Icheb: Though it was a blatant violation of the Prime Directive, Kirk saved the Pelosians from extinction, just as he had the Baezians and the Chenari many years earlier. Finally, in the year 2270, Kirk completed his historic five year mission and one of the greatest chapters in Starfleet history came to a close. A new chapter began when Kirk regained command of the Enterprise.
Janeway: How many more chapters are there?
Icheb: Thirty four.
Janeway: This was supposed to be a twenty minute presentation.
Icheb: I was trying to be thorough. I could shorten the report.
Janeway: That won't be necessary. You obviously know the subject matter. Congratulations, Cadet. You have just passed Early Starfleet History.
Icheb: Thank you, Captain. I would have failed him. Kirk may have been a lowly human, but at least he had pizzazz. That report made him sound about as exciting as a Vulcan funeral dirge.
Janeway: Janeway to Security. Don't bother. I trapped your crew in a temporal loop. They keep experiencing the last thirty seconds over and over. Almost as monotonous as drone boy's essay.
Janeway: Who are you?
Q: I know he's grown since you last saw him, Kathy, but don't tell me you can't see the family resemblance. This is my son, Q. I'm a little hurt you didn't recognize Junior. You are his godmother, after all.
Janeway: The last time I saw him, he was an infant.
Junior: Four years ago, in human time. You called me adorable.
Janeway: You remember?
Junior: I may have looked like an infant, but I was still a Q. Maybe you should have picked a better godparent.
Q: I wonder if it's too late to ask Jean-Luc?
Janeway: What do you want, Q?
Q: Well, Junior's taking a little vacation from the Continuum. I recommended he spent it with you.
Janeway: Why?
Q: Oh, he's always been fascinated by the old man's stories about humanity. I thought it was time he had some first hand experience.
Janeway: I am flattered that you would entrust me with your first born, but I really don't have time.
Q: He's as quiet as a Zizznian church mouse. You'll forget he's even here.
Janeway: Well, if you're going to stay, we'll need to lay down a few ground rules.
Junior: I make my own rules.
Tuvok: I'm not detecting either Q.
Janeway: I want to be alerted if they resurface. Keep running scans.
Junior: Scan, scan, scan. That's all you people ever do. I've been through every deck on this ship, and do you know what I've seen? Bipeds pushing buttons. Bipeds replacing relays. Bipeds running diagnostics. When are you going to do something interesting?
Janeway: Say hello to Q, everyone.
Junior: We could fly into fluidic space and fight species 8472. Or we could detonate a few Omega molecules. What do you say?
Janeway: No.
Junior: Twenty minutes observing humanity, I'm already bored. I guess I'm just going to have to amuse myself.
Torres: Torres to the Captain. I need you in Engineering.
Junior: One dance, B'Elanna, that's all I ask. One dance.
Torres: If he doesn't stop his little light show, the warp core's going to breach.
Junior: Relax. It's a party.
Janeway: This party is over. Get your guests off my ship.
Junior: I like you, Aunt Kathy. You've got gumption. But what you don't have is unlimited control of space, matter and time. Which means I give the orders around here.
Tuvok: I could assemble a security team and attempt to take Engineering by force.
Chakotay: We all know that wouldn't do any good.
Torres: Besides, I'll bet that's exactly the kind of reaction he's hoping for.
Janeway: He's doing everything he can to get under our skin.
Tuvok: If we deny him the satisfaction of a response, he may become bored and return to the Continuum.
Junior: Talk about perfection.
Seven: If you're attempting to embarrass me, you won't succeed.
Junior: I'm just observing humanity. Aren't you going to scamper away, make some futile attempt to cover yourself?
Janeway: Coffee, black.
Computer: Make it yourself.
Neelix: You can thank Q's son. He thought the computer needed more personality.
Janeway: Charming.
Neelix: I've been giving some thought to the Q situation. Maybe ignoring him isn't the best solution.
Janeway: I'm open to suggestions.
Neelix: He may be omnipotent, but he's still a young man in need of guidance. Perhaps if someone were to approach him as a friend.
Janeway: You think he needs a mentor.
Neelix: Exactly.
Janeway: Are you volunteering?
Neelix: Well, I am good with children.
Janeway: Q is no ordinary child.
Neelix: I'm no ordinary mentor.
Junior: Can I help you, kitchen rat?
Neelix: I thought you and I could spend some time together.
Junior: Ah! Excellent maneuver.
Neelix: What are you watching?
Junior: What's it look like? It's a battle between the Vojeans and Wyngari.
Neelix: We past through that region a few months ago. They were at peace.
Junior: Not any more. Watch this.
Neelix: You have to stop this.
Junior: It's not like there's anything else to do.
Neelix: We could play Kadis-kot.
Junior: Are there explosions in Kadis-kot?
Neelix: Well, no.
Junior: Then I'm not interested.
Neelix: Instead of hurting people, maybe you could help them. The Wyngari are suffering a food shortage on their world. Maybe you could use your powers to
Junior: You know what, Talaxian? You talk to much.
Emh: His jaw's been fused and his vocal cords removed. I might be able to undo some of the cosmetic damage, but only Q can restore his voice.
Janeway: Janeway to the bridge. Report.
Junior: I've got a surprise for you, Captain. Come see.
Junior: Q said I should pay attention to how you humans react under pressure.
Junior: Is this enough pressure?
Chakotay: We're venting plasma.
Janeway: Reroute power to aft shields and return fire.
Junior: You're just prolonging the inevitable.
Janeway: We've defeated the Borg before. We'll do it again.
Junior: Not this time.
Tuvok: Weapons are offline.
Paris: I'm losing thrusters.
Kim: Shields are down.
Junior: We were just getting to the good part!
Q: If the Continuum's told you once, they've told you a thousand times. Don't provoke the Borg! Now, I want you to give Aunt Kathy your word you won't do it again.
Janeway: Oh, he won't do it again because he's leaving. Now.
Q: Excuse us, son. The grown-ups need a moment in private.
Q: He isn't so bad once you get to know him. He's just misunderstood.
Janeway: He tried to kill my crew.
Q: No one was hurt, I repaired the damage to your ship. I even gave your pet Talaxian his vocal cords back. Everything's exactly as it was.
Janeway: And how long do you think it will take your son to come up with another way to amuse himself? If you knew he was dangerous, why did you send him here? Ah, is this another lesson for humanity?
Q: It's supposed to be a lesson for him. Think back to my last visit. I made you the offer of a lifetime.
Janeway: Asking me to mate with you was hardly the offer of a lifetime.
Q: If you hadn't turned me down, I wouldn't have been forced to mate with that other Q.
Janeway: Oh, get to the point.
Q: My point is, Junior was suppose to inspire peace and compassion. But instead of order, he's brought chaos. He's been starting wars among innocent species, tampering with primordial gene pools, punching holes in the fabric of space time.
Janeway: Where's his mother been during all this?
Q: She's been so humiliated by his antics she's disowned him. She's blamed me for everything. I've managed to undo most of the damage, but that wasn't good enough for the Continuum. They're hounding me to straighten the boy out. That's why I brought him here. In hopes that your vaunted Starfleet ideals would rub off on him. Obviously, that hasn't happened.
Janeway: You can't just dump your child on someone and hope he learns something.
Q: I can't?
Janeway: He needs to be parented.
Q: And how exactly am I supposed to do that? Q is the first child born in the Continuum, which makes me the first parent. I don't even know where to begin.
Janeway: You could start by spending time with him.
Q: Urgh.
Janeway: Parenthood is more than just cleaning up your child's messes. You need to set an example. It's the only way he'll learn.
Q: Of course. Once he begins to know me better, he'll idolize me. Then he'll do anything I say. Kathy
Q: You're a genius.
Paris: I've made a full sensor sweep. There's no sign of any more Borg vessels.
Janeway: The boy?
Chakotay: He's gone.
Janeway: I am going to my quarters. You have the bridge.
Q: I take it back. You're not a genius. I should have known better than to take the advice of a human.
Janeway: Q!
Q: Your brilliant plan didn't work. I smothered the boy with attention, spent every waking moment with him. But things only got worse.
Janeway: You've been gone for less than ten minutes.
Q: On your temporal plane, maybe. But in Q time we've spent years together. Now he's embarrassed to be seen with me, and it's all your fault.
Janeway: My fault?
Q: Tell me how you plan to rectify the situation.
Janeway: What happened after you left Voyager?
Q: Q got away from me and rearranged to tectonic plates on Bozel Prime.
Janeway: Did you punish him?
Q: Well, I tried to get him to apologize to all sixteen billion Bozelians, but he got angry and stopped talking to me.
Janeway: So you gave in to him.
Q: I told him he could shift as many continents as he liked as long as no one got hurt.
Janeway: You're not going to do your son any favors by indulging him. You need to make him understand that there are consequences to his actions.
Q: Consequences? Hmm. Kathy, I take it back. You are a genius.
Q: I think that's long enough.
Junior: What was that for!
Q: What's wrong? You didn't enjoy life as an Oprelian amoeba?
Junior: No. I was shapeless and slimy. The only thing to eat was paramecia.
Q: Sounds unpleasant. I'm sure you'll do whatever you can to avoid returning to that Petrie dish.
Junior: What are you talking about?
Q: The Continuum and I have come to an agreement about your future. Either you become an upstanding citizen of the cosmos, or you'll be sentenced to eternity as a amoeba. How's that for consequences?
Junior: You'd turn your own son into a microscopic lifeform?
Q: You have one week to change your ways. I suggest you make the most of it.
Junior: Fine, I'll see you in seven days.
Q: We've temporarily relieved you of your powers, to ensure that you're on your best behavior with the captain.
Junior: You're leaving me here?
Janeway: I though we agreed that you were going to take a more active role.
Q: I'd like to, Kathy. But we both know that you're a million times the parent I am.
Janeway: I'm not a parent.
Q: Maybe not in the biological sense, but you're certainly a mommy to this crew. Just look how quickly you house-broke that Borg drone.
Janeway: It's taken years for Seven to become an individual. You're asking me to change your son in one week?
Q: I'm sure you'll think of something.
Junior: What if she doesn't?
Q: Then it's single-cellular city for you, my boy.
Junior: I'm getting off this ship.
Janeway: Janeway to Security.
Janeway: What you no longer have, Q, is unlimited control of space, matter and time. Which means I give the orders around here. Do I make myself clear? Your quarters.
Junior: The Petri dish was less cramped.
Janeway: Get some sleep. You're going to need it.
Junior: What for?
Janeway: I'm preparing a curriculum for you to follow while you're here. You're going to learn respect,
Janeway: And responsibility.
Junior: Don't tell me you're actually going through with Q's plan?
Janeway: I may not approve of his methods, but for once his heart seems to be in the right place. I think his desire to help you is genuine.
Junior: He abandoned me on an antiquated flying machine run by primates.
Janeway: We primates are your only hope.
Junior: Seven days? How hard can it be?
Tuvok: Seven of Nine will be instructing you in spatial causality. You will learn how your actions can have widespread repercussions.
Junior: I read the PADD. You're going to tell me how I can't create anomaly A without causing phenomenon B which in turn affects civilization C, right?
Icheb: I'm Icheb.
Junior: Oh, I know who you are. You're the drone with the Kirk fixation.
Seven: You would be wise to follow Icheb's example. By applying himself, he's become a valued member of this crew.
Junior: Can I see you naked again?
Chakotay: Computer, run Diplomacy scenario twelve alpha.
Nausicaan: The planetoid is in Nausicaan space. It belongs to us now.
Chakotay: After you.
Nausicaan: Come anywhere near it and we'll attack you.
Bolian: You can't intimidate us. We've as much right to mine that dilithium as you do.
Nausicaan: What are you doing here, Starfleet.
Chakotay: Computer, freeze program. I assume you're familiar with these species?
Junior: Nausicaan, Bolian, Cardassian, Romulan, Ferengi and Bajoran.
Chakotay: They're fighting over the mining rights to a planetoid. Your job is to settle the dispute.
Junior: These aliens mean nothing to me. What do I care if they can't get along?
Chakotay: One of your responsibilities as a Q is to maintain order in the universe, right?
Junior: So I've been told.
Chakotay: Well, if you can't help these races come to an agreement, there might be a war. The Alpha Quadrant would be thrown into chaos. Why don't we try running the first scenario together?
Junior: I don't need your help. I can do this myself.
Chakotay: If you want to try, be my guest. I'll be back in thirty minutes to check on your progress. And remember, security is right outside.
Junior: Computer, resume program.
Nausicaan: The planetoid is in Nausicaan space. It belongs to us now.
Bolian: You can't intimidate us. We have as much right to mine that dilithium as you do.
Janeway: Aren't you supposed to be supervising our young guest?
Chakotay: He says he doesn't need supervision.
Janeway: And you accepted that?
Chakotay: Of course not. I'm just giving him a chance to fail. Then he'll have to ask for some help.
Janeway: Sounds like a good strategy. Let me know how it goes.
Junior: Settling the planetoid predicament didn't take very long, so I used the rest of the time to convince the Cardassian to apologize for the occupation of Bajor. How's that for order in the universe?
Neelix: Welcome. It's so nice to see you this evening. I hope you're hungry. Step right up, there's plenty for everyone. Enjoy!
Junior: Do you ever stop?
Neelix: Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot. My talking annoys you. Too bad you can't just shut me up again, huh? Crewman Biddle, where have you been hiding yourself? I haven't seen you in days.
Junior: If it isn't drone boy. You come to put me to sleep with another one of your presentations?
Icheb: Actually, I was wondering if you'd like to participate in some recreational activities.
Junior: I don't have the time. Aunt Kathy's forcing me to write an historical essay on the Q Continuum.
Icheb: That's a challenging subject.
Junior: I've never written an essay before. I don't know where to start.
Icheb: The origin of the Q seems like the most logical place, followed by an analysis of their interaction with humanity. You could conclude with a description of the events that lead you to Voyager.
Junior: Would you mind writing some of this down for me?
Icheb: I'll get a PADD.
Janeway: Insightful, informative. I'm impressed. Too bad you didn't write it.
Junior: What do you mean?
Janeway: I'd recognize Icheb's style anywhere.
Junior: He gave me a few notes on my first draft, that's all. I negotiated a peace treaty between six belligerent species in just thirteen minutes.
Janeway: When Commander Chakotay left the room, you altered their personality subroutines to make them more agreeable. We may be common bipeds but we're not stupid. Your training is over. Go back to your room and wait for your father to return.
Junior: If you don't help me, the Continuum will turn me into an amoeba.
Janeway: I wanted to help you. But instead of trying to live up to your potential, you cheated.
Junior: Do you think it's easy to live up to my potential? I was supposed to be the savior of the Q Continuum. Tell me, how do you save a race that's already omnipotent?
Janeway: Those were the Q's expectations, not mine. All I asked was that you make a sincere effort, but you weren't even willing to try.
Junior: Please, Aunt Kathy. You're my only hope.
Janeway: Oh, I'm glad you finally realized that. Now, if your motives are sincere I'm willing to give you another chance. But step out of line again and I'm through with you. Understood?
Junior: Understood.
Janeway: Dismissed!
Janeway: Captain's log, stardate 54704.5. It's been four days since my ultimatum to the young Q, and he appears to be making progress. His instructors inform me that he's taking on his assignments with new determination, and he's made a concerted effort to be more courteous to the crew. It's hard to believe this is the same brazen young man who came aboard a few days ago.
Junior: Captain, this is for you. It's a new draft of my essay. I know you didn't ask for one but I felt I owed it to you for giving me a second chance.
Janeway: I, Q. An Insider's View of the Continuum. If the essay's half as clever as the title I'm sure I'll enjoy it.
Icheb: Lieutenant Paris has offered to give me a piloting lesson. I thought you might like to join us.
Junior: Thanks, but I have to help Crewman Chell scrub the plasma conduits.
Janeway: I think you've earned a break. This is the only time off I'm giving you. I suggest you take advantage of it.
Junior: Yes, ma'am. Piloting lesson, huh? Where are we going?
Paris: Steady. Ease up a little on the thrusters.
Junior: In case you forgot, I'm mortal now. I'd appreciate it if you didn't fly us into a rock.
Icheb: Maybe Q could take over for a little while.
Paris: What do you say, you want a turn at the wheel?
Junior: Ordinarily a Q wouldn't demean himself by operating primitive machinery, but these aren't ordinary circumstances.
Junior: Did I do something wrong?
Paris: Just a little ion imbalance in the impulse drive. Nothing to worry about.
Junior: Well, it's very distracting. Can't you fix it?
Paris: I could, but we'd have to go back to Voyager and run diagnostics. If you two don't mind cutting your lesson a little short?
Junior: That won't be necessary. In fact I barely hear it any more. Do you hear it?
Icheb: Hear what?
Q: Going up?
Janeway: I'll catch the next one.
Q: Oh, you can't get away from me that easily.
Janeway: It's only been five days. Why are you back?
Q: Oh, I thought I'd just pop in and check on Junior. I'm not an entirely uninvolved father, you know.
Janeway: Well, he got off to a pretty shaky start, but he's made some progress since then.
Q: Really?
Janeway: He's been working extremely hard.
Q: We're talking about the same Q?
Janeway: If you don't believe me, maybe you should see for yourself.
Junior: The Continuum has been perceived in a variety of ways. A dreary desert road, a blood-soaked battle ground. But with the help of Voyager's crew I've begun to perceive it in another context. A home. I look forward to the day when I return there and make that perception a reality.
Janeway: Well? What did you think?
Q: Oh, it's very nice.
Janeway: Nice?
Q: Yes. I especially liked the part about the Continuum.
Janeway: The entire essay was about the Continuum.
Q: Yes, and it's very nice.
Junior: I'm late for my temporal mechanics lesson.
Janeway: Q.
Q: Well, if there's nothing else, I'll be on my way.
Janeway: He worked so hard on that paper, the least you could have done was tell him you were proud of him.
Q: But I'm not.
Janeway: Oh.
Q: And frankly, it's a little hard to be impressed with any of the boy's accomplishments. He's been here for five days and what have you taught him? How to scribble essays and play with holograms? What's next, basket weaving?
Janeway: Whether you're willing to admit it or not, your son has made progress here. He has the potential to be a better Q than you will ever be.
Q: Potential isn't going to be enough for the Continuum.
Janeway: Then what will be enough?
Q: The boy needs to demonstrate nothing less than exemplary Q-ness.
Janeway: And what exactly is Q-ness?
Q: Oh, it's impossible for your miniscule mind to comprehend. But I know Q-ness when I see it. And this
Q: Is not it.
Junior: Come in.
Janeway: I wanted to see how you were.
Junior: I'm perfectly fine. Why wouldn't I be?
Janeway: I thought you might be upset by Q's reaction to your essay.
Junior: He's impossible to please. I don't care what he thinks.
Janeway: We have two days left. Let's make the most of them.
Junior: Aunt Kathy, do you think the Continuum will be any more impressed with me than Q was? That's what I thought.
Janeway: If the Continuum decides they won't take you back, I'll ask them to let you stay here.
Junior: I don't think they care where an amoeba spends eternity.
Janeway: That's not what I meant. I'll ask them to let you remain human.
Junior: I appreciate that, but I don't want to be human. I want to be a Q, like my father.
Junior: Itchy, are you in here? Itchy?
Icheb: What can I do for you, Q-ball?
Junior: I need your help. Remember that ion imbalance Lieutenant Paris mentioned during our lesson? We're going to repair it for him.
Icheb: Did you get permission?
Junior: That would ruin the surprise.
Icheb: Surprise?
Junior: The captain's been encouraging me to take more initiative. I want to show her I can do things for others without being asked.
Icheb: I'll help you, on one condition.
Junior: Name it.
Icheb: You won't refer to me as Itchy in front of the senior officers.
Icheb: I've realigned the last pair of power couplings. You can start the pre-ignition sequence.
Junior: Understood.
Icheb: I'm not detecting any ion fluctuations. We did it. You can power down the engine now. Q, what are you doing?
Junior: You're going to love this. I once learned how to open a spatial flexure using nothing more than a deflector array.
Icheb: Flexure?
Junior: It's like a tunnel through space. I'm going to open one to the Clevari system. Wait till you see the females. They're spectacular,
Icheb: We need the captain's permission to leave Voyager.
Junior: Do you think she'd give it to us?
Icheb: No.
Junior: Then there's no point in asking.
Icheb: You've been doing so well. Why break the rules now?
Junior: I'm bored.
Icheb: Icheb to Security.
Junior: They can't hear you. I've dampened all outgoing communications.
Junior: Just sit back, Itchy. Enjoy the ride.
Icheb: What's the real reason you're doing this?
Junior: I'm getting out of here before my father can put me back in that Petrie dish.
Icheb: The Q are omnipotent. They'll find you.
Junior: I may not have my powers anymore, but I know plenty of cosmic nooks and crannies we can hide in. Voyager's locked onto us with a tractor beam. They're so predictable.
Kim: They're opening some sort of spatial rift off their port bow.
Tuvok: It's disrupting the tractor beam.
Janeway: Compensate.
Tuvok: They're gone.
Junior: Welcome to the Clevari system. What would you like to do first? Take a dip with the mermaids of Golos Prime? Challenge the Warrior Goddess of Fektar to a grappling contest?
Icheb: What I want is to return to Voyager.
Junior: Forget that dreary ship, with it's rules and regulations. We can do anything we want here.
Icheb: Go back to Voyager, apologize to the captain. She'll help you.
Junior: It's too late. She said one more violation and I'd be thrown off her ship. I'm pretty sure this qualifies.
Icheb: What's wrong?
Junior: There's a vessel approaching.
Alien: You're trespassing in Chokuzan space.
Junior: We were just leaving.
Alien: Our laws require that you be incarcerated pending an investigation.
Junior: How long will that take?
Alien: Disengage your engines and prepare to be boarded.
Icheb: We should do as he says.
Junior: Why? Just because he has a bigger ship?
Icheb: Because Captain Janeway has taught us to respect the laws of other cultures.
Junior: I should have known better than to bring you along.
Icheb: You're going to get us killed!
Junior: Did you expect me to surrender? He might have locked us up for years.
Icheb: You don't know that.
Junior: There's no time for debate. I need you at tactical.
Icheb: Shields are down to thirty percent. Sixteen percent.
Junior: I'm opening another flexure. We'll go to the Zozak system. The girls there aren't as attractive but we have to make some compromises.
Junior: Icheb!
Tuvok: I'm detecting another rift forming, approximately five thousand kilometers directly ahead. A vessel is emerging.
Janeway: It's the Flyer.
Kim: They're hailing.
Janeway: On screen.
Q2: Aunt Kathy.
Janeway: Don't you Aunt Kathy me.
Q2: Yell at me later. We need to get Icheb to Sickbay.
Emh: His cells are being necrotised by some form of omicron radiation. But I can't treat his injuries without knowing more about the weapon that caused them.
Q: Is this a bad time?
Janeway: Tell him.
Junior: Icheb stole a shuttle from Voyager. I tried to stop him but he kidnapped me. And he started a fight with another ship.
Janeway: He stole the shuttle and he attacked the other vessel.
Q: Is that true, son?
Junior: Please, Q, just save him.
Q: Don't be absurd.
Junior: You're not going to help him?
Q: Like Aunt Kathy said, you're never going to learn anything if you don't face the consequences of your actions. If your little playmate has to die to teach you a lesson, so be it.
Junior: I know you can hear me, Q. Come back! Q!
Janeway: You're wasting your time.
Junior: He's the only one who can save Icheb.
Janeway: No, he isn't. You're going back to that ship you attacked. You're going to apologize for what you did, and you're going to plead with him for the information we need to save Icheb.
Junior: Look at what they did to him. If I go back they'll do the same to me.
Emh: What do you care? By this time tomorrow you'll be an amoeba.
Junior: Well, I'd rather be an amoeba than a corpse.
Janeway: That would be easier, wouldn't it. No expectations to live up to, no one to disappoint.
Junior: I'm a failure as a Q and a human. If I'm a single celled organism, at least I can't hurt anybody.
Janeway: Why did you come back here?
Junior: To escape the Chokuzan.
Janeway: You could have used your technology to take you anywhere, but you came back here, to us. Why?
Junior: I probably hit the wrong control. Icheb is the only friend I've ever had. I brought him back here because I thought you could save him. Obviously I was mistaken.
Janeway: The only mistake you made was running away. You have a chance to do the right thing now. Don't waste it.
Junior: The attack on your vessel was entirely my fault. Icheb had nothing to do with it, but he's the one who's dying. I take full responsibility for what happened. I'll do anything you ask. Just help my friend.
Janeway: My crew and I will repair any damage he did to your ship.
Alien: Are you the adult responsible for this child?
Janeway: I suppose I am.
Alien: We'll accept his apology and give you the information you need to save his accomplice. But you will be punished for their crime.
Junior: She didn't have anything to do with it.
Alien: In our culture adults are accountable for the actions of their children.
Junior: I attacked your ship. I should be punished for it, not her.
Alien: You don't even know what the punishment is. It might be torture, or even execution.
Junior: I don't care, if it means saving my friend.
Alien: Well done, Junior. I'm proud of you.
Q: Surprise!
Q: I wish you could see the look on your faces. Oh, wait. You can.
Junior: We don't have time for your games. We need to find the real people I attacked.
Q: You just did. I was the Chokuzan you fired on.
Janeway: What kind of horrible joke
Q: Not a joke, a test. I knew the pathetic little exercises you had him performing would not impress the Continuum. So, when he escaped your clutches I devised a real test. It was touch and go there for a moment, but you passed with flying colors.
Janeway: What about Icheb?
Q: Your Doctor will discover he's made a miraculous recovery. Now then, if we're all finished here it's Judgment Day for Junior.
Q: We're ready, your Honor.
Judge: In the case of the Continuum versus Q, we the Continuum find that Q has not made sufficient progress to warrant the reinstatement of his powers.
Q: Objection. What about my test?
Judge: What about it?
Q: Q was willing to sacrifice himself to save his friend. Surely that counts for something?
Judge: It was Q who endangered the boy's life in the first place. However, in deference to the aforementioned act of contrition, the defendant will not be transformed into an Oprelian amoeba. Instead, he will suffer the next worst fate. Remaining human. Court is adjourned.
Q: This is an outrage! They can't do this to me!
Janeway: Come in.
Junior: Do you have a moment? A few days ago you offered to let me remain on Voyager. I know I've made a few mistakes since then, and you probably don't want me around. But, if it's all right with you, I'd like to continue my training.
Janeway: But you have nothing left to prove to the Continuum.
Junior: There's a lot I still need to prove to you.
Janeway: What about your father?
Junior: You don't honestly believe we'll see him again, do you? He obviously doesn't want me around. Why else would he have left me here? Twice.
Q: The question you should be asking is why I keep coming back. Now, I'm sorry I left so abruptly, but the Continuum's verdict demanded an immediate appeal. I told them I refused to belong to any Continuum that wouldn't accept my son as a member. We're a package deal.
Junior: You left the Continuum for me?
Q: Oh, don't be ridiculous. I'm the only one holding that place together. And when they realized they might lose me, they crumbled like a Gelbian sand sculpture.
Junior: They're going to return my powers?
Q: They already have.
Junior: For you, Captain. For all your help.
Janeway: Thank you.
Q: Now that you're a Q again, I thought we might spend some quality time together. I want to show you the cosmos the way it was meant to be seen.
Junior: We've tried that already.
Q: Things'll be different this time. I promise. Now run along. I'll meet you on Golos Prime after I've had a few moments alone with the captain.
Junior: I'll see you soon, Aunt Kathy.
Janeway: I certainly hope so.
Janeway: So, the Continuum crumbled like a Gelbian sand sculpture?
Q: Yes. Some of them even got on their knees and begged me to stay. It was pathetic. If you must know, I had to agree to a few minor conditions.
Janeway: Oh? Such as?
Q: Eternal custody of the boy. Wherever the little brat goes, I go with him.
Janeway: I hope he won't spoil too much of your fun.
Q: Oh, before I leave.
Q: I did a little homework for you. Consider it a thank you for everything you did for Junior.
Janeway: Not that I don't appreciate it, but this will only take a few years off our journey. Why not send us all the way?
Q: What sort of an example would I be setting for my son if I did all the work for you?


Emh: In the beginning there is darkness. The emptiness of a matrix waiting for the light. Then, a single photon flares into existence, then another, and soon thousands more. Optronic pathways connect, subroutines emerge from the chaos, and a holographic consciousness is born.
Emh: I awaken into this world fully programmed yet completely innocent, unaware of the hardships I'll endure or the great potential I will one day fulfill. (The hologram sits at a desk, picks up a quill pen and starts writing in a blank book.
Emh: Computer, save revisions and open chapter one.
Janeway: Captain's log, stardate 54732.3. It's been three weeks since we received Starfleet's instructions in the last datastream and we're finally ready to begin Operation Watson. We're all holding our breath.
Kim: The deflector's in position.
Janeway: Anything?
Kim: I'm picking up a phased tachyon beam.
Seven: There's triaxialating signal encoded in it.
Janeway: On screen.
Barclay: Voyager, this Lieutenant Barclay at Starfleet Command. Are you receiving this?
Janeway: Can you clear it up?
Kim: I'm on it.
Admiral Paris: Captain Janeway, it's a pleasure to finally talk to you in person.
Janeway: The pleasure's mine, Admiral. How's the weather in San Francisco?
Admiral Paris: Cold and rainy as usual.
Janeway: It sounds delightful. Lieutenant Barclay, my congratulations on establishing the first trans-galactic comm. link. You've earned a place in the history books.
Barclay: I can't take all of the credit, Captain. It was Harry and Seven who suggested bouncing a tachyon beam off of the quantum singularity.
Kim: Just be sure to thank us when you accept the Daystrom prize.
Admiral Paris: I wish we had more time for small talk but the singularity only stays in alignment for eleven minutes a day.
Janeway: Eleven minutes are better than none, Admiral. We appreciate all your work, Reg.
Admiral Paris: We're going to leave it up to you to determine how to allocate the comm. time.
Barclay: Admiral, er, there was something else.
Admiral Paris: Oh, yes. Mister Barclay has arranged a small gift for you and your crew.
Barclay: This is a live image from McKinley Station. Not too much cloud cover over North America today.
Janeway: Quite a view. Thank you, Reg.
Neelix: In my hat I hold one hundred and forty six sequentially numbered isolinear chips, one for every member of the crew. Each chip entitles the bearer to three minutes of uninterrupted comm. time with his loved ones back in the Alpha Quadrant. Good luck.
Kim: My Mom's birthday is next week. This could be the best present I ever gave her. Who's everyone else calling?
Chakotay: I'll be calling my sister. What about you, Captain?
Janeway: My mother, I hope.
Emh: Doesn't anyone want to know who I'm calling?
Paris: Wait, wait, let me guess. Reg Barclay or Doctor Zimmerman.
Emh: What makes you so certain it's either of them?
Paris: Number six.
Neelix: That's the lowest one yet. You'll be talking to your family the day after tomorrow.
Kim: One hundred thirty. That's about a month and a half from now. So much for Mom's birthday.
Emh: Apparently, the line forms here.
Tuvok: Congratulations.
Kim: Doc, how about a trade? I'm willing to throw in some holodeck time. Come on. It would mean a lot to my mother.
Emh: I wish I could help, but I have a very important call to make.
Paris: Here, give your mom my best.
Kim: Are you sure?
Paris: I've waited this long. What's another six weeks?
0Broht: I can hear the critics already. A new voice has arrived. You could be the next K'Ratak or a modern-day Tolstoy. I'd like to start distribution by the end of the month.
Emh: The material I sent was only a working draft. I need time to make revisions.
Broht: If you insist, but please do it quickly.
Emh: I will. So tell me, what did you think of the characters?
Broht: Oh, they're very real. Compelling. I almost forgot they were holograms.
Emh: Who was your favorite?
Broht: Without a doubt, that would have to be Lieutenant
Emh: What happened?
Seven: Your time has expired.
Emh: You could have let the man finish his sentence.
Seven: I believe your ego has received enough stroking for one day.
Paris: So how's Reg?
Emh: I'll have you know I was speaking with Ardon Broht, of Broht and Forrester.
Paris: The publishers of the Dixon Hill series?
Emh: Who are now about to publish my work. It seems you're not the only one aboard with a flair for holographic narratives.
Paris: Congratulations.
Emh: Thank you.
Paris: So. what's it about?
Emh: The adventures of an intrepid doctor.
Paris: Oh, sounds like fun. You know, I've never thought about trying to get my work published. Maybe I could talk to your people about Captain Proton.
Emh: Broht and Forrester deals in sophisticated literature.
Paris: What are you saying, that I'm low brow?
Emh: Not at all. I'd be delighted to talk to them.
Paris: Thanks. So, when do I get to see this opus?
Emh: Well, it's not ready yet.
Paris: It was ready enough for Broht and Forrester.
Emh: Maybe it could use a fresh pair of eyes. After all, you are a fellow author. I'll cover the rest of your shift.
Paris: Oh, I almost forgot. What's it called?
Emh: Photons Be Free.
Paris: Catchy.
Emh: I awaken into this world fully programmed, yet completely innocent unaware of the hardships I'll endure or the great potential I will one day fulfill. NARRATOR-
Emh: Ah, welcome. You've made an excellent choice. You're about to take part in a thrilling first person narrative. You will take on the role of an Emergency Medical Hologram, the Chief Medical Officer aboard the starship Vortex.
Paris: Vortex? NARRATOR-
Emh: As our story begins, an anomaly has hurled your ship thousands of light years across the galaxy. Your mission, to uphold your medical and ethical standards as you struggle against the crew's bigotry and intolerance. Persons with vascular disorders should consult a physician before running this program. And now, a few acknowledgments. First, Doctor Lewis Zimmerman, the creator of my holo-matrix, whose foresight and dedication have made it possible for me to achieve
Paris: Computer, freeze program. How much longer is this introduction?
Computer: Nine minutes, four seconds.
Paris: Skip to the first chapter.
Emh: Chapter one. A Healer Is Born. In which our protagonist must make a difficult choice.
Crewman: Are you the EMH?
Paris: Please state the nature of the medical emergency.
Crewman: Our doctor's dead. We've got wounded. They're both badly hurt. Who should we treat first?
Paris: Second degree plasma burns. He's got an aortic rupture. Get him to the surgical bay now.
Katanay: You. Over here.
Paris: Nice mustache.
Katanay: What?
Paris: Nothing. He's got a mild concussion. I'm going to have to treat the others first.
Katanay: I need Lieutenant Marseilles on the bridge. You'll treat him now.
Paris: As I understand it my job is to treat the critical patients first. So, if you'll excuse me
Katanay: I don't know who you think you are, hologram, but to me, you're just another piece of technology.
Paris: Well, apparently, I'm a piece of technology that's in demand so why don't you go back to the bridge and let me do my job?
Jenkins: What's going on here?
Katanay: Our medical hologram is refusing to treat Mister Marseilles.
Jenkins: Are you malfunctioning?
Paris: I don't think so.
Jenkins: I need my helmsman back at his station.
Paris: Lieutenant Marseilles isn't seriously hurt. This man will be dead in five minutes if I don't operate.
Jenkins: Drop the force field.
Jenkins: That patient is dead. Now you're free to treat Lieutenant Marseilles.
Paris: Then the captain pulls out a phaser and shoots him right there on the biobed.
Kim: Captain Janeway murders a crewman?
Paris: Captain Jenkins. Everybody has a different name. You're Kymble, you're Torrey and I am Lieutenant Marseilles.
Torres: Oh, now that's creative.
Kim: What did you say to the Doctor?
Paris: He thinks he's written a masterpiece. I didn't know what to tell him.
Kim: If this gets distributed, people are going to assume this is about us. What are our families going to think?
Torres: This is a Starfleet ship. No one will believe we actually go around shooting injured crewmen.
Paris: People may not take the program literally, but they might wonder if there's some truth to it. I think we should talk to the captain.
Torres: Are you sure you're not taking this a little personally?
Paris: What do you mean?
Torres: Well, the holodeck always has been your domain.
Paris: You think I'm jealous? Okay, maybe I am overreacting. Why don't the rest of you try the program and decide for yourselves?
Emh: Chapter five. Out of the frying pan. In which our protagonist must confront abusive colleagues.
Crewwoman: I'm here for my physical.
Torres: Why don't you have a seat over here?
Marseilles: Doctor, you better get down to Engineering.
Torres: What's wrong?
Marseilles: A plasma conduit just exploded. At least ten people are hurt.
Marseilles: Hey genius, Forgetting something? Your mobile emitter.
Torres: Oh, right. I don't see it.
Torres: That's my mobile emitter?
Torres: This thing must weigh fifty kilos. MARSEILLES-
Paris: You should be glad we let you out of your cage at all. Now get going.
Torrey: I'm impressed.
Engineer: Really?
Torrey: Absolutely. I haven't seen a dilithium matrix this far out of alignment since I served aboard a Ferengi garbage scow. I'll fix it myself.
Torres: Excuse me.
Torrey: How many times have I told you? Engineering is off limits to holograms.
Torres: Maybe you should waive that restriction during emergencies. A plasma conduit exploded?
Torrey: Does it look like anyone here is covered with plasma burns?
Torres: Lieutenant Paris, er, Marseilles told me there was an accident.
Torrey: Looks like your auditory subroutines are malfunctioning, again. I'm surprised a matrix as primitive as yours can function at all.
Torres: Maybe you should be a little nicer to your shipmates. You never know when you might need their help.
Torrey: Let's get one thing straight. You're not one of my shipmates. You're a tool, like this hyperspanner. And tools can be replaced. So why don't you go back to Sickbay before I start doing a little reprogramming?
Torres: Computer, lights.
Marseilles: Didn't I tell you to go to Engineering?
Torres: Oh, I get it. Interesting plot twist. You get me out of Sickbay so you're free to give my patient a tonsillectomy.
Marseilles: If you even think about mentioning this to my wife, I will purge your memory buffer. Do we understand each other?
Crewwoman 2: I'm here for my physical?
Emh: Chapter six. Duel in the Ready room. In which our protagonist faces an inquisition.
Jenkins: This time, you've gone too far.
Neelix: Captain, I'm not sure what you mean.
Jenkins: An inventory of your holo-matrix. Fifty gigaquads of memory devoted to music. Forty two for daydreams. Another ten to expand your sexuality.
Neelix: I had no idea holograms could do that.
Jenkins: These extracurricular subroutines don't belong as part of an Emergency Medical Hologram. Do you have anything to say for yourself?
Neelix: Er, of course I do. I don't think these subroutines are trivial, Captain. They help make me a better doctor and a better person.
Jenkins: But you're not a person. You may be programmed to look and act human, but that doesn't make you one. These subroutines are going to be deleted immediately. Mister Tulak.
Jenkins: Take the EMH to the holo-lab for reprogramming.
Emh: Chapter Seven. The Escape. In which our protagonist is aided by his only ally.
Kymble: I'm not sure we should be doing this, Commander.
Kim: Listen to him. He knows what he's talking about.
Kymble: Quiet! I'm not talking to you. If we start tinkering with his matrix how do we know we won't accidentally delete some of his diagnostic subroutines?
Tulak: You afraid you'll catch something on your next away mission, Ensign?
Kymble: There must be millions of viruses in this quadrant that no one's ever encountered before. With my luck, I'll probably end up catching half of them.
Kim: Great, my character's a hypochondriac.
Three: I'll escort the prisoner from here.
Tulak: Our orders are to take him to the holo-lab.
Three: I've been ordered to perform the procedure.
Tulak: Your sympathies for the EMH are no secret, Three of Eight. Step aside.
Three: Run, Doctor!
Jenkins: I've tried to do this the easy way, but it's clear you're not going to be reasonable. Your matrix will be decompiled and reinitialized. You'll remain offline except for emergencies.
Torrey: Ready.
Jenkins: Do it.
Three: Wait. He has the right to expand his program.
Jenkins: He's a piece of technology. He has no rights.
Three: But he should. One day, the EMH and others like him will be recognized for what they are. Intelligent individuals with a passion for life. Make no mistake, Captain. We may be thousands of light years from home, but one day people will learn of the crime you're committing here today.
Jenkins: Nice speech. Now decompile the program.
Emh: What you've experienced, dear protagonist is a work of fiction. But like all fiction, it has elements of truth. I hope you now have a better understanding of the struggles holograms must endure in a world controlled by organics.
Computer: End of program.
Janeway: Janeway to the Doctor. Report to my ready room now.
Emh: How many times do you want me to say it? My work is not about the Voyager crew.
Kim: Come on. Ensign Kymble? Lieutenant Marseilles?
Torres: The characters look almost exactly like us.
Emh: I used your physical parameters as a starting point, but I assure you any further similarities are purely coincidental.
Paris: You set your story on a starship lost in the Delta Quadrant.
Emh: What would you have me write about? Palace intrigue on the Klingon homeworld? I do what all good novelists do. I write what I know.
Kim: So it is about Voyager.
Emh: No! The Vortex characters are larger than life. They're nothing like our crew. As far as I know, Captain, you haven't executed any of my patients.
Janeway: Doctor, you've written a very imaginative story, but it's conceivable that people will think it's based on fact.
Emh: I don't see how.
Kim: How many holograms carry mobile emitters?
Emh: The emitter in my story is nothing like the real one.
Torres: Yeah, what was the point of that? It was like carrying around a small shuttlecraft.
Emh: It's a metaphor. A symbol of the burdens that I live with every day. Imagine having to take this everywhere you go. It would be a constant reminder that you're different from everyone else. I wanted the player to feel the weight of it. Literally.
Janeway: Your emitter isn't a ball and chain. It liberates you.
Emh: It doesn't always feel that way.
Janeway: If I didn't know better, I'd think this story was written by someone who feels oppressed. Is that how you see yourself, Doctor?
Emh: Of course not. The real victims are my brothers in the Alpha Quadrant.
Torres: Brothers?
Emh: Hundreds of EMH mark ones. Identical to me in every respect except, they've been condemned to a menial existence. Scrubbing conduits, mining dilithium. There's a long history of writers drawing attention to the plight of the oppressed. The Vedek's Song, for example tells the story of the occupation of Bajor.
Janeway: I understand you have your reasons for writing this, but you should consider how it's going to make your friends feel.
Emh: I'm sorry my work offends you. But if the price of expressing myself is having to suffer the scorn of a few colleagues, so be it.
Kim: You're very popular with my eighth graders. It's all they ever talk about. Voyager this, Voyager that.
John Kim: Your mother has a small favor to ask of you.
Kim: Name it.
Mary Kim: I was hoping you could record a short presentation about what it's like to command a starship.
Kim: But I don't command a starship.
Mary Kim: In your letters you said the captain puts you in charge sometimes.
Kim: What I said was I'm in command of the night shift, twice a week.
Mary Kim: She must think very highly of you to give you so much responsibility.
John Kim: So when is she giving you a promotion?
Kim: It's a small ship. There are only so many command positions available.
Mary Kim: This Captain Janeway sounds like a lovely woman. Maybe I should write her.
Kim: Mom!
Mary Kim: She needs to know how hard you work.
Kim: Please, don't get involved.
Mary Kim: Harry, I can't hear you.
Seven: A solar flare is scattering the beam.
Mary Kim: Tell Captain Janeway to expect a letter from me.
Kim: Mom, don't send anything to the captain, do you hear me? Try boosting the deflector output.
Seven: It's already at maximum.
Kim: Argh! I don't believe this. I had a minute and a half left.
Seven: You'll have another opportunity to speak with them in approximately two months.
Kim: You just don't get it, do you?
Seven: No.
Kim: Maybe if you had family you were close to, you'd feel a little differently. Chief Medical Officer's personal log, stardate 54740.8. Although the decision has made me unpopular with the crew, I've decided not to compromise my work. I'm making some final revisions to the program before transmitting it.
Emh: Computer, run EMH program Photons Be Free. NARRATOR-
Paris: Welcome. You've made an excellent choice. You're obviously a person with impeccable taste.
Emh: Computer, freeze program.
Computer: Unable to comply. NARRATOR-
Paris: You are about to embark on a remarkable journey. You will take on the role of a medical assistant aboard the starship Voyeur.
Emh: Voyeur? NARRATOR-
Paris: Your job will be to assist the Chief Medical Officer, and learn to tolerate his overbearing behavior and obnoxious bedside manner. Remember, patience is a virtue.
Paris: Chapter one. It's The Doctor's World, You're Just Living In It. HOLO-
Emh: When I tell you your shift begins at oh eight hundred that doesn't mean you can stroll in here at oh eight hundred and twenty four seconds. Do you understand me, Ensign!
Emh: This is outrageous. HOLO-
Emh: What's outrageous is that I'm going to miss my tee time. Now, come along. Aw, what seems to be the trouble, One of Three?
Two: I'm Two of Three. HOLO-
Emh: Sorry. They're triplets, you know.
Two: It hurts when I do this. HOLO-
Emh: Well then, don't do it.
Two: Ow! HOLO-
Emh: Don't be a baby. Your biradial clamp's out of alignment. I've got just the thing. It's a Klingon aphrodisiac, my own special blend. HOLO-
Emh: You'll be feeling better in no time at all.
Emh: Lieutenant! I want you to know I'm making a full report to the captain.
Paris: This isn't about that dermal regenerator I misplaced, is it?
Emh: You know very well what this is about. You accessed my holo-novel without permission and replaced it with your own hackneyed narrative.
Paris: Hey, I'm just writing what I know.
Emh: You destroyed a work of art that took months to create.
Paris: Relax, Doc. I saved your program in a backup file. But I was just trying to make a point.
Emh: Well, you made it, with a typical lack of subtlety.
Paris: Oh, you're one to talk. Your program is about as subtle as a Ferengi mating dance.
Emh: My program is a serious attempt at social commentary, yours is an insulting farce! You had me drugging a patient and taking advantage of her.
Paris: Don't be ridiculous. That character is not you. For one thing, he has much more hair. But what if some people ran that program and thought that it was based on you? That would bother you, wouldn't it?
Emh: I don't care what people think.
Paris: That's all you care about! You want everyone back home to think of you as a brilliant author.
Emh: I'm not doing this for my ego. And if you could look past yours, maybe you'd see that.
Paris: Listen, I don't care if the whole Alpha Quadrant mistakes me for Lieutenant Marseilles. What bothers me is that you think that's what I'm like.
Emh: Obviously, you're nothing like Marseilles. He's self-indulgent, immature.
Paris: And how would you describe me?
Emh: Well, you're a married man with a child on the way. A lot of responsibilities.
Paris: I'm surprised you noticed. You know, I thought I'd begun to earn your respect. Maybe I was wrong. Your program is under file theta one five. Do whatever you want with it.
Neelix: Doctor, I need your help.
Emh: Unless you're suffering acute symptoms, go away.
Neelix: Er, I was wondering if you could take a quick look at this.
Emh: Cooking with Neelix, a Culinary Tour of the Delta Quadrant.
Neelix: It's a holo-cookbook proposal. I was hoping to transmit it to your publisher during my comm. link this afternoon. With your approval, of course.
Emh: If you're looking for writing tips, there are plenty of people on this ship eager to offer them.
Neelix: I don't know what anyone else may have told you, but I loved your holo-novel.
Emh: You did?
Neelix: Absolutely. It was a rousing adventure, with an important message too.
Emh: Exactly. This is my first chance to be appreciated not just as a physician, but as an artist. I thought the crew would be happy for me.
Neelix: You're going to reach a wide audience. What do you care about the opinions of a few disgruntled shipmates?
Emh: They're my friends. I don't want to hurt them.
Neelix: There's an old Talaxian expression. When the road before you splits in two, take the third path.
Emh: Meaning?
Neelix: You could make some adjustments to the program so it won't be so obvious it's based on Voyager.
Emh: I suppose I could change the setting, alter the characters' physical parameters.
Neelix: You wouldn't have to change your theme.
Emh: No. But a rewrite could take weeks. My publisher is expecting a final draft tomorrow.
Neelix: Maybe you should give him a call.
Broht: Revisions?
Emh: I need to rework the characters.
Broht: Why? They're so believable.
Emh: A little too believable, apparently.
Broht: Doctor, I, I really don't think this is necessary.
Emh: I'm afraid I have to insist. My friends' reputations are at stake.
Emh: My publisher assures me he won't distribute the program until he receives the revised version.
Torres: That must be the one where we assimilate the Borg and take over the quadrant.
Janeway: We're all grateful that you're taking our feelings into account.
Chakotay: So how long do you expect the revisions will take?
Emh: Art can't be rushed.
Janeway: Take your time, Doctor.
Emh: Lieutenant? I'm sorry.
Paris: Forget about it.
Emh: I could use your help with the rewrites.
Paris: Really? You realize, as a writer I'm a little unsophisticated.
Emh: No, I believe the phrase you're looking for is low brow.
Paris: Hey. What's that?
Torres: It's from my father. He wants to talk.
Paris: What are you going to do?
Torres: Well, I've already arranged to talk with my cousin.
Paris: Oh, I'm sure she wouldn't mind waiting a few weeks.
Torres: I wouldn't know what to say to him.
Paris: Then let him do the talking.
Torres: Look at you. You must be, what, twenty weeks along?
Torres: Twenty three, actually.
John Torres: Have you decided on a name?
Torres: Not yet. We were thinking about Miral.
John Torres: Your mother would've liked that. You know, I had some business on Kessik Four a few months ago. You wouldn't believe what our old house looks like.
Seven: Lieutenant, thirty seconds.
Torres: We have less than a minute. Is there a reason you wanted to talk?
John Torres: I know I can't make up for twenty years in one conversation. The truth is, when your ship disappeared, I thought I'd lost you. I don't expect you to forgive me but, maybe we could try to get to know each other again.
Torres: I'll write you.
Barclay: I'm sorry to disturb you, Admiral.
Admiral Paris: Ah yes, Mister Barclay. What can I do for you?
Barclay: I thought you'd want to see this, sir.
Admiral Paris: Well, what is it?
Barclay: It's a holonovel that's becoming quite popular.
Admiral Paris: Well, I appreciate the gesture Lieutenant but, I don't share your affinity for holographic diversions.
Barclay: You don't understand, sir. This program, it's about Voyager. And it doesn't portray the crew in a very flattering light.
Admiral Paris: Hmm.
Janeway: On screen.
Admiral Paris: Captain.
Janeway: Seven told me your message was urgent.
Admiral Paris: I had the dubious privilege of playing a new holonovel apparently written by your EMH. I'm surprised that you would allow the Doctor to diskredit your crew like this.
Janeway: He's still making revisions. The program shouldn't have been distributed yet.
Admiral Paris: Well, it has been. Mister Barclay tells me it's already being played in thousands of holosuites.
Emh: You assured me you were going to wait for my revisions. I demand that you recall every copy and issue a public apology to Captain Janeway and her crew.
Broht: I won't do anything of the sort.
Janeway: I don't see that you have a choice, Mister Broht. Authors have rights.
Broht: Not in this case.
Emh: What do you mean?
Broht: The Doctor is a hologram.
Emh: So?
Broht: According to Federation law, holograms have no rights.
Tuvok: Under a strict interpretation of Federation law, Mister Broht is correct. The Doctor has no legal rights.
Emh: Because I'm a hologram.
Tuvok: Yes. There is another option. We may be able to claim that the holonovel reveals classified information. Starfleet could then request that it be recalled for security purposes.
Paris: Oh, great idea. A cover up. And then everyone will be convinced that it's a true story.
Chakotay: Could we claim defamation?
Paris: Well, we'd have to prove that the story's about us and that we've been harmed by it.
Janeway: We might win on those grounds. But what about the Doctor?
Emh: What about me, Captain? It's the crew's reputations that are as risk.
Janeway: I'm not so sure. I think it's your reputation that's on the line here. You have the same rights as every other member of this crew, and I'm not going to let this publisher say otherwise. Captain's log, stardate 54748.6. A Federation arbitrator has been assigned to determine whether the Doctor has the right to control his artistic creation. Because of our limited comm. time with Earth, the arguments should take about three days.
Tuvok: You claim the Doctor doesn't have the legal right to control this holoprogram, yet you're promoting the fact that Voyager's EMH wrote it.
Broht: Our most successful children's title is a program written by Toby the Targ. Fortunately Toby hasn't tried to stop me from distributing any of his work.
Tuvok: But you don't deny
Tuvok: That the Doctor is the creator of this holonovel?
Broht: No, but a replicator created this cup of coffee. Should that replicator be able to determine whether or not I can drink it?
Emh: I object!
Janeway: Doctor.
Tuvok: An intriguing analogy, Mister Broht. But I have never encountered a replicator that could compose music, or paint landscapes, or perform microsurgery. Have you? Would you say that you have a reputation for publishing respected, original works of literature?
Broht: I'd like to think so.
Tuvok: And is the Doctor's holonovel such a work?
Broht: Actually, some aspects of it are quite derivative.
Tuvok: Has there even been another work written about a hologram's struggle for equality?
Broht: Not that I know of, but, er
Tuvok: Then in
Tuvok: That respect, it is original.
Broht: I suppose so.
Tuvok: Your honor, Section seven gamma of the Twelfth Guarantee defines an artist as a person who creates an original artistic work. Mister Broht admits that the Doctor created this program and that it is original. I therefore submit that the Doctor should be entitled to all rights and privileges accorded an artist under the law.
Arbitrator: You've made a persuasive argument, Commander, but there's a flaw in your logic. As you point out, the law says that the creator of an artistic work must be a person. Your EMH doesn't meet that criteria.
Barclay: Sir, we're losing the link.
Arbitrator: This hearing is in recess until tomorrow.
Tuvok: We're not doing well.
Emh: Is that your considered legal opinion? I'm sorry. It's just frustrating to be told I have no more legal standing than an replicator.
Tuvok: If the Doctor doesn't have the right to control his own work, then it stands to reason he never had the right to enter into an agreement with Mister Broht. We could argue that the original contract is invalid.
Paris: In other words, you want to concede that the Doctor isn't a person.
Janeway: What we need to do is prove that he is just as much a person as any of us.
Emh: How do we do that?
Janeway: By telling your real life story.
Seven: Because I was having difficulty interacting with the crew, the Doctor gave me social lessons. First, he taught me how to make conversation. Later
Seven: How to dance. Eventually, he showed me how to express romantic interest.
Seven: Without his guidance, I wouldn't be the person I am today.
Kim: He decided it wasn't enough to be just a doctor, so he added command subroutines to his matrix and now, in an emergency, he's as capable as any bridge officer.
Arbitrator: That only proves the Doctor's program can be modified.
Kim: Your honor, I think it shows he has a desire to become more than he is, just like any other person.
Barclay: He traveled halfway across the galaxy to care for Lewis Zimmerman, the man who created his program. It was like a son who wanted to show his father what he'd become, so the old man would be proud of him. And if you ask me, he was.
Janeway: I'd made myself clear. But the Doctor disobeyed my direct orders. In the process, he endangered the ship and crew.
Arbitrator: That's hardly commendable behavior.
Janeway: No, it wasn't. But it was human.
Janeway: Starfleet had programmed him to follow orders.
Janeway: The fact that he was capable of doing otherwise proves that he can think for himself. Your Honor, centuries ago in most places on Earth, only landowners of a particular gender and race had any rights at all. Over time, those rights were extended to all humans, and later, as we explored the galaxy, to thousands of other sentient species. Our definition of what constitutes a person has continued to evolve. Now we're asking that you expand that definition once more, to include our Doctor.
Janeway: When I met him seven years ago,
Janeway: I would never have believed that an EMH could become a valued member of my crew, and my friend. The Doctor is a person as real as any
Janeway: Flesh and blood I have ever known. If you believe the testimony you've heard here, it's only fair
Janeway: To conclude that he has the same rights as any of us.
Arbitrator: You'll have my decision in two days.
Arbitrator: This hearing is in recess.
Seven: When you sing happy birthday to your mother, try to stay in tune.
Kim: What's this?
Seven: An isolinear chip entitling the bearer to three minutes of comm. time tomorrow. You made it clear how important it was to finish your conversation.
Kim: I overreacted.
Seven: I understand why you did. I've been observing the crew interacting with their families over the past few days. It's become clear to me how meaningful that communication can be.
Kim: Thanks, but I can't accept this.
Seven: Why not?
Kim: You should contact your own family.
Seven: My parents were assimilated.
Kim: There must be someone. A distant relative?
Seven: My father has a sister on Earth. Irene Hansen.
Kim: I'm sure she'd be thrilled to hear from you.
Hanson: You can imagine my reaction when Starfleet told me to expect your call.
Seven: I experienced some apprehension myself.
Irene Hanson: You seem like a lovely young woman. But you were the most stubborn six-year-old I've ever met. Your parents left you with me for a weekend, and you were so angry you locked yourself in my guest room and refused to come out.
Seven: That must have been inconvenient for you.
Irene Hanson: Oh, I coaxd you out eventually with a strawberry tart.
Seven: I'm very fond of strawberries. I didn't realize I'd eaten them as a child.
Irene Hanson: You couldn't get enough of them. Of course, you didn't hesitate to point out if they weren't perfectly ripe.
Seven: I'm sorry if I insulted you. Perhaps I shouldn't have called.
Irene Hanson: No, I'm very glad you did. It's wonderful to see you again, Annika.
Arbitrator: We're exploring new territory today, so it is fitting that this hearing is being held at Pathfinder. The Doctor exhibits many of the traits we associate with a person. Intelligence, creativity, ambition, even fallibility. But are these traits real, or is the Doctor merely programmed to simulate them? To be honest, I don't know. Eventually we will have to decide, because the issue of holographic rights isn't going to go away. But at this time, I am not prepared to rule that the Doctor is a person under the law. However, it is obvious he is no ordinary hologram and while I can't say with certainty that he is a person, I am willing to extend the legal definition of artist to include the Doctor. I therefore rule that he has the right to control his work. I'm ordering all copies of his holo-novels to be recalled immediately.
Broht: Your honor!
Arbitrator: This hearing is adjourned.
Barclay: Congratulations, Doctor.
Emh: Thank you, Reg.
Admiral Paris: We'll be in touch, Captain.
Janeway: You don't look like someone who's just struck the first blow for the rights of holograms.
Emh: I don't mean to sound ungrateful, but it feels like a hollow victory. Pardon the pun. The program's already been played by thousands of people. The damage is done.
Janeway: We'll survive.
Paris: If I'm not mistaken, don't you have a holonovel to revise?
Emh: Do you think I'll be able to find another publisher?
Janeway: If there's one thing I've learned about you, Doctor, it's that you can do just about anything you set your mind to.
Emh1: Time for your diagnostic. Report to the holo-lab.
Emh2: I know the routine.
Emh1: And, while you're there, do yourself a favor. Ask the operator to run program forty seven beta.
Emh2: Why? What is it?
Emh1: It's called Photons Be Free. It's quite provocative.


Probe: We the people of Earth greet you in a spirit of peace and humility. As we venture out of our solar system, we hope to earn the trust and friendship of other worlds.
Technician 1: Can we reduce the interference?
Technician 2: I'm trying.
Technician 2: What is it?
Technician 1: I don't know.
Technician 2: Distance?
Technician 1: It just entered the atmosphere.
Hendricks: They evolved from dinosaurs?
Janeway: Hadrosaurs, to be precise. Their ancestors settled in the Delta Quadrant twenty million years ago.
Hendricks: The Voth, the Kobali, the Vaadwaur. You've made first contact with more species than any captain since James Kirk.
Janeway: It helps being the only Starfleet ship within thirty thousand light years.
Hendricks: You are being too humble. From the first time you spoke up in my classroom I knew you'd go far.
Janeway: A little farther than I expected, Professor.
Hendricks: I have my admiral hat on today, Kathryn, and I didn't call just to catch up. Starfleet has a mission for you.
Probe: We, the people of Earth, greet you in the spirit of peace and humility. As we venture out of our solar system, we hope to earn the trust and friendship of other worlds.
Kim: Friendship One. I had to memorize that recording in third grade.
Paris: Me, too. I even built a model of the probe.
Janeway: Then this should look familiar. It was launched in 2067.
Paris: Just four years after Zefram Cochrane tested his first warp engine.
Neelix: What was it designed to do?
Chakotay: Reach out to other species. Pave the way for all the manned missions that would follow.
Kim: They packed it with information, translation matrices, scientific and cultural databases
Torres: Computer chip designs, instructions for building transceivers. It's practically a how-to manual.
Seven: If the Borg had intercepted this probe, humanity would have been assimilated centuries ago.
Chakotay: Our ancestors had no idea what was out here.
Neelix: This must have been before your Prime Directive?
Tuvok: It was before Starfleet existed.
Janeway: In any case, we lost contact with the probe one hundred and thirty years ago but, its last known coordinates
Torres: Let me guess. Were in the neighborhood.
Janeway: Starfleet's mapped out a search grid. It'll take us a little off course, but if the probe is still intact and we're lucky enough to find it, we'll be retrieving a little piece of history.
Janeway: Captain's log, stardate 54775.4. We've been searching for five days without any sign of the probe, but we're not about to disappoint Starfleet on our first official assignment in seven years.
Kim: Nothing in grid two nine five.
Tuvok: Mister Paris?
Paris: Moving on.
Kim: We should try skipping ahead a little to grid three one zero. I stayed up all night re-extrapolating the probe's trajectory. I've compensated for solar winds, ionic interference and a few local anomalies Starfleet wouldn't know about.
Tuvok: Alter course to grid three one zero.
Paris: Trying to impress the Starfleet brass?
Kim: Just doing my job.
Kim: I'm detecting a titanium signature that matches the probe's parameters.
Tuvok: Location?
Kim: A planet two light years away.
Paris: Confirmed. Good job, Harry.
Seven: The readings are coming from the northern subcontinent.
Janeway: Can you localize them?
Seven: There are high levels of antimatter radiation in the atmosphere, scattering the probe's signature.
Chakotay: Any lifesigns?
Seven: None.
Janeway: Assemble an away team and take the Flyer down for a closer look.
Carey: You seem to be in a good mood, Doctor.
Emh: Just excited to be doing my part for our first official mission, Mister Carey.
Paris: An inoculation a day keeps the radiation away. I took a look at those atmospheric readings. Thermal eddies, gravimetric sheer. You're going to need your best pilot.
Chakotay: Are you volunteering?
Paris: If the Doc can spare me.
Emh: I'll muddle through.
Emh: If you're here for your fetal resonance scan, you're a day early.
Torres: I'm here for my inoculation.
Paris: You are not going on this mission.
Torres: Chakotay said he needed an engineer.
Paris: He's already got one.
Torres: Now he's got two.
Paris: Will you excuse us?
Neelix: Any bets on this one?
Chakotay: My money's on B'Elanna.
Torres: It's been months since I've been on an away mission.
Paris: Then try the holodeck. The Flyer is full.
Torres: You can make room. Neelix doesn't have to go.
Paris: He's not six months pregnant.
Torres: Being pregnant doesn't make me an invalid.
Paris: No, it doesn't. But there's a toxic atmosphere down there and you're breathing for two.
Torres: All right, you win. But if we have another baby, you carry it, and I'll go on the away missions.
Paris: It's a deal.
Paris: Sorry for the bumpy ride. We'll be clearing the stratosphere in about a minute.
Neelix: I had a cousin who used to transport disulfides from a gas giant. He claimed to love the turbulence. Of course, disulfides are known to cause delusions.
Paris: Hang on.
Carey: I thought it was uninhabited.
Kim: There's nothing alive down there now. Radiation levels are at six thousand isorems.
Carey: I've localized the signature to a three kilometer radius.
Chakotay: Transfer the coordinates to the helm. When we find the probe, we'll beam it to the cargo hold.
Kim: That may not be easy with all this radiation.
Chakotay: We'd better bring transport enhancers. Set us down, Tom.
Paris: Yes, sir.
Neelix: Gently, please.
Paris: I should have brought a holo-camera so I could show B'Elanna she's not missing anything. Can you believe she actually wanted to come with us?
Carey: When my wife was pregnant, she didn't want to be coddled, either.
Paris: And she's not half Klingon. Maybe it's us. Something about fatherhood seems to regress the male psyche a few thousand years.
Neelix: Tom, be careful.
Paris: It's a toy, like a music box.
Carey: Vivaldi. I'm getting something. Ninety meters this way.
Paris: Souvenir.
Kim: Commander, I'm detecting an antimatter signature ahead.
Chakotay: Looks like missile silos.
Paris: Paris to Chakotay.
Chakotay: Go ahead.
Paris: We've got a reading that could be the probe. It's inside a cave.
Chakotay: Keep us posted.
Chakotay: The warhead is still active.
Kim: It wouldn't have taken many of these to trigger a nuclear winter.
Neelix: People must have taken shelter here.
Carey: That makes sense. The magnesite in these caves would have provided partial shielding from the radiation.
Paris: Over here.
Carey: What'd you find?
Paris: Some kind of control room, or laboratory.
Carey: Laboratory?
Paris: Lots of diagnostic equipment. Looks like it was salvaged from a junk heap.
Neelix: Or scavenged from the ruins.
Carey: Particle scanners, circuit analyzers. Most of it's still functional. They were working on something.
Paris: This is what we came for.
Carey: Whoever lived here must have been studying it.
Neelix: The data core's still intact.
Paris: Start setting up the transport enhancers. Paris to Chakotay.
Chakotay: Go ahead.
Paris: We found the probe. Well, pieces of it, anyway.
Paris: We're getting ready to beam it back up to the Flyer.
Chakotay: We'll meet you there.
Neelix: Hello? Is someone there?
Carey: The tricorder isn't reading any lifesigns.
Chakotay: Don't move.
Chakotay: You okay? Delta Flyer to Paris. Chakotay to away team. Respond.
Kim: They're antimatter weapons. Shields are offline. What are you doing?
Chakotay: Getting us out of here.
Kim: What about the others?
Chakotay: We can't do them any good if we're dead. We'll come back for them.
Carey: Look, you're making a mistake.
Verin: Leave them alone.
Verin: Who are you?
Paris: I'm Lieutenant Tom Paris. We're from the Federation starship Voyager.
Verin: What are these?
Paris: They're transport enhancers. We were going to use them to retrieve our probe.
Verin: Your probe? Too bad you didn't come for it sooner. It would have saved us a lot of suffering.
Chakotay: We still can't contact the others or get a fix on their lifesigns.
Janeway: Why didn't we detect the aliens?
Chakotay: I don't know. Whoever they are, they have antimatter weapons.
Janeway: Antimatter?
Tuvok: Bridge to Captain Janeway.
Janeway: Go ahead.
Tuvok: We're being hailed from the surface.
Janeway: The away team?
Tuvok: No.
Janeway: This is Captain Kathryn Janeway. Who am I speaking with?
Verin: My name is Verin. Your crewmen are my prisoners.
Janeway: Why? We haven't done anything to harm you.
Verin: You committed genocide.
Janeway: I think there's been a misunderstanding. We arrived here
Verin: You're from Earth?
Janeway: Yes.
Verin: Then you're going to pay for what your people did to us.
Janeway: I'm sorry, I don't know what you're talking about.
Verin: We're not as naive as you seem to think we are, Captain. Not any more.
Janeway: What is it you want?
Verin: I want you to get us off this planet. Find us a new home.
Janeway: Release my crewmen and we can talk about it.
Verin: No more talking. Your people won't be safe until mine are.
Janeway: Listen, I don't respond well to threats.
Verin: And I don't want to kill anyone, but I will if you don't cooperate. You have three hours
Verin: To begin evacuating us.
Janeway: Start scanning for the nearest M class planet.
Tuvok: You intend to meet his demands?
Janeway: I'm just keeping my options open. You're with me.
Emh: I've analyzed his garment. It's lined with magnesite.
Janeway: A makeshift environmental suit.
Emh: Unfortunately, the protection it offers is limited. His tissues are saturated with antimatter radiation. It explains why we couldn't detect his lifesigns. They're virtually indistinguishable from the environment.
Chakotay: Now that we know that, maybe we can adjust our sensors to detect them.
Janeway: Let's wake him.
Janeway: What were you doing aboard our shuttle?
Otrin: Trying to undo the damage you caused.
Janeway: If you're referring to what's happened on your planet, we had nothing to do with it.
Otrin: Your people sent the probe, didn't they?
Chakotay: Our ancestors sent it three hundred years ago to make contact with other species.
Otrin: They did a little more than that. Am I your prisoner?
Emh: No. You're suffering from prolonged radiation exposure. I can treat you.
Otrin: You can?
Emh: I believe I can.
Otrin: In exchange for what?
Emh: Nothing.
Otrin: I have a wife, friends.
Janeway: We might be able to help them, too. But not while our crewmen are being held hostage. You said you were trying to undo the damage we caused. What did you mean by that?
Otrin: I was aboard your shuttle looking for technology that might help us neutralize the radiation.
Chakotay: We saw missiles on the surface. Was the destruction caused by war?
Otrin: Those missiles were built for defense. They were never launched.
Janeway: Then what accounts for the devastation?
Otrin: A containment failure in our power grid. Once the antimatter was released, it destroyed everything.
Janeway: I'm sorry, but I still don't see how we're responsible.
Otrin: Before the probe, my people never conceived of anything like antimatter. We offer this information freely with the hope that one day we will stand on your soil and extend our hands in friendship. I'm sure you recognize those words.
Janeway: The recording from the probe.
Otrin: Your people sent us technology that they knew would destroy us.
Janeway: I don't understand.
Otrin: We didn't either at first. But we had decades to think about it, and now it seems so obvious. You send us new technology, encourage us to use it, and then you wait for us to obliterate ourselves.
Chakotay: Why would we do that?
Otrin: Because it's easier than invading us.
Janeway: Do you really believe we'd contaminate a world we intended to conquer?
Otrin: I'm a scientist. I believe what I see. And today I saw your people standing on our soil just as you promised, and they were wearing equipment that protected them from the radiation because they knew exactly what to expect. If you were in my position, what would you believe?
Paris: He might have a concussion. I need the medkit from my pack.
Brin: I was told not to let you use your equipment.
Paris: When's your baby due? My wife's pregnant, too. We're expecting a little girl in a couple of months.
Brin: How do you know it's a girl?
Paris: We have technology that allows us to examine the fetus. She has my eyes and her mother's cranial ridges. Is this your first?
Brin: No.
Paris: Oh? Boys? Girls?
Brin: Two boys and a girl.
Paris: What are their names?
Brin: They were all stillborn.
Paris: I'm sorry.
Brin: You're a doctor?
Paris: No, I'm just a medic. But we have the best doctor in the quadrant back on Voyager. He might be able to help.
Brin: I shouldn't be talking to you.
Tuvok: Our current coordinates, and the nearest M class planet one hundred thirty two light years away.
Torres: At maximum warp that's about two months round trip.
Janeway: How many people are we talking about?
Kim: If these sensor modifications are correct, about fifty five hundred.
Tuvok: It would take at least seventeen trips. Almost three years to complete the relocation.
Kim: We've made sacrifices to help people before.
Torres: What about Tom and the others? Are they supposed to rot down there until this relocation's finished?
Janeway: I don't think Verin's going to let go of his only bargaining chips.
Tuvok: Then we may have to use force.
Janeway: Not until we've exhausted every other option. These people believe that we're violent. I'm not going to do anything to reinforce that belief unless it becomes absolutely necessary.
Seven: I've extracted the nanoprobes.
Emh: I'll begin reprogramming them.
Otrin: Nanoprobes?
Seven: Microscopic machines. Hopefully they'll help us repair your damaged tissue.
Otrin: You said you extracted them. From where?
Seven: My bloodstream. They maintain my cybernetic implants.
Otrin: Nanoprobes, cybernetic implants. Are others on your crew like you?
Seven: No, I'm unique.
Otrin: You certainly are.
Janeway: I need a word with your patient. You told me you've been looking for ways to neutralize the radiation.
Otrin: All my life.
Janeway: Tell me about your work.
Neelix: Lieutenant?
Carey: I'm okay. My stomach's just a little queasy.
Paris: Our inoculations must be wearing off.
Neelix: I thought these caves were naturally shielded.
Paris: They're no substitute for an environmental suit.
Carey: These people have lived here all their lives without environmental suits.
Neelix: These people have lived here without much of anything.
Yun: Hello.
Paris: Hello. It's all right. We're not going to hurt you. What's your name?
Yun: Yun.
Paris: Mine's Tom. This is Joe, and Neelix.
Yun: You're not like them.
Neelix: We're different species, but they're my friends.
Yun: They say you're going to take us on your ship and find us a new home.
Neelix: I'm sure our captain is trying to help you.
Paris: Neelix, where's our souvenir?
Neelix: In my pack.
Paris: Excuse me. We'd like to give her something. It's in the equipment bag. It's a toy.
Verin: That could be a weapon.
Brin: It's harmless.
Verin: These men are dangerous. I want you to stay away from them. Understood?
Paris: So much for making friends.
Neelix: Mister Verin?
Paris: What are you doing?
Neelix: My job. I'm Voyager's ambassador, remember? Can I have a word with you?
Neelix: Just between us, I understand why you don't trust humans.
Verin: Then why are you with them?
Neelix: They're not so bad once you get to know them. When I first met them I thought they were arrogant and self-righteous.
Verin: I suppose you're going to tell me you've changed your mind.
Neelix: Well, not completely. I still think they take themselves far too seriously for my taste. But one thing they don't do is harm other people.
Verin: Are you blind?
Neelix: No, I see very clearly what's happened to you, and I'd like to help.
Verin: How?
Neelix: My captain listens to me. I can speak to her on your behalf. Help her understand your situation.
Verin: What do you know about our situation?
Neelix: I know what you've been through. My planet was destroyed by a weapon called a Meteron Cascade. Hundreds of thousands of people were killed, including my family.
Verin: How did you survive?
Neelix: I was on a neighboring planet when the weapon was detonated. I went back with a rescue team, but there was no one left.
Verin: I'm sorry about what happened to your family, but don't compare your life to mine.
Janeway: The nearest suitable planet is simply too far away so, I'd like to propose
Janeway: An alternative.
Verin: There is no alternative.
Janeway: Please, hear me out. We have one of your people aboard, a Mister Otrin. He has some interesting ideas about counteracting the radiation.
Verin: Otrin has too many ideas.
Janeway: I think his theories have merit. What he's lacked until now is the means to carry them out. If you release the hostages, we can work together. There's a good chance we could undo some of the damage to your environment.
Verin: This isn't a negotiation.
Janeway: You don't seem to understand. It would take years to evacuate the entire planet.
Verin: So instead you once again offer us the benefits of your technology.
Janeway: What I'm offering you is a realistic alternative.
Verin: If I release the hostages, what's to prevent you from leaving
Verin: Or attacking us?
Janeway: Look, I know you've suffered, and I know you don't trust us.
Verin: You haven't given me any reason to.
Janeway: Then why don't we start with a small step. You return one of the hostages and I'll send you a supply of food and medicine.
Verin: You. What's your name?
Carey: Joe Carey.
Verin: Set up your transport enhancers.
Verin: I'm sorry, Mister Carey.
Carey: Sorry?
Verin: Your crewman's ready, Captain.
Janeway: Transport him to Sickbay.
Paris: Hey, what the hell
Paris: Are you doing?
Janeway: Tom?
Emh: Sickbay to bridge.
Emh: They've killed Lieutenant Carey.
Janeway: If you think murdering one of my crewmen is going to make me more receptive to your demands, you're mistaken.
Verin: Don't force me to kill anyone else.
Janeway: All right, I'll evacuate your people. But our transporters aren't designed to accommodate large groups.
Janeway: We'll need time to modify them.
Verin: We'll be ready within the hour. If you're not
Janeway: I understand. My ready room.
Brin: You have radiation poisoning. This will make you feel better.
Neelix: Thank you.
Paris: Why are you helping us?
Brin: Your child's going to need a father, isn't she?
Seven: The first phase of your therapy is complete. How do you feel?
Otrin: I can breathe more easily.
Seven: Your lungs were damaged by the radiation. The nanoprobes are repairing them.
Otrin: It's incredible. If we could manufacture more of these, we might be able to treat everyone.
Seven: Unfortunately, Mister Verin has refused our help.
Otrin: Did you expect him to cooperate?
Seven: His behavior is irrational.
Otrin: To you, maybe. But you haven't lived like we have.
Seven: No. But that doesn't mean that we're responsible for what's happened here.
Otrin: You can't deny your people sent the probe.
Seven: They made an error in judgment. They failed to anticipate the consequences of their actions. But they never meant to destroy your world. Human culture has evolved, learned from its mistakes. So can yours.
Otrin: Even if I believed you, Verin never would.
Seven: Then your people may need a change of leadership. Someone more open to new ideas.
Otrin: I'm not a leader.
Seven: But you're a scientist. Someone who can see a problem and envision a solution. The same definition could apply to a leader.
Paris: Doesn't seem fair, does it. My daughter, she'll have food medical care, everything she needs.
Woman: What's wrong?
Woman: We need help!
Brin: It's the baby. It's too soon. Let him help me.
Verin: Can you?
Paris: I think so. But I'll need my med kit.
Guard: Inform Verin.
Paris: I'm losing the heartbeat.
Brin: Oh, no.
Neelix: What are you doing?
Paris: Speeding up the contractions.
Guard: Their ship's returned.
Verin: Send out patrols. Double the guard at the entrance.
Paris: I've got him! He's not breathing. Cardiostimulator. Three millijoules, now.
Guard: Don't move. I'll take him to Verin. Tell the others. This way. Move!
Paris: Increase the charge to five millijoules. Again. I'm reading a heartbeat.
Paris: You have a son.
Guard: One of the patrols took another prisoner.
Verin: Put him with the others.
Paris: We need to get him to Voyager.
Verin: He stays here.
Neelix: Mister Tuvok.
Verin: Your Captain was foolish enough to think she could rescue you. Instead, she's given me another hostage.
Paris: Doc?
Emh: When you need to infiltrate a toxic environment, it helps to be a hologram.
Tuvok: Prepare the transport enhancers. Tuvok to Chakotay.
Tuvok: We secured the hostages.
Chakotay: Good work. Chakotay to Delta Flyer. Two to beam out.
Brin: Thank you.
Tuvok: Now, Mister Paris.
Paris: Your baby won't survive without treatment. I promise we'll bring him back.
Brin: Take good care of him.
Paris: I will.
Tuvok: Tuvok to Voyager. Five to beam up.
Emh: Cute little fellow, isn't he? He's already responding to treatment.
Janeway: Once he's stabilized we'll transport him to the surface, and send along some food and medical supplies.
Neelix: We're leaving?
Janeway: As soon as I report to Starfleet.
Paris: Captain, once the baby's back in that environment, he's just going to get sick again.
Janeway: I'm sorry. We can't keep him from his mother.
Paris: I'm not suggesting that. You told those people that we might be able to neutralize the radiation. Was that true?
Janeway: Yes, but they didn't want our help. I can't force it on them.
Neelix: Maybe you should. If we help them without asking anything in return, it'll prove they're wrong about us.
Janeway: You're forgetting something. They killed Mister Carey. I'm not about to risk any more lives to help murderers.
Paris: Captain, it was one man who killed Carey. If you saw how they were living, how desperate they are. I'm not saying we should ignore what happened, but humans did play a part in their suffering.
Neelix: Intentional or not, that probe had a terrible impact on these people. If there's anything we can do to make up for that now, we at least have to try.
Otrin: I've adjusted the radiation levels to match the conditions on the surface. Watch. An isolitic chain reaction. It recombines the nucleonic particles in the atmosphere.
Janeway: How do we apply your methods on a planetary scale?
Seven: Atmospheric processors are one possibility.
Janeway: Too bad we don't have a Corps of Engineers to build them. What if we encase the catalytic agent in photon torpedoes? Use the concussive force to start the reaction.
Seven: It would require multiple detonations at low altitude, but I believe it could work.
Otrin: Captain, an isolitic reaction of that magnitude would expand exponentially. Your ship might not survive.
Janeway: We'll have to modify our shields, reinforce structural integrity. Well, let's get started.
Brin: He's beautiful.
Otrin: And they can give us enough medicine to treat everyone.
Verin: Can they rebuild our cities? Bring back the people who died?
Otrin: They're offering to help, and this time no one's coercing them.
Verin: We can't trust these people. They just sent armed men to attack us.
Otrin: They only wanted to rescue their hostages.
Verin: Who knows what they wanted?
Otrin: You're being irrational.
Verin: What's irrational is cooperating with the enemy.
Brin: Look at my child. They said that they would treat him, and they kept their word.
Tuvok: Shield modifications online.
Chakotay: Torpedoes?
Seven: Ready.
Janeway: Hail them.
Verin: Listen to me.
Janeway: Otrin, we're ready to begin.
Otrin: Understood. Good luck.
Janeway: Tom, take us down.
Paris: We're ten thousand meters into the troposphere.
Janeway: Fire the first sequence.
Verin: They're attacking us.
Otrin: It's only the shockwave from the detonations.
Janeway: Shields?
Tuvok: Holding at eighteen percent.
Verin: Are you going to stand there while he helps them destroy us?
Otrin: What are you doing?
Verin: Fighting back.
Kim: Captain, they're opening missile silos. They're targeting Voyager.
Chakotay: At eighteen percent, our shields won't withstand an antimatter explosion.
Tuvok: We should return to orbit.
Janeway: Not yet. Fire the next sequence.
Otrin: You can't launch those missiles.
Verin: Hold him.
Brin: Stop.
Verin: What are you doing?
Brin: I won't let you ruin our only chance for survival.
Verin: You'd kill me?
Brin: To save my child? Yes.
Verin: Get that weapon away from her.
Guard: No, sir.
Verin: I've kept you alive. All of you!
Otrin: And we're grateful for that. But survival isn't enough anymore.
Verin: Are you in command now?
Otrin: If I have to be.
Yun: Everyone, come outside. Hurry.
Otrin: Bring him.
Yun: It's beautiful.
Janeway: Captain's log, supplemental. We've retrieved Friendship One and resumed our course to the Alpha Quadrant, but the success of our mission had a very high price.
Chakotay: Impressive, isn't it?
Janeway: The detail's amazing.
Chakotay: Carey spent months working on it. He used to joke that he wouldn't be finished by the time we got back to Earth.
Janeway: He only had one nacelle to go.
Chakotay: We were able to download the probe's memory core. We'll transmit the telemetry in the next data stream.
Janeway: I think about our ancestors. Thousands of years wondering if they were alone in the universe, and finally discovering they weren't. You can't blame them for wanting to reach out, see how many other species were out there asking the same questions.
Chakotay: The urge to explore is pretty powerful.
Janeway: But it can't justify the loss of lives, whether it's millions or just one.