Da Vinci: Animali! Brutti animali. Animali!
Woman: No, Leonardo, you are the animali.
Man: A bird who cannot fly.
Da Vinci: Better than a man who cannot think!
Children: The pidgeon speaks. Cuckoo, cuckooo!
Janeway: Maestro!
Da Vinci: Stupido! Foolish Florentines! A bird is a mechanical instrument that works according to mathematical laws. An instrument that surely I can recreate. How did it fail?
Janeway: Maybe you underestimated the wingspan?
Da Vinci: Had not the river Arno taken us to its arms we would both have died.
Janeway: Jumping off the bridge was a wise precaution.
Da Vinci: Against death, yes. Against humiliation, no. The great bird will take flight and bring glory to its nest. So I have bragged for months. Instead, we almost drown with half of Florence watching. Bah! Finito! No more. Catarina, have you been to France?
Janeway: Not recently.
Da Vinci: The King of France is a great admirer of mine. The Divine Leonardo is all I hear when I walk through his streets. And what music do I find in the streets of Florence, eh? The cooing of pigeons and the babbling of fools. Catarina, we are leaving!
Janeway: You're giving up. Again. Your beautiful painting of the Adoration, the great bronze horse in Milan, the Battle of Anghiari. Unfinished, all of them. You were going to publish your notebooks. You never did. You have given up, abandoned your most important works. Why?
Da Vinci: There is a tavern just outside Paris, Catarina. A charming bistro where the wine is
Da Vinci: Terremoto!
Janeway: Janeway to the bridge.
Chakotay: We're under attack, Captain.
Janeway: I'm on my way.
Da Vinci: Earthquakes and idiots. Florence be damned.
Janeway: Who are they and why are they shooting at us?
Chakotay: Unknown, Captain. They're not responding to hails.
Janeway: Damage?
Tuvok: None.
Kim: I'm reading a slight destabilization along the shield perimeter.
Tuvok: Attempting to compensate.
Torres: Er, Torres to the bridge.
Janeway: Go ahead.
Torres: We just lost the warp diagnostic assembly.
Janeway: What do you mean, lost?
Torres: It disappeared.
Kim: I'm picking up demterialisations on decks four through twelve.
Janeway: Evasive maneuvers.
Paris: They're matching our course changes.
Chakotay: It's definitely some kind of transporter beam.
Janeway: Fire at will.
Tuvok: I have the will, but not the means, Captain. Targeting control is down.
Janeway: Why?
Kim: Captain, the main computer processor is gone. We've lost weapons, navigation and propulsion.
Chakotay: Backup systems are coming online.
Janeway: Full phasers, manual targeting. Keep firing until you hit something.
Kim: The other ships are retreating.
Chakotay: Chakotay to all decks. Full damage reports.
Paris: I feel like we've just been mugged.
Tuvok: They were employing a high-energy transporter beam designed to locate objects of technological value, and remove them.
Chakotay: They removed a lot. Five tricorders, three phaser rifles, a couple of photon torpedo casings, two antimatter injectors, a month's supply of emergency rations.
Paris: No great loss there.
Emh: Excuse me. You're forgetting the most important thing of all. My mobile emitter. Without it I'm stuck in Sickbay. I can't go anywhere.
Janeway: We'll do the best we can, Doctor but our top priority is the main computer processor. B'Elanna, I want a defense against another transporter attack. Harry, do everything you can to track those ships.
Kim: Yes, ma'am.
Janeway: Dismissed.
Kim: Seven. Hey.
Seven: If you're here to fraternize I do not have the time.
Kim: Actually, the captain wanted me to locate the ships that attacked us. I've pushed the long range sensors about as far as they'll go.
Seven: And now you believe the sensors can be extended by using the deep space imaging system.
Kim: Well, yes.
Seven: I've been working on that exact procedure for the past two hours.
Kim: Really? Let's have a look.
Seven: Do you doubt my ability to finish the task?
Kim: Look, I came here to work. I realized you'd already started the job so I offered to help, that's all. I offered to help.
Seven: An algorithmic feedback is interfering with the resolution. Decompile data banks fifty nine through seventeen and attempt to isolate it. Now. Or you should leave.
Kim: Okay. I'm a pretty easy-going person. I mean, it takes a lot to ruffle my feathers. But that's not true of everybody. You've got to learn how to phrase things a little more diplomatically.
Kim: Or not.
Janeway: Captain's log, stardate 51386.4. With ship's systems at nearly half capacity, it's taken us ten days to track our stolen technology.
Kim: I'm picking up Starfleet signatures from two of the continents.
Chakotay: Can you find the main computer processor?
Kim: It's on the northern continent, in what looks like a city, but there's a lot of signal interference. I'll never be able to localize it from here.
Tuvok: Captain, I have identified nearly twenty seven kinds of alien ships in orbit of this planet. It appears to be an active center of commerce. We should be able to place an undercover away team on either continent without attracting attention.
Janeway: That's good enough for now. Tuvok, you and I are going after the processor. Tom, Neelix, I want you on the other continent. Find out what you can. At the very least, try to get our emergency rations back. Chakotay, you have the bridge.
Janeway: It never fails to impress me. No matter how vast the differences may be between cultures, people always have something that somebody else wants, and trade is born.
Tuvok: Or more to the point, theft.
Janeway: What have you got?
Tuvok: The materials in the construction of this city, and the technology in use appear to have originated from numerous sources.
Janeway: No doubt stolen.
Tuvok: The myriad signatures have resulted in high interference levels. I am unable to. A moment. I am picking up a Starfleet signature.
Janeway: The computer processor?
Tuvok: I don't believe so. The signal magnitude is too low. The signature is approaching.
Da Vinci: Catarina! Che meraviglia! Out of my way, out of my way! Scusi, scusi. Catarina. Catarina. Welcome. Welcome to America.
Da Vinci: Tell me, Catarina, what do you think of the New World?
Janeway: How did you get here?
Da Vinci: A question I have asked myself many times. One moment I was packing for my journey to France, the next I was in this land of marvels. Possibly, upon leaving my workshop I was accosted by Spanish sailors, rendered unconscious, delivered to a galleon in the port of Genoa, and carried like a sack of grain across the vast Atlantic. Curious ears.
Janeway: My traveling companion, Tuvok.
Da Vinci: Ah, what the old philosophers say is true. Monstrous and wonderful are the peoples of undiscovered lands. But tell me, Catarina, how did you come to the Americas?
Janeway: Oh, it's a long story. A Portuguese ship, some Turkish pirates, a couple of hurricanes. I'll tell you about it some other time.
Da Vinci: Excuse me. There is the man I have been looking for. He has an apparatus that I need for my next invention. My patron is a demanding taskmaster.
Janeway: Your patron?
Da Vinci: The prince of this city. Buon giorno, signore.
Tuvok: The Da Vinci character is interpreting this world through the limited capacity of his holodeck program.
Janeway: He sees everything in sixteenth century terms.
Tuvok: But what is he doing here?
Janeway: I was running the Da Vinci simulation when we were attacked. His program must have been active in the computer's memory when the processor was beamed off the ship.
Tuvok: And then downloaded into the Doctor's mobile emitter. But by whom?
Janeway: His patron, the Prince?
Da Vinci: Marvelous, no?
Tuvok: A plasma injector conduit, Starfleet issue.
Da Vinci: Call it what you will. With this machine I can make mercury flow in three directions at once. You must see my new workshop. The Prince has been very supportive. Andiamo!
Janeway: Let's go.
Da Vinci: So, Catarina, what do you think of this place? My workshop in Florence was but a cave of ignorance in comparison.
Janeway: Your new patron gave you all this?
Da Vinci: He is the perfect prince. Intelligent, but not overly so. In awe of my talent, but not threatened by it. And above all, and most importantly, his purse is inexhaustible.
Janeway: And in return for all this support?
Da Vinci: I give him my ideas. I have even resurrected my Great Bird, like the Phoenix of legend. They have materials here, Catarina, that are so strong and so light that surely my prototype will ascend to the heavens.
Da Vinci: Be careful! They have found a way to harness the energy of a thunderstorm and to expel it with great force. A pistole that shoots not a lead ball but a bolt of lightning.
Janeway: I'd like to meet this patron you yours.
Da Vinci: And so you shall, this very evening, but I caution you. He is as ruthless as a Borgia. 		First Officer's log, stardate 51392.7. Though we've yet to hear from the Captain and Tuvok, Paris and Neelix have returned from their mission to the southern continent with some disturbing evidence.
Chakotay: Who sold you these things?
Alien Visitor: I didn't come here to be interrogated. You told me you have a warp coil to trade.
Paris: I said you could talk with Commander Chakotay. I didn't say he'd necessarily do business with you.
Alien Visitor: Well, this is a waste of my time.
Chakotay: I agree. There's the door.
Alien Visitor: What?
Chakotay: Goodbye. Make sure he doesn't get lost on the way out.
Alien Visitor: No, no, no. Wait, wait. His name is Tau. He controls the seventh province in the north.
Chakotay: He sells weapons and technology.
Alien Visitor: Yes.
Chakotay: Which he confiscates from passing ships.
Alien Visitor: Yes, using his translocator device. Which he also stole. It's made him a rich man.
Chakotay: There are a few items I'd like to get back. Where can I find him?
Alien Visitor: I deal with a go-between. I've answered enough of your questions. Let's talk about that warp coil. I'm looking for something that
Chakotay: You can keep what you've got. We'll call it even.
Alien Visitor: This was a waste of my time.
Chakotay: Not really. These colors look good on you.
Tau: Torpedoes, plasma grenades, particle beam rifles. I can even get a ceremonial spear if you're interested.
Alien Buyer: I am not interested.
Tau: My point is, no matter what the weaponry, if you desire it, chances are I have it or I can get it.
Alien Buyer: Your prices are said to be unreasonable.
Tau: Unreasonable is such a strong term. But if I can't sell to you, I'll sell to one of the other colonies in your system. A violent sort, your neighbors, aren't they? I'd hate to make your life difficult by offering my weapons to them. But if you don't give me a choice
Tuvok: There can be no doubt our computer processor is not in the city.
Janeway: Well, that certainly makes things a little more difficult. Leonardo's new patron is quite the business man.
Tuvok: We may have no choice but to do business with him.
Da Vinci: Catarina! Here are some friends I want you to meet.
Janeway: Try to keep our hologram occupied.
Tuvok: But Captain
Janeway: Make small talk.
Tuvok: Vulcans do not make small talk.
Janeway: Improvise.
Tuvok: Thank you. That is very considerate.
Da Vinci: Catarina, wait a minute.
Tuvok: Mister da Vinci, how have you been?
Da Vinci: Benissimo. Now if you'll pardon me.
Tuvok: I wish to speak with you.
Da Vinci: What about?
Tuvok: About you. You are most intriguing.
Da Vinci: Ah, grazie. And you, signore Tuvok, are equally provocative. Where exactly are you from?
Tuvok: Scandinavia.
Da Vinci: So, what do the Scandinavians think of this New World?
Tuvok: It is fascinating, and you are obviously enjoying it.
Da Vinci: Beyond words. Yes. Italy is already a fading memory. The city is full of mechanical marvels, the countryside alive with creatures strange and wonderful.
Tuvok: I'm curious. How have you spent your time here?
Da Vinci: I work on my inventions and my art, and I accompany the Prince when he goes to visit his great fortresses. Well, this er, fascinating conversation has left me as dry as Vulcan.
Tuvok: Vulcan?
Da Vinci: An island off Sicily. Have you been there?
Tuvok: No.
Da Vinci: Pity.
Tau: We'll talk later.
Janeway: Good evening.
Tau: And to you. Enjoying yourself?
Janeway: Not yet.
Tau: No? How can I change that?
Janeway: By having exactly what I want and selling it to me at a low price.
Tau: The former's quite likely, but as for the latter, I don't sell inexpensive merchandise.
Janeway: I have a client who runs a colony about twenty parsecs from here. His computer is outmoded so I'm looking for a replacement.
Tau: A computer that could coordinate the systems of an entire colony. That's no small order, but I think I might have something that will interest you.
Tau: Hello, computer, and how are you today?
Computer: All systems are functioning within normal parameters.
Janeway: Verbal interface. Impressive.
Tau: Computer, tell us your technical specifications.
Computer: Simultaneous access to forty seven million data channels. Transluminal processing at five hundred seventy five trillion calculations per nanosecond.
Tau: Interested?
Computer: Operational temperature margins from ten degrees Kelvin to one thousand seven hundred ninety degrees Kelvin.
Tau: I could sell it to you, but I could hardly let it go for anything less than a warship. Or we could find something else in your price range.
Janeway: We should be looking for a stronghold or storage facility. Any place Tau might keep the stolen technology.
Tuvok: There are several possibilities all within a ten kilometer radius of the city. I must admit, your Mister da Vinci is an astute observer of nature. These maps couldn't be improved upon by Voyager's topographical computer.
Janeway: He was a Renaissance man, Tuvok. Interpreted, reinterpreted, deconstructed, fantasized about all through history. Vasari thought he was an angel. Freud thought he had a problem with his mother. James T. Kirk claimed he met him, although the evidence is less than conclusive.
Da Vinci: Buongiorno, amici.
Janeway: Good morning, maestro. Did you sleep well?
Da Vinci: Too well, I'm afraid. My apologies, Catarina. The morning is half gone. Nevertheless, the images that come before the eyes upon awakening can be inspiring.
Tuvok: Indeed.
Da Vinci: Catarina, where did I leave my silver tipped pen? I could swear it was here on the
Tuvok: Captain, we should return to Voyager. With my tricorder readings and Leonardo's maps we can use the ship's sensors to triangulate the exact location of our processor.
Janeway: We'll work on two fronts. You go back to the ship. I'll stay on the surface and keep working with Leonardo. He has access to Tau and he knows the territory.
Tuvok: Inadvisable. Charming as your childhood hero may be, the program was not designed for use outside the holodeck.
Janeway: This is Leonardo da Vinci we're talking about. Simulation or not, he's one of the greatest creative minds in Earth's history.
Tuvok: The program reproduces the entire range of Da Vinci's behavior. His genius and his notorious unreliability.
Janeway: We have an opportunity here, and I want to take advantage of it.
Tuvok: Tuvok to Voyager. One to beam up.
Da Vinci: Table. Where did he go?
Janeway: Back to the ship.
Da Vinci: The ship? You mean the Portuguese are still in the harbor?
Janeway: No, not exactly. But they're nearby.
Da Vinci: Ah. Mad sea dogs, the Portuguese.
Emh: So, what's new?
Seven: New?
Emh: What's been happening on the ship?
Seven: Nothing of consequence. The Captain and Tuvok are still searching for the processor.
Emh: What's the mood?
Seven: If you're referring to the crew morale, they seemed focused on their mission.
Emh: Hmm. I heard there was something of a fuss in the mess hall last night.
Seven: A trivial misunderstanding.
Emh: Oh? You seen in excellent health. Most of your implants are stable, but your optical interface is misaligned again. I told you to come in for maintenance once a week. Now, what happened in the mess hall?
Seven: Lieutenant Torres and I were working on some Astrometric data. There was a disagreement.
Emh: I understand things got a little heated.
Seven: Lieutenant Torres became emotional. She chose to display hostility rather than to counter my argument.
Emh: What did she say exactly?
Seven: It is irrelevant. Suffice it to say I was correct, she was not.
Emh: Details, Seven. I want specifics.
Seven: I see no reason to discuss these trivialities.
Emh: Without my mobile emitter I am a prisoner in here. I need to know what is going on beyond these walls, trivial or not.
Seven: Torres referred to me as an automaton. She also employed a series of profane Klingon insults. Shall I translate them for you?
Emh: By all means. I'd very much.
Tuvok: Tuvok to Seven of Nine. Report to the Astrometrics lab.
Emh: You may go.
Seven: I'll be right there, Commander.
Emh: Come back whenever you feel like talking. I'll be right here. All by myself.
Tuvok: I am entering Leonardo's maps and my tricorder data into the imaging system.
Seven: I will create a search pattern for our missing processor.
Tuvok: Da Vinci has accurately rendered the topographical detail. However, his coordinate axs are pre-Cartesian. You will have to convert them.
Seven: Understood. It is puzzling that even a Vulcan would refer to a holographic character by name, as if it were alive. It seems somehow illogical. Localizing grid. Altitude twenty kilometers.
Tuvok: One of these storage facilities undoubtedly contains the processor. Increase sensor resolution to maximum and scan the area.
Seven: There. Our computer processor is inside this structure.
Tuvok: Unfortunately, the building is surrounded by a dispersion field. Transport will be impossible.
Seven: If the captain can get inside the facility and reach the processor itself, she may be able to assist us.
Tuvok: If she were to initiate a power surge in the processor, it might produce a signal strong enough for us to lock onto.
Seven: That is what I was referring to.
Tuvok: I will inform the captain.
Janeway: It's not too far across open country. Leonardo says he's been there and he can help me get inside.
Tuvok: Understood.
Janeway: Stand by for my signal. If I can find the processor, be prepared to beam it back to Voyager.
Tuvok: Aye, Captain. Tuvok out.
Tau: So it's captain. I see you and my hologram are old friends.
Janeway: My engineers have developed a defense against your transporter, so I suggest that you return what you took from us and let me go.
Tau: Or what? You're in no position to bargain. The only ones who will bargain will be your crew and it will cost them a great deal to get their captain back. I wonder what you're worth to them.
Janeway: He'll be fine. Let's move.
Da Vinci: I'm not going.
Janeway: You said you'd help me.
Da Vinci: I have already gone too far. He was threatening you, I had no alternative, but I must be here when he recovers his senses. I will try to explain. Maybe if I am lucky, he will not have me executed.
Janeway: We are leaving. Your time here is over.
Da Vinci: I will not leave this New World.
Janeway: Your new world is a prison. You are under his control.
Da Vinci: When are we not in prison? Hmm? When are our lives free from the influence of those who have more power than us? If this New World is a cage, then it is a cage of gold, of marvels, of opportunities. If this Prince is violent, violence can be tempered.
Janeway: You can't stay here forever, Leonardo. Europe is your home.
Da Vinci: Europe is despicable! Here I am free to do what I wish. Free from judgment, free to fail, but without a sense of shame, without, without the taunts of the ignorant.
Janeway: Leonardo, whether you want to admit it or not they do need you back home. In Florence, Milan, Avignon, they need your genius, they need your heart. And right now I need you, too. So come on.
Da Vinci: I will not go for Florence or Milan or Avignon. But for you, Catarina, for you I will go.
Kim: I've lost the Captain's comm. badge signature.
Chakotay: Scan for the holoemitter.
Kim: It's four point seven kilometers outside the city.
Paris: So Leonardo's on the move. Is the captain with him?
Chakotay: Her comm. badge may have malfunctioned.
Paris: Or she may have been discovered.
Kim: Should I beam da Vinci back to the ship?
Tuvok: If the captain is with him and attempting to recover the processor, she may need his assistance.
Chakotay: Keep a lock on the mobile emitter and stand by.
Kim: Aye, sir.
Janeway: Where's the entrance?
Da Vinci: I can't recall.
Janeway: Why not?
Da Vinci: These fortresses, I've been to half a dozen of them. All are similar but each is different.
Da Vinci: Catarina, observe the construction, like the veins and arteries of a great animal. Now, this is the way to build, using nature as your guide.
Janeway: No more lessons. I need to get into this building and I need to get into it now.
Da Vinci: That is not the way an apprentice should address her master.
Janeway: Maestro, your Prince is going to come after us. The only escape is inside.
Da Vinci: Escape? We will be trapped inside.
Janeway: No. There is a wondrous invention inside this building. It's called a computer processor. We can use it to send a beacon to the Portuguese ship, and they'll come and rescue us.
Da Vinci: Computer. This invention, how does it work?
Janeway: Well, it's complicated, but trust me when I say it can send messages over great distances. All we have to do is find it and we will be rescued. But the question is, how do we get inside?
Da Vinci: Shadow and sunlight. Shadow and sunlight. The Prince, like any other thief, will fear theft above all else. So this stronghold will have but one entryway, on the side facing away from the sun.
Janeway: So the bright light will be in the eyes of anyone who might attack.
Da Vinci: Esato.
Kim: I'm no longer reading the mobile emitter.
Tuvok: They've gone inside the structure.
Kim: Commander, they're being pursued. Over thirty armed guards are converging on the storage facility.
Chakotay: All available power to the transporters. Let's try to get them out of there.
Da Vinci: Even Theseus could not negotiate this labyrinth.
Janeway: Not without a compass.
Da Vinci: Your compass is speaking to you.
Janeway: This way.
Da Vinci: A trove of invention.
Janeway: The Prince has done well for himself. Phasers, warp plasma injectors, a site-to-site transporter.
Da Vinci: Your computer?
Janeway: Yes. Computer, do you recognize my voice?
Computer: Affirmative.
Janeway: Well, that's a start.
Da Vinci: Che bella! There's a mechanical woman inside.
Janeway: In a way, yes. Initiate a level four induction relay overload.
Computer: That procedure is not recommended.
Janeway: Command override. Janeway pi one one zero.
Computer: Authorisation confirmed. Initiating overload.
Janeway: That's it.
Da Vinci: And now?
Janeway: We wait for the Portuguese.
Tuvok: Commander. I'm detecting a power surge in the subspace frequency range.
Chakotay: Could be the processor. Lock on. Increase power to the confinement beam. With any luck, we might be able to pull the captain out of there along with it.
Janeway: Step close, Leonardo. We're going for a ride.
Da Vinci: I don't understand.
Janeway: Trust me. (A guard shoots at them. They hide and the computer processor is beamed away without them. Another shot passes through da Vinci. Janeway goes around a piece of equipment and knocks out the approaching guard.)
Janeway: The building is probably surrounded by now. There's only one way out. Maestro, come here.
Da Vinci: Catarina, what just happened to me? I was shot, yet I live. Such things are not possible.
Janeway: This is an invention from another land. It's called a site to site transporter. In the blink of an eye, it can move us out of this building and a few kilometers away from here.
Da Vinci: How?
Janeway: Come on.
Da Vinci: I must have an explanation.
Janeway: Leonardo, you've always said that it's a poor apprentice who can't surpass her master. There are things in this world that I understand, and you don't.
Da Vinci: Madonna mia.
Tuvok: The processor is on board.
Chakotay: The captain?
Tuvok: Still on the planet.
Kim: Commander. Thirteen vessels are approaching Voyager from the surface.
Chakotay: Tom, take us into a higher orbit. Bridge to Torres. I want that processor back online. We've still got a captain down there.
Torres: Acknowledged.
Da Vinci: I cannot believe it. I will not believe it. My mind cannot accept the evidence of my eyes. Is this sorcery? Are we in Purgatory?
Janeway: Neither. You said yourself this place was full of marvels.
Da Vinci: Marvels, yes, but this is magic. Enchantment, not science. And I refuse to believe in enchantment.
Janeway: I'll explain later. We've got to keep moving.
Da Vinci: No! I must understand. Catarina, to see objects disappear into thin air. To see lightning pass through my body. Are we spirits? Catarina, am I dead?
Janeway: Let me ask you something. If you were something other than a human being. If you were a different kind of animal. If you were a small bird, a sparrow. What would your world be like?
Da Vinci: I should make my home in a tree, in the branch of an elm. I should hunt insects for food, straw for my nest, and in the springtime I should sing for a companion.
Janeway: And you would know nothing of the politics of Florence, the cutting of marble or mathematics?
Da Vinci: Of course not.
Janeway: But why not?
Da Vinci: My mind would be too small.
Janeway: As a sparrow your mind would be too small? Even with the best of teachers?
Da Vinci: If Aristotle himself were to perch on my branch and lecture till he fell off from exhaustion, still the limits of my mind would prevent me from understanding.
Janeway: And as a man, can you accept that there may be certain realities beyond the limits of your comprehension?
Da Vinci: I could not accept that. And I would be a fool.
Men: Spread out.
Janeway: Come on.
Da Vinci: Catarina, this way. Up the hill. I know just the escape.
Torres: Torres to bridge. We're in business. We've got full navigation, full propulsion
Torres: And full transporters.
Chakotay: Good work, B'Elanna.
Kim: Sensors show the captain and Da Vinci have left the structure. If we can dip into a lower orbit I should be able to lock onto the mobile emitter.
Chakotay: Set the confinement beam wide and prepare to beam both of them back to the ship. How close do we have to be?
Kim: At least five hundred kilometers from the surface.
Tuvok: Those ships will try to block our descent.
Chakotay: Ready for some fancy flying?
Paris: You bet.
Da Vinci: Momento, Catarina. Escape, signorina, is very near.
Janeway: I'm starting to wonder. Where are you, Chakotay?
Da Vinci: Help me to the summit.
Paris: We're at one thousand kilometers, nine fifty, nine hundred.
Tuvok: The ships are powering weapons.
Chakotay: Go to Red alert.
Tuvok: Shields are holding.
Paris: Eight hundred and fifty kilometers.
Chakotay: Evasive maneuvers.
Da Vinci: When Petrarch climbed Mount Verdoun, and saw all Europe below him, he knew he was witnessing the birth of a new age. He was witnessing the Renaissance. The rebirth of our world. So, Catarina, at this summit here, you and I will be reborn. Reborn, with wings.
Janeway: This could be a problem.
Da Vinci: Hurry. There's not much time.
Kim: Sir, they seem to be on the edge of a precipice, but we're still too high for transport.
Janeway: You've made some improvements.
Da Vinci: I took your advice after the last attempt, and increased the reach of the wings.
Janeway: And the angle of attack?
Da Vinci: Yes, yes, that too. Unfortunately, the river Arno is quite absent. This time, if we fail, only the stones will break our fall.
Janeway: The wing is stationary. That's good. This looks like duranium alloy. Should be light enough.
Da Vinci: Catarina, this time it will work.
Janeway: Let's find out.
Kim: I'm reading weapons fire on the surface near the captain's position. We're running out of time, sir.
Paris: Seven hundred kilometers.
Chakotay: Hold on, Kathryn. Just a few more seconds.
Da Vinci: Together, up.
Janeway: Andiamo.
Da Vinci: Catarina, we're flying!
Janeway: Like the birds!
Da Vinci: Like the birds!
Tuvok: I have a fix on the captain. They are in mid-air, on what appears to be a crude gliding apparatus.
Paris: Five hundred kilometers.
Kim: I'm locking on. Broad confinement beam.
Chakotay: Energize.
Kim: Got them. I've beamed the whole contraption into Cargo Bay one.
Chakotay: Get us out of here, Mister Paris.
Janeway: Captain's log, stardate 51408.3. We're back on course to the Alpha Quadrant. With the ship's computer and the Doctor's emitter returned to proper places, I've set aside some time to check on the Maestro.
Janeway: Leonardo, where are you going?
Da Vinci: France. These Florentines do not deserve my genius. I have written to the King of France telling him of my adventures in the New World, and invited him to soar with me from the towers of his castle.
Janeway: Are you sure that's a good idea?
Da Vinci: Why not? We ourselves have tested the design.
Janeway: But the materials. You'll never find those metals in France.
Da Vinci: No? Then others will suffice. Machines that fly through the air. Lightning flung from one's hands. Mechanical women who live in boxes. These things I have seen. And these things I must recreate. And who knows, possibly improve upon.
Janeway: Leonardo, I think that little flight of ours went to your head.
Da Vinci: And my heart. My oldest memory, Catarina, is of a great bird perched on my bed, its feathers open towards me as if summoning me. You yourself have accused me of giving up, of failing to complete my projects.
Janeway: I was trying to encourage you.
Da Vinci: No, you we're right. All my life I have wanted to fly. Perhaps my failure to do so has caused my heart to remain in flight, leaping from one thing to another, never satisfied, never complete.
Janeway: And now that you've actually flown?
Da Vinci: Now who knows what I cannot accomplish.
Janeway: I'd like to find out. Give my regards to the king of France.
Da Vinci: Catarina, will you walk with me to my carriage?
Janeway: It would be my pleasure.


Crewwoman: Thank you.
Neelix: Oh, you look like a man who could use more coffee.
Kim: Keep it coming. I'm working on my monthly ops report. So much has happened in the last few weeks on this ship, I'm going to be up all night.
Neelix: This firenut blend should keep you eyes open.
Kim: Potent stuff! Thanks.
Chakotay: Neelix.
Neelix: Yes.
Chakotay: I know you have your hands full this evening, but I could use your help.
Neelix: At your service, Commander.
Chakotay: We're approaching a class one nebula. Sensors are picking up traces of protomatter inside. I understand you've dealt with it before?
Neelix: Absolutely. When I was making my living as a trader. Protomatter's one of the most sought-after commodities. It's the best energy source in the Quadrant.
Chakotay: We could use your expertise in collecting a sample. We're leaving at fourteen hundred hours. See you in the shuttlebay?
Neelix: I'll be there, sir.
Seven: These nutritional supplements are unacceptable.
Neelix: What's wrong?
Seven: They are pungent.
Neelix: That's the whole idea. I've been adding Talaxian spices to broaden your palette.
Seven: My palette is sufficiently broad.
Neelix: Why settle for sufficient? The Doctor tells me you have a full complement of taste buds. You've hardly begun to use them. Come by the mess hall Thursday night. It's the first day of Prixin. We'll have an impressive array of exotic cuisine.
Seven: Prixin?
Neelix: The Talaxian celebration of family. We observe it every year on Voyager. Now that you're part of the family
Seven: What should I do to prepare?
Neelix: Nothing. It's not a mission, Seven, it's a party.
Wildman: Ensign Wildman to Neelix.
Neelix: Neelix here.
Wildman: I hate to bother you, but Naomi's having trouble getting to sleep again. Would you mind?
Neelix: No bother at all. I'm on my way. If you'll excuse me, duty calls.
Seven: Naomi? I don't recall that designation on the crew manifest.
Neelix: That's because she's not a member of the crew. Naomi was the first child born on Voyager. I'm her godfather, and the only one who can get her to sleep lately. Bon appétit.
Neelix: No monsters here.
Naomi: Good. Check the replicator.
Neelix: Nothing.
Wildman: Naomi, maybe Neelix should check your room so you can go to bed.
Naomi: Okay. In there.
Neelix: Nobody here.
Naomi: There.
Neelix: Ah, there's not a monster in sight.
Naomi: Can you stay longer? I'm afraid to go to sleep.
Wildman: Honey, Neelix has to go to work.
Neelix: It's all right. You know what I think about when I'm afraid to go to sleep?
Naomi: No. What?
Neelix: The Great Forest.
Naomi: What's that?
Neelix: It's a place my people believe we're all going to go to someday. It's a beautiful, beautiful forest filled with sunlight, and all the people who ever loved me are gathered there to watch over me as I sleep, to protect me.
Naomi: Really?
Neelix: When I think about that Forest and those people, I'm not afraid to sleep anymore.
Naomi: Do you think those people watch over me too?
Neelix: I know they do. Now, I'm going to be away for the next couple of days. So, if you're afraid to sleep I want you to think of that Great Forest.
Naomi: All right.
Neelix: Pleasant dreams.
Naomi: Night, Neelix.
Neelix: Cylinder.
Neelix: Oh! Sorry. I didn't realize you were home.
Seven: I was regenerating.
Neelix: I see.
Seven: Do you require assistance?
Neelix: No, no, no. I have a small containment cylinder stored here. I'll just be a minute. Cylinder? Little cylinder, where are you? Cylinder, you were here a month ago. Now I know that you didn't just roll out of the airlock all by yourself. Now where are you? Oh, I'm sorry. I'm talking to myself. It's my way of remembering things.
Seven: You are a peculiar creature, Neelix.
Neelix: Thanks. I think. Ah! Here it is. Oh, this will be perfect for containing a small amount of protomatter. Last time I used this little wonder I nearly lost it to the Kazon.
Seven: The Kazon. Species three two nine.
Neelix: You're familiar with them.
Seven: The Borg encountered a Kazon colony in the Gand Sector, grid six nine two zero.
Neelix: Were they assimilated?
Seven: Their biological and technological distinctiveness was unremarkable. They were unworthy of assimilation.
Neelix: I didn't realize the Borg were so diskriminating.
Seven: Why assimilate a species that would detract from perfection?
Neelix: Good point. Well, if you'll excuse me, I'm needed in the shuttlebay. Pleasant regenerating.
Paris: One day a week, that's all I ask. How hard can it be?
Neelix: Harder than you think.
Paris: Neelix, it's pizza. Bread, tomatoes, cheese
Neelix: The cheese alone would take days. Separating curds and whey from synthesized milk. It's a delicate process.
Paris: So replicate the cheese.
Neelix: Since it means so much to you, I'll see what I can do.
Paris: Thanks. There's a concentration of protomatter directly ahead.
Chakotay: Neelix?
Neelix: Set the transporter for ten thousand amu's, not a particle more. The containment field is standing by.
Paris: We're in range.
Chakotay: Energizing.
Chakotay: What happened?
Paris: The transporter beam ignited the protomatter. Shields are weakening.
Chakotay: Disengage transport.
Paris: Shields are down.
Neelix: I've got the sample, Commander, and it's stable.
Chakotay: We're clear of the protomatter. How's Neelix?
Paris: He's dead. No heart beat, no synaptic response, extensive cell damage to his brain.
Chakotay: Try a cortical stimulator.
Paris: It won't work. His neural pathways were disrupted by the protomatter.
Chakotay: Set the stimulator for an autonomic bypass. At least we can get his vitals going.
Paris: It's too late for that. The damage was too severe.
Chakotay: We're running into more protomatter. I need your help.
Janeway: Captain's log, stardate 51449.2. After receiving a distress call from Commander Chakotay, we've sent a beacon into the nebula and we're in the process of tracking down the away team.
Kim: Captain, I'm detecting the shuttle.
Janeway: Hail them.
Kim: No response.
Tuvok: The shuttle's primary systems are offline. Lifesigns, only two.
Janeway: Are they within transporter range?
Tuvok: Affirmative.
Janeway: Beam them directly to Sickbay. Harry, put a tractor on the shuttlecraft. Tuvok. you've got the bridge.
Emh: I ran a complete postmortem analysis. There was nothing you could have done.
Paris: I knew we were too close to the protomatter. I should have said something.
Chakotay: Nobody could have predicted this, Tom.
Emh: How shall I proceed?
Janeway: The Talaxians mourn their dead for a full week, in a specific burial ceremony. And that's just what we're going to do.
Chakotay: I'll inform the crew.
Janeway: I'll check Neelix's personal database, see what I can find out about the ceremony. We'll have it in the mess hall. Somehow that feels appropriate.
Seven: Neelix is dead?
Janeway: I'm afraid so.
Seven: His neural pathways, are they intact?
Emh: Yes, but there's no metabolic activity.
Seven: How long has he been dead?
Janeway: Seven, I understand
Seven: How long?
Chakotay: It's been eighteen hours.
Seven: Then it's not too late to reactivate him.
Paris: What are you saying? You can bring Neelix back to life?
Seven: That's precisely what I'm saying. The Borg have assimilated species with far greater medical knowledge than your own. We are capable of reactivating drones as much as seventy three hours after what you would call death.
Chakotay: Neelix wasn't a Borg drone.
Seven: We will adapt.
Emh: What does this procedure involve?
Seven: Nanoprobes are used to reverse cellular necrosis, while the cerebral cortex is stimulated with a neuroelectric isopulse.
Emh: But there's nothing left to stimulate. His brain functions are gone.
Seven: By your narrow definition, perhaps, but not by mine. You will extract seventy micrograms of nanoprobes from my bloodstream. I will modify them to match his Talaxian physiology. His function in this crew is diverse. If you wish to salvage him we must proceed immediately.
Paris: I say we let her try.
Janeway: Hold on a minute, Tom, please. No one's ever been resuscitated after being dead for eighteen hours. If this procedure does work, what are the chances that Neelix would come out of it unaffected?
Emh: She's right. The damage to his cerebral cortex was severe.
Seven: The nanoprobes will compensate for any cellular degradation. Captain, a decision has to be made quickly.
Janeway: Doctor, give Seven whatever assistance she needs. Proceed.
Emh: Captain
Janeway: Do it. If there's a chance we can revive Neelix, we're got to take it. Keep me informed.
Seven: The nanoprobes are ready. We should begin.
Emh: Hold on. I want to check his blood viscosity.
Seven: The cadaver has been sufficiently prepared.
Emh: And they say I have a lousy bedside manner.
Seven: Set neuroelectric isopulses for one second intervals.
Emh: Ready.
Seven: Now.
Seven: Neural activity at nine percent, ten percent, twelve percent.
Emh: This is incredible. His intracerebral blood pressure, his synaptic responses, they're all returning to normal.
Seven: The alveoli in his lung are regenerating. They should be functional
Seven: Now. Neural activity at fifty two percent and rising.
Emh: His neurotransmitter levels are rising too fast.
Seven: We must stabilize his motor neurones.
Emh: I'm going to try reducing his acetocholine levels. It might be enough to
Neelix: Doctor.
Emh: Neelix.
Neelix: What happened. What happened? Why am, why am I here?
Neelix: Dead?
Emh: For eighteen hours, forty nine minutes, thirteen seconds. Congratulations, Mister Neelix. You've just set a new world record.
Neelix: That's impossible. You mean I lost consciousness. I was, I was in a coma.
Seven: No. You were dead.
Neelix: I'm stunned. I'm amazed. I'm grateful. Thank you, Doctor.
Janeway: Actually, you can thank Seven of Nine. The procedure was her idea.
Neelix: Yours?
Seven: The Borg have assimilated the technique from species one four nine. I simply modified it. But you are welcome.
Neelix: Am I good as new?
Emh: That remains to be seen. There's no way to tell if your body will successfully take over the functions the nanoprobes are serving.
Neelix: Nanoprobes?
Janeway: It was necessary, to repair the necrotised tissue.
Emh: Until I'm certain the damaged tissue can function independently, you'll have to be injected with nanoprobes on a daily basis.
Neelix: Well, as long as I don't start assimilating the crew or sprouting Borg implants, I'm sure I can live with it.
Emh: I'm releasing you to your quarters. Your body's been through quite a shock, so try to get some rest. Report to Sickbay tomorrow at oh eight hundred hours for your next injection.
Neelix: The shuttle mission, was it a success? Did we get the protomatter?
Janeway: I'm afraid not. The sample you collected destabilized before it got back to Voyager.
Neelix: The containment field needs to be reinforced next time.
Janeway: If there is a next time. I've asked Chakotay to find out exactly what caused the accident, and unless we can take additional precautions I'm not sending another team into that nebula.
Neelix: I could help with that investigation.
Janeway: No. You are taking some time off, and that's an order.
Neelix: No, Captain, please. I don't need any special treatment.
Janeway: Neelix, you've just returned from the dead. Go easy on yourself.
Neelix: Yes, I suppose you're right. Oh, but you can't ask me to cancel the first night of Prixin. The celebration is in three days.
Janeway: Oh, I almost forgot.
Neelix: I've been aging fruit compote in moolt nectar for weeks now. I can't just let it go to waste.
Janeway: Only if you feel up to it. Could you not ferment those compotes so long this time, because last year I got a little light-headed.
Neelix: I'll make the necessary adjustments.
Janeway: It's good to have you back.
Neelix: It's good to be back, Captain.
Neelix: Alixia? Why weren't you there?
Seven: Human attitudes toward death are perplexing.
Tuvok: How so?
Seven: Too much importance is placed on it. There seem to be countless rituals and cultural beliefs designed to alleviate their fear of a simple biological truth. All organisms eventually perish.
Tuvok: I take it the Borg have no fear of that biological truth.
Seven: None. When a drone is damaged beyond repair, it is diskarded. But it's memories continue to exist in the Collective consciousness. To use a human term, the Borg are immortal.
Tuvok: You are no longer part of the Collective. You are mortal now like the rest of us. Does that disturb you?
Seven: My connection to the Borg has been severed, but the Collective still possesses my recollections, my experiences. In a sense, I will always exist.
Tuvok: Fascinating. That must be a great relief.
Seven: Yes, it is.
Paris: I've sealed the fractures in the shuttle nacelle. The rest of the repairs should be completed by morning.
Chakotay: Good. How are you coming?
Torres: I found a small phase variance in the transporter logs. I think it was responsible for igniting the protomatter. I've remodulated the transporter beam to compensate.
Chakotay: Good work. I'll be in holodeck two. I've created a simulation of the shuttle accident, to see if there's anything we've overlooked.
Neelix: Commander. Commander, I thought you might need some assistance on the holodeck.
Chakotay: If you're feeling up to it.
Neelix: Well, I'm up to anything at this point. I've been resting for two days straight and resting makes me feel, well, restless.
Chakotay: I've programmed the simulation to start when we found the protomatter. Why don't you monitor the containment field readings?
Neelix: Gladly.
Chakotay: Computer, display shuttle crew excluding myself and begin program. HOLO-
Paris: There's a concentration of protomatter directly ahead. HOLO-
Neelix: Set the transporter for ten thousand amu's, not a particle more. The containment field is standing by. HOLO-
Paris: We're in range. The transporter beam ignited the protomatter.
Chakotay: Computer, freeze program. Looks like there was a problem with the pattern buffer. It might have created a feedback loop along the transporter beam.
Neelix: Sounds right.
Chakotay: Let's keep an eye on it. See what happened at the moment of impact. Computer, resume program. HOLO-
Paris: Shields are weakening. Shields are down. HOLO-
Neelix: I've got the sample, Commander, and it's stable. Let's get out of here.
Neelix: Computer, freeze program.
Neelix: Nothing.
Chakotay: What?
Neelix: I died, and there was nothing. There was no one there. No Forest.
Chakotay: Forest?
Neelix: The Great Forest. The afterlife. I was taught that when I died my ancestors would be there, waiting for me by the Guiding Tree. My sisters, my mother and father, my cousings. Everyone who was killed in the war. I took great comfort in knowing that we'd all be together again one day. But it's not true.
Chakotay: Maybe we pulled you back before any of that could happen.
Neelix: No. I was dead for eighteen hours. I should have experienced something, should remember something. It's just a story, a myth. There is no Guiding Tree. No gathering of the ancestors.
Chakotay: You can't be certain of that. Don't throw away a lifetime of faith because of one anomalous incident. Death is still the greatest mystery there is.
Neelix: I was there. I experienced it. There was nothing.
Chakotay: Computer, delete characters.
Neelix: That's what's going to happen to all of us. Like a hologram, we just disappear into nothing.
Tuvok: Attention, attention. If I may have everyone's attention.
Paris: You might want to try the old glass and spoon approach.
Tuvok: Glass and spoon?
Paris: Excuse me.
Tuvok: Thank you. Welcome to the first night of Prixin, the Talaxian observance of familial allegiance. This year, Mister Neelix has requested that I commence the celebration with the traditional salutation. We do not stand alone. We are in the arms of family. Father, mother, sister, brother. Father's father, father's mother, father's brother, mother's brother. Suffice to say, the list is extensive. We gather on this day to extol the warmth and joy of those unshakable bonds. Without them, we could not call ourselves complete. On this day, we are thankful to be together. We do not stand alone.
Janeway: Indeed we do not.
Paris: A few days ago we almost lost a member of our family. I don't know about how the rest of you feel, but it scared the hell out of me. Neelix, you still don't know how to make a pizza, but I'm glad you're here.
Janeway: So am I. Here's to you, Neelix.
All: Speech, speech, speech!
Neelix: Thank you, everyone. Well, er, enjoy. Computer, music.
Chakotay: You all right?
Neelix: Fine, Commander, fine. I apologize for the other day on the holodeck. I guess this whole back from the dead thing is hard to get used to. I'm fine now.
Chakotay: If you ever want to talk, you know where to find me.
Janeway: Having fun?
Seven: No.
Janeway: That's probably because you've been standing here by yourself.
Seven: I don't understand the rules and procedures for this type of social occasion.
Janeway: The rules are simple. Choose a group of people. Listen to their conversation. Then, when you feel you have something to contribute, chime in.
Seven: Chime in?
Janeway: Say something. Join the discussion.
Seven: I will try, Captain.
Emh: The early stages of Ktarian development are astounding. Naomi has grown five centimeters since her last physical, and that was only three weeks ago.
Wildman: It seems like every time I turn around I'm recycling her clothes back into the replicator.
Seven: Children assimilated by the Borg are placed in maturation chambers for seventeen cycles.
Wildman: Interesting. Well, if you'll excuse me, I need to go talk to Neelix.
Emh: In these maturation chambers, the development of conversational skills is, I suppose, a low priority?
Wildman: Neelix.
Wildman: Oh, I'm sorry.
Neelix: No, no, no, it's all right.
Wildman: We haven't seen you in a few days.
Neelix: I've been a little preoccupied.
Wildman: I understand. Naomi's been asking about you.
Neelix: Really?
Wildman: She misses you. Frankly, so do I. She's had trouble sleeping every night this week. Only Neelix can tuck me in. I want Neelix.
Neelix: Sounds familiar.
Wildman: Maybe you could stop by later just to say hello.
Neelix: Why don't, why don't I go now? It's close to Naomi's bedtime.
Wildman: Are you sure? Prixin's your favorite holiday.
Neelix: Yes, but duty calls.
Neelix: Attention all monsters. Get out of this room.
Naomi: My bed.
Neelix: Oh, there's no monsters here.
Neelix: Ah, it's a monster!
Naomi: Scared you!
Neelix: You certainly did. Pleasant dreams, sweeting.
Naomi: Can you stay longer? I want to hear about the Great Forest again.
Neelix: The Great Forest?
Naomi: The special place. The place you think about when you can't sleep.
Neelix: Are you sure you want to hear about that? It's just a silly old story.
Naomi: Please.
Neelix: Well, it's a beautiful place filled with sunlight.
Naomi: And all the people who ever loved me.
Neelix: Yes. They've all gathered there to watch over you, to protect you while you sleep.
Naomi: I had a dream about the Great Forest last night.
Neelix: You did?
Naomi: There was trees and grass and animals, and I saw you and Mommy and we were all happy.
Neelix: Sounds like a nice dream.
Naomi: It was beautiful.
Seven: The Doctor asked me to run a haemotological scan.
Neelix: Why?
Seven: To regulate the dosage of nanoprobes for your next injection.
Neelix: Go ahead. How much longer will I be needing these injections?
Seven: Till your damaged cells can function on their own.
Neelix: I don't really like the idea of Borg technology swimming around inside me.
Seven: That is irrelevant. You need the nanoprobes to live.
Neelix: Live? Oh, is that what I am doing right now? Living? I'm beginning to wonder.
Seven: By most definitions you are alive.
Neelix: Well, part of me isn't alive.
Seven: Which part are you referring to?
Neelix: I don't know, but something is missing. I don't feel like Neelix anymore. Maybe Neelix is gone? Maybe he died, and I'm all that's left.
Seven: Stop moving and allow me to complete the scan.
Neelix: I didn't ask to be bought back!
Seven: You were dead at the time.
Neelix: Well, what right did you have to violate me? You Borg think you can fix anything but you didn't fix me!
Seven: There was no alternative.
Neelix: Get out. Just leave me alone! I said get out!
Seven: I would be negligent in my duties if I did that.
Neelix: I don't care about your duties. I don't care
Neelix: What's, what's happening to me?
Seven: Your cells are returning to a necrotic state. We must get you to Sickbay.
Emh: His tissue began rejecting the nanoprobes, causing spontaneous necrosis throughout his body.
Seven: We modified the nanoprobes to compensate and it appears to be working. Neelix is stable, for now.
Janeway: How do we know this won't happen again?
Emh: We don't. I've designed a monitor for Neelix to wear that will alert us at the first sign of necrosis, and we'll continue with the daily injections. Beyond that, I'm afraid it's a matter of maintenance. He may have to live with this condition for the rest of his life. He wants to speak with you, Commander.
Neelix: Commander, you said if I ever needed anything? You once told me your people have technology that can induce a deep meditation, an altered state of consciousness.
Chakotay: The akoonah.
Neelix: That this device allows you to look inside yourself, ask questions that you might otherwise be afraid to ask.
Chakotay: That's right.
Neelix: That's what I need. I need to look inside myself, figure out what's happening to me. I need answers. Will you help me, Commander?
Chakotay: All right. But I want you to understand, the vision quest isn't a quick fix. It'll take time to interpret the images, and there's no guarantee you'll find what you're looking for.
Neelix: I understand. What should I do to prepare?
Chakotay: You'll need a medicine bundle. Items that define you. Things that will ground you, allow you to take the journey into yourself.
Neelix: I'll get ready.
Neelix: This belonged to my sister, Alixia. She made it during her expedition to the dunes of Talmouth. A flower from Kes' garden. And last but not least, the Guiding Tree. It stands at the center of Talaxian afterlife, deep inside the Great Forest. It's there to help us find our way when we first arrive. At least, that's what I used to believe. Not a very impressive medicine bundle, is it?
Chakotay: It'll do fine. Now place your hand on the akoonah.
Neelix: Am I doing this right?
Chakotay: Try to relax. Clear your mind of everything but the objects before you. Focus on them. Nothing else exists. A-koo-chee-moya. We are far from the sacred places of our grandfathers. We are far from the bones of our people. We come here seeking guidance. It's time, Neelix. Try to leave this room, this ship, and go to a place where you were the most peaceful and content you have ever been. That's where your journey will begin.
Paris: Neelix. Good to have you back.
Neelix: it's good to be back, Lieutenant.
Neelix: Alixia? Alixia, it's me, Neelix. Over here.
Neelix: Captain! My sister, she was just standing here talking to you.
Janeway: The dead girl. Oh yes, very charming. I can see the family resemblance.
Neelix: Alixia!
Seven: You will be assimilated.
Neelix: No time for that now. Maybe later.
Kim: Potent stuff.
Neelix: The lights. It's beautiful.
Alixia: Yes. It's just like you always imagined it would be. The trees, the sunlight, and everyone who ever loved you.
Neelix: When I died, I looked for you, but you weren't there. Why weren't you there?
Alixia: Because it's all a lie.
Neelix: What do you mean?
Alixia: You've wasted your entire life believing lies. The Great Forest? The afterlife? It's all created out of your fear of death. None of it's real.
Neelix: If that's true, what's the point of living?
Alixia: There isn't any. That's what you're finally starting to realize. I'm afraid to go to sleep. tell me about the Great Forest, Neelix. Tell me about the trees, and the grass, and all the people who loved you!
Neelix: Why are you saying these things?
Alixia: Scared you!
Neelix: You died on that shuttlecraft, Neelix. They never should have brought you back. It was a mistake, and you know it. Now accept it. You know what you have to do.
Neelix: No.
Paris: It's all a lie. They lied to you.
Naomi: You know what you have to do.
Tuvok: We gather on this day to tell Neelix what he must do.
Janeway: You stand alone.
Seven: Life is irrelevant.
Torres: Let go.
Kim: It's pointless.
Chakotay: It's a lie.
Emh: You know what you have to do.
Neelix: No!
Seven: Neelix.
Neelix: Oh, there you are. I didn't see you.
Seven: Are you looking for me?
Neelix: Yes, as a matter of fact I am. I hope I'm not disturbing you.
Seven: You are not.
Neelix: I, I want to apologize for my outburst the other day. In the mess hall?
Seven: No apology is necessary.
Neelix: No, no, please. My behavior was uncalled for. I didn't mean the things I said. I wasn't myself. But I feel much better now. Commander Chakotay has helped me to understand a few things. I want you to know that I don't blame you for bringing me back. To life, I mean. In fact, what you did was very thoughtful.
Seven: I would have done the same for any member of this crew.
Neelix: Yes, I'm sure you would have.
Seven: Is there something else?
Neelix: No. Yes. Seven, I think you've made a wonderful addition to this crew. I know it's been difficult for you making the transition from Borg back to human. Or half human. Or whatever it is you've become. Actually, you're just plain Seven to me.
Seven: Your point, Mister Neelix?
Neelix: I guess I just want to say. You're surrounded by people who care about you, and whether you know it or not Voyager is going to be a very good home to you. It certainly was to me.
Seven: Was? Do you intend to leave?
Neelix: Leave? No, I'll be around. Well, goodbye.
Seven: Goodbye.
Chakotay: What happened to you this morning?
Neelix: I'm sorry I had to cancel our little chat, but I was needed in the mess hall. I've been so busy the last few days, I've let things slip around here.
Chakotay: You're not holding up your end of the bargain.
Neelix: What do you mean?
Chakotay: When you asked me to guide you on a vision quest, I agreed. But I also told you it was part of an ongoing process. We're supposed to be discussing your progress.
Neelix: What's left to say? I've told you I saw my sister, the Great Forest. I feel a sense of peace I've never felt in my entire life. It worked.
Chakotay: You've only lived with the visions for a couple of days. That's not enough time to draw any conclusions. You've got to reflect on the images, examine them. Allow them to stay alive in your mind. A vision quest isn't just a dream you dismiss after your first cup of coffee.
Neelix: I understand.
Chakotay: Good. I get off duty at fourteen hundred hours. Meet me in my quarters and we'll begin. That's an order.
Neelix: Yes, sir.
Neelix: Computer, lights off.
Neelix: And finally, Mister Tuvok. I'm grateful for the opportunity I had to win your respect. Your strength and your wisdom were an inspiration to me, and I can only hope that your memory of me will serve to inspire you in some way. It was an honor to spend my last years on Voyager, with this crew. I want to thank all of you for your kindness and your companionship. Goodbye. Computer, end log. Encode for delivery to Captain Janeway in one hour.
Kim: Captain, someone's trying to initiate an unauthorized transport. It's Neelix.
Janeway: Where's he going?
Kim: Looks like he's trying to beam into the nebula.
Janeway: Stop him.
Janeway: Janeway to Neelix. Neelix, respond.
Janeway: Neelix, I order you to disengage transport.
Kim: He's found a way to block the abort sequence. Transport's in progress.
Janeway: Override it. Get him back.
Kim: Bridge to Chakotay. We've blocked his transporter signal.
Neelix: You can slow me down, but you can't stop me.
Chakotay: What are you trying to do?
Neelix: I'm going back where I belong.
Chakotay: You belong here, Neelix.
Neelix: Not anymore. I died in that nebula. You should have left me!
Chakotay: Neelix.
Neelix: No closer! I've created a site to site transport. No one can override the signal.
Chakotay: You told me you were at peace.
Neelix: I will be, as soon as I tap this control.
Chakotay: What really happened in your vision quest? What did you see?
Neelix: My sister, the crew, myself. They all told me the same thing. There's no point in living. And I agree with them.
Chakotay: I'm sure those were powerful images, but there are many ways to interpret them. You may be coming face to face with your own fear of death. Or the manifestation of your emotional crisis. Your deepest beliefs have been thrown into doubt. It's only natural the vision quest would reflect that.
Neelix: Eleven years ago, I saw my world in ruins, my family murdered. All that's kept me going is knowing that one day we'd be together again. That I'd see them again. But it's not true. And I can't live without that hope.
Chakotay: I understand that this can change how you look at things, but it can also lead to an even stronger faith. You don't know. You're not there yet.
Wildman: Ensign Wildman to Neelix.
Chakotay: Answer her!
Wildman: Neelix, please respond.
Neelix: No.
Chakotay: You're being called back to your life again, Neelix. Don't turn your back on it. We're your family now.
Neelix: It's not enough.
Chakotay: It is for us. His function on this crew is diverse. That's what Seven of Nine said about you. Even our Borg understands how important you are on this ship. It's not just the duties you perform, it's the way you make people feel when you're around.
Neelix: That Neelix is gone.
Chakotay: I don't think he is.
Wildman: Why didn't you answer me? I had to have the computer track you down. Naomi thought she saw a monster in the replicator. Neelix, what's going on?
Neelix: I'm trying to decide some things.
Chakotay: That little girl needs you, Neelix. Monsters in the replicator? Who else on this ship can handle that?
Neelix: Duty calls.
Neelix: Goodnight, sir.
Naomi: He says goodnight.
Neelix: Goodnight, Naomi.
Naomi: Goodnight.
Neelix: What's the matter?
Naomi: Mummy says you were sick.
Neelix: I was, but I'm okay now.
Naomi: Did a monster get you?
Neelix: Yes, I suppose so. But I chased him away. Pleasant dreams.


Seven: Ensign Kim. I require your assistance in Jefferies tube thirty seven alpha.
Kim: Well, can it wait? I just got off duty.
Seven: It is urgent.
Crewwoman: Bridge to Commander Tuvok.
Tuvok: Tuvok here.
Crewwoman: You're needed on the bridge, sir.
Tuvok: On my way.
Janeway: Computer, lights on.
Janeway: Neelix? Is anybody here?
Chakotay: Voyager to Lieutenant Paris.
Paris: Paris here.
Chakotay: How's it going out there, Tom?
Paris: One more orbit and I should have all the data we need.
Chakotay: Good work. See you when you get back. Chakotay out.
Tuvok: Crewman. Ensign.
Crewwoman: Sir.
Ensign: Hello, sir.
Kim: It looks to me like you aligned the power couplings perfectly.
Seven: I did.
Kim: If you're so sure then why'd you need me to look at them?
Seven: I did not.
Kim: Then what's this all about?
Seven: I've learned from observing Lieutenants Torres and Paris that humans sometimes require a pretext for being intimate with one another.
Kim: Intimate.
Seven: Resistance is futile.
Paris: Paris to Voyager.
Chakotay: Voyager here.
Paris: My primary warp manifold just ruptured. I've lost helm control. Auxiliary power is offline. Thruster's won't respond.
Chakotay: Say again, Tom. Your signal's breaking up.
Paris: My orbit's decaying. I don't think I can hold it.
Chakotay: Repeat that, Tom.
Paris: I need an emergency beam-out!
Chakotay: Voyager to Lieutenant Paris. Come in.
Janeway: Neelix?
Neelix: What can I do for you, Captain?
Janeway: Where is everybody?
Neelix: Didn't you see them when you came in?
Janeway: No.
Neelix: Take a look. Computer, activate lights.
Tuvok: Lieutenant Commander Tuvok reporting for duty.
Tuvok: Is something wrong?
Paris: I think you forgot something, Tuvok.
Tuvok: It appears that in my haste to report to the bridge, I neglected to put on my uniform.
Janeway: What happened to them?
Neelix: They died.
Janeway: Why?
Neelix: You didn't get them home in time.
Paris: Hello.
Torres: Good morning. Sleep well?
Paris: Not really. What are you doing here?
Torres: I just thought I'd stop by and ask you why you didn't meet me for breakfast.
Paris: Breakfast. What time is it?
Torres: Seven forty.
Paris: And we were supposed to meet at oh seven hundred.
Torres: I was there. Right after I got off the night shift. I waited, and I waited, and I called you on the comm.
Paris: I, er, I didn't hear you. I was having this wild nightmare. I was out like a light. I'm sorry. I'll get dressed right now.
Torres: You don't have time. You're due on the bridge at oh eight hundred and I've got to get some sleep.
Paris: I hate this! We never see each other.
Torres: I'm off Friday night.
Paris: Great. Let's go skiing. How about Saint Moritz?
Torres: We went skiing last time.
Paris: And you loved it. You're getting really good, you know.
Torres: I just thought maybe we could run a program where the wind chill factor wasn't thirty below zero. Like Fiji, or Samoa.
Paris: There's nothing to do there.
Torres: And you can be warm while you're not doing it.
Paris: How about a compromise? Er, spring skiing in Chile? Much warmer.
Torres: A compromise? How about Tahiti?
Paris: Tahiti. As long as I can go water-skiing, fine.
Torres: You're on. Now go get dressed, so you'll still have some time to stop for some coffee.
Paris: I'll see you Friday night.
Neelix: Morning, Tom. What'll it be? Scrambled? Sunny side up? Over easy?
Paris: Just a cup of coffee.
Neelix: Are you sure? Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, you know.
Paris: Neelix.
Neelix: Right.
Paris: Neelix, did you have a rough night or something?
Neelix: Why do you ask?
Paris: Because you just poured me a steaming cup of cooking oil.
Neelix: Actually I did have a little trouble sleeping last night. Nightmares.
Paris: Oh. Me too.
Neelix: Must have been those three full moons we passed yesterday. Well, a few sips of my coffee should clear the fuzz out of your brain.
Paris: Maybe you should pour yourself a cup while you're at it.
Janeway: We seem to be a little short-handed today.
Chakotay: Tom and Harry are both late. I was going to give them another five minutes but I'll call them now if you'd like.
Janeway: That's all right. I'm a little late myself, aren't I.
Chakotay: I wasn't going to mention it. Burning the midnight oil?
Janeway: Actually, I went to bed early for a change, but I had a nightmare and I could not get back to sleep.
Chakotay: I had a bad dream last night, too.
Janeway: You tell me yours and I'll tell you mine.
Paris: Sorry I'm late, Captain.
Janeway: Well?
Chakotay: I was in the forest with my father. We were hunting deer, which was odd because that was something I always refused to do. We cornered the animal. I looked to my father to see if he was going to kill it but he wasn't my father anymore. He was a vicious looking alien.
Janeway: There was an alien in my dream, too. And it wasn't from any race I've seen before. He had sharp ridges on his forehead and on the front of his neck.
Chakotay: That's what mine looked like.
Paris: I don't mean to be eavesdropping but, I had a nightmare last night too, and I'm pretty sure I saw the same guy.
Janeway: Tuvok, by any chance did you have a bad dream last night?
Tuvok: I did have a somewhat unsettling dream, yes. It involved a alien with ridges on his face and neck.
Janeway: I'd say this sounds like more than a coincidence. Let's get the rest of the senior staff together and come up with some answers. Which reminds me, where's Harry?
Chakotay: Bridge to Ensign Kim.
Janeway: Computer, locate Ensign Kim.
Computer: Ensign Kim is in his quarters.
Janeway: Tuvok.
Janeway: Deck six. I've got a hunch Harry's dreaming about our new alien friend.
Tuvok: That would be consistent with the experience the rest of us have had.
Janeway: Tell me more about your dream. Where exactly did you see the alien?
Tuvok: As a matter of fact it was here in the turbolift.
Janeway: What happened?
Tuvok: The alien simply stared at me as if scrutinizing my appearance.
Janeway: That's what happened in my dream. What did you do?
Tuvok: I returned to my quarters.
Janeway: Did the alien follow you?
Tuvok: He did.
Janeway: And then?
Tuvok: He watched me.
Janeway: Doing what?
Tuvok: Getting dressed.
Janeway: Getting dressed?
Tuvok: Yes.
Janeway: I don't suppose I should ask why you were undressed.
Tuvok: I would prefer that you didn't.
Janeway: Harry? Harry!
Tuvok: Computer, open door one zero five dash two. Security clearance Tuvok zeta nine.
Janeway: Harry? Harry, wake up!
Janeway: Are they comatose?
Emh: Not exactly. They all appear to be in a hyper REM state. I've tried every conventional method of waking them, from drugs to direct cortical stimulation, but nothing works.
Janeway: Do you have any idea what's causing this?
Emh: Scans haven't detected any viral or bacterial agents. No cranial trauma, no neural disorders. They're simply asleep.
Janeway: I'd say it's a pretty good bet that this is somehow related to the alien from our dreams.
Emh: Any progress in identifying him?
Janeway: Not yet, but I've got everyone working on it. In the meantime, what's your recommendation?.
Emh: Large doses of animazine.
Janeway: I thought you said drugs weren't working.
Emh: Not for them. For everybody else. Until I can determine what's happening, I'd suggest the rest of you avoid going to sleep.
Paris: I'd say his ridges were a little more pronounced.
Torres: Computer, increase facial ridge height by four centimeters.
Paris: That's closer.
Chakotay: I think his eyes were wider apart.
Torres: Computer, increase the space between the eyes by three centimeters. Increase skin color and texture.
Janeway: That's him.
Chakotay: Has anybody seen this species before? While you were awake, I mean. Seven?
Seven: He doesn't resemble any species assimilated by the Borg.
Paris: So is he just a figment of our imagination?
Torres: If he is, we've all been imagining the exact same thing.
Tuvok: One possible explanation is that he's attempting to make telepathic contact.
Janeway: He's doing more than making contact. We've got six crewmembers who can't wake up. For all we know it's some sort of attack.
Seven: From where? Astrometric scans haven't revealed any ships in this vicinity, or planets capable of sustaining humanoid life.
Paris: So where do we look?
Chakotay: In our dreams. That's the only place any of us have seen him, right? So if we want to communicate with him, find out what he wants, we'll have to do it on his terms.
Tuvok: How do you propose we do that?
Chakotay: Lucid dreaming.
Torres: What's that?
Chakotay: It's a technique which allows you to take control of your dream.
Paris: That happened to me once. I dreamt I was falling and suddenly I realized that I was dreaming, and I could fly, land, do whatever I wanted. I was in complete control of the dream.
Chakotay: What happened to you by accident is something some people can do by design. I've been able to have a lucid dream by using the same technology I use for a vision quest. I may be able to use it to communicate with this alien.
Janeway: Maybe so, but how do we know you'd be able to wake up again?
Chakotay: It's kind of like self-hypnosis. Before I go to sleep, I choose a visual cue, something to let me know I'm dreaming. Earth's moon, say. Once I see it, I can wake myself by tapping the back of my hand three times.
Tuvok: Perhaps you are capable of doing this under normal circumstances, but these were hardly conventional dreams we experienced.
Chakotay: I don't see any other way of finding out what our friend here is after, or how we can wake up Harry and the others. Besides, we can't stay awake forever.
Janeway: You'll do this in Sickbay, under the Doctor's supervision. The rest of you keep scanning the region. Analyze this ship from stem to stern. Wherever he is, find him.
Emh: Normally I consider a good night's sleep an important part of any health regimen, but in this case, I can't recommend it.
Chakotay: I respect your medical opinion, Doctor, but at this point we're out of options.
Emh: This will regulate your hypothalamus, but in all probability I won't be able to wake you. You'll be on your own.
Chakotay: I understand.
Janeway: Ready? Pleasant dreams.
Chakotay: Ah-koo-chee-moya. Far from the sacred places of my grandfathers, far from the bones of my people, I seek to sleep, to meet the one who has visited us in our dreams.
Chakotay: I know this is a dream. My dream. I'm in control.
Dream Alien: You're mistaken.
Chakotay: Am I?
Dream Alien: This is more than a dream. It's my reality. And you're no different than the others.
Chakotay: The others?
Dream Alien: The waking species. For centuries, you've come and found us in a state that you call sleep and tried to destroy us. But not anymore. Now we are in control. One by one, you will fall asleep and enter our reality, where it is you who will be destroyed.
Chakotay: We didn't attack you. We didn't even know you existed until we started seeing you in our dreams. Tell me how I can wake my crew and I promise we'll leave.
Dream Alien: As long as you're asleep, you're no threat to us.
Chakotay: I can wake myself anytime I want. And if I do, I'm going to start looking for you in the waking world. Find where you're sleeping. You wouldn't want that.
Dream Alien: Leave our space. Once you're beyond it, your people will awaken.
Chakotay: Just tell me how far we need to go.
Dream Alien: There's a six planet system less than a parsec away. It marks the nearest border of our space.
Chakotay: We can be past it in one day.
Dream Alien: Then wake yourself, and pray you never dream of us again.
Emh: Congratulations, Commander. You're awake.
Janeway: Chakotay?
Chakotay: I'm fine.
Janeway: The alien, did you see him? And?
Chakotay: Well, it was certainly one of the most interesting away missions I've ever been on. I'll tell you about it on the way to the bridge.
Janeway: Tuvok, scan for a six planet system. It should be less than a parsec from here.
Tuvok: I have it, Captain, at coordinates one three nine mark four two.
Janeway: Tom, lay in a course.
Paris: Aye, Captain. Course laid it. Do you mind if I ask where we're heading?
Chakotay: Past the alien's territory. Once we're clear of it, Harry and the others should wake up.
Paris: And the rest of us can finally get some sleep.
Janeway: One step at a time, Tom.
Chakotay: From what the alien told me it sounds like they have corporeal form but they communicate through their dreams. For them, it's as real as the waking world.
Janeway: Extraordinary.
Chakotay: It reminds me of the Australian aborigines. They believed the dream world was no more or less real than the waking world. In fact, their creation mythology says their ancestors actually dreamed the universe into existence.
Janeway: That's mythology. This seems to be fact.
Chakotay: I wonder, do they ever wake up? How did they evolve this way?
Janeway: We may never know. Sometimes first contact is last contact.
Paris: We're approaching the border of the alien's space.
Janeway: Commander Tuvok, inform the Doctor.
Tuvok: Aye, Captain.
Emh: Wake up Ensign.
Kim: What's going on?
Emh: You were napping.
Kim: In Sickbay?
Emh: We had to move you here when we couldn't wake you.
Kim: How long?
Emh: Seventeen hours. I take it you experienced nightmares like the rest of the crew?
Kim: Oh, I had nightmares all right.
Emh: Tell me about them.
Kim: Well, I was in the corridor
Seven: Captain Janeway asked me to bring you the results of our Astrometric scans. She thought they might be helpful in determining the precise cause of the crew's somnolence.
Emh: Thank you.
Seven: Ensign Kim, now that you're awake I require your assistance in Jefferies tube twenty one beta. Is something wrong?
Kim: No. I, er, I'm still feeling a little groggy.
Seven: Then I'll wait until you are fully recovered.
Emh: Now then, Ensign, you were telling me about your nightmare.
Kim: You know what, Doc, I'm famished. Haven't eaten in at least seventeen hours, right?
Emh: Very well. Go eat, get some clothes on, and report back in an hour.
Kim: I'll see you later. You too, Seven.
Neelix: And the next thing I knew, I was being boiled alive in a pot of my own leola root stew.
Torres: Talk about a nightmare.
Neelix: It was perfectly seasoned.
Torres: Well, if it isn't Sleeping Beauty.
Kim: I do look well-rested, don't I?
Neelix: Is everyone awake now?
Kim: The Doc checked us all out, He says we're fine.
Torres: Have a seat. We were just trading dream stories.
Neelix: Tell us yours.
Kim: Oh, it was nothing very interesting. Just the usual, you know.
Torres: Who was she, Harry?
Kim: The woman of my dreams. What I'd like to know is what Tuvok dreamt about.
Neelix: Yes, Commander, tell us. What do Vulcan's dream?
Kim: Aren't you supposed to have horrible nightmares?
Torres: I wonder what a Vulcan nightmare would be like.
Neelix: Alone, exiled on a planet where the only form of communication is laughter.
Torres: Oh, come on, Tuvok.
Tuvok: I won't dignify this inquisition with a response.
Janeway: Red alert. All hands to battle stations.
Paris: They're coming around for another pass.
Janeway: Auxiliary power to the shields. Return fire.
Chakotay: No damage to the alien ship. Our phasers can't penetrate their shields.
Janeway: Arm photon torpedoes. We seem to have a knack for provoking strangers these days.
Tuvok: Shields are offline.
Janeway: Fire.
Chakotay: I've lost power to the torpedo launchers.
Janeway: What's happening?
Tuvok: Power's being drained from all systems.
Kim: We're being hailed.
Janeway: On screen.
Dream Alien: Captain. Ensign Kim. Commander Chakotay. I'm glad to see you all up and about.
Janeway: Janeway to Engineering. We need auxiliary power to the engines now.
Dream Alien: I think you'll find that impossible.
Janeway: B'Elanna? Report.
Torres: There's a localized
Torres: Dampening field around the ship, Captain.
Torres: I can't give you engines, weapons, shields.
Chakotay: Everything you told me was a lie. This was all an elaborate trap to get Voyager here.
Dream Alien: It appears you're learning more about my people after all. Prepare to surrender your ship.
Tuvok: Captain. Three more alien vessels are approaching. They are powering weapons.
Janeway: You've gone to so much trouble to commandeer this ship, I don't think you're going to destroy it.
Dream Alien: I won't need to.
Janeway: Janeway to the crew. We're under attack. Implement defense procedure omega.
Dream Alien: It's no use. We've taken every deck. The ship is ours.
Crewwoman: Captain?
Chakotay: All the time I thought I was negotiating, they were just setting us up to fly right into their web.
Janeway: You couldn't have known it was a trick.
Kim: I don't understand. They exist in dreams and reality.
Tuvok: Apparently, entering our dreams was their way to learn about us. Perhaps to probe our weaknesses.
Paris: Not to mention lure us into an ambush.
Chakotay: We need to retake the ship.
Janeway: That means getting out of this cargo bay.
Torres: I checked the Jefferies tubes. They're sealed.
Janeway: Maybe we can open them manually.
Chakotay: That's not going to be easy. They've got people everywhere.
Tuvok: We'll have to create a diversion.
Janeway: Any ideas?
Seven: I have one, Captain.
Kim: What the hell are you doing?
Seven: Creating a diversion. Ensign Kim, it is your fault we have been captured.
Seven: I suggest you fight back.
Janeway: Tom, try to get into a Jefferies tube. You two work on the power grid. I'll deal with this.
Dream Alien: Stop, stop.
Janeway: What's going on here? These are my people, I'll handle them. Ensign, that's enough. Move.
Torres: What's wrong?
Chakotay: I'm still asleep.
Torres: What are you talking about.
Torres: Chakotay!
Emh: Commander Chakotay, you're awake.
Chakotay: Am I? Are you sure?
Emh: Of course you are.
Emh: What are you looking for?
Chakotay: The Moon.
Emh: What?
Chakotay: I don't see it.
Janeway: Where's the captain?
Emh: Asleep, along with the rest of the crew.
Chakotay: All of them?
Emh: Except me. No rest for the never weary.
Chakotay: What happened?
Emh: As soon as you entered your lucid dream, they all began falling asleep one by one. I've been trying every method I can think of to revive them, but nothing works. It's been thirty nine hours.
Chakotay: I've been asleep for almost two days?
Emh: If I can't wake them soon, I'm going to have to start feeding them intravenously.
Chakotay: They let me think I was awake but I was still dreaming.
Emh: You weren't the only one. Look at this.
Chakotay: What is it?
Emh: A neurogenic field created by heightened electrical activity in the brain. It's been occurring in all the sleeping crew members. And that's not all. This is Ensign Kim's brain wave pattern, indicating that he's dreaming in a hyper REM state. This is Crewman Foster's pattern.
Chakotay: They're identical.
Emh: Lieutenant Torres, Captain Janeway, Commander Tuvok. I don't know what it means.
Chakotay: I think I do. Not only are they dreaming, they're all having the same dream. It wasn't just my dream, it was a communal dream.
Emh: Everyone's REM patterns are identical. They're experiencing the same images, each from his or her own point of view.
Chakotay: Yes. I saw the rest of the crew, interacted with them. We were all working together to fight off an alien attack.
Emh: Which wasn't real.
Chakotay: Oh, we're under attack all right.
Emh: Commander?
Chakotay: Maybe this is the way these aliens fight their enemies. They exist somewhere in our reality as physical beings, but they must be asleep, unable to defend themselves against what they call waking species. We'll never defeat them in their dream reality, but if we can find them, find where they're sleeping, we'll have the advantage.
Emh: But we've been scanning for lifeforms since this started and we haven't found anything.
Chakotay: Maybe we've been looking in the wrong place. I'm betting a species that spends its time sleeping isn't going to be hanging around where conventional scans can locate them.
Emh: So how do we find them?
Chakotay: This neurogenic field you mentioned. Anyone in a hyper REM state would be producing one.
Emh: In theory, yes. So if we scan for other neurogenic fields it might lead us to the sleeping aliens.
Chakotay: If you need me, I'll be on the bridge.
Emh: Time for a little energy boost, Commander. We don't want you drifting back to sleep. Sorry about the mess, but this is what happens when my repeated requests for a larger Sickbay fall on deaf ears. What is it?
Chakotay: Scanners have detected a neurogenic field emanating from beneath the surface of a planet less than a light year from here. Excuse me, Tom, but I've got to change our course.
Neelix: Still dreaming? How is that possible?
Torres: I don't know, but that's what Chakotay said right before he vanished.
Janeway: That doesn't make any sense. He was wide awake, right here with us.
Torres: He said something about still being asleep and then he started tapping the back of his hand like he said he would to wake up from his lucid dream. And then he disappeared. The question is, where did he go?
Kim: The aliens must have transported him somewhere.
Tuvok: Or perhaps he did wake up.
Torres: Tuvok?
Tuvok: It's possible he was dreaming all of this.
Janeway: Wait a minute. If Chakotay was dreaming and he woke up, what are we doing here?
Tuvok: Perhaps we're dreaming as well.
Torres: Now I'm lost.
Neelix: You're not the only one.
Tuvok: Consider then, that we all experienced nightmares about an alien whose people apparently live out their lives in a dream state. Perhaps we're in that state at this very moment.
Kim: That's ridiculous. We're not asleep.
Janeway: Wait.
Tuvok: When you dream, you're rarely aware that you're sleeping.
Janeway: I can understand how we can mistake dreaming for reality, but that doesn't explain how we're all interacting with one another.
Neelix: Maybe we're not.
Torres: Not what?
Neelix: Interacting with one another. Maybe this is all one person's dream, for example mine, and none of you are really here.
Torres: Trust me, Neelix. I wish I weren't, but I'm here.
Seven: Collective unconsciousness.
Janeway: Seven, come here.
Seven: The Borg share a collective consciousness. These aliens may have somehow inducted a state of collective unconsciousness.
Torres: You mean we're all sharing the same dream?
Tuvok: It is possible.
Janeway: This is all fascinating speculation, but unless we have proof to the contrary we have to treat this like an invasion.
Paris: I managed to open a Jefferies tube hatch.
Janeway: Good work. Neelix, Seven, Kim, do what you can to distract the guards. We're going to find a way to retake the ship.
Janeway: Looks like a complete power drain.
Torres: Their dampening field has shut down the warp core.
Tuvok: Which begs the question of what they intend to do with an unpowered ship.
Janeway: Tuvok, grab some phaser rifles from the weapons locker. Something tells me that when we try to disable the dampening field, we're going to get the aliens attention.
Torres: It looks like they're using harmonic inversion technology. If I can isolate the containment frequency, I may be able to get main power back online.
Janeway: That was easy.
Computer: Warning. Warp core breach in sixty seconds.
Janeway: Maybe a little too easy.
Torres: I don't understand.
Janeway: Can you eject the core?
Torres: I'm trying. It's not working.
Computer: Warp core breach in fifty seconds.
Torres: We've got to get out of here. I'm trying to put a containment field around Engineering.
Computer: Warp core breach in forty seconds.
Torres: Got it! Let's move!
Janeway: I don't understand why you couldn't eject the core.
Computer: Warp core breach in thirty seconds.
Janeway: Something's not right.
Tuvok: Captain, we must hurry.
Janeway: I'm going back in there.
Torres: You'll be killed!
Janeway: I think I'm on to something. You two go!
Tuvok: Captain!
Janeway: That's an order!
Computer: Warp core breach in ten seconds. Nine. Eight. Seven.
Computer: Six. Five. Four. Three. Two. One.
Janeway: Either I've become impervious to antimatter explosions, or we're still dreaming.
Torres: A warp core explosion should have destroyed the ship.
Janeway: If I were awake, or if any of this were real, which it obviously isn't. Things just weren't adding up. Chakotay's disappearance. The warp core failing to eject. And as Chakotay said, lucid dreaming is about taking control, so I took a chance.
Tuvok: Surely there must have been a less extreme method of testing your assumptions. As Captain, you shouldn't be taking chances with your life.
Janeway: I'm touched by your concern, Tuvok.
Torres: Now that we know this is a dream, what do we do?
Tuvok: I suggest we find a way to regain consciousness.
Chakotay: Captain, how did you wake yourself?
Janeway: The same way you did.
Chakotay: The others?
Janeway: They should all be starting to wake up.
Emh: Rise and shine, Mister Paris.
Chakotay: We need to get as far away from that planet as possible.
Janeway: Agreed.
Chakotay: I'll make the necessary course correction.
Janeway: What is it?
Chakotay: This isn't real.
Janeway: Of course it is.
Janeway: See?
Chakotay: No.
Janeway: Doctor?
Emh: He's paranoid, disoriented. I suspect much of the crew will suffer similar symptoms when they awake. Try to relax, Commander. I'm going to sedate you.
Chakotay: No. I need to wake, not sleep!
Emh: I'm here to help you.
Chakotay: No!
Emh: It's all right, Commander. You're awake again.
Chakotay: What happened?
Emh: You dozed off.
Chakotay: I couldn't wake myself like I did before.
Emh: Our proximity to the neurogenic field is making it more difficult to stay conscious.
Chakotay: I need to get down there and find a way to neutralize it.
Emh: Not so fast. This is a highly potent animazine derivative. If you feel yourself falling asleep again, you must use it. And Commander, I suggest we keep an open comm. line. I may need to provide you with a verbal splash of cold water every now and then.
Janeway: It's not working.
Tuvok: It's safe to assume that Chakotay and the Doctor are making every effort to wake us from our sleep.
Janeway: We have to let the rest of the crew know what's happening. That as long as they know they're in a dream, they can't be harmed.
Tuvok: And if the aliens try to stop us?
Janeway: Then we turn this dream world of theirs into a nightmare.
Chakotay: Okay, Doctor, I'm in.
Emh: Acknowledged, Commander.
Janeway: Stand aside.
Dream Alien: Your weapons are useless against us.
Janeway: You're not fooling anyone. We know this is a dream.
Dream Alien: You're confused.
Janeway: Actually, I'm finally seeing things clearly.
Dream Alien: Shoot them.
Janeway: Now, stand aside.
Janeway: All of you, listen closely. What we have to do is stay in control of the dream. If we can do that, the aliens shouldn't be able to hurt us.
Dream Alien: You sound very sure of yourself, Captain.
Janeway: Why shouldn't I be?
Dream Alien: Have you thought about what's happening to your bodies in the waking world? How long do you think they'll survive without nourishment, without physical activity? Your bodies are withering away as we speak. You can't stop it.
Janeway: Don't be so sure.
Chakotay: It's some kind of transmitter. It looks like they use it to amplify the
Chakotay: Neurogenic field.
Emh: Can you turn it off?
Chakotay: I tried knocking it out with my phaser, but there's some kind of forcefield.
Emh: Commander?
Chakotay: Sorry, I'm having trouble concentrating.
Emh: Time for your medicine.
Chakotay: Doctor. This animazine, it's pretty powerful.
Emh: Yes. And I suggest you take it immediately.
Chakotay: These aliens, they look pretty frail.
Emh: That's fascinating, Commander. Now please, inject yourself.
Chakotay: They probably wouldn't have the same tolerance for stimulants that we do.
Emh: What are you getting at?
Chakotay: The animazine might be capable of waking up one of these aliens.
Emh: Commander, I'd be happy to discuss comparative pharmacology with you after you administer your injection.
Chakotay: Actually, I think I'm going to give it to one of my sleepy friends here.
Emh: What would that accomplish?
Chakotay: If I can wake him up
Chakotay: I might be able to get him to deactivate this generator.
Emh: There's not enough
Emh: Animazine for two doses. If you fall asleep again, there's no way I can revive you.
Chakotay: Doctor, I want you to go to the bridge.
Emh: Commander!
Chakotay: I'm giving you an order!
Chakotay: Go to the bridge and target my comm. signal with a photon torpedo.
Emh: You're delirious. You're asking me to incinerate you.
Chakotay: Not just me. These aliens and their transmitter, too. But only if you don't hear from me
Chakotay: In five minutes. Understood?
Emh: Commander.
Chakotay: Understood?
Emh: Aye, sir.
Chakotay: Tell me how to deactivate this transmitter, or I start shooting.
Alien: What happened?
Janeway: Looks like he woke up.
Chakotay: I'll give you five seconds. Four, three, two
Janeway: Chakotay.
Dream Alien: Who's going to help you now, Captain?
Chakotay: I found the cavern and your people. I'm there right now in the waking world. And it's all going to be destroyed in less than two minutes, unless you deactivate that transmitter.
Dream Alien: If you are there, you'll be killed, too. I think you're lying.
Chakotay: Oh, believe me, if I don't contact my ship you and I are both going to die in our sleep. Chief Medical Officer's log, Stardate 51471.3. With the neurogenic field neutralized I've been successful in reviving the entire crew. Unfortunately, the experience has produced a troubling side effect for many of them. Acute insomnia.
Chakotay: Computer, lights on.
Neelix: Sorry, Commander. I didn't mean to frighten you.
Chakotay: You're not starting breakfast this early, are you?
Neelix: Just rearranging the supply cabinets. I couldn't sleep.
Chakotay: Neither could I.
Neelix: How about a soothing cup of tea?
Chakotay: Sounds good.
Neelix: I know it's silly, but every time I'm about to doze off, I'm terrified that I won't be able to wake again.
Chakotay: You too?
Paris: We just finished a little late night hoverball on the holodeck.
Kim: Three games in a row. We were hoping it would wear us out.
Neelix: You know, I could learn to enjoy these late night get-togethers.
Paris: Speak for yourself. I would kill for a good night's sleep.
Chakotay: Neelix, I think it's time for breakfast.