or Harry from the Alpha Quadrant, I could probably help you, but not with any of the new species of the Delta Quadrant. Regarding his veracity, it may help you to know that if we'd arrived an hour later, he would have been dead from his injuries.
Torres: The molecular variance residual on his shuttle is evidence of disruptor blasts and the signature is Kazon, so at least that part of his story seems to be true.
Kim: Plus, we confirmed nitrogen tetroxide fumes were in the cabin. If all this was part of a Kazon scheme, he had to be willing to breathe poison for hours before we got there.
Chakotay: Have you found anything at all that would cast doubt on his story?
Kim: No.
Chakotay: I still don't trust him.
Teirna: The trip would take six days at warp two.
Neelix: Four days if you didn't take such a circuitous route, if we simply went across the Tenarus cluster.
Teirna: You would encounter the Nistrim fleet before a single day passed. Anyone who knows this part of space will tell you the same thing.
Neelix: It so happens that I do know this part of space, my Kazon friend. I just wanted to see if you would tell us the truth. The route he suggests is safer, Captain.
Teirna: Of course, it's safer. I don't want to run into Culluh any more than you do.
Chakotay: We might have more success avoiding him if you gave us the command codes for the Nistrim defense net.
Tuvok: Computer, display tactical overview of our current course.
Teirna: Enter code sequence four nine one one seven zero Culluh.
Janeway: Mister Paris, adjust our course to avoid the defense net.
Paris: Aye, Captain.
Teirna: That is not an end to the danger. We are heading into an area of space populated by Kazon factions that are loyal to no one. They will attack without provocation.
Paris: Vessel approaching, coordinates three one four mark two one.
Kim: Signature is Kazon.
Janeway: Red alert. Configuration of the ship, Mister Tuvok.
Tuvok: A small raider, Captain. It does not pose a significant threat. Nevertheless, it is powering up its weapon systems.
Kim: Shields are holding.
Janeway: Return fire.
Tuvok: The raider is breaking off its attack.
Kim: Minor damage to secondary command processors on deck twelve. EPS power supplies and isolinear controllers are offline. No casualties, though.
Janeway: Begin repairs, Mister Kim. Any other sign of Kazon ships, Lieutenant?
Paris: Nothing on long range sensors. The raider is continuing to retreat. We should have a couple of hours to ourselves at least.
Janeway: Good. We can use them. Stand down Red alert.
Paris: Captain, we're about to go beyond the comm. range of the Talaxian colony. Just thought you'd like to know.
Janeway: Thank you, Lieutenant. Maintain current course.
Tuvok: Captain.
Janeway: I haven't forgotten, Mister Tuvok. Very well. This seems as good a time as any.
Suder: Captain!
Janeway: Mister Suder.
Suder: Please. Please come in. Won't you sit down? Excuse the mess. I wasn't expecting company. Can I get you some tea? Have you had lunch?
Janeway: Nothing, thank you. Lieutenant Tuvok has been telling me about your progress.
Suder: Has he? Well, I'm, I'm very grateful to him, Captain. I still have a lot to learn of course, but he is an excellent tutor. When we first started our studies, I, I thought
Tuvok: The Captain's time is limited, Mister Suder.
Suder: What? Oh. Of course.
Tuvok: I have explained your proposal to her.
Janeway: I'd like to know more about it, Mister Suder. What exactly would be involved?
Suder: Yes, yes. Let me show you. I've actually had very encouraging results with a new gene splicing technique. I created a targeted restriction enzyme to facilitate the hybrid.
Janeway: And you feel you could experiment on our airponic crops here, in your quarters?
Suder: Absolutely. I would make this an airponic laboratory, and all I would need are a few plants, certain chemicals and equipment.
Janeway: What sort of chemicals and equipment?
Suder: Nothing dangerous. I, I prepared a list.
Janeway: It's an interesting proposition, Mister Suder. Let me discuss it with Kes and Lieutenant Tuvok, and I'll get back to you.
Suder: I've already discussed it with Kes, and she is very interested.
Janeway: Good. Let me give it some thought.
Suder: If you're worried you can't trust me, Captain
Janeway: Mister Tuvok has assured me
Suder: I only want to do something. Something for the ship.
Janeway: I understand, Mister Suder.
Suder: Then what's the problem? Why won't you give me an answer?
Tuvok: Mister Suder.
Suder: I just want to do something for the ship.
Janeway: Excuse me. Captain's log, supplemental. None of the four Kazon attacks have caused serious damage, but the starboard ventral has been hit each time, complicating repairs on the secondary command processors.
Emh: You are making an adequate recovery, Mister Teirna. The only matter that I simply cannot understand is this lingering polycythemia.
Teirna: I feel fine.
Emh: The medical record you gave us does not indicate any prior blood disorders. Might it be an inherited trait? Do you know if your parents ever
Teirna: My parents were killed in a Trabe attack shortly after I was born.
Emh: I see. Well, we'll need to monitor this condition for a while. It might be due to some chemical imbalance that our sensors aren't recognizing, possibly the result of the toxins you inhaled while on the shuttle. You're welcome.
Chakotay: Feeling better?
Teirna: I'm sure I'll make a complete recovery just in time for the Gema colony's defense force to destroy us all.
Chakotay: You're still not optimistic about our chances, are you?
Teirna: No.
Chakotay: We've had no problem repelling the attacks so far.
Teirna: Attacks? When there's a real Nistrim attack, you'll know it.
Chakotay: You still have pride in the Nistrim, don't you, Teirna? Even after what they did to you. I remember that pride in your eyes when you pounded me with your fists while I was tied to a chair. And I can see it in your eyes now, and that scares the hell out of me.
Teirna: You must scare easily, Federation.
Chakotay: Tell me something, Teirna. Every Kazon attack seems to focus on our starboard ventral. Think that might be some kind of pattern?
Teirna: I wouldn't know.
Chakotay: Because if it is, and you've been lying to us
Emh: Commander Chakotay! Not in my Sickbay. Please.
Tuvok: Firing phasers.
Janeway: Increase speed to one half impulse.
Paris: Aye, Captain.
Kim: They're coming at our starboard ventral again. Our shields there haven't been repaired yet. We're going to sustain more damage to the secondary command processors.
Chakotay: Starboard ventral.
Computer: Warning. Fires have been detected on decks twelve and fifteen, sections A four through C eighteen.
Kim: Control units are responding, Captain.
Janeway: Keep our port forequarter facing the line of attack, Mister Paris. Don't let them see our starboard ventral.
Paris: I'm doing my best.
Janeway: Continuous fire, starboard phasers.
Tuvok: Acknowledged. They're withdrawing, Captain.
Chakotay: Stand down Red alert.
Janeway: Mister Kim.
Kim: Deck twelve is in shambles.
Chakotay: We barely have time to begin repairs before they attack it again.
Kim: At least no one was hurt. The secondary command processors are non-functional. We'll have to rebuild them. I'd say we're looking at two days work if we're not attacked again.
Chakotay: Why would these factions of Kazon, loyal to no one, all have the same agenda? And why would that agenda focus on a nonessential area of the ship?
Janeway: I don't know, but it feels like we're being pecked to death by ducks.
Chakotay: We can't just stay on this course and wait to see what they have in store for us.
Janeway: I agree. It's time to re-examine our game plan. Mister Paris, reverse course.
Paris: Aye, Captain.
Chakotay: Mister Teirna should be restricted to quarters on a secured deck until further notice.
Tuvok: Acknowledged.
Neelix: Dinner time, Mister Suder. We have a fine leola root soup tonight.
Suder: I'm not hungry.
Neelix: Oh, Red alert. I'm afraid we have to go. I'll leave it here, just in case.
Janeway: How many do you count, Mister Tuvok?
Tuvok: Eight large carrier vessels, confirmed Kazon signatures.
Chakotay: Funny how they show up right after we reverse course.
Janeway: Time to intercept.
Paris: Eight minutes. Their attack formation is a classic Cardassian echelon.
Tuvok: Curious. They have left us with an obvious avenue of escape, Captain.
Janeway: You're right, it is curious. Too curious for me. I don't know what's down that avenue of escape, Mister Tuvok, but I like to choose my own way. Set a course to intercept their lead ship.
Paris: Aye, Captain.
Janeway: Battle stations. Time to intercept.
Paris: Three minutes, ten seconds, give or take a photon torpedo.
Janeway: Mister Kim.
Kim: Echo displacement ready, Captain.
Janeway: Send in the cavalry.
Kim: Activating deflector grid. They should be seeing the same thing on their scanners. Ten ships with Talaxian signatures.
Tuvok: Four of the Kazon ships are breaking formation.
Paris: Confirmed. They're changing course.
Chakotay: They took the bait.
Janeway: That only leaves four for us to handle.
Chakotay: I like those odds better than eight to one.
Paris: Two minutes to intercept.
Janeway: Janeway to Torres.
Torres: We're ready down here, Captain. All the new holo-projectors are on-line. We can create three Talaxian ships whenever you want to.
Janeway: In about a minute and a half, B'Elanna. Stand by.
Emh: Perhaps we should try one last systems check.
Torres: You've already done it twice.
Emh: I'm new at this. And we've never put such a demand on the holo-generators before. We should have boosted the power input.
Torres: The defense systems are going to need all the auxiliary power we have, Doctor.
Emh: We might try a preliminary
Torres: Doctor!
Emh: It'll work. Everything will be fine. I'm not worried.
Paris: Here we go.
Tuvok: They are randomly detonating torpedoes in our flight path.
Kim: Shields are holding. No damage.
Janeway: Hold your fire, Mister Tuvok. They may have torpedoes to waste. We don't.
Paris: Thirty seconds to intercept.
Janeway: Take us out of warp.
Paris: Engaging impulse engines.
Janeway: Power to all weapon systems. Stand by phasers.
Tuvok: Kazon vessel ten thousand kilometers off our starboard bow.
Janeway: Not yet.
Tuvok: Six thousand kilometers.
Janeway: Not yet.
Tuvok: Five thousand, three, two thousand.
Janeway: Now.
Paris: Initiating evasive maneuvers, beta sequence.
Tuvok: Two more Kazon ships approaching.
Kim: Shields at ninety percent.
Janeway: Janeway to Torres. Initiate holo-programs.
Torres: Acknowledged. Energizing. That's two, and here's number three.
Emh: Help! Man overboard!
Torres: Doctor, are you there? Are you all right?
Emh: I told you we should have run one last systems check.
Kim: Four Kazon ships dead ahead, but they're dividing their fire, Captain. The holograms are working.
Janeway: Ready photons.
Tuvok: Torpedoes loaded.
Janeway: Take us about, Mister Paris. We want a good angle on that fourth ship.
Paris: Coming about, one four one mark two zero.
Janeway: Fire photon number one. Full starboard roll, evasive maneuvers lambda sequence. Fire.
Kim: Shields at eight five percent and holding. Minor damage reported deck fourteen.
Janeway: Come about to one four three mark zero six zero.
Paris: Coming about.
Janeway: Ready photons, dispersal pattern sierra. Fire.
Kim: I'm reading a massive discharge on deck eight. We've lost a primary plasma conduit.
Chakotay: Deck eight. Teirna's quarters.
Tuvok: Damage control teams to deck eight.
Kim: I'm showing power failures all over the ship.
Torres: We've lost power to the new holodeck grid. I can't restore it.
Janeway: B'Elanna, are you all right?
Torres: Yes, Captain. But it looks like our reactant's injector controls were hit. Stand by.
Tuvok: All three Kazon ships are concentrating their fire on us now, Captain.
Kim: Shields at seventy percent and falling. Starboard targeting scanners are offline.
Chakotay: Evasive maneuvers, Mister Paris. Gamma sequence.
Janeway: Engineering, I need warp power.
Torres: We can't go to warp, Captain. The containment field generator has been damaged. I'm attempting to bypass.
Paris: Captain, if I can get a shuttle through the cross fire, I can go back and bring the Talaxians to help us.
Janeway: Chakotay, take the conn. Good luck, Lieutenant.
Kim: Shuttle is clear. So far, so good.
Janeway: Give him as much cover fire as you can, Tuvok.
Tuvok: Aye, Captain.
Kim: Voyager to Paris. Please respond. Tom, can you hear me? I've lost contact with the shuttle.
Chakotay: Navigational array is offline.
Tuvok: We've lost power to forward phasers.
Kim: Shields at thirty percent. They're buckling.
Janeway: Report.
Kim: The driver coil assembly has been destroyed. Impulse engines are offline.
Tuvok: We're being boarded through the shuttle bays, Captain. Phaser fights reported on decks five, six, seven.
Chakotay: Intruder alert. Security to decks five through seven.
Janeway: Begin evacuation. Janeway to Computer. Initiate self-destruct sequence. Authorisation, Janeway pi one one zero. Set at ten minutes.
Computer: Unable to initiate self-destruct sequence due to damage to secondary command processors.
Kazon: Stay where you are. Don't move.
Janeway: Hold your fire.
Kazon: Get down there! You! Move!
Janeway: I want to speak to Maje Culluh.
Culluh: Easily arranged, Captain.
Seska: Hello, everyone. What do you think of your son, Chakotay? He has your eyes, don't you think? Thank goodness he doesn't look too human. You all have such weak foreheads.
Chakotay: May he grow up never knowing the contempt his father has for his mother.
Culluh: I think I can assure you of that, Commander. I intend to take him for my own son. A man who would violate a woman under his own command
Chakotay: What?
Culluh: Doesn't deserve a son.
Chakotay: Is that what she told you?
Culluh: The boy will be trained as a Nistrim askara. Already he has helped us win the greatest battle in our history.
Janeway: Culluh, I'd like to discuss what happens now.
Culluh: You'll be given no more respect than any Kazon woman, now that your ship and technology are mine. I will tell you when you may speak.
Janeway: Allow my crew to live. They were following my orders.
Culluh: You're even worse than she is. What is it about the women from your quadrant? You know, she contradicts me in front of the senior askara? My own woman disputing her Maje in front of others. This is your fault. You've let your women get out of control.
Seska: You know you have my deepest respect, Maje.
Culluh: Why is it so dark in here? Somebody turn on the lights. Order the repair crews to begin work immediately. I want to leave for the Hanon system as soon as possible.
Chakotay: What's in the Hanon system?
Seska: Your new home. Take them to a cargo bay. Have the whole crew brought there. Check all quarters.
Kazon: Move.
Seska: Goodbye, Chakotay. I'll take good care of our son. Oh, are you hungry, my brave little boy?
Kazon: Move it!
Crewwoman: Oh, God. Stop it.
Kazon: You! Come on, move! Keep moving.
Neelix: This is outrageous!
Kazon: Shut up!
Kazon: You! Get up! Move! Get out!
Emh: Computer, activate Medical Holographic recall. Set for twelve hours. Mark.
Kazon: Check every room.
Kazon 2: In here.
Kazon: What's that?
Kazon: The sensor repairs are complete, Maje. We have accounted for all but two of the Federation crew. There's also a shuttle missing.
Culluh: Yes, we destroyed the shuttle as it was leaving.
Seska: Has that been confirmed?
Culluh: Fine. Have the other ships send out search parties. Confirm the shuttle was destroyed.
Seska: And even if they find wreckage that seems to be from the shuttle, tell them to check for a recent warp trail.
Culluh: Stand by to engage atmospheric thrusters. Prepare for landing. Activate the viewscreen.
Culluh: Extend landing struts. Ready environmental controls.
Culluh: Disengage engines. Secure thruster exhaust.
Culluh: A fitting end for a people who would not share their technology. Let's see if you manage to survive without it.
Janeway: All right. Let's go. We've got to find water and shelter.
Janeway: We'll divide the crew into teams. Each of you will be a team leader. Make it clear to all your people that we expect to be rescued and our job is to survive until help arrives.
Neelix: Do you really think it's likely that someone will find us, Captain?
Janeway: You're the morale officer, Neelix. You give me an answer.
Neelix: Help is on the way!
Kim: Maybe Tom's shuttle got through.
Janeway: It's very important that this crew be given a sense of hope. That's our most important job right now. Our top priority is drinking water. Second is shelter to spend the night.
Chakotay: A clearing with a protected side like the base of a cliff would be best.
Janeway: Food, fuel. Look for all the basic survival requirements.
Chakotay: That includes anything that can be used as a tool or a weapon.
Janeway: We'll reconvene here in about two hours.
Chakotay: All right, start dividing the crew. Looks like we don't have much daylight left. We'll spread the teams out in a standard alpha search pattern to see what we have to work with.
Janeway: Chakotay, Torres, you're with me. Alpha team here.
Tuvok: Beta team, this way.
Kim: Gamma team.
Neelix: Delta team with me.
Janeway: The planet seems to be seismically active.
Chakotay: At first glance, it's an M-class planet in a Pliocene stage of evolution.
Janeway: Comparable to Earth several million years ago.
Torres: Captain. To Be Continued...
Chakotay: Let me help you.
Wildman: No, really, I'm all right.
Chakotay: Don't push yourself. That goes for everyone. Perspiring wastes water.
Janeway: All right people, follow me. Let's take it slow. This is the most defensible location we've seen so far. The overhang should provide us with shelter, and the breeze should keep insects away. All right, let's make camp.
Hogan: Neelix, look at this. They almost look constructed. Maybe the people on this world are cave dwellers.
Neelix: If that's true, I'd say this is a do-not-disturb sign, wouldn't you? They look humanoid. We might be able to use these as tools or weapons. Gather them up, Mister Hogan. Is there a problem?
Hogan: No, sir. Do you want all of them?
Neelix: Waste nothing. That's one of the first rules of survival.
Crewwoman: Neelix, over here!
Neelix: Hogan!
Paris: Computer, repeat stabilizer diagnostic.
Computer: Damage has been detected in the stabilizer acceleration sensors.
Paris: I just repaired the acceleration sensors.
Computer: Warning. Vessel approaching on intercept course.
Paris: Signature?
Computer: Kazon patrol vessel.
Paris: Damn it! I don't have time for this.
Paris: I don't have time for this! Computer, all stop. Engage impulse.
Paris: I told you, I don't have time for this.
Chakotay: That's all that's left of Hogan's uniform, Captain. We didn't find anything else.
Neelix: This is my fault. If I hadn't told Hogan to pick up these bones.
Kes: You shouldn't blame yourself, Neelix.
Janeway: Stop it. There's no time to worry about blame. Hogan was a fine officer and a good man. And our job is to make sure his death is the last one for a long time! I will not let this planet destroy my crew. Kes, see to it that everyone knows the tunnels are off-limits. I want clear safety protocols established. Mister Tuvok, we need weapons.
Tuvok: I have already begun to design some rudimentary devices, Captain.
Janeway: What's our food and water status?
Chakotay: I know it sounds grisly, but I can make solar stills with the material from this uniform. We could have water tomorrow.
Janeway: Do it.
Neelix: Captain, none of the search teams were able to find plants of any nutritional value.
Janeway: Then tell the crew to start turning over rocks.
Janeway: If anyone balks at eating these, tell them it's an order from their captain. They may be the difference between life and death.
Seska: Activate Emergency Medical Holographic Program.
Emh: Please state the nature of the medical emergency.
Seska: Hello, Doctor. Remember me?
Emh: How could I forget such an intriguing medical mystery? A Bajoran crewman with a Cardassian physiology. How are you, Seska? I see we have a new passenger.
Seska: Doctor, I have to inform you about a change of command. I'm curious how you'll react. The Kazon-Nistrim have taken Voyager.
Emh: How interesting.
Seska: Does your program have any problem with that?
Emh: One humanoid is pretty much the same as another from a holographic point of view. I'm programmed to provide medical care to anyone who needs it.
Seska: Tell me, is it within your program's capabilities to lie or be deceptive?
Emh: I've learned that a bedside manner occasionally requires me to, how should I put it, soft-pedal the truth. But bald-faced lying, calculated deceit? I don't have much experience with that sort of thing. But my program is adaptive. If you really need me to be deceptive, I'm sure I could learn.
Seska: It's not exactly what I meant. I think we'll keep you just as you are.
Emh: As you wish. Your baby's in good health.
Seska: Ah, you don't know how primitive Kazon medicine is. I'm sure Chakotay would be glad to know you're looking after his son.
Emh: Chakotay's son? That isn't Chakotay's son.
Seska: But you're wrong, Doctor. I impregnated myself with his DNA.
Emh: That may have been your intention, but it certainly wasn't the result. Here. See for yourself.
Emh: Your child has Cardassian DNA strands here and Kazon DNA here. Human DNA has a significantly different nucleotide sequence.
Seska: But I was so certain. He, he looks
Emh: He's the first offspring of a Cardassian and a Kazon. We have no frame of reference by which to judge his initial appearance. Perhaps he will develop more Kazon features as he matures.
Seska: Maje Culluh will be so pleased. End Medical Holographic Program.
Emh: Medical Log, Stardate 50032.7. I have determined that Commander Chakotay is not the father of Seska's child. I only wish there was some way to inform him. What am I supposed to do? Lead a revolt with a gang from Sandrine's? Conjure up holograms of Nathan Hale and Che Guevara? I'm a doctor, not a counterinsurgent. Get hold of yourself. You're not just a hologram. You're a Starfleet hologram. Maybe, maybe I could access a tactical database, teach myself guerrilla warfare. But that would take time. Computer, what is the crew complement?
Computer: There are eighty nine Kazon
Emh: Eighty nine.
Computer: And one Betazoid on board.
Emh: What did you say? Betazoid?
Computer: There is one Betazoid on board.
Emh: Where? Who?
Computer: Please restate a single question.
Emh: Who is it?
Computer: Crewman Lon Suder.
Emh: Suder. Where is he?
Computer: Between decks eight and nine.
Emh: Doctor to Suder.
Suder: Yes! Yes, Doctor. I hear you.
Emh: The ship has been taken over by the Kazon-Nistrim.
Suder: I know. I've been hiding.
Emh: Can you make it to Sickbay?
Suder: I think so.
Emh: Computer, emergency medical priority one one four. Delete the signature of Mister Suder's comm. badge from the system. There is to be no record of his being on board.
Janeway: Huddle together in groups. That'll preserve body heat. This is no time to be shy. Tuvok.
Kim: Captain. How do you like your eggs?
Torres: We found a nest about two kilometers away.
Kim: And that's not all. Cucumbers, or something like them. There are vines full of them two hours from here.
Janeway: Take them to Neelix and tell him to hold off on the beetle stew, at least for the time being. How's she doing, Samantha?
Wildman: I don't know, Captain. She seems tired, listless.
Janeway: Maybe she's just adjusting to the environment. After all, she was born in space. Make sure you stay close to the fire, as soon as we have one.
Chakotay: Trapped on a barren planet and you're stuck with the only Indian in the universe who can't start a fire by rubbing two sticks together. I was never good at this as a child and I'm still not good at it.
Janeway: Don't be so hard on yourself. None of the others have had any success with it either. Must be the wood.
Chakotay: We need kindling of some sort.
Janeway: What?
Chakotay: Something my father once told me about starting a fire.
Kim: There you go.
Neelix: If we put some bigger rocks around the fire, they'll reflect the heat better. I'm going to go get some.
Kes: Neelix. You shouldn't go too far away from camp.
Paxim: Voyager's been taken by the Kazon-Nistrim. They're flooding every subspace frequency with the news.
Paris: Is there any word on the crew?
Paxim: I'm afraid not.
Paris: If you can help me with repairs, we can be on our way in a few hours.
Paxim: Lieutenant, our ships are no match for Voyager and your shuttlecraft can hardly be expected
Paris: Commander Paxim, my people are counting on you. Look, no one knows Voyager like I do. I know every vulnerability, every blind spot. Don't worry. I have a plan.
Paxim: Very well. We'll rendezvous in an hour. Paxim out.
Paris: One hour. I should be able to come up with some kind of plan in one hour.
Emh: I was beginning to think you'd got lost.
Suder: I'm sorry. They're still repairing the ship. I had to be careful.
Emh: We have no time to waste. According to the computer, we're at warp. We've got to figure out some way to slow the ship down before we get too far from the crew. That would seem to be our first priority. And then we have to get some weapons. Mister Suder, are you listening to me?
Suder: Yes.
Emh: Oh. I see. Perhaps you consider this an opportunity.
Suder: Opportunity?
Emh: To obtain your freedom from confinement. How foolish of me to think you would want to help.
Suder: You're wrong. I do want to help.
Emh: Then what?
Suder: I'm going to have to kill some of them.
Emh: It is possible. Violence might be required to retake the ship.
Suder: I've worked so, so hard over the last few months to control the violent feelings. I'm almost at peace with myself. I mean, I see the day coming when I could be.
Emh: Mister Suder. If Lieutenant Tuvok were here, I know he would tell you there are times when violence is required to defend yourself, to defend your ship, to defend your crew.
Suder: Yes, there is a logical use for violence for everyone else. With me, once it begins
Emh: We must do this together, Mister Suder. If you don't trust yourself yet, then trust me. I will help you anyway I can. One hologram and one sociopath may not be much of a match for the Kazon, but we'll have to do.
Chakotay: There are signs of a struggle near the edge of camp. I found alien tracks.
Janeway: We can't wait until morning to go after them.
Chakotay: Well, I'm better at tracking than starting fires.
Tuvok: I've completed a few weapons that might be appropriate, Commander.
Chakotay: This is thoughtful of you Tuvok, but my tribe never used bows and arrows, and I've never even shot one.
Tuvok: This is mine. I taught archery science for several years at the Vulcan Institute of Defensive Arts.
Janeway: Take as many crew members as you need.
Native: Toos. Feelhi hiseri.
Neelix: Now, see here. You just keep your hands off her!
Native 1: Toluhee.
Native 2: Kahee! Kahee! Feelhi. (The native males square up to each other and fight like gorillas. A female screams as Chakotay walks down the slope towards them. The fight ends and they try to wave Chakotay away.)
Native 1: Sho! Kumi, kumi sho.
Neelix: Commander. Thank goodness.
Chakotay: Are you all right?
Kes: They haven't hurt us.
Chakotay: Have you been able to tell if they have a leader?
Kes: I'd say it's the one with the claw.
Neelix: I agree. The other two seem to be trying to figure out what to make of us. In a manner of speaking. Not in a culinary sense, I hope.
Chakotay: Listen to the sound of my voice, and you'll know that I mean you no harm. I come without weapons. But I must have my people back.
Chief: Lum, usetum hator.
Chakotay: Thank you, but she should stay with you. I must take them with me.
Native 1: Kodor, kodihor, kotiheer!
Neelix: Stand? Certainly. I'll be happy to stand. What, 0ver here? Fine, fine, fine, fine.
Chief: Jimugan neesensak.
Neelix: What? No. No. No! That is unacceptable!
Chakotay: Kes, stand up slowly and walk away with us.
Chakotay: We have to go now.
Chakotay: Just keep walking. Don't look back.
Chief: Tahee! Tahee!
Chakotay: In there!
Neelix: Commander, that looks just like the tunnel where Hogan
Chakotay: I know. If they know it too, they won't follow us in. Come on!
Culluh: You'd think this crew had never seen a warp drive before.
Seska: No one tried to adjust the antimatter flow today?
Kazon Engineer: No one.
Culluh: If you're lying, I'll have your head.
Kazon Engineer: I swear it, Maje.
Seska: There should have been some warning before the antimatter injector froze. A drop in core temperature, a magnetic constriction alarm, something. He's either lying, or
Culluh: Or what?
Seska: Computer, run a level one scan for intruders.
Computer: Unable to comply. Internal scanner relays have been damaged.
Culluh: I thought you said all repairs were complete.
Kazon Engineer: They were. I thought they were.
Seska: I want a deck by deck search of all Jeffries tubes and conduits. Use the Federation tricorders.
Suder: Do you have a portable thoron generator?
Emh: Yes, of course. We use it to treat radiation burns.
Suder: It's an old Maquis trick. Thoron particles neutralize tricorder sensors.
Emh: Mister Suder, we need some weapons if we're going to retake the ship.
Wildman: She has a fever. I don't know what to do.
Janeway: Let me get her some water.
Janeway: The baby needs water.
Kim: Those tremors seem to be getting stronger.
Janeway: Chakotay's team should have been back by now. We'd better look for them before it gets too hot. Get a few people together. I'll join you in a second.
Chakotay: Come on. We have to see if there's another way out of here.
Kes: I feel a breeze.
Neelix: It's coming from this way.
Kim: Do you really think Commander Chakotay would go in there after what happened to Hogan?
Janeway: He may have had no other choice.
Torres: How do we get them away from the tunnels?
Kim: A couple of phaser blasts would do the trick.
Janeway: Who are the fastest runners here?
Torres: I was on the decathlon team before I quit the Academy. The track and field coach was furious with me.
Janeway: Anyone else here who can run?
Ayala: Yeah.
Janeway: Okay. You three will be the sprint team. Once you reach our camp, you should be safe.
Chakotay: Which way do you like, Tuvok?
Tuvok: From a tactical point of view, the options are not encouraging. However, moving past the creature might lead us to an exit.
Chakotay: All right, let's take it slow. Single file.
Torres: Hey! Up here!
Ayala: Come on!
Torres: Up here. You want us? You want us? Come and get us! Come on. Come and get us.
Janeway: Pull this.
Kes: Look out!
Janeway: Chakotay! Tuvok!
Kim: The tunnel is clear!
Chakotay: Go!
Chakotay: Everybody out!
Janeway: Move. Let's go. Go! Go! Go, go!
Tuvok: Chakotay, your spear.
Chakotay: Go, go, go!
Janeway: Come on, come on. Go!
Chakotay: Come on.
Engineer: I don't understand it. Thoron particles are leaking into the conduits from somewhere. I can't get any other readings. Check the next level.
Kazon Crewman: Yes, sir.
Computer: Incoming subspace message on the Emergency Medical Holographic channel.
Emh: On the emergency channel?
Paris: Doc, I hope you're receiving this because if you're not, I'm a dead duck. I'm piggybacking this message on a fake Kazon signal I'm sending to the Bridge. I'm betting they won't be monitoring your Emergency Medical channel. I'm bringing help, but you have to do something for us. When the attack begins, I need you to get the computer to block the discharge from the backup phaser power couplings. You got that? The backup couplings. I'm taking out the primary couplings myself, but I need those backups to overload when they switch to them. Don't do anything until the attack begins or they might notice. That's it for now. I'll be seeing you soon. I hope.
Emh: Good news. Help is on the way. Mister Paris apparently was able to. Oh.
Suder: I didn't know what to do. I didn't think I should leave him there where they could find him.
Emh: Of course. You were smart to bring him here. We can put him in a stasis drawer.
Suder: Well, we have weapons now.
Emh: You did what was necessary, Mister Suder. Five cc's of improvaline will help you calm down.
Suder: No! No drugs. I just need to breathe. See the light that is my breath.
Culluh: We've just received a message from our patrol ship. They have tracked down the shuttle from Voyager and destroyed it.
Seska: Were two people on board?
Culluh: They didn't say.
Seska: Two people were unaccounted for when we captured the crew. Have they found any evidence of an intruder on board?
Culluh: No. But the search has been slowed down by a thoron particle leak.
Seska: Thoron particles? That's an old Maquis trick to fool tricorders.
Tuvok: After what transpired, I believe we have to prepare ourselves for an alien attack, Captain. Our priority should be to increase the weapons arsenal and to begin training everyone in the use of these weapons.
Janeway: I don't like the sound of that, Lieutenant. We may have to coexist with these aliens a long time.
Tuvok: Nevertheless
Chakotay: I agree with the Captain. We have to find a way to share this world with them.
Tuvok: You may find nobility in the savage, Commander, but he is only interested in killing you.
Chakotay: I don't believe that.
Kes: Captain! The baby is very sick. She's having trouble breathing. She has a high fever. There's nothing more I can do for her.
Kim: Captain!
Janeway: I think our top priority has just been dictated. Break camp. We've got to get out of here before it blows.
Seska: Why are you still here? I shut down your program when I left.
Emh: You must be mistaken.
Seska: Where's your thoron generator?
Emh: It was damaged on a recent away mission and left behind.
Seska: Who else from Voyager is on board?
Emh: I wouldn't know.
Seska: I don't believe you.
Emh: There are several dozen crewmen on board actually, and they have been working round the clock to sabotage your vessel.
Seska: That's a lie. At most, there is one, and I believe it is a Maquis crewman.
Emh: Yes. Of course, you're right. It is one of the Maquis.
Seska: I won't play these games with a trick of light.
Emh: Sticks and stones won't break my bones, so you can imagine how I feel about being called names.
Seska: I don't believe you could have sabotaged this ship alone.
Emh: Very well. Since you are obviously about to disable my program anyway, let me take the credit I deserve. I did sabotage the ship all by myself, with the computer's help, of course. As a matter of fact, one of your crewman came in unexpectedly and caught me in the act.
Seska: You killed him?
Emh: He left me no choice.
Seska: Why create a thoron leak if you're not hiding someone?
Emh: I would think it's obvious. To make you believe I was hiding someone. I've had your people crawling through the bowels of this ship for hours looking for an intruder.
Seska: You're more talented in the art of deception than you led me to believe.
Emh: I was inspired by the presence of a master.
Seska: Computer, access Culluh Zero One. Disregard all voice commands from Starfleet personnel. Security lockout.
Seska: Seska to Bridge. What's going on?
Kazon Crewman: A couple of Talaxian ships have fired on us. Nothing to worry about.
Seska: Goodbye, Doctor. I'd rather not take any more chances. (Seska shoots at his hologram control panel, and he disappears.
Suder: Doctor? Activate Emergency Medical Holographic Program.
Computer: Unable to respond. All Starfleet voice access has been canceled.
Emh: Mister Suder. If you are hearing this, you have just unsuccessfully attempted to access the Emergency Medical Program. I have programmed this message to play in the event that I have been disabled. This means, of course, that the fate of Voyager now depends solely on you. I can imagine how you must feel at this moment. I want you to know, you have my full confidence. You have already shown great courage and dedication to your crew. I have left an additional message for Captain Janeway and Lieutenant Tuvok noting your heroism, in case I am irretrievable. You know what you have to do and when to do it, and I know with our fate in your hands, we will prevail. Good luck, Mister Suder.
Engineer: The Talaxians are retreating toward the nebula.
Culluh: We'll teach them the price for attacking the Nistrim. Lay in a pursuit course.
Paxim: Commander Paxim to Paris.
Paris: Go ahead.
Paxim: They're following us as planned. We're bringing them to you.
Paris: Acknowledged. Ready and waiting. I just hope you are too, Doc.
Janeway: This way.
Female: Makee nah!
Chakotay: It's okay.
Chief: Tal kada.
Paris: Here we go.
Culluh: What's happening?
Kazon Engineer: Our phaser power couplings are under attack.
Seska: From where?
Kazon Engineer: I don't see anyone. I'm not picking up anything on the scanners. Shields are buckling.
Culluh: Take evasive action.
Kazon Engineer: I have it on the scanners. It's a Federation shuttlecraft.
Culluh: Lock phasers. Destroy it.
Kazon Engineer: Primary phaser power is down.
Seska: Switch to backup systems.
Kazon Engineer: Confirmed. Phasers are locked on.
Culluh: Fire!
Kazon Engineer: I don't understand. I'm showing an overload.
Paris: Yes, Doc, yes! Paris to Commander Paxim. Stand by. I'm going to start transporting your people to Voyager.
Paxim: Standing by.
Culluh: Seska! Seska!
Culluh: Seska? No.
Kazon Crewman: Engineering to Maje Culluh. We're being boarded.
Culluh: Abandon ship.
Paris: I'm sealing off the Bridge manually. I've got to get the computer back online. All Starfleet voice access has been disabled.
Paxim: I'm reading a Kazon shuttle leaving the ship. There are also escape pods being launched.
Paris: Forget them. We have more important things to do.
Kes: She's breathing better, isn't she?
Chief: Sad katonk.
Native: Anuk! Anuk! Anuk! Anuk!
Paris: Welcome back, Captain.
Janeway: Well done, Lieutenant.
Paris: I had a lot of help. The Talaxians, the Doc, Mister Suder.
Kim: Suder? We thought he was killed during the initial attack.
Paris: No, he and the Doctor sabotaged the ship. Suder disabled the phasers before they killed him.
Emh: You would have been proud of him, Mister Tuvok.
Tuvok: I offer you a Vulcan prayer, Mister Suder. May your death bring you the peace you never found in life.
Janeway: Mister Kim, is this ship capable of sustained flight?
Kim: All propulsion and navigational systems are functioning within normal parameters, Captain.
Janeway: Good. Take us away from our new home and set a course for the old one, Mister Paris. Warp eight.
Paris: Heading four one, mark seven seven. Destination, Alpha Quadrant.
Janeway: Engage.


Neelix: Anthraxic citrus peel, orange juice with just a hint of papalla seed extract. An experimental blend.
Tuvok: The success rate of your culinary experiments has not been high.
Neelix: Ensign Golwat tried some yesterday, and she thought it was delicious. In fact, she had a second glass, and she never has seconds.
Tuvok: Ensign Golwat is Bolian. Her tongue has a cartilaginous lining. It would protect her against even the most corrosive acid.
Neelix: All I ask is that you try it, Mister Vulcan. (Tuvok sniffs and sips.)
Tuvok: Impressive.
Neelix: Ah! I'll start squeezing that second glass. Breakfast is coming right up. Porakan eggs.
Tuvok: Porakan?
Neelix: The most flavorful eggs in the sector. Scrambled with a little dill weed, a touch of rengazo, a galactic favorite. Now, these eggs were not easy to prepare. After we picked them up on Porakas Four, I had to sterilize them in a cryostatic chamber for three days. Then each and every one had to be parboiled
Tuvok: Mister Neelix, I would prefer not to hear the life history of my breakfast.
Neelix: On Talax it's a tradition to share the history of a meal before you begin eating. It's a way of enhancing the culinary experience. My mother was brilliant. She could make every course, every garnish come alive by making it a character in a story. My favorite was the one about the crustacean who
Tuvok: What happened?
Neelix: Er, some sort of power overload. I'm afraid it decimated your breakfast. This is what my mother would call a tragic ending.
Tuvok: Engineering has been making adjustments to the plasma conduits to accommodate a new energy source. It may have created a thermal surge in the galley systems.
Janeway: Janeway to Tuvok. Please report to the bridge. Mister Neelix, I'd like you to join us as well.
Neelix: Aye, Captain.
Janeway: Captain's log, stardate 50126.4. We have detected a gaseous anomaly that contains sirillium, a highly combustible and versatile energy source. We've altered course to investigate.
Neelix: Sirillium?
Janeway: Yes, and possibly large amounts of it. If so, we're going to need to stockpile as much as we can. I'd like to convert storage bay three into a containment chamber.
Neelix: My pantry.
Janeway: I'm sorry, Neelix. You're going to have to make other arrangements.
Neelix: Of course, Captain. You know, if I injected sirillium into my thermal array, it might improve cooking time.
Torres: Yes, and blow up half your kitchen in the process. Sirillium is far more useful as a warp plasma catalyst.
Tuvok: The gas can also be used to boost deflector shield efficiency.
Chakotay: The vultures are circling.
Janeway: Well, there's certainly no shortage of good ideas. Have all department heads submit proposals for sirillium usage.
Chakotay: Aye, Captain.
Tuvok: The anomaly is within visual range.
Janeway: On screen.
Janeway: Analysis, Mister Kim.
Kim: It's a class seventeen nebula. I'm detecting standard amounts of hydrogen, and helium, and seven thousand parts per million of sirillium.
Torres: Captain, I recommend we use the Bussard collectors to gather the sirillium. They'll cut through that nebula like ice cream scoops.
Paris: I'm picking up a lot of plasmatic turbulence in there. It might be a bumpy ride.
Janeway: Tuvok, can you modify the shields to compensate?
Janeway: Tuvok.
Chakotay: Are you all right, Lieutenant?
Tuvok: I don't know. I'm experiencing dizziness and disorientation. Permission to go to sickbay.
Janeway: Granted.
Tuvok: Deck five.
Girl: Help me! Tuvok!
Girl: Help me, Tuvok! Please don't let go! Tuvok! Don't let me fall!
Girl: No!
Tuvok: I was holding a young girl by the hand, tying to prevent her from falling from a precipice. I was unable to keep my grip, and she fell to her death. And there is more. I had an emotional response anxiety, fear. An almost irrational anger at myself for letting her fall.
Kes: When did that happen?
Tuvok: It never happened. The girl was unfamiliar, and I've never been in that situation. It was me as a child, and it did seem like a memory, but I don't recall the incident.
Emh: Well, it was definitely a traumatic episode. Your heart rate accelerated to three hundred beats per minute. Your adrenaline levels rose by one hundred thirteen percent and your neuroelectrical readings nearly jumped off the scale. If you were human, I'd say you had a severe panic attack.
Tuvok: I am not human.
Emh: No kidding. I don't know what happened to you, but there can be any number of explanations. Hallucination, telepathic communication from another race, repressed memory, momentary contact with a parallel reality. Take your pick. The universe is such a strange place.
Janeway: I'll have Mister Kim examine the sensor logs. Maybe our proximity to the nebula is affecting you somehow.
Emh: In the meantime, Lieutenant, you are free to go. All of your vital signs have returned to normal, and I don't see any residual systemic damage. But I want you to wear this neurocortical monitor. In case you have another episode, it'll record a complete encephalographic profile and alert sickbay at the same time.
Tuvok: A wise precaution, Doctor. Thank you.
Tuvok: Structure, logic, function, control. A structure cannot stand without a foundation. Logic is the foundation of function. Function is the essence of control. I am in control. I am in control.
Tuvok: Enter. Kes. What is it?
Kes: The doctor wanted me to adjust your neurocortical monitor to pick up additional peptide readings. I can come back later if this is a bad time.
Tuvok: No. You may proceed.
Kes: What are you working on?
Tuvok: It is called a keethara.
Kes: Keethara. What does that mean?
Tuvok: The approximate translation is structure of harmony. It is used as a meditational aid. Building it requires precise balance and spatial acuity. It helps to focus thought and refine mental control.
Kes: At the moment, it doesn't look very harmonious.
Tuvok: No, it does not.
Kes: I'm curious. What does a keethara look like when it's done?
Tuvok: The form is not predefined. It is a reflection of the builder's state of mind. Thus, it is different each time.
Kes: I'd like to see it when it's finished. Well, good night.
Tuvok: Kes.
Kes: It's all right. I understand.
Tuvok: Structure, logic, function, control. A structure cannot stand without a foundation. Logic is the foundation of function. Function is the essence of control. I am in control. I am in control.
Chakotay: So how are you feeling this morning?
Tuvok: If you are referring to yesterday's incident, I haven't experienced any further problems. I am fit for duty.
Chakotay: I didn't ask because I'm concerned about your ability to perform, I'm concerned about you.
Tuvok: There is no need for concern.
Chakotay: Sorry I asked.
Tuvok: My apologies, Commander. I am distracted. I spent fourteen hours last night in deep meditation, trying to determine the source of my aberrant behavior. I could not.
Chakotay: Maybe you should try to forget about it for a while. I've found that when you don't think about a problem, sometimes the solution comes to you.
Tuvok: It is difficult to forget when you're wearing a neurocortical monitor on your parietal bone.
Chakotay: Good point. Mister Kim?
Kim: I checked all the sensor logs. There's no sign of anything emanating from the nebula that would have affected Tuvok or Voyager.
Chakotay: Anything unusual about the nebula itself?
Kim: No, it's a standard class seventeen.
Tuvok: I suggest we conduct a tachyon sweep of the nebula. It would reveal the presence of any cloaked ships.
Chakotay: Cloaked ships?
Tuvok: Yes. We should be extremely cautious this close to Klingon space.
Torres: Tuvok, the Klingon Empire is on the other side of the galaxy.
Tuvok: Yes. Yes, you are right, of course. I'm uncertain why I would make such an obvious error.
Chakotay: Maybe you should go back to Sickbay. Tuvok?
Girl: Help me, Tuvok! Please don't let go! No!
Emh: I think we may be dealing with a repressed memory. The memory engrams in the dorsal region of the hippocampus are being disrupted. It's causing physical damage to the surrounding tissue. In Vulcan medicine, this is known as t'lokan schism. It means that the subject is inhibiting a traumatic memory, which is beginning to resurface.
Janeway: And that's causing brain damage?
Emh: Strange, I know. In human subjects, repressed memories are nothing more than psychological traumas which can be dealt with, with standard therapeutic techniques. But in Vulcans, there is a physical reaction to the battle between the conscious and the unconscious. In extreme cases, the mind of the patient can literally lobotomise itself.
Janeway: What's the treatment?
Emh: There is no medical treatment for this condition. Vulcan psychocognitive research suggests that the patient initiate a mind-meld with a family member, and the two of them attempt to bring the repressed memory into the conscious mind.
Janeway: I'm the closest thing Tuvok has to a family member on this ship.
Emh: That's why I've asked you to come. He has a request to make of you.
Tuvok: Did the doctor explain the situation to you?
Janeway: Yes. Tuvok, are you sure it's the right thing to do?
Tuvok: I don't know how else to proceed. The doctor tells me that this is a memory. And yet, no matter how hard I try, I cannot remember. If the doctor is correct, if this is an experience I pushed into my unconscious mind, it could be very dangerous to me, even life-threatening. I realize it's asking a great deal of you, Captain, and I did consider turning to one of the Vulcans on the ship, but this meld would be more intimate than most. A family member is normally chosen because of the implicit trust that usually exists. On this ship, I trust you more than anyone else.
Janeway: Whatever happens, I'll be there for you, Tuvok. I'll help you get through this.
Tuvok: I will initiate the meld and attempt to access the memory fragment. Once that has been accomplished, you will act as my pyllora.
Janeway: Your pyllora?
Tuvok: My guide, my counselor. You will help me reconstruct the memory in its entirety. And as I am reliving it, you will help me to objectify the experience. By processing the experience, rather than repressing it, I can begin to overcome my fear, anger and the other emotional responses, and to reintegrate the memory into my conscious mind.
Janeway: When I'm in your memory, will I actually be reliving it with you?
Tuvok: No. I will be the only one who notices your presence. You will be an observer in the memory, but not a participant. This will give you the freedom to guide me objectively.
Janeway: When do we start?
Tuvok: I will need time to prepare. Please return in one hour.
Emh: We're ready when you are, Captain.
Tuvok: Your mind to my mind. Your thoughts to my thoughts. I am taking us back, back to the boy that I was, the boy lying on the precipice.
Sulu: Return fire!
Valtane: They've knocked out our targeting scanners.
Sulu: Damage report. Seal that conduit!
Rand: Hull breach on deck twelve, section forty seven. We've lost power on decks five, six and ten. Casualty reports coming in. Nineteen wounded.
Janeway: Tuvok, can you see me?
Tuvok: Yes.
Janeway: Where are we?
Tuvok: My first deep space assignment aboard the Excelsior.
Janeway: Why did you bring us here?
Tuvok: I did not intend to.
Janeway: Can you take us to the precipice? The girl?
Tuvok: That is precisely what I attempted to do.
Janeway: There must be some reason why your mind brought us here. Maybe this memory is connected to the girl in some way. How long ago is this?
Tuvok: Stardate 9521, approximately eighty years ago.
Janeway: Who were you fighting?
Tuvok: The Klingons.
Janeway: Klingons. Before you collapsed in Engineering, you thought we were approaching Klingon space. Why are you fighting Klingons?
Tuvok: This battle was precipitated by an incident that took place three days earlier.
Rand: All right, gamma shift, time to defend the Federation against gaseous anomalies.
Janeway: Gaseous anomalies. We were charting a gaseous anomaly on Voyager.
Tuvok: And that's when my problem began.
Janeway: That's more than a coincidence.
Rand: How are you this morning, Ensign?
Tuvok: I am well, Commander. Thank you.
Rand: I thought you might like to see some of this morning's com traffic before you went on duty. There's a message from the Yorktown I think you might be interested in. It's from your father.
Tuvok: Thank you.
Rand: You're not going to have time to drink that, you know. You're due on the bridge in five minutes.
Tuvok: It's not for me. It's for the Captain. I've observed that Captain Sulu drinks a cup of tea each morning. I thought he might enjoy a Vulcan blend.
Rand: Oh, I see. Trying to make Lieutenant in your first month? I wish I'd have thought of that when I was your age. Took me three years just to make Ensign.
Tuvok: I assure you, I have no ulterior motive.
Rand: Whatever you say, Ensign. See you on the bridge.
Janeway: You've never brought me tea.
Sulu: Outstanding. I may have to give you a promotion.
Tuvok: That was not my motivation, Captain. I am not attempting to curry favor with you in any way.
Sulu: Mister Tuvok, if you're going to remain on my ship, you're going to have to learn how to appreciate a joke. And don't tell me Vulcans don't have a sense of humor, because I know better.
Tuvok: I will work on it, sir.
Sulu: Very good. And thanks again.
Janeway: He doesn't look anything like his portrait at Starfleet Headquarters.
Tuvok: In the twenty third century, holographic imaging resolution was less accurate.
Janeway: This is a science station, isn't it?
Tuvok: Yes. I am one of several junior science officers.
Janeway: Tuvok, why doesn't your service record reflect any of this? I thought your first assignment was aboard the Wyoming.
Tuvok: It's a long story, Captain, but suffice it to say, this was my first Starfleet career. I was twenty nine years old.
Janeway: So what's happening? Are we about to encounter the Klingons?
Tuvok: Not exactly. The Klingon moon Praxis is about to explode.
Janeway: Praxis.
Tuvok: During this period, it was a primary source of energy for the Klingon Homeworld.
Janeway: Praxis. Yes. Its destruction would have lasting repercussions throughout the quadrant, and it led to the first Federation-Klingon peace treaty.
Tuvok: That is correct.
Janeway: But what does all this have to do with the girl on the precipice?
Valtane: I have an energy wave at two hundred and four degrees mark six port, sir.
Sulu: Visual. My God!
Sulu: Shields! Shields!
Helmsman: She is not answering the helm!
Sulu: Starboard thrusters! Turn her into the wave!
Helmsman: Aye, sir.
Sulu: Quarter impulse power. Damage report.
Crewman: Checking all systems, Captain.
Sulu: Don't tell me that was any meteor shower.
Valtane: Negative, sir. The subspace shock wave originated at bearing three two three, mark seven five. Location. It's Praxis, sir. It's a Klingon moon.
Sulu: Praxis is their key energy production facility.
Janeway: So what happened? Did you go to Praxis?
Tuvok: No. We were warned off by the Klingons, and resumed our survey mission. However, two days later, we learned that two Starfleet officers were accused of murdering the Klingon Chancellor. They were brought back to the Klingon Homeworld to stand trial. Captain Sulu had served under both officers for many years, and he felt an intense loyalty to them.
Sulu: Helm, set a course for Kronos, maximum warp. Take us through the Azure Nebula. That should conceal our approach.
Helmsman: Aye, sir.
Janeway: I don't get it. What's going on?
Tuvok: He is about to attempt a rescue of Captain Kirk and Doctor McCoy. As you can see, everyone seemed perfectly willing to go along with this breach of orders. However, I felt differently.
Tuvok: Captain, am I correct in assuming that you have decided to embark on a rescue mission?
Sulu: That's right. Do you have a problem with that, Ensign?
Tuvok: I do. It is a direct violation of our orders from Starfleet Command, and it could precipitate an armed conflict between the Klingon Empire and the Federation.
Sulu: Objection noted. Resume your station.
Tuvok: Sir, as a Starfleet officer, it is my duty to formally protest.
Rand: Tuvok!
Sulu: A pretty bold statement for an Ensign with only two months space duty under his belt.
Tuvok: I am aware of my limited experience, but I am also very much aware of Starfleet regulations and my obligation to carry them out.
Rand: That's enough. Ensign, you're relieved. I'm sorry about this, Captain. I assure you it will not happen again.
Sulu: Ensign, you're absolutely right. But you're also absolutely wrong. You'll find that more happens on the bridge of a starship than just carrying out orders and observing regulations. There is a sense of loyalty to the men and women you serve with. A sense of family. Those two men on trial, I served with them for a long time. I owe them my life a dozen times over, and right now they're in trouble, and I'm going to help them. Let the regulations be damned.
Tuvok: Sir, that is a most illogical line of reasoning.
Sulu: You better believe it. Helm, engage.
Janeway: You know, you did the right thing.
Tuvok: Perhaps.
Valtane: Captain, we're approaching the Azure Nebula.
Sulu: On screen.
Janeway: Tuvok. That nebula. It looks very similar to the one we observed on Voyager.
Girl: Help me, Tuvok! Please don't let go! No!
Emh: Fifty milligrams cordrazine!
Emh: There was a sudden disruption in his hippocampus. Luckily, he was in sickbay, or he'd be in a coma right now. That's the good news. The bad news is that his synaptic pathways are continuing to degrade. If the repressed memory keeps resurfacing on its own, it's going to cause more and more damage. Eventually, his entire neural structure will collapse, resulting in brain death.
Janeway: We were just starting to make some progress. We finally accessed the repressed memory. I saw Tuvok as a boy. And the girl on the precipice. Can I talk to him?
Emh: Not yet. He suffered a severe neural trauma, so I'm keeping him sedated for the next few hours. I'll let you know when it's safe to revive him.
Janeway: Come in. Ah, Ensign. What have you found?
Kim: I don't see any connection between this nebula and the one the Excelsior saw eighty years ago. This one's a class seventeen, while theirs was an eleven. Both contain trace amounts of sirillium, but that's about all.
Janeway: But they do look similar.
Kim: To the naked eye, but not to sensors. Technically, they're very different. You know, I've been talking to the doctor, and he tells me it's not unusual for a repressed memory to resurface because of a smell or a visual detail. Maybe the visual similarities between the two nebulas simply triggered Tuvok's memory of the Excelsior.
Janeway: Well, what about the memory of the little girl? What does she have to do with Tuvok's experiences on board Sulu's ship? The Excelsior seems so far removed from that childhood incident.
Kim: Who knows that goes on in a Vulcan's mind. Maybe there is no connection. And going back to the memory of the Excelsior was just an accident, a stray thought Tuvok was having because of the similarities between the two nebulas.
Janeway: You may be right. Nevertheless, I've been studying the Excelsior logs.
Kim: What do they say?
Janeway: Unfortunately, they don't say anything at all.
Kim: Nothing?
Janeway: It would seem that Captain Sulu decided not to enter that journey into his official log. The day's entry makes some cryptic remark about the ship being damaged in a gaseous anomaly and needing repairs, but nothing else.
Kim: You mean he falsified his logs?
Janeway: It was a very different time, Mister Kim. Captain Sulu, Captain Kirk, Dr. McCoy. They all belonged to a different breed of Starfleet officer. Imagine the era they lived in. The Alpha Quadrant still largely unexplored. Humanity on verge of war with Klingons. Romulans hiding behind every nebula. Even the technology we take for granted was still in its early stages. No plasma weapons, no multiphasic shields. Their ships were half as fast.
Kim: No replicators, no holodecks. You know, ever since I took Starfleet history at the academy, I always wondered what it would be like to live in those days.
Janeway: Space must have seemed a whole lot bigger back then. It's not surprising they had to bend the rules a little. They were a little slower to invoke the Prime Directive, and a little quicker to pull their phasers. Of course, the whole bunch of them would be booted out of Starfleet today. But I have to admit, I would have loved to ride shotgun at least once with a group of officers like that.
Emh: Sickbay to Captain Janeway.
Janeway: Go ahead, Doctor.
Emh: I'm ready to revive Mister Tuvok.
Janeway: Acknowledged. I'm on my way.
Tuvok: Several hours after we entered the nebula, we were ambushed by Klingons. A battle ensued, and we were forced to abort our rescue mission.
Janeway: Do any of those events seem related to the girl in any way?
Tuvok: No. If there is a connection I am not aware of it. I suggest we attempt another mind-meld, and try again to access my memory of the girl.
Janeway: Agreed. Doctor.
Tuvok: Your mind to my mind. Your thoughts to my thoughts. I am taking us back, back to the boy that I was. The boy lying on the precipice.
Rand: Hull breach on deck twelve, section forty seven.
Janeway: Tuvok, we're back in the battle with the Klingons again, eighty years ago.
Tuvok: I am at a loss to explain, Captain, but it's hard to accept this as a coincidence.
Janeway: Agreed. I want to go back to the moment when you first saw the nebula. What happened?
Tuvok: Captain Sulu estimated it would take approximately five hours to traverse the nebula and enter Klingon space. He decided my shift needed some rest, so we returned to the crew quarters.
Tuvok: I attempted to get some sleep. However, my bunk mate Dmitri Valtane felt the need to discuss our situation.
Valtane: Hey. Tuvok. Are you asleep?
Tuvok: No.
Valtane: Me neither. I can't believe we're going to do this. I didn't think the Captain had it in him.
Tuvok: Had what in him?
Valtane: You know. The guts to defy an order and run off on some rescue mission to save old friends.
Tuvok: I take it from the tone of your voice that you admire this trait.
Valtane: Well, yeah. It's courageous.
Tuvok: It's illogical and reckless, which I attempted to point out to him on the bridge.
Valtane: Oh, come on, Tuvok. Isn't it more fun than charting gaseous anomalies?
Tuvok: The human fascination with fun has led to many tragedies in your short, but violent, history. One wonders how your race has survived having so much fun.
Valtane: Vulcans. You guys need to relax.
Tuvok: No, I will not relax. Ever since I entered the Academy, I've had to endure the egocentric nature of humanity. You believe that everyone in the galaxy should be like you, that we should all share your sense of humor and your human values.
Valtane: Well, if you hated it here so much, why'd you join Starfleet in the first place?
Tuvok: I joined under pressure from my parents. But I've already decided to resign my commission once this assignment is complete.
Valtane: Well, your loss.
Janeway: Tuvok, did you really mean that?
Tuvok: At this point in my life, yes. My experiences at the Academy and on board the Excelsior were not pleasant.
Janeway: I knew you left Starfleet for over fifty years, but I never knew why. I didn't realize it was because of a conflict with humans.
Tuvok: My perceptions of humanity and Starfleet were undoubtedly colored by the fact that I did not want to be here in the first place.
Janeway: Your parents really forced you to go to the Academy?
Tuvok: It was their wish, and I felt an obligation to fulfilll it.
Janeway: What did you do during those fifty years?
Tuvok: I returned to Vulcan, where I spent several years in seclusion, immersing myself in the Kolinahr, a rigorous diskipline intended to purge all emotions. I wanted to attain a state of pure and total logic.
Janeway: What happened?
Tuvok: Unfortunately, six years into my studies, I began the Pon farr. I took a mate.
Janeway: T'Pel.
Tuvok: Yes. We decided to raise a family together, so I chose to postpone my studies.
Janeway: And what brought you back to Starfleet?
Tuvok: Raising children of my own made me appreciate what my parents experienced raising me. And I came to realize that the decisions I made as a young man were not always in my best interest. I understood their decision to send me to the Academy, and that there were many things I could learn from humans and other species, so I decided to expand my knowledge of the galaxy. Starfleet provided that opportunity.
Janeway: Well, I'm glad you had a change of heart.
Tuvok: As am I, Captain. Although, heart had very little to do with it. It was a logical decision.
Janeway: I'm sure it was.
Sulu: Red alert! All hands to battle stations!
Valtane: Oh, what's going on? I thought we were still five hours from Klingon space.
Tuvok: A Klingon battle cruiser decloaked inside the nebula. At this moment, they were firing concussive charges across our bow.
Rand: We're being hailed, Captain.
Sulu: On screen.
Kang: Mister Sulu, I see they have finally given you the captaincy you deserve.
Sulu: Thank you, Kang.
Kang: Do not let it end prematurely.
Sulu: Kang, we've been on a survey mission studying this nebula. Our navigation system malfunctioned, and I'm afraid we got lost. As soon as we've completed repairs, we'll be on our way.
Kang: We'd be happy to escort you back to Federation space.
Sulu: Very generous of you, but we can manage.
Kang: I insist.
Sulu: Actually, an escort would be welcome. We'd hate to lose our way again.
Kang: Bring your ship about, bearing one eight one, mark two.
Sulu: Nice to see you again, Kang.
Valtane: Captain Sulu?
Sulu: Man your station, Lieutenant. We're not giving up just yet. Helm, come about. Tactical status.
Valtane: They have their forward disruptors trained on us, sir.
Sulu: Ensign Tuvok, what is the composition of this nebula?
Tuvok: Primarily oxygen and argon, with traces of theta-xenon, fluorine and sirillium gas.
Sulu: Sirillium? That's a highly combustible substance, isn't it?
Tuvok: Affirmative.
Sulu: Is there any way we could ignite the sirillium?
Tuvok: If we modulated a positron beam to a subspace frequency, it would trigger a thermochemical reaction in the sirillium.
Sulu: Like tossing a match into a pool of gasoline. Would their shields withstand the blast?
Tuvok: Yes, but their sensors and tactical systems would be disrupted for several seconds.
Sulu: That's all the time we need. Tuvok, modulate a positron beam and stand by. We'll ignite the sirillium the instant we clear the nebula. Helm, prepare to engage maximum warp on my command.
Helmsman: Aye, sir.
Sulu: All hands, this is the Captain. Secure stations and batten down the hatches.
Tuvok: The positron beam is charged and ready.
Sulu: On my mark, Ensign.
Valtane: We're clearing the nebula.
Sulu: Mister Tuvok, light the match.
Valtane: The Klingon ship's been disabled. They're not pursuing, sir.
Sulu: Helm, set a course for Kronos. Engage. Commander Rand, I want you
Valtane: Sir, long-range sensors are detecting three Klingon battle cruisers on an intercept course. They're arming torpedoes.
Helmsman: Heading, sir?
Sulu: Maintain course.
Sulu: Return fire!
Valtane: They've knocked out our targeting scanners.
Sulu: Switch to manual!
Tuvok: Mister Valtane, there's a rupture in the plasma conduit behind your console. Get away from that station.
Valtane: One more second.
Tuvok: Dmitri, you must
Tuvok: Bridge to sickbay. Medical emergency.
Valtane: Tuvok.
Girl: Tuvok! Help! Don't let me fall! No!
Kes: Doctor, what's happening?
Emh: Their memory engrams are destabilizing. Something must be going wrong with the mind-meld. I'm going to bring them out of it.
Kes: It's not working.
Emh: Their neural patterns appear to be locked together. I can't break the meld. The damage to his synaptic patterns is accelerating. At this rate, he'll be brain dead in twenty minutes. Get me a cortical stimulator!
Janeway: I saw her again, Tuvok. The girl. When Valtane died just now, it seemed to cause the memory to resurface. What is it?
Tuvok: Something's gone wrong with the mind-meld.
Sulu: Who the hell are you? Intruder alert! Get Security up here.
Janeway: What's happening? Why can he see me?
Sulu: I asked you a question. Who are you, and what are you doing on my ship?
Tuvok: It's an indication that the rate of deterioration in my brain has increased. At advanced stages of a t'lokan schism, memories and thought processes become distorted and confused.
Sulu: Ensign. Do you know this woman?
Tuvok: I will break the meld, Captain.
Janeway: No, don't. I think we're getting close to something. Everything seems to be centerd around the death of Valtane.
Rand: Direct hit on the port bow. Shields down to twenty percent. Losing atmosphere in decks five, six and seven.
Sulu: I'll reroute auxiliary power to structural integrity.
Janeway: Maybe something happened in that moment between the two of you, some detail you aren't remembering. I want you to try and replay those events one more time.
Tuvok: I will try. But I must point out that if my neural structures collapse during the meld, you will suffer brain damage as well.
Janeway: I understand.
Sulu: Take those two to the brig.
Tuvok: Captain, if we replay those events and they see you, it will disrupt the memory again.
Janeway: Then we've got to find a way to make me inconspicuous.
Rand: All right, gamma shift. Time to defend the Federation against gaseous anomalies. How are you, Ensign? Who are you?
Janeway: We could have just asked her.
Tuvok: Asking female officers for their clothing could lead to misunderstanding.
Emh: I've programmed a cortical stimulator to emit thoron radiation. We'll bombard his telepathic cortex. That should be enough to terminate the meld. We'll begin with a twenty kilodyne burst of five second duration on my mark. Now. It's working. Their neural patterns are starting to separate. My God!
Kes: What is it?
Emh: That's Tuvok's memory engram. That's the Captain's. But this red pattern seems to be another engram.
Kes: A third memory engram. How's that possible?
Emh: It's not. Which means it can't really be an engram. From the neurochemical modulation, I'd say it's something masquerading as an engram, the way viruses sometimes mimic certain blood factors to avoid being destroyed by antibodies.
Kes: So you're saying it's a virus.
Emh: I think so. The thoron radiation must have caused it to manifest itself. Increasing the radiation levels should destroy it. Go to forty kilodynes, ten second burst. Now.
Valtane: The Klingon ship's been disabled, sir. They're no longer pursuing.
Sulu: Helm, set a course for Kronos. Engage. Who's at Communications?
Valtane: Commander Rand is supposed to be on duty, sir.
Sulu: Where is she?
Valtane: Sir, long-range sensors are detecting three Klingon battle cruisers on an intercept course. They're arming torpedoes.
Sulu: Maintain course.
Sulu: Return fire!
Valtane: They've knocked out our targeting scanners, sir.
Sulu: Switch to manual!
Tuvok: Mister Valtane, there's a rupture in the plasma conduit behind your console. Get away from that station.
Valtane: One more second.
Tuvok: Dmitri, you must
Janeway: It's about to happen. Try to remember every detail about the next few seconds. Concentrate.
Valtane: Tuvok.
Girl: Help me!
Girl: Help me, Tuvok!
Janeway: I saw her, Tuvok. I saw the girl. Stay with it.
Tuvok: I am trying, but my mind is weakening.
Janeway: This is our last chance. Take us to the precipice. Concentrate. Take us to the girl.
Emh: It's working. The mind-meld is almost broken and the radiation appears to be killing the virus. Increase thoron levels to
Emh: The virus is migrating. It's embedding itself in the captain's brain. Cortical stimulator!
Girl: Kathryn! Help me, Kathryn, please! Don't let go. Don't let me fall. No!
Emh: Program a fifty kilodyne burst, five second duration on my mark. Now.
Girl: Help me, Tuvok!
Emh: The virus protein structures are breading down. It's dying. Increase thoron radiation to eighty kilodynes, fifteen seconds. Now.
Girl: Help me, Dmitri, please! Don't let go. Don't let me fall.
Emh: Again.
Girl: Don't let me fall! No!
Girl: No!
Girl: No!
Girl: No!
Girl: No!
Emh: It's clearly a viral parasite of some kind but its origin and genome classification are not on record.
Kes: We were able to kill it using thoron radiation.
Janeway: What do you know about it?
Emh: The virus thrives on peptides generated in the brain. It evades the body's immune system by disguising itself as a memory engram.
Kes: Apparently the parasite used the childhood memory of a falling girl as camouflage.
Emh: Creating a false memory so traumatic that the mind would repress it. And that's where it would live in person after person, hiding in a part of the brain that conscious mind would want to avoid at all costs.
Janeway: When it sensed the death of the host, it would leave to find another.
Tuvok: That's why it migrated from Valtane to me.
Kes: What about the girl? Did she ever really exist, or did the organism invent the memory?
Emh: Memory is a tricky thing. If it was a real event, it's been buried and copied and twisted so many times, there's no way to tell what really happened.
Janeway: Thank you, Doctor.
Janeway: I'm curious. Did the Excelsior ever save Kirk and McCoy?
Tuvok: Not directly. We were forced to retreat back to Federation space. As usual, Captain Kirk provided his own means of escape. But we did play a pivotal role at the subsequent battle at Khitomer.
Janeway: Mister Tuvok, if I didn't know you better, I'd say you miss those days on the Excelsior.
Tuvok: On the contrary. I do not experience feelings of nostalgia. But there are times when I think back to those days of meeting Kirk, Spock and the others, and I am pleased that I was part of it.
Janeway: In a funny way, I feel like I was a part of it too.
Tuvok: Then perhaps you can be nostalgic for both of us.