Tuvok: Tuvok to Voyager. Voyager, do you read? You must lie still.
Bennet: I can't, I can't feel my legs.
Tuvok: Several of your vertebrae have been fractured.
Bennet: Isn't there anything you can do?
Tuvok: I'm afraid the shuttle's medical supplies are inadequate. We must wait for Voyager to find us.
Bennet: It's getting worse. My whole body feels numb.
Tuvok: I want you to slow your breathing, and relax your muscles. Try not to move.
Bennet: All this time I thought I was so lucky. No family back home. Nobody to miss. Now it seems kind of sad not to leave anybody behind.
Tuvok: I believe Ensign Macormak would miss you a great deal.
Bennet: You think so? I was never really sure how she
Tuvok: It's all right, don't be frightened. I won't hurt you.
Tressa: Let me go!
Tuvok: Will you run if I do?
Tressa: No.
Tuvok: My name is Tuvok. Who are you?
Tressa: Tressa. You don't look like us.
Tuvok: I am not a member of your race. I am Vulcan. I thought this moon was uninhabited. Do you live here?
Tressa: We came here on a ship, but it crashed like yours.
Tuvok: Where are your parents?
Tressa: Dead. Is he dead too?
Tuvok: Yes.
Tressa: What were you doing to him?
Tuvok: I put a stasis field around his body to protect it until I can take it back to my ship.
Tressa: Why?
Tuvok: Some cultures, like Mister Bennet's, consider an appropriate burial to be a sign of respect. Tressa, is there anyone else here with you?
Tressa: It's all right.
Tuvok: There is no one looking after you?
Tressa: Everyone else died in the crash. We're alone.
Tuvok: There is no reason to be afraid. I will take care of you now and see that you get home safely.
Janeway: Captain's log, supplemental. I've sent out scouting parties to analyze the mineral deposits in the moons around Drayan Two. Meanwhile, I've arranged to meet with the planet's leader.
Chakotay: According to Neelix, nobody's had direct contact with the Drayans for decades. All he's heard are rumors.
Janeway: Do any of those rumors describe them as hostile?
Chakotay: No, just very private.
Janeway: That's something. Deck four. My diplomacy professor used to say the opening twenty minutes of a first contact situation are the most crucial.
Chakotay: I'd feel better about this particular twenty minutes if we had some idea what to expect.
Janeway: Sometimes you have to go in blind. That's the exciting part. When I was a science officer I always envied the Captain's privilege of making first contact with new races.
Chakotay: I envied it so much I almost got myself shipped back to the academy for remedial training. On my first assignment we were sent to make contact with the Tarkannans. I studied all the information we had about them and pestered the Captain into letting me be part of the diplomatic team. When we came face to face with the Tarkannan delegation I very proudly made the traditional gesture for hello, not realizing that males and females of their race use different styles of movement, and I was actually propositioning the Ambassador.
Janeway: Energize.
Janeway: I'm Captain Kathryn Janeway. I'd like to welcome you aboard the Federation Starship Voyager.
Alcia: First Prelate Alcia. May this day find you at peace and leave you with hope. That's a traditional blessing from our ancient scrolls.
Chakotay: Om-nah-hoo-pez-nyeetz. That's from the spirits of my people. It means, peace in your heart, fortune in your steps.
Janeway: It's very gracious of you to agree to meet with us.
Alcia: We don't often engage in dialogue with alien races, but your story of crossing the galaxy intrigued me.
Janeway: I'd be glad to tell you all about our journey and my crew. Perhaps you'd like to see more of our ship as well.
Alcia: Thank you.
Janeway: Our warp core is designed to operate for up to three years before refueling.
Chakotay: The reaction chamber is equipped with a compositor which allows us to re-crystallize the dilithium. In our situation we can never be sure when we'll be able to find a new supply.
Janeway: I'm sorry my Chief Engineer isn't here to meet you. She's leading one of the away teams surveying the moons around Drayan.
Alcia: I find it interesting that you chose this to show me first. Do your people consider advanced technology to be their highest achievement?
Janeway: Not as an end in itself. The purpose of all this is to help up gain knowledge about the universe and the people in it.
Alcia: Our ancestors were brilliant scientists and engineers. They were continually developing better, smarter, more efficient machines, until the technology became more important than the people. I believe our society would have self-destructed if it weren't for the reformation. My great-grandfather helped to return us to ourselves, and since that time we've remained isolated to avoid the influence of those who might lead us back down the wrong path.
Chakotay: Some human cultures have done the same.
Tressa: Will your friend be all right in there?
Tuvok: Yes. I have secured his body within a stasis field. You were all very fortunate to have escaped the crash with only a few bruises.
Tressa: The attendants protected us.
Tuvok: Attendants?
Tressa: The people on our ship. They got us to the escape pod before they crashed.
Corin: Can we go now? I want to go.
Elani: Are we going to fly in your ship?
Corin: He said it was a shuttle, not a ship.
Tuvok: We cannot leave yet. My shuttle is in need of repairs.
Tressa: Can't you fix it?
Tuvok: I believe so. However, I am more concerned with getting through the electrodynamic turbulence in the ionosphere.
Corin: What's electro-turbulence?
Tuvok: A thermal inversion gradient is causing unusually strong and unpredictable currents in the upper levels of the atmosphere. Those currents caused my shuttle to crash, and I assume yours as well. I must find a way to safely navigate through the turbulence before we can attempt to leave.
Tressa: Will that take a long time?
Tuvok: It may. You must be patient.
Elani: I don't want to stay here any more. I don't like it here.
Tuvok: Your displeasure doesn't change our situation. Nor does it bring us any closer to a solution
Tressa: You don't have to be so mean about it.
Tuvok: It isn't my intention to be mean. I only wish to provide you with a realistic assessment. Vulcan parents never shield their children from the truth. Doing so would only hinder their ability to cope with inevitable difficulties.
Corin: I'm hungry.
Tuvok: There is a supply of Starfleet rations in the shuttle.
Corin: What's rations?
Tuvok: Concentrated vitamin enriched nutritional supplements.
Corin: I want takka berries.
Elani: With cherel sauce.
Tuvok: We have only rations. Now, I must begin working on my shuttle. By my estimate we have fewer than four hours of daylight remaining.
Elani: We can't be here when it's night.
Corin: That's when the Morrok comes.
Tuvok: Is that some species of animal?
Tressa: The Morrok is what takes you when you die.
Corin: It lives here in the cave.
Tuvok: I'm not detecting any life forms other than ourselves.
Tressa: It's here. It'll come.
Tuvok: Have any of you ever seen this creature?
Elani: You can only see it when it comes for you. Then it's too late.
Tuvok: I believe your anxiety about our situation is causing you to imagine the presence
Corin: It took the others. Jarren and Fayla, the other children on the ship!
Tressa: The Morrok took them while we were sleeping, and tonight it will take us.
Janeway: The Federation consists of over one hundred and fifty different worlds who have agreed to share their knowledge and resources in peaceful cooperation.
Emh: Ah, visitors! Welcome to sickbay. I'm the Chief Medical Officer.
Janeway: This is First Prelate Alcia of Drayan Two.
Emh: It's an honor to meet you. We don't often receive such distinguished guests here, unless there's been some sort of accident. I'm sure nothing unfortunate will happen to you on your visit here, but if it did you can rest assured you will find yourself in very capable hands. We are fully equipped to provide a wide variety of treatments here from removing a splinter to re-sequencing the base pairs in a strand of DNA, and our research facilities are the most advanced in Starfleet.
Alcia: Very impressive.
Janeway: You may be even more interested to learn that this man isn't really a biological lifeform. He's a computer generated holographic projection.
Alcia: My people believe that physical matter is only an illusion. The body is not the true self, only a representation.
Janeway: One of our greatest philosophers, Plato, wrote that what we see around us are only poor shadows of ideal objects which exist on a higher plane.
Alcia: That is similar to our teachings. Our connection to what you call a higher plane is more important than our attachment to this brief existence, however real it may seem.
Kim: Bridge to Captain. There's an incoming message for the First Prelate.
Emh: Perhaps you'd like to use my office?
Alcia: Yes, thank you, Doctor?
Emh: I'm afraid it's just Doctor.
Janeway: Patch it through on a secure channel to the Doctor's office, Mister Kim.
Kim: Acknowledged.
Kes: You did very well. I think she was impressed.
Emh: Kes has been coaching me on my diplomatic skills.
Chakotay: It shows.
Janeway: Our next step will be to open negotiations. Find out what they might be interested in getting from us in exchange for the polyferranide.
Alcia: I've been called away on an emergency.
Janeway: Is there anything we can do to help?
Alcia: No, thank you. It would be better if you and your crew continued on your journey. It's been an interesting visit.
Janeway: We'd been hoping to learn more about you.
Alcia: It's been our custom for generations to avoid close contact with outsiders. I choose to honor that tradition. Goodbye, Captain. I hope you find your way home.
Emh: Was it something I said?
Chakotay: We could assure her we have no intention of interfering with their culture or traditions.
Janeway: No. She made her wishes clear. If we're not welcome, we'll go. Recall the scouting parties. We'll have to find our polyferranide somewhere else.
Tuvok: Where did you last see the missing children?
Corin: By the big tree, when we went to sleep last night.
Tuvok: Were either of them injured?
Corin: Jarrin hurt his hand.
Tuvok: But both were able to walk.
Corin: Uh huh.
Tuvok: Did any of you hear them get up during the night?
Tressa: You think they wandered off and got lost, but they didn't. The Morrok took them. They're gone.
Tuvok: The other children aren't within scanning range of this tricorder. That is the only thing we know for certain at this time.
Tressa: You don't understand. We have to get away from here.
Corin: Please can we go?
Elani: We're scared.
Tressa: Please, Tuvok?
Tuvok: Children, you are allowing your fears to guide you. You must learn to exercise control over your own imagination.
Corin: But the Morrok!
Tuvok: Yes, the existence of such a creature is one possibility. However, your emotional reactions are preventing you from accurately judging how unlikely that is to be true.
Corin: I can't help it. I'm scared.
Tuvok: I believe you can help it. Vulcan children learn to detach themselves from their emotions at an early age.
Elani: How?
Tuvok: First, you must focus on the object of your fear. Picture the Morrok clearly in your minds. That image is accompanied by an emotional response. Describe for me what that feeling is like.
Tressa: It makes my stomach all tight.
Elani: I feel like I want to run, but my legs won't work.
Tuvok: Now, if you could see this emotion in physical form, what would it look like?
Corin: It's like this big, black cloud with lots of thunder and lightning all around us.
Tuvok: Then imagine a strong wind is pushing that cloud away. Watch as your fear grows more distant. It is no longer a part of you. Once you begin to detach yourselves from your emotional responses, you come closer to controlling them. Eventually, they will be eliminated altogether.
Elani: Do you live your whole life without feeling anything?
Tuvok: More accurately, we strive to control our feelings.
Tressa: You don't get scared, ever?
Tuvok: No.
Corin: Even when your shuttle crashed?
Tuvok: That is correct.
Corin: But what if there was this big hairy tardeth coming after you?
Tuvok: The circumstances are irrelevant. A Vulcan approaches every situation logically. Now I must begin work on my shuttle. We will resume the search for the other children once the sensors are operational. I expect each of you to sit quietly and not touch any of the equipment.
Tressa: We promise.
Tuvok: Elani, please put that down.
Corin: Let me have it!
Tressa: No, I found it!
Tuvok: Be careful with that! You will stay here and you will stay here.
Elani: Where do I get to sit?
Corin: But I want to sit next to you.
Corin: Tuvok?
Tuvok: Yes.
Corin: Why do your ears look like that?
Tuvok: All Vulcans have similarly shaped ears.
Corin: Why?
Tuvok: It is the result of many millennia of evolution.
Elani: Do they make you hear better?
Tuvok: No.
Tressa: Where do Vulcans live? Is it far away?
Tuvok: My homeworld is on the other side of the galaxy. Elani. Elani! I asked you not to play with that.
Elani: Sorry.
Corin: What are you doing?
Tuvok: It helps prepare you to attain a meditative state. Now, close your eyes and imagine all the energy in your body is flowing to the point where your fingertips meet. Nothing else you hear or feel is important. Let the outside world fade away. You exist only inside your mind.
Corin: Tuvok?
Tuvok: Yes.
Corin: Do you have any children?
Tressa: Be quiet. We're trying to attain a meditative state.
Corin: But I want to know!
Tuvok: I have four children. Now you must concentrate.
Corin: What are they like?
Tuvok: Well behaved. They had already mastered several states of heightened awareness by the time they were your age.
Elani: If Vulcans don't feel anything, does that mean you don't love them?
Tuvok: My attachment to my children cannot be described as an emotion. They are part of my identity, and I am incomplete without them.
Elani: I bet they miss you too.
Corin: Tuvok?
Tuvok: Yes.
Corin: I have to scratch my nose.
Tuvok: You may.
Tressa: Tuvok!
Tuvok: Yes.
Tressa: I hear something.
Corin: Is it a ship?
Tuvok: I believe so.
Tressa: Can you see who it is?
Tuvok: The sensors are only partially functional. I'm attempting to identify the ship by its shield harmonics.
Elani: Is somebody coming to save us?
Tuvok: It is not a shuttle from Voyager. The pattern of the harmonics matches that of the ships we scanned in orbit around Drayan. It seems your people have come looking for you.
Tressa: We have to hide, Tuvok. You can't let them find us here.
Tuvok: I don't understand. I thought you wanted to go home.
Tressa: They won't take us home. They're the ones who made us come here.
Tuvok: For what purpose?
Tressa: They sent us here to die.
Corin: We have to go!
Tressa: If they find us, we'll all die.
Elani: Please, Tuvok.
Tuvok: Why would your own people want to harm you?
Tressa: Please, they're coming.
Elani: Help us!
Drayan: There's no one inside. Spread out and scan the area.
Tuvok: Two of them are coming this way.
Corin: What are you doing?
Tuvok: This will hide us from their scanners.
Tuvok: Why do you believe they've come to kill you?
Tressa: We're supposed to die here. That's what this place is for.
Corin: They bring children here for the final ritual. Then the Morrok takes them away.
Elani: No one ever comes back.
Tuvok: It is illogical for a society to kill its own children.
Tressa: The scrolls say we should be happy. That when we die the energy inside us is set free.
Corin: Is it true? Is that what really happens?
Tuvok: Vulcans believe that a person's katra, what some might call a soul, continues to exist after the body dies.
Elani: Do you believe that?
Tuvok: When I was younger, I accepted it without question. In recent years I have experienced doubts. I do believe there is more in each of us than science has yet explained.
Tressa: I know we should have more faith. It's wrong to be afraid of death.
Tuvok: There is nothing wrong in choosing to live.
Elani: Will you help us?
Tuvok: Until I can gain a better understanding of your situation, I believe it would be best to get you safely back to Voyager.
Chakotay: Torres and Neelix just got back, but there's still no word from Tuvok and Bennet.
Paris: I'm not picking up their shuttle on sensors.
Kim: There's heavy solar flare activity. It's causing electrodynamic disturbance throughout the system.
Torres: We found a vein of pure polyferranide, three kilometers long. It's a real shame we're leaving.
Janeway: When was your last contact with the other team?
Neelix: Several hours ago. Is there a problem?
Janeway: We can't reach them.
Torres: When we spoke to them, they were going to check out the outermost moons.
Janeway: Can you find the shuttle's ion signature?
Paris: I'm reading one on heading one five one mark eight.
Torres: That's where Neelix and I went.
Paris: And another one on a divergent course twenty degrees to starboard.
Janeway: Set a course, Mister Paris.
Torres: Our scans of the moon are inconclusive. We can't see anything through the turbulence in the atmosphere.
Kim: The Drayan ship still hasn't responded to our hails.
Janeway: Are you sure our signal's getting through.
Kim: They're receiving it, they're just not answering.
Janeway: Continue hails.
Alcia: This desecration dishonors us both, Captain.
Janeway: I'm sorry, I don't understand.
Alcia: This moon is our crysata. Sacred ground. Your presence is forbidden here.
Janeway: We've only come here to look for one of our shuttles. It's missing.
Alcia: We found your shuttle on the surface. The pilot is dead.
Janeway: There were two men on board. Did you find both of them?
Alcia: No, only one. If there's someone else on this moon you must transport him back to your ship immediately.
Janeway: That's what we intend to do.
Alcia: This type of disturbance is exactly why we avoid contact with outsiders. I was wrong to respond to your communication. I should have known better than to indulge my curiosity.
Janeway: There's no one at fault here. The shuttle crash was an accident.
Alcia: One which I expect you to correct as soon as possible.
Janeway: What's the status of the transporters?
Torres: The targeting scanners still can't lock onto anything on the surface. It would be easier if we sent down another shuttle.
Janeway: No, that would only make things worse.
Torres: I'll keep working on it.
Tuvok: I don't see how you can be thirsty again after four drinks of water.
Corin: Aren't you going to sleep?
Tuvok: I can go several days without rest if necessary. You cannot. It's warmer by the fire. Go back and try to sleep. Do not worry. I have run several thorough scans of the area. There are no other life forms present, inside the cave or anywhere within five kilometers.
Corin: Maybe the Morrok doesn't show up on the scanners.
Tuvok: I am also keeping watch on all of you from here. If there is any indication of trouble I will come immediately.
Corin: Okay.
Tressa: We can't sleep.
Tuvok: Apparently not.
Elani: It's so dark.
Tressa: I think the fire's going out. Maybe you should look.
Tuvok: I added more wood less than a half an hour ago. However, it might be wise to check it again.
Elani: I always have my hair brushed before I go to sleep.
Corin: I'd like to hear a story. Tell us one about the fire beast of Sullus.
Tuvok: I never understood the practice in some cultures of describing ferocious creatures in an attempt to lull children to sleep.
Corin: Don't Vulcan's tell bedtime stories?
Tuvok: If my children had difficulty sleeping, I would play music for them.
Elani: I want music.
Tuvok: Unfortunately I don't have my lute.
Corin: What's that?
Tuvok: It is a five-stringed instrument tuned on a diatonic scale. It can be very soothing. My youngest son was particularly fond of it. He always used to ask me to play Falor's Journey. It is a tale of enlightenment consisting of three hundred forty eight verses. It may not be necessary to include the complete narrative. Falor was a prosperous merchant who went on a journey to gain greater awareness. 'Through storms he crossed the Voroth Sea To reach the clouded shores of Raal Where old T'Para offered truth. He traveled through the windswept hills And crossed the barren Fire Plains To find the silent monks of Kir. Still unfulfillled, he journeyed home Told stories of the lessons learned And gained true wisdom by the giving. (The children fall asleep. Next morning, Tuvok is working inside the shuttle when -)
Tressa: Tuvok! Tuvok! They're gone.
Torres: Captain, you might want to see this.
Janeway: Have you found the shuttle?
Torres: Actually we've found two, both crashed on the surface. The sensor resolution is still quite low. This looks like our shuttle. I'd guess the other one is Drayan.
Kim: We've also had some indications of life signs on the surface. A while ago there seemed to be four of them. Now we can only distinguish two.
Torres: I've been working on the transporters. It just isn't possible to get a pattern lock through all the turbulence.
Janeway: Then we've got to start considering other options. I want a full analysis of the atmospheric conditions, and your best suggestion of how to get a shuttle to the surface. Then let's hope we don't need to try it.
Tuvok: There were no other lifeforms and no unusual energy readings within sensor range all night.
Tressa: It was the Morrok. Why don't you believe me?
Tuvok: Very well, I'll investigate. I'd like you to wait here while I look inside the cave.
Tressa: But if you go in there, you won't come out.
Tuvok: I will take every possible precaution. I believe you can be responsible with this. Aim like this and press here to fire. I'll seal the shuttle's door while I am gone.
Tressa: No, Tuvok, don't leave me all by myself, please.
Tuvok: If there is anything in the cave, it may help us determine what has been happening here. It is very important to gather as much as information as possible.
Tressa: I'm scared.
Tuvok: We often fear what we do not understand. Our best defense is knowledge. You must trust me, Tressa. I will return shortly.
Tressa: Promise?
Tuvok: I will not abandon you.
Tressa: What did you see in there?
Tuvok: I realize it may frighten you, but you must hear the truth. Suffice it to say, I did not find the other children, nor do I have any explanation of what happened to them.
Tressa: I'm going to be next, aren't I? There's nothing we can do about it.
Tuvok: The disappearances have occurred only at night. We will attempt to leave here before the sun sets.
Tressa: I'll really be quiet this time. I won't touch anything.
Tuvok: That would make it difficult for you to assist me with repairs.
Paris: The Drayans have just sent another shuttle down to the moon, Captain.
Kim: There must be at least twenty people on the surface. I can't tell if the two life forms we detected before are still there.
Chakotay: How many search parties could it take to find two crash victims?
Kim: Captain, there's a break in the turbulence. I'm picking up a comm. signal.
Tuvok: Tuvok to Voyager. Voyager, do you read?
Janeway: We read you, Tuvok. Are you all right?
Tuvok: Yes, Captain, but Ensign Bennet is dead.
Janeway: We know. we've been trying to get you off the surface but we're having some trouble with the Drayans. They insist on sending their own search parties.
Tuvok: Yes. I have been avoiding them.
Janeway: Why?
Tuvok: I have a young girl with me who claims they have come to kill her. I was reluctant to believe it at first, but several other children have disappeared.
Kim: There's nothing I can do, Captain. The signal's breaking up.
Janeway: Tuvok, what happened to the other children?
Tuvok: They have disappeared. Something on this moon is responsible. We must leave here. I'm attempting to repair
Janeway: Scan Tuvok's shuttle for damage. Will he be able to get himself out of there?
Kim: There's no structural damage, some power fluctuations. He should be able to take off.
Chakotay: What if they can't?
Janeway: Hail the Drayan ship.
Alcia: Captain.
Janeway: First Prelate. It's come to my attention that you have a damaged ship on the surface as well, and there may be survivors. I'd like to offer our help in finding them. Perhaps a joint rescue operation?
Alcia: That won't be necessary, Captain. You've been intrusive enough.
Janeway: Our sensor readings indicate the people on the surface may be in trouble. I'm sure you must be as concerned for their safety as we are.
Alcia: There's no reason to fear for anyone's safety on the crysata. It's a blessed haven, sheltered and unspoiled, which is the very reason why I can't allow you to go there under any circumstances.
Janeway: Then I regret to inform you I'll be taking a shuttle to the surface without your permission.
Alcia: That's completely unacceptable!
Janeway: I believe it's necessary.
Alcia: If you launch one of your shuttles, I will be forced to send one of ours after you.
Janeway: First Prelate, it's not my intention to provoke a conflict.
Alcia: Well then, leave at once.!
Janeway: I'll be glad to, as soon as every member of my crew is safely back on board this ship. Janeway out. Lieutenant, you're with me. Mister Kim, I need your report.
Kim: I've been studying the energy signature of the Drayan shuttles. They're using some kind of dielectric field to protect them from the turbulence.
Paris: We could generate the same kind of field with a shuttle's warp coils.
Kim: It won't be very stable.
Paris: It might be a rough ride, but we can make it.
Chakotay: Captain, maybe you shouldn't
Janeway: I know the risks, Commander, but if there's any hope left for a diplomatic solution, I've got to be down there to see it through.
Paris: Let's get through the pre-flight quickly. Thrusters, impulse engines, warp drive.
Janeway: All propulsion systems are nominal.
Paris: Shields, phasers, inertial dampers, comm. system.
Janeway: I think we've got all the basics. Computer, initial cold launch sequence.
Paris: Or we could just skip pre-flight altogether.
Janeway: Definitely not recommended, but sometimes necessary.
Paris: I'll remember that. I've taken the warp drive offline. Setting up the dielectric field. It's holding, but we'll have to keep an eye on the stabilizer integrity.
Janeway: Janeway to Bridge. Depressurize the shuttle bay and open the space doors.
Chakotay: Aye Captain.
Paris: Captain, I'm picking up a Drayan shuttle. They're on an intercept course.
Janeway: Can we out run them?
Paris: The dielectric field is weakening our structural integrity. If we go much faster I'm afraid we'll break up. We're improvising here, the Drayans aren't.
Janeway: We're on their home turf. They have every advantage. That may be reason enough for them not to fire on us.
Paris: We'll be testing that theory in a few seconds. They're about to enter weapons range, Captain.
Janeway: Raise shields to maximum and stand ready to power the weapons.
Tuvok: Maneuvering thrusters and impulse engines are functional. We're ready to lift off.
Tressa: What about the electro. The currents that made the ships crash.
Tuvok: I have determined that a dielectric field should allow us to pass through them. However, you should still be prepared for some turbulence. Initiating pre-launch sequence. Number three thruster is failing, attempting to stabilize.
Paris: The Drayan shuttle is closing fast, Captain. They'll overtake us before we can land.
Janeway: They haven't powered their weapons systems. Maybe they're still willing to talk.
Paris: Let's hope the ones on the surface feel the same way. We'll be through this ionosphere in a few more minutes.
Janeway: Sensors are clearing up. I'm reading Tuvok's shuttle. He's trying to lift off but it looks like there's some trouble with the thrusters, and there's a large Drayan search party approaching his location.
Tressa: I see them. They're coming all around us. We've got to go, now!
Tuvok: I'm attempting an emergency procedure. Please move away from the console.
Tressa: You did it! You saved me!
Tuvok: I regret that may be a premature conclusion. The process of powering the thrusters has left us with minimal shields and no functional weapons. Voyager will be watching for us. When we clear the atmosphere, we can be transported aboard the ship.
Tressa: Then what are we going to do?
Tuvok: You may request asylum with the Federation if you wish. Then we'll be able to protect you.
Tressa: I want to stay with you.
Tuvok: The Drayan shuttle is hailing us.
Alcia: You're holding one of our children. I want to speak to her.
Tuvok: She believes you intend to kill her. Is that true?
Alcia: The child is confused. I only want to help her.
Tressa: You want me to die.
Alcia: Tressa, I understand how confusing this must be for you. If you return to the surface I will answer all of your questions.
Tressa: No. I'm not going back there. I'm staying with Tuvok.
Tuvok: We can resolve this matter aboard Voyager.
Alcia: Unacceptable. If you or any of your people attempt to take Tressa back to your ship, I will use any means necessary to stop you.
Tuvok: Do what you will.
Alcia: Very well. Fire!
Tuvok: We weren't hit. I believe that was a warning.
Paris: I've got phasers locked on the Drayan shuttle, Captain.
Janeway: Don't fire. We might be able to transport Tuvok from here. There's still too much interference.
Paris: We should be close enough to get a comm. signal through.
Janeway: Tuvok, we're on our way to the surface. We'll intercept you in a few moments.
Tuvok: That may be too late, Captain. I'm losing power rapidly. I believe another hit will force me to land.
Janeway: Go back down to the surface. We'll follow you.
Tressa: It's getting dark. What's going to happen to me?
Tuvok: All I can tell you is, I will be here with you.
Alcia: Mister Tuvok, don't make this difficult. She's been frightened enough.
Tuvok: What she fears most is being kept here against her wishes.
Alcia: This is a critical time. I can't allow you to interfere.
Janeway: I regret it's come to this.
Alcia: You have found your crew member. Now go.
Tuvok: I will not leave without Tressa. She has asked for my protection and I intend to provide it.
Alcia: You simply don't understand the harm you're doing.
Janeway: This child wants to live. We're going to do whatever we can to help her.
Alcia: It is not a choice, this is her time. Tressa has reached the end of her life.
Tuvok: She has barely begun it.
Alcia: She is ninety six years old. Tressa, these people are outsiders. They don't understand how we live. They see us as strange because their aging process is reversed. Please, you don't belong with them. I'm here to help you now.
Tressa: No, leave me alone.
Alcia: It's perfectly natural to be frightened. You're taking a step into the unknown. The attendants would have helped you prepare yourself. You were never meant to face this time alone.
Tressa: We weren't alone. Tuvok was here. He stayed with us and made us feel safe. He told us there was no Morrok and that we shouldn't be afraid. He took care of us, even when we didn't behave as well as Vulcan children.
Alcia: He was right about the Morrok. It only exists in stories. At this age they become easily confused. Their memories are clouded. Near the end of life we reach a state of complete innocence. We free ourselves from all responsibilities to this life and we leave it peacefully.
Tuvok: Tressa doesn't seem to be ready. Perhaps she needs more time.
Alcia: That's not for you or me to decide. This is a normal biological process which begins the day we are created. The energy contained within our bodies remains cohesive for a limited number of years and then it is released. Nothing can change that.
Tressa: Nothing?
Alcia: No. It's the natural course of life.
Janeway: Why was it so important that Tressa stay here?
Alcia: We believe this is where the very first spark of life was created. We are all compelled by a powerful instinct to return here at the end to complete the cycle and rejoin the infinite energy. Tressa, do you feel it calling to you?
Tressa: Tuvok?
Tuvok: She can offer you better guidance than I.
Tressa: You said you would protect me.
Tuvok: I cannot protect you from the natural conclusion of life, nor would I try. Vulcans consider death to be the completion of a journey. There is nothing to fear.
Tressa: I won't be afraid, not if you're with me.
Alcia: Tressa, may this night see you safely home. Attending a child on the crysata is an honorable role. You have fulfillled it well. The final moment of life is the most sacred, most private time.
Janeway: I hope you can accept my sincere apologies for disturbing your traditions.
Alcia: Perhaps we have each misjudged the other, Captain.
Janeway: I would hate to let that ruin any possibility of friendship between our people.
Alcia: We must leave them.
Paris: Tuvok, can your shuttle make it back to Voyager? Maybe we should wait for you.
Tuvok: No, I'll be fine.
Tuvok: We'll wait here as long as you like.
Tressa: I know it's time. My only regret is leaving my family. My grandson. You remind me of him.
Tuvok: You will still be with them, in their thoughts. As you will be in mine.


Kim: Sorry!
Paris: Obviously, Ensign Baytart doesn't appreciate music.
Kim: It's the darn fluid conduits running through the walls. They conduct sound. You'd think when they designed this thing, they would have
Paris: This ship was built for combat performance, Harry, not musical performance. Nobody figured we'd be taking any long trips.
Kim: Where am I supposed to practice?
Paris: How about the cargo bay?
Kim: Bad acoustics.
Paris: We could get Baytart transferred to the night shift.
Kim: We couldn't do that. Could we?
Paris: So now you have an excuse to give your mother why you didn't practice while you were gone.
Kim: Look, I'm trying to prepare for an important performance.
Paris: Oh, really? Are we scheduled to rendezvous with the Delta Quadrant Symphony Orchestra?
Kim: No, Susan Nicoletti and I have been working on a new orchestral program for the holodeck.
Paris: Lieutenant Nicoletti? The one I've been chasing for six months? Cold hands, cold heart?
Kim: Not when she plays the oboe.
Chakotay: Chakotay to all senior officers. Please report to the Bridge.
Paris: You know, Harry, I've always wanted to learn how to play the drums.
Tuvok: I am picking up communication satellites in orbit. They're nonfunctional.
Janeway: Mister Paris, take us in a little closer. Mister Kim, scan the surface.
Neelix: Captain, this used to be a major trading spot.
Janeway: How long ago?
Neelix: I'm not sure exactly. If I had to guess
Kim: EM signature indicates that a major solar flare occurred here nineteen years ago.
Neelix: I'd say about nineteen years, more or less.
Chakotay: Looks like a glacial freeze.
Janeway: Caused by a solar flare that radically changed the weather patterns.
Kim: It did a lot more than that. They were hit by magnetic storms and extreme levels of radiation.
Chakotay: Those glaciers are receding.
Kim: The biosphere seems to be recovering.
Paris: Did anyone survive?
Kim: Scanning the settlement. There's evidence of advanced technology, warp reactors, subspace transmitters, but no lifesigns.
Paris: Maybe they saw it coming and evacuated the planet.
Tuvok: Indications are that any attempt at an evacuation would have been prevented by the atmospheric disturbances.
Janeway: What was the estimated population?
Tuvok: Approximately four hundred thousand.
Kim: Captain, I'm picking up something from the surface. I think we're being hailed.
Chakotay: I thought you said there weren't any lifesigns.
Kim: There aren't. I scanned the entire surface. It must be an automated signal.
Janeway: Let's hear it.
Viorsa: I am Viorsa, planner for the Kohl settlement. Your sensors have activated this message. By now you must be aware of the catastrophic disaster that has destroyed our home. A few of us have managed to survive in a state of artificial hibernation, programmed to end in fifteen years from the date this was recorded. At that time, when the eco-recovery has begun, we will attempt to rebuild our settlement. Please, do nothing to interrupt our timetable.
Chakotay: Their timetable was supposed to end four years ago.
Paris: Looks like they didn't make it.
Janeway: Mister Kim, wouldn't your scans have picked up suppressed metabolic activity?
Kim: I would think so, Captain, unless. Checking below the surface. Nothing one kilometer down. Two kilometers. Wait a minute. I think I've got something two point three kilometers down. Extremely faint bio-signatures. Three humanoids.
Janeway: Can you detect a malfunction in their systems? Something to explain why they didn't wake up on schedule?
Kim: Not at this distance. But I am picking up two more humanoids at the same location who are dead.
Janeway: Are there any automated security systems? We triggered a Do Not Disturb sign. I don't want to set off anything worse.
Tuvok: No weapons of any kind, Captain. It is safe to transport the hibernation pods to Voyager, if that is your intent.
Janeway: It is. Prepare to beam them to Cargo Bay one. Mister Kim, you're with me. Janeway to Kes. Report to Cargo Bay one. Bring your medical gear.
Kes: Aye, Captain.
Kes: Two humanoids dead, three humanoids in deep stasis. Lifesigns apparently stable.
Janeway: Our messenger.
Janeway: Did the system break down?
Kim: Not that I can see. I'm not reading any pathway failures in the hibernation pods. The circuitry all seems to be functioning. Looks like their brains are interconnected in a complex sensory system controlled by this computer. According to these indicators, Captain, their minds are active.
Janeway: Active? What do you mean?
Kim: The encephalographic readings suggest they're dreaming, but there's some kind of interactivity with the computer. It's not just scanning their brain functions, it's sending a data stream back to them as well.
Janeway: Could it be generating an artificial environment of some sort?
Kes: Artificial environment?
Janeway: Years ago, Starfleet used a technology to assist deep space travel that kept the body in stasis, but provided a mental landscape to keep the mind active and alert.
Kes: That sounds like a pretty good way to wait out a planetary disaster.
Kim: For the moment, it's as good a theory as any.
Janeway: So what went wrong? Why are they still in there?
Kim: The system was supposed to bring these people out of hibernation four years ago. However, it wasn't left entirely to the computer. The programrs obviously wanted the people in the system to decide for themselves when it would be safe to come out. This was accomplished by a subroutine that periodically displayed atmospheric conditions to them.
Janeway: So they should have known years ago that the biosphere had recovered.
Kim: Exactly. This subroutine has remained available to these people since it was activated four years ago. It's literally an escape hatch.
Tuvok: Perhaps it has malfunctioned.
Kim: No. That's what's so odd about this. As far as I can tell, it's working perfectly.
Torres: Then why don't they get themselves out?
Kim: I don't know.
Paris: Maybe they like it in there.
Emh: I don't think so.
Janeway: Doctor.
Emh: The two victims died from massive heart failure, and there was evidence of prior neural trauma.
Neelix: I'm sorry. What does that mean?
Emh: It could be evidence of extreme fear.
Neelix: Maybe it was caused by the panic that accompanies a heart attack.
Kes: The readings suggest an extended period of mental stress.
Chakotay: Sounds like we ought to get them out right away.
Emh: Surely, Commander, you're not suggesting we simply unplug them?
Chakotay: Why not?
Emh: Because you have three brains whose survival has depended upon careful monitoring by a sophisticated computer system for nineteen years.
Kim: The Doc is right. I have no idea how to disconnect them without causing neural damage. I just don't know the system well enough.
Tuvok: They know the system. Why don't we ask them how to proceed?
Paris: How can we do that? Implant a com-link into their brains?
Tuvok: We already have a means of communication. The two unoccupied pods.
Kim: We could add a backup life support system, using our own computer and medical stasis technology.
Chakotay: If the only way to help those people is to go in and find out from them what's wrong, I don't see any alternative.
Janeway: Neither do I.
Kes: I'll be monitoring your mental and physical functions. If we detect any unusual activity, you'll be transferred onto our life support system and resuscitated.
Janeway: We've tapped into the system's recall subroutine program. I'll give you five minutes to look around, then I'm bringing you back. Consider this a test run.
Torres: Understood.
Kes: Inducing primary stasis. Autonomic nervous system link is secure.
Janeway: They're connecting to the system.
Torres: Looks like we made it.
Kim: How do you feel?
Torres: Normal.
Kim: These must be characters generated by the computer, but I don't see our people.
Torres: Neither do I.
Kim: Excuse me. We're trying to find some friends.
Clown: Well, that shouldn't be difficult. We're all friends here.
Kim: Oh, I'm sorry.
Little Woman: Oh, I'm sorry.
Kim: I didn't mean to bump into you.
Little Woman: You're new.
Kim: Yes, we are.
Little Woman: Where are you from?
Torres: Another town.
Little Woman: There aren't any other towns.
Kim: We're not getting very far.
Spectre: Perhaps I can help you. You are looking for friends?
Kim: That's right. Three of them.
Spectre: And when you find these friends?
Torres: We want to talk to them.
Clown: Why talk when we can dance?
Torres: Let's get out of here.
Kim: You've got it.
Spectre: Take him!
Torres: Harry! Harry!
Torres: Harry! Harry! Harry! Harry!
All: Chop, chop, chop!
Viorsa: Stop! They're aliens, and they won't be alone. Kill them, and their shipmates will shut down the program.
Clown: Let him go.
Viorsa: We knew this would happen someday, that a ship would find us. It was only a matter of time.
Clown: Only a matter of time, yes.
Viorsa: Who knows what kind of people they are? Who knows what will happen to this world if you hurt them?
Clown: I do. I know. Bring them here. Bring them here, bring them here, bring them here. You're like me, a little of this and a little of that.
Clown: Oh my, what a temper. That's from your mother's side, isn't it? Yes, you see, I know everything. This is my world, my festival. And you're here without an invitation.
Torres: What is going on? Who is he?
Clown: You will talk to me! I speak for them, and I speak for you now. You don't understand that yet. You don't accept it, but you will.
Kim: Are you a lifeform? Or some kind of computer virus that penetrated this system?
Clown: A virus, a virus. He thinks I am a virus. A virus, a virus. Well, perhaps, I'll be a virus today. Oh, this one's got a mind full of technical and operational thoughts and ideas. Harry knows viruses.
Viorsa: Stop this.
Clown: I know you came here to get them and take them away. But if you do that, we'll all disappear.
Kim: Disappear. Because you're characters created by this program, and once their minds stop interacting with the system, you won't exist anymore.
Clown: Ah. See the technical mind at work. It seeks diagnostics, data analysis. Well, here's some more data for your mind to analyze and diagnose, Harry. Yes, I am merely what has been created and is being created by his brain, his brain, her brain and now yours and yours.
Clown: What? What's this doing here now? This is your work!
Torres: That's our wake-up call. It's been a real pleasure, but we're leaving. Come on.
Clown: If you leave, one of them will die. One of them will die. Try it and see. If you leave, he dies.
Viorsa: He can do it. He's already killed two of our colleagues.
Torres: How is that possible?
Clown: I cut off their heads.
Torres: But none of this is real.
Clown: Of course it's real. As real as a nightmare.
Kim: The two we found dead both suffered from massive heart attacks.
Clown: Heart attack. Now, what might cause a heart attack? Hmm. Unmanageable stress, perhaps? Unmanageable fear? The fear of losing a head, perhaps?
Kim: You scared them to death.
Janeway: What's taking them so long?
Kes: Lifesigns are stable. There's no interruption of brain wave activity.
Janeway: The recall subroutine is functioning. The window opened for them on schedule.
Kes: Captain, the norepinephrine levels are rising. They're well above baseline. Some of that is to be expected, but these levels indicate abnormal stress.
Janeway: All right. I'm going to try to bring them out with our backup systems.
Kes: Initiating resuscitation. The body temperature is rising.
Janeway: What happened?
Kes: The bodies are returning to stasis condition, Captain.
Tuvok: Someone is terminating the recall command from inside the system.
Clown: Very wise of you, my technically minded fellow. Now, get rid of it completely. It's an intrusion. It's ruining the party.
Kim: That would be a mistake.
Clown: No mistake. A mistake if you refuse.
Kim: You'd be missing an opportunity.
Clown: Trying to get the better of me? Trying to trick me? I know everything you know, Harry Kim. I know how much you miss Libby. I know how you can never hit that G sharp in the Mozart concerto. Do you think I don't know you're trying to defeat me?
Kim: Fine. So you know. You'll also know that what I'm about to tell you is the truth. You'd be smart to let one of us go.
Clown: Would I?
Kim: This is your chance to send the outside world a message. To tell them your demands.
Clown: I have only one demand. To exist!
Torres: Then you'd better let us tell them.
Kim: Otherwise, you run the risk of our people shutting down the whole system. Because I promise you, they won't let us stay in here for long.
Kim: How did this happen?
Kohl Woman: The system was designed to be adaptive, to observe and respond to our thoughts, and adjust the environment to our wishes.
Torres: Who wished him up?
Viorsa: It happened over months without our even realizing it. All of us had fears about survival, recovery. We never anticipated the computer would manifest those fears into him.
Kohl Man: Our only hope was that someone like you would come along and find us.
Kim: It's almost as though he can read our minds. He seems to know what we're thinking.
Kohl Woman: He's generated by the system, and our brains are monitored by the system. So, yes, in a manner of speaking, he can.
Viorsa: But there is a delay before he becomes aware of what we're thinking.
Kohl Woman: It takes a few minutes for our brain activity to be processed by the system.
Clown: Well, I've come to a decision with the help of my friends. You, leave. You, stay. And tell your beloved Captain Janeway that if we die, they die, including you, dear Harry. You, who becomes my best friend as of today. Because she would never kill you, would she, Harry? No. She's like a dear old mother to you, isn't she? Go!
Janeway: Someone's activated the recall subroutine.
Kes: Captain, it's Lieutenant Torres. Her body temperature is rising. She should regain consciousness in about twelve minutes.
Janeway: At least we'll finally get the answers to a few questions.
Janeway: Well, let's start with the obvious question. If they're demanding to exist, can we find a way to let them exist in this artificial world of theirs?
Torres: Not unless you're prepared to leave one person in stasis permanently.
Emh: I concur with Lieutenant Torres. The computer uses bio-neural feedback from the participants' brains to create the environment.
Janeway: Doctor, is there a way to speed up resuscitation?
Emh: Only by a few minutes. Anything more, we'd be risking serious brain damage. Ten minutes would be about the best we could do.
Paris: Ten minutes and all the hostages could be killed.
Janeway: Then it seems to me our first order of business should be to reduce the number of hostages. All we have to do now is decide how to negotiate with an emotion. With a manifestation of fear.
Tuvok: Fear is the most primitive, the most primordial of biological responses.
Janeway: The ability to recognize danger, to fight it or run away from it, that's what fear gives us. But when fear holds you hostage, how do you make it let go?
Neelix: Maybe we should try to make him laugh. A good joke just, er, seems to make er, fear dissolve. Well, it does in me, anyway.
Janeway: I think something a little more responsive to the Clown's demand. B'Elanna, maybe you can come up with a way to modify the system, so it can run without bio-neural interaction.
Chakotay: How do we negotiate without sending in another hostage?
Janeway: Good question. We have to come up with a safer method of communication.
Viorsa: I regret very much what has happened to you. You came to help. You didn't deserve this. I regret so many things.
Kim: Look, we don't have time for regret. My people are working on a way, right now, to get us out of here. And we have to help them if we can.
Viorsa: You'll leave hope behind after a few months of this.
Kim: Why does he do it?
Kohl Man: We're his canvas, his blocks of marble. With us, he practices his ghastly art.
Clown: Thinking about escape, are we, Harry? Naughty, naughty. I don't like those thoughts. We're going to have to do something about them.
Kohl Woman: He's new. He can't help thinking about getting out.
Clown: He can! You don't think about it anymore. Oh, but he's new, and you're old. New and old. Old and new. Well, then, the answer is to simply make you old, Harry.
Clown: Are you afraid of growing old, Harry? Is that what you fear? Being cared for by nurses?
Little Woman: Time for your medicine.
Clown: You don't like being helpless, do you, Harry? You like to take care of yourself. Yes, I know how you hate to feel like the baby on the crew.
Clown: Oh, what's the matter, Harry? Oh, does my costume frighten you, huh? Kootchy-coo. Yeah. Oh, look at little Harry fly. Whoo! Whoo! There he goes. Whoo! Whee! All right, that's enough.
Kim: This is not reality. It's an illusion.
Clown: When your only reality is an illusion, then illusion is a reality.
Kim: Like the man said, The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.
Clown: Oh, I thought we were going to be friends. Didn't want to do this, Harry. No, I didn't want to bring this up in front of the others, but I know what really scares you. I know when you were nine, your parents took you to that colony, the radiation disaster, humanitarian mission. You visited a hospital. You remember.
Kim: No.
Clown: You wandered off by yourself where you weren't supposed to be.
Kim: The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.
Clown: You saw people and things you weren't supposed to see. Sick and dying. Keep repeating. The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.
All: The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.
Clown: And how about There's no place like home. There's no place like home. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! Try clicking your heels together three times. Oh, but your legs are restrained, aren't they? Just like that little girl you saw on the operating table.
Clown: The doctor called for a scalpel. She looked at you, her face filled with fear. Fear. Fear. Fear. Do you remember?
Kim: No!
Emh: Excuse me, you're not holding that properly. Correct positioning of the index finger is necessary for optimal dexterity.
Clown: Who are you?
Emh: I'm Captain Janeway's representative. I'm here to negotiate with you. Are you well, Mister Kim?
Kim: Starting to feel better.
Clown: You're different. I don't know anything about you. You're not on the system.
Emh: I would be pleased to tell you all about myself at a more appropriate time. For now, suffice it to say that I am here by a miracle of technology. Now, let's get down to the issues, shall we?
Clown: How am I supposed to negotiate if I don't know what you're thinking?
Emh: I have a very trustworthy face. My captain is prepared to give you exactly what you asked for, under the condition you release all the hostages.
Clown: Release the hostages?
Emh: We would provide continuing input from a simulated brain. A computer model that would generate
Clown: Simulated brain? Simulated?
Emh: I, myself, have a comparable
Clown: It won't work. It's a lie. Tell him, Harry.
Kim: I don't know that for sure.
Clown: Liar! Viorsa, get over here! Tell him.
Viorsa: It might require a recalibration of the optronic pathways.
Clown: Liar! After all this time, do you think I can't tell when you lie?
Emh: The simulated brain
Clown: Would leave me at your mercy. No! They stay.
Emh: The captain is prepared to risk the lives of the hostages rather than leave them under your control.
Clown: Who is she to tell me what I have to do?
Emh: She's the one out there with the off switch in her hand.
Clown: She would never kill Harry.
Kim: I'd rather die than spend my life in here with you. She knows that.
Clown: I won't let them go.
Emh: A compromise. Let some of them go.
Clown: No.
Emh: We've studied your system. You only need one to survive.
Clown: And if that one gets sick and dies? No, I need them all. Now go away, and tell your Captain Janeway I'm disappointed. I expected more from her.
Emh: If we could just
Clown: Go away.
All: Go away.
Emh: I'll be back.
Janeway: Well, I'm sorry I don't live up to his expectations. What's your opinion of him, Doctor?
Emh: Unstable, unpredictable. Everything you'd expect from fear.
Tuvok: Captain, the longer we allow this to continue, the more likely it is that he will take his frustrations out on the hostages.
Janeway: I agree, and I can't allow that to happen. We're going to have to mount some kind of rescue mission.
Janeway: Doctor, if we do simply disconnect the hostages
Emh: There would certainly be brain damage.
Janeway: How much damage? Could you possibly repair it?
Emh: Possibly, yes. Would Mister Kim still be able to hold his clarinet when I was done? Possibly. The brain is such an interesting organ.
Chakotay: Could we switch over to a simulated brain without the Clown noticing it?
Torres: Oh, he'd notice. He was very smart to reject the whole notion of a simulated brain. It just wouldn't be the same. There is no way an artificial intelligence can replace actual brain functions.
Emh: I'll choose not to take that personally, Lieutenant. For what it's worth, Mister Viorsa suggested there would be a way to make a simulated brain function in this system. He suggested it would take a recalibration of the optronic pathways.
Torres: I don't know what he could have been talking about. The optronic pathways have nothing to do with the neural interface. It doesn't make any sense.
Tuvok: Then perhaps he had another reason for saying it.
Chakotay: How do the optronic pathways function in this system, B'Elanna?
Torres: They, they control the basic elements of the environment, access databanks that were programmed when the system was created. If we interrupt the optronic pathways, we could disassemble that entire world and its characters, piece by piece.
Janeway: If we can't remove the hostages from the environment, then we might be able to remove the environment from the hostages.
Torres: How did Viorsa manage to communicate this without the Clown knowing about it?
Emh: Perhaps it was because the clown's attention was divided at the time.
Janeway: And you're going to continue to provide him with distractions, Doctor. B'Elanna, how long will it take to block these pathways?
Torres: I'm not sure how many there are, Captain. And I'll have to do it manually because we don't know how to deprogram the system.
Janeway: You'll only have a few minutes at best. Once Fear knows what we're up to, it will be a race against time to save the lives of those hostages.
Spectre: Bravo! Bravo!
Clown: Go away. I want to be alone.
Spectre: You're ruining the festival.
Little Woman: Don't be a poop.
Clown: I can't help it. I'm feeling sorry for myself.
Little Woman: Well, don't take it out on us.
Spectre: Take it out on them.
Clown: You people. You wonderful people. My friends. You do know how to make a man feel better, don't you? Okay, then, what shall we play? Ah, the insect game.
Spectre: Yes, yes, the insect game.
Clown: You again? You're the one who ruined my mood. You and your sweet captain.
Emh: My sweet captain has a new offer to make.
Clown: No simulated brains. I want real brains.
Emh: The captain is prepared to give you a cloaking device.
Clown: I already have a cloaking device. Thank you anyway.
Emh: I'm talking about a device that would shield you from being detected by any other interstellar visitors.
Torres: There are almost forty pathways to disable, Captain, but I should be able to get it done in under two minutes.
Janeway: Good. Let's get started.
Emh: We will return your entire computer system to the subterranean locale where we found it. With the help of Mister Kim and a team of Starfleet engineers, it will be an easy matter to installl the cloaking device, which will insure your safety for the foreseeable future.
Clown: Harry, is this possible?
Kim: Yes.
Clown: I don't know if I believe you. I don't know yet, but I'll know soon if you're telling the truth. You can't fool me. What does she want in return? And don't say the hostages because I'm not giving them up.
Emh: You have to understand that the captain's primary concern is the safety of the hostages.
Clown: She's such a warm and noble person. I'd love her to come to one of my parties someday. What if I promise to take really good care of my guests? We could be more than friends. We could be colleagues. I'm really not such a bad fellow.
Spectre: What's happening?
Clown: You tricked me! It's an attack! It's an attack! Red alert! Red alert! You! You warned them! You told them how it could be done. Take him!
Kohl Woman: No! Please, no!
Torres: Twenty-two.
Janeway: More than halfway there, B'Elanna.
Kes: Captain, it's Viorsa. His norepinephrine levels are rising sharply.
Viorsa: No, please! I didn't do anything! I didn't do anything!
Janeway: What is it?
Torres: Some kind of protection device. I'm locked out. I'll have to disable it.
Viorsa: Don't do this! No!
Kes: Viorsa's norepinephrine levels are critical.
Torres: Just ten more pathways.
Kes: He's dead. Massive heart failure. Captain, this one's norepinephrine levels are approaching critical.
Clown: You're next! You're next!
Janeway: Restore the entire program. We've lost.
Clown: We've won. We've won. We've won. Start the music. Start the music. Celebration! Celebration! Celebration!
Emh: Your decision to capitulate saved the lives of the other hostages, Captain. You should take some comfort from that.
Janeway: I don't. Have I misjudged him somehow? Is there another way to reach him? Isn't there more to fear than a simple demand to exist? Why do people enjoy dangerous sports or holodeck adventures with the safety off? Why, after all these centuries, do children still ride on roller coasters?
Emh: Fear can provide pleasure. To seek fear is to seek the boundaries of one's sensory experience.
Janeway: But what does fear seek at the end of the ride?
Clown: You understand, don't you, Harry, that we will have to punish you for your captain's little trick? To the winner go the spoils, and you are the spoils, after all. We can talk about that later. For now, enjoy yourself.
Clown: Well, you certainly know how to bring a party to a halt.
Emh: I don't get out very much.
Clown: I bet.
Emh: The captain has sent me with an ultimatum.
Clown: Ultimatum? Ultimatum? She would give me an ultimatum? Did Napoleon give an ultimatum after Waterloo? Did Chulak of Romulus give an ultimatum after his defeat at Galorndon Core? We won! We give the ultimatums around here.
Emh: The captain is prepared to shut down the system one minute from now if you don't agree to her terms.
Clown: And scramble the brains of all my guests, including Harry? I don't think so.
Emh: Fifty two seconds. She is willing to risk brain damage to the hostages, but she will end this, and end this now, one way or another.
Clown: What are her terms?
Emh: Forty three seconds. She will allow you to keep one person on the system. The other hostages must be released.
Clown: One? Never! I won't agree!
Emh: You have thirty seconds to avoid termination.
Clown: I need more time. Time to think. Two! Let me keep two.
Emh: Twenty seconds. There is another provision. The one hostage you will be allowed to keep is Captain Janeway herself.
Clown: She would choose to be with me?
Emh: Your time is up. Your answer, please.
Clown: Yes.
Emh: Captain, this is the Doctor. I've returned to sick bay. Please turn to your Emergency Medical Holographic channel.
Janeway: Did he accept?
Emh: Yes, Captain.
Janeway: Perfect. Good work, Doctor.
Emh: Would you like me to return and supervise the evacuation of the hostages?
Janeway: I don't think that'll be necessary, but you could help with the preparations at this end. Janeway out.
Torres: We're finished here, Captain.
Janeway: Initiate the recall subroutine and prepare to begin resuscitation. Kes, give me a hand getting hooked up to all this.
Clown: Sparkling. I want everything sparkling for her arrival. Sparkling.
Clown: Ah, ah, ah, ah, Harry, not so fast. They can't have you until I have her. No more tricks.
Clown: Oh. Oh, she's coming. I can feel the system beginning to scan her brain. This really is such an extraordinary gesture she's making. I am so moved. You don't quite believe it yourself, do you?
Kim: The captain would sacrifice herself to save the hostages.
Clown: Sacrifice herself? You can be so cruel, Harry. You don't appreciate my hospitality.
Clown: You're here. You're actually here. I don't believe it.
Janeway: The arrangement was that the others would be released.
Clown: You show remarkable trust, Captain. How could you be so sure I would keep my word?
Janeway: I've known fear. It's a very healthy thing most of the time. You warn us of danger, remind us of our limits, protect us from carelessness. I've learned to trust fear.
Clown: Finally, someone who appreciates me. Am I blushing?
Janeway: Let them go.
Clown: Yes, yes, of course. You may depart. Farewell, my friends. Do come back and visit. I'll always be here.
Torres: The recall subroutine has been activated.
Kes: Body temperatures are rising.
Torres: Initiating all backup systems. The hostages should regain consciousness in less than ten minutes.
Kim: We'll get you out of here, Captain. I promise.
Janeway: That won't be necessary, Mister Kim, but thank you.
Clown: I can't wait to get to know you, to make you a part of me.
Janeway: As I understand it, it takes a few minutes before you become aware of my thoughts. Is that true?
Clown: An eternity of anticipation.
Janeway: And then what happens?
Clown: And then the fun begins.
Torres: All systems functioning as anticipated. Resuscitation entering final warming.
Kes: Bio-functions are returning to normal. Their own hearts are taking over. They don't need supplemental life support any longer.
Janeway: Would you be honest with me?
Clown: Fear is the most honest of all emotions, Captain.
Janeway: You really want this to end as much as I do, don't you?
Clown: Now, now, don't even think about leaving. I'm not going to let you go, not after all this. Mirror? Don't we make a beautiful couple, Captain?
Janeway: I'm not Captain Janeway.
Clown: Could have fooled me.
Janeway: I'm afraid I did.
Clown: Pardon?
Janeway: I'm nothing more than a holographic image of Captain Janeway, sent here by the same technique they used to send their Doctor. I've been programmed to respond to you as Kathryn Janeway would.
Clown: But, but, I, I feel you. You, You're on the system.
Janeway: She is on the system, yes, but not in stasis. Captain Janeway and her crew modified the pods so that she could be connected to the system without having to enter this environment. The goal was to let you sense her brain activity without putting her in actual jeopardy. You will be able to confirm what I'm telling you as soon as you become aware of her thoughts.
Janeway: You know as well as I do that fear only exists for one purpose. To be conquered.
Clown: She tricked me.
Janeway: Did she? Or was a part of you actually hoping to be defeated? Isn't that why you allowed Captain Janeway to come here? Because you sensed she had the power to subdue you.
Clown: No. She lied. That was very un-Starfleet of her.
Janeway: Starfleet captains don't easily succumb to fear.
Clown: What will become of us? Of me?
Janeway: Like all fear, you eventually vanish.
Clown: I'm afraid.
Janeway: I know.
Clown: Drat.


Janeway: Captain's log, stardate 49655.2. Our sensors have located a variety of flower which may prove to be a valuable nutritional supplement. I have sent Mister Neelix and Mister Tuvok to collect samples.
Neelix: Oh, smell that air, Mister Vulcan. Look at that sky. Oh, it's an exhilarating day, isn't it?
Tuvok: As you well know by now, Mister Neelix, I do not experience exhilaration.
Neelix: Oh, let's not quibble about semantics. A breeze is blowing. The sun is shining. It's beautiful.
Tuvok: The weather is certainly adequate for our purposes.
Neelix: Adequate? You know something? You're acting more Tuvokian than usual this morning.
Tuvok: I am who I am, Mister Neelix. It is impossible for me to be more or less like myself.
Neelix: There you go with the semantics again. But you know what I'm talking about.
Tuvok: I'm afraid I don't.
Neelix: Well, then I'll explain it to you. You're a nature lover, aren't you?
Tuvok: I appreciate nature, yes.
Neelix: Then it's one of the things that you and I have in common. And here we are, on a perfect day, foraging for an exceptionally lovely variety of orchid, your favorite flower, and all you can say about the experience is that it's adequate. I just, I don't see why you're not having fun.
Tuvok: We are not here to have fun. We are here to collect samples.
Neelix: Why, is there some regulation that says we can't do both at the same time? I know. Why don't, why don't we sing a song while we toil, hmm? It'll cheer you up. Now, I've been studying Vulcan music. Do you know that lovely tune that starts, Oh starless night of boundless black.
Tuvok: That lovely tune is a traditional funeral dirge.
Neelix: I know, but it was the most cheerful song I could find in the Vulcan database. Come on, Tuvok, join me. Oh starless night of boundless black.
Tuvok: Mister Neelix.
Neelix: Yes?
Tuvok: Do you think you could possibly behave a little less like yourself?
Janeway: Are Neelix and Tuvok back from the surface?
Chakotay: Not yet. We're having some trouble with the transporter.
Torres: Captain, there's a minor glitch in the molecular imaging scanners. Ensign Kim should have it up and running in a few minutes.
Kim: Try narrowing the annular confinement beam.
Hogan: How's that?
Kim: Let's try it again. Kim to Away team. Sorry for the delay. We're ready to bring you back.
Tuvok: Acknowledged.
Kim: Energize.
Hogan: There's something wrong, sir. I'm only getting one pattern.
Kim: Tuvok or Neelix?
Hogan: I don't think it's either of them.
Kim: Abort.
Hogan: It's too late.
Kim: Kim to Security. Intruder alert, Transporter Room One. Identify yourself.
Tuvix: I am Lieutenant Tuvok. And I am Neelix.
Hogan: Sir, according to the bio-scanners, he's right. Somehow, their patterns have merged.
Tuvix: I think the logical thing is for me to go to Sickbay.
Janeway: And you recognize all of us?
Tuvix: Of course. Doctor, Captain Janeway, Ensign Kim, Kes.
Emh: My scans indicate that all biological matter was merged on a molecular level. Proteins, enzymes, DNA sequences. The man you see before you is literally a fusion of two men. But he's surprisingly healthy considering the circumstances. All vital signs are stable.
Janeway: What's the last thing you remember?
Tuvix: I, we, that is to say, Tuvok and Neelix, we had just finished gathering the samples. We were beaming back to the ship. The next thing I knew, I was standing on the transporter pad, as you see me now.
Emh: I'm also picking up traces of a third genetic pattern. It appears to be plant-based.
Tuvix: The orchids. We had collected several dozen samples of orchids. They were in our sample containers when we beamed up.
Emh: Well, they're part of your genetic structure now. But they don't appear to be affecting your biochemistry.
Janeway: Torres said you were having trouble with the molecular imaging scanners.
Kim: That's right.
Janeway: Maybe this alien plant life affected the scanners in some way.
Kim: Possibly. I'll know more after we've run a diagnostic on the bio-filters and transporter logs.
Janeway: Get on it.
Janeway: In the meantime, I'll send an away team in a shuttlecraft to collect fresh samples of the orchid for further study. Doctor, let me know as soon as you have something more.
Emh: Yes, Captain.
Emh: Kes, take our patient to the science lab and perform a full bio-spectral analysis. I'll start examining the genetic data.
Tuvix: This situation must be very difficult for you, Kes. Perhaps it would be easier if someone else administered these tests.
Kes: Thank you for your concern, but I'll be fine. This scan is very delicate, so try to remain still for the next twenty minutes.
Tuvix: I'll do my best.
Kes: Don't worry. We're going to figure it out.
Tuvix: Oh, I'm not worried. I couldn't be in better hands. This crew, you're consummate professionals. You're my friends, my family. So worrying would be illogical, don't you think?
Kes: Would you mind if I asked you some questions about what you're going through?
Tuvix: Not at all.
Kes: Well, do you feel as if you're thinking with two minds, two separate minds? Are Neelix and Tuvok inside of you, talking to me, talking to each other?
Tuvix: If you mean am I suffering from some form of multiple personality disorder, I don't think so. I do have the memories of both men, but I seem to have a single consciousness. You must find me very odd, Kes.
Kes: No, of course not. Try to keep still. So, what should I call you?
Tuvix: Ah, a name. I hadn't thought of that. What an intriguing question. I can see why the Doctor's finding it so difficult to choose one. A name can have a significant effect upon a person's sense of identity. I've got it.
Kes: What?
Tuvix: Why don't you call me Neevok? Wait. This is better. How about Tuvix?
Kes: Tuvix it is.
Tuvix: I am so glad you're here to help me through this, sweeting. I'm sorry. It was instinct.
Kes: Why don't we finish the scan? Chief Medical Officer's Log, supplemental. Extensive microcellular scans on the merged humanoid have thus far yielded no clues to either a cause or a method of separation.
Tuvix: Ah, Captain. So good of you to come.
Janeway: How are you feeling?
Tuvix: I feel well. You might even say exhilarated!
Janeway: I'm glad to hear it.
Tuvix: Well, that's what I wanted to talk to you about. In the past twenty four hours, I've undergone rigorous diagnostic testing, submitted to an extensive psychological profile, and I've been poked and prodded in organs that I didn't even know I had. While all this testing may, no doubt, be necessary, frankly, I'm restless.
Janeway: To tell you the truth, we could use a little help in the Mess hall.
Tuvix: And I'd be glad to give you a hand. But, after careful consideration, I've decided that the most sensible thing for me to do is to resume the tactical post.
Janeway: Tactical?
Tuvix: Remember, Captain, I do possess Tuvok's knowledge and expertise. And while I have no doubt that the crew misses Neelix's cooking, you need your most experienced tactical officer. That's me.
Emh: If I may, Captain. Mister Tuvix
Janeway: Tuvix?
Emh: Apparently, that's what he likes to be called. Mister Tuvix is indeed in perfect health. And since I've collected all the data I need, there's no reason I can't continue my investigation without him for the time being. And according to my tests, he's quite correct when he says that he possesses Tuvok's knowledge and expertise. He also possesses Tuvok's irritating sense of intellectual superiority and Neelix's annoying ebullience. I would be very grateful to you if you would assign him some duty, any duty somewhere else.
Janeway: Well, Mister Tuvix, I'm not ready to assign you to the Bridge just yet, but why don't you join the senior staff for our noon briefing, and we'll see how it goes from there.
Tuvix: Captain, has anyone ever told you that you are as fair-minded as you are lovely?
Janeway: As a matter of fact, Neelix has told me that occasionally. And if you really do possess his memories, you'd know that flattery will get you nowhere.
Torres: The transporter was functioning normally. Bio-filters, pattern buffers, everything checked out.
Janeway: What about the problem with the molecular imaging scanners?
Kim: According to the transporter logs, they were optimal at the time of transport. It was a perfectly routine beam-out sequence. No anomalies, no power overloads, no malfunctions.
Paris: Our scans of the planet's surface and atmosphere don't show anything out of the ordinary.
Chakotay: There's no evidence of any type of alien interference. Frankly, Captain, we're at a loss.
Janeway: And the orchids, Kes. Have you found anything unusual about them?
Kes: Commander Chakotay brought back a few samples on the shuttle and I ran a biochemical analysis. They contain the same elements as many plants. Chloroplasts, lysosomal enzymes, cytoplasmic proteins, but there's nothing unusual.
Janeway: There's never been an accident like this recorded in the entire history of transporter technology. I'm not willing to accept it as a random malfunction.
Chakotay: Captain, I recommend we program a holodeck simulation. Try recreating the accident.
Tuvix: Sex.
Janeway: I beg your pardon?
Tuvix: What I mean to say is, and I apologize for cutting you off, Commander, I think we're on the wrong track. Kes, you said that the flowers you examined contained lysosomal enzymes.
Kes: That's right.
Tuvix: According to Tuvok's botanical research, the presence of lysosomal enzymes could be evidence of symbiogenesis.
Kes: Symbiogenesis?
Janeway: Symbiogenesis is a rare reproductive process. Instead of pollination or mating, symbiogenetic organisms merge with a second species.
Tuvix: Andorian amoeba for instance. They're able to merge with other single-celled organisms to form a third unique species, a hybrid.
Kes: Like you.
Tuvix: Exactly.
Janeway: It's an interesting idea. But we're talking about microcellular organisms here. I've never heard of symbiogenesis occurring in a species as complex as a humanoid.
Tuvix: Actually Captain, when you think about it, Neelix and Tuvok were broken down to a microcellular level during transport. DNA, protein, all in a state of molecular flux.
Kim: And if the enzymes that cause symbiogenesis interacted with their DNA while they were in the matter stream, it might have caused their patterns to merge.
Janeway: Like an Andorian amoeba.
Tuvix: Just like that, Tuvix is born.
Janeway: It's the best theory I've heard so far. It's the only theory I've heard so far, and it's worth investigating. Mister Paris, take a shuttle to the planet and collect additional flower specimens.
Paris: Yes, ma'am, but I'd recommend waiting until morning. The weather on the planet can get pretty nasty at night.
Janeway: Very well. You'll depart at six hundred hours.
Janeway: Good work, Mister Tuvix.
Tuvix: Kes.
Kes: Oh, hello.
Tuvix: Hello.
Kes: Do you need something?
Tuvix: Oh, actually, I was wondering if you'd like to join me for dinner?
Kes: Well, I, er
Tuvix: You've already eaten?
Kes: Well, no.
Tuvix: You're not hungry?
Kes: Actually
Tuvix: If memory serves me, Wednesday is the day that Neelix always cooked Trellan crepes. Your favorite meal?
Kes: That's right.
Tuvix: Well, why break with tradition just because of a little transporter accident?
Hogan: Somebody's eggs are burning.
Swinn: Those are mine. Can you flip them for me?
Hogan: I can't find a spatula.
Swinn: Just try tossing them.
Tuvix: Er, why don't you have a seat. I'll be with you in a minute. Do you mind telling me what's going on here, crewman?
Hogan: We're making dinner.
Tuvix: I see. All right, everybody out!
Hogan: On whose authority?
Tuvix: Chief of Security or Head Chef. Take your pick. Out, out, out! Come, come, out.
Tuvix: So, you really enjoyed the crepes?
Kes: Oh, they were absolutely delicious.
Tuvix: Don't you think Neelix always made them a little too spicy?
Kes: These were a little different than usual. Did you change the recipe?
Tuvix: Oh, only slightly. I thought more moderate seasoning would allow the flavor of the mushrooms to come through.
Kes: I loved the mushrooms.
Tuvix: Oh, I'm glad. I can't believe how disorganized this galley was. It's a wonder Neelix ever found anything.
Kes: Well, he says he has a system. But I guess you already know that.
Tuvix: I admire your strength, Kes.
Kes: Why do you say that?
Tuvix: I know I'm not Neelix, but I can posit with complete certainty that if the situation were reversed, if suddenly he found himself without you in his life, he'd be absolutely lost.
Kes: I have to go. Thanks again for dinner.
Tuvix: Good morning, Captain, Commander.
Janeway: You're here bright and early, Lieutenant.
Tuvix: Actually, I've been here since oh four hundred hours. I wanted to work on that proximity detector glitch in the security subroutine.
Janeway: And how's it going?
Tuvix: I managed to correct it.
Chakotay: Tuvok said it could take up to ten days to check out all the possible problems. How'd you fix it so fast?
Tuvix: I had a hunch.
Janeway: A hunch?
Tuvix: That's correct. You'll have a report on your desk first thing this afternoon.
Kim: Kim to Mister Tuvix.
Tuvix: Tuvix here.
Kim: We're just about ready to start the transporter tests if you'd like to join us.
Tuvix: I'm on my way. Excuse me, Captain.
Janeway: Well, he's certainly fitting in, isn't he?
Chakotay: There's an old axiom. The whole is never greater than the sum of its parts. I think Tuvix might be disproving that notion.
Torres: Give me the flowers from the Airponics bay.
Paris: Here you go. One prize-winning chrysanthemum, one garden-variety clematis, and last but not least, one symbiogenetic alien orchid.
Torres: I never thought that botanical science class would come in so handy.
Torres: Torres to Transporter room one.
Torres: We're ready down here.
Kim: Acknowledged. Energizing.
Emh: We've made over a hundred attempts to reverse the symbiogenesis using the medical transporter, and each time this has been the unfortunate result. Complete cellular collapse.
Kim: The genetic codes of the chrysanthemum and the clematis are so scrambled that the targeting scanners can't recognize the original patterns.
Tuvix: I suppose it would be like trying to extract the flour, eggs and water after you've baked the cake.
Emh: Obviously, in the case of Mister Tuvix, we're dealing with a much more complex organism than a flower. In effect, we're talking about recreating two humanoid life-forms without so much as a single discrete strand of DNA to start with.
Tuvix: Are you saying I'm going to be this way forever?
Emh: I am an incredibly skilled doctor, and I will continue to pursue a safe and effective treatment until I find one. But I won't lie to you. I'm not optimistic. It could take months, even years, to find a solution. And we must face the possibility that this condition is simply untreatable. I feel as though I've lost two patients. I'm sorry.
Janeway: I'll inform the rest of the crew.
Kes: Come in.
Tuvix: I hope I'm not disturbing you.
Kes: It's all right. Er, please, sit down.
Tuvix: Ocampan prayer tapers. For Tuvok and Neelix?
Kes: It's funny. If something happened to Tuvok, if Neelix were here, he'd be the first person to comfort me. And if I lost Neelix, Tuvok would be the first person to guide me spiritually. Now I don't have either of them.
Tuvix: You have me, Kes.
Kes: Thank you, but
Tuvix: I remind you of what you've lost.
Kes: It's not your fault.
Tuvix: I know, and I'm trying to accept who I am now. Captain Janeway tells me there's a place for me on this ship, but I can't help feeling like, like some sort of impostor.
Kes: Maybe we can help each other get through this.
Tuvix: That's what I've been hoping. I know this is going to sound very strange to you, perhaps even illogical, since in a way, we've only known each other a few days, but I want you to know I love you, Kes.
Kes: But I hardly know you. And besides, what about, what about Tuvok's wife for one thing? He was completely devoted to her. What happens when Voyager gets back home? Are you just going to forget her?
Tuvix: I could never forget T'Pel. I carry Tuvok's love for her inside me. And I would never ask you to forget Neelix.
Kes: How can you talk this way?
Tuvix: Because I carry Neelix's love for you inside me as well, and I always will. You heard the Doctor. It could be years before he finds a way to bring Tuvok and Neelix back, if ever. For you, that might be a lifetime.
Kes: Please go.
Tuvix: I'm sorry. I should have controlled my emotions. All I really came to say is that I'll be here for you, if you need me.
Janeway: Kes.
Kes: Captain. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have bothered you this late. I'll, er, talk to you tomorrow.
Janeway: Actually, I was having trouble sleeping. I could use some company. Would you like some hot tea? Please, sit down. I was just looking over some old letters Tuvok sent me when he was temporarily assigned to Jupiter Station. Most people would say his writing is cold, analytical, detached, but I've always found it to be concise, efficient, thoughtful. I hear his voice when I read the words. And Neelix. I'd become so fond of him, Kes. I can't imagine what you're going through.
Kes: I wanted to talk to you about Tuvix. He came to see me this afternoon.
Janeway: Oh?
Kes: He said, he said that he loves me.
Janeway: Well, I suppose I can see how that's possible, given the circumstances.
Kes: I wasn't sure what to say. At first, I was angry. But I know how he's trying to comfort me, and I know that he feels alone too. To tell the truth, he's a wonderful person.
Janeway: Do you have feelings for him too, Kes?
Kes: No, I don't. I mean, how could I? I still love Neelix, and I'm not ready to give up on him, no matter what the Doctor says.
Janeway: I know how you feel. You're experiencing what people on this crew have been going through since we first got stranded in this quadrant. Do we accept that we're separated from our loved ones forever, or do we hold onto the hope that someday we'll be with them again?
Kes: What do you do, Captain?
Janeway: Oh, I struggle with it every day. Sometimes I'm full of hope and optimism. Other times. Then I dream about being with Mark and it's so real. Then when I wake up and realize it's just a dream, I'm terribly discouraged. In those moments, it's impossible to deny just how far away he really is. And I know that someday I may have to accept that he's not part of my life anymore.
Kes: So are you saying that I should just accept that Neelix isn't a part of my life anymore?
Janeway: I would never tell you or anyone else to give up hope, Kes. I think the best thing you can do now is give yourself time.
Kes: Thank you, Captain. I'll go now and let you sleep.
Janeway: My door is always open to you, Kes. Captain's log, stardate 49678.4. It's been two weeks since the transporter accident that created Mister Tuvix, and while it's still not entirely clear that he's with us permanently, he's certainly been doing his best to settle in. The crew seems to be growing accustomed to his presence, and he's proving to be a very able tactical officer who isn't afraid to express his opinions. While he's forging relationships with many of the officers, he seems to be keeping a respectful distance from Kes, allowing her to adjust to the circumstances on her own terms. As for my relationship with Tuvix, I've found him to be an able advisor who skillfully uses humor to make his points. And although I feel a bit guilty saying it, his cooking is better than Neelix's. My taste buds are definitely happy to have him around.
Emh: Sickbay to Ensign Kim. Please turn to your Emergency Medical Holographic Channel.
Kim: How can I help you, Doc?
Emh: Suppose I found a radioisotope that could selectively attach itself to specific DNA sequences. Could the surgical transporters be reprogrammed to lock onto those enhanced sequences and separate them from the remaining DNA?
Kim: Well, I think so, but we'd have to modify the molecular imaging scanners and find a way to compensate for the higher levels of radiation.
Emh: Thank you, Ensign.
Kim: Wait a second. What's going on?
Emh: It's pure speculation at this point. I'll let you know when I've learned more.
Kim: This is about Tuvix, isn't it? I'm on my way.
Tuvix: Eight ball, corner pocket. That's game again, Commander.
Paris: We've created a monster.
Chakotay: Best out of five?
Tuvix: Would you mind if we finish this later, Commander?
Chakotay: Not at all.
Kes: Hi.
Tuvix: Hi. Well, how've you been?
Kes: Good days and bad days. You?
Tuvix: Me too.
Kes: Listen, I'm sorry I've been so distant lately.
Tuvix: Kes, you don't owe me an explanation.
Kes: I've been doing a lot of thinking. And I'm hoping that we can be friends.
Tuvix: I would like that very much.
Kes: And I'd like our friendship to grow.
Tuvix: You would?
Kes: Yes. But it's going to take time.
Tuvix: I'm not going anywhere.
Emh: Doctor to Lieutenant Tuvix.
Tuvix: Tuvix here.
Emh: Please report to Sickbay immediately.
Emh: Until late in the twenty first century, physicians administered barium to patients with certain gastrointestinal disorders. The radioactive properties of the barium made the lining of the intestines visible with a primitive imaging technology called X-rays.
Kim: Instead of barium, we've come up with a radioisotope that attaches itself to the DNA of one of the merged species, but not the other.
Emh: Then we simply beam out the selected DNA and segregate the two merged species.
Kim: You see these? They used to be a single merged flower.
Kes: And you can use the same process?
Emh: It will require a more detailed reprogramming of the transporter, but, yes, I believe we can restore Mister Tuvok and Mister Neelix.
Kes: That's wonderful. Isn't that wonderful?
Emh: I assure you, Mister Tuvix, there's nothing to worry about. We've accounted for every variable.
Tuvix: Except one. I don't want to die.
Janeway: It's funny. If we'd had the ability to separate Tuvok and Neelix the moment Tuvix came aboard, I wouldn't have hesitated.
Chakotay: Of course not.
Janeway: But now, in the past few weeks, he's begun to make a life for himself on this ship. He's taken on responsibilities, made friends.
Chakotay: I count myself as one of them.
Janeway: So at what point, did he become an individual and not a transporter accident? Come in.
Tuvix: You wanted to see me, Captain?
Janeway: Yes, Mister Tuvix. Please, sit down.
Tuvix: I feel as though I have been dragged in front of the Numerian Inquisition.
Janeway: Will you excuse us, Commander?
Janeway: We've just been discussing the unfortunate predicament that we're all facing, and I thought it was important to get your perspective before making a decision.
Tuvix: Are you suggesting that this is your decision to make?
Janeway: I am the Captain of this ship.
Tuvix: Begging your pardon, Captain, it's my life. Isn't it my decision?
Janeway: Aren't there two other lives to consider here? What about Tuvok and Neelix? Two voices that we can't hear right now. As Captain, I must be their voice, and I believe they would want to live.
Tuvix: But they are living in a way, inside me.
Janeway: It's not the same and I think you'd agree with me. They have families, friends, people who love them and miss them and want them back, just as I do.
Tuvix: But restoring their lives means sacrificing mine. Captain, what you're considering is an execution. An execution, like they used to do to murderers centuries ago. And I've committed no crime at all.
Janeway: Aren't you arguing for an execution too? Of Tuvok and Neelix.
Tuvix: I'm here, alive. Unfortunate as it may be, they're gone.
Janeway: And I have an opportunity to bring them back.
Tuvix: Don't you think that I care about Tuvok and Neelix? Of course I do. Without them, I wouldn't exist. In a way, I think of them as my parents. I feel like I know them intimately.
Janeway: Then you know Tuvok was a man who would gladly give his life to save another. And I believe the same was true of Neelix.
Tuvix: You're right, Captain. That is the Starfleet way. And I know there'll be some people who, who'll call me a coward because I didn't sacrifice myself willingly. Believe me, I've thought of that. But I have the will to live of two men. Look at me, Captain. When I'm happy, I laugh. When I'm sad, I cry. When I stub my toe, I yell out in pain. I'm flesh and blood, and I have the right to live.
Tuvix: Kes, I need your help. I've just come from the Captain, and she's thinking about forcing me to go through with the separation. If anybody can make a difference, Kes, it's you. She'll listen to you. We've helped each other through this and I know that you care about what happens to me. Please, Kes, you may be my only hope.
Janeway: Come in.
Kes: Captain, Tuvix has asked me to speak to you on his behalf. But I can't.
Janeway: He shouldn't have put you in the middle of this.
Kes: But I am in the middle. I have been since the moment of the accident. I don't know how to say goodbye to Neelix and Tuvok. I know this sounds horrible, and I feel so guilty for saying it, and Tuvix doesn't deserve to die, but I want Neelix back.
Tuvix: You're excused, Ensign.
Tuvix: Mister Paris, what is our present speed?
Paris: Warp six point five.
Tuvix: I'd like to conduct a field test of the aft sensor array. Please, slow to impulse.
Paris: Commander?
Chakotay: Until the Captain makes a decision, Mister Tuvix is still the tactical officer.
Janeway: Mister Tuvix, I'd like to speak to you alone.
Tuvix: Can I assume that you've come to a decision, Captain?
Janeway: I have.
Tuvix: I think we all should hear what you have to say.
Janeway: Please come with me, Mister Tuvix.
Tuvix: No.
Janeway: I'm ordering you to come with me. Security to the Bridge.
Tuvix: Commander, are you going to stand by and do nothing while she commits murder? Mister Ayala. Yes, Lieutenant Paris. You. Doesn't anyone see that this is wrong?
Janeway: Let him go.
Tuvix: Each of you is going to have to live with this, and I'm sorry for that, for you are all good, good people. My colleagues, my friends, I forgive you.
Janeway: Commander Chakotay, advise the Doctor we're on our way to Sickbay.
Janeway: Deck five.
Emh: I'm sorry, Captain, but I cannot perform the surgical separation. I am a physician, and a physician must do no harm. I will not take Mister Tuvix's life against his will.
Janeway: Very well, Doctor. Please step aside.
Janeway: I assume this is the radioisotope.
Janeway: Please sit down on this biobed.
Janeway: Locking surgical targeting scanners onto the isotope probe. Initiating separation sequence. Energizing.
Kes: Neelix!
Neelix: Hello, sweeting.
Tuvok: Greetings, Captain.
Janeway: Mister Tuvok. Mister Neelix. It's good to have you back.