Master: The Kol-Ut-Shan. A cornerstone of our beliefs.
Young Tuvok: Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations. I know all about Vulcan philosophies.
Vulcan Master: Why have you come here?
Young Tuvok: I was sent against my will.
Vulcan Master: Then I suggest you leave.
Young Tuvok: I'm not a prisoner?
Vulcan Master: Only of your emotions, or so I have been told.
Young Tuvok: My emotions free me.
Vulcan Master: I see. It's regrettable that I won't be able to teach you.
Young Tuvok: Where should I go?
Vulcan Master: Are you seeking my counsel?
Young Tuvok: I can't return home. My father's banished me.
Vulcan Master: Your school?
Young Tuvok: They revoked my seat.
Vulcan Master: Why?
Young Tuvok: Because I refused to deny myself passion, the way you and men like my father do.
Vulcan Master: You reject logic.
Young Tuvok: If I was meant to deny feelings, why was I born with them? Where's the logic in that?
Vulcan Master: Hidden for you to find. Or in plain sight for you to ignore.
Young Tuvok: You speak in riddles because the truth frightens you.
Vulcan Master: You're right, it does frighten me. You are surprised to hear a Vulcan master admit to having emotions?
Young Tuvok: Yes.
Vulcan Master: Emotions can be a powerful tool. To deny their existence is illogical. But you must learn to control them.
Young Tuvok: Why?
Vulcan Master: You wish to be taught?
Young Tuvok: I would question everything you say.
Vulcan Master: You would not be a worthy pupil otherwise. Let us begin. Sit down, Tuvok.
Noss: Tu be veg!
Paris: Er, sorry?
Noss: Sen. Neeba sen.
Paris: Either the universal translator's offline, or I hit my head harder than I thought.
Noss: Ruk.
Paris: All right. Take it easy. All right, all right. Take it easy.
Noss: Fita!
Paris: This? Listen, I really need this.
Noss: Fita ur neeto.
Paris: Okay, okay.
Paris: First day in town and I've already been mugged.
Tuvok: I'm Commander Tuvok of the Starship Voyager. Tuvok.
Noss: Tuwok.
Tuvok: Yes. And you?
Noss: Noss.
Tuvok: Noss.
Tuvok: We'll go to my vessel. I see you've already been there.
Paris: Mayday, mayday. Paris to Voyager, Respond. Oh, come on.
Tuvok: Her name is Noss. She was attacked by two humanoid males.
Paris: Sure she didn't attack them?
Tuvok: They were attempting to rob her.
Paris: Seems to be a local pastime.
Tuvok: She requires medical attention.
Paris: I'd love to help, but somebody stole our med-kits.
Tuvok: Food. What's the status of the shuttle?
Paris: Fractures throughout the hull, environmental systems down, impulse engines are beyond repair. Told you we should have brought the Delta Flyer.
Tuvok: Communications appear to be functional.
Paris: It won't do us any good. Every time I transmit a signal, it gets bounced back by the distortion field that pulled us down here. It looks like we fell into some kind of gravity well. As far as I can tell, this planet is a part of an entire solar system that is stuck in a pocket of subspace.
Tuvok: Fascinating.
Paris: Yeah. Well, scientific interest aside, I don't see any easy way out.
Tuvok: No doubt Voyager has begun a rescue effort. The Doctor?
Paris: His mobile emitter was damaged during the crash. With a little luck, I might be able to repair it and bring him back online.
Tuvok: Make it your top priority.
Noss: Gren, gren.
Paris: What is it?
Tuvok: Thirteen humanoids approaching. The same species that attacked her. Gather as many supplies as you can carry. We're leaving.
Paris: You really think it's smart to abandon the shuttle?
Tuvok: Noss appears to have survived here for some time. It's logical to assume she has access to a more secure shelter.
Noss: Nemok. Alen. Alen.
Paris: Whatever you say.
Noss: Ai kan.
Paris: Doesn't look like this bird's gonna fly either.
Tuvok: Minimal power and life support, but the ship is protected by a forcefield.
Paris: That explains how she's been able to survive here. Anything resembling an engine?
Tuvok: I'm detecting engine debris two kilometers away. It is of the same configuration as this vessel.
Paris: Great. We've got two unusable ships, and the only way Voyager is going to detect our distress call is if they crash land right on top of us.
Tuvok: Progress?
Paris: The optronic relays took heavy damage. I'm bypassing the primary circuits. Come on, Doc. I know you're in there.
Emh: I'm guessing we hit a snag.
Tuvok: An accurate assumption.
Noss: Rev den ut. Ut rev?
Emh: Tun sank. Ton rev ut teem sayd.
Paris: You speak her language?
Emh: A universal translator was written into my program.
Paris: Ask her how long she's been here. If she knows a way to get back through that sinkhole.
Emh: Deen ya tone ud la kar. Padeen nefka minruk?
Noss: Laka heen. Zen nik lurka. Irut tota. Maez bemrukaya.
Paris: What'd she say?
Emh: She said she's been here fourteen seasons, and in that time, she's seen many ships come down. but she's never seen one go back up again.
Paris: Come back, you little bloodsucker.
Paris: I don't know what's worse, catching them or eating them.
Noss: No poison.
Paris: Well, hey may not be poisonous but they give me the creeps. Maybe I should have left the hunting to you and Tuvok.
Noss: Let me. Yah!
Paris: Looks delicious.
Emh: Shut down my program? Why?
Tuvok: Our resources are severely limited. We may need your mobile emitter as a source of power.
Emh: I'm a Doctor, not a battery.
Tuvok: Until we're rescued, or you are needed for an emergency, I must insist that you remain offline.
Paris: Make way for the mighty hunters.
Emh: If Mister Paris' hunting ability is any indication, maybe we should take him offline.
Paris: Thanks for the vote of confidence, Doc.
Noss: The hunt was good.
Tuvok: Impressive.
Tuvok: Voyager has fifteen decks, a crew of one hundred fifty two, warp and impulse engines.
Noss: I want to see.
Tuvok: Someday, perhaps.
Noss: Tell me about you there.
Tuvok: I am the Chief Tactical Officer.
Noss: What else?
Tuvok: Can you be more specific?
Noss: Your duties. Where you sleep. What you eat. Music. Friends.
Tuvok: Why is any of that relevant?
Noss: Because it is you.
Paris: When I first met her, she wouldn't even look at me. But she warmed up after, oh, three years.
Emh: The longest flirtation in Starfleet history.
Paris: No kidding.
Noss: She sounds fascinating.
Paris: I just hope I see her again.
Noss: You must really baiya jouton.
Emh: Love her very much.
Paris: Yeah.
Noss: More spiders?
Paris: Oh, no, thank you. Three's my limit.
Tuvok: I will assist you.
Emh: Well, I suppose it's time I shut down my program.
Paris: Good night, Doc.
Paris: She likes you.
Tuvok: She has been alone for many years. She appreciates our company.
Paris: No. I mean she likes you.
Tuvok: What are you implying?
Paris: Oh, come on, Tuvok. You may be cold, but you're not blind.
Tuvok: Need I remind you that I am married.
Paris: Your wife is fifty thousand light years away, in a different layer of space! The chances of you ever seeing her again are practically nonexistent.
Tuvok: Excuse me.
Paris: What are you doing?
Tuvok: I'm recalibrating the distress beacon.
Paris: Listen. What I said in there, about your wife. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings.
Tuvok: I have no feelings for you to hurt.
Paris: I think you do. You work hard to bury them, but they're there. And even if they're not, this is home now. You might as well accept it and try to find as much happiness as you can. Listen, you have a chance to make a decent life for yourself here.
Tuvok: There is still a possibility that Voyager will rescue us. You may see Lieutenant Torres again.
Paris: If I didn't know you better, I'd say you were trying to cheer me up, Tuvok.
Tuvok: Is there a point to your pessimism?
Paris: It's not pessimism, it's practicality. You of all people should understand that. Look, I've never met your wife but if she's half a logical as you are, I bet you she'd tell you the same thing.
Tuvok: Your attempt to play matchmaker is misguided. I am not experiencing Pon farr.
Paris: What difference does it make? You obviously care about Noss. If you won't admit it to me, at least admit it to yourself.
Tuvok: I respect her ability to survive.
Paris: It's more than that. I've seen the way you look at her.
Tuvok: What way is that?
Paris: Like someone who wishes he wasn't Vulcan.
Tuvok: I'm sorry I was born Vulcan.
Vulcan Master: Bilak par. Self-pity.
Young Tuvok: Are you cataloging my emotions?
Vulcan Master: What is the source of your self-pity?
Young Tuvok: Isn't it obvious? If I weren't Vulcan, I wouldn't be here now going through this pointless ritual.
Vulcan Master: You see only what is in front of you. You must learn to see behind you.
Young Tuvok: Another riddle. I have no eyes to see behind me.
Vulcan Master: You have the eyes of memory. The knowledge of why you are here, and why you have lost control. Tell me your story.
Young Tuvok: My father's already explained it.
Vulcan Master: I wish to hear it from you.
Young Tuvok: Her name's Jara. Her father's a Terrelian diplomat. She's been granted a seat at my school.
Vulcan Master: And you have developed an emotional attraction toward her.
Young Tuvok: Yes.
Vulcan Master: You love her.
Young Tuvok: Yes.
Vulcan Master: Does she love you?
Young Tuvok: No. She's, Jara doesn't return my feelings.
Vulcan Master: What if I were to say that I received a letter from your father, telling me that Jara is in love with one of your fellow students?
Young Tuvok: That's a lie! Who is it?
Vulcan Master: Jealousy?
Young Tuvok: I'll challenge him.
Vulcan Master: That would be illogical, because I have received no such letter.
Young Tuvok: You're trying to trick me.
Vulcan Master: No. I'm trying to help you to understand. Shon-ha'lock, love, is the most dangerous emotion of all. It produces many other emotions. Jealousy, shame, rage, grief. You must learn to suppress them all, otherwise they will consume you. I can sense emotions building inside you like a gathering storm. If we begin now, we may be able to stop them. Captain's Log, supplemental. It's been over an hour since the shuttle disappeared from sensors.
Torres: I'm not detecting any debris.
Chakotay: Maybe the shuttle was tractored or transported somewhere.
Janeway: Scan the region. Look for plasma emissions or EM displacements. Anything that might indicate another ship.
Kim: Nothing out of the ordinary. Hydrogen, helium, space dust.
Janeway: There has to be something out there. Shuttles don't just vanish into thin air.
Torres: It's a gravimetric shear.
Janeway: Source.
Kim: Unknown.
Janeway: Red alert. Helm, full ahead.
Kim: We're caught in some kind of subspace sinkhole. It's pulling us in.
Chakotay: The gravimetric shear is increasing.
Janeway: Go to warp
Torres: I can't establish a field.
Janeway: Then we need more power to the impulse engines.
Torres: That won't be enough. We've got to find a way to counter the gravitational pull.
Janeway: B'Elanna, vent three million isodynes of plasma from the nacelles. Chakotay, reverse shield polarity.
Kim: We're clear.
Janeway: Move us away. Stand down red alert. Secure all stations. I'd say we have a pretty good idea what happened to that shuttle.
Seven: The anomaly is approximately six hundred meters in diameter.
Torres: It's out of phase with normal space. Even after recalibrating the sensors, it barely registers.
Seven: The distortion circumscribes a subspace zone that includes a Type G sun and three planets.
Chakotay: Any sign of the shuttle?
Seven: No.
Chakotay: I'd say it's time to break out the multispatial probe.
Janeway: Agreed. What the hell was that?
Seven: A vessel approaching off the port bow. They've locked on a tractor beam.
Kim: Captain to the bridge.
Kim: I'm only going to say this one more time. Disengage your tractor beam, sir.
Yost: You were in danger of being pulled into the distortion. You should show a little gratitude.
Kim: We appreciate your help, but we didn't ask for. Captain, this is Mister Yost.
Yost: Supervisor Yost, Renovation Team Nova.
Janeway: Kathryn Janeway, of the Starship Voyager.
Yost: Until tomorrow, I suggest you stay at least two million kilometers from the distortion.
Janeway: What happens tomorrow?
Yost: The rift will be closed by then.
Janeway: Some of our crew are trapped inside.
Yost: I am sorry. We have lost eleven ships to the distortion over the last year. It must be sealed.
Chakotay: What about your people?
Yost: Even if there were survivors, there's no way to rescue them. The best we can do is to prevent others from being trapped.
Janeway: We can't abandon our crew. If you could delay your mission
Yost: My orders are to seal the rift by this time tomorrow. If you want to attempt a rescue between now and then, the risk is yours to take, but I wouldn't advise it.
Janeway: Launch the probe.
Chakotay: Aye, Captain.
Janeway: Work with B'Elanna and Seven to enhance the sensors. Do whatever you can to find Tom and Tuvok. I'll be looking for a way to counter those gravitational forces.
Janeway: Come in. I've been brushing up on sinkholes, quantum singularities.
Chakotay: Any luck?
Janeway: All the data leads me to the same conclusion. They're mono-directional phenomena. What goes in doesn't come out.
Chakotay: Well if it's any consolation, something's coming out of that anomaly.
Janeway: What is it?
Chakotay: Telemetry from our probe. We've located the shuttle's distress beacon on a Class-D planet.
Janeway: Vulcan, human, alien lifesigns. At least we know they're alive.
Chakotay: Keep reading.
Janeway: There's astronomical data here covering a three month period. How is that possible?
Chakotay: There seems to be some sort of temporal differential.
Janeway: How big a differential?
Chakotay: It's difficult to say, but every hour that passes for us could mean weeks, even months for Tom and Tuvok.
Janeway: Months trying to survive in a Class-D environment? More than likely, they've assumed that we left them behind long ago.
Chakotay: Ready for the bad news?
Janeway: You're kidding.
Chakotay: The gravitational stress is increasing. Seven believes the sinkhole is on the verge of collapse. When it does, everything inside will be crushed.
Paris: Noss!
Emh: Medical tricorder.
Paris: We were ambushed.
Emh: Give me twenty milligrams of inaprovaline.
Paris: They got away with a pair of resonator coils that we found.
Emh: Three fractured ribs, subdural hematoma, internal bleeding.
Noss: Will he live?
Emh: Vulcans are very resilient. He'll be fine. How long has it been since I was last activated?
Paris: Almost two months.
Emh: Two months? So, what's new?
Paris: Oh, same old thing. Fighting off scavengers, hunting spiders.
Emh: No word from Voyager?
Paris: They're probably three hundred light years closer to home by now.
Emh: I think I should remain online until Mister Tuvok is fully recovered.
Paris: It's good to have you back, Doc.
Noss: Rest.
Tuvok: How long was I unconscious?
Noss: Too many hours.
Tuvok: Mister Paris?
Noss: He'll be fine. I was afraid. It is good to see your eyes.
Tuvok: Don't.
Noss: I only want to show you how I feel. You, you, you feel nothing for me?
Tuvok: I told you, I don't experience emotion. I have developed an appreciation and respect for you. Nothing more.
Noss: Nothing?
Tuvok: I am sorry. I cannot return your affection.
Noss: You cannot, or you will not?
Tuvok: A minor distinction.
Noss: Logic! I hate logic!
Tuvok: Your emotions will only exacerbate the situation.
Noss: Shevrot kat!
Tuvok: Insulting me will not help.
Noss: Derot orat!
Seven: We can use the multispatial probe as a transporter relay.
Torres: It'll take a little time to reconfigure the targeting scanners but, with a little luck, it should work.
Janeway: Any reason we can't use the same relay to send a comm. signal?
Torres: I don't see why not.
Janeway: Good. Let them know that help is on the way.
Kim: Captain to the bridge.
Kim: They've started ahead of schedule.
Janeway: Hail them.
Yost: Yes?
Janeway: It was my understanding you wouldn't begin for another six hours.
Yost: We're ready now.
Janeway: Well we're not. We need at least another two hours to make a rescue attempt.
Yost: I'm sorry.
Janeway: How long until they seal the rift?
Seven: Approximately thirty minutes.
Janeway: Then that's all we've got.
Paris: Tuvok? Hey!
Tuvok: I am meditating, Mister Paris.
Paris: I don't care.
Tuvok: I trust there is an urgent reason for your lack of courtesy.
Paris: You're damn right there is. What did you say to her?
Tuvok: Our conversation was private.
Paris: Well, whatever you said, she's talking about leaving. Going off by herself because it's too painful to be around you.
Tuvok: She is under the influence of unfettered emotions.
Paris: Well, maybe you're able to fetter your emotions, but the rest of us don't have that luxury. She is a living, breathing woman who for reasons that I can't begin to fathom, has fallen in love with you. Now, if you're incapable of returning her feelings, at least show her some compassion. Try to let her down easy.
Tuvok: There is no easy way to recover from infatuation.
Paris: Oh, really? And what do you know about infatuation?
Tuvok: More than you might imagine.
Paris: Enlighten me.
Tuvok: I have no intention of continuing this conversation any further.
Paris: Come on, Tuvok. Come on. It's just you, me and the rocks.
Tuvok: When I was a young man, I experienced an emotional attraction toward a woman. It nearly destroyed me.
Paris: Your wife?
Tuvok: No. Her name was Jara, a Terrelian female. I would have violated every tenet of Vulcan philosophy simply to be near her.
Paris: She must have really been something.
Tuvok: I lost all sense of who I was. The emotional attraction I felt for her became a kind of insanity.
Paris: Tuvok, everyone feels a little insane when they fall in love, but it's worth the risk.
Tuvok: For you, perhaps. But I am Vulcan. My natural emotions are erratic, volatile. If I don't control them, they will control me.
Paris: Whatever happened to Jara?
Tuvok: I chose to leave her. I spent several months in isolation, studying with a Vulcan Master. I learned to suppress my emotions.
Paris: Too bad.
Tuvok: Gravimetric distortions.
Paris: What's causing them?
Tuvok: Unknown.
Kim: No response to our hails, Captain.
Seven: At this rate, their anti-graviton beam will seal the distortion in approximately twenty nine minutes.
Janeway: Transporter status?
Torres: I've completed the reconfiguration, but we're only going to be able to relay one transporter beam through the probe.
Chakotay: We'll have to get Tom and Tuvok within a two meter radius of the distress beacon.
Janeway: Harry?
Kim: I've opened a channel.
Janeway: Voyager to away team.
Paris: What is it?
Tuvok: The distress beacon. We're receiving a transmission.
Paris: Can you route it through your comm. system? If I'm right, this message was sent almost nine hours ago on a very slow carrier wave.
Emh: Can you speed it up?
Paris: I'll try.
Janeway: Voyager to away team. A transporter beam with a radius of two meters will activate at the coordinates of your distress beacon in exactly thirty minutes.
Emh: Thirty minutes? That would have been over eight hours ago!
Paris: Shh, there's more.
Janeway: Be advised we've detected a temporal difference between our two positions. According to our calculations, the differential ratio is point four seven four four seconds per minute. Repeat. Voyager to away team. A transporter beam with a radius of two meters
Tuvok: According to that formula, thirty minutes would translate to two days, eleven hours and forty seven seconds.
Emh: Well, we've waited this long.
Noss: Tom.
Tuvok: The forcefield is holding.
Paris: Not for long if they keep pelting us with these photon grenades.
Emh: How are we supposed to hold them off for two more days?
Seven: The rift will be sealed in less than two minutes.
Janeway: Move us into range. Stand by for transport.
Torres: Yes, ma'am.
Paris: The forcefield's losing power. Time?
Emh: We still have another hour before transport.
Tuvok: Where are you going?
Noss: To repair the field generator.
Tuvok: I will accompany you.
Noss: No. You stay. Prepare for the attack.
Tuvok: You can't go alone.
Noss: Risking two lives would be illogical.
Chakotay: We're in transporter range.
Janeway: Link up with the probe and relay the signal.
Torres: Stand by. I've got a lock on their beacon.
Janeway: They're supposed to be ready for transport in thirty two seconds. Let's hope they don't stand us up. Begin twenty second countdown on my mark. Now.
Emh: We've got less than ten minutes to transport.
Paris: Where the hell is Noss?
Tuvok: I'll find her.
Torres: Fifteen seconds. Fourteen. Thirteen.
Noss: Tuvok.
Tuvok: I could not leave you behind.
Torres: Nine. Eight. Seven.
Emh: Now, Mister Paris!
Paris: Hurry.
Torres: Four. Three. Two.
Janeway: Initialize transport sequence. Energize.
Kim: We've got them. Welcome back. Who?
Tuvok: A friend. Commander Tuvok, personal log, stardate 52438.9. We are en route to Noss' homeworld. As I prepare to say goodbye, I find myself experiencing a certain discomfort.
Paris: Tuvok. Weird day.
Tuvok: Problems?
Paris: I've spent the last two months wondering if I'd ever see B'Elanna again. As far as she's concerned, it's only been two days. I guess I expected her to have missed me, too.
Tuvok: Were it not for the time differential, I'm sure she would have experienced a deep sense of loss.
Paris: You know something? I always thought that beneath that cold, Vulcan exterior lay a even colder Vulcan interior. Now, I'm convinced you're a hopeless romantic.
Tuvok: There is no need to insult me, Mister Paris.
Neelix: Oh, here they are now. I was just getting Noss' recipe for sautéed spiders. She told me how much you enjoyed them.
Paris: Let's just say it's an acquired taste.
Noss: Goodbye, Tom. Thank you.
Paris: Come on, Neelix.
Neelix: Oh, of course.
Paris: Crewman.
Noss: I'm sorry.
Tuvok: For what?
Noss: I know how difficult this was for you. For us. I just wish things had been different.
Tuvok: As do I.
Noss: I understand. Thank you.
Tuvok: Live long and prosper, Noss.
Noss: You too.
Master: Infinite diversity
Young Tuvok: In infinite combinations.
Vulcan Master: Your training is now complete. You have done well.
Young Tuvok: Thank you.
Vulcan Master: You are now prepared to return to the world. Grief, anger, fear, and especially love, will never threaten you again.
Young Tuvok: I am grateful.


Qatai: Ah! Surprised? What's wrong? Can't figure out why I'm still not running, ha? Can't read my thoughts? Go ahead, attack, take my ship. Damn ship. Hold together. Hold!
Janeway: Wormhole?
Tuvok: Approximately four hundred million kilometers from our position.
Chakotay: Take a look at the transkinetic vector.
Janeway: It leads to sector zero zero one.
Chakotay: It looks like a wormhole but we're detecting massive bioplasmic activity.
Janeway: That suggests a lifeform. Neutrino flux?
Chakotay: Erratic.
Janeway: A direct route to Earth's doorstep, out of the blue. What's wrong with this picture?
Chakotay: We should launch a probe.
Janeway: Go to yellow alert. Prepare a class five probe. Let's see what's really out there. Daily log, Seven of Nine. While we failed to locate a new source of deuterium, our mission had educational value for at least one member of the crew.
Naomi: If you go looking for deuterium tomorrow, can I come?
Paris: Well, that's up to the Captain.
Seven: It's likely you'll be replaced by a more experienced officer.
Naomi: But this is my first away mission and I didn't get to do anything.
Seven: I disagree. You familiarized yourself with this vessel.
Naomi: Well, can't we make first contact with somebody, or get in a space battle?
Paris: Yeah, can't we?
Seven: Another time, perhaps.
Paris: Hey, Naomi, you want to take the helm?
Naomi: Can I?
Seven: Ensign.
Paris: She'll be familiarizing herself with the vessel. Here. Okay, first bring us up to one quarter impulse. Hit this control, then that one.
Naomi: One quarter impulse, aye.
Paris: Now, you think you can chart a course back to Voyager?
Naomi: Yes, sir.
Paris: They're in a hurry.
Seven: Crewmen Boylen and White. Frequently late for their duty shifts.
Paris: Speaking of late, I'll make a deal with you. I'll explain to Sam why her daughter's two hours late for bedtime, if you start on the survey report.
Seven: Acceptable.
Paris: Have fun.
Janeway: You're back. I was beginning to worry.
Seven: The survey took longer than expected.
Chakotay: Lucky our deuterium shortage is no longer an issue.
Seven: A wormhole.
Kim: The wormhole. It leads all the way back to Earth.
Seven: The odds of finding such a phenomenon are infinitesimal.
Janeway: Never bet against the house.
Kim: What are you doing?
Seven: Looking for anomalous readings.
Tuvok: You will find none.
Chakotay: He's right. No subspatial contortions, no temporal variance.
Janeway: The probe we sent in has already picked up faint signals from the other side.
Kim: B'Elanna's still downloading them, but she's pretty sure they're from Starfleet.
Seven: This wormhole is only three hundred million kilometers away. Long range scans should have detected it days ago.
Tuvok: Perhaps it was an oversight on your part.
Janeway: If it'll make you feel better, run a diagnostic. In the meantime, let's maintain course.
Janeway: Come in.
Seven: I completed my diagnostic. Sensors are operating at peak efficiency.
Janeway: Then there's nothing to worry about.
Seven: On the contrary. The wormhole's neutrino levels are extremely erratic.
Janeway: I thought so too, until I received this. It turns out those faint signals we detected were communiques from Starfleet. They assure me the neutrino flux is nothing to worry about.
Seven: Starfleet may be in error. We should run further scans.
Janeway: No time. The wormhole might destabilize.
Seven: The Doctor often instructs me to look before I leap. It is an antiquated adage, but I believe it is relevant.
Janeway: I have another one for you. He who hesitates is lost.
Seven: Captain.
Janeway: I thin we're avoiding the real issue here, Seven. You're still feeling uncomfortable about returning to the Alpha Quadrant. It's nothing to be ashamed of. Trust me, you're going to thrive on Earth, just as you've thrived on Voyager. Yes?
Chakotay: Letter number two. I'm getting jealous.
Janeway: Mark. Apparently his engagement was broken off. What about you, any news?
Chakotay: A full pardon and reinstatement to Starfleet. I've even been offered a professorship in anthropology at the Academy.
Janeway: Oh, Chakotay, congratulations, but it's not fair.
Chakotay: Don't worry, it's only part time.
Janeway: How can I be expected to manage the ship without you?
Chakotay: You'll do fine.
Seven: Computer, access all logs entries recorded by Captain Janeway on Stardate 52542.
Computer: Access to those files is restricted.
Computer: Access granted.
Seven: Play first log entry.
Janeway: Captain's log, stardate 52542.3. Long range sensors have identified a wormhole leading to the Alpha quadrant. Unfortunately, secondary scans have revealed that it's some kind of elaborate deception. The question is, who's attempting to deceive us and why?
Seven: Play next log entry.
Janeway: Captain's log, supplemental. We've begun to receive faint telemetry from our probe. I don't want to get the crew's hopes up but B'Elanna thinks it may be a message from Starfleet. I'm beginning to wonder if my earlier skepticism was justified.
Seven: Play next log entry.
Janeway: Captain's Log, supplemental. I've set a course for the wormhole. With any luck, we should be back in the Alpha Quadrant in a matter of days.
Neelix: Annika? Annika Hansen.
Seven: There is no one here by that name.
Neelix: Are you sure, because I have a letter here addressed to her. I never realized you knew anyone from the Alpha Quadrant.
Seven: I don't.
Neelix: Well, it looks like someone knows you. Who's it from?
Seven: Claudia Hansen. She claims to be a sister of my father.
Neelix: Your aunt.
Seven: She is looking forward to meeting me.
Neelix: That's great. Starfleet's appointed me Ambassador to the Lan'Tuana sector.
Seven: Ambassador?
Neelix: I guess they thought I'd have a flair for quadrupeds.
Seven: Ensign, I require a moment of your time.
Paris: Sure.
Seven: Have you noticed anything unusual about the crew's behavior since we returned?
Paris: Like?
Seven: When I presented the Captain with evidence that the wormhole may not be what it appears to be, she seemed unconcerned.
Paris: Really? That doesn't sound like her.
Seven: I believe the crew is being deceived by false telemetry as well as overly-optimistic correspondence.
Paris: The letters from home? I got one, too.
Seven: No doubt containing good news.
Paris: Oh, I'll say. An old buddy of mine offered me a spot at the new test flight center in Australia. Beautiful beaches, a chance to pilot the latest experimental ships. I can't believe it.
Seven: Then you doubt the veracity of the letters as well.
Paris: Are you kidding? I've already written back and accepted the job.
Seven: Computer, activate the EMH.
Emh: Please state the nature of the medical emergency.
Seven: The wormhole is not what it appears to be. I believe that the crew is being
Emh: Hold on. Wormhole?
Seven: You weren't informed.
Emh: Not a peep.
Seven: Considering everyone's recent behavior, that's not surprising. Since the discovery of this wormhole the crew has ignored obvious signs that it's a deception. You must determine if there is a physiological explanation.
Chakotay: Seven of Nine to the bridge.
Seven: On my way.
Emh: I'll call in a few crewmen for routine examinations. That should allow me to run the necessary diagnostics.
Chakotay: We've just entered visual range. I thought you'd like to take a look. We're starting to get images from the other side.
Tuvok: There is considerable interference.
Kim: I think I can help clear it up. Try it now.
Chakotay: How long until we reach the wormhole?
Paris: Fifty three minutes.
Janeway: Maintain course.
Chakotay: All hands, this is the bridge. Secure all systems.
Janeway: When we reach Earth's orbit, lay in a descent trajectory. North American continent. Starfleet Headquarters.
Seven: Computer, perform a gravimetric scan of the wormhole's interior. Look for inconsistencies in the spatial gradient.
Computer: The anomaly is consistent with a Class one wormhole. No irregularities detected.
Seven: Recalibrate sensors and try again.
Computer: No irregularities detected.
Seven: Isolate grid nine two five and magnify. Computer, is that a vessel in grid ninety one?
Computer: No vessel has been detected.
Seven: Open a comm. channel.
Computer: Channel open.
Seven: Alien vessel, this is the starship Voyager. Respond. Alien vessel.
Qatai: Who are you?
Seven: Seven of Nine, Federation starship Voyager. Our ship is on an intercept course three point four light years from your position.
Qatai: Turn around, you're being deceived.
Seven: How.
Qatai: He knows what you want.
Seven: Computer, identify the cause of the power failure.
Tuvok: Captain's orders. Power from Astrometrics has been rerouted to the navigational array, at least until we've completed our journey through the wormhole.
Seven: I've made contact with a vessel inside the anomaly.
Tuvok: Starfleet?
Seven: Alien. The pilot attempted to warn us away.
Tuvok: Sensors show no record of an incoming transmission.
Seven: The sensors are malfunctioning. He said we were being deceived. The wormhole is not what it appears to be.
Tuvok: The preponderance of data suggests otherwise.
Seven: The data is flawed.
Tuvok: As is your reasoning.
Seven: May I ask you a personal question? Are you looking forward to seeing your wife and family?
Tuvok: Indeed.
Seven: And is that desire stronger than you expected it to be?
Tuvok: Your point.
Seven: I believe you are being manipulated. Someone or something is compromising your logic, otherwise you would be willing to listen to my concerns.
Tuvok: Access to the Astrometrics lab is restricted until further notice. Dismissed.
Seven: Naomi Wildman. Your presence here is unauthorized. State your intentions.
Naomi: I'm hiding.
Seven: From whom?
Naomi: Everyone. They're all acting strange. Even Mom.
Seven: Elaborate.
Naomi: She keeps smiling all the time, talking about Earth like it's the greatest place in the universe.
Seven: You do not share your mother's desire to return to Earth?
Naomi: Voyager's my home. If we go to Earth, I'll have to leave the ship. I'd miss my room, Neelix. You and I wouldn't be able to play Kadis-kot anymore.
Seven: Curious. You and I appear to be the only ones not affected.
Naomi: Affected by what?
Seven: I am not certain. Stay here until I return.
Seven: Computer, activate EMH.
Paris: Please state the nature of the medical emergency.
Seven: Where's the Doctor?
Paris: Offline.
Seven: Why?
Paris: Starfleet orders. Something about the wormhole interfering with the holographic systems. They didn't want to damage his program.
Seven: He must be reactivated.
Paris: No can do. Not until we're on the other side.
Seven: It's urgent.
Paris: Believe it or not, I am capable of handling almost any medical problem you might have.
Chakotay: I was just coming to see you.
Seven: Why?
Chakotay: I'm afraid I have some troubling news. Evidently, our wormhole passes through a layer of subspace monitored by the Borg. Starfleet's concerned that your neural transceiver might attract some unwanted attention. We need to deactivate your implants.
Seven: You should not attempt to do so without the Doctor's supervision.
Chakotay: Unfortunately, he's offline.
Seven: Then the procedure is inadvisable.
Chakotay: Try to relax. We're only going to keep you in stasis until we've reached the Alpha Quadrant. I realize the prospect of returning to Earth is frightening to you. It's perfectly natural for you to resist the unknown. But you're in good hands. Resistance is futile.
Janeway: What's our distance, Tom?
Paris: Two thousand kilometers and closing. Goodbye, Delta Quadrant.
Kim: No more Hirogen hunting parties, Malon garbage scows.
Paris: By this time tomorrow it'll be Cardassians, Romulans, Ferengi.
Chakotay: Chakotay to the bridge.
Janeway: Go ahead.
Chakotay: I've spoken to Seven of Nine. We're putting her into stasis.
Janeway: Make it fast. We don't want the Borg to crash our welcome home party.
Seven: I need to adjust my regeneration parameters. How long will I remain inactive?
Chakotay: A couple of hours to be on the safe side.
Chakotay: Security alert!
Seven: Naomi Wildman.
Janeway: Security's on their way, Chakotay. What happened?
Chakotay: Seven's trapped us behind some kind of Borg forcefield.
Janeway: Try to disable it.
Chakotay: Naomi, go back to your quarters.
Seven: Pay attention to me. If this indicator begins to flash enter the following series of commands. Watch carefully.
Chakotay: Naomi.
Seven: Do you understand?
Naomi: Yes.
Chakotay: Naomi, I'm giving you a direct order. Step away from the console.
Kim: She's blocking my commands.
Janeway: Keep trying.
Seven: Computer, lock onto my coordinates and initiate a site to site transport. Main Engineering.
Torres: Seven?
Seven: I'm sorry.
Kim: We've got phaser fire in Engineering.
Janeway: Janeway to Security.
Seven: Computer, erect a level ten forcefield around Engineering. Lock out the command controls of Borg encryption code two nine four.
Paris: Seven's tapping into the engine manifold. She's trying to shut down impulse drive.
Tuvok: Bridge, she has erected another forcefield. It'll require
Tuvok: Several minutes to deactivate it.
Janeway: Where is she, exactly?
Kim: Engineering console sixteen beta. Captain?
Janeway: I'm sending an EM surge to that station. Seven's going into stasis whether she likes it or not.
Tuvok: She's down, Captain.
Paris: Captain, we're at the threshold.
Janeway: Take us in.
Janeway: Report?
Paris: It's just spatial turbulence.
Janeway: It's beautiful. Steady as she goes.(Neelix sees Starfleet Admirals in a corridor, smiling and waiting to shake hands with him. Janeway, Kim and Paris see Earth turning beneath the ship. In reality, there is nothing there except a giant tunnel with energy playing around it. Everyone is unconscious. Tuvok dreams that he is meeting his wife, T'Pel, in a corridor
Naomi: Seven, wake up. Seven of Nine, wake up! Forcefield?
Seven: You are damaged.
Naomi: It's just a scrape.
Seven: The crew?
Naomi: Unconscious, sort of.
Seven: Our hull is demolecularising.
Naomi: Do wormholes do that?
Seven: No, they don't. Return to your quarters while I assess the situation.
Naomi: But I can help. My mom says two heads are better than one. Isn't that the Borg philosophy too?
Seven: Simplistic, but accurate.
Naomi: Please, I don't want to be alone.
Naomi: Neelix! Oh, Neelix.
Seven: He will survive.
Naomi: Neelix.
Seven: We must keep moving. Naomi Wildman. We will return for him.
Naomi: I don't think that's Earth.
Seven: No.
Naomi: So where are we?
Seven: I've restored partial systems. I'm reading organic compounds, bioplasmic discharges, a vast network of neural pathways.
Naomi: Is it a lifeform?
Seven: If it is, it's the largest I've seen. Over two thousand kilometers in diameter.
Naomi: What are you doing?
Seven: My earlier scans revealed a vessel. I'm trying to find it again.
Naomi: Somebody else is stuck here?
Seven: Possibly. There. It's heavily damaged but still functioning. Alien vessel, respond.
Seven: This is the starship Voyager. Please respond.
Qatai: I told you to stay away. Why didn't you listen?
Seven: Our crew believed they were returning to their homes.
Qatai: Everything they've always wanted, correct?
Seven: Yes.
Qatai: He deceived them.
Naomi: He?
Seven: I believe we should work together to escape this anomaly. Lower your shields and I'll beam you aboard.
Qatai: Shields are the only things holding my ship together. I'd be destroyed.
Seven: I will enhance your shield emitters.
Qatai: You won't fool me that easily.
Seven: I assure you we are not a deception.
Qatai: Oh, how convenient, an enormous starship comes to my rescue. You might try a more subtle approach.
Seven: My scans indicate that your shields will fail in approximately fifteen minutes. Join us, or you can remain on your vessel secure in the knowledge that you were not deceived. But that knowledge will do you little good when you are dead. Decide now.
Qatai: All right. All right, I'm taking my shields down.
Naomi: Ow!
Qatai: You look real enough. But over the years, he's made me believe many things are real. A fortune at my fingertips, good friends risen from the dead.
Seven: You're referring to the anomaly we've entered.
Qatai: Anomaly? It's a beast! Cunning, deadly.
Seven: What does it want?
Qatai: You. Your ship. Antimatter, biomatter. He consumes it.
Seven: Everyone believed it was a wormhole.
Qatai: Telepathy. Psychogenic manipulation. He senses your thoughts, your desires, and then he preys on them.
Naomi: Like a pitcher plant.
Qatai: Pitcher plant?
Naomi: The Doctor taught me about it in botany class. It catches insects by mimicking pheromones.
Qatai: Yes, you're right, but this one doesn't eat insects. He eats starships.
Seven: You are familiar with this lifeform.
Qatai: Familiar? I've been hunting it for nearly forty years.
Seven: And have you become impervious to its telepathy?
Qatai: Almost, but there are days when he can still trick me. Like yesterday. I thought I had found a way to kill him once and for all. I'd allow him to begin consuming my ship and then I'd fly directly to his most vulnerable system, his primary neural plexus. Boom! I'd destroy him from the inside out. But he knew. He showed me what I wanted to see. I was nowhere near his neural plexus. I was flying directly into his digestion chamber. And speaking of digestion.
Naomi: How do we get out of the monster?
Seven: It's not a monster, it's a bioplasmic organism, and we will find a way out.
Qatai: No, the girl's right. He's a monster, and the only way out is to destroy him.
Emh: Please state the nature of the medical emergency.
Qatai: Your ship is being devoured. I'd say that's an emergency.
Naomi: The monster ate his ship, too.
Emh: Monster?
Qatai: I want to see your weapons manifest.
Emh: Weapons? This is a Sickbay, not an arsenal. What's going on?
Seven: Voyager has been lured into the digestive chamber of a bioplasmic organism. We require your assistance in charting an escape route.
Emh: Slow down. The last thing I remember I was speaking to Mister Paris. He said the wormhole posed a threat to my program.
Qatai: The beast has been manipulating your crew. The moment he realized you were beginning to suspect something, he made sure you were deactivated.
Emh: And who might you be, the local monster expert?
Qatai: As a matter of fact I am. He's been fooling you for days, creating false sensor readings, and he's been altering your crew's thought patterns. A little neurogenic telepathy to make them lower their guard.
Emh: That might explain the heightened dopamine levels I found during my routine examinations of the crew. Have you informed the Captain?
Naomi: She's asleep.
Emh: Asleep?
Seven: It's our proximity to the creature. The neurogenic field is stronger here. It's already rendered most of the crew unconscious. Does your vessel's database contain information on the creature's anatomy?
Qatai: Of course.
Seven: Retrieve it.
Emh: In the meantime, let's work on a wake-up call for the crew.
Emh: Computer, increase neurotransmitter levels by twenty nine percent.
Qatai: A cortical inhibitor?
Emh: I thought it might disrupt the organism's hold on her.
Qatai: It won't. I already tried a similar procedure.
Emh: I don't remember asking for a second opinion. It's working. She's regaining consciousness.
Torres: Doctor?
Emh: You're being exposed to a powerful neurogenic field. You've been unconscious for several hours.
Torres: They're here.
Emh: Who?
Torres: The Maquis, they're alive!
Emh: B'Elanna, you're still on Voyager. You're hallucinating.
Torres: Starfleet thinks you've all been killed.
Emh: Computer, increase neurotransmitter levels by another ten percent. B'Elanna, focus on my voice.
Qatai: She doesn't want to.
Qatai: They never want to.
Qatai: It's the silence I hate. The way he takes you without a fight. It was the same way with the Nokaro. A crew of nearly three thousand. Families mostly, mine included, looking for a New World to settle. But they came across our friend here and he showed them what they wanted to see. A glistening green paradise. By the time I responded to their distress call, all that was left of them was some fading engine emissions. That was thirty nine years ago. Thirty nine years, two weeks, four days.
Emh: Do you mind? The situation is dismal enough.
Qatai: I'm just trying to explain who we're up against.
Emh: Well, I'm getting a pretty good idea on my own. Judging by these bioscans, the organism's been devouring life forms for a bit longer than thirty nine years. I'd estimate it's at least two hundred thousand years old.
Qatai: The intelligent always survive.
Emh: I wouldn't go that far. It appears to operate on highly evolved instinct. I haven't detected any signs of sentience.
Qatai: Oh he's intelligent, all right. Smart enough to fool your crew into taking you offline.
Emh: No need to get personal.
Naomi: Seven?
Seven: I'm here.
Naomi: Are we still inside the monster?
Seven: Yes, but we are going to find a way out.
Qatai: There. This is it. Exactly what we need.
Qatati: These class nine torpedoes in your weapons manifest. If we can bring your vessel deeper into the creature's digestive tract and detonate one of these charges, we might be able to destroy it.
Emh: Starfleet's not in the habit of killing lifeforms.
Qatai: Even if that lifeform is about to kill you?
Emh: If I could take a few hours to examine the creature more thoroughly
Seven: There is no time.
Qatai: We kill him!
Emh: Maybe there's another way.
Seven: Explain.
Emh: Any living organism, no matter how large, will attempt to expel a foreign body. If we could just make Voyager a little less tasty?
Seven: My scans indicate that your weapons are tetryon based. If you were to fire one at a pocket of antimatter released from our warp core, it would produce an electrolytic reaction.
Naomi: Would that make Voyager taste bad?
Qatai: It might at that.
Emh: Once I've beamed you back to your ship, try adjusting your shields to this frequency. You'll find them more resistant to the bioplasmic discharges.
Qatai: You seem to know a little about everything. Medicine, exobiology, shield harmonics.
Emh: I'm something of a renaissance EMH.
Qatai: I could use a crewmate like you. The beast would have a difficult time manipulating a hologram's desires.
Emh: An Ishmael to your Ahab? No, thank you.
Qatai: You're turning down the hunt of a lifetime?
Emh: As appealing as that sounds, I'm a Doctor, not a dragon slayer. My program requires that I do no harm.
Qatai: Shame.
Seven: Qatai's vessel is ready.
Emh: I've rerouted bridge controls to Engineering. Ops, tactical, helm, all integrated into one station.
Seven: Efficient.
Emh: I thought you'd like it.
Seven: I'm plotting a course for the organism's oesophageal aperture. Prepare to release the antimatter. Hull integrity's dropped another thirteen percent. Doctor?
Emh: Ready on my end.
Seven: Voyager to Qatai. Prepare to fire.
Qatai: Wait, wait. No, no, no, no, no.
Seven: What's wrong?
Qatai: That last jolt
Qatai: Must have destabilized my targeting sensor.
Seven: I could establish an interface to Voyager's targeting array.
Qatai: Don't bother. I know my ship. It's just being stubborn.
Qatai: Ready.
Seven: Initiate the burst on my mark. Now.
Qatai: Like the taste of that?
Emh: I'm reading violent contractions throughout the digestive chamber. It's working. We're moving back through the oesophageal aperture!
Seven: Voyager has been expelled. We're three point nine kilometers from the organism.
Emh: After just one burst? For a big fellow he certainly has a low tolerance for tummy ache.
Seven: Qatai's vessel was also released.
Emh: Hail him.
Qatai: Why haven't you ejected a second burst?
Seven: We've cleared the organism.
Qatai: You've been deceived. We're both still inside it.
Emh: He's right. I'm reading bioplasmic energy.
Seven: I am impervious to the creature's influence.
Emh: You were impervious, when it was creating the illusion of Voyager getting home, because you didn't share that desire. But now we're trying to escape, which is what you want.
Qatai: Think about it. He's showing you exactly what you want to see.
Emh: Seven!
Seven: Initiate another antimatter burst. Now. Fire.
Qatai: We're out.
Seven: Are we certain?
Emh: No sign of bioplasmic energy. We've escaped.
Seven: I'm taking us out of range. Maximum warp.
Emh: I'd better see to the crew.
Qatai: Well, I'll be on my way. Thanks for your help.
Seven: Your engines have taken heavy damage. You require our assistance.
Qatai: No time. The beast is already altering course. I'll handle repairs myself.
Seven: The procedure would take several days.
Qatai: Don't worry about me. Just get your ship home. And watch out for pitcher plants.
Janeway: Location?
Paris: We're still in the Delta Quadrant.
Janeway: Scan the wormhole. Find out what went wrong.
Paris: It's gone. I can't find it on sensors.
Kim: Captain, bridge controls have been routed to Engineering. Ops, tactical, helm, all of it.
Janeway: Bridge to Engineering.
Seven: Yes, Captain.
Janeway: Seven? What's going on?
Seven: The Doctor will explain. I will file a complete report in the morning, after I have regenerated. Captain's log, 52542.3. we've deployed a series of beacons to warn other vessels about the bioplasmic creature and resumed a course for home. Our real home.
Seven: Naomi Wildman.
Naomi: Don't worry. My presence here is authorized.
Seven: By whom?
Naomi: Mom. She thinks I need to learn more about Earth.
Seven: I see. And does studying this image increase your desire to go there?
Naomi: Not really.
Seven: I concur. It is unremarkable.
Naomi: But my mom likes it, and even Neelix can't wait to get there, so I guess it can't be that bad.
Seven: Given this crew's determination to return home, I have no doubt we will see it for ourselves someday.


Borg: A vessel has been detected. Unimatrix four two four grid one one six. Activate. Alter course to intercept.
Borg: Vessel identified. Federation Starfleet, Intrepid Class, one hundred forty three lifeforms. Prepare for assimilation. We are the Borg. You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile.
Janeway: Break off your pursuit or we'll open fire.
Borg: Irrelevant.
Janeway: Is it? You've scanned our vessel. You know we can match your firepower.
Borg: You will be assimilated.
Borg: Regenerate primary shield matrix. Remodulate weapons.
Borg: Security breach. Starfleet photon torpedo. Disarm weapon.
Chakotay: I thought we were trying to disable it.
Seven: The torpedo detonated near the power matrix. It caused a chain reaction.
Janeway: Survivors?.
Tuvok: None.
Janeway: Debris status.
Kim: There's a few components intact, but they're badly damaged.
Janeway: Begin a salvage operation.
Chakotay: Captain?
Janeway: There might be something we can use. Weapons, a transwarp coil. I don't know about the rest of you, but I feel lucky today.
Janeway: Now, this is how I prefer the Borg. In pieces.
Chakotay: Eight kilotons of debris, most of it hull fragments. So far we've recovered two power nodes and a dozen plasma conduits, all in working order.
Janeway: Their propulsion system, anything left?
Chakotay: B'Elanna found a transwarp coil.
Janeway: It's lighter than I expected. It must be some kind of polytrinic alloy. Let's hope our little skirmish got back to the hive mind. Maybe they'll think twice before they attack us again.
Chakotay: It was only a probe. Next time, we might not be so lucky.
Kim: Captain, don't touch that.
Janeway: What is it?
Kim: I don't know, but a few minutes ago it was crawling around the floor. I think it's some kind of auto-regeneration unit.
Janeway: Thanks for the warning. By my count, we've added at least two years to our journey by avoiding the Borg. I'm tired of turning tail every time we detect a Cube.
Chakotay: Better safe than assimilated,
Janeway: Mmm.
Chakotay: Maybe I should go to red alert and get it over with.
Janeway: Commander?
Chakotay: You're about to drop one of your bombshells.
Janeway: Now what makes you say that?
Chakotay: The way you fiddle with your com. badge. You do it every time.
Janeway: Well, I'll have to keep an eye on that.
Emh: Eureka! I was hoping to find one of these. It's a servo-armature from a medical repair drone. Laser scalpel, biomolecular scanner, micro-suture, all rolled into one instrument.
Paris: No Federation Sickbay should be without one.
Emh: This could revolutionize the way that I perform surgery.
Janeway: Excellent. Why don't you deactivate it for now?
Torres: Remodulate the coil frequency.
Seven: No effect.
Torres: Try again.
Seven: The field regulator is fused.
Chakotay: What seems to be the problem?
Torres: We can't activate the transwarp coil.
Seven: When a Borg vessel is critically damaged, all of its vital technology self-destructs. The coil is beyond repair.
Chakotay: At least the Doctor found a new toy.
Seven: Captain. Datanodes. One of them is a drone manifest, the other contains tactical information.
Chakotay: Specifically?
Seven: Long range sensor telemetry, assimilation logistics and vessel movements for a radius of thirty light years.
Janeway: Well, let's take a look.
Seven: I'll need to convert the information to Starfleet parameters.
Janeway: Time?
Seven: Two hours.
Janeway: Do it.
Paris: After nine hours staring at that debris, I was beginning to feel like a drone.
Kim: I could use a shower.
Paris: Do Borg shower? Neelix, we need a couple of beers.
Neelix: Name your malt.
Paris: Ktarian. Replicate a pint for yourself, because we're going to toast the man of the hour.
Neelix: Oh?
Paris: It was Harry's idea to beam over a photon torpedo while they were remodulating their shields.
Kim: I didn't think they'd fall for it.
Paris: Ah, but they did. Hook, line and sinker. Oh, I would have loved to have seen the look on their faces. Boom!
Kim: To be honest, I wish the boom had been a bit smaller. We were only trying to disable them.
Paris: They were drones, Harry. Mindless automatons. We did them a favor.
Kim: Seven.
Paris: Look, I didn't mean anything by that.
Seven: Your apology is irrelevant. It is impossible to offend a mindless drone.
Paris: Cheers.
Seven: I was able to recover sixty two percent of the data. This is an isogrid of Borg tactical movements across twenty five sectors.
Janeway: Are there any dangers along our present course?
Seven: There are three Cubes approximately nine light years away, traveling on a trajectory parallel to our own. They do not pose a threat.
Janeway: What about that vessel?
Seven: It's a scout ship, eight light years away, traveling at warp two. The ship is heavily damaged.
Tuvok: Was it attacked?
Seven: No. An ion storm. The Sphere is presently regenerating. That explains why it is traveling at low warp.
Janeway: Limping home.
Seven: In a manner of speaking.
Janeway: I want a detailed schematic of this vessel, down to the power distribution nodes. I think we've just struck gold.
Janeway: So what we have here in two simple words is, Fort Knox.
Tuvok: Captain?
Janeway: Tom, translate?
Paris: Fort Knox. The largest repository of gold bullion in Earth's history. Over fifty metric tons worth over nine trillion U.S. dollars.
Janeway: Keep going.
Paris: Well, er, when the new world economy took shape in the late twenty second century and money went the way of the dinosaur, Fort Knox was turned into a museum.
Janeway: And no one ever managed to break into that facility, right?
Paris: Well, a couple of Ferengi tried about ten years ago, but other than that, it's considered impenetrable.
Chakotay: Are you planning a heist?
Janeway: As a matter of fact. Except we're not chasing gold. We're going to steal a transwarp coil. Think it might come in handy?
Torres: If I could equip our engines with even one coil, we could shave about twenty years off this trip.
Tuvok: Do you believe the Borg sphere is damaged enough for us to penetrate its defenses?
Janeway: Long enough to take what we want and get out in one piece. but we'd have to plan this operation down to the millisecond. There would be no margin for error. As I see it, we plan an intercept course that won't attract their attention, then create a diversion to keep them occupied so we can send in an away team to obtain the technology.
Chakotay: I'd like to see the data on that Sphere. We might be able to recreate parts of it on the holodeck, run a few tactical simulations.
Janeway: It's all yours.
Torres: We need to mask our warp signature. I've got a few Maquis tricks up my sleeve. They're not exactly Starfleet approved, but.
Janeway: This is no time for protocol. Get started. The sphere is three days away by maximum warp. Set a course. Chakotay, I want an outline for our heist by tomorrow morning. We've proven ourselves against the Borg once before, twice before, but we're always the ones under attack. I think it's time to do a little assimilating of our own, hmm? Dismissed.
Janeway: I was hoping you'd be a little more vocal. Any thoughts?
Seven: Your plan is ambitious. There are many variables. But it can succeed.
Janeway: I'd like to narrow that list of variables. I was hoping your parents might provide us with a few insights. I've been looking over the records we found on the U.S.S. Raven. Your parents kept extensive field notes, detailed journals. There are over nine thousand log entries alone.
Seven: The information is irrelevant.
Janeway: On the contrary, Seven. They spent their careers studying the Borg. They tracked a cube at close range for what, two years?
Seven: Three.
Janeway: Well, I'd say that made them experts. I want you to study their research. Look for any data that might give us a tactical edge.
Seven: My parents were assimilated. Obviously their tactics were flawed.
Janeway: Look, these records have been collecting dust in our database for over a year. You say they're irrelevant, and I say you've been avoiding them. You're the best person for the job, but I'll assign it to Chakotay if I
Seven: No. The information belongs to me. I will read it.
Seven: You're late.
Neelix: Sorry. It took longer than I expected to download these records. This is only the first batch. Your parents sure had a lot to say. I organized the information by category. Field notes, personal logs, biokinetic analyzes. I don't mean to pry, but is it true your parents were studying the Borg?
Seven: Yes. The Hansens were exobiologists.
Neelix: Fascinating. They must have been very courageous.
Seven: They were misguided.
Neelix: A faded holo-image. That's all I've got left of my family. A picture of my sister. Except, of course, what I keep in here. What I wouldn't give for a treasure trove like this. Well, I'd better get started on the rest of those files.
Magnus: Field notes, U.S.S. Raven, Stardate 32611.4. It's about time. The Federation Council on Exobiology has given us final approval. Starfleet's still concerned about security issues but they've agreed not to stand in our way. We've said our goodbyes, and we're ready to start chasing our theories about the Borg.
Annika: Zoom, zoom.
Magnus: Ah, ah, ah, put down the cube, Muffin. It's not a toy.
Annika: I won't crash it.
Magnus: Come here, Daddy wants to talk to you. Now, remember when I said that you, me and Mommy were going on a very long voyage?
Annika: Ah ha.
Magnus: Well, we're leaving tomorrow and we won't see Earth for quite a while.
Annika: Are we going to see the Borg?
Magnus: If we're lucky.
Annika: Do the Borg have kids, too?
Magnus: Nobody knows. We'll be the first humans to study them up close.
Annika: What do they look like?
Magnus: We're not sure exactly, but we think they might look a lot like us, but with technology inside their bodies.
Annika: Cy-ber-netic?
Magnus: Mmm hmm.
Annika: Are they friendly?
Magnus: Well, they're different. They don't talk like us, or even think like us, but we're hoping to make friends one day.
Annika: I hope so, too, Daddy.
Magnus: Field notes, U.S.S. Raven, Stardate 32623.
5: we've been tracking stray readings for nearly eight months now, but there's still no sign of a vessel. I'm beginning to wonder if the Borg are nothing more than rumor and sensor echoes.
Erin: Magnus.
Magnus: We have to keep moving. If we take the replicators offline and run environmental systems at half power, we can go another twenty light years before refueling.
Erin: We should refuel now. The nearest dilithium is in an asteroid field just ten days from here.
Magnus: That's ten days we can't afford to lose. We're getting close. If we stop now, we might as well just turn around and go home.
Erin: Home, to what? We have deviated from our flight plan, crossed the Neutral Zone, disobeyed a direct order to return. Our colleagues obviously think we are insane. We have burned our bridges, Magnus.
Annika: I can't sleep.
Magnus: Come here. Why can't Annika sleep? The greatest scientific mystery of our time.
Erin: I have a hypothesis. Her noisy parents are keeping her up.
Magnus: Hmm. Sounds plausible.
Erin: Tri-quantum waves, six hundred thousand kilometers off the port bow.
Magnus: Subspace disruptions, field magnitude two point nine teracochranes and rising. Annika, bed.
Erin: Power utilization curve is highly symmetric.
Magnus: Artificial source probability point nine eight. Now. It's got to be a transwarp conduit. Nothing else could generate these readings. I'm taking us closer.
Erin: It's a Borg Cube, two thousand kilometers starboard.
Magnus: I've got a visual.
Erin: It's massive. Twenty eight cubic kilometers, hundred and twenty nine thousand lifeforms on board. We're being scanned. They haven't altered course.
Magnus: This could prove our theory. They ignore any lifeform until they consider it a threat, or a target. They're moving off.
Erin: Let's match their course and speed. Keep a distance of five million kilometers.
Chakotay: Seven of Nine to the bridge.
Seven: On my way.
Janeway: Have we been detected?
Kim: No, ma'am.
Tuvok: I have a visual.
Janeway: On screen. Magnify.
Chakotay: Looks like they took a real beating.
Janeway: They could still pose a threat. Let's not get too close. Match their course and speed. Keep a distance of ten million kilometers.
Paris: Aye, Captain.
Janeway: Seven, scan the vessel. I want to know their current status.
Seven: Their weapons array is regenerating, but shields and transwarp drive are still offline.
Janeway: How long until they have transwarp?
Seven: Approximately seventy two hours.
Janeway: We may not get this opportunity again, and I don't intend to miss it. Whatever it takes, double shifts, round the clock simulations, I want to be ready.
Chakotay: Bridge to away teams. You're six seconds behind schedule.
Tuvok: We are at the shield matrix. Stand by.
Kim: The primary shield generator. I've got it.
Tuvok: Spatial charges. Here, there and there.
Chakotay: You've got fifty five seconds.
Tuvok: Tuvok to Janeway. Charges set. We're returning to the transport coordinates.
Seven: The transwarp coil is offline.
Janeway: Tuvok, now.
Tuvok: Activate the charges.
Janeway: Bridge, their shields are down. Energize.
Chakotay: Tom?
Paris: I've got a lock.
Chakotay: Target obtained.
Chakotay: You're out of time.
Janeway: They've adapted. This way. Seven!
Tuvok: Bridge, stand by for transport.
Kim: Hurry!
Tuvok: Energize.
Paris: I've got them. Transporter room one.
Chakotay: Beam them out of here.
Paris: I can't get a lock. They've adapted to our transport frequencies.
Chakotay: Computer, freeze program, both holodecks. What happened?
Paris: They tapped into our transporter beam.
Chakotay: Chakotay to holodeck two. We got the transwarp coil
Chakotay: But we also picked up some uninvited guests.
Janeway: What was our time?
Chakotay: Two minutes twelve seconds.
Janeway: Twelve seconds too late. Once we disable their sensor grid we only have two minutes until it regenerates.
Chakotay: Did you run into any problems?
Tuvok: None.
Seven: We were efficient.
Kim: What if we beam directly into the transwarp chamber?
Janeway: There's too much shielding.
Tuvok: Perhaps we could modify our transporters?
Janeway: I've already explored that option. It won't work.
Kim: Twelve seconds. Might as well be an eternity.
Seven: The Hansens. They were able to remain inside a Borg cube for several hours without being detected.
Kim: How?
Seven: I'm not certain.
Janeway: Well, keep investigating.
Seven: Yes, Captain.
Janeway: We've run enough simulations for one day. Let's work on refining our tactics, anything we can do to shave a few more seconds off our little heist. Computer, end program.
Janeway: I don't know about you but I'm glad to be back on Voyager. Borg vessels make my skin crawl.
Seven: It was a holodeck recreation.
Janeway: Close enough. We just spent the last three hours dodging drones. It didn't bother you?
Seven: Your point.
Janeway: You seemed a little nervous in there.
Seven: The last time I was on a Borg vessel, I was a drone. The recreation was unsettling.
Janeway: You were reluctant to look at your parents' research and now I sense you're a little reluctant to go on this mission. Maybe I'm pushing you too fast.
Seven: I'll adapt.
Janeway: It's easier said than done. It's been over two years since you came face to face with the Collective. Are you sure you're up to it? I need everybody working at peak efficiency.
Seven: You doubt my ability to function.
Janeway: No, I'm simply voicing my concerns.
Seven: They are unjustified.
Janeway: I hope so, because the next time we won't be on the holodeck.
Seven: Understood.
Seven: Naomi Wildman.
Naomi: I had a bad dream. Can I stay with you for a while?
Seven: Where is your mother?
Naomi: She's working in Engineering, and Neelix is on a duty shift. Please? I won't bother you.
Seven: Very well.
Naomi: It looked just like this.
Seven: What did?
Naomi: In my dream. There was Borg stuff everywhere.
Seven: Elaborate.
Naomi: I went on the mission. The one my Mom told me about, the Borg Sphere? But it didn't work. Everybody got assimilated.
Seven: Nightmares are caused by irrational fear. They're not real. They can't damage you. Try to ignore it.
Naomi: Mom said we're going to steal something.
Seven: A transwarp coil.
Naomi: Will you be on the Sphere?
Seven: Yes.
Naomi: Are you scared?
Seven: We will succeed.
Naomi: But what if you don't? What if they make you a drone again?
Seven: Naomi Wildman, you agreed not to bother me.
Naomi: What's it like to be a drone? Does it hurt?
Seven: You will terminate this line of questioning.
Naomi: Do the Borg have kids? What do they look like? Are they friendly?
Seven: Return to your quarters immediately.
Naomi: Resistance is futile.
Seven: Seven of Nine to Security. Intruder alert.
Queen: They can't hear you.
Seven: Who are you?
Queen: I am the Borg. Seven of Nine, tertiary adjunct of Unimatrix zero one, you've become weak.
Seven: This is a dream. I'm regenerating.
Queen: It's not a dream. We've accessed your neural transceiver. Our thoughts are one. We know about Voyager's plan to invade the Sphere. It will fail.
Seven: If that's true, then why haven't you assimilated them?
Queen: We've come to make you an offer. Rejoin the Collective and we'll spare Voyager.
Seven: Why me?
Queen: Because you are unique.
Magnus: Field notes, U.S.S. Raven, Stardate 32629.
4: after three months of tracking our Borg cube, the vessel entered a transwarp conduit. We followed in its wake. Our sensors tell us we've traveled all the way to the Delta quadrant, the Borg's native territory.
Erin: Magnus, you're breaking up.
Magnus: Just some bio-electric interference. Stand by. Is that better?
Erin: Much. How's Junior?
Magnus: He took a real beating when that plasma conduit blew out. He's regenerating. Wait a minute, something's happening. Bill and Needle Fingers just arrived. This is odd. They're making repairs to Junior.
Erin: I thought drones from different subunits didn't interact.
Magnus: Looks like we were wrong.
Magnus: They deactivated him.
Erin: Why?
Magnus: Maybe he was too badly damaged. They're dismantling him. They must be salvaging the components.
Erin: Your bio-dampener is losing power. It's time to come home.
Magnus: I've got another minute or so. Stand by.
Magnus: We may not get another chance to observe this behavior.
Seven: It prevented the Borg from detecting them. They referred to it as a bio-dampener. The device creates a field around the body, which simulates the physiometric conditions within a Borg vessel.
Tuvok: Camouflage.
Seven: Precisely.
Tuvok: We need four of these devices. How soon can you replicate them?
Emh: I'll have to tailor each unit to its user's physiology. A few hours at least.
Tuvok: Begin immediately. I'll inform the Captain.
Emh: Ingenious design.
Seven: The Hansens were resourceful.
Emh: Sounds like you're warming up to your folks.
Seven: It was merely an observation.
Emh: This is an important stage of your social development, Seven. Try not to think of it as simply a research project, but as an exploration of how you were raised.
Seven: My parents underestimated the Collective. They were destroyed. Because of their arrogance, I was raised by Borg.
Janeway: Captain's log, supplemental. Operation Fort Knox is ready to proceed. All departments are standing by and I've given the order to begin at oh six hundred hours.
Janeway: Coffee? You look like you could use some.
Seven: No.
Janeway: It's a human vice you might want to try one day. Keeps you sharp.
Seven: One day.
Janeway: I've been fine-tuning our game plan for tomorrow morning, and I've decided to reassign you to the bridge.
Seven: Captain?
Janeway: I'm concerned about Voyager's safety, and if the Sphere decides to attack I'll need your expertise at Tactical.
Seven: I should be on the away team.
Janeway: B'Elanna will do just fine in your place.
Seven: You may encounter unexpected obstacles. Forcefields, encryption codes. I'm the only member of this crew who can anticipate them.
Janeway: You underestimate the rest of us.
Seven: And you underestimate the Borg.
Janeway: This is more than just a question of tactics. I'm concerned about your well-being, and your ability to perform on this mission.
Seven: Your concern is unwarranted.
Janeway: Is it? I'm not the only one who's worried about you. Chakotay, Neelix, the Doctor, we've all noticed changes in your behavior. You are preoccupied, agitated, and you're making mistakes. Don't get me wrong. I appreciate your efforts, and we couldn't have come this far without your help, but it's obviously taken its toll. If I'd realized how those journals were going to affect you, I never would have pushed you to read them. And I'm not about to ask you to face the Collective in your present frame of mind.
Seven: The past several days have been difficult. But I must join the away team, and I assure you I will not make another mistake.
Janeway: I've made my decision, Seven.
Seven: If I don't go, this mission will fail.
Janeway: You sound awfully certain about that.
Seven: I know the Borg.
Janeway: And I know you. There's more to what you're saying. What's wrong?
Seven: Over the past two years, I have become familiar with the individuals on this vessel. Voyager is my Collective now. Your survival is important to me. I am willing to risk my own well-being if it increases our chances of success. Assign me to the away team. Please. Thank you.
Janeway: Seven. You've made remarkable progress as an individual and as a member of this crew. For what it's worth, Voyager wouldn't be the same without you.
Borg: A vessel has been detected. Unimatrix four two four grid zero three. Activate.
Borg: Vessel identified. Federation Starfleet, class two shuttlecraft. Three lifeforms.
Torres: The Sphere is maintaining course.
Chakotay: Move the shuttle in closer.
Paris: The Borg are still ignoring it.
Chakotay: Bridge to Transporter room two.
Chakotay: They're not taking the bait.
Janeway: Shuttle status?
Chakotay: All systems go. False bioreadings are holding steady.
Kim: How about a phaser shot across their bow. Might grab their attention.
Seven: No. The shuttle would be perceived as a threat and they'd destroy it.
Janeway: Commander, increase the energy output of the shuttle's warp profile.
Janeway: That should present a more inviting target.
Borg: Warp signature detected. Prepare for assimilation. Relevant technology. Engage tractor pulse.
Paris: They've got it. They're pulling it in toward a docking port along the central radius. Five hundred meters, two hundred. They're dropping shields.
Chakotay: Energize.
Torres: They're in.
Emh: Bio-dampeners are stable. They're as good as invisible.
Chakotay: The Sphere?
Torres: The shields are back up. They're assimilating the shuttle.
Chakotay: Keep a sensor lock on the away team. Maintain course.
Queen: Never forget who you are.
Janeway: Seven, are you all right?
Seven: Proceed.
Kim: Primary shield generator. Got it.
Tuvok: Spatial charges here, there and there.
Tuvok: Tuvok to Janeway, charges set. Returning to transport coordinates.
Seven: The transwarp coil is offline.
Janeway: Tuvok, now.
Tuvok: Activate the charges.
Paris: Their shields are down.
Chakotay: Lock onto the coil and energize.
Chakotay: Target obtained.
Queen: Seven of Nine.
Janeway: Seven, keep moving!
Seven: No. I wish to stay. I intend to rejoin the Collective.
Janeway: I can't let you do that.
Seven: You have no choice.
Janeway: Keep moving. That's an order.
Seven: Go!
Chakotay: Chakotay to away team.
Chakotay: The sphere has detected Voyager. They've altered course to intercept and they're charging weapons. We've got to get you out of there now.
Paris: Four hundred thousand kilometers and closing.
Chakotay: Full power to weapons.
Janeway: I'm not leaving without you.
Seven: Then you will be assimilated.
Tuvok: They can see us.
Kim: How?
Tuvok: I don't know.
Janeway: Bridge, we're in position. Three to beam up.
Chakotay: Three?
Janeway: Energize.
Chakotay: Where's Seven?
Janeway: She had a change of heart. Report.
Chakotay: The Sphere's changing course. They're retreating.
Torres: They're bringing the remaining transwarp coils online.
Janeway: Pursuit course. Target their propulsion system.
Paris: They're gone, Captain.
Queen: Welcome home. You've changed. Your exo-plating, your ocular implant. They've taken you apart and they've re-created you in their own image. Hair, garments, but at the core you are still mine.
Seven: The Borg have changed as well. I expected re-assimilation, not conversation.
Queen: I see they've also given you a sense of humor.
Seven: My humor is my own.
Queen: Spoken like a true individual. The last two years must have been a remarkable experience. You are unique.
Seven: My experience will add to your perfection.
Queen: Yes.
Seven: That is why you removed me from Voyager.
Queen: That is why we put you there in the first place. You believe that Voyager liberated you from the Collective. Did you really think we would surrender you so easily?
Seven: Explain.
Queen: You must be tired. It's time to regenerate. We've adapted an alcove just for you. Go. It will help order your thoughts. When your cycle is complete we will continue our conversation. Comply.
Janeway: Progress?
Torres: We were having trouble modulating the coil to our warp field. But I had an inspiration this morning. Instead of trying to adapt the coil to our technology, we should be adapting our systems to theirs. With any luck, we should have transwarp capability by oh six hundred.
Janeway: Impressive.
Torres: Actually, I can't take all the credit. I did some digging in Seven of Nine's personal database and I found some designs she'd been working on to enhance the warp drive. With a few adjustments
Janeway: Work with Mister Paris on a flight plan. I want to make our first trial run tomorrow afternoon.
Torres: Right.
Janeway: And B'Elanna? Don't access personal databases without my authorisation.
Torres: Captain?
Janeway: There are protocols for observing privacy on this ship.
Torres: No offense, but Seven of Nine is not on this ship anymore.
Janeway: I realize the two of you weren't exactly close. Regardless, we've just lost one of our own.
Torres: She was never one of our own, Captain. Didn't she just prove that?
Janeway: I don't know what happened on that sphere and neither do you, Lieutenant. Carry on.
Chakotay: No sign of Borg activity. We made a clean getaway.
Janeway: The Sphere?
Chakotay: It hasn't shown up on long range sensors or subspace telemetry. It could be anywhere in the quadrant by now.
Janeway: Launch a class five probe. Scan for residual transwarp signatures.
Chakotay: Understood.
Janeway: Why choose this moment to rejoin the Collective?
Chakotay: Maybe she'd been planning it all along.
Janeway: She's had any number of opportunities to leave before now.
Chakotay: But never direct access to a Borg vessel. I will betray you. That's what she said two years ago when you disconnected her from the hive.
Janeway: Two days ago, she told me Voyager had become her Collective.
Neelix: Captain, we've cleared out most of the debris, but before we vaporize it I'd like to melt down the larger fragments and extract the polytrinic compounds.
Janeway: Makes sense.
Neelix: That leaves just one item, Seven of Nine's alcove. It requires a lot of power, over thirty megawatts. Should I deactivate it?
Janeway: No, leave it alone.
Janeway: Computer, isolate the sensor readings for time index one one four point six. Identify source.
Computer: Random subspace energy fluctuations.
Janeway: Isolate the sensor readings for time index one six six point two. Source?
Computer: Random subspace energy fluctuations.
Janeway: Computer, run a transpectral analysis on all subspace fluctuations. Yes?
Tuvok: A member of the crew has requested an appointment with the Captain. I informed her that you were occupied, but she was insistent.
Janeway: Whatever it is, I'm sure Commander Chakotay can handle
Janeway: Request granted. Send her in.
Naomi: Permission to submit a proposal for your review.
Janeway: Proposal?
Naomi: It's a rescue operation for Seven of Nine.
Janeway: Oh. You created this plan all by yourself?
Naomi: Yes, ma'am. You see, if we change our long range sensors to Seven's cortical implant frequency maybe we can find her.
Janeway: The Delta Quadrant is a very big place, and Seven could be thousands of light years from here.
Naomi: What if we boosted our sensor range with power from the main deflector?
Janeway: You've been spending too much time in Engineering. I'm afraid it's not quite that simple. But thank you, Crewman. Your initiative is duly noted.
Naomi: Captain? You're not going to give up, are you?
Janeway: There are three things to remember about being a Starship Captain. Keep your shirt tucked in, go down with the ship, and never abandon a member of your crew.
Computer: Transpectral analysis complete.
Janeway: Take a look at this, Naomi. What do you see?
Naomi: Sensor logs.
Janeway: These aren't random energy fluctuations. They're Borg comm. signals, and they were all directed at Cargo Bay two.
Naomi: You mean the Borg were talking to Seven of Nine?
Janeway: It sure looks that way. Come on.
Queen: Good morning.
Seven: My visual cortex. It's been altered.
Queen: We've enhanced it with Borg technology. You've seen through human eyes long enough. It's a neural processing adjunct designed to increase your synaptic efficiency.
Seven: Remove it.
Queen: You prefer to remain small?
Seven: I prefer to remain unique.
Queen: Don't be afraid. We won't turn you into a drone. You're much too valuable to us with your individuality intact. But you've left humanity behind. Try to abandon their petty emotions as well. Fear, anger, vanity. They've corrupted you, but the damage can be repaired.
Seven: You've expended significant resources to capture me. Why?
Queen: Isn't it obvious? You're going to help us assimilate humanity. We failed in our first attempt to assimilate Earth, and we won't succeed the next time unless we understand the nature of their resistance. We want you to be our eyes. Let us see humanity.
Seven: While I was regenerating, you assimilated my memories.
Queen: Our thoughts are one.
Seven: Then you already possess all of my knowledge. What more do you want?
Queen: You are the only Borg that has ever returned to a state of individuality. We want to keep you exactly the way you are. Otherwise you would lose your human perspective. We don't want another drone. We want you.
Seven: I will resist.
Queen: I know.
Seven: What's happening?
Queen: Our vessel is disengaging from the Unicomplex. We're setting a course for grid five three two.
Seven: State our purpose.
Queen: Assimilation. Our presence is not required, but I thought the experience would be a rewarding one for you. Species one zero zero two six.
Seven: How many lifeforms?
Queen: Three hundred ninety two thousand. You're experiencing compassion. A human impulse. You've forgotten what it means to be Borg. Those lives will be added to our own.
Magnus: Field notes, U.S.S. Raven, supplemental. It's been a busy week. The cube linked with another Borg vessel and received over fifty thousand new drones. We now begin the dangerous task of identifying the newcomers.
Erin: Species six nine six one, Ktarian. Tritanium infrastructure. He's a tactical drone.
Magnus: Take a look at his proximity transceiver. Let's check his previous designation.
Erin: Three of five, Tertiary adjunct of Unimatrix one.
Magnus: I want to keep an eye on this one. Let's tag him. Bring me the subdermal probe, will you?
Annika: Is he special?
Magnus: Very special. We think he used to work near the Borg Queen. If he ever goes back there, we'll be able to track him now.
Annika: Does the Queen have a throne?
Magnus: Nobody knows.
Erin: We think she's more like the Queen of an insect colony. She helps coordinate all the other drones.
Magnus: His regeneration cycle's almost complete. We'd better get him back.
Annika: Bye.
Erin: He's in his alcove. Nobody missed him. Enough drones for one day. Anybody hungry?
Annika: Me.
Magnus: You two go ahead. I want to read through his cranial transceiver logs, see if he was ever in direct contact with the Queen.
Erin: Don't be long.
Chakotay: It turns out his hunch was right. The drone had been receiving direct commands from this Borg Queen. I analyzed the comm. signals. Look at the transpectral frequencies.
Janeway: They match the ones that were sent to Seven. What did the Hansens learn about this Queen?
Chakotay: I'm afraid they never got a chance to find out.
Janeway: One thing is certain. She contacted Seven of Nine, and the next day Seven rejoined the Borg. Obviously, she exerts some influence.
Chakotay: You think Seven was instructed to leave Voyager?
Janeway: Instructed, coerced. She insisted she join the away team. She was adamant that if she didn't board that Sphere, our mission would fail. Sounds to me like she was being threatened. My instincts told me she was holding something back, but I, I didn't pursue it. I let her go.
Chakotay: If you hadn't, we might all be drones by now.
Janeway: What's running through that Collective mind of yours? You've got thousands of species to choose from, billions of individuals. Why Seven of Nine? You should've assimilated us while you had the chance.
Chakotay: Captain?
Janeway: I want you to keep analyzing the Hansens' database. Compile a list of every technology they created to track the Borg. Assemble a team of engineers to assist you.
Chakotay: If you're planning a rescue mission, that research will only take us so far.
Janeway: Oh?
Chakotay: I've studied their log entries long enough to realize that as brilliant as the Hansens were, they made a fatal mistake. They became overconfident.
Janeway: We won't make the same mistake.
Janeway: This will be a long range tactical rescue. It could take days, even weeks, before we find our missing crewman. Lieutenant Torres is equipping the Delta Flyer with the transwarp coil. It'll allow us to cover more territory. An away team will take it into transwarp space, where Tuvok believes we can track the sphere that abducted Seven of Nine. Thanks to the Hansens, we'll be well prepared for an encounter with the Borg. Their multi-adaptive shielding will make the Flyer virtually invisible to Borg sensors, and narrow beam transporters will allow us to penetrate the Sphere. Mister Paris, you'll man the helm. Commander Tuvok, tactical. Doctor, there's no telling what condition Seven will be in when we find her. You'll come along.
Emh: Yes, Captain.
Janeway: I'll be leading the away team. The rest of you will remain on Voyager and maintain position at the threshold of our transwarp conduit. We may need tactical support when we return. You'll be taking your orders from Commander Chakotay. We'll be searching for one individual among thousands of drones. But she's one of us and I'm not about to let her go. Let's get started.
Paris: All systems go. We're ready for the jump.
Janeway: Bring the coil online. Prepare for transwarp.
Tuvok: Power output fluctuating.
Janeway: Compensating.
Paris: We're at critical velocity.
Janeway: Engage, Mister Paris.
Paris: Transwarp in four, three, two. We've crossed the threshold.
Janeway: Steady as she goes. Doctor, are you all right?
Emh: Just a little motion sickness. I'll need to adjust my matrix to accommodate for extreme velocity.
Tuvok: I'm detecting residual transwarp signatures. They match the Borg Sphere.
Janeway: Adjust our course and follow it, Mister Paris.
Emh: I believe the Captain's order was steady as she goes.
Janeway: Full speed ahead.
Queen: We've arrived. Are you ready?
Seven: I have familiarized myself with the species.
Queen: Tactical weakness.
Seven: Their vessels lack manoeuverability.
Queen: Tactical strength.
Seven: They've developed a modulating phaser pulse that can penetrate our shields.
Queen: How do you propose we adapt?
Seven: You are the Borg. You tell me.
Queen: Thirty nine of their vessels are converging on our position. They're firing weapons. Our shields are failing. We will be destroyed. How do you propose we adapt?
Seven: Triaxillate our shield geometry to absorb their phaser pulses.
Queen: I was thinking the same thing. Adaptation complete. They're no longer a threat. Go to the Primary Assimilation Chamber. You'll monitor the bio-extraction process. You look reluctant. Maybe I've been pushing you too quickly. You can assist with the repairs to our shield matrix instead. Seven of Nine. Be efficient.
Seven: Assist me. I am not Borg, I will help you escape. Assist me!
Seven: I'm detecting one of your vessels. It's heavily damaged, the crew is dead. The Borg are ignoring it. It's propulsion system is still functioning. I will transport you aboard. Remain there until the Borg leave orbit. Then set a course on a heading of one two one mark nine. Do you understand?
Queen: Congratulations.
Seven: Regarding?
Queen: Assimilation is complete.
Seven: Three hundred thousand individuals have been transformed into drones. Should they be congratulated as well?
Queen: They should be. They've left behind their trivial, selfish lives and they've been reborn with a greater purpose. We've delivered them from chaos into order.
Seven: Comforting words. Use them next time instead of resistance is futile. You may elicit a few volunteers.
Queen: You cling to sarcasm because you are afraid to see the truth. Species one zero zero two six is already adding to our perfection. You can feel their distinctiveness coursing through us, enhancing us. Stop resisting. Take pleasure in this.
Seven: I will not take pleasure in the destruction of a race.
Queen: Human sentiment. Compassion, guilt, empathy. They're irrelevant.
Seven: Not to me.
Queen: Me? There is no me. There is only us. One mind.
Seven: My thoughts are my own.
Queen: We've overlooked something. A ship. Four lifeforms. They're trying to escape. How do you suggest we proceed? Destroy the vessel, or assimilate it?
Seven: Neither. There are only four lifeforms and the vessel is heavily damaged. It would be an inefficient use of our resources. We should ignore it.
Queen: In this case, our thoughts are not one. If those individuals are allowed to survive, species one zero zero two six will survive and continue to resist us. But that's what you were hoping for, wasn't it? You tried to mask their lifesigns, but I detected them.
Seven: Release the vessel.
Queen: I'm sorry this lesson has to be so painful for you, but you are a difficult pupil. Abandon your human frailties. They are the cause of your pain.
Seven: Let them go. Please.
Seven: I thought compassion was irrelevant.
Magnus: Field notes, U.S.S. Raven, stardate 32634.9. The Raven was hit by a subspace particle storm. We took heavy damage and our multi-adaptive shielding went offline for thirteen point two seconds. Unfortunately, it was long enough for the Borg to perceive us as a threat.
Erin: I've found something. A nebula.
Magnus: Class?
Erin: Mutara. Distance, three light years. I'm setting a course.
Magnus: The particle density's too high. Our hull would breach.
Erin: We can reinforce structural integrity.
Magnus: We'll find somewhere else to hide.
Erin: There's no time.
Magnus: It's been three hours and the Cube hasn't found us yet. As long as we can keep masking our warp trail
Erin: The entire Collective knows about us by now. They'll send more ships.
Magnus: The nebula's too dangerous.
Magnus: We've had close calls before. This is no different. Remember when the transporters failed?
Erin: And you had to spend the night in a maturation chamber, with fifty two neonatal drones. A transwarp conduit, two point three light years starboard. It's a Cube heading right for us.
Magnus: Time to intercept?
Erin: One hour, maybe less.
Annika: Papa?
Magnus: Be right there, Annika. Start looking for an M-class planet. We'll abandon ship if we have to.
Magnus: Hey.
Annika: Are we going to be assimulated?
Magnus: Not if I can help it. Go back to sleep, your mother and I have work to do.
Annika: Are the Borg mad at us?
Magnus: No.
Annika: Then why are they chasing our ship?
Magnus: They're curious about us, like we are about them. But don't worry, we won't let them get too close.
Annika: Can't we go home?
Magnus: Soon.
Annika: Papa, will it hurt to be a drone?
Magnus: Sleep.
Emh: Captain?
Janeway: Hmm.
Emh: I'd like to suggest a few modifications to the comm. array.
Janeway: Yes?
Emh: I've studied Seven's cranial schematics and I've isolated the frequency of her interplexing beacon. When we catch up with the Sphere, we might be able to send her a brief message.
Janeway: What if she's already been linked to the hive mind?
Emh: Every drone has its own translink signature. Only Seven will be able to hear our message.
Janeway: I'll give you a hand.
Emh: The Hansen Diaries. Not exactly light reading.
Janeway: I've been poring over their last log entries for any details we might have missed. I want to make sure history doesn't repeat itself.
Emh: They should have quit while they were ahead. Ten million terraquads of data, three years in the wild.
Janeway: They could have studied the Borg for another three decades and still have barely scratched the surface. I agree their methods were unorthodox, but that's been true of most great explorers.
Emh: Most explorers don't take their four year old daughter along for the ride.
Janeway: We'll get her back, Doctor, with her parents' help.
Paris: Captain, I've got a fix on the Sphere's location. It's in a region about two hundred light years from here.
Janeway: Red alert. Bring the multi-adaptive shielding online. Set a course for those coordinates and prepare to disengage transwarp drive.
Janeway: Report.
Tuvok: I'm detecting thousands of integrated substructures, trillions of lifeforms, all Borg.
Paris: There's a Cube coming up fast off our port bow.
Janeway: Did they detect us?
Tuvok: I don't believe so.
Janeway: Any sign of our Sphere?
Paris: Yes, ma'am. Its ion signature leads directly to that whatever it is.
Janeway: Take us in, Mister Paris, minimum thrusters. Begin scanning for Seven, Tuvok.
Tuvok: Aye, Captain.
Queen: I have a task for you. We're planning to deploy a new mode of assimilation designed for highly resistant species. I want you to program the nanoprobes.
Seven: Your technology has changed since I left the Collective. My knowledge is insufficient.
Queen: Your knowledge for the target species is invaluable. Species five six one eight. Human. Warp capable. Origin, grid three two five. Physiology inefficient, below average cranial capacity, minimal redundant systems, limited regenerative abilities. Our previous attempts to assimilate them were all direct assaults. They failed, so we've created a more surreptitious strategy.
Seven: You intend to detonate a biogenic charge in Earth's atmosphere.
Queen: It would infect all lifeforms with nanoprobe viruses. Assimilation would be gradual. By the time they realized what was happening, half their population would be drones.
Seven: Inefficient. The virus would take years to proliferate.
Queen: We've waited this long. Interface with the central alcove. Begin programming the nanoprobes. Be sure to enhance the viral sequencers. You've been involved in hundreds of assimilations. This is no different.
Seven: To you, perhaps. Part of me is still human. I will not assist in their destruction.
Queen: We all originated from lesser species. I myself came from species one two five. But that's irrelevant now. We are Borg.
Seven: I am an individual.
Queen: You're only repeating their words. You sound like a mindless automaton. Comply, or we will turn you into a drone.
Seven: Proceed, if you wish.
Queen: You're torn between your desire to be one with us and your loyalty to them. It's time for you to complete your task. All of your emotions, grief, guilt, remorse, compassion, will be irrelevant once humanity is assimilated. Forget Voyager. They were never your Collective.
Seven: I am Annika Hansen. Human.
Queen: I remember Annika. Does she remember us? She wasn't afraid. Why are you?
Seven: You attacked us. You murdered my family.
Queen: We did no such thing. We gave them perfection.
Seven: Papa.
Queen: Your family's here. You're here. Be one with us again.
Janeway: Seven of Nine, we're searching for you. Try to hang on.
Seven: Captain.
Queen: What did you say?
Seven: Nothing.
Queen: Janeway.
Janeway: Our transmission's being deflected.
Emh: By whom?
Janeway: I'm not certain.
Tuvok: I have isolated Seven's position. She's inside a large infrastructure approximately six hundred kilometers away.
Janeway: Set a course, Mister Paris.
Queen: She's close. Her comm. signal originated within this spatial grid, but we can't detect her vessel. He knows why. Your father designed the technology Captain Janeway's using. Multi-adaptive shielding. Your perfect defense against the Borg. But we assimilated that knowledge, didn't we? We will adapt easily.
Paris: The Cube has altered course. It's heading straight for us.
Janeway: They've detected us. Remodulate the shields. Evasive maneuvers.
Paris: It flew right past us.
Janeway: We won't fool their sensors much longer. Tuvok?
Tuvok: Seven is inside a large chamber.
Janeway: Can you get a lock on her?
Tuvok: Not at this distance.
Janeway: Take us to within transporter range.
Queen: We have their ship. A Federation shuttlecraft. Three lifeforms, one hologram.
Seven: If you've captured their vessel, you've assimilated them by now. I would sense their presence in the Collective. Captain Janeway is eluding you.
Paris: The chamber is too heavily shielded. I can't get a lock on her.
Janeway: Can we beam into one of these adjoining corridors?
Tuvok: I believe so.
Janeway: Time for the bio-dampeners. Tom, hold our position. Target that chamber with full weapons. Stand by to fire on my command.
Paris: Ma'am, won't you be down there?
Janeway: Do it.
Janeway: This way.
Tuvok: Try to locate the shield matrix.
Janeway: Tuvok.
Tuvok: I can disable the forcefield, but it will take several minutes.
Janeway: Do it.
Janeway: Tuvok, give me the subdermal probe.
Queen: It's not too late to save them. As you wish.
Paris: They've isolated our shields again. Three vessels are converging. I'm remodulating.
Seven: You underestimate them.
Queen: It's time for a more aggressive approach.
Emh: I thought they couldn't see us.
Paris: They can't! They're firing blind!
Janeway: Wake him. It's transmitting.
Janeway: I've got it. Field modulation is three two four point nine five.
Tuvok: Proceed.
Janeway: It's offline.
Tuvok: You'll be detected.
Janeway: Then I'd better hurry. You've got to disable the shield matrix around that chamber.
Paris: It's no use, they've locked on to our shield modulators. They're adapting the second we change frequencies.
Borg: We are the Borg. You will be assimilated.
Borg: Resistance is futile.
Queen: You have failed them.
Seven: No!
Queen: We believed you would be an asset to us. We were wrong. You are weak.
Janeway: Don't listen to her, Seven. She's irrelevant. Call them off or I'll destroy you.
Queen: Your weapons are useless.
Janeway: Don't be so sure. My tactical officer is disabling the shields around this room. Tom, status.
Paris: We've targeted the chamber, Captain.
Janeway: Let her go, or I'll give the order to fire.
Queen: You would be destroyed as well, along with your crewman.
Janeway: Better than being one of you. Tom, high-yield torpedoes, full spread. Fire on my command.
Paris: Captain, they've disengaged
Paris: the tractor.
Janeway: Hold your fire. Beam us out of here.
Paris: A dispersal field just activated around the chamber you're in. I can't get a lock.
Janeway: Seven, shut down that field.
Queen: Don't listen to her. She's poisoned your thoughts long enough.
Janeway: I'm giving you an order.
Queen: One order, one voice. Insignificant.
Janeway: Tom, energize.
Seven: She's adapting.
Paris: The field went up again, Captain. I can't beam you out.
Queen: You will assist the Collective as drones. Assimilate them.
Seven: Captain, target the power node directly above this alcove. It will disrupt her command interface. Our thoughts are one.
Emh: Welcome back.
Paris: Three vessels, closing fast.
Tuvok: Direct hit to our tactical array. Weapons are down.
Janeway: Bring the coil online. Prepare for transwarp.
Janeway: Tom?
Paris: Transwarp in four, three, two. A vessel entered the conduit with us, just before it closed.
Tuvok: They're targeting our engines.
Janeway: Maintain course.
Paris: Direct hit on the port nacelle. We're venting plasma.
Tuvok: Rerouting emergency power.
Paris: It's not enough. I'll need thirty teradynes at least, or we'll lose transwarp.
Janeway: How long to the rendezvous coordinates?
Paris: Two point four minutes, but we'll drop out of transwarp in less than one.
Janeway: Reroute power from life support.
Emh: Captain!
Janeway: I'd rather suffocate than vaporize. Do it!
Torres: I'm picking up transwarp signatures. There's a conduit approaching, thirty thousand kilometers off our port bow.
Chakotay: Battle stations.
Paris: We're twenty seconds from normal space.
Janeway: The Borg vessel?
Tuvok: Still in pursuit, closing rapidly.
Paris: Fifteen seconds.
Seven: They're trying to lock on with a tractor beam.
Janeway: Remodulate shields.
Paris: Threshold in eight, seven, six.
Tuvok: They're locking on.
Paris: Five.
Seven: I've re-polarized the shields. It's being deflected.
Paris: Three, two.
Torres: They're through.
Chakotay: Voyager to Delta Flyer. Report.
Janeway: We've got Seven, but there's a Borg vessel right behind us.
Chakotay: Target the threshold perimeter. Photon torpedoes, full spread.
Torres: Commander?
Chakotay: It should destabilize the matter stream and implode the conduit for at least a light year.
Torres: Torpedoes locked.
Chakotay: Fire.
Janeway: Voyager, report.
Chakotay: We collapsed
Chakotay: the conduit. No sign of Borg activity.
Janeway: Clear us for docking. We're coming home.
Torres: Commander, I'm picking up Borg signatures. Lots of them.
Chakotay: Source?
Torres: The conduit.
Chakotay: I thought you collapsed it.
Torres: So did I.
Chakotay: Stand by weapons. Captain
Chakotay: Raise shields. We've got company.
Torres: Here they come.
Janeway: Captain's log, stardate 52619.2. We got another twenty thousand light years out of the transwarp coil before it gave out. I figure we're a good fifteen years closer to home.
Janeway: I see you've picked up some bad habits.
Seven: Captain?
Janeway: The Doctor told you to regenerate for at least two days. You're violating a direct medical command.
Seven: I will comply when my work is completed.
Janeway: Borg tactical data?
Seven: During my time at Unimatrix One I acquired a vast amount of knowledge. It may prove useful in our future encounters with the Borg. I am downloading it into Voyager's database. The Borg believed I was unique, that I understood humanity. They were obviously mistaken.
Janeway: How so?
Seven: I betrayed the crew of Voyager, threatened you with assimilation. I did not expect you to return for me.
Janeway: Looks like you still have a few things to learn. Time to regenerate.
Seven: When I am finished.
Janeway: No, now. That's an order.
Seven: Yes, Captain.
Janeway: Sweet dreams.