Ballard: Tam'vitte. Me'iote rel mestal.
Computer: Mestal te'iote senve.
Ballard: Siote ven'suil. Bekta!
Ballard: Tam'vitte. Me'iote sendaya Voyager. Federation Starship Voyager. If you can hear me, please respond.
Ballard: If you can hear me, please respond. Voyager, please respond.
Ballard: Come on, Voyager. I know you're there.
Mezoti: Hello?
Ballard: Voyager? Are you receiving this transmission?
Mezoti: My designation is Mezoti.
Ballard: You sound a little young to be working the comm.
Mezoti: I'm eight.
Ballard: I see. Are there any grown-ups I could speak to?
Mezoti: My species is six eight nine.
Mezoti: Norcadian. What species are you?
Ballard: That's a complicated question.
Mezoti: Explain.
Ballard: I don't know how long I can keep this channel open.
Ballard: I need you to patch me through to Captain Janeway.
Mezoti: I'll try, but my height may be insufficient.
Ballard: Hello? Voyager?
Tuvok: Mezoti, you are not authorized to be in here.
Mezoti: Are you going to report me to the captain?
Tuvok: Considering this is your first offense, a warning will suffice.
Seven: What were my instructions?
Mezoti: To wait in the Cargo Bay until you returned.
Seven: Why didn't you comply?
Tuvok: You left the children unsupervised.
Seven: Lieutenant Torres required my assistance in Engineering. I was gone for less than ten minutes.
Icheb: We told her not to deviate from your instructions. She wouldn't listen.
Tuvok: When the captain asked you to take charge of these children, you assured her that you could maintain order.
Seven: Controlling them is proving more difficult than I anticipated. They're highly unpredictable.
Tuvok: Meditation helps Vulcan children to control their emotions. You might consider
Seven: Mezoti!
Mezoti: I'm trying to talk to the woman.
Seven: What woman?
Mezoti: The one transmitting from spatial grid two three six nine.
Seven: She's made contact with a small ship approximately three light years from here.
Tuvok: Alien vessel, this is the starship Voyager. Respond.
Ballard: Tuvok? It's you, isn't it?
Tuvok: This is Lieutenant Commander Tuvok.
Ballard: Sounds like someone got promoted. I want to hear all about it, but first I need to speak to Captain Janeway.
Ballard: You're a sight for sore eyes, Captain. You, too, Harry.
Janeway: I'm sorry, but do we know you?
Ballard: I'm Ensign Lyndsay Ballard. I was a member of your crew. Of course, I'm not surprised you don't recognize me.
Janeway: I don't know who you are, but I'm not amused. Ensign Ballard died almost
Ballard: It was on Stardate 51563. I can't blame you for being skeptical, Captain, but if you let me come aboard, I can explain everything.
Janeway: We'll beam you to Sickbay.
Ballard: I'm sure you'll want me behind a level ten force field.
Janeway: No offense.
Ballard: None taken. I'm just glad to be home.
Chakotay: Captain? What do you think?
Janeway: She seems to have intimate knowledge of this ship and its crew. I think we should find out who she is.
Kim: Captain, I'd like to come with you. I was very close to Lyndsay, and if somehow it's her, I'll know.
Ballard: Harry and I were on our way to a class M planet in the Vyntadi Expanse to recover dilithium ore we'd detected a few days earlier. When we landed, we realized it was a trap set by a Hirogen hunting party. They'd reconfigured a power cell to give off false dilithium readings.
Kim: That's exactly what happened.
Janeway: Go on.
Ballard: Harry and I headed back to the shuttle. We were ten feet away when I was hit with a neural disrupter. Harry said my injury wasn't that bad. He always was a terrible liar.
Kim: I tried to get Lyndsay back to Voyager but she was already dead. We buried her in space.
Janeway: Go on with your story.
Ballard: I woke up on a ship, in a stasis chamber surrounded by aliens. They told me they'd used their technology to reanimate me. I didn't believe them when they said I'd died, but they showed me visual scans of my own corpse lying in the torpedo casing I'd been buried in. The Kobali said I'd been drifting for weeks.
Janeway: Kobali?
Ballard: If you ever met them, you'd remember. They look just like this. After the reanimation process, they spent months altering my DNA. They were constantly scanning me, injecting me.
Kim: Just to make you look like one of them?
Ballard: That's how they procreate. They salvage the dead of other races. I was given a Kobali name and placed with a family to help me acclimate.
Janeway: You were a prisoner.
Ballard: At first. I wanted to contact you, to tell you I was safe, but the Kobali wouldn't let me. They said you were part of my kyn'steya, my, my past life, and that I needed to forget you. All of you. So I spent two years letting my new family think I'd accepted them. When I finally earned their trust, I stole a shuttle and started looking for Voyager. That was six months ago. They've been chasing me ever since.
Emh: In spite of her appearance, I'm detecting traces of human DNA. I've compared them with the genetic samples from Ensign Ballard's file. They match.
Janeway: It's certainly a convincing story.
Ballard: But your Starfleet training is telling you to consider all the possibilities. Maybe I'm some sort of hybrid clone, or telepath who accessed Ensign Ballard's memory somehow? Believe me, I was suspicious myself at first, but I am Lyndsay Ballard.
Janeway: Until we find evidence to the contrary, welcome home.
Kim: Captain, could you give us a minute?
Janeway: Doctor.
Kim: So it's really you?
Ballard: In the flesh, so to speak.
Ballard: I've missed you, too.
Janeway: I know you're all as eager as I am to welcome Ensign Ballard back. She's a fine officer, who's shown a lot of courage and determination over the past few years. And we're lucky to have her with us again. Let's do everything we can to make her feel at home.
Neelix: Tom and I have already taken the liberty of removing Lyndsay's personal effects from storage.
Torres: And whenever you're ready, your old shift is waiting for you in Engineering.
Ballard: Thanks, Lieutenant.
Chakotay: Before we get ahead of ourselves, let's not forget the Kobali are still out there.
Janeway: It seems they want her back as much as we want to keep her. We'll need to take precautions in case they track her to Voyager.
Tuvok: I've run preliminary scans on the Kobali shuttle. I believe I can adapt our systems to counter a possible attack.
Janeway: Very good. Well, if there's no further business.
Ballard: Thank you for saying those nice things about me.
Janeway: You seem surprised.
Ballard: To be honest, I never thought you noticed me.
Janeway: My mistake.
Ballard: So, you still playing the clarinet?
Kim: Actually, I've taken up the saxophone.
Ballard: Ambitious. I bet you're good at it.
Kim: You always were my biggest fan.
Ballard: Please, no past tense.
Kim: Sorry. This is a little strange for me.
Ballard: Really? It's been a perfectly normal day for me.
Kim: Deck two.
Ballard: It just so happens that hearing you play music again is number twenty six on my list.
Kim: List?
Ballard: Something I made up to pass the time while I was away. I tried to think of everything I would do if I got back to Voyager, including some things I wasn't able to accomplish the first time I was here.
Kim: Like showing up for duty shifts on time?
Ballard: That's number twenty seven.
Naomi: They're here.
Neelix: Ah. Why don't you and I have a cup of tea while the children play?
Seven: Thank you, but they require my supervision.
Naomi: I like your braid.
Mezoti: I could show you how to do it.
Seven: Mezoti.
Neelix: Something wrong?
Seven: I've allotted one hour for recreational activity. There's no time for irrelevant conversation.
Mezoti: It's not irrelevant.
Seven: Adhering to our schedule will allow us to use our time more efficiently. We'll be able to participate in
Mezoti: A wider variety of activities.
Seven: Fun will now commence.
Naomi: Green. Grid three thirteen.
Azan: Counter. Grid ten.
Naomi: They're cheating.
Neelix: How?
Mezoti: Azan is using his neural interface to share information.
Seven: Is this true? You will exercise punishment protocol nine alpha.
Icheb: If they cannot participate, neither will I.
Seven: You are encouraging disorder.
Icheb: And you never let us do what we want.
Seven: You will exercise punishment protocol nine alpha.
Icheb: No, I won't.
Kim: There you go.
Ballard: I can't believe you saved all this.
Kim: Tuvok thought I should recycle everything, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it.
Ballard: My skates and I thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
Kim: Do you know how long it took me to fold those?
Ballard: Same old Harry.
Kim: What's that supposed to mean?
Ballard: You're still sort of obsessive.
Kim: I'm tidy.
Ballard: Is that why you used to request baryon sweeps of your dorm room?
Kim: When you live across the hall from a slob.
Ballard: Hey, show some respect for the dead. Did I say something wrong?
Kim: It's nothing.
Ballard: Just because I've been gone for three years doesn't mean I can't still read you like a book.
Kim: I gave the eulogy at your funeral.
Ballard: Oh? What'd you say? Come on, it's everyone's fantasy to hear their own eulogy.
Kim: Absolutely not.
Ballard: It's probably for the best. You always were a terrible public speaker. I just hope you didn't stutter too much.
Kim: I told them you had a favorite saying. Something you got from an old Klingon battle cry?
Ballard: Own the day.
Kim: I said that you always believed in attacking each day, possessing it, and that that was what made you so much fun to be around.
Ballard: Is that when everybody burst into tears?
Kim: I said that if you'd been there, you would have told them to own that day. To attack it, make it their own, and plan to do the same thing tomorrow.
Ballard: Pretty strong stuff.
Kim: You were a strong person.
Ballard: Not always. These last six months haven't been easy. There were plenty of times when I could have given up.
Kim: But you didn't.
Ballard: You know why? You. I wanted to see you again. Hmm. Guess I won't be needing this anymore.
Emh: Sickbay to Ensign Ballard. I've finished analyzing your bio-scans.
Ballard: I'm on my way.
Emh: My scans identified a genetic pathogen in your bloodstream. It appears to have converted most of your human DNA into a Kobali protein structure.
Kim: Is there any way to reverse it?
Emh: The biochemical changes have affected every system in your body. I'm afraid there isn't enough of your original DNA left to make you human again. But I believe I can affect some cosmetic changes.
Ballard: Are you saying you could make me look like me again?
Emh: Yes. The alternations would literally be skin-deep, and it may take several treatments, but I've devised an inaprovaline compound which should do the trick. Physiologically, you'd still be Kobali with a multispheric brain, a binary cardiovascular system.
Ballard: But I'd look human?
Emh: Oh, yes.
Ballard: I've lived with this face for long enough. Let's do it.
Emh: Have a seat. You may experience some dizziness.
Ballard: I'll hang onto Harry for support, if he doesn't mind.
Kim: That's what I'm here for.
Ballard: What? Something wrong?
Kim: See for yourself.
Neelix: Here we are, one Jibelian berry salad.
Ballard: I have been looking forward to this for a very long time.
Kim: It was number six on her list.
Ballard: There isn't much variety in the Kobali diet. I ate the same gray paste for three years. It doesn't taste the way I remember it.
Neelix: What's wrong? Too sweet?
Ballard: No offense, but it's got sort of a metallic flavor.
Kim: Seems fine to me.
Ballard: I guess my taste buds are still Kobali.
Neelix: Can I get you something else?
Ballard: Thanks, but I need to take care of number sixteen. Dazzle Lieutenant Torres.
Torres: One minute early.
Ballard: There's a first time for everything.
Torres: An alignment error has been cropping up in the dilithium matrix. We can't seem to figure out what's causing it. I, I know that you're still settling in so I'll give you a couple of days to
Ballard: It's a vyk'tiote.
Torres: Excuse me?
Ballard: Oh, a Kobali word to describe a certain kind of wave phenomenon. It's hard to translate.
Torres: Try me.
Ballard: Literally, it means crumpled dance. All I need to do is vyq'tal the qen'dioqe matrices, stabilize the per'cheya. Tez'tel, se menna. Cham'bioque! What?
Torres: You were speaking Kobali.
Ballard: I didn't realize. I'm sorry.
Torres: Well, whatever you did, the alignment error is gone. Nice job.
Ballard: Thanks.
Torres: I think there might be a few crumpled dances in the warp core, too. Feel like taking a look?
Chakotay: Any sign of the Kobali?
Seven: None.
Chakotay: The latest tactical reports from Tuvok.
Seven: Commander. I no longer wish to serve as guardian to the Borg children.
Chakotay: What's the problem?
Seven: Their behavior is chaotic. My attempts to apply diskipline only result in further disorder.
Chakotay: Well, kids and disorder usually go hand in hand.
Seven: Neelix issued a similar warning prior to my taking this assignment, which is why I devised an activities schedule to promote focus and unity. Oh seven hundred hours, the children emerge from their alcoves. Nutrients are ingested in the mess hall prior to proceeding to the science lab to begin classes. At thirteen hundred hours nutrients are consumed a second time, before reporting to the holodeck, where they're studying comparative alien physiology.
Chakotay: Doesn't sound like there's much time for fun.
Seven: On the contrary, I've scheduled recreational activities.
Chakotay: You can't always schedule fun, Seven. Sometimes it needs to be spontaneous.
Seven: According to my research, children require structure.
Chakotay: I agree, but not to this extreme. You're treating them like they're still on a Borg Cube.
Seven: You're comparing me to the Collective?
Chakotay: You have all four children functioning as one. They do the same things together at the same time.
Seven: So that each child has the same opportunities to learn.
Chakotay: They're individuals. Maybe they're rebelling because you don't let them express themselves.
Seven: Then grant my request. Choose a more suitable crew member to instruct them.
Chakotay: Sorry, Seven. Permission denied.
Paris: Well, I see you're finally going to try my hockey program.
Kim: Actually, I'm taking Lyndsay skating.
Paris: Oh. You two sure have been spending a lot of time together lately.
Kim: Don't start.
Paris: Oh, now, let's see. For those of us keeping score, Harry Kim has fallen for a hologram, a Borg, the wrong twin, and now the dearly departed.
Kim: We're friends, just like before. All right. Maybe there was a time when I thought of pursuing Lyndsay, but I closed the door on that when we both got assigned to Voyager.
Paris: Hmm. Don't look now, but that door is creaking open.
Ballard: What do you think?
Kim: You look great.
Ballard: Doctor thought I should stick to my original color, but this seemed more exciting.
Emh: Hair is one of my specialties, despite evidence to the contrary.
Ballard: It's just too bad that beneath this beautiful red hair still lies the six-lobed brain of a Kobali.
Kim: Well, are you feeling human enough for a little skating?
Ballard: I'd love to, but I already have a date.
Kim: Who with?
Ballard: The Captain. She's invited me to her quarters for dinner.
Kim: In six years, I have never been invited to the captain's quarters for dinner.
Ballard: Well, I'll give her your regards.
Janeway: Oh, damn!
Janeway: Come in. Formal dress wasn't required, Ensign.
Ballard: Well, I just, I figured, dinner with the captain.
Janeway: I'd hardly call this dinner. My replicator decided to liquefy the pot roast.
Ballard: It looks fine to me.
Janeway: Stop trying to get on my good side and grab a slice of bread. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I hope you don't mind.
Ballard: Not at all. I lived on them at the Academy.
Janeway: So, how was your first day back on the job?
Ballard: Pretty good, I think. Lieutenant Torres called my work competent.
Janeway: Trust me, that's high praise coming from B'Elanna. Commander Tuvok finished his analysis of your shuttle and presented me with thirty seven different ways of repelling a Kobali attack.
Ballard: Did he include your pot roast? I'm sorry. I didn't mean. I can't believe I just said that.
Janeway: Why? It was funny. We're not on the bridge, Lyndsay. You have permission to speak freely.
Ballard: Do you really mean that?
Janeway: I wouldn't have said it otherwise.
Ballard: Then there's something I've wanted to ask you for a long time. Why me?
Janeway: I'm sorry?
Ballard: Why did you choose me for that away mission?
Janeway: Why, I suppose I thought you were best suited for the job.
Ballard: No, I wasn't. Dilithium extraction was always Lieutenant Torres' specialty. And Tuvok had far more experience conducting away missions. But you didn't send either one of them. Was it because they were closer to you?
Janeway: You blame me.
Ballard: No, no, that's not what I meant.
Janeway: It's okay, Lyndsay.
Ballard: No, it's not.
Janeway: I'm not offended.
Ballard: No, you don't understand. Never harbor anger toward those who brought you death, for they gave you the chance to live again. In letting me die, Captain, you gave me life. I'm sorry.
Janeway: Lyndsay.
Ballard: I'm sorry. I shouldn't have come.
Janeway: You're late.
Emh: We expected you hours ago.
Ballard: For what?
Neelix: Your farewell party.
Torres: You weren't supposed to come back.
Chakotay: You don't belong here anymore.
Ballard: Harry, what's going on?
Kim: Lyndsay Ballard, beloved friend and crewman. Does that sound right?
Ballard: What?
Kim: For your eulogy. Does that sound okay?
Ballard: Harry, I'm not dead.
Emh: Denial. One of the final stages.
Tuvok: It was illogical for you to return.
Ballard: Please, I don't want to go.
Kim: I couldn't save you before, Lyndsay. What makes you think I can save you now?
Q'Ret: Jen'to ka'siote, Jhet'leya.
Kim: Come in.
Kim: What's wrong?
Ballard: Bad day, I guess.
Kim: B'Elanna told me you did great in Engineering.
Ballard: I solved a simple problem.
Kim: Didn't sound so simple to me.
Ballard: Any Kobali can diskern simple wave distortions. And even if B'Elanna was impressed, the others were staring at me.
Kim: I'm sure it was just your imagination.
Ballard: And then, to make matters worse, I started babbling in front of the Captain.
Kim: I used to get pretty nervous around her, too. Don't worry. I'm sure she didn't take it personally. Hey. I know this isn't easy, but I'll help you through this.
Ballard: You have always been far too nice to me. Why is that?
Kim: You really don't have any idea, do you? Think about it. I rearranged my schedule at the Academy just so we'd be in the same classes. I let you teach me how to skate even though I hate the cold. I'm crazy about you. I have been since the day we met.
Ballard: Why didn't you ever tell me?
Kim: I was never good at public speaking, remember, but I figure, how often do you get a second chance? Which is why I'd very much like to kiss you now.
Ballard: Own the day.
Mezoti: Sorry.
Icheb: You are creating disorder. Seven will be angry.
Mezoti: I don't care.
Azan: They're cubes.
Seven: I can see that.
Rebi: Precisely one one thousandth the size of a Borg vessel.
Seven: Well done.
Icheb: A twenty six sided polyhedron, composed of hexagons, octagons and squares.
Seven: Impressive. What's this?
Mezoti: Can't you tell? It's you.
Seven: I don't see the resemblance.
Mezoti: Look. Here's your ocular implant, your nose, your mouth.
Seven: You were instructed to create a geometric shape.
Icheb: I reminded her of that. She wouldn't comply.
Mezoti: This was more fun. Don't you like it?
Seven: It is crude. However, it does demonstrate ingenuity and individuality.
Icheb: She deviated from your instructions. Aren't you going to implement a punishment protocol?
Seven: No. Resume your disorder.
Kim: Lyndsay?
Ballard: They're coming.
Janeway: Red alert. Raise shields.
Tuvok: We're being hailed.
Janeway: On screen.
Q'Ret: I've come for Jhet'leya.
Janeway: If you're referring to Ensign Ballard, she's made it clear that she doesn't want to go with you.
Q'Ret: She's my daughter. Please, I've come a long way. I only want to speak with her.
Kim: You don't have to see him, you know. They can't make you.
Ballard: I want to, Harry. It's time to stop running.
Q'Ret: I appreciate this, Captain.
Janeway: I'm willing to oblige as long as you understand that this meeting is over as soon as Ensign Ballard says it is.
Q'Ret: What have they done to you?
Ballard: Given me my life back.
Q'Ret: You were so beautiful. It's good to see you, Jhet'leya.
Ballard: My name is Lyndsay.
Q'Ret: Why did you leave us?
Ballard: I wanted to be with my people again.
Q'Ret: These people? The same ones who set you adrift in space?
Janeway: We jettisoned her body in accordance with our customs.
Q'Ret: You abandoned her.
Kim: You had no right to tamper with her remains.
Q'Ret: We were acting in accordance with our customs.
Kim: You mutilated her.
Tuvok: Ensign.
Q'Ret: The reanimation process usually results in extensive memory loss, which makes the transition less painful. Unfortunately, some remember their former lives more than others. Jhet'leya, for example.
Ballard: I told you to call me
Q'Ret: Lyndsay Ballard. She's dead. She has been for three years. Forgive me for being so blunt, but when we found her she was a lifeless corpse. We salvaged that raw material to create a new person, my daughter, whom I love.
Ballard: I'm not your daughter.
Q'Ret: You may have altered your appearance, but do you still think like these people? Even now, the first words that come into your head, are they in their language or mine? I realize this place is familiar to you, but it's not where you belong. Your sister misses you.
Ballard: Tynsia.
Q'Ret: She keeps asking when you're coming home. What should I tell her?
Ballard: Tell her that her sister's dead.
Tuvok: I'll escort you to the transporter room.
Q'Ret: I won't give her up, Captain.
Janeway: She made her wishes clear.
Q'Ret: She's confused.
Kim: Thanks to what you did to her.
Q'Ret: I don't want to fight you.
Janeway: Your ship is no match for Voyager.
Q'Ret: Every life is precious to my people, Captain. I won't be coming back alone.
Kim: Midnight snack?
Ballard: Kobali cuisine at its finest.
Kim: So I was giving some thought to number thirty two, make Tuvok laugh? He has this holoprogram, The Temple of T'Panit. I thought we might tweak it so that instead of Vulcan prayers, the monks recite Ferengi limericks? You're not laughing.
Ballard: Sorry. I can't stop thinking about Q'Ret.
Kim: I can't believe he had the nerve to call himself your father. I'll bet Professor Ballard would have had something to say about that.
Ballard: Who?
Kim: Your dad. Doesn't he teach at some university?
Ballard: I don't remember. I don't remember anything about him.
Kim: Let's get down to the holodeck. We've got some monks to tweak.
Ballard: Sure.
Kim: What's wrong?
Kim: Why did she start to revert all of a sudden?
Emh: Our old friend, the pathogen. It's adapting to counteract my treatments. It's possible she'll suffer occasional relapses for the rest of her life.
Ballard: You said you could maintain my appearance.
Emh: I can, but it looks like I'll need to increase the frequency of your treatments. You'll have to see me at least twice a day.
Ballard: How am I supposed to do my job if I'm in here all the time. How am I supposed to do anything?
Emh: Please try to understand.
Ballard: Stoi'gia! Net'staika pen'daeli shevaob! I'm sorry.
Kim: Wow. This place sure is lived in.
Ballard: If you're here to lecture me about cleanliness.
Kim: I'm here to ask you to stop the treatments.
Ballard: You know what happens if I do.
Kim: You'll look Kobali again? So what? I thought you were cute bald. I don't care if you're human, Kobali or Bolian, I just want you to be happy.
Ballard: I wouldn't fit in.
Kim: Are you saying Tuvok and Neelix don't fit in?
Ballard: That's different. They got to grow up in their own cultures. They know where they come from, who they are.
Kim: Wherever they come from, they're part of this crew now. Just like you.
Ballard: Lyndsay was part of this crew. If I stop the treatments, I won't be Lyndsay anymore.
Kim: You don't honestly believe that.
Ballard: Since the day I got back here, I haven't felt right. At first I thought it was Voyager. Things had changed so much, I thought if I just gave myself more time I'd get used to it. But it's me. I've changed. And the more I try to deny it, the more I feel like a ghost. I'm sorry, Harry, but I can't keep fighting anymore.
Kim: What about us?
Ballard: The girl you were in love with died three years ago.
Tuvok: Shield's down to forty eight percent.
Janeway: Target the lead ship's weapons array.
Chakotay: Life support's failing on decks six through ten.
Janeway: Reroute power to compensate.
Tuvok: Shields at twenty percent.
Ballard: Hail them! Tell them you'll surrender me.
Kim: Don't listen to her, Captain.
Janeway: I appreciate the gesture, Lyndsay, but I'm not giving you up.
Ballard: It's not a gesture. I want to go. I don't belong here.
Kim: She's not well. She doesn't know what she's saying.
Ballard: I know exactly what I'm saying.
Tuvok: Shields at thirteen percent.
Kim: I'm detecting power fluctuations in the lead vessel's warp drive. A polaron burst could overload the core.
Ballard: That would destroy the ship.
Kim: They're not leaving us much choice.
Chakotay: Whatever we do, we have to do it fast.
Janeway: You're sure this is what you want?
Kim: Captain, I can fire that polaron burst myself.
Chakotay: Stand down, Ensign.
Kim: We can't just let them take her.
Ballard: Even if you stop them, I can't stay on Voyager.
Kim: I don't want to lose you.
Ballard: You already did, but at least this time we've been given the chance to say goodbye.
Janeway: Captain's log, stardate 53679.4. The Doctor has stopped Ensign Ballard's treatments and her Kobali physiology is already beginning to reassert itself. All but one of us have said our goodbyes.
Kim: Vien'ke debala, Jhet'leya. I taught myself to say a few words in Kobali.
Ballard: That's very sweet of you, but you just told me the comets are tiresome.
Kim: I guess I'd better work on my pronunciation. I'm sorry you didn't get to finish everything on your list.
Ballard: I think I took care of what really mattered.
Mezoti: That's pretty.
Kim: It belonged to a friend of mine. Would you like it?
Mezoti: Your friend won't mind?
Kim: I think she'd be happy knowing I gave it to someone with such pretty hair.
Mezoti: Seven's letting us go to the holodeck by ourselves. She says we can run any program we want. Do you want to come?
Kim: Have you ever heard of The Temple of T'Panit? It's a Vulcan program.
Mezoti: Sounds boring.
Kim: Don't worry, we'll make a few tweaks.


Janeway: Why potatoes?
Seven: Their first idea was to clone Naomi, but I suggested they start with something smaller.
Torres: Quite a feat of engineering.
Mezoti: It's a Teirenian ant colony. I infused the soil with a blue ion dye so it'd be easier to see the insects.
Janeway: They're luminescent.
Mezoti: The drones produce a fluorescent enzyme that's activated by the Queen.
Janeway: Drones and Queens? I thought we were trying to get these children away from the Borg.
Seven: The project was Mezoti's idea. I didn't want to discourage her individuality.
Mezoti: I like bugs.
Janeway: Well done. Let me know before you take up beekeeping.
Chakotay: What have we got here?
Naomi: It's Kataris.
Torres: Your father's planet.
Naomi: I've been learning all about it.
Seven: Naomi programmed the geophysical and atmospheric conditions.
Chakotay: There's quite a storm in those mountains.
Naomi: The Arpasian range is known for high winds and hail.
Janeway: I'll remember to bring my coat. Now this looks impressive.
Icheb: It's a high-resolution gravimetric sensor array.
Torres: Ambitious.
Icheb: It'll augment our ability to scan for the neutrino flux associated with wormholes. It could help Voyager find a faster way home.
Seven: The engineering principles are sound.
Janeway: I expected these projects to be interesting, but this is truly exceptional.
Icheb: Thank you, Captain. I am very interested in astrophysics.
Janeway: Well, you've obviously got a knack for it. Well done.
Torres: How did you think of scanning for neutrino fluctuations?
Icheb: I've been studying Starfleet records.
Janeway: He's a remarkable young man.
Seven: He hopes to earn a permanent posting in Astrometrics one day.
Janeway: I'm afraid that won't be possible.
Seven: Captain, the boy has a unique talent.
Janeway: It's not a question of merit. We've made contact with his parents, and I've set a course for their planet.
Icheb: My scanner is calibrated to pick up changes in neutrino trajectories.
Seven: That's good news.
Seven: You've exceeded your scheduled time here by one hour.
Icheb: I'm almost finished.
Seven: Your work will have to wait. There's something we need to discuss.
Icheb: Look at this. It's a star forming in the Orpisay nebula.
Seven: The Orpisay nebula is out of range of our sensors.
Icheb: I increased the resolution of the long range scanners.
Seven: Impressive.
Icheb: When I was on the Cube, I never thought about what was outside. Pulsars, quasars, nebulas. But here in this lab, I feel I can see the entire galaxy. What did you want to talk to me about? You said there was something we needed to discuss.
Seven: Yes, that's correct. It's time for you to regenerate.
Janeway: Come in.
Seven: I'd like the data you've collected on Icheb's species so I can prepare him for re-assimilation.
Janeway: Maybe we could refer to it as getting reacquainted with his family.
Seven: If you prefer.
Janeway: I'll transfer the files down to Astrometrics.
Seven: Thank you.
Janeway: How'd he take the news? You haven't told him.
Seven: No.
Janeway: Why not?
Seven: It won't be easy for him to accept. He's adapted to life on Voyager.
Janeway: And you've adapted to having him here.
Seven: My feelings are irrelevant.
Janeway: Are they? Would you like me to tell him?
Seven: It's my responsibility, but I am uncertain how to proceed.
Janeway: Well, you've already helped him make one difficult transition. How did you do that?
Seven: By giving him the benefit of my own experiences. Encouraging him to be resilient in the face of obstacles.
Janeway: Sounds like a good strategy.
Seven: Is your alcove malfunctioning?
Icheb: I'm calculating neutrino trajectories.
Seven: You need to regenerate.
Icheb: Very well.
Seven: Wait. We've located your parents. Voyager is due to arrive at their planet tomorrow.
Icheb: Do I have to stay with them?
Seven: They're your parents.
Icheb: I don't remember them.
Seven: After my parents were assimilated I never saw them again. You're fortunate to have this chance.
Icheb: What about the others?
Seven: We haven't been able to locate their families yet.
Icheb: That's not what I mean. What will happen to them if I leave? They depend on me.
Seven: They'll adapt.
Icheb: I'll never see you again?
Seven: I've been studying Brunali culture. It's very different from what you've become accustomed to on Voyager.
Icheb: In what way?
Seven: They're an agrarian society. Their technological resources are limited.
Icheb: Are they capable of space travel?
Seven: Yes, but most of their vessels were destroyed by the Borg.
Icheb: How will I continue my studies?
Seven: I don't know.
Seven: Icheb.
Kim: I'm detecting scattered enclaves on the northern continent, all with populations of fewer than ten thousand.
Tuvok: Judging from the residual gamma radiation, it appears they've suffered numerous Borg attacks over the past decade.
Seven: That's not surprising. There's a Borg transwarp conduit less than a light year away.
Paris: Not exactly prime real estate.
Janeway: Tuvok, run continuous scans for Borg activity. Tom, put us into synchronous orbit.
Paris: Yes, ma'am.
Janeway: Seven. You'd better get Icheb.
Emh: According to these scans, you're in perfect health.
Icheb: Then why does my stomach feel so strange?
Emh: Oh, I should have known. You've got butterflies in there.
Icheb: I never assimilated butterflies.
Emh: It's an expression used to describe anxiety or apprehension, both of which are perfectly natural reactions for someone about to meet his long lost parents. If it's any comfort, I'm sure they're just as nervous about meeting you.
Icheb: Parents are irrelevant.
Emh: Really. Do you think Naomi's mother is irrelevant to her?
Icheb: I have Seven of Nine to assist me in my education. I have you to care for my medical needs.
Emh: Your parents can nurture you in ways this crew can't. They can explain the Brunali culture, share their experiences with you.
Icheb: You didn't have parents.
Emh: No, but
Icheb: You adapted to serve a vital function about this vessel, forged relationships with its crew, all without the benefit of parents.
Emh: I had my programming to fall back on.
Icheb: And how would your programming respond if you were asked to live with strangers?
Seven: Are you damaged?
Emh: He's fine. I was just giving him a last minute check-up.
Seven: It's time.
Emh: The butterflies will go away.
Janeway: Hello. I'm Captain Janeway.
Yifay: Icheb.
Leucon: You've grown.
Seven: He spent several months in a Borg maturation chamber.
Janeway: This is Seven of Nine.
Yifay: That's a Borg designation, isn't it?
Seven: Like your son, I was liberated from the Collective.
Janeway: Seven has been instrumental in helping Icheb make his transition.
Leucon: Then we're very grateful to you. I'm Leucon, Icheb's father. This is his mother, Yifay.
Yifay: How are you?
Icheb: Fine.
Yifay: Do these hurt you?
Icheb: No.
Leucon: We're very happy to have you back with us. Mala, Remi, Yivel.
Yivel: Welcome home, Icheb.
Icheb: I would like to return to Voyager now.
Janeway: Thank you for coming.
Leucon: Where's Icheb?
Janeway: I thought it might be better if we talked ourselves first.
Leucon: What exactly is there to discuss?
Janeway: How to make this transition easier for your son. Please, sit down.
Yifay: It won't be easy for him to give up the luxuries of your ship.
Seven: It's more than a question of luxuries. Icheb has special medical needs.
Leucon: We have a physician in our settlement.
Janeway: We should arrange for him to consult with our Doctor.
Seven: He also requires daily regeneration.
Janeway: I'm sure you can adapt some of our technology to make that possible.
Seven: What about his educational requirements?
Yifay: Our children go to school.
Seven: Will he be able to continue his studies in Astrometrics and spatial harmonics?
Leucon: If Icheb has an aptitude for science, I'm sure he'll find that we have a great deal to teach him.
Seven: For example?
Leucon: We've developed sophisticated techniques in agricultural genetics which allow us to grow crops in an inhospitable environment.
Seven: Icheb has expressed no interest in agriculture.
Janeway: I'm sure once he's been exposed to the subject, he'll find it quite challenging.
Seven: There's still the issue of his safety.
Yifay: We're perfectly capable of protecting our son.
Seven: Your proximity to a Borg conduit makes you extremely vulnerable. I'm curious if you've ever considered relocating.
Janeway: Seven.
Leucon: No, it's all right, Captain. This planet is our home. We will never leave it. We will defend it against the Borg or anyone else who threatens us.
Seven: Your courage is admirable but unrealistic.
Janeway: Wait for me in my ready room.
Seven: Captain.
Janeway: Now.
Janeway: I apologize for her behavior. She and Icheb have grown very close, but that's no excuse for rudeness.
Leucon: We'd like to see our son now.
Janeway: Please be patient. If we rush things, your next encounter with him may not go any better than the last. Stay aboard Voyager for a while. It'll give Icheb a chance to get to know you in an environment that's familiar to him. I'll have Neelix do everything he can to make you comfortable while you're here.
Janeway: Your attitude is making a difficult situation worse.
Seven: I was simply attempting to insure Icheb's well-being.
Janeway: By insulting his parents?
Seven: Those issues needed to be discussed.
Janeway: You could have done it with a little more tact.
Seven: Perhaps, but that doesn't alter the fact that those individuals may not be suitable guardians.
Janeway: Those individuals are his mother and father.
Seven: Which is no guarantee that they'll be able to care for him. He's far more likely to flourish if he remains on Voyager. JANEWAY; That's not an option, Seven.
Seven: Are you ordering him off the ship?
Janeway: That's not what I said.
Seven: So that he can be assimilated again?
Janeway: What makes you so sure that's going to happen?
Seven: They shouldn't remain on that planet.
Janeway: It's their home.
Seven: It's not worth protecting.
Janeway: Who are you to decide that?
Seven: Anyone who values their own goals over the safety of their children is irresponsible.
Janeway: Are we talking about Icheb's parents, or yours?
Seven: Both.
Janeway: It's not like you to admit to something like that.
Seven: It would be naive for me to claim objectivity in this case. But I'm not prepared to return Icheb to parents who may be as careless as my own.
Janeway: I know what it's like to feel protective towards someone you've helped through a difficult period, but Icheb is an individual now. You have to give him a chance to form his own opinions.
Seven: If I do, and he decides to remain on Voyager?
Janeway: Then it'll be my problem.
Mezoti: Is your mother pretty? What are they like?
Icheb: I'm busy.
Naomi: I never met my father.
Azan: I don't remember ours.
Rebi: Neither do I.
Naomi: Are you going to stay with them?
Mezoti: If you leave, who is going to help us with our science projects?
Icheb: If you don't stop asking questions I'm going to put all of you in a cargo container and transport you back to the Borg.
Seven: Come with me.
Icheb: Where?
Seven: To dinner with your parents.
Icheb: I'm working.
Seven: You can continue your work after the meal.
Icheb: I don't have anything to talk about with them.
Seven: Then it will be a very quiet evening.
Icheb: I'm not going.
Seven: Your attendance is not optional.
Seven: Enjoy your meal.
Yifay: Come, sit down.
Icheb: I prefer to stand.
Yifay: Mister Neelix let me use his galley to prepare some poma.
Icheb: I'm not hungry.
Yifay: It was your favorite food when you were little.
Icheb: I'm not little anymore.
Yifay: No. No, you're not.
Leucon: Your mother worked hard on that meal. Couldn't you at least try it?
Leucon: Good, isn't it.
Neelix: Nice to see the family back together again, isn't it?
Yifay: When you were little, you would only eat the inside
Leucon: The Borg didn't leave us much to work with but we didn't need much, just a little ingenuity. Everything you see, we built with our own hands. Our homes, cultivation bays
Icheb: What's this?
Leucon: A genetic re-sequencer. We use it to alter the DNA of certain plants to conform with environmental conditions.
Icheb: You built this as well?
Leucon: We adapted parts from damaged vessels. Nothing's been wasted.
Icheb: Efficient.
Leucon: Efficiency's one attribute we share with the Borg. In our case, it's a necessity. I know our settlement seems primitive compared to Voyager, but I promise you, that will change.
Icheb: What about space travel?
Leucon: Someday we'll have ships that rival Voyager, but we need the dedication of young people like you to help us.
Yivel: Icheb! How are you?
Icheb: Well, thank you.
Yivel: Maybe later you can join us up on the field for a game of pala.
Icheb: I don't remember how to play.
Yivel: It will come back to you.
Leucon: You used to be quite an athlete. You can make a difference here, Icheb.
Icheb: I don't know anything about agriculture or genetics.
Leucon: It won't take you long to learn. Not with a mind like yours.
Seven: It's time to return to Voyager.
Icheb: I am staying here tonight.
Seven: They don't have a regeneration unit.
Leucon: We're going to have to installl one eventually. Might as well do it now.
Seven: As far as I am aware, he hasn't decided to remain here yet.
Leucon: But he has asked to stay tonight.
Seven: Return with me to the ship. We'll prepare a regeneration unit.
Seven: I've adapted this neural transceiver to interface with the portable regenerator. It has enough power to complete one full cycle.
Leucon: We'll have to devise a way of recharging it.
Seven: If Icheb decides to stay.
Leucon: My wife and I appreciate everything you've done for our son. It's obvious you care about him.
Seven: He's a unique individual.
Leucon: Yes, he is. To get him back is, well, a miracle.
Seven: How was he taken?
Leucon: Since the Borg first attacked us, we've taken great pains to hide whatever new technology we develop.
Seven: So the passing cubes won't be attracted to your planet.
Leucon: Unfortunately, we haven't always been successful. One morning, about four years ago, Icheb heard me talking about a new fertilization array we'd constructed in the lower field. He wanted to see it. I told him I'd take him the next day but he was impatient, the way boys can be. I never even realized he'd wandered off when the alarm sounded. It turns out the Borg were just as interested in our new technology as Icheb was. They took him, and assimilated everyone in the area. If only I'd kept a closer eye on him.
Seven: Icheb has a mind of his own.
Leucon: But still, it's hard not to blame myself. Your parents must've felt the same way when they lost you.
Seven: My parents were with me when the Borg attacked.
Leucon: I can't imagine what that must have been like for them, watching their daughter being assimilated. Helpless to defend her.
Seven: It's important that Icheb regenerate for six uninterrupted hours.
Leucon: I understand.
Seven: He may resist. He doesn't like to waste time. I've had to contend with his lack of patience as well.
Leucon: There's a star called Kelsin Three. To the west is the Orlitus Cluster. There, just above it, when you connect those six stars, they form what we call the Great Horn.
Icheb: I see it.
Yifay: You inherited your love of the stars from your father.
Leucon: Being on that starship, you've learned much more about astronomy than I have. Our little window can't compare to Voyager's Astrometrics lab.
Icheb: No, but it's nice.
Yifay: You see? We have everything we need right here. A warm fire, good food that we grow ourselves, and people who love us.
Leucon: Icheb has people on Voyager who love him, too.
Yifay: You've grown attached to the crew on that ship, haven't you?
Icheb: They've provided for me, given me opportunities.
Leucon: They're good people. People who've experienced hardship themselves. Seven of Nine told me about your science project. She said it might prove very useful.
Icheb: It's designed to detect wormholes.
Leucon: How will that benefit them?
Icheb: It may help them find a way back to Earth.
Yifay: Why is that so important to them?
Icheb: It's their home.
Leucon: Interesting, isn't it?
Icheb: What?
Leucon: With all their technology, their opportunity to explore the galaxy, the thing they want most is to get home.
Icheb: Good morning.
Seven: Did you regenerate successfully?
Icheb: Yes, and I slept under the stars. You should try it.
Seven: You weren't in class this morning. The others missed you.
Icheb: I was helping my father. There is something we need to discuss.
Seven: What is it? You've decided to stay with them.
Icheb: Yes.
Seven: You're certain?
Icheb: This is my home. I have a responsibility to help them rebuild it.
Seven: I'll inform the captain.
Icheb: Thank you.
Seven: I'm sure you'll want to say goodbye to the other children.
Seven: Inside you'll find PADDs containing data on a variety of subjects that will allow you to continue your studies. I've also included a high-resolution telescope. It's a poor substitute for Astrometric sensors.
Icheb: I will use it every day.
Janeway: Goodbye, Icheb, and good luck.
Icheb: Thank you, Captain. I hope you find a way home.
Computer: Warning. Regeneration cycle incomplete.
Seven: What is it?
Mezoti: I can't regenerate.
Computer: Warning. Regeneration cycle incomplete.
Seven: Explain.
Mezoti: I miss Icheb.
Seven: So do I, but we'll adapt. Now return to your alcove.
Mezoti: If you find my parents, will I have to go with them?
Seven: We'll discuss that when and if the time comes.
Mezoti: I hope you don't find them.
Seven: Regenerate.
Mezoti: Seven?
Seven: Yes?
Mezoti: What if the Borg try to assimilate Icheb again?
Seven: His people lack resources. The Borg have little reason to return to their planet.
Mezoti: But what if Icheb's on a ship?
Seven: Unlikely.
Mezoti: He was on a ship last time.
Seven: You're mistaken. He was on the surface when he was assimilated.
Mezoti: No, he wasn't. A class one transport was detected in grid six four nine. One lifeform. Species, Brunali.
Janeway: This better be important.
Seven: It is.
Janeway: Sorry, I don't read Borg. You'll have to translate.
Seven: This is tactical data from the Cube where we found the children. It says that Icheb was alone aboard an unarmed transport vessel when the Borg took him.
Janeway: Oh, why are you telling me this at oh three hundred hours?
Seven: Icheb's father told me the boy was assimilated on the planet's surface.
Janeway: Is it possible you misunderstood?
Seven: No. He was very specific.
Janeway: That Cube was disabled by a deadly pathogen. It suffered extensive damage. Isn't it possible these records were corrupted?
Seven: Perhaps, but I found another inconsistency in Leucon's story. He told me Icheb was assimilated four years ago but further analysis indicates the Borg attacked three times during the last decade. Nine years ago, six years ago, and again last year.
Janeway: All right. Let's assume your information is accurate. What does it prove?
Seven: His father was lying.
Janeway: Why would he do that?
Seven: I'm not certain, but we have an obligation to find out.
Janeway: What are you proposing?
Seven: That we return to the planet, demand an explanation.
Janeway: Those people have been through enough. Do we really need to interrogate them?
Seven: We have a responsibility to ensure Icheb's safety.
Janeway: He chose to stay with his parents.
Seven: Maybe he didn't have all the information.
Janeway: Just because they weren't completely candid with you doesn't mean they're unfit parents. At some point, you have to let go.
Seven: I know what you're thinking, that I'm having emotional difficulty accepting my separation from Icheb and you're correct. But if there's a possibility he's in danger, even a remote one, I have to do whatever I can to protect him. If I don't, I'll be no better than my own parents.
Leucon: Couldn't we at least wait a few days?
Yifay: What would that accomplish?
Leucon: He's just getting settled.
Yifay: The longer we wait the harder it'll be for everyone. You know that.
Leucon: Why do it at all? There's nothing compelling us to go through with it.
Yifay: It's what he was born for.
Leucon: Hasn't he been through enough? Why not give him a chance at an ordinary life?
Yifay: He's not an ordinary child.
Leucon: No, but he can help us in other ways. He's bright. He's hardworking.
Yifay: Leucon, his return was a gift. We can't waste it.
Leucon: I don't want to lose him a second time.
Yifay: To survive, we all have to make sacrifices. You taught me that.
Icheb: We won three games in a row.
Yifay: Sit down, Icheb. We need to talk. You know that you're very important to us.
Icheb: Yes.
Yifay: What you don't know is why.
Icheb: What do you mean? What is that?
Yifay: If you relax, it won't hurt you.
Icheb: Father?
Yifay: You'd better hold him.
Icheb: What are you doing to me?
Icheb: No!
Yifay: Prepare the launch.
Janeway: Hail them.
Leucon: We didn't expect to see you again, Captain.
Janeway: We'd like to ask you a few questions, if you don't mind.
Yifay: Questions?
Seven: Regarding Icheb and the circumstances of his assimilation.
Leucon: We've already discussed that.
Seven: The story you told me was inconsistent with our data.
Yifay: We don't owe you any explanations.
Janeway: In that case, I'd like to talk to Icheb.
Leucon: He's not here.
Seven: Where is he?
Yifay: That's not your concern.
Janeway: Scan for his bio-signs.
Tuvok: He is not in the settlement.
Seven: I'm detecting a Brunali transport vessel, distance, nine million kilometers. It's heading for the coordinates of the transwarp conduit.
Chakotay: According to these readings that ship is traveling at warp nine point eight.
Paris: It only looks that way. It's been designed to emit a false warp signature strong enough to penetrate subspace.
Seven: They're using it as bait to attract the Borg.
Janeway: Icheb's on that vessel, isn't he?
Yifay: He's fighting for his people.
Seven: Alone, on an unarmed transport?
Leucon: We don't have particle weapons or powerful starships at our disposal. We're forced to use the only resource we have.
Seven: Your children?
Yifay: No. Our genetic expertise.
Janeway: Icheb's not bait. He's a weapon. The first Cube that captured him was infected by a pathogen. Icheb was the carrier, wasn't he?
Leucon: Every time we try to rebuild, begin to make progress, the Borg come and take it away from us.
Janeway: Tom, set a course for that transport vessel. Full impulse.
Paris: Aye, Captain.
Leucon: You have no right to interfere.
Yifay: We're trying to save our civilization.
Seven: By taking away Icheb's future.
Yifay: If we don't stop the Borg, the Brunali have no future.
Leucon: Captain, a Borg ship will emerge from that conduit at any moment. You'll be destroyed.
Janeway: We'll take our chances. End transmission. Red alert. Battle stations.
Paris: We're coming within range, Captain.
Kim: I'm picking up Icheb's life signs. Bio-scans indicate he's unconscious.
Chakotay: Transport him to Sickbay.
Seven: I can't. There's some kind of interference.
Tuvok: It's the conduit. By my estimate, a Borg vessel will emerge in less than forty seconds.
Janeway: Transfer auxiliary power to the transporters.
Seven: I still can't establish a lock, not at this distance.
Tuvok: Thirty seconds.
Janeway: Tom, get us closer to that ship.
Paris: Yes, ma'am.
Tuvok: The conduit's opening. Twenty seconds.
Janeway: Seven?
Seven: Still out of range.
Janeway: You heard her, Tom.
Paris: When that Borg ship comes through I'm going to have a hell of a time getting away from it.
Janeway: One problem at a time.
Tuvok: Ten seconds, nine, eight.
Seven: I've got a lock.
Tuvok: Seven.
Seven: Transport in progress.
Tuvok: Five.
Seven: He's in Sickbay.
Tuvok: Three, two, one.
Janeway: Get us out of here, maximum
Janeway: Target their tractor beam generator.
Tuvok: Phasers targeted.
Janeway: Fire.
Tuvok: No effect.
Borg: We are the Borg. You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile.
Seven: Perhaps not. There is a way to get a weapon through their shields.
Janeway: I'm listening.
Seven: Transport a photon torpedo to the Brunali vessel. Set it to detonate soon as it's inside the Sphere.
Tuvok: That will occur in approximately twenty seconds. However, Voyager will be inside less than three seconds later.
Janeway: Tom, full reverse thrusters. It might buy us a couple more seconds. Do it.
Seven: Transport complete. Detonation in ten, nine.
Seven: Five.
Janeway: Tom, go to warp on my mark.
Seven: Three, two.
Chakotay: All hands, brace for impact.
Janeway: Now, Mister Paris!
Tuvok: The Borg vessel has taken heavy damage. They are not pursuing.
Janeway: Are you saying his parents re-infected him?
Emh: No, they merely sedated him.
Seven: I don't understand.
Emh: He was genetically engineered to produce the pathogen from birth.
Janeway: Bred to kill Borg.
Seven: Is he in danger?
Emh: I can suppress the pathogen. He'll be fine, physically.
Janeway: He's going to need help coming to terms with what's happened.
Seven: Captain, I
Janeway: Use your maternal instincts. They worked before.
Seven: I thought you were studying spatial harmonics.
Icheb: My parents suggested I might have an aptitude for genetics as well.
Seven: I see. What have you learned?
Icheb: This is the genome of a typical Brunali male and this is my DNA. They're nearly identical, but do you notice the differences in the third, thirteenth and seventeenth chromosomes?
Seven: Yes.
Icheb: My parents made microgenetic alterations so I would produce the pathogen. Quite ingenious.
Seven: It's also barbaric.
Icheb: They were trying to defend themselves, their way of life. Preserve their species.
Seven: I know how difficult it is to acknowledge your parents' faults, but what they did was wrong. You don't have to forgive them.
Icheb: Do you think they will ever forgive me?
Seven: For what?
Icheb: I could have destroyed that Sphere. I failed them.
Seven: You would have been reassimilated.
Icheb: I know, but
Seven: But what?
Icheb: Maybe it was my destiny.
Seven: Maybe. In the future you may choose to fight the Borg, but you'll do it in your own way. You're an individual, and you have the right to determine your own destiny. It's time to regenerate.
Icheb: And if I prefer to continue studying?
Seven: It's your decision.


Janeway: Come in.
Chakotay: Seven of Nine's shipwide efficiency analysis.
Janeway: Did we get a passing grade?
Chakotay: Barely. She wants to present it to the senior staff.
Janeway: Put her on the schedule.
Chakotay: We'll be passing by a class T cluster in the next couple of days. Gas giants, radiogenic sources. I'm not sure it's worth altering course.
Janeway: At the very least we should send the Delta Flyer for a look. And let's get a full range of sensor scans as we get closer.
Chakotay: We'll go to a level three analysis of the cluster. Tom, get the Flyer ready and assemble an away team. Harry, start continuous scans.
Kim: Kim to Seven of Nine.
Seven: Proceed, Ensign.
Kim: Any chance you could increase radiogenic resolution in the long range sensors?
Kim: The Captain wants to get a cleaner look at that cluster coming up off starboard.
Seven: Acknowledged. Take these specifications to Lieutenant Torres.
Celes: Right away.
Celes: Deck eleven.
Torres: What's our Borg Queen want now? We need to route at least another five terawatts to the sensor array.
Engineer: Deck fifteen.
Engineer: Hello.
Engineer: Sorry to interrupt.
Harren: I'm about to disprove Schlezholt's theory of multiple big bangs. Of course I had to demolish Wang's second postulate to do it.
Engineer: Power transfer requisition.
Harren: You're standing in the way of cosmological history.
Engineer: The cosmos is sixteen billion years old. It can wait another few minutes.
Harren: Schlezholt would thank you for the reprieve.
Janeway: Captain's log, stardate 53753.2. Long range scans of the T cluster have indicated a number of tantalizing anomalies. The away team should have a field day. Who knows, I may even join them myself.
Celes: Billy, Billy, wake up.
Telfer: What do you want?
Celes: I need help.
Telfer: Good night.
Celes: Billy, don't you dare go back to sleep.
Telfer: What's the problem?
Celes: I'm in trouble.
Telfer: Go
Telfer: To sleep.
Celes: Help me first?
Telfer: With what?
Celes: This level three sensor analysis. I've got four hours of subspace infrared to interpret.
Telfer: Long range scans on that cluster up ahead?
Celes: Yes.
Telfer: It's too complicated
Telfer: To do over the comm. Either we meet in the mess hall or we wait until tomorrow.
Celes: I don't want to get dressed,
Celes: And it can't wait until tomorrow.
Telfer: Your only options.
Seven: I've given Operations an efficiency rating of seventy six out of a possible one hundred.
Kim: Not exactly flying colors.
Seven: The crewmen you assigned to the night shift are frequently left with little to do once the ship's course has been locked in.
Emh: The devil finds work for idle hands.
Seven: Religious metaphors are irrelevant. Perhaps you should consider assigning them additional tasks.
Torres: What's this I'm guilty of? Failure to utilize expertise?
Seven: Crewman Mortimer Harren. He has five advanced degrees in theoretical cosmology, but you've assigned him to the plasma relay room. His talents could be put to better use.
Janeway: B'Elanna?
Torres: Believe me, I've tried. When I give him more responsibility he doesn't do the work. Harren wants to be down on deck fifteen. It gives him more time to repostulate the origins of the universe.
Seven: As you can see, security is functioning at near-perfect efficiency. However, Commander, if you arrange the phasers in the weapons lockers so that the smaller rifles were in front, they could be more easily removed in the event of an emergency.
Tuvok: I'll look into it.
Seven: Crewman William Telfer.
Emh: Billy. He certainly ruined my score.
Seven: He visits the Sickbay almost once a week complaining of illness. Invariably you examine him and find nothing wrong.
Emh: Mister Telfer is a hypochondriac. I'd treat him for it, but he's afraid of medication.
Janeway: Have you tried counseling?
Emh: He's afraid of that, too. All I can do is scan him and offer him reassurance.
Seven: Wasting your time and medical resources.
Kim: What about Astrometrics? Looks like you could use some improvement yourself, Seven.
Seven: You are correct, unfortunately. Tal Celes, sensor analyst grade three. Her work must be constantly double checked. She should be removed from Astrometrics and reassigned elsewhere. Perhaps to Engineering.
Torres: Forget it. I've got my own problems to fix, remember?
Janeway: That'll be all, Seven, thank you. Dismissed.
Chakotay: Captain?
Janeway: They've never been on an away mission. Mortimer Harren, William Telfer, Tal Celes. None of them.
Chakotay: They get off the ship whenever we have general leave.
Janeway: I mean a working away mission.
Chakotay: Harren never volunteers. Celes can't get past the proficiency requirements. And Telfer always seems to get a note from his doctor.
Janeway: Something's got to be done about this.
Chakotay: What can we do? There are always a few who don't make it past their first year on a starship. Normally, they're reassigned. But in our case, maybe we should relieve them of duty and let them pursue their own interests. It certainly wouldn't hurt general efficiency.
Janeway: They aren't drones, Chakotay. We can't just deactivate them. Is the Delta Flyer ready?
Chakotay: Flight-checked with provisions for a seventy two hour away mission. What have you got in mind, Captain?
Janeway: Three people have slipped through the cracks on my ship. That makes it my problem.
Telfer: The analytical aspects of the subspace infrared algorithm are fourfold.
Celes: Unfortunately, I have a threefold brain.
Telfer: You just have to break it down. Think of it as four smaller algorithms.
Celes: Okay, but what's the sequence?
Janeway: It's Zero G Is Fun. As you were. Zeta particle derivation, Gamma wave frequency, Ion distribution, Flow rate of positrons. Z.G.I.F. Zero G Is Fun. That's how you remember the sequence.
Celes: Thank you, Captain. I'll try.
Janeway: Good, because where we're headed, you're going to need it. I'll be briefing you this afternoon in Astrometrics. We leave first thing in the morning.
Janeway: Deck fifteen.
Mitchell: Captain on the deck!
Janeway: At ease. Junction room sixteen?
Mitchell: Over there, Captain.
Janeway: Of course. Crewman Mitchell, how have you been?
Mitchell: Never better, ma'am. Yourself?
Janeway: Not bad. Not bad at all.
Mitchell: Ah, to the left, ma'am.
Janeway: Thank you.
Janeway: Crewman Harren.
Harren: Captain Janeway, are you lost?
Janeway: I was, for a minute. I'll be briefing you this afternoon.
Harren: Well, there's been a mistake.
Janeway: Excuse me?
Harren: You have me assigned to an away mission. I have my duties here. I prefer not to leave my post.
Janeway: Ensign Culhane will cover for you. The pre-flight schedule is all there.
Harren: If this is charity, Captain, I don't want it.
Janeway: I didn't ask you what you want. I'm taking the Delta Flyer on an astronomical survey mission and your expertise is needed.
Harren: What do you know about my expertise?
Janeway: As much as I need to.
Harren: Well then, you might be interested to know that I'm about to disprove Schlezholt's theory of multiple big bangs.
Janeway: Really. Wang's second postulate has more lives than a cat, doesn't it? Once you think you've eliminated it, bam, it pops up again. I'll give you a hand if you'd like, when the away mission is over.
Janeway: Once we reach the cluster, we'll drop out of warp and maintain one quarter impulse on the sweep through the protostars. I'll be piloting the Delta Flyer. Celes, you're going to run an ongoing sensor analysis, providing data for your colleagues. Mister Harren, you'll be looking at subspace particle decay for anything new we might learn about star formation. And Mister Telfer, your job will be to look for signs of life. A long shot in this environment, but if it's out there, I'm sure you'll find it. You'll have the rest of the evening to familiarize yourselves with the mission.
Telfer: Excuse me, Captain. If we find a planet, we're not planning on exploring the surface, are we?
Harren: That's a stellar nursery. Any planets will be gas giants.
Telfer: They may have moons.
Janeway: Don't worry. We'll run a complete scan for pathogens before we set foot anywhere. And the Delta Flyer is fully equipped to deal with medical emergencies. We'll be fine. Shuttlebay one, oh six hundred hours. Dismissed.
Seven: Celes is unreliable. Her sensor analyzes will be full of errors. You could be putting your lives at risk.
Janeway: Don't worry Seven, I'll check her work.
Seven: This mission could be better served with a more experienced crew.
Janeway: No, not this mission. Ever hear the tale of the Good Shepherd? If even one sheep strayed into the wilderness, the shepherd left the safety of the flock and went after it.
Seven: So you're intending to rescue them?
Janeway: In a manner of speaking. Maybe all it will take will be some personal attention from their Captain. Maybe something more. But I won't abandon a member of this crew, no matter what their problems might be.
Paris: Oh, poor guy. Rotting away down on deck fifteen. Counting the years till we get out of this godforsaken quadrant. It's a shame he doesn't have a superior officer who cares.
Torres: It's not my job to make everybody who works for me happy. Some people just don't want to fit in.
Neelix: I'll bet you haven't said two words to him.
Paris: Two words exactly. We collided in the corridor during a Borg attack. I said, excuse me. Since we were at Red alert and about to be destroyed, I think it was very considerate of me.
Torres: Well, Mister Considerate, why don't you go over there right now and offer him some encouragement. His first away mission, I'm sure he could use it.
Paris: Brushing up on the Delta Flyer specs?
Harren: I'm not a mechanic.
Paris: Oh. Then, what are you doing?
Paris: Very interesting.
Harren: What do you find most interesting about it?
Paris: Your creative use of the minus sign.
Harren: I see you have an appreciation for multivariate analysis. Maybe you missed your calling. It's a shame. I imagine it gets tedious up at the helm.
Paris: I enjoy the view.
Torres: Well?
Paris: I invited him over to watch our television set tonight. You don't mind, do you?
Telfer: Celes. Celes. Respond. Celes, respond.
Celes: You're not sick.
Telfer: Yes, I am.
Celes: No, you're not.
Telfer: Really
Telfer: I am.
Celes: We have to sleep.
Telfer: I can't go on this mission.
Celes: Yes, you can.
Telfer: No, I can't.
Celes: Yes.
Telfer: No.
Celes: Bye.
Telfer: Wait!
Telfer: See?
Emh: It's nothing.
Telfer: It's a fever.
Emh: Your temperature is point two degrees above normal.
Telfer: That's right.
Emh: A typical deviation easily prompted by emotional stress.
Telfer: Or a multiphasic prion.
Emh: You have not been infected by a prion.
Telfer: They attach themselves to the mitochondrial walls and they just
Emh: I've already scanned you.
Telfer: You can barely see them.
Emh: They aren't there.
Telfer: If they migrate to my cell membranes while I'm on the away mission, they could rupture and I
Emh: Crewman, I am not giving you a medical excuse. Not this time. Try to get some sleep. You shouldn't even have a medical tricorder. Believe me, you'll be so caught up in the excitement of exploration there won't be any time for worrying about infections, mitochondrial or otherwise. There's nothing like an away mission to remind a person of why we're out here.
Janeway: I'm going to one quarter impulse.
Celes: Should I start the sensor sweeps?
Janeway: We don't want to miss anything.
Janeway: Engine status?
Harren: Within parameters. That wasn't us.
Janeway: Anything on sensors?
Celes: Point zero zero five fluctuation in the spatial continuum. It looks like simple background noise.
Janeway: I agree.
Telfer: Anybody for lunch?
Janeway: Are you volunteering, William?
Telfer: Yes, ma'am.
Celes: I'll help. What would you like, Captain?
Janeway: Mortimer?
Harren: Even my mother didn't call me that.
Janeway: Well then, Mister Harren, are you hungry?
Harren: No. Thank you.
Janeway: I'll have the pasta soup. It should be listed under Neelix six five one.
Celes: Maybe I'll try that, too.
Janeway: I'm sure you'll like it.
Celes: I'm sure I will. Thanks for the suggestion. I'd better get back there.
Celes: Neelix six five one, two servings.
Telfer: Neelix six five one, two servings. What's wrong?
Celes: The captain checks every single thing I do.
Telfer: Oh, that's just standard procedure.
Celes: Then why isn't it standard procedure for you or Harren?
Telfer: Maybe she's giving you special attention.
Celes: Yeah, because she knows I need it. I wish I could go back to Voyager.
Telfer: Me too. There's always the escape pods.
Celes: Can you imagine?
Janeway: I understand you grew up on Vico Five. No wonder you became a cosmologist.
Harren: Wildest sky in the Alpha Quadrant.
Janeway: So they say. I've never been there.
Harren: Do you really believe that childhood environment is more important than genetically driven behavior patterns?
Janeway: Just making conversation.
Harren: Conversation filled with unspoken assumptions, which I don't agree with. I'm a product of my nucleic acids. Where and how I was raised are beside the point. So if you're trying to understand me better, questions about my home planet are irrelevant.
Janeway: All right then. How's your thirteenth chromosome? Missing a couple of base pairs in gene one seventy eight?
Harren: I signed on to Voyager because I needed a year of hands-on experience. It was a requirement for getting into the Institute of Cosmology on Orion One. If we hadn't gotten lost in the Delta Quadrant, I'd be there right now.
Janeway: Sorry to have delayed your career plans, but all of us have had our lives interrupted. That's the nature of space exploration. It's unpredictable.
Harren: Which is why I don't like space exploration. Stumbling from star to star like a, a drunken insect careening toward a light source is not my idea of a dignified existence. Pure theory is all that concerns me.
Janeway: Well, I'm not trying to change that. I'm simply trying to get every member of my crew working to their full capacity. That includes you, Mister Harren.
Harren: You don't feel responsible, Captain, for having three misfits aboard your ship? Well, if there's anything I can do to help relieve your guilt, please let me know.
Janeway: I'll keep that in mind.
Harren: Maybe I will join my colleagues for lunch. All this exploration has given me an appetite.
Janeway: Computer, identify the source of that spatial fluctuation.
Computer: Source unknown.
Janeway: Red alert! Aft section, report. Report!
Celes: Captain, are you all right?
Janeway: We need to get propulsion back online and figure out what hit us. What's out there?
Celes: I don't know, but whatever it was, it tore a plating section off the outer hull.
Harren: Ninety percent of our antimatter's been neutralized. The reaction's cold.
Telfer: So much for warp drive.
Harren: I'm bringing the impulse engines online, but they've been damaged. We'll be able to do one eighth impulse, no more.
Telfer: That should get us to the rendezvous point with Voyager in about ten years. Think they'll wait for us?
Janeway: Is the subspace transmitter online? Voyager, this is the Delta Flyer. We've been hit by an unknown phenomenon and taken heavy damage. We require immediate assistance. Repeat, we require immediate assistance. Transmit that continuously on all subspace frequencies. Anything on active scans?
Celes: Not yet.
Harren: It was a dark-matter proto-comet.
Janeway: I read a paper on that phenomenon once.
Harren: Written by me.
Janeway: Well, enlighten us, Mister Harren.
Harren: I hypothesized that a tertiary product of stellar consolidation would be a comet-like assemblage of dark matter. It would be attracted to any source of antimatter and neutralize it upon contact.
Telfer: So one of these things detected the antimatter in our warp core?
Harren: The term detected suggests a consciousness. This is a mindless astrophysical phenomenon, nothing more. We should eject our remaining antimatter or we could suffer another impact.
Janeway: I can't do that, not on the basis of an unproven hypothesis.
Harren: The forces involved are non-trivial. If we're hit again, we could lose our entire outer hull.
Janeway: Eject the warp core and we lose any hope of getting warp drive back. I need more evidence, and right now sensors aren't talking.
Harren: Maybe they are talking, but somebody doesn't know how to listen to them.
Janeway: You're out of line, crewman.
Harren: This isn't the time to be worried about her feelings, Captain. We're in trouble.
Celes: Captain, that hull plate? It's less than ten kilometers away. Impact from a dark-matter body might have left a quantum signature in the alloys.
Janeway: That's the evidence we're looking for. Do we have transporters?
Telfer: Yes, I've locked onto the plate.
Janeway: Beam it directly to the aft section. Celes, you're with me. Continue the repairs.
Janeway: No sign of burns or plasma residue. It seems to have been sheared off. Download this into the main computer.
Celes: Captain, I'm sorry.
Janeway: For what?
Celes: I thought that spatial fluctuation we ran into was background noise. Some noise.
Janeway: I saw the same sensor readings you did, and came to the same conclusion. You don't have to doubt yourself all the time.
Celes: Yes I do, and you should too. You're right to always be looking over my shoulder.
Janeway: We all make mistakes, even me.
Celes: Every day? Every time you report for duty? On Voyager it doesn't matter because nothing I do is that critical. Seven doesn't trust me with anything important. The crew is protected from my mistakes by the people around me, but out here I could get us killed.
Janeway: You went through Starfleet training courses.
Celes: I had to cram for every exam.
Janeway: At the Academy, I was infamous for my all-nighters.
Celes: Every night? Because that's what it took. That's the only way I made it through. Not to mention the sympathy votes. The conflict on Bajor worked in my favor. The Federation was so eager to have Bajorans in Starfleet that my instructors gave me the benefit of the doubt. So did you, when you accepted my application.
Janeway: You showed evidence of unconventional thinking. I liked that. Not everybody would have thought to retrieve that hull plating.
Celes: Well, just don't trust me with the analysis. I guarantee I'll get it wrong.
Janeway: Well, with that attitude, I'm sure you will.
Celes: This has nothing to do with attitude, Captain. You and I are wired differently. To you, this is nothing but data. To me, it, it's a monster with, with fangs and claws. In my nightmares, I am chased by algorithms. My brain just wasn't built to understand this.
Janeway: We can find you another post on Voyager.
Celes: There isn't another post on Voyager, not for me. Unless you need a waitress in the mess hall.
Janeway: You know, there's more to duty than the ability to manipulate algorithms. Everybody on Voyager has showed a courage far beyond what I could have expected. So have you.
Celes: If we were still in the Alpha Quadrant, would that be enough to keep me on board?
Janeway: I can't answer that.
Celes: I don't deserve to be on your ship, Captain. And I'm not really a part of Voyager. I just live there.
Harren: Pressure's increasing. The EPS relays are fused. Cut the plasma flow. Cut the plasma! I could have been killed! What's wrong with you?
Telfer: Everything.
Harren: If you want something to fantasize about, try imagining how it'll feel if our hull is breached and we die of vacuum exposure. Our blood will vaporize and our cell membranes will rupture. Surely you know the symptoms better than I do.
Telfer: Let's not talk about it, all right?
Harren: Nothing disagrees with me more than having to put theories into practical use, but there's no choice, so pay attention to what we're doing here. You can check yourself into Sickbay when we get back.
Telfer: And you can go back to deck fifteen.
Harren: That's right, where I don't have to rely on you or your intellectually deficient friend.
Telfer: At least I have a friend. Don't you ever get lonely down there?
Harren: In the company of my own thoughts? Never.
Telfer: I don't believe that. Spend some time with us when we get back. You might enjoy yourself.
Harren: A hypothesis that would require testing. I'm a theoretician, remember?
Janeway: Captain's log, Delta Flyer, stardate, 53764.3. We've been running on minimal power for six hours. Still no response to our distress call, and no answers from the computer on what hit us. For now, it looks like we're on our own.
Janeway: Our scans of the hull fragment were inconclusive. We found some displaced positrons that could indicate a dark-matter impact.
Telfer: But could have been caused by something else.
Harren: Proof enough.
Janeway: Not enough for me. Not enough to jettison the remaining antimatter. There's a gas giant only a few hours from our current position. T class, surrounded by orbital rings, including one that's radiogenic. We could use those particles to reinitialize our warp reaction.
Telfer: With ten percent of our antimatter left we'd only be able to make warp two, but it would be enough to get us back on the road.
Janeway: Set a course.
Celes: Another spatial fluctuation.
Janeway: Can you localize it?
Celes: It's somewhere within the distance of ten thousand kilometers. Another one closer, about seven thousand kilometers.
Harren: It's being drawn toward our antimatter. Eject the core.
Janeway: Open a channel. All hailing frequencies. This is Captain Janeway of the Federation vessel Delta Flyer. We are on a mission of peaceful exploration. Please identify yourself.
Telfer: No response.
Harren: Of course not. It's a natural phenomenon. Captain, we only have a few seconds.
Janeway: I'm firing a photon torpedo. There's enough antimatter in the detonation chamber to draw that proto-comet, if that's what it is.
Telfer: The torpedo's away. Distance, one thousand kilometers. One thousand five hundred.
Celes: No spatial disruptions.
Janeway: Find the source of that sound.
Telfer: Oh, no.
Harren: That's not possible.
Janeway: Where is he?
Celes: I can't locate his bio-signature.
Janeway: He's not out there. He's not in space, not in subspace. It doesn't make sense.
Telfer: Inside me.
Janeway: Activate the transporter. Try to get a lock on whatever's inside him. Tricorder isn't picking up anything.
Telfer: But I can feel it.
Celes: I can't get a lock. It's like something is there, but it's not there.
Telfer: Oh, it's there.
Janeway: Unfortunately, I have to agree.
Harren: Obviously, whatever hit us was no proto-comet. I was wrong.
Janeway: Maybe you weren't, not entirely. Sensors can't scan it and transporters can't lock on to it. Maybe this is some kind of dark-matter lifeform.
Harren: It's impossible. Molecules that complex would collapse under their own weight. They could never support life.
Janeway: It might be time to revise your theory. Where did they take you?
Telfer: I don't know. It was dark. God, I could feel breathing all around me.
Janeway: Did anyone try to communicate with you?
Telfer: I couldn't see. I tried to say something, but there wasn't enough air. I tried to move, but something was pressing down on me. Hypospray. Tetrovaline. It will put me out.
Janeway: If I sedate you, it could lower your immune response, and you need to stay conscious. Do you understand?
Celes: Billy, if it wanted to kill you it would have done it by now. It never would have sent you back here. Maybe it was trying to scan you or something.
Telfer: If it wanted to get to know me better, it should have just asked me out for a drink.
Janeway: Celes, keep an eye in him. Harren.
Janeway: I'm setting a course for those rings. Shunt as much power as you can to the impulse engines.
Harren: We never should have left Voyager.
Janeway: I've got news for you, crewman. Voyager isn't exactly a safe haven. We've been chased across the Quadrant by far worse than whatever's out there. The Vidiians, Species 8472, the Borg. But I guess if somebody's hiding down on deck fifteen they might not be aware of it.
Harren: I wasn't meant to be an explorer.
Janeway: And I wasn't meant to guide a ship across an unknown Quadrant.
Harren: Then we're both victims of circumstance.
Janeway: Oh, I've seen things I've never imagined. Grown closer to people than I ever thought possible. I wouldn't call myself a victim, and I wouldn't trade the last six years for anything.
Harren: Then you've been deluded by the inexhaustible human capacity to avoid the truth. You're the one hiding, not me. I've got you three more percentage points of impulse.
Janeway: I'll take it. Setting a course. Isn't there any part of you that feels a bond with the rest of us? When we escape from the Borg or discover a new type of star, don't you feel some pride of accomplishment? When you're in the mess hall, alone at your table in the corner, don't you see the friendships around you and wish, even for a microsecond, you were part of them?
Harren: You don't know me at all.
Janeway: No, but I'd like to. That was the whole point of this mission. But I guess it hasn't worked out like I'd planned.
Harren: Incoming transmission.
Janeway: Source?
Harren: It's a Starfleet frequency. Must be Voyager.
Janeway: Voyager, this is the Delta Flyer. We've been hit by an unknown phenomenon and taken heavy damage. We require immediate assistance. Repeat, we require immediate assistance.
Harren: Subspace echo.
Janeway: Maybe not. There's a point zero zero five deviation in the carrier wave.
Harren: That's the same degree of spatial fluctuation left by our pursuers. They're sending our distress signal back to us.
Janeway: Modified. They might be trying to communicate.
Harren: They're taunting us.
Janeway: Not necessarily. Try to adjust the universal translator for
Celes: Captain! He went right through the forcefield.
Janeway: Billy, what are you doing?
Telfer: It's activating my motor neurons. I can't make it stop. I'm sorry, Captain. You've got to stop it.
Celes: It's okay. Billy, it's okay. It's okay.
Telfer: It's in here!
Harren: It's tapping into our systems.
Janeway: Wait. It may be trying to communicate.
Harren: It's into our environmental controls. We've got to stop it.
Janeway: Hold your fire!
Janeway: What the hell is wrong with you?
Harren: It was trying to kill us.
Janeway: You don't know that.
Harren: We were at risk.
Janeway: I gave you a direct order.
Harren: What if you were wrong?
Telfer: I could hear its thoughts.
Janeway: Explain.
Telfer: When it left me I could hear what it was thinking. Do not belong. That's what it said. Do not belong.
Harren: We don't belong here.
Celes: Or it didn't belong in the Delta Flyer.
Janeway: Maybe that's why it was tapping into the environmental controls. It was trying to survive in a place it didn't belong.
Harren: That's speculation.
Janeway: Based on direct observation. You murdered an alien being and destroyed any chance we had to make first contact.
Celes: We just lost another section of hull.
Janeway: How far are we from the gas giant?
Celes: Two hundred thousand kilometers.
Janeway: I'm taking the Flyer into the radiogenic ring. With any luck, they won't follow.
Celes: We can't survive in there for more than a few minutes.
Janeway: That should be enough to reinitialize the warp core.
Janeway: Start continuous transport of radiogenic particles directly into the reaction chamber. When it's approaching critical mass, let me know. Watch for any sign of pursuit. How are you doing?
Telfer: I always had this alarm in my head, Sort of an internal Red alert. It was like a warning system that would tell me I was sick or dying, or something. Mitochondrial prions, food poisoning, a head cold. It was always there.
Janeway: And now it's not?
Telfer: It's gone. I don't understand.
Janeway: Maybe I do. When I was a girl, I was afraid of the ocean. I liked to swim, but in a pool or a pond where I knew exactly what was beneath me. But in the open water, with no way to know what was down there? It scared me to death. It wasn't until my first year at the Academy, after I went through zero G training in the Coral Sea, that I finally got over it. I think you just came up from your first deep dive.
Celes: They're in pursuit.
Celes: Three minutes, twenty seconds to intercept.
Harren: We'll need twice that to reinitialize warp reaction.
Janeway: Get into the escape pods.
Celes: Captain.
Janeway: Plot a course away from the planet. I'm going to fire a phaser volley and hopefully set off a chain reaction of the radiogenic particles. It might be enough to disable our friends.
Telfer: You'll be disabled, too.
Janeway: Not if I go to full thrusters and keep in front of the shock wave. If I don't make it, head for the L class moon in the next system. You could survive there for weeks if you have to. Enough time for Voyager to pick up your distress signal. Now get moving.
Celes: No. You'll have a better chance if we're with you.
Janeway: Go!
Celes: We might not have contributed much on Voyager, but what we do here matters. We're the crew here, and the crew does not abandon its Captain.
Janeway: All right, it's your choice.
Harren: Then I'll be going alone.
Janeway: Good luck.
Janeway: Charge phaser banks. Stand by to divert all power to thrusters.
Celes: Escape pod one is occupied and ready, Captain.
Janeway: Launch pod one.
Telfer: Escape pod away.
Janeway: How close are our pursuers?
Celes: Sixty five seconds to intercept.
Janeway: Stand by to fire.
Celes: Captain, the escape pod is altering course. It's heading for the aliens.
Janeway: Janeway to Harren.
Janeway: What are you doing?
Harren: If they have to deal with me, it should give you a few more seconds to get away. That's my theory, anyway.
Janeway: Resume your escape course now.
Harren: It's too late for that.
Janeway: You made a mistake, Harren. Don't make another one.
Harren: I'm done hiding, Captain.
Harren: A few seconds of exposure to real life, maybe I'll understand what I've been missing.
Telfer: He closed the channel.
Janeway: Get a transporter lock on that pod,
Celes: I can't. We're out of range.
Janeway: More power to the thrusters. Celes.
Celes: We're still not close enough.
Telfer: Thrusters at maximum.
Celes: Got him.
Janeway: Fire.
Celes: Shock wave approaching. Contact in four, three, two, one. More or less.
Janeway: My crew
Chakotay: Easy. They're sleeping. No serious injuries. Everyone's all right, though you gave us a good scare for a while. We received your distress call. We found the Flyer drifting above a gas giant. You were all unconscious.
Janeway: Any sign of another vessel or some kind of entity?
Chakotay: No. What happened?
Janeway: The good shepherd went after some lost sheep, and ran into a wolf.
Chakotay: Did she find them?
Janeway: I think she did.