Janeway: It's not as difficult as it looks. The first rule is, don't be afraid of the clay.
Seven: I fear nothing.
Janeway: I mean you can't concern yourself with making a mistake, or whether the image you had in your mind is what's taking form in front of you. You just have to let your hands and the clay do the work. Here.
Janeway: Go ahead. I think the nose could be a little stronger.
Janeway: Well, that's a start. Keep going.
Seven: This activity is truly unproductive. The end result has no use. No necessary task has been accomplished. Time has been expended. Nothing more.
Janeway: That depends on how you look at it, doesn't it? I find sculpting helps me unwind, relax.
Seven: The concept of relaxation is difficult for me to understand. As a Borg, my time was spent working at a specific task. When it was completed, I was assigned another. It was efficient.
Janeway: So is this. It helps my own efficiency to forget about Voyager for a while. I'd be embarrassed to show Maestro Leonardo something like this but I get a great deal of pleasure in working the clay, in creating something.
Seven: But why here, in this simulation? Among these archaic objects and this disorganized environment.
Janeway: Frankly, it's refreshing to take myself out of the twenty fourth century every now and then. And a little disorganization can be very encouraging to the imagination. You might want to try it sometime.
Seven: Are you suggesting that I create one of these holodeck programs?
Janeway: You might find it interesting. It's a way of exploring aspects of yourself that probably didn't fit into your life as a Borg. Imagination, creativity, fantasy.
Seven: I am uncertain why those things are necessary.
Janeway: They aren't necessary, Seven. But they're an important part of one's life, because imagination frees the mind. It inspires ideas and solutions, and it can provide a great deal of pleasure. Human progress, the human mind itself, couldn't exist without them. When I was a child, I studied these drawings. I even built some of these models. Da Vinci was always a great inspiration to me.
Seven: He was a very busy man.
Janeway: Oh, yes. A prolific artist, and a scientist as well. Far, far ahead of his time. That design, for example. He conceived of an airplane centuries before one was actually built. Seven?
Borg: You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile. Your distinctiveness will be added to our own.
Father: Annika!
Borg: You will be assimilated. You will be assimilated.
Janeway: Seven? What is it?
Seven: I don't know.
Seven: It's happened three times now in different locations, at different times of the day. I experience a series of disjointed images in my mind.
Emh: Can you be more specific? Were these hallucinations?
Seven: I don't know. I've never hallucinated. It's as if I were aboard a Borg vessel, but I was frightened. I felt fear. Each experience is similar. I'm being pursued by the Borg. They want to assimilate me. I'm running from them, and then, and then, each time I see a bird.
Janeway: A bird?
Seven: Yes. A large black bird, flying toward me, shrieking, attacking me.
Emh: Hmm. Your hippocampus is in a state of agitation.
Seven: What does that mean?
Emh: As your human physiology continues to reassert itself, psychological symptoms are bound to manifest in a variety of ways. Through dreams, hallucinations, hypnogogic regression.
Seven: Hypnogogic regression?
Emh: Flashbacks. You could be experiencing some sort of post-traumatic stress disorder.
Janeway: Makes sense. You were assimilated by the Borg. You've gone through an intense, prolonged trauma.
Seven: I was not traumatized. I was raised by the Borg. I don't see them as threatening. Why would I experience fear?
Emh: I don't know.
Seven: Will I keep having these flashbacks?
Emh: I'll need to study your neural scans further. In the meantime, your digestive system is fully functional. Now is as good a time as any for you to begin taking solid and liquid nutrients.
Seven: Oral consumption is inefficient.
Emh: And unnecessary, if you're lucky enough to be a hologram. But your human physiology requires it. I'll draw up a list of nutritional requirements. Take it to Mister Neelix in the mess hall. I hesitate to inflict his cooking on you but it'll have to do.
Seven: I do not enjoy this sensation. Something is happening to me and I don't know what it is. It's as though I'm being driven somehow.
Chakotay: Chakotay to the Captain.
Janeway: Go ahead.
Chakotay: Our guests have arrived. They're being escorted to the briefing room.
Janeway: On my way. Representatives of the B'omar. I've been trying to negotiate passage through their space but so far they've been difficult to deal with. I hope they've had a change of heart.
Seven: I'll stay here and wait for the Doctor's instructions.
Janeway: We'll help you through this, Seven. You'll be all right.
Janeway: Have you had a chance to consider our request?
Gauman: Congratulations, Captain. Against our better judgment the B'omar Sovereignty has agreed to grant your vessel passage through our territory.
Janeway: On behalf of my crew, thank you. That will cut three months off our journey.
Gauman: However, there are a few stipulations. Guidelines that you must adhere to.
Janeway: You'll have our complete cooperation.
Gauman: We expect nothing less. While in our space, your vessel will not exceed warp three, and your weapons systems will remain offline. You will avoid unnecessary scans and you will not conduct surveys of any kind. You will make no attempt to explore our space and you will avoid all communications with non-military craft.
Dumah: We've also plotted the course your vessel is to follow.
Paris: It'll take us weeks to follow that course.
Chakotay: If not months.
Dumah: We've designed this course so your ship would avoid our populated systems and industrial areas. Deviation is not recommended.
Gauman: There are a total of seventeen checkpoints where you will submit your vessel for inspection.
Janeway: Chancellor Gauman, if I may interrupt? I appreciate your efforts in plotting this flight plan, but if we could, I'd like to negotiate a course that's a little more direct.
Neelix: Well. What an unexpected pleasure. Welcome to the mess hall. Would you like me to show you around?
Seven: My physiology has reasserted the need to process solid nutrients. The Doctor has prepared a list of dietary requirements. You will provide them for me.
Neelix: Let's see what we have here. Ah, two hundred fifty grams glycoproteins consisting of fifty hree percent polypeptides and twenty six percent fibrous glycogen. Urgh, doesn't sound very appetizing. However, a plate of my chadre'kab should satisfy most of these essentials while providing a pleasurable culinary experience at the same time.
Seven: Pleasure is irrelevant.
Neelix: Well, I beg to differ. A good meal involves much more than simply providing the proper nutrients.
Seven: Why is that?
Neelix: Well, er, there's a certain satisfaction that comes from eating food that's been carefully prepared. I'm sure once you try it, you'll understand. Now, how would you like your chadre'kab? Boiled? Baked? Stir fried?
Seven: Preparation is irrelevant.
Neelix: Is irrelevant. Maybe, maybe not. This is the first time ingesting food for you for quite a while. Er, we'll go a little easy on your stomach. Steamed.
Neelix: Yes, this, er this recipe has been in my family for generations. It's considered a delicacy among my people.
Seven: You are Talaxian.
Neelix: Guilty as charged.
Seven: Species two one eight.
Neelix: What? Oh, I suppose so.
Seven: Your biological and technological distinctiveness was added to our own.
Neelix: I hadn't realized that.
Seven: A small freighter containing a crew of thirty nine taken in the Dalmine Sector. They were easily assimilated. Their dense musculature made them excellent drones.
Neelix: Well, lucky for you, I guess.
Neelix: Your nutrients. Follow me.
Neelix: Please.
Seven: Please what?
Neelix: It's customary to sit while eating.
Neelix: Is something wrong?
Seven: I am unaccustomed to this. Borg do not sit.
Neelix: Well, this is a day of firsts, then, isn't it?
Neelix: Now. Take a bite. Try that one. Just kind of er, scoop some up. That's the way. Right into your mouth. Just like a little scout ship flying into a shuttlebay. Take it out, but keep your mouth closed. That's it. Now chew. Chew, chew, chew, chew. And swallow. Swallow.
Seven: A curious sensation.
Neelix: You'll get used to it. Have some more. May I bring you something else? A soothing cup of tea perhaps?
Seven: You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile.
Crewwoman: Did you see that?
Chakotay: What about this course? It's a marginal adjustment. The nearest populated system is more than three light years away.
Gauman: Definitely not. You'd pass directly through the Agrat-mot Nebula. A key resource in our trade negotiations with the Nassordin.
Paris: I could chart the nebula, try to avoid any
Dumah: No, no. Are your translators malfunctioning?
Tuvok: Captain Janeway to the bridge.
Janeway: If you'll excuse me.
Janeway: Report.
Tuvok: I've received an alert from Security. Seven of Nine attacked Neelix in the mess hall and three other crewmen on deck two.
Janeway: Janeway to Seven of Nine. Seven, if you can hear me, respond.
Chakotay: What's her location?
Tuvok: Deck six, section twenty eight alpha.
Chakotay: Take a security team.
Gauman: Captain, what is happening here?
Janeway: I wish I knew, Chancellor. Chakotay, seal off deck six.
Borg: Seven of Nine.
Crewman: Security to the Bridge. We've just seen Seven of Nine. Her Borg shields are fully operational and they've adapted to our phasers.
Janeway: Acknowledged. Bridge to all security personnel. Configure your weapons to a rotating modulation, but keep them on stun.
Gauman: Borg. You have Borg on your ship?
Janeway: It's not what you think. She is a member of my crew. We liberated her from the Collective. She's no longer a Borg.
Gauman: Then why is she equipped with Borg shields?
Janeway: I don't know.
Chakotay: She's able to cross through the security fields. She's entering the armory on deck six.
Seven: Deck ten.
Kim: She's in a turbolift.
Janeway: Cut power to the turboshafts.
Kim: She's blocking my commands with a Borg encryption code.
Janeway: Janeway to Tuvok. Seven's apparently headed for deck ten. Can you get there before she does?
Tuvok: I'm moving into position now, Captain.
Tuvok: We'll take position here.
Tuvok: Lower your weapon and stand down. Fire.
Tuvok: Tuvok to bridge. We were unsuccessful.
Tuvok: I have wounded. She's moving toward junction thirty two alpha.
Janeway: The shuttlebay.
Chakotay: I'm erecting a forcefield. Harry, reroute all available power to deck ten.
Kim: Done.
Kim: She's accessing transporter control.
Chakotay: She used a site to site transport. She's in a shuttlecraft. Powering engines.
Janeway: Seal the launch doors.
Janeway: Tractor beam.
Chakotay: No effect. She's remodulated the shuttle's shield harmonics.
Kim: Captain, Seven's headed directly into B'omar space. She's gone to warp.
Paris: She's masked the shuttle's ion trail. I've lost her signal. She's gone.
Janeway: We'll do everything in our power to find her, but we will need permission to enter B'omar space to track her shuttle effectively.
Gauman: Let's tally the events, shall we? First, you arrive uninvited and unwelcome, requesting a shortcut through our space. Then you proceed to unleash some sort of rogue Borg and now you want us to help you get it back.
Janeway: I apologize for what's happened here, but we certainly didn't unleash anyone. We can resolve this situation quickly, gentlemen, if we work together.
Gauman: Captain Janeway, after what I've seen here, I question your competence.
Janeway: May I remind you that you're still on my ship.
Dumah: And you are one vessel among many of ours.
Gauman: Your Borg will be dealt with quickly and efficiently. It's being tracked as we speak.
Chakotay: Tracked? How?
Dumah: Every vessel, every object, every particle of dust that crosses our borders is immediately identified and traced by our perimeter grid.
Gauman: The Borg will be found and destroyed.
Janeway: Chancellor.
Gauman: There will be no sharing of information. From this point on, your vessel will maintain a distance of at least five light years from our borders. Any deviation will be considered an act of aggression.
Janeway: Commander, escort our guests to the transporter room.
Janeway: Captain's log, supplemental. I've assembled a team to analyze every square meter of the cargo bay. This has essentially been her quarters for the last two months, and I'm determined to find something here that might shed light on Seven of Nine's actions.
Torres: You're taking this kind of hard, aren't you?
Kim: What's that supposed to mean? We had a working relationship.
Torres: Well, what's that supposed to mean.
Kim: It's not what you're thinking.
Torres: What am I thinking, Harry?
Kim: Never mind.
Torres: Take a look at this.
Janeway: Anything?
Torres: It's a Borg datalink. It contains a succession of log entries written in Borg alphanumeric code.
Kim: I'm getting pretty good with the Borg language. I think I can translate them.
Janeway: Get on it.
Chakotay: It seems we've made quite an impression on the B'omar. In the last hour, they've doubled the number of ships patrolling their borders and they've increased the sensitivity of the perimeter grid by thirty six percent.
Janeway: So much for diplomacy.
Chakotay: The Doctor analyzed the data from Seven of Nine's last transport. He's found something he wants us to see. Maybe this was inevitable. Even if Seven did want to stay on Voyager her Borg nature may have won out. We can remove implant after implant, but, maybe at her core, she'll always be part of the Collective.
Janeway: No. I won't accept that.
Janeway: Deck five. She was responding to us. Interacting with people outside the Collective for the first time. She was adapting to this environment and to this crew. But where is she going? We've scanned space for a distance of forty light years. We've found no evidence of Borg ships, so she can't be trying to rejoin the Collective.
Chakotay: She may plan to take the shuttle back to Borg space.
Janeway: Ten thousand light years from here? I don't think so, no. Something else going on. We're missing a piece of the puzzle.
Chakotay: In the meantime, the B'omar intend to find her. And if they do, she'll probably resist them.
Janeway: One more reason for us to find her first.
Janeway: What have you found, Doctor?
Emh: Something most peculiar. This graphic represents the matter conversion data from Seven of Nine's last transport. If you'll notice, there's a high concentration of Borg organelles in the bone marrow and lymphatic tissue. The dormant nanoprobes in Seven of Nine's cells have reasserted themselves, taken over blood cell production and they're growing new Borg implants. Thirteen percent of the Borg technology I removed three weeks ago has regenerated in a matter of hours.
Chakotay: You said the nanoprobes in her bloodstream were dormant. What reactivated them?
Emh: I don't know, but I've developed a way to stop the process. This hypospray contains a genetic resequencing vector. It should neutralize the nanoprobes.
Janeway: That means someone needs to get close enough to do it.
Janeway: Report.
Tuvok: We've analyzed the B'omar perimeter grid. It's sophisticated, but not without its vulnerabilities. It might be possible to penetrate the grid by re-calibrating our shields to match its frequency.
Paris: The trick is going to be our energy signature. Voyager's too big to hide, but a shuttlecraft with the proper shield modulation and its engines powered down could drift right through without so much as a peep.
Janeway: Nice work, gentlemen. Proceed. The Doctor's genetic resequencer. It should keep her sedated until you get back to the ship. Once you've penetrated the perimeter, there will be no further communication with Voyager. You'll be on your own.
Tuvok: Captain, it is possible that Seven will adapt to the resequencer.
Janeway: I know. If it fails and you're unable to reason with her, you have my authorisation to stop her with any force necessary.
Tuvok: Understood.
Borg: Seven of Nine, grid nine two of subjunction twelve. You will be assimilated.
Dumah: Borg drone, you have committed an infraction against the B'omar Sovereignty.
Dumah: Cut power to your engines and lower your shields. Prepare to be boarded. You will proceed no further. We will not
Tuvok: I'm detecting weapons signatures. Federation and B'omar. Five B'omar vessels are adrift, heavily damaged. Lifesigns are stable.
Paris: I've located Seven's shuttle. It's two point five million kilometers from here.
Tuvok: Adjust course to intercept.
Paris: The implants in Seven's body are disrupting the transporter signal. I can't get a lock.
Tuvok: See if you can remodulate our transporters to match her shields
Paris: You want to beam in there?
Tuvok: Yes.
Paris: I'm not sure that's a good idea, Tuvok. Closed quartesr, Borg against Vulcan? No offense, but you won't stand a chance if she decides to put up a fight.
Tuvok: It's my hope that the element of surprise will work in my favor. Do you have a better idea?
Paris: Come to think of it, no. She's charging weapons.
Tuvok: Set my coordinates for the aft compartment.
Paris: Ready.
Tuvok: Energize.
Paris: Come on, Tuvok, give me a sign.
Computer: Warning. Propulsion systems are offline.
Paris: Damn!
Seven: It's a level five forcefield, Lieutenant. I suggest you be more careful.
Tuvok: Why have you left Voyager?
Seven: I am Borg.
Tuvok: You were Borg, but you're human, now. You're part of our crew.
Seven: For a brief time I was human. But I have come to realize that I am Borg. I will always be Borg.
Tuvok: What prompted this realization?
Seven: Every Borg ship is coded to emit a distinct resonance frequency to guide drones who become separated from the Collective.
Tuvok: A homing beacon.
Seven: Yes. I am following a signal. A Borg vessel is waiting for me.
Tuvok: We've scanned this entire region for Borg. There are none.
Seven: You're wrong. They are here. Vulcan. Species three two five nine. Your enlarged neocortex produces superior analytical abilities. Your distinctiveness will be added to our
Tuvok: Seven?
Seven: No. I will not assimilate you. Once I return to the Collective, you will go back to Voyager and tell Captain Janeway what's happened to me. Thank her for her patience, for her kindness.
Tuvok: Curious. Your behavior demonstrates affection and sentiment. Traits of humanity. Hardly Borg. You have been experiencing hallucinations, flashbacks.
Seven: Yes.
Tuvok: Does that usually occur when a resonance signal is activated?
Seven: No.
Borg: Seven of Nine, grid nine two of subjunction twelve.
Seven: But I can hear them calling me. I'm frightened
Tuvok: That's understandable. Lower the forcefield. We can return to Voyager and find out what's happening to you. I am your shipmate. We can return to Voyager together.
Seven: I must rejoin the Collective. Captain's log, supplemental. I've been trying to retrace Seven of Nine's footsteps, her actions during the last few days, but I'm still no closer to understanding what's happened.
Kim: Captain? Am I disturbing you?
Janeway: Not at all, Harry.
Kim: I've managed to decipher Seven's log entries.
Janeway: And?
Kim: There's nothing that indicates she was planning to leave the ship. The entries are pretty unremarkable. She describes her daily routines, number of hours spent regenerating, that sort of thing. There were some personal log entries, mostly observations about the crew's behavior. I'm mentioned in quite a few of them. Apparently, she finds my behavior easy to predict, whatever that means.
Janeway: Don't take it personally coming from Seven, that's probably a compliment.
Kim: The most recent entries are kind of strange. Descriptions of bizarre images, almost like a record of her dreams.
Janeway: The hallucinations.
Kim: Maybe so. Sometimes she's in a Borg vessel, running or hiding behind a bulkhead, falling down a shaft. Borg everywhere, chasing her. Nightmarish stuff.
Janeway: What about this bird?
Kim: She mentions it several times. It flies at her, shrieking. I don't know what it means.
Janeway: The feathers are black, wingspan approximately one half meter. The eyes are yellow and it has a powerful triangular beak. When it looks at me, I am paralyzed. I cannot move. It seems to know me, but I don't understand how that's possible. It's merely a bird, an inferior form of life, but the sight of it fills me with fear. It sounds like she's describing a member of the corvidae family like a crow, or a raven. She's describing a raven.
Kim: Why is that important?
Janeway: Because now I know what to look for.
Janeway: Chakotay, calibrate our long range sensors to scan for any Federation signature other than our two shuttlecraft.
Chakotay: Captain ?
Janeway: Do it. Bring the ship about, Ensign, and lay in a course for B'omar space.
Ensign: Aye, Captain.
Seven: The resonance signal is coming from the lunar surface. The Borg are waiting for me there. I don't know why I'm frightened. They are my people.
Tuvok: If you're afraid, then leave this place.
Seven: Once I've been reintegrated into the Collective, my fears will disappear.
Tuvok: Deactivate the forcefield. I will accompany you to the surface. You don't need to go alone.
Seven: You would be assimilated.
Tuvok: I don't believe so. I think this situation is not what it appears.
Seven: What do you mean? What else could it be?
Tuvok: I am uncertain, but I am willing to go to the surface with you to find out.
Janeway: Voyager to Paris.
Paris: Paris here, Captain. Glad to hear your voice. Tuvok is with Seven of Nine. I haven't been able to establish communication with him since he transported to her shuttle. I've tracked them to an M class moon orbiting the fifth planet of a yellow dwarf star.
Paris: I'm picking up an unusual resonance signal from the surface. It's erratic. I haven't been able to identify it.
Janeway: Acknowledged. We've detected several B'omar ships closing in on your position. What's your condition?
Paris: Warp engines are offline, shields are
Paris: At fifty percent.
Janeway: Try to locate them, Tom. We're on our way.
Tuvok: The signal's getting stronger
Seven: They're here, I'm sure of it.
Tuvok: This way.
Tuvok: If you like, we can return to the shuttle.
Seven: No. I have to find out.
Seven: What is it?
Tuvok: It's a Federation vessel partially assimilated by the Borg. There are no lifesigns. Tritanium decay suggests it has been here for nearly twenty years.
Seven: This vessel is familiar.
Seven: This is the signal that's drawn me here.
Father: Annika!
Mother: Run, Annika! Run! Hide!
Seven: Papa? Help me.
Annika: No! No!
Tuvok: Seven, I'm here. Listen to me. Come.
Seven: It happened here. This is where it began. This is where I was assimilated.
Seven: This was our ship. We lived here. We lived here for a long time. My father did experiments. They were very important, and we had to travel a long way. I had my birthday here. My cake had six candles on it, and one more to grow on. And then the men came. Papa tried to fight them but they were too strong. I tried to hide. Maybe they wouldn't find me because I was little, but they did. And Papa said we were going to crash and the big man picked me up, and then suddenly we weren't on the ship anymore. We were somewhere else. And then I became Borg.
Tuvok: Fascinating. This resonance signal must have been active since the ship was assimilated, and Voyager passed within range.
Seven: The ship is under attack.
Tuvok: The B'omar. The ship will collapse. We must get out of here.
Kim: The B'omar still aren't responding to our hails.
Chakotay: Standing by to fire.
Janeway: Target their weapons systems. Tom, what's your status?
Paris: I've located Tuvok and Seven, but there's a lot of interference. I'm attempting
Paris: To lock onto them now, Captain.
Seven: This way.
Tuvok: Are you all right?
Seven: I am undamaged. This was the only way to the hatch.
Tuvok: Perhaps there is another way out. There's a hull rupture in the forward compartment. It may provide a means of escape. Start digging. Quickly.
Chakotay: We've disabled two of their ships. The third is still firing at the surface.
Kim: We're being hailed. Audio only.
Gauman: You're committing an act of war, Captain.
Janeway: You've left me no choice, Chancellor.
Gauman: Reinforcements are arriving. You will be destroyed.
Janeway: I don't have time for this. Target their weapons array.
Tuvok: Seven, I need your help.(Together they push away a large girder and escape through the hatch of NAR-37450 just before it falls to pieces and tumbles off the rock. They are beamed away.)
Paris: I've got them, Captain. We're on our way to Voyager.
Janeway: Acknowledged. Good work.
Kim: I'm detecting a fleet of B'omar vessels approaching. Sixty eight ships.
Janeway: Ensign, as soon as Mister Paris's shuttle has docked, take us out of B'omar space. Warp eight.
Ensign: Aye, sir.
Janeway: Looks like there won't be any shortcuts this time.
Janeway: There you are. I wanted to tell you that the Doctor said he could adjust one of your implants so that you won't receive any more homing signals.
Seven: Thank you. I hope you don't mind that I activated this program.
Janeway: Not at all.
Seven: I've been thinking about what you said, that this was a place to encourage your imagination.
Janeway: Is that appealing to you?
Seven: I'm not certain. I find myself constructing scenarios, considering alternative possibilities. What if my parents and I had not encountered the Borg? What would our lives have been? I would have been raised by them, learned from them. It would have influenced what I became, who and what I am.
Janeway: And you would have done the same for them. If you'd like to know more about your parents, there's information in the Federation database.
Seven: Information?
Janeway: It seems they were fairly well known for being unconventional and for some rather unique scientific theories. You might like to read what's there. It might encourage your imagination.
Seven: Perhaps I will, some day. Good night, Captain.


Torres: Sorry. I didn't realize that you'd been assigned here today.
Seven: I wasn't. This space was unoccupied so I came here to work.
Torres: On what?
Seven: I'm reconfiguring the power couplings in this section.
Torres: Why?
Seven: The Astrometrics lab requires additional energy.
Torres: I see. So you're rerouting power from other locations, like Engineering?
Seven: They are minor adjustments. Primary systems will not be affected.
Torres: Unless, of course, someone is trying to do a warp core diagnostic, which my crew has been trying to do all morning. We have lost hours of work because of this.
Seven: There is no need for anger. I had no intention of causing a problem.
Torres: What, sorry isn't in the Borg vocabulary? You need to check with me before you touch the power systems. Understood?
Seven: Understood.
Seven: I am unaccustomed to working in a hierarchy. In the Collective there was no need to ask permission.
Torres: If you're going to be a member of this crew, get used to it. Procedures exist for a reason. We've got to work together. Follow the same set of rules
Seven: Lieutenant?
Torres: I was given that lecture once, by Captain Janeway when I first joined this crew. If I could adjust to Starfleet life, so can you.
Seven: Of course. I am sorry for the inconvenience.
Paris: Doc, I've got to go run a few errands, I'll be back soon.
Emh: Not so fast, Mister Paris. Can't these errands wait until the end of your duty shift?
Paris: Well, it's my conn report, actually. I just realized I forgot to turn it in, and Chakotay gives me a hard time when it's late.
Emh: You've been here all afternoon. Didn't this occur to you before?
Paris: Well, we've been so busy that I guess it just slipped my mind.
Emh: I see. Well, since it's an emergency, don't let me stand in your way.
Paris: Thanks.
Crewwoman: Sir.
Paris: Computer, lock onto these coordinates. I need a site to site transport. No, wait. Access the central replicator files first. Ah, perfect.
Torres: Are those supposed to make up for canceling on me last night?
Paris: I got stuck with an extra shift on the bridge. What could I say? Sorry, Captain, I've got a date with B'Elanna?
Torres: And what about right now? Aren't you supposed to be working in Sickbay?
Paris: I said I had to go deliver a conn report.
Torres: Not bad, but he'll be expecting you back.
Paris: He can wait.
Paris: What is it?
Torres: I just had the feeling that somebody was watching us. I must be completely paranoid about getting caught in a compromising position.
Paris: Kind of exciting, isn't it?
Emh: Your trapezius is hard as a rock. You haven't been following the relaxation regimen I prescribed for you.
Janeway: I've been too busy.
Emh: The usual story. Have you been getting enough sleep?
Janeway: More or less. Mostly less.
Emh: Mmm hmm. And have your headaches been getting any worse?
Janeway: No, but they're not getting any better either. They're like hot needles driving into my skull.
Emh: These symptoms are hardly surprising, Captain. You work absurdly long hours under constant stress, eating on the run, without sufficient exercise or rest. Your body is crying out for mercy.
Janeway: It certainly is right now, There must be some easier way to do this, Doctor. A hypospray, maybe?
Emh: Always looking for the simple fix. Sometimes there's no substitute for intensive osteopathic pressure therapy. You're fortunate to have a masseur who can work all day without tiring.
Chakotay: Bridge to the Captain.
Emh: Commander, unless this is an emergency, my patient is unavailable.
Janeway: I'm here, Chakotay. What is it?
Chakotay: We've reached the source of those energy readings and I thought you'd like to see what we've found.
Janeway: On my way.
Emh: Captain!
Janeway: I know what you're going to say, Doctor, but I can't neglect my responsibilities.
Emh: Actually I was going to suggest a change of outfit.
Chakotay: Binary pulsars. The gravitational forces between them are so intense that everything within fifty million kilometers is getting pulled in.
Paris: Don't worry. We're well out of range.
Chakotay: Gamma radiation levels are high, but as long as we're careful I think we can collect some invaluable data. Captain, am I boring you?
Janeway: Oh, I'm sorry. I guess I'm a little too tired to concentrate on stellar phenomenon right now. I'll leave this project in your capable hands.
Paris: You wanted to see me, Lieutenant?
Torres: Yes. I'm trying to increase the efficiency of the impulse drive, but I wanted to make sure that I wasn't compromising helm control.
Paris: A sensible precaution. I'd be glad to help.
Torres: Good. All of the specs are at my upper workstation.
Paris: Then let's get started.
Torres: Did you hear something?
Paris: You always think you hear something.
Paris: Commander.
Tuvok: Lieutenant. Here is the power usage data you requested.
Torres: Right. Of course. I didn't expect it quite so promptly. Which I guess I should have, er, coming from you. I, I mean I'm grateful that you got the data to me so quickly. Thanks.
Paris: Tuvok. Tuvok, I guess that was kind of embarrassing.
Tuvok: I don't experience embarrassment.
Paris: Right. Well, then I guess there's no harm done. It's not like there was a security violation or anything.
Tuvok: None that I am aware of.
Paris: So, I guess there's nothing that would have to go on any kind of report.
Tuvok: You want me to conceal what I've observed of your relationship with Lieutenant Torres.
Paris: Well, I'd certainly never ask you to be dishonest.
Tuvok: Certainly not.
Torres: Do you think he'll say anything to the captain?
Paris: I don't know.
Torres: Well how did he sound? Annoyed? Amused?
Paris: He sounded Vulcan. What more can I tell you.
Paris: Deck one.
Torres: We've got to be more careful with appearances. We shouldn't go into the briefing at the same time.
Paris: Good idea. Okay, you go in first, I'll come in a minute later.
Torres: No, that'll look even more suspicious.
Paris: Listen to us. We're acting like criminals when we haven't done anything wrong.
Torres: Well, I'm not saying that we have. I just thought that we wanted to keep this relationship to ourselves. We do, right?
Paris: Do you?
Torres: If you do.
Paris: Computer, halt turbolift. Let's figure out how we can handle this.
Torres: Well, I don't think that it's anybody else's business how we feel about each other.
Paris: Neither do I.
Torres: Right, then we're agreed. Just a little more careful in public and we don't say anything to anybody.
Paris: At least for now.
Torres: Now? Sounds like you see a future in this.
Paris: I would never be so presumptuous.
Torres: Smooth recovery, Lieutenant.
Paris: I thought so. Computer, resume.
Torres: So I'll go first and you follow.
Paris: Right.
Chakotay: Here's the plan. We'll circle the pulsars at a distance of eighty million kilometers.
Kim: That might not be far enough. We've been detecting some random proton bursts. A strong one could knock out our shields.
Chakotay: Tom, go to ninety. Keep a safe distance.
Paris: Yes, sir.
Chakotay: Tuvok, keep our shields at maximum strength. Divert auxiliary power if you need it. I want to take every precaution on this survey. Report any problems immediately, no matter how small.
Janeway: Dismissed. Lieutenants Paris and Torres, I'd like to speak with you for a moment.
Paris: Thanks.
Janeway: I don't usually pry into the personal lives of my crew, but in this case I have to question your recent conduct.
Paris: I guess Tuvok
Janeway: Tuvok? I haven't heard a word from Tuvok. You two have been making enough of a public display that half the ship is gossiping about it.
Torres: Believe me, that wasn't our intention.
Janeway: You are senior officers and I expect you to maintain the standard for the rest of the crew, but this adolescent behavior makes me question my faith in you both. If you choose to pursue a relationship that's your business. But you consider yourselves under orders to use better judgment about it. Is that understood?
Paris: Yes, ma'am.
Torres: Yes, Captain.
Janeway: Dismissed.
Chakotay: Computer, hot coffee, black.
Emh: Commander Chakotay is suffering bone decalcification, tissue necrosis, decreased visual acuity. All classic signs of aging, but they've developed within hours.
Chakotay: Any theories?
Emh: There's a rare genetic disorder called progeria which causes children to age prematurely. But there's never been an adult case and it was supposedly eradicated two centuries ago. Even so, I took a close look at your DNA. These segments regulate your body's metabolism. My scans indicate that they've been hyper-stimulated somehow.
Janeway: What's the prognosis?
Emh: I can't speculate on that until I've identified the cause. There's no sign of an infectious agent.
Janeway: We spent several hours near a binary pulsar that was emitting intense gamma radiation.
Chakotay: Our shields were operating. I don't see how I could have been exposed to it.
Janeway: At this point we can't rule out anything. I'm going to take a closer look at the data we collected.
Chakotay: You should also run scans of my quarters, as well as my office and the bridge. Everywhere I've been today.
Emh: I'm not prepared to send you back on duty yet, Commander.
Chakotay: I may look pretty strange, but my mind is perfectly clear. I'd rather stay busy than just sit here.
Emh: I have no idea how your symptoms will progress. You should remain in Sickbay for observation.
Janeway: He's right, Chakotay. I'll keep you informed.
Emh: Whatever's affecting the Commander's DNA is working at a sub-molecular level. I'd like to set up an electron resonance scanner in the science lab to get a closer look.
Janeway: Use whatever you need, and ask B'Elanna to give you a hand.
Emh: Still having headaches, Captain?
Janeway: I don't need any more lectures about working too hard, Doctor. Chakotay's the one who needs your attention right now.
Emh: I'll get to work on the scanner right away.
Kim: Under orders to use better judgment? oh, that's pretty harsh.
Paris: I hope I can manage it.
Kim: Well, she does have a point. You could have been more diskreet.
Paris: Oh, I forgot I was talking to the most upstanding Ensign in Starfleet.
Neelix: Good morning.
Paris: Neelix.
Neelix: I was just about to whip up a fresh batch of scrambled eggs. Would you like some?
Kim: Actually I was hoping you might have some leftover Pleeka rind casserole from last night.
Paris: For breakfast?
Kim: I like it.
Neelix: I'm sure I can find some for you.
Kim: So, I guess your relationship isn't exactly a secret anymore.
Paris: Do you think anybody on this ship can keep a secret?
Paris: Neelix!
Neelix: What's, what's happening?
Paris: Paris to the Doctor. I'm bringing Neelix to Sickbay. It's an emergency.
Emh: Now pay attention, Mister Paris. These scans should indicate whether. Hmm.
Neelix: What is it?
Emh: It seems that your DNA has been hyper-stimulated, just like Commander Chakotay's.
Paris: But Neelix doesn't seem to be aging.
Emh: No, the effects are quite different.
Neelix: If anything, I look like a Mylean. They occupy a region of space near Talax.
Emh: Interesting. Do Talaxians and Myleans share a common ancestry?
Neelix: Not that I know of.
Emh: Do the two races ever intermarry?
Neelix: Yes. As a matter of fact, my great grandfather was Mylean.
Emh: Then one eighth of your genetic material was inherited from him. Those must be the genes which have become stimulated.
Neelix: Too bad my great grandfather wasn't a little better looking.
Emh: Hmm. As far as I can tell, his condition seems stable. I'm going to leave you in charge of Sickbay so I can continue the DNA analysis.
Paris: If anyone else comes in I'll run a cellular scan. Is there anything else I can do?
Emh: Do your best to keep them comfortable. Until we have more information, that's the best either of us can do.
Neelix: I thought you might be thirsty.
Chakotay: Thanks. Do you smell something strange?
Neelix: I, I'm afraid that's me. I seem to be developing Mylean sweat glands. Sorry.
Chakotay: It's not so bad.
Neelix: Well, whatever happens, I try to keep in mind things could be worse.
Neelix: I still have my home here on Voyager, my friends.
Chakotay: Your hair.
Neelix: True. But I'd gladly lose it if I could have my taste buds back.
Chakotay: At least you're not losing your eyesight. See that display over there? It's nothing but a blur.
Neelix: You think that's bad? The Doctor tells me my pupils have dilated sixty percent. I can't even look at that display, it's so bright.
Chakotay: Yeah? Well I've got chronic arthritis in my fingers. I could barely keep this glass steady.
Neelix: Well, that's nothing. My spinal column is fusing together. In a matter of days I won't be able to walk.
Chakotay: Got you beat. I can barely walk now.
Neelix: Lieutenant, can we help?
Paris: I don't think so. I'm releasing you both back to your quarters. I've just gotten reports of more patients on the way. It's going to get crowded in here.
Emh: How's the scanner?
Torres: Almost ready.
Emh: Good. This disorder seems to be spreading rapidly among the crew.
Torres: Does that mean we'll all be affected?
Emh: Right now it only means that we need to find some answers as quickly as possible.
Torres: All right, give the scanner a try.
Emh: I'll start with Commander Chakotay.
Torres: How's the resolution?
Emh: Very nice. Now, let's focus in on the hyper-stimulated segments of this DNA. Can you give me more magnification?
Torres: Coming up.
Emh: That's odd.
Torres: What is?
Emh: There seems to be some kind of contaminant on the base pair sequence. It didn't show up on the first scan. I need a closer look.
Torres: I'm going to maximum magnification. What do you see?
Emh: I'm not exactly sure.
Torres: Well, what does it look like?
Emh: See for yourself.
Torres: I'm no microbiologist, but that doesn't look like it belongs there.
Emh: Believe me, it doesn't. I've never seen it. This level of sub-molecular technology is well beyond anything Starfleet has developed.
Torres: What are those markings? Some kind of alien writing?
Emh: I wish I knew. They might help us determine where it came from.
Torres: Who could have put this into Chakotay's cells without his knowledge? Let me try a compositional analysis.
Emh: It's in Mister Neelix's DNA as well.
Torres: Is this what's causing the mutations?
Emh: A good scientist never jumps to conclusions, Lieutenant, but I'd say it's a distinct possibility.
Torres: I'm having trouble getting a clear reading from the sample. It looks almost like the er, whatever it is could be slightly out of phase.
Emh: That must be why my initial scans didn't reveal it.
Torres: I'm compensating for the phase variance. You're not going to believe this, but I'm picking up an energy signature. This thing is transmitting some kind of a signal.
Emh: To where?
Torres: I don't know. It's too weak to travel very far. Access the internal sensors and set them to a phase variance of point one five.
Emh: Right.
Emh: Lieutenant.
Torres: Your program is being deleted.
Emh: How?
Torres: I don't know. I'm transferring you back to Sickbay.
Emh: B'Elanna! Science lab to bridge. This is the Doctor.
Paris: In the last hour three more patients have come in with genetic mutations. The effects are starting to become life threatening.
Janeway: What happened to B'Elanna?
Paris: The alveoli in her lungs suddenly stopped processing oxygen. I've got her on respiratory support. She almost died.
Janeway: What about the Doctor?
Kim: The computer logs in the science lab show that he was trying to transfer himself to Sickbay. Something must have gone wrong while he was in transit.
Paris: Could the Doctor have returned to the mobile emitter?
Emh: Seven of Nine, this is the Doctor. Can you hear me? It's me, the Doctor. I've tapped into your audio implants so only you can hear me. It's imperative that you tell no one. Make any excuse to get out of there and report to holodeck two. I'm hiding in the da Vinci simulation. I'll explain everything when you get here.
Kim: We checked, but he never made it back there either. We do have a backup of his program available.
Janeway: We'll only activate that as a last resort. I want to...
Kim: Seven was checking it.
Janeway: Seven? Seven?
Kim: About the Doctor's research.
Seven: Yes. I examined their work area. There was no record of any findings. The electron resonance scanner appeared to be malfunctioning. I could return to the science lab and attempt to repair it.
Janeway: Keep me informed.
Emh: Hold your head this way, Carlotta. I can only conclude that someone has implanted these microscopic tags in the DNA of the crew to cause genetic mutations.
Seven: For what purpose?
Emh: I don't know. And I get the feeling they don't want us to find out.
Seven: Explain.
Emh: When Lieutenant Torres and I started making progress in our investigation we were both incapacitated. Call me paranoid, but I don't think that is a coincidence.
Seven: If you are correct, perhaps our actions are being monitored.
Emh: That's why I couldn't risk contacting anyone over the comm. system.
Seven: Our first course of action should be to collect more information.
Emh: My thinking exactly. B'Elanna wanted to adjust the ship's internal sensors to a phase variance of point one five. I'd like to do the same to your Borg sensory nodes.
Seven: Proceed.
Emh: Computer, give me a type four micro-inducer.
Emh: Hmm. Now, take a look around and tell me what you see. Do you see anything unusual? Energy signatures? Or perhaps something that might be transmitting a signal?
Seven: No.
Emh: That's one room down, two hundred and fifty six to go. I suggest a deck by deck survey. If you need to contact me, use comm. frequency epsilon two. I've isolated it from the rest of the system.
Seven: Understood.
Emh: And be careful. Someone out there could be watching.
Seven: Deck five.
Seven: Computer, frequency epsilon two. Doctor, the aliens are here on the ship. I can see them everywhere.
Emh: This is worse than I imagined. You've got to let the captain know.
Janeway: Yes. Yes!
Tuvok: Good morning, Captain.
Janeway: That's a matter of opinion. What is it?
Tuvok: Internal scans haven't revealed anything about the genetic mutations.
Janeway: The Doctor?
Tuvok: Still offline. We are investigating the possibility
Janeway: Inform me of any progress.
Tuvok: Understood.
Janeway: There's one more thing. The incident with Tom and B'Elanna's started me thinking about ship's protocol, or lack thereof.
Tuvok: Captain.
Janeway: It seems to me that people have been getting a little too comfortable around here lately. They're late for their duty shifts, taking mess hall privileges during non-designated hours. And a lot of people are spending more time on the holodeck than they are at their posts. You are Security chief. Don't thirteen department heads report to you every day?
Tuvok: Yes.
Janeway: Well, straighten them out.
Tuvok: Shall I flog them as well?
Janeway: Maybe the Doctor was right. I think I do need a vacation.
Tuvok: You do seem unsettled.
Janeway: Crazed is more like it. I haven't felt this anxious since my first day of command. Remind me to lower the volume on that door. Come in.
Seven: Captain, I wish to speak with you about
Janeway: What's wrong?
Seven: My attempts to repair the resonance scanner have failed. I require assistance.
Janeway: Ask Ensign Kim to lend you a hand.
Seven: Yes, Captain.
Janeway: Is that all? When this mutation crisis is over, I think I'll spend a few days in renaissance Tuscany. There's a little inn outside Siena I've been wanting to try.
Tuvok: I will join you for a glass of wine.
Emh: How many?
Seven: I've observed fifty six of the aliens. There could be more.
Emh: Have you seen any pattern to their behavior? Any hint as to what they're trying to accomplish?
Seven: They seem to be conducting experiments on the crew and monitoring the results.
Emh: As if Voyager were one big petri dish.
Seven: I may be among them. In the turbolift one of them probed me with a medical instrument.
Emh: We cannot allow them to continue.
Seven: I've been analyzing their energy signatures. I believe there's a way to make them visible to everyone.
Emh: How?
Seven: Using a precisely modulated phaser beam. If we expose them the crew may be able to fight back.
Emh: But what if the aliens retaliate by inflicting lethal mutations on everyone? It's too risky.
Seven: What do you suggest?
Emh: The key to the aliens' control is the genetic tags. I believe a neuraleptic shock would disable them. Unfortunately, it would be rather painful.
Seven: Will the crew recover?
Emh: Yes, they will. The hard part will be administering the shock to everyone simultaneously.
Seven: The power relays could be reconfigured to do it.
Emh: Good. I assume you know how to do that?
Seven: You assume correctly. But I will have to bypass several safeguards. It will take time.
Emh: Then you'd better get started.
Tuvok: Tuvok to Seven of Nine.
Seven: Yes.
Tuvok: Why have you accessed the EPS relay system?
Seven: There is a malfunction. I'm attempting to repair it.
Tuvok: Perhaps you should leave that to the engineering crew.
Seven: Normally I would.
Seven: However, they are all occupied with other tasks.
Tuvok: You're compromising the power safety protocols. Stop what you're doing at once.
Seven: I assure you there is no cause for concern.
Tuvok: Move away from the console.
Seven: As I told you, I am conducting repairs.
Tuvok: You're attempting to deceive me. Why?
Seven: I can't explain what I'm doing but you must allow me to continue.
Tuvok: Your actions could result in an energy discharge which would be harmful to the crew.
Seven: I realize that.
Seven: Don't move. If your people attempt to incapacitate me I will kill you.
Alzen: I believe you. What do you intend to do now?
Seven: You will come with me to speak to the captain. I am certain she will have questions for you.
Janeway: Keep on trying to disable the tags. Let me know when you're ready.
Seven: Understood.
Tuvok: I'ill attempt to modify the internal sensors to detect the aliens.
Janeway: Good. Keep me informed.
Janeway: Who are you? And what the hell are you doing to my crew?
Alzen: My team has been observing you and conducting tests.
Janeway: Tests? I'd call them mutilations.
Alzen: I can understand why you're angry. I don't like causing people to suffer, but sometimes it's a necessary part of my work.
Janeway: What kind of work is that?
Alzen: Medical research. We're scientists, like you.
Janeway: From where I stand you're a hostile invasion force. I want to know how long you've been here and exactly what you've been doing to us.
Alzen: I can't answer those questions. It's a breach of protocol for me to be speaking to you at all.
Janeway: Oh, how convenient. That way you never have to face your victims.
Alzen: Captain, please. You're exaggerating the situation. Our techniques are as benign as we can make them.
Janeway: What I've been through for the last few days certainly hasn't felt benign.
Alzen: Please understand that there's a purpose to our actions. The data we gather from you may help us cure physical and psychological disorders that afflict millions. Isn't that worth some discomfort?
Janeway: I'm sure you'd see things differently if your people were the ones being subjected to these experiments.
Alzen: Just as your perspective would change if your people were the ones to live longer and healthier lives as a result. Don't forget, we've been observing you, Captain. I know the most important thing to you is the welfare of your crew. You'd even kill to protect them.
Janeway: If necessary.
Alzen: Of course you would. You take care of your own, just as we do. We're really more similar than you care to admit.
Janeway: That's where you're wrong.
Janeway: What you're doing isn't self-defense. It's the exploitation of another species for your own benefit. My people decided a long time ago that that was unacceptable, even in the name of scientific progress.
Alzen: You're a remarkably strong-willed individual. I've been very impressed by your self-control over the past several weeks. We've been increasing your dopamine levels, stimulating various aggressive impulses to test your behavioral restraints. There's been a great difference of opinion about how much more strain you can bear.
Janeway: Not much.
Alzen: I'd hoped you'd be more cooperative once you realized the importance of our work.
Janeway: Sorry. These lab rats are fighting back.
Alzen: I'm afraid that would be pointless. We're monitoring your attempts to break our control over you. You won't succeed.
Janeway: You may find that you've underestimated us.
Alzen: Consider what's in the best interests of your crew. We will be continuing our research. If you make no further attempts to interfere, I assure you that the fatality rate will be minimal, though there may be some deformities. And I would be willing to share our final data with you.
Janeway: You can't possibly expect me to accept that.
Alzen: If you don't, then the entire experiment and its subjects will be terminated.
Janeway: Are you telling me there is no way to disable the tags?
Seven: My attempts to use the EPS relays to induce neuraleptic shock have failed. The aliens may be responsible.
Tuvok: I've encountered similar difficulties in my efforts to modify the internal sensors. They appear to have gained access to our key systems.
Janeway: They can't be everywhere all the time. We have got to find an advantage.
Emh: We'd better find one soon. Sickbay is being filled with new patients with increasingly severe symptoms.
Seven: We have the ability to make them visible. If we could modify enough sensors we could resist them.
Tuvok: They are capable of manipulating our DNA. A direct conflict would be inadvisable.
Crewman: Bridge to Doctor. Medical emergency.
Emh: She's in hypertensive shock. Twenty milligrams lectrazine. Her blood pressure is three sixty over one twenty five.
Janeway: How is that possible?
Emh: Severe adrenal stress. No effect.
Emh: Her arterial pathways are rupturing. She's in cardiac arrest. We're losing her.
Emh: Captain, I'm afraid that won't help. There's too much internal bleeding.
Janeway: Then try something else. We'll transport her to Sickbay.
Emh: Her entire circulatory system has collapsed. There's no way to repair that kind of damage. Brain death has occurred. I'm sorry, there was nothing more we could have done.
Janeway: This ends right now. You're relieved.
Tuvok: Captain, what are you doing?
Janeway: I'm running a little experiment of my own. Red alert!
Seven: Captain, one of the aliens has entered the bridge.
Janeway: Understood.
Tuvok: We're less than a million kilometers from the pulsars. We must change course immediately to avoid being caught in their gravity.
Janeway: No. Keep going.
Tuvok: This is a far more reckless course of action than I've come to expect from you, Captain.
Janeway: It certainly is.
Tuvok: Hull stress is at thirty teradynes and rising.
Kim: I'm transferring more power to the structural integrity field, but I don't know how long it can hold.
Takar: What do you hope to accomplish by this?
Janeway: Flying into a binary pulsar? It seems like I'm trying to crush this ship like a tin can.
Takar: It's more likely that you're trying to intimidate us.
Janeway: You're welcome to stick around and find out.
Tuvok: Hull stress is at forty five teradynes.
Janeway: Our course is locked in. Only my authorisation can release it.
Takar: You're not behaving very rationally.
Janeway: That's what you are trying to accomplish, wasn't it? Hmm? Pumping up my dopamine levels to push me to the edge? Keeping me awake for four days straight with the constant pain of your devices drilling into my skull? Well, this is the culmination of your work, and guess what? You're going to be right here to collect the final data.
Kim: Shields have failed. Structural integrity is down to twenty percent.
Takar: Enter the authorisation code and change course immediately.
Janeway: I don't think you realize that you are not in control here anymore.
Takar: I can kill you and your crew in an instant.
Janeway: Go ahead. Without us, you won't be able to prevent this ship from being torn apart by the pulsars. And even with my crew working together, I'd say the odds of us getting through this are, what, one in ten?
Tuvok: One in twenty at best, Captain.
Janeway: I'm willing to take that chance. Are you?
Tuvok: Outer hull temperature has reached nine thousand degrees.
Kim: The hull is beginning to buckle.
Seven: Two alien vessels are attempting to disengage from Voyager.
Janeway: I can't break us free of the gravitational forces.
Kim: Then let's divert all power to the shields.
Janeway: No. If we go in, we go in full throttle.
Kim: Captain?
Janeway: Assuming we survive we'll need all the momentum we can get to reach escape velocity on the other side. Everyone hang on. I hope you were exaggerating about those odds, Tuvok.
Tuvok: I was not. Hull stress has exceeded maximum tolerance.
Seven: There are breaches on decks four, seven, eight and twelve.
Kim: Emergency forcefields are holding.
Janeway: I've lost helm control.
Tuvok: Main power is offline.
Janeway: Well, let's hope we've got enough speed.
Kim: I don't believe it. We're alive.
Janeway: I never realized you thought of me as reckless, Tuvok.
Tuvok: A poor choice of words. It was clearly an understatement.
Janeway: Captain's log, stardate 51244.3. With the aliens gone, the Doctor has been able to remove their devices from the crew and neutralize the genetic tags.
Torres: It was nice you could get the night off.
Paris: Nice had nothing to do with it. I switched shifts with Ensign Wildman which means tomorrow I'll pull a double duty on the bridge and with the Doc.
Torres: Well, I appreciate the sacrifice. Tell me about the wine.
Paris: Ah. Ktarian Merlot, 2282. You might want to let it breathe first.
Torres: We've got all night to let it breathe,
Crewman: Engineering to Lieutenant Torres.
Torres: Torres here.
Crewman: We're having a problem with the plasma manifold. I thought you'd want to take a look.
Torres: I don't. Lock it down for now, I'll deal with it in the morning. Torres out. Sometimes it's nice to be the Chief Engineer.
Paris: Try the salad, Chief.
Torres: Hmm. This is really delicious.
Paris: Oh, thanks. I replicated it myself.
Torres: Mmm, you're too good for me. Ignore it.
Paris: Right. I'll get rid of them.
Kim: Oh, hi, er, sorry to interrupt. Hi, B'Elanna.
Paris: Harry, I'm not home.
Kim: I just wanted to return this.
Paris: Thanks.
Kim: Smells good.
Paris: That's it. No more interruptions.
Torres: You know, I've been thinking about what the captain said.
Paris: Thinking maybe she was right? Me, too.
Torres: We have been a little out of control lately.
Paris: Do you think we really were?
Torres: What?
Paris: Out of control. Those aliens could have just been messing around with our hormones just to see what would happen.
Torres: You're right, they could have. And we don't know how long they were on board. They could have been tampering with us for months.
Paris: Well, when you think about it you did have a pretty abrupt change of heart a couple of weeks ago. What made you realize that you love me all of a sudden?
Torres: Just a feeling. So our whole relationship might be based on some alien experiment.
Paris: You never know.
Torres: Well, I think that explains it.
Paris: I guess we should just call it off, then.
Torres: I think so.
Paris: Thank God we found out in time.
Torres: Thank God.
Paris: I don't know about you, but I'm curious to see how this experiment turns out.