Chakotay: The Devore ships are assuming a tactical formation.
Janeway: Bridge to Transporter room. Status.
Kim: All set here, Captain. Pattern cohesion looks stable.
Janeway: Cargo Bay one, Report.
Seven: The bay is clear.
Chakotay: They're powering weapons.
Paris: Why do they bother? They know we won't resist.
Janeway: Protocol, Mister Paris.
Chakotay: They're hailing. (A humanoid with heavily defined zygomatic process but no eyebrows, and a ridge down the middle of his forehead comes on the viewscreen.)
Prax: Gaharay vessel, prepare to be inspected. Crew members are instructed to step away from their stations.
Janeway: We know the drill.
Prax: Sidearms and scanning equipment are to be set aside. Deviation from this or any other inspection protocols will not be tolerated.
Janeway: All hands, this is the Captain. Prepare to be boarded by Devore inspection teams. Give them your full cooperation. Let's get this over with.
Chakotay: Their soldiers have materialized on decks fifteen, eleven, four and one.
Kashyk: Captain Janeway, report to your Ready room.
Kashyk: Good morning, Captain. I took the liberty of playing this music throughout your ship. I thought it might help your crew relax. Sometimes these inspections can be stressful.
Janeway: How thoughtful.
Kashyk: I've replicated some coffee. Black, as usual?
Janeway: Black.
Kashyk: Prax here still refuses to try it but then, he's a man of few pleasures.
Kashyk: Captain, Please, make yourself at home.
Emh: Those cell cultures are extremely fragile. Please
Prax: You've been routing power through your transporter system. Why?
Torres: It's a routine diagnostic. We've been having trouble with our imaging scanners.
Prax: The problem is in the primary energizing coils. Focus your efforts there.
Torres: Thanks for the tip.
Prax: Contaminated antimatter. This material could interfere with our readings. A bionetic implant?
Seven: An interlink node. It permits communication with other Borg drones.
Prax: You are not a telepath.
Seven: No.
Kashyk: Remarkable. How old is this?
Janeway: About six hundred years. My grandfather gave it to me when I was a child.
Kashyk: It seems you have a long-standing obsession with exploration, Captain. I, on the other hand, have much more in common with this ancient soldier.
Janeway: He's from Earth's classical period. It produced some of our greatest artists as well.
Kashyk: Your culture has many contradictions. Violence and beauty, science and faith, all somehow mingled harmoniously. Like the counterpoint of this music. Mahler. Symphony Number One, am I correct?
Janeway: You're getting to know my musical database better than I do.
Kashyk: I've had time to review it since our last encounter.
Janeway: Tell me, are all of your inspections this personal?
Kashyk: I'm just trying to get to know you, Captain. There's no reason for us to be adversaries. I could be your friend, and right now you could certainly use one.
Janeway: Really? Why is that?
Kashyk: Your predicament? I don't expect it's been easy. Thousands of light years from home, navigating by strange stars, trespassing in other people's space, ignoring their laws.
Janeway: We're just trying to get back to Earth, Inspector.
Kashyk: Through the Devore Imperium?
Janeway: It's tough to avoid.
Kashyk: Still, most people make the effort. We don't exactly embrace outsiders.
Janeway: Gaharay?
Kashyk: It means strangers. Which brings me to a matter that could threaten our friendship. I've examined your crew manifest from our last inspection. Commander Tuvok, Ensign Vorik. Vulcans. Ensigns Suder and Jurot. Betazoids. All telepaths, and yet for some reason you neglected to mention them.
Janeway: For a very simple reason. They're dead. Tuvok, Vorik, and Jurot died in a shuttle crash about two months ago. Suder was killed in a conflict with a species called the Kazon.
Kashyk: That's fortunate, for you I mean. If I'd known you were harboring telepaths I would have had to arrest you for breaking our cardinal protocol.
Janeway: They were valued members of my crew, Inspector, not criminals.
Kashyk: Perhaps. Captain do you trust me?
Janeway: Not for a second.
Kashyk: Exactly, and why should you? Trust has to be earned. It's gradual. And yet it's the foundation of every relationship, professional and personal. It's also a concept alien to the telepathic races. Why take someone at their word when you can simply read their mind?
Prax: We've completed our inspection. There are no telepaths aboard. However, their sensor logs indicate they deviated from their assigned course on two occasions.
Janeway: In both cases, to avoid ion storms.
Prax: Imperative thirty two, codicil six twenty six. All Gaharay vehicles that deviate from prescribed flight vectors will be impounded, their crews detained and relocated.
Kashyk: Prax, it's clear the Captain didn't intend to break protocol. I expect we can overlook these infractions.
Prax: Sir? Yes, sir.
Kashyk: Captain, I'm a reasonable man, and you've been cooperative, but consider this a reminder. You have a long trip through Devore space and good friends can be an asset.
Janeway: I'll keep it in mind.
Paris: The Devore vessels are out of range.
Janeway: Bridge to transporter team. You're clear.
Seven: Cargo Bay one to Ensign Kim. Pattern enhancers are in place.
Kim: Initiating rematerialization sequence.
Torres: Harry?
Torres: I'm routing maximum power to the transporters.
Kim: Got it. Align the confinement beam to ten angstroms. Energizing.
Seven: Ensign Kim, the confinement beam is unstable.
Kim: We're trying to correct it now.
Janeway: What's the problem?
Seven: We are unable to consolidate their patterns. They've been in suspension too long.
Janeway: Harry, increase power to the imaging scanners.
Kim: Aye, Captain.
Kim: It's working.
Janeway: Nice work, Harry. All our guests are present and accounted for.
Kir: Captain.
Janeway: They're gone. For now.
Janeway: Captain's log, supplemental. After weeks of playing hide and seek with the Devore inspectors, our goal is near. A transport vessel that will take our passengers to a wormhole leading out of hostile territory.
Janeway: Back to your old self again?
Kir: Each time we do this, I feel as thought I've left a few molecules behind in your Cargo bay.
Janeway: Well, I'll have someone scan the room if it'll make you feel better. Kir, we just received an encoded message from the transport vessel.
Kir: They've changed the rendezvous point again.
Janeway: I'm afraid so.
Kir: Did they send the new coordinates?
Janeway: We're still waiting for them.
Tuvok: Captain, we may have another problem.
Emh: I've just treated Tuvok and two of the refugees for acute cellular degradation. I've repaired most of the damage but unfortunately the effect is cumulative.
Kir: Meaning?
Tuvok: If we continue to go into transporter suspension, some of us may not survive.
Chakotay: Bridge to Captain Janeway.
Janeway: Go ahead.
Chakotay: We're receiving another transmission.
Janeway: Acknowledged.
Seven: The new coordinates are here, within a Mutara-class nebula two point three six light years from our current position.
Chakotay: It's definitely out of the way. Less chance of being discovered, but it'll take two more days to get there.
Janeway: Two days. That increases the chances that we'll run into another inspection.
Tuvok: Given the frequency of patrols in that area, it's likely we'll be stopped at least once.
Janeway: Just what the Doctor didn't order. Tuvok, Seven, I want you to lay in a course that'll attract as little attention as possible. Avoid their colonies, space stations, tourist attractions, if they have any.
Neelix: The Ogre of Fire's Castle hovered over the forest like a great black spaceship, turning day into night. Flotter and Trevis knew they had to find a way to keep the Ogre from burning the forest down, but his castle, it was higher than the tallest tree. It seemed hopeless, until they discovered
Adar: A door.
Neelix: A door. Right, a mysterious door right in the middle of the
Adar: The clearing.
Neelix: You know, it's, it's not nice to read people's thoughts when they're telling a story.
Adar: I'm sorry.
Neelix: It's all right.
Neelix: Why don't you all go play by yourselves for a while. We'll finish the story later.
Janeway: How are they doing?
Neelix: Oh, fine, more or less. They don't understand what all the fuss is about, but they're telepaths, Captain. If the parents are concerned or fearful the children feel it, too. You did the right thing. If we hadn't taken them off that freighter, they'd be in a detention center by now.
Janeway: Well, we're going to make sure that doesn't happen. Is the kitchen still open or are you just serving stories?
Neelix: For you, it's always open.
Tuvok: I'm detecting a vessel, three hundred thousand kilometers and closing. The signature is Devore.
Chakotay: Red alert. Shields up. Bridge to Captain.
Janeway: More company, Commander?
Chakotay: Looks like it.
Janeway: Get our visitors to the Cargo Bay. Stand by for transporter
Janeway: Suspension.
Chakotay: Aye, Captain.
Janeway: Neelix.
Neelix: Right away. Come on now, we're going to go see your parents. Let's go.
Janeway: Report.
Chakotay: It's a scout ship. One pilot, no other crew.
Paris: The vessel hasn't raised shields or charged weapons.
Janeway: If this is another inspection, it's certainly a different approach.
Kim: We're being hailed.
Janeway: Open a channel.
Kashyk: Captain.
Janeway: Inspector.
Kashyk: It's urgent that we speak.
Janeway: You know the way to my Ready room.
Janeway: It's all right, Ensign. I submitted to your previous inspections because you outgunned me, but I don't see of your warships nearby. I have no intention of cooperating.
Kashyk: I'm not here to search Voyager.
Janeway: Then what do you want, Inspector?
Kashyk: Call me Kashyk, please. I never liked that title. In fact, I've left it behind.
Janeway: Did somebody offer you a promotion, or are you just having a bad day?
Kashyk: I'm defecting, and I need your help.
Janeway: Me?
Kashyk: I've come to ask asylum. Safe passage out of Devore space before I end up in a detention center myself.
Janeway: Now, why would I risk the safety of my crew by harboring a defector?
Kashyk: Because of what I'm about to tell you. If you continue on your present course, you'll be intercepted by a squadron of my warships. Voyager will be seized, your crew imprisoned or worse. The nebula is a trap, Captain, to catch vessels smuggling telepaths.
Janeway: You've inspected my ship three times. You know we aren't smuggling telepaths or anyone else.
Kashyk: What I know is that you have twelve refugees aboard right now. That you rescued them from a freighter three weeks ago, and that you've been concealing them in Cargo Bay one using your transporters. I could have exposed them at any time, but I wanted them to escape as much as you do. I can still protect them, but only if you take me with you. My people know about the wormhole. It's only a matter of time before they find it. You have no choice, Captain. I'm your only hope.
Janeway: This is our rendezvous point, inside this nebula. Unfortunately the transport vessel we're supposed to meet is no longer there. Inspector.
Tuvok: A Devore warship.
Janeway: One of a dozen positioned throughout the nebula. All invisible to our sensors until Kashyk showed me how to compensate for their refractive shielding.
Seven: Your soldiers intercepted the transport ship?
Kashyk: Over a week ago. We were the ones who changed the rendezvous coordinates. Two vessels carrying refugees have already been seized. Voyager would have been next.
Janeway: All right Inspector, you helped us avoid this ambush. What now?
Kashyk: We'll have to get your passengers to the wormhole on our own. These are the schedules and routes of our patrols, along with tactical data on our shield and weapons configurations. Enough to ensure that you avoid another inspection.
Janeway: How long before you're missed?
Kashyk: Well, I took two weeks leave. Enough time, I hope, to find the wormhole and get your passengers safely through it and myself, as well.
Tuvok: Your data is useful, but it doesn't guarantee our success.
Kashyk: No, for that you'll need my guidance and some luck.
Janeway: I'll have to take this up with the Brenari. See what they think of their new benefactor. I'll let you know what they decide. I'll have to insist you remain under guard. No hard feelings.
Kashyk: No hard feelings.
Kir: It's unusual, but not unheard of. There have been sympathizers before. Kashyk may be telling the truth.
Chakotay: Maybe you should just read his thoughts.
Kir: Devore soldiers undergo years of mental training to prevent that.
Tuvok: He might be telling the truth, but he also might be using us to find the wormhole.
Chakotay: So what do we do, throw him in the Brig?
Janeway: No, we take him up on his offer to help, see how it plays out. But I want round the clock security. We need to watch his every movement. That leaves us with our next question. How do we find the wormhole?
Kir: I've given it some thought. There's a scientist named Torat. He's from a nearby system. He's rumored to know more about the wormhole than anyone. He might help us, for a price.
Janeway: A price?
Kir: His species power their ships with a fluidic alloy that's difficult to find.
Tuvok: Perhaps we can replicate it.
Kir: I have some data on it's composition.
Janeway: See what you can do. In the meantime we'll set a course for Torat's planet, try to track him down.
Janeway: Nervous?
Kashyk: Let's just say I'm not used to other people deciding my fate.
Janeway: Until today, you were part of a government responsible for persecuting thousands of innocent people. Why the sudden change of heart?
Kashyk: There's nothing sudden about it. I've been looking for a way to escape for years. Voyager was the perfect opportunity.
Janeway: How so?
Kashyk: Well, what are you suggesting? I ask a Brenari vessel for assistance? They'd throw me out an airlock. Besides, you're something of a humanitarian, Captain. I've read your database. I know all about Starfleet philosophy. Unless you left those ideals behind in the Alpha Quadrant?
Janeway: I certainly don't grant asylum to every person I meet. Especially ones who ransack my ship and terrorize my crew. You're asking me to believe you're someone else, and that's a leap of faith I'm not ready to make.
Kashyk: You're turning me away.
Janeway: No. No, I'm going to give you safe passage to the wormhole in return for your help in getting us there, but I'm also imposing some restrictions. You'll have your own quarters but limited access to Voyager's systems and your whereabouts will be monitored at all times.
Kashyk: I'm used to being surrounded by armed guards. Makes me feel secure.
Janeway: Only this time they answer to me. Consider them a reminder that Voyager is my ship.
Kashyk: I don't think anyone could doubt that.
Janeway: Captain's log, supplemental. It's taken us nearly two days, but we've managed to locate Torat, the man who's supposedly an expert on wormholes. Unfortunately, he seems reluctant to share his expertise.
Paris: He's trying to evade us.
Janeway: Hail him again.
Chakotay: Mister Torat doesn't seem too trusting. Maybe he's been through one inspection too many.
Tuvok: No response. He's deactivated his communication system.
Kim: I think I can tap into his computer, override the lockout.
Janeway: Do it.
Torat: Go away!
Janeway: This is Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Federation Starship Voyager. We have no hostile intent.
Torat: Then why are you pursing me?
Janeway: We'd just like to ask you
Torat: Federations, Imperiums. Why do you people feel such a need to align yourselves with monolithic organizations?
Janeway: I'd be glad to discuss that and any other philosophical issue you care to raise if you would just slow down and talk.
Torat: Sorry, can't do that. I'm late for a very important conference.
Kashyk: This is a waste of time. Disable his ship.
Janeway: That's what we call overkill, Inspector. Ensign, can we transport at this range?
Kim: Absolutely. Energizing.
Janeway: Welcome aboard. Your reputation precedes you.
Janeway: Twenty centiliters of mercurium isochromate. No impurities, and this is just a sample. We've synthesized enough to power your ship for a year.
Torat: It doesn't matter. I've never heard of this wormhole you're looking for, or these so-called refugees.
Janeway: Well, they've heard of you.
Torat: Well, no doubt. My research is famous.
Janeway: Think of all the stars you could research once you've infused your propulsion system with this.
Torat: There's no point in bribing me.
Kashyk: He's right. He couldn't help us if he wanted to.
Torat: What do you mean by that?
Kashyk: I doubt you'd know a wormhole from a dark matter inversion.
Janeway: Professor Kashyk is another expert I've retained to help us with this matter. I'm afraid he's not as impressed with your work as I am. In fact, he discouraged me from seeking you out.
Torat: Professor Kashyk? Never heard of you.
Kashyk: Not surprising, considering you toil in scientific obscurity.
Torat: Obscurity! I've discovered over sixty astronomical phenomena!
Kashyk: Not worth the sensors they were recorded on.
Janeway: There's no need to insult the man. Just because he doesn't know how to find an interspatial flexure.
Torat: Interspatial flexure? Why didn't you say so in the first place? He said wormhole, a layman's term that that covers any number of phenomena. I am familiar with a certain anomaly that could be categorized as an interspatial flexure.
Kashyk: Where is it?
Torat: Actually, a better question would be, where is it now? It's really quite interesting. The aperture of the phenomenon, which I prefer to call an intermittent cyclical vortex, is unfixed. It manifests infrequently for only brief periods of time and in varying locations. I can give you the last four locations. Perhaps you can extrapolate the next one, if you're as accomplished a scientist as you claim to be.
Janeway: Think.
Kashyk: I'm thinking.
Janeway: Think harder. Four wormhole appearances less than twenty light years apart. There's no pattern.
Kashyk: Did you apply a fractal coefficient?
Janeway: Didn't work.
Kashyk: Neutrino flux parameters? Statistical algorithms?
Janeway: Every one I could find. This wormhole defies analysis. Maybe Torat was right. We're just out of our league.
Kashyk: It's not like you to give up. Think harder.
Janeway: How do you predict a random occurrence?
Kashyk: You follow your instincts. Captain?
Janeway: Counterpoint. It's in all great music. Parallel melodies playing against one another. We've been looking at the obvious, frequency, location, timing, but each of those parameters could have a counterpoint in subspace.
Kashyk: If we could run an algorithm based on subspace harmonics, it might reveal our pattern.
Janeway: Computer, run a subspatial transkinetic analysis on the wormhole data.
Computer: Analysis in progress.
Janeway: This'll take a minute.
Kashyk: I'm going to miss this coffee of yours.
Janeway: Well, I will give you the recipe.
Kashyk: Thank you.
Janeway: You don't sound too happy about leaving.
Kashyk: The Brenari aren't about to embrace a former Inspector. I'll be feared, hated for what I represent.
Janeway: Anxiety doesn't become you, Inspector. Try to relax a little.
Kashyk: I suppose you liked me better in uniform.
Janeway: I haven't decided whether I like you at all.
Kashyk: We call them the Kolyan Kolyar. Infinite Spirals.
Janeway: Beautiful.
Kashyk: As a boy, I spent years gazing at these lights. This is the last time I'll ever see them.
Janeway: We have something similar back on Earth. The Aurora Borealis.
Kashyk: Which you too may never see again. I suppose we're both refugees, in a way.
Janeway: I'm still counting on getting this ship home.
Kashyk: Are you sure you'll be welcome when you do? I came across something else in your database. The Prime Directive.
Janeway: The Federation's cardinal protocol.
Kashyk: It seems you violated it when you rescued these telepaths.
Janeway: Well, let's just say I usually go with my instincts and sort it out later at the Board of Inquiry. Those Admirals and I were on a first name basis, you know. You're risking a lot, too. Why?
Kashyk: Three months ago my teams were inspecting a plasma refining vessel. We found a family of telepaths hiding in one of the extraction tanks. There was a child, very young. She'd been inside it for days, barely able to breathe. When I lifted her out and set her down on the deck, she thanked me. I sent her to a relocation center with the others, knowing full well what would happen to her. After that, I could think of nothing else, and when I couldn't stand it any longer. You're my deliverance, Captain.
Computer: Analysis complete.
Janeway: It worked. It looks like it'll appear in about three days, less than eight light years from here.
Kashyk: The Tehara system.
Janeway: Is that a problem?
Kashyk: There's an automated sensor array between here and Tehara.
Janeway: Can we go around it?
Kashyk: We'd never make it in time. We'll have to find a way to avoid detection.
Janeway: Let's do it in the morning. We've done enough for tonight. Are you saying goodbye? There will be other spirals.
Kashyk: They've just never looked quite so beautiful before. Could be the company I'm keeping.
Janeway: Or the polarization axis of the windows.
Kashyk: That must be it.
Janeway: How often does this array emit a scanning pulse?
Kashyk: Every forty seconds.
Janeway: Range?
Kashyk: Ten light years. The pulse is designed to track warp fields and impulse signatures. If we lower our power output to beneath it's detection threshold
Janeway: We could drift past undetected.
Kashyk: It's worth a try.
Janeway: Well, good night.
Kashyk: Captain, why don't you join me? I've been looking forward to trying your replicator. Well, I'm sure that I can come up with something to toast the evening. We've accomplished quite a bit today.
Janeway: I'm afraid that won't be possible. I had your replicator taken offline.
Kashyk: In case I decided to replicate a weapon.
Janeway: A safety precaution. You understand.
Kashyk: Better than anyone.
Janeway: Sleep well.
Kashyk: And you.
Janeway: As you were.
Tuvok: Fifteen seconds.
Kashyk: Our power output is below the detection threshold.
Tuvok: Ten seconds. Five, four, three, two.
Kashyk: We weren't detected.
Paris: Ten minutes and we'll be out of range.
Torres: Engineering to bridge, we've got a problem.
Torres: That pulse triggered a variance in the antimatter stream. It's not much, but it'll light us up like a beacon when the next pulse hits.
Janeway: Options.
Torres: I can't correct it in time, so that leaves shutting down the core.
Janeway: Do it.
Tuvok: The array has released another pulse.
Janeway: Time.
Tuvok: Twenty eight seconds.
Torres: Get down to the plasma injectors. Grab a tricorder and monitor the antimatter flow.
Vorik: Aye, sir.
Tuvok: Twenty seconds.
Janeway: B'Elanna.
Torres: Almost
Torres: There, Captain. I'm having a problem with the injectors.
Tuvok: Fifteen seconds. Ten seconds. Four, three two.
Kashyk: We've been detected. The array's transmitting an alert.
Janeway: Can we block it?
Tuvok: Negative.
Janeway: Stand down gray mode. B'Elanna, fire up the core. We're getting out of here.
Kashyk: Warships will be on their way, but we can still reach the wormhole.
Janeway: If we can find it. Tom, how long to the Tehara system?
Paris: Eleven hours at maximum warp.
Kim: Engines are back online.
Janeway: Engage.
Seven: Using the model you developed, we were able to narrow down the location of the wormhole's next appearance to a radius of two hundred thousand kilometers.
Kir: We can't determine its exact position until we reach the system, but we know it will open in roughly six hours.
Seven: It will remain open for two minutes at most.
Tuvok: I've devised a new shield modulation which should protect us against their weapons.
Kashyk: You're not planning to fight your way to the wormhole?
Janeway: If I have to.
Paris: Bridge to Captain Janeway.
Janeway: Go ahead.
Paris: Long range sensors have picked up two Devore warships heading right for us.
Tuvok: Time to intercept.
Paris: Six hours.
Janeway: Take the bridge. I'll be in Engineering. Kashyk.
Janeway: First we'll check those shield modifications, then we'll see if we can adjust our phasers to penetrate the Devore shields. If torpedoes don't work I want an alternative.
Kashyk: Captain, we have to talk. But not here.
Kashyk: I'm going back, to rejoin the warships. It's the only way I can guarantee your safety.
Janeway: Kashyk.
Kashyk: I'm still a ranking officer. I can take command of the inspection teams, make sure the refugees aren't discovered.
Janeway: You said yourself they're suspicious. Return now and you risk being caught.
Kashyk: I can keep them off track long enough to get you through that wormhole.
Janeway: It's too dangerous.
Kashyk: Kathryn.
Janeway: You asked for safe passage and I agreed, under the condition that you follow my orders.
Kashyk: You may stand a chance against one of our warships, but not against two. If I stay your best chance of escape will be lost.
Janeway: I could confine you to quarters. I was planning on asking you to stay with us once we got through the wormhole. I wouldn't mind having someone around who appreciates a bit of Tchaikovsky now and then.
Kashyk: Generous but, something tells me I wouldn't fit in any better on Voyager.
Janeway: Well, you wouldn't be the first wayward soul we've folded into our ranks. Your shuttle will be ready for launch within the hour.
Tuvok: Our course will put us just outside the Teharan system by the time the warships arrive.
Janeway: Your inspection teams have to be off Voyager before that wormhole opens.
Kashyk: Believe me, it will be the quickest inspection on record.
Tuvok: I'll be on the bridge. Your efforts have been greatly appreciated.
Kashyk: My pleasure.
Tuvok: Live long and prosper.
Kashyk: Thank you.
Kashyk: Begin pre-ignition sequence.
Janeway: I've made one adjustment to your plan. After the inspection, we're going to wait at the wormhole for as long as we can. Until it begins to collapse.
Kashyk: I may not be able to join you this time.
Janeway: Try.
Chakotay: They're assuming a tactical formation. Shields?
Janeway: No. We follow protocol. Bridge to transporter room.
Janeway: Status?
Kim: Ready, Captain. Pattern cohesion stable.
Janeway: Cargo bay one?
Seven: Clear.
Chakotay: They're hailing.
Janeway: On screen.
Prax: Gaharay vessel, prepare to be
Janeway: We've been through three inspections. Please explain why another is necessary.
Prax: Crew members are instructed to step away from their stations. Side arms and scanning equipment are to be set aside. Deviation from this or any other inspection protocols will not be tolerated.
Janeway: All hands, this is the Captain. Prepare to be boarded by Devore inspections teams. Give them your usual warm welcome.
Chakotay: Devore soldiers have materialized on decks fifteen, twelve, eight, four.
Janeway: And one.
Kashyk: Captain Janeway, report to your Ready room.
Kashyk: Captain. Good to see you again.
Janeway: Likewise.
Kashyk: Tchaikovsky. Of all the selections in your database, this remains my favorite.
Janeway: Mine, too.
Kashyk: I'm afraid Prax isn't impressed. He's solely concerned with his work, aren't you, Prax?
Prax: As you say, sir.
Kashyk: Yes, he's curious why you entered this sector. You're aware it's restricted.
Janeway: We were planning to study a supernova remnant not far from here.
Kashyk: You strayed a full light year from your course in order to observe an astronomical phenomenon?
Janeway: We're explorers.
Kashyk: Yes, I remember. I also remember warning you about going where you don't belong.
Janeway: Exploring can sometimes be hard to resist, Inspector.
Kashyk: Well, it's a romantic notion, Captain, but one I can't allow you to indulge. I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to leave our space immediately. Prax, why don't you check on our teams while I reiterate our protocols for Captain Janeway.
Janeway: Do they suspect anything?
Kashyk: Not yet, but our warships have been monitoring Voyager's movements for the past few days, and mine as well. I don't think we have much time. The Brenari?
Janeway: They're in transporter suspension.
Kashyk: And the wormhole?
Janeway: We've found it. It's twenty thousand kilometers off our port bow. We've determined that a photon torpedo properly calibrated will force open the threshold long enough for Voyager to get through.
Kashyk: Congratulations, Captain. For a while, I wasn't sure if even you could find it. Prax!
Kashyk: Go to Cargo Bay one. You'll find the transporter patterns for more than a dozen telepaths. Rematerialize them.
Prax: Yes, sir.
Janeway: Impressive. You gave a masterful performance.
Kashyk: I'm the one who's impressed, with your selflessness, your humanity. It made all this so much easier.
Janeway: Oh, but what about your selflessness? That touching story about the little girl. Was that a fabrication, too?
Kashyk: Oh, that incident was real. What I didn't tell you was that after wrestling with my ethics, I realized that I'd done the right thing in order to protect my people from a very real threat. Please. I insist.
Kashyk: Captain.
Kashyk: Access their forward sensor array. You should find neutrino emissions at roughly twenty thousand kilometers off the port bow. On screen. Target two photon torpedoes. When the first one detonates, the wormhole will open. Use the second one to destabilize its subspace matrix. That will destroy it. Prax, report!
Prax: I've isolated the bio-patterns.
Kashyk: Fire! It should have detonated. Those aren't neutrino emissions, they're antimatter residue signatures. There's no wormhole here. You created false readings.
Janeway: That is the theme for this evening, isn't it?
Kashyk: Prax, do you have the telepaths?
Prax: I have cargo containers.
Prax: Filled with vegetables.
Kashyk: Return to the bridge.
Janeway: Computer, change music selection. Mahler's Symphony Number One, Second Movement. Maybe this will help you relax.
Devore: Inspector, we have completed our inventory of the vessel. Two of their shuttlecraft are missing.
Kashyk: They couldn't have gone far. Why didn't they appear on our long range scans? Of course! Adjust their scanners to compensate for refractive shielding.
Janeway: Well, you gave us the specifications. Seemed a shame to waste them.
Devore: We've located the two shuttlecraft. Range, twenty million kilometers.
Kashyk: Order our ships to pursue. Maximum speed!
Kir: We're approaching the coordinates. I'm firing the torpedo.
Woman: Kir, we're safe.
Prax: The shuttles have disappeared from sensors. We've scanned for a wormhole. If there was one, it's gone. I'll order Janeway and her crew removed. We'll confiscate the vessel, deliver them to the nearest detention center.
Kashyk: You're dismissed.
Prax: Imperative twelve, codicil six requires
Kashyk: To hell with protocol, Prax! Do you think either of us will benefit from having this failure on our records? As far as you're concerned, this incident never occurred. Make sure your teams share that understanding.
Kashyk: Well played, Captain. It seems I never did earn your trust.
Janeway: I had to take a few precautions. You understand.
Kashyk: Better than anyone.
Janeway: I never lied to you. My offer to take you with us was genuine, and it would still stand if you'd kept your part of the bargain.
Kashyk: For what it's worth, you made a tempting offer. The bridge is yours.


Emh: Turn ninety degrees to the left, please. Turn ninety degrees to the left, please. Turn ninety degrees to the right, please. About face. Try to hold still, please.
Naomi: Is it going to hurt?
Emh: Of course not. A few photons never hurt anybody.
Naomi: We didn't do this last year.
Emh: That's because last year I didn't realize what an exciting tool my holo-imager could be in the pursuit of medical knowledge.
Naomi: Is something wrong with me?
Emh: Your health is excellent. This is just another way to make sure that it stays excellent.
Naomi: Does my mother have to do this?
Emh: Your mother and everybody else on board. I made it part of the annual check-up. It's quite handy, really. By attuning the resonance spectrum along the subspace band I can take an image of my patients all the way down to the subatomic level.
Naomi: Subatomic level? I thought you said this wasn't going to hurt.
Emh: I did, and it won't.
Emh: There. See? Nothing to it.
Naomi: Try to hold still, please.
Emh: Are you making fun of me?
Naomi: No.
Emh: It'll only take a second to download your images into the medical database, if you'd like to stay for a moment and see what you look like from the inside out.
Kim: Why not?
Emh: Here we go.
Kim: Handsome fellow.
Emh: There's some scar tissue along the base of your lower skull. Computer, isolate the occipital plexus, magnification five hundred. There. Scarring along the dura mater.
Kim: From what?
Emh: An operation. Computer, isolate the cranial meninges, magnification one hundred. More scarring. No doubt about it. Somebody performed neurosurgery. And that somebody was me.These microlinear incisions are a dead giveaway. I developed that procedure myself.
Kim: I don't understand. I don't remember having an operation.
Emh: I'm a little confused as well, because I don't remember performing it.
Janeway: Who is it?
Emh: The Doctor.
Janeway: Come in.
Emh: I've finished giving the crew their annual physicals, but as usual the Captain was a no-show.
Janeway: Let's get it over with.
Emh: Specific complaints?
Janeway: None. How's the crew?
Emh: In good health, for the most part. I found a nascent alien retrovirus bouncing between personnel on decks ten and eleven, but managed to nip it in the bud. And there's been a little more wear and tear on Seven of Nine's cranial infrastructure. I'm going to double her maintenance routine. Cytometabolism is normal. Endocrine functions functioning.
Janeway: That's a relief.
Emh: I'd like you to drop by Sickbay at your earliest convenience. I've adjusted my holo-imager for deep body scans. You're the only member of the crew who hasn't posed for me yet.
Janeway: Maybe next week.
Emh: It's a fine instrument, really. I've already discovered something of a mystery with it. Apparently, I performed a complex neurosurgery on Harry Kim. According to the isotope decay around the scars, it was eighteen months ago.
Janeway: I don't remember that.
Emh: Neither do I, and neither does the patient. I checked my medical entries for that period. There's no mention of surgery.
Janeway: Could your holo-imager have misinterpreted the scans?
Emh: Possibly. The computer is double-checking the data now. I'd also like to run a complete diagnostic on my own program and have a look at my memory files.
Janeway: B'Elanna and Harry are both busy with the plasma relay repairs. Let's make sure you're next up on the list. Thank you, Doctor.
Emh: Hello, Seven.
Seven: Doctor.
Emh: I'm here to ask you a favor.
Seven: Another time.
Emh: I beg your pardon? SEVEN I am recalibrating the deflector dish. Come back tomorrow. I should be finished by then.
Emh: Looks like I'm two for two. Oh, the Captain's acting like she's allergic to me, and now my prized pupil won't even give me the time of day.
Seven: State your request.
Emh: A little mystery has cropped up. Evidence that I performed surgery on Ensign Kim a year and a half ago, before you came aboard. The trouble is, I don't remember it. I wanted you to help me run a self-diagnostic.
Seven: I will assist you, in one hour.
Emh: Fair enough.
Seven: Computer, locate the Emergency Medical Hologram.
Computer: The EMH is inactive.
Seven: Activate him.
Emh: Please state the nature of the medical emergency.
Seven: I'm here to assist you, as I agreed. I've run a preliminary diagnostic of your program. Your suspicions were correct.
Emh: I never asked you to run a diagnostic. Suspicions? What are you talking about?
Seven: You don't recall speaking to me in the Astrometrics lab one hour ago.
Emh: No. The last I remember, I was completing the yearly physicals.
Seven: You mentioned a neurosurgery you performed on Ensign Kim eighteen months ago.
Emh: Computer, locate the holoscans I took of Ensign Kim this morning. Any operation would show
Computer: Unavailable. That file has been deleted.
Emh: Let's have a look at my program.
Seven: A deletion in your short term memory buffer.
Emh: Our chat in Astrometrics never got filed. That's why I can't remember it. If I were given to paranoia, I'd say someone is trying to keep me from finding out what happened eighteen months ago. My photo album.
Seven: Doctor?
Emh: I was quite a shutterbug back then. Not a day went by when I didn't record an image for posterity. Let's have a walk down memory lane. Meet me on holodeck two.
Emh: Computer, display all holo-images taken on Stardate 50979
Computer: Those holo-images have been deleted.
Emh: Deleted? By whom?
Computer: Unknown.
Seven: I'm detecting residual photons in the holo-buffer. It may be possible to partially reconstruct the images.
Emh: Try.
Seven: I've restored five images. They are degraded but intact.
Emh: Let's see them.
Emh: The mess hall.
Seven: Do you remember this?
Emh: No. Who is that? The Ensign. It seems to be her birthday.
Seven: I've never seen her before.
Emh: The Ensign again. I never went on a shuttle mission with Harry Kim, and certainly not with her. And again.
Seven: I've isolated your memory files from stardate 50979.
Emh: They weren't deleted?
Seven: No.
Emh: Then why can't I remember them?
Seven: The program was rewritten to deny you access to those memories. I'm trying to restore them.
Janeway: Hear, hear.
All: Hear, hear.
Emh: Say cheese.
All: Cheese.
Seven: What happened?
Emh: I was in the mess hall.
Seven: The files are difficult to localize. The memories will be out of sequence.
Kim: What was that?
Jetal: Our sensors are dead.
Kim: Make a wish.
Emh: They've stopped.
Seven: One moment.
Jetal: I'm going to kill you.
Emh: Ensign, I haven't seen you in months.
Jetal: Price I pay for staying in good health, I guess.
Paris: Acetylcholine, twenty five microliters. It's not helping. I'm getting massive synaptic failure.
Emh: That doesn't make any sense.
Kim: This is the last one.
Emh: Say cheese.
All: Cheese.
Emh: Call the Captain.
Janeway: I don't recognize this species. Seven?
Seven: They are unknown to the Borg.
Tuvok: Perhaps these images have been manipulated.
Emh: No, they're real. The image buffer would have shown signs of tampering. I have a different theory. I believe there was an attack on Voyager by this species and all our memories of the event were erased. This is the unknown crewman I told you about. Ensign Jetal. The question is, who was she? An alien intruder posing as a Starfleet Ensign? Of course, it's impossible to tell from a photograph, but one thing is certain. We are in immediate danger.
Tuvok: How so?
Emh: Only a few hours ago, as I was beginning this investigation, someone shut down my program and eliminated all my memories of the last twenty four hours.
Seven: An intruder may be on board.
Janeway: Run a deck by deck security sweep.
Tuvok: Understood.
Janeway: Report to the Astrometrics lab and recalibrate the sensors. See if you can detect any cloaked vessels nearby.
Emh: I'll review the medical records of the crew. Ensign Kim may not have been the only one who was injured during the attack.
Janeway: No, I want you to deactivate yourself for now. We'll erect a security field around the main computer and encrypt all pathways leading to your program. If someone does try to tamper with you again, I want to be ready.
Emh: Captain.
Janeway: It's for your own safety, Doctor. Thank you for bringing this to my attention.
Emh: You will keep me informed?
Janeway: Absolutely. Dismissed.
Emh: Computer, transfer my program from the mobile emitter to the Sickbay systems.
Computer: Transfer complete.
Emh: Computer, duplicate all of my memory files recorded within the last forty eight hours.
Computer: Duplication complete.
Emh: Now, I'm going offline. If my program is altered without my authorisation, reactivate me and restore the duplicate memory files. Interface with the holo-imaging device. If anybody enters this room, commence imaging in five second intervals.
Computer: Acknowledged.
Emh: Computer, deactivate EMH. (Later, someone enters Sickbay and accesses the EMH memory core. The holo-imager activates as files are deleted. The person leaves and the EMH is reactivated.)
Emh: Please state the nature of the medical emergency. Hello?
Computer: Restoring memory files. Restoration complete.
Janeway: Believe me, I was there.
Chakotay: So was I.
Tuvok: Commander Chakotay is correct.
Janeway: Oh? And how would you know?
Tuvok: In my youth, I studied many forms of martial art, including the Sumo of Earth. I have followed the sport ever since.
Janeway: It was the 77th Emperor's Cup. Takashi forced Kar-pek out of the circle in less than three seconds. I had a fifth row seat.
Chakotay: Then you must have been ordering sake, because Takashi's knee broke the sand and the referee gave the match to Kar-pek.
Tuvok: Exactly.
Janeway: If this is another house call, it'll have to wait. As you can see, I've got a mutiny on my hands.
Emh: A mutiny? I suppose that's better than a conspiracy.
Seven: Doctor?
Emh: Tell her, Captain. Describe how you tampered with my program. How it was you all along.
Tuvok: Perhaps you should accompany me to Sickbay, Doctor.
Emh: Et tu, Tuvok? You're conspiring against me, all of you. Why?
Janeway: In my ready room.
Emh: You've been manipulating my program. Don't deny it.
Janeway: I don't intend to.
Emh: But, the alien ship, the intruder? Did that attack actually happen?
Janeway: Yes. You were damaged during the incident.
Emh: Damaged?
Janeway: It caused a conflict in your programming that couldn't be resolved.
Emh: What kind of conflict?
Janeway: I had no choice but to deny you access to your memories of those events.
Emh: What kind of conflict?
Janeway: If I told you that, I might set the whole thing in motion again.
Emh: This conflict in my programming.
Janeway: Yes.
Emh: That's not good enough.
Janeway: It'll have to be.
Emh: Captain!
Janeway: I've made a command decision for your own benefit and the welfare of this entire crew. I'm not willing to debate it.
Emh: How would you like it if I operated on you without your consent or without your knowledge?
Janeway: If the operation saved my life? I could live with it.
Emh: I don't believe you. You'd feel as violated as I do right now.
Janeway: Whether you believe me or not is beside the point. A year and a half ago the only solution was to rewrite your program. I have to perform that same procedure now.
Emh: That isn't fair.
Janeway: You're malfunctioning, and you need to be repaired. Return to Sickbay and wait for my orders.
Chakotay: Doctor.
Emh: What's happening? What are you doing?
Seven: Lieutenant Torres requires a copy of your most recent memory files, including the backups.
Emh: You're going to rewrite my program.
Chakotay: The Captain thinks it's for the best. I'm sorry. B'Elanna and Seven are setting up the procedure right now. In the meantime, you're to brief Mister Paris about any experiments you're performing, any tests.
Paris: I'll be filling in while your program's offline.
Paris: Okay, so, you're running some kind of cell analysis?
Emh: Yes.
Paris: Well, lets take a look.
Emh: What happened eighteen months ago?
Paris: Doc.
Emh: Why won't the Captain tell me?
Paris: She has her reasons.
Emh: And you agree with her.
Paris: I was there and yes, I agree with her.
Janeway: Come in. Are you having a little trouble regenerating?
Seven: My alcove is functioning properly. I am having trouble with the nature of individuality.
Janeway: There's a time and a place for philosophical discussion. Two in the morning in my quarters isn't one of them. But I'll tell you what. Meet me in the mess hall tomorrow.
Seven: Tomorrow will be too late. We'll have already rewritten the Doctor's program by then.
Janeway: And violated his rights as an individual.
Seven: Precisely.
Janeway: If you've come to act as my conscience, you're a little late. I considered these issues eighteen months ago, as I did again this morning. I came to the same conclusion.
Seven: Your conclusion is wrong.
Janeway: Coffee, black. Lukewarm. Now I've told that replicator a dozen times about the temperature of my coffee. It just doesn't seem to want to listen. Almost as if it's got a mind of its own. But it doesn't. A replicator operates through a series of electronic pathways that allow it to receive instructions and take appropriate action, and there you go. A cup of coffee, a bowl of soup, a plasma conduit, whatever we tell it to do. As difficult as it is to accept, the Doctor is more like that replicator than he is like us.
Seven: He would disagree.
Janeway: I'm sure he would, but I can't let that change my decision. I learned that the hard way when his program almost self-destructed. I won't take that risk again.
Seven: The risk isn't yours to take.
Janeway: If one of my crew chose to put a phaser to his own head, should I let him?
Seven: It would depend on the situation.
Janeway: It always depends on the situation, Seven, but we can debate philosophy another time.
Seven: When you separated me from the Collective, I was an unknown risk to your crew, yet you kept me on board. You allowed me to evolve into an individual.
Janeway: You're a human being. He's a hologram.
Seven: And you allowed that hologram to evolve as well, to exceed his original programming. And yet now you choose to abandon him.
Janeway: Objection noted. Good night.
Seven: It is unsettling. You say that I am a human being and yet I am also Borg. Part of me not unlike your replicator. Not unlike the Doctor. Will you one day choose to abandon me as well? I have always looked to you as my example, my guide to humanity. Perhaps I've been mistaken. Good night.
Janeway: I'd like to think I made my decision eighteen months ago for all the right reasons. The truth is, my own biases about what you are had just as much to do with it. At the very least, you deserve to know exactly what happened. If you're willing.
Emh: I'm ready.
Paris: You're standing on my foot.
Emh: I am not.
Torres: Shush.
Neelix: If you ask me, they should have just locked the turbolift and thrown away.
Jetal: Neelix, the power's down. Jetal to Torres.
Torres: Er, go ahead, Ensign. Or should I say.
All: Surprise!
Jetal: I'm going to kill you.
Chakotay: I want you to go along on a few of the shuttle surveys. If I can talk you into it.
Emh: Another away mission? Certainly! I'm flattered.
Kim: I guess the birthday girl and I get the pleasure of your company, Doc.
Chakotay: You launch at nineteen hundred hours, shuttlebay one.
Jetal: Hello, Doctor.
Emh: Ensign Jetal. I haven't seen you in months.
Jetal: The price I pay for staying in good health.
Emh: So, keeping busy down on deck eleven?
Jetal: Too busy. We're modifying one of the shuttles, making it more maneuverable and more cool.
Emh: I see you've been working with Mister Paris. My condolences.
Kim: I thought I picked up a slight distortion in subspace, but it's not there any more.
Jetal: Nothing on long range sensors but a few hydrogen atoms.
Kim: Candid shot?
Emh: Try to look natural.
Jetal: Oh, at least it's my good side.
Emh: Let's get one of the group.
Kim: This is the last one.
Emh: Say cheese.
Both: Cheese.
Jetal: Doctor, I have a shuttle to fly.
Emh: Ah, yes.
Kim: What was that?
Jetal: Our sensors are dead.
Kim: Power's being drained. Shields and weapons are offline.
Emh: How?
Emh: Doctor to Voyager, mayday. We're under attack. I've got wounded. Mayday!
Chakotay: Acknowledged, Doctor. Set navigational controls to return to Voyager.
Emh: Commander, can you hear me?
Chakotay: Doctor, please respond.
Emh: Hello? Computer, engage autonavigation. Lay in a course for Voyager, full impulse.
Kim: Doctor.
Emh: Stay calm. That weapon carried quite a punch.
Kim: Is she okay?
Emh: She's unconscious.
Kim: Voyager?
Emh: We've lost contact. I sent that alien back to his ship. You think they'd be grateful.
Kim: You should have beamed him into space.
Emh: I'm not in the business of killing people, Ensign. Synaptic shock? But there was no neural damage. Mister Kim! I don't understand. No.
Chakotay: Doctor, stand by for transport.
Emh: Beam us directly to Sickbay.
Emh: Prepare these people for surgery.
Paris: Here. What happened?
Emh: We were fired on. There's something wrong with their nervous systems. We've got to stabilize their synapses. Get me a choline compound.
Paris: Which choline compound?
Emh: It doesn't matter. Just make sure it's a pure base. Her spinal cord's deteriorating. Same rate of collapse.
Paris: Acetylcholine, twenty five microliters. It's not helping. I'm reading massive synaptic failure.
Emh: This doesn't make any sense.
Paris: Paris to Engineering. Transfer all available power to Sickbay.
Torres: Acknowledged.
Emh: Some kind of plasmic energy is arcing between their neural membranes. That weapon, it was designed to do this.
Paris: To leave a residual charge in the victim's body?
Emh: An energy pulse that remains in the neural membranes, working its way up the spinal cord to the brain. They'll be dead in minutes if we don't find a way to stop it. I've got to protect their brain functions.
Paris: His neocortex is failing.
Emh: A spinal shunt. I'll isolate the spinal cord from the brain stem until I can repair the cellular damage. But I don't have time to perform the procedure on both of them.
Paris: Then talk me through it. We'll do them together.
Emh: It's too complex.
Paris: Then make a choice, before we lose them both!
Emh: Subdermal scalpel. Bio-electric field generator.
Paris: His vital signs are stabilizing. It's working.
Emh: Cellular regenerator. His neural membranes are re-establishing themselves. Good.
Emh: The attack, how did it end? Were there more casualties?
Janeway: We exchanged fire for another few minutes, then the aliens withdrew. There was only one casualty. Ensign Jetal.
Emh: I don't mean to seem unfeeling, but I'm programmed to accept the loss of a patient with professional detachment.
Janeway: We are assembled here today to pay final respects to our honored dead, Ensign Ahni Jetal. Her intelligence and her charm have made our long journey home seem not quite so long. As she continues on a journey of her own, we will keep her in our hearts and in our memories.
Emh: We're low on synthetic antigens, and I'm sorry to report many of the medicinal plants you've collected over the past several months were destroyed as well.
Neelix: I have some herbs in storage you might be able to use.
Emh: Been holding out on me?
Neelix: No, I was keeping them around just in case.
Emh: Good planning.
Neelix: As for the antigens, I'll have to start replicating them in batches. Which do you want first?
Emh: Decisions, decisions. How do you make a decision, Mister Neelix? In general, I mean.
Neelix: I guess I weigh the alternatives and try to decide which is best.
Emh: Which is best. How do you determine that?
Neelix: I never thought about it, really.
Emh: Well, maybe you should. Think about it, I mean.
Neelix: I guess every situation is a little different.
Emh: For me, it's rather simple. While I'm faced with a decision, my program calculates the variables, and I take action. For example, what could be simpler than a triage situation in Sickbay? Two patients, for example, both injured, for example, both in imminent danger of dying. Calculate the variables. My program needs to ascertain which patient has the greater chance of survival, and that's the one I treat.
Emh: Simple. But, what if they have an equal chance of survival? What then? Hmm? Flip a coin? Pick a card?
Neelix: Doctor.
Emh: Oh, I'm all right. I'm a hologram. I don't get injured, I don't feel pain, I don't die. Unlike some people I could tell you about. For example, two patients. Both injured, both in imminent danger of. Don't touch me! I'm a hologram. Photonic energy. Don't waste your time.
Neelix: Neelix to Security. Send a team to the Mess hall, please.
Emh: A whole team, Mister Neelix? Throwing a little party, are we? Why, I attended a party just recently. A birthday party for a very nice young woman. I made a decision there, too. Several of them, in fact. When I came through the door, do I turn right or do I turn left? As I recall, I decided on the latter. Then, what should I see before me but the hors d'oeuvre tray, and another decision. Do I take a canapé or refuse? Oh, that's an easy one. I'm a hologram. I don't eat.
Neelix: Something's wrong with him.
Emh: Don't you know it's rude to refer to somebody in the third person. You had a choice, Mister Neelix. Should I do something rude or not do something rude?
Tuvok: Doctor, we must return to Sickbay.
Emh: Why should I? What if I don't want to return to Sickbay? What if I decide not to return to Sickbay? No, I don't choose this. Leave me alone! Let me go! Why did she have to die? Why did I kill her? Why did I decide to kill her? Why? Somebody tell me why!
Janeway: It was downhill from there. You developed a feedback loop between your ethical and cognitive subroutines. You were having the same thoughts over and over again. We couldn't stop it.
Torres: Our only option was to erase your memories of those events.
Emh: You were right. I didn't deserve to keep those memories, not after what I did.
Janeway: You were performing your duty.
Emh: Two patients, which do I kill?
Janeway: Doctor.
Emh: Doctor? Hardly! A doctor retains his objectivity. I didn't do that, did I? Two patients, equal chances of survival and I chose the one I was closer to? I chose my friend? That's not in my programming! That's not what I was designed to do! Go ahead! Reprogram me! I'll lend you a hand! Let's start with this very day, this hour, this second!
Janeway: Computer, deactivate the EMH.
Torres: Here we go again. Captain?
Janeway: It's as though there's a battle being fought inside him, between his original programming and what he's become. Our solution was to end that battle. What if we were wrong?
Torres: We've seen what happens to him. In fact, we've seen it twice.
Janeway: Still, we allowed him to evolve, and at the first sign of trouble? We gave him a soul, B'Elanna. Do we have the right to take it away now?
Torres: We gave him personality subroutines. I'd hardly call that a soul.
Seven: Captain.
Janeway: I'm having trouble with the nature of individuality.
Seven: You require a philosophical discussion?
Janeway: There's a time and a place for it. This is one of them. After I freed you from the Collective, you were transformed. It's been a difficult process. Was it worth it?
Seven: I had no choice. JANEWAY; That's not what I asked you.
Seven: If I could change what happened, erase what you did to me, would I? No. Captain's log, supplemental. Our Doctor is now our patient. It's been two weeks since I've ordered a round the clock vigil. A crew member has stayed with him at all times, offering a sounding board and a familiar presence while he struggles to understand his memories and thoughts. The chance of recovery? Uncertain.
Emh: The more I think about it, the more I realize there's nothing I could've done differently.
Janeway: What do you mean?
Emh: The primordial atom burst, sending out its radiation, setting everything in motion. One particle collides with another, gasses expand, planets contract, and before you know it we've got starships and holodecks and chicken soup. In fact, you can't help but have starships and holodecks and chicken soup, because it was all determined twenty billion years ago!
Tuvok: There is a certain logic to your logic. Progress?
Janeway: I'm not sure if he's making any sense of this experience, or if his program's just running in circles.
Tuvok: You've been here for sixteen hours. Let me continue while you rest.
Janeway: I'll be all right. Go back to the bridge.
Emh: How can you read at a time like this?
Janeway: It helps me think.
Emh: Think? What do you need to think about?
Janeway: You. This book is relevant to your situation.
Emh: Oh? What is it?
Janeway: Poetry, written on Earth a thousand years ago. La Vita Nuova.
Emh: La Vita Nuova. The New Life? Ha! Tell that to Ensign Jetal. Actually, I killed her countless times.
Janeway: What do you mean?
Emh: Causality, probability. For every action, there's an infinite number of reactions and in each one of them, I killed her. Or did I? Too many possibilities. Too many pathways for my program to follow. Impossible to choose. Still, I can't live with the knowledge of what I've done. I can't.
Emh: Captain? Captain?
Janeway: Oh, sorry.
Emh: How could you sleep at a time like this?
Janeway: It's been a long day. You were saying?
Emh: What's wrong?
Janeway: Nothing.
Emh: You're ill!
Janeway: I have a headache.
Emh: Fever, you have a fever.
Janeway: I'll live.
Emh: Medical emergency!
Janeway: Doctor.
Emh: Someone's got to treat you immediately. Call Mister Paris. You've got to get to Sickbay.
Janeway: Doctor, I'm a little busy right now, helping a friend.
Emh: I, I'll be all right. Go, sleep, please. I'll still be here in the morning.
Janeway: Are you sure?
Emh: Yes. Please, I don't want to be responsible for any more suffering.
Janeway: Good night. If you need anything.
Emh: I'll call. Thank you, Captain.
Emh: In that book which is my memory, on the first page of the chapter that is the day when I first met you, appear the words - Here begins a new life.


Janeway: Voyager to shuttlecraft Drake. Prepare for emergency transport. Mister Kim, can you hear me? We're attempting to lock on to you. Harry?
Libby: Harry? Hey, it's time to wake up. What's wrong?
Kim: Libby.
Libby: Yes?
Kim: This can't be happening.
Libby: What's wrong with you?
Kim: Libby, it's really you, isn't it?
Libby: Come on. You're going to be late.
Kim: What?
Libby: You have a meeting. Oh nine hundred, remember? You've only been obsessing about it for a week. I don't want Lieutenant Lasca blaming me because you weren't on time for the biggest meeting of your career. Now get dressed and I'll make you some breakfast.
Libby: Come on, the eggs are getting cold. What's with you today?
Kim: The date. What's the date?
Libby: The date?
Kim: What day is today?
Libby: 49011.
Kim: So this isn't the past. It's the present. San Francisco. This can't be a dream, it's too real. It's too clear. So what does that leave. A holodeck? A hallucination? Some kind of trick? The last thing, I remember was piloting a shuttlecraft on my way back to Voyager.
Libby: We both have a long day ahead of us. Could we play this little game another time, please?
Kim: No, you can't be Libby. It's not possible. My name is Ensign Harry Kim of the Federation Starship Voyager. Where am I? Is this some sort of simulation?
Libby: That's not funny, Harry, talking about Voyager like that. The memorial service was only two months ago. Danny was your best friend. How could you joke about it?
Kim: Danny? Danny Byrd?
Libby: I'm done with this conversation. Go to work. I'll see you tonight.
Kim: What is going on?
Cosimo: Harry! Coming right up.
Cosimo: Here you go. Vulcan mocha, extra sweet.
Kim: Thanks.
Cosimo: So today's the big day, huh?
Kim: What do you mean?
Cosimo: You know, the meeting. The new ship you're designing. And don't forget. You promised to bring me a model. And I'm going to hang it right there in my window. And I'll tell everyone, Harry Kim, he designed that ship. He came into my shop every morning.
Kim: Look, I know this is going to sound a little funny, but how long have I been coming to this coffee shop?
Cosimo: How long? Well, let's see. Since you left the Academy. How is that? Eight? Eight months.
Kim: Eight months. And you've seen me every day?
Cosimo: Well, not every day. You like to sleep late on Sunday. But if I had your fiancée, I'd sleep late too.
Kim: Fiancée? We're getting married?
Cosimo: Ah, yes. There were many mornings I woke up, I said the same thing to myself when I was about to be married. But don't worry, it'll pass.
Kim: I don't think you've ever had a morning quite like this one.
Lasca: Hey, Harry! You ready to go?
Kim: Er, where?
Lasca: Very funny. Come on. We'd better get moving if we're going to catch the transport to Headquarters.
Kim: I, I'm not sure I can go. I'm not feeling very well. Maybe I should just go home.
Lasca: Come on. Come on. It's just a case of the jitters. You'll do just fine.
Lasca: Relax, Harry. If all goes well, you'll walk out of this room a Lieutenant. Let me see that warp coil schematic.
Kim: The what?
Lasca: The coil diagram. The one with the new plasma flow equations.
Kim: I forgot to bring it.
Lasca: Forgot? Harry, we need that diagram to show that we worked out the dilithium fracture problem.
Kim: I'm sorry.
Lasca: Well, we'll just have to improvise.
Strickler: Good morning. I have a meeting at eleven hundred hours with the head of Starfleet Security. She doesn't like to be kept waiting. Let's get this underway. Lieutenant Lasca?
Lasca: Thank you, Admiral.
Lasca: Ladies and gentlemen, you are looking at the new runabout Yellowstone. It's equipped with tetryon plasma warp nacelles, and designed for a variety of mission profiles.
Strickler: Yes, Lieutenant. I've looked over your specifications. It's an interesting design. But how do you propose to address the dilithium fracture problem? Tetryon plasma tends to disrupt subspace.
Lasca: I'm actually glad you asked that question, sir. We've been working on the problem for several weeks, and I think you'll see that we have found an answer. I'd like to introduce you to the engineer who designed these new warp engines, and I might add, he is the most promising young engineer to come out of the Academy in a long time. Ensign Harry Kim. Harry?
Strickler: Is there a problem, Ensign?
Kim: Actually, sir, there is.
Lasca: Come on, Harry. Pull it together. We've been waiting for this for six months.
Strickler: Ensign, are you ill?
Kim: Yes, sir. I'm very ill. I would like to continue this presentation at a later date.
Strickler: Well, unfortunately, Ensign, I'm leaving for a three week tour of the Cardassian border in a few days. It will have to wait until after then.
Lasca: Harry, you'd better be dying.
Kim: Guess I'm pretty good. Computer, display my service record. Graduated Starfleet Academy stardate 47918. Requested duty on USS Voyager. Request denied. Requested transfer to Starfleet Engineering Corps. Transfer approved. Starship design specialist. Awarded the Cochrane Medal of Excellence for outstanding advances in warp theory. Computer, access Starfleet Science Academy database. Have there been any temporal anomalies in the space-time continuum reported in the last forty eight hours?
Computer: Negative. No temporal anomalies have been reported.
Kim: Computer, has there been any contact with the starship Voyager since it was lost in the Badlands?
Computer: Information on USS Voyager is classified. Security clearance level three or above is required to access files.
Kim: No problem. It's my ship, or at least I thought it was.
Computer: Security authorisation accepted. Last recorded contact with USS Voyager prior to its disappearance was on stardate 48307.5.
Kim: Access Voyager crew manifest. Who was the operations officer on board?
Computer: Ensign Daniel Byrd.
Kim: Danny.
Cosimo: Harry! What are you doing back so early?
Kim: Oh, hi. I wasn't feeling too well, so I decided to come home.
Cosimo: Oh, you don't look sick to me. Coming home for a little visit with Libby, are we? Ah, to be young. Don't worry. I'll keep your secret.
Kim: Thanks. Listen, I know this is going to sound strange, but I forgot to look at the street number when I left this morning, and I don't remember which building I live in. Could you
Cosimo: Tell you where you live? You're not playing some kind of a prank on your old pal Cosimo, are you?
Kim: No, like I said, I haven't been feeling well, and everything's kind of foggy.
Cosimo: Okay, okay, okay. Well, you live right over there. Fourth floor, apartment four G.
Kim: Thanks.
Cosimo: Harry, don't look so concerned. Everything's going to work out. You have a wonderful job, a beautiful fiancée. Everything's going to be fine. Trust me, hmm?
Libby: Hello? Who's there?
Kim: It's just me, Libby.
Libby: Harry? Are you okay?
Kim: Yeah. I'm fine.
Libby: You feel a little warm. God, you're tense. Why don't you tell me what happened today?
Kim: Nothing. Everything. I'm not sure what happened.
Libby: But Harry, forget about work. Try to relax. You're home now. What can I do to help?
Kim: Just tell me you love me.
Libby: I tell you that every day. Aren't you getting sick of hearing it?
Kim: No. In fact, pretend I haven't heard you say it in a long time. Pretend that we haven't seen each other for months.
Libby: Okay. I love you, Harry. Welcome home. So, if we haven't seen each other for months, where have you been?
Kim: Oh, on a starship, thousands of light years away.
Libby: A mission?
Kim: Yeah. We got a little lost.
Libby: Oh. Sounds lonely.
Kim: You can't imagine.
Libby: Tell me something. You didn't stop at Risa along the way, did you?
Kim: No. No pleasure planet excursions, I'm afraid.
Libby: You thought about me the whole time?
Kim: Every day. Every nanosecond.
Libby: Do me a favor.
Kim: Hmm?
Libby: Don't ever leave me again.
Kim: Orlando, Parsons, Peterson, Platt, Porter. Wait a minute. Paris. Where's Tom Paris? Computer, access service record of Starfleet officer Thomas Eugene Paris. Convicted of treason. Sentenced to eighteen months at the New Zealand Penal Settlement. Paroled on stardate 48702. Last reported whereabouts, Marseilles, France.
Libby: Harry? It's four in the morning. What are you doing?
Kim: Oh, I couldn't sleep, so I thought I'd catch up on some work.
Libby: When are you going to tell me what's going on?
Kim: There's nothing going on, okay?
Libby: You're not a very good liar, Harry. You've been acting strange all day. And I'm not the only one who's worried about you. Lieutenant Lasca called this afternoon. He said he's never seen you so agitated, so don't tell me there's nothing going on.
Kim: Libby, it's hard to explain right now. And I do want to tell you, but I need you to trust me.
Libby: I do trust you. I love you. That's why I'm marrying you. I would hope you would have the same trust in me.
Kim: All right. This, this is going to sound a little crazy from your perspective, but I am not who you think I am.
Libby: Oh?
Kim: All of this, it's not supposed to be happening. I don't belong here.
Libby: If you're having second thoughts about getting married, why didn't you just say so?
Kim: You don't understand. What I'm trying to say is, I'm from another reality.
Libby: Another reality.
Kim: That's right.
Libby: Harry, you're starting to scare me.
Kim: I know. I'm scared too.
Libby: Maybe you should talk to a counselor, a neurologist. There may be something wrong with you.
Kim: I will, but there's someone else I need to see first.
Libby: Where are you going?
Kim: Marseilles, France.
Libby: What for?
Kim: I've got to see Paris.
Libby: But you just said you were going to Marseilles.
Kim: It's a long story. Trust me, okay?
Libby: Okay.
Paris: Hey. Watch it, will you? I'm trying to set up a shot here.
Kim: Tom.
Paris: Who the hell are you?
Kim: You don't know me, do you?
Paris: Sure. We were at the Academy together, right?
Kim: No.
Paris: Oh. Well, it must have been the Exeter. We served on the Exeter together?
Kim: Try Voyager.
Paris: Ah, Voyager. Well, sorry to disappoint you, but I never set foot on that ship. And I can't say that I'm sorry, considering what happened to it.
Kim: You know about the mission to the Badlands?
Paris: Oh, yeah. Captain Janeway asked if I'd help her track down that Maquis ship in exchange for an early release from the penal colony.
Kim: But you said no?
Paris: What? Are you kidding? I said yes! It sounded better than Starfleet Rehab. Anyway, I got as far as Deep Space Nine, where I got into a bar fight with a Ferengi, and I was thrown into the brig by a very unpleasant shapeshifter. Janeway tried to get me released but my parole was revoked by Starfleet Command. Voyager left without me.
Kim: That Ferengi, was he trying to sell you Lobi crystals?
Paris: Yeah. How do you know about that?
Kim: Because I was there. In my reality, anyway. Tom, I know this is going to sound crazy, but I was on Voyager and so were you. You never got into a bar fight with that Ferengi. You stopped him from selling me Lobi crystals. And you did lead us into the Badlands.
Paris: You're right. That does sound crazy.
Kim: Something's happened. Somehow, reality has been changed. A temporal anomaly, an alien influence, I can't explain how. All I know is that it's true. I was in a shuttlecraft heading back to Voyager, and then I woke up here on Earth.
Paris: What is it you want?
Kim: Come with me to Starfleet Headquarters. Help me run a computer simulation of what happened on that shuttle. You're the best pilot I've ever seen, and if anyone can figure it out, it's you.
Paris: You had me there for a minute. You really did. But then you blew it.
Kim: What are you talking about?
Paris: You're not getting me to set foot inside Starfleet Headquarters. So you tell whatever admiral or captain who sent you that I'm not interested in being another pawn in one of their games.
Kim: It's not a game!
Paris: Oh, it isn't? Oh, that's a shame. I like games.
Kim: You once told me that you used to treat life like one big game. Rules, players, winners, losers. You never took any of it seriously until you lost.
Paris: You know, you're starting to annoy me.
Kim: You also told me you were afraid of what would happen to you if you didn't take Captain Janeway up on her offer. Now I see why.
Paris: What do you see, Ensign?
Kim: A loser and a drunk.
Kim: I guess in this reality, that's all you'll ever be.
Kim: What's going on?
Lasca: Harry, just relax.
Kim: Why does everyone say relax when they're about to do something terrible?
Lasca: Starfleet knows what you've been doing.
Kim: Which is what exactly?
Lasca: Breaking into classified files, using forged security access codes.
Kim: I haven't forged anything. And I can explain.
Lasca: That's why we're here. We're going to take you back to Starfleet Headquarters. They want to ask you a few questions.
Libby: Harry, please. Just go with them. Tell them what you told me. Everything will be all right.
Kim: I don't think I have a choice at the moment. I'll see you later.
Strickler: You claim to have Voyager security protocols because you were an officer on Voyager.
Kim: Yes, sir.
Strickler: Lost in the Delta Quadrant.
Kim: Yes, sir.
Strickler: And Ensign Daniel Byrd. You say that he's taken your place on that ship?
Kim: Yes, sir.
Strickler: And this is all because reality has been changed somehow?
Kim: Yes, sir.
Strickler: But you don't have a single shred of evidence to back up your claims.
Lasca: Harry, I don't doubt for a minute that you believe you're telling the truth, but we have to consider all the possibilities.
Kim: Like what?
Lasca: Like you could be delusional, or you could have had your memory centers altered so that you think what you're saying is the truth. Or you could be an alien masquerading as Harry Kim.
Kim: That's crazy. I am Harry Kim. Check my DNA if you don't believe me. Run a microcellular scan of my cerebral cortex to see if my memory's been altered. Everything I'm saying is true.
Strickler: Mister Kim, why did you travel to Marseilles, France this morning?
Kim: I went to look up an old friend.
Strickler: You have poor taste in friends. Thomas Paris is a convicted traitor and a Maquis sympathizer. Now, what did you talk about with him?
Kim: I tried to tell him what's happened. I wanted his help.
Strickler: His help to run a shuttle simulation. Why?
Kim: To figure out how I got here and how I can get back. There must be a temporal anomaly somewhere or. You think I'm a spy, don't you. You think I'm working for the Maquis.
Strickler: We're here to find the truth, Ensign, whatever that might be.
Kim: That's it! I'm not answering any more questions until I have legal counsel.
Strickler: You have that right.
Lasca: Harry, we want to help you but try to understand. What you are telling us doesn't make much sense. All we know so far is that you have been seen talking with a Maquis criminal, and you've broken into classified Starfleet records. Until there is something else, something concrete, those are the facts in this case, and you have to admit, the facts look pretty bad.
Strickler: We will be monitoring your movements until further notice. I believe you know the restrictions. No off-world travel, and if you tamper with the anklet, Security will be immediately alerted and you will be formally charged. Do you understand?
Kim: Yes, Admiral.
Strickler: We'll be spending a lot of time together, Ensign. And I assure you, we will get to the bottom of this. You're dismissed.
Cosimo: Troubles, Harry?
Kim: You could say that.
Cosimo: Let's have some coffee.
Cosimo: I was sent here to watch you, to make sure that you were all right. But it's now clear that you are not.
Kim: Who are you?
Cosimo: We exist in what you would call a temporal inversion fold in the space-time matrix. It's not necessary to understand. It only matters that there was an accident. Your shuttle intersected one of our time streams, and boom! A few things were altered as the result of the accident. History and events were scrambled a bit, and you ended up here.
Kim: Well, you've got to get me back.
Cosimo: We don't know how.
Kim: What?
Cosimo: We only know that an accident occurred. We don't know how or why.
Kim: Well, that's not good enough. There's got to be something we can do. Where is this time stream of yours? Maybe I can use it to get back.
Cosimo: The time stream weaves through the galaxy like a thread. I could show you how to find it, and you could try to recreate the conditions that existed before the accident, and fly back into it, but there's no guarantee what will happen to you if you do.
Kim: What do you mean?
Cosimo: Well, you may be able to change reality again, but there's no way to predict how it would change. You could end up at any point in the space-time continuum. You might return to your original reality, or you might find yourself a billion years in the future. Or at some time before sentient life even existed on your planet.
Kim: I guess I'll have to take that chance, because somehow I have to get back.
Cosimo: Are you so sure? This is a pretty good place for you, Harry. You have a wonderful job with Starfleet, a beautiful woman who loves you. Why be so quick to turn your back on all this? Maybe this is your, er, fate. Isn't that the word your people use? That thing which was meant to be? Hmm? Seems to me you're actually a very lucky man.
Kim: What about Danny Byrd? He isn't so lucky. And Tom Paris? Fate wasn't so kind to him. No, it isn't supposed to be this way. I'm supposed to be on Voyager in the Delta Quadrant. And that's where I have to go.
Cosimo: Very well.
Cosimo: This will tell you where the time stream intersects this region of space. That's as much as I can do for you.
Kim: Thanks.
Cosimo: Good luck, Harry Kim of Voyager. You're going to need it. Unless of course, you decide to stay. In which case, I'll see you in the morning, same time. Vulcan mocha, extra sweet.
Kim: Libby. I didn't hear you come in.
Libby: Obviously. You're in enough trouble as it is. What do you want them to do, put you in prison?
Kim: No. I'm just trying to get back to where I belong.
Libby: Where you belong. You used to say you belonged here with me. But I guess everything's changed, hasn't it?
Kim: Look, I know the last few days must have been pretty tough on you.
Libby: Do you? Do you really know what it's like when the person you love suddenly changes?
Kim: It's still me. The guy who was in your seat at the Ktarian music festival. The guy who took three weeks to work up the courage to ask you out. The guy who still wakes up in the middle of the night and says your name out loud, hoping you'll answer back.
Libby: But if you're really Harry, you wouldn't be trying so hard to get away from me.
Kim: I'm not trying to get away from you. I love you. And I promise you, I want to stay here more than anything. But I can't.
Libby: I don't understand. I don't understand any of this.
Kim: I don't think anybody knows me as well as you do, so you of all people should know that once I've made up my mind about something, I can't let it go. In some ways, it'd be a lot easier to forget about Voyager, just settle in here and build a life. But that wouldn't be me. You wouldn't be getting the Harry Kim you fell in love with. Does that make any sense?
Kim: The tampering alarm. Security will be here any second. I'd better go. I promise you, I'm going to try to get back. It may take a while, and I may not make it, but I swear, I will try.
Libby: Sorry.
Security: Hold it!
Security: Get up!
Paris: Excuse me.
Paris: Ow! There goes my bank shot.
Kim: What are you doing here?
Paris: Helping out a friend. Let's go.
Kim: So, how did you find me?
Paris: I still have a few friends at Starfleet. They told me you were in some serious trouble.
Kim: Yeah. Starfleet thinks I'm a Maquis spy.
Paris: I know the feeling. Those security anklets really chafe, don't they?
Kim: You're the last person I expected to help me.
Paris: Let's just say it's been a long time since anybody gave a damn about my future, including me. I don't know if I'm supposed to be on Voyager like you've told me, but it sounds a whole lot better than the life I have here. I'm willing to take my chances, Ensign.
Kim: Call me Harry. You always did.
Paris: Won't be long before they find us. We better keep moving.
Kim: Wait. I found a way to get back to my reality. The problem is I'll need a ship to do it. I think I have access to a runabout, but I'm going to have to break it out of Spacedock.
Paris: Sounds to me like you need a pilot.
Kim: Know anyone who's qualified?
Paris: I know someone who used to be pretty good. And if I'm not mistaken, he still knows a few tricks.
Kim: I have an office at Starfleet Headquarters. I think we can access the runabout launch codes from there.
Paris: Site-to-site transporter. With friends like mine, you never know when it'll come in handy. Where's your office?
Kim: Main complex, level six, subsection forty seven.
Paris: I can beam us in. But we'll only have a few minutes before Security starts kicking down the door.
Kim: Let's do it.
Paris: So, Harry, once we're on board the runabout, what's the plan?
Kim: The alien said that if I recreate the conditions of the accident and fly into the time stream, there's a chance I might be able to get back into my reality.
Paris: Might?
Kim: He couldn't give me any guarantees.
Paris: Security's just been alerted to an unauthorized transport in the building. It'll take them another twenty seconds to track it to this office. How are you coming?
Kim: Almost there. I've bypassed the runabout's security lockouts.
Paris: They're onto us. We've got to go.
Kim: Hold on. I almost got it.
Paris: Now!
Kim: Overriding initialisation codes. Main power coming online.
Paris: Let's get those engines going.
Kim: Powering up main fusion reactor.
Computer: Intruder alert. Unauthorized launch in progress.
Paris: Space doors closing.
Kim: Warp core and main propulsion are online.
Paris: Releasing docking clamps. Moorings clear. Here we go.
Paris: We're clear.
Kim: I'm entering the coordinates of the time stream into the main computer.
Paris: Adjusting course to match. Going to full impulse.
Kim: We've got a starship on our tail. Nebula class.
Paris: I'll try to lose them, Harry, but they're a lot faster than we are.
Man: Attention runabout Yellowstone. Power down your engines or we will open fire.
Kim: They're going to try to do everything they can to stop us. They think we're trying to steal this prototype.
Paris: They're closing to five thousand kilometers.
Kim: Shields down to seventy percent. Fifty percent.
Kim: Twenty nine percent.
Paris: I thought you said this ship was new and improved.
Kim: It is, but it looks like they haven't finished working on the defensive systems. In fact, some of the safety interlocks aren't even in place. A few more of those hits and I don't.
Kim: We're losing antimatter containment. Attempting to stabilize the field.
Paris: We're approaching the coordinates of the time stream.
Kim: The containment field is weakening. We could be looking at a core breach.
Paris: The ship's closing to three thousand kilometers.
Kim: If we can't shake them off, maybe we can slow them down a little. This runabout is equipped with tetryon plasma warp nacelles.
Paris: So?
Kim: Tetryon plasma emits multiflux gamma radiation. It disrupts subspace.
Paris: We could vent the warp plasma. The second they hit the plasma cloud, their engines would stall. Give us a few seconds of breathing room.
Kim: Exactly.
Paris: Unlocking the warp drive manifold.
Kim: Venting drive plasma.
Paris: Any second. They've dropped to one tenth impulse. Our containment field's at critical. We'd better hurry.
Kim: All right. Let's recreate my shuttle accident. I think I was traveling at one hundred and forty thousand kph.
Paris: You think?
Kim: Look, that was another lifetime. I'm doing the best I can.
Paris: Increasing speed to one hundred and forty thousand kph.
Kim: Now, I also remember running a polaron scan. The scanning beam was sweeping at a radius of half a million kilometers. No, wait. A quarter million. Activating polaron scan. That should do it.
Paris: Approaching coordinates. Impact in four, three, two.
Kim: Did we miss it?
Paris: We passed through the coordinates, but the runabout was unaffected. The starship has repowered its engines. They'll be here in under a minute.
Kim: I have to get into that time stream. Wait a minute, I'm forgetting something. The emergency transport. The last thing I remember hearing was Captain Janeway's comm voice. She said she was trying to beam me off the shuttle. That's it. I've got to beam off the ship.
Paris: Are you crazy?
Kim: We have to recreate all the conditions of the accident, including that one. We just lost antimatter containment. Twenty five seconds to core breach.
Paris: I've locked onto the time stream. Get on the transporter pad.
Kim: Not yet. The core is breaching. We've got to shut it down first.
Paris: There's no time. That ship'll be here in another thirty seconds.
Kim: In fifteen seconds this ship is going to explode. You'll be killed.
Paris: Look. If you're right, then things will be changed back to the way they're supposed to be, and you'll find me back on Voyager.
Kim: And if I'm wrong, if this doesn't work, you'll be blown up right here.
Paris: Go!
Janeway: Voyager to shuttlecraft Drake. Prepare for emergency transport. Mister Kim, can you hear me? We're attempting to lock on to you. Harry?
Kim: Kim here, Captain.
Janeway: Harry, we need you to drop your shields.
Kim: Stand by.
Kim: Shields down, Captain.
Janeway: Lieutenant.
Torres: The anomaly is sending out heavy subspace distortions. I can't get a positive lock on him.
Paris: The hull is starting to buckle under the stress. He won't survive much longer.
Chakotay: Tuvok, can you boost the transporter signal?
Tuvok: Negative. The signal is at maximum gain.
Paris: Ten seconds to hull breach.
Janeway: He's just out of reach. B'Elanna, can you tie the transporter directly into the main deflector dish? Use it to extend the signal?
Torres: I'll try.
Paris: Hull breach in progress.
Torres: We've got him, Captain.
Janeway: Mister Chakotay, analyze the sensor logs. I want to know what happened out there.
Chakotay: Aye, Captain.
Janeway: Voyager to Transporter room two. Are you all right, Mister Kim?
Kim: I think so, Captain. Is Lieutenant Paris there?
Janeway: Yes, he's here. Why?
Kim: It's a long story.
Janeway: I look forward to hearing it. I'll be in my Ready room.
Chakotay: We think your shuttlecraft was caught in some kind of temporal anomaly.
Kim: A time stream?
Chakotay: Yes, you could call it that.
Kim: I've already been briefed, Commander.
Paris: Welcome back. Kind of a rough ride, huh? What is it, Harry?
Kim: I owe you one.