Miner 1: You're late.
Miner 2: There was a problem with the pulse drills on level four.
Miner 1: They're going to be here any moment. I want to make a good impression.
Miner 2: You're certain we should be doing this?
Miner 1: Orek will be pleased that we took the initiative.
Miner 2: I hope you're right.
Miner 1: Welcome to Telsius.
Dala: Thank you. I'm Captain Kathryn Janeway. This is Commander Tuvok. We're from the Federation Starship Voyager.
Dala: We have several mines like this on Earth.
Miner 1: I'm not familiar with Earth.
Dala: That's because it's thirty thousand light years from here.
Mobar: Thirty thousand three hundred forty two point four to be exact.
Miner 1: You're a long way from home.
Dala: It's difficult sometimes, then I close my eyes and think of the farm in Indiana where I grew up. For a moment I'm home again. Shall we get down to business?
Miner 1: Yes. We've had a shortage of dilithium for the last two months. If we can't replenish our supply we may be forced to suspend work.
Miner 2: Our chief of mining operations has gone to the Grenna system.
Miner 1: Yes, but we are authorized to conduct trades in his absence.
Mobar: What are you prepared to trade?
Miner 1: I'm afraid the only commodity we have is, er, bolomite.
Dala: We really don't have much use for that.
Mobar: On the contrary, Captain. Bolomite is used in omega radiation therapy. The orphans on Narva
Miner 1: Orphans?
Mobar: The settlers on the Narva colony were exposed to toxic levels of omega radiation. The entire adult population was killed.
Dala: We're doing all we can for the children. All right, twenty kilotons of dilithium for an equivalent amount of bolomite.
Miner 1: We only have ten kilotons left.
Dala: Then ten it is.
Mobar: Captain, I must point out that dilithium is worth nearly twice as much as bolomite.
Dala: Tuvok, these people need our help. I'm not going to quibble over a few tons of ore.
Miner 2: Perhaps we should celebrate.
Dala: I wish we could, but there's a neutronic storm approaching our ship. We should be leaving orbit.
Miner 1: Give us an hour to finalize the arrangements.
Dala: We'll be waiting to hear from you.
Mobar: Before we leave, would it be possible to tour your facility? It's our duty as Starfleet officers
Dala: Unfortunately the storm won't wait. Maybe on our next visit.
Mobar: Live long and prosper.
Dala: Ugh! This hair is so uncomfortable.
Mobar: I find it esthetically pleasing.
Zar: The negotiations?
Dala: It would've been perfect if Tuvok hadn't decided to improvise.
Mobar: I was portraying my character as truthfully as possible.
Dala: Once we finish a transaction, we leave. Is that clear?
Mobar: Indeed.
Zar: Incoming transmission for Captain Janeway.
Dala: Ready. This is Captain Janeway.
Miner 1: The bolomite is ready for transport. We thank you for your generosity.
Dala: Directive nine twenty seven of the Starfleet General Order. Always help those in need.
Zar: Transport complete.
Dala: We've enjoyed meeting you, gentlemen.
Miner 1: Er, Captain, we haven't received the dilithium yet.
Dala: Oh, the neutronic storm seems to be interfering with our transporters. If we don't leave orbit immediately, we will sustain heavy damage.
Miner 2: What about our dilithium?
Dala: We'll be back to deliver it as soon as the storm clears.
Miner 2: Well, how long will that be
Dala: Captain Janeway out.
Dala: Let's go.
Janeway: Computer, activate the sonic shower.
Janeway: Oh, adjust the frequency.
Janeway: Computer, deactivate the sonic shower!
Janeway: Report.
Torres: We've got systems failures on eight decks, Captain.
Janeway: That explains why my sonic shower was a little louder than usual.
Torres: Make that nine decks. I've run every diagnostic I know and I can't seem to isolate the problem.
Janeway: Gremlins.
Torres: Excuse me?
Janeway: In the early days of aviation, engineers blamed imaginary little creatures called gremlins for malfunctions they could not explain.
Torres: Well, one of your gremlins just paid a visit to the replicator system.
Kim: Tuvok, we saved you a seat.
Paris: What's wrong?
Tuvok: Someone has altered one of my holodeck programs. Again.
Paris: Are you sure it isn't just one of these malfunctions?
Kim: Everything on the ship's been affected, including the holodecks.
Tuvok: The Oracle of K'Tal isn't programmed to wear pajamas.
Paris: Well, maybe he overslept.
Tuvok: I am not amused by your practical jokes, Mister Paris.
Paris: Why do you always think it's me?
Tuvok: Mister Kim?
Kim: I'd like to claim credit, but I'm innocent.
Tuvok: The next time I visit the holodeck, I expect to find my program restored to its original parameters.
Paris: I'm telling you, Tuvok, we didn't do it.
Kim: I wonder how the Oracle would look in a somberro.
Torres: Everybody stop eating!
Neelix: Captain, what's wrong?
Janeway: If I could have everyone's attention for a moment. We found a contaminant in the replicator system. It's nothing serious, but if any of you start to feel a little queasy, report to Sickbay immediately. In the meantime the galley is closed.
Kim: I wish I hadn't had seconds.
Janeway: Here. (One of the heating areas on the 'stove'.
Torres: Well, that explains it.
Neelix: Don't tell me a simple heating coil in the stove is responsible for everything that's gone wrong this morning.
Janeway: Any component connected to the integrated circuitry can spread a contaminant.
Torres: This isn't Starfleet issue.
Janeway: Where did it come from?
Neelix: I obtained it during a trade.
Janeway: With whom?
Neelix: Sister Dala.
Janeway: Sister?
Neelix: One of the clerics on Selnia Prime. Tom and I met her during our away mission. She was the one trying to help all those poor orphans. It's all in our report.
Torres: Did you run a diagnostic before you installled it?
Chakotay: Captain to the bridge.
Janeway: I'm a little busy now. Can it wait?
Chakotay: I'm afraid not.
Janeway: I'll be right back.
Orek: One excuse after another. You're stalling, and I don't have time for it.
Chakotay: Captain, this is Mister Orek. He's chief of mining operations on Telsius Prime.
Janeway: A problem, Mister Orek?
Orek: Not if you deliver our dilithium.
Janeway: Dilithium?
Orek: It's all clearly documented. Ten kilotons of bolomite ore in exchange for ten kilotons of dilithium.
Janeway: I think there's been some sort of misunderstanding.
Orek: One way or another, I intend to collect what you owe me.
Dala: We've enjoyed meeting you, gentlemen.
Miner 1: Captain, we haven't received the dilithium yet
Dala: Oh, the neutronic storm seems to be interfering with our transporters. If we don't leave orbit immediately, we will sustain heavy damage.
Miner 2: What about our dilithium?
Dala: We'll be back to deliver it as soon as the storm clears.
Orek: Do you still deny you made the trade?
Janeway: That woman isn't me.
Orek: Who is she then?
Janeway: Well, she's obviously an impostor.
Orek: I have transmission logs, transport records, scans of your shuttlecraft.
Janeway: I have never been to your planet, Mister Orek, aboard Voyager or any other vessel.
Chakotay: Our ship's logs will confirm what the captain's been telling you.
Orek: And how do I know they're authentic records?
Tuvok: How do we know your records are authentic?
Orek: You think I falsified data? Why would I do that?
Tuvok: Perhaps to extort dilithium from us.
Orek: I'm not the thief here.
Janeway: We are not questioning your integrity, Mister Orek. It does appear you've been cheated, but not by me or anyone one on my crew.
Orek: How naive do you think I am? First, you prey upon the sympathy of my miners by telling them stories about poor, orphaned children. Now you try to convince me you're the victims here.
Janeway: Did you say orphaned children?
Orek: A despicable tactic.
Janeway: Will you excuse me for a minute, please?
Orek: We are not finished!
Janeway: Neelix.
Neelix: Captain. We're making real progress.
Janeway: Never mind that. Tell me more about this cleric who gave you the heating coil.
Neelix: Ah. Sister Dala. What do you want to know?
Janeway: Everything.
Neelix: Well, Tom and I met her during our away mission. We were on a small planetoid in the Wyanti system
Neelix: Searching for the spore the Doctor wanted to grow antiviral proteins with.
Paris: I tell you, Neelix, when I first joined Starfleet I knew it was going to be one glamorous adventure after another, but I never dreamed that I'd have the opportunity to go on a mold-hunting expedition.
Neelix: I'm detecting traces of glamor in this direction.
Dala: Please, go no further. This is our sanctuary.
Paris: Our scans didn't detect anyone down here.
Mobar: Our sect is a solitary one. We dampen our life signs to protect the privacy of our meditations.
Neelix: We're terribly sorry if we've disturbed you.
Dala: Begin the cleansing.
Mobar: Olat mal pri, mal pral, mal prolat. Olate kal mi, kal mal, kal molat.
Neelix: I hope we haven't committed a serious transgression.
Dala: The transgression was ours. We should have guarded the sanctuary more carefully. The deities will be angry.
Paris: Come on, Neelix, we'd better get out of the way.
Neelix: Of course. Our sincere apologies. If there's anything that we can do?
Dala: Forgive me but, you look familiar.
Neelix: I don't think that we've ever met before.
Dala: Do you see it?
Mobar: Yes.
Dala: You bear a striking resemblance to our Redeemer of Light.
Neelix: I'm flattered.
Dala: Each spring we make a pilgrimage to Narva in his honor, to help the orphans.
Neelix: That's a very worthy cause.
Dala: It is. Unfortunately, we have no food to bring them this year.
Paris: Why not?
Mobar: A blight infected our hydroponic pods. The crop was destroyed.
Neelix: Maybe we could replicate some food for you.
Mobar: We bestow charity on others. The deities forbid us from accepting it ourselves.
Neelix: How about a trade?
Paris: Good idea. You must have something that we can use.
Neelix: That way you wouldn't be accepting charity, and the deities would have nothing to get angry about.
Dala: Your heart is as kind as your face.
Mobar: May the deities bless you.
Janeway: That's when they gave you the heating coil?
Neelix: It was going to take a while to replicate the supplies they needed, so we invited them back to the Flyer.
Janeway: That's when they must have gotten access to our systems.
Neelix: Captain?
Janeway: Did you leave either of them alone at any point?
Neelix: I don't think so. Er, after we ate, Tom took Brother Mobar to see the cockpit, but I stayed in the aft section with Sister Dala, talking.
Janeway: About what?
Neelix: Me, mostly. She wanted to know all about my role on Voyager.
Dala: Ambassador, morale officer, head chef. It sounds as though you're invaluable.
Neelix: I do what I can.
Dala: Where is your Voyager now?
Neelix: About three light years from here.
Dala: Your crew is alone in this region?
Neelix: We are the only Federation Starship within thirty thousand light years.
Dala: That must be difficult.
Neelix: Sometimes it is, but we manage. We've single-handedly taken on the Borg, the Hirogen, Species 8472.
Dala: I'm impressed.
Neelix: Captain Janeway deserves most of the credit. She's an extraordinary woman.
Dala: Your Captain is a woman?
Neelix: The finest one I've ever known.
Dala: Tell me about her.
Neelix: Well, she's commanded Voyager for almost six years now. Before that, she was a science officer on the Al-Batani.
Dala: Where does she come from?
Neelix: Earth. It's in the Alpha Quadrant. She grew up on a little farm in a place called Indiana. You'd like her.
Dala: I'm sure I would.
Mobar: Sister Dala.
Dala: Yes, Brother Mobar.
Mobar: It's late. We must return to the sanctuary.
Neelix: So soon?
Dala: It's time for the evening meditation. We can't thank you enough for all you've done.
Neelix: We're just glad that we could help.
Dala: The blessing.
Mobar: Certainly.
Mobar: May the deities bless these travelers. Tala ot val. Tala ot relina. Sen tala. Sen relina. Val golina. Su ketran. Tala otval. Tala ot relina.
Neelix: Then we transported them back to their sanctuary.
Janeway: How long did this blessing last?
Neelix: No more than a minute or two.
Janeway: That's probably all they needed.
Neelix: For what?
Janeway: Just what I thought. The entire database was downloaded eighteen days ago.
Neelix: Brother Mobar. The talisman.
Janeway: It was obviously some sort of scanner.
Paris: What would a couple of religious clerics want with our database?
Janeway: It might help if they wanted to pose as Federation officers. Gentlemen, I believe you've been had.
Janeway: The way I see it, we're both victims. Your bolomite was stolen, and our reputation has been damaged.
Orek: What are you proposing?
Janeway: You said you had scanned the vessel that visited your mining colony. If you allow us to analyze them we might be able to derive the impostor's warp signature.
Chakotay: We could find them and recover your property before they cheat someone else.
Orek: This is all difficult for me to believe. Two of your crewmen deceived by clerics? Huh. Could they really have been so naive?
Tuvok: A legitimate question.
Janeway: It's obvious we're dealing with clever adversaries. They fooled both of us, but I'm confident we can stop them.
Orek: Perhaps I should contact Telsian security. They have persuasive methods for determining the truth.
Janeway: In the meantime, the real thieves could be halfway across the sector, with your bolomite in their cargo hold.
Dala: And finally, our bridge.
Varn: Is this a typical Federation vessel?
Dala: Well, the Delta Flyer may look a little worn, that's only because she's been through so much. This ship has helped fend off the Borg, the Hirogen, Species 8472.
Varn: Most of your technology is outdated.
Dala: Show him the mothership, Mister Chakotay.
Zar: USS Voyager. Intrepid class, fifteen decks of the most advanced technology you'll find anywhere. Dilithium powered warp engines, integrated bioneural circuitry, holodecks.
Varn: Is this a typical Federation vessel?
Dala: Every ship in the fleet is built to exacting standards, but I'd be lying if I told you I didn't think Voyager was exceptional. As her captain, I'm not entirely objective. I'm sure you feel the same way about your ship.
Varn: It is my home.
Dala: I'm glad to hear you say that Mister Varn, because that's exactly what the Federation is. A home for an extended family who share resources and come to one another's aid in time of need.
Varn: So if my ship joins your Federation, Voyager will help me fight my enemies?
Mobar: The primary goal of the Federation is exploration. Military objectives are
Dala: There's no need to bore our guest with Starfleet protocol, Tuvok.
Varn: My enemies have sophisticated weaponry.
Zar: As do we. Photon torpedoes, optronically targeted phasers, multi-spectral shielding.
Dala: All of which we would not hesitate to share with a fellow member of the Federation.
Varn: What will I have to do to join?
Mobar: In order to be considered, a candidate must make formal application. An extensive review is conducted by a committee composed of
Zar: The process is complicated, but Captain Janeway has influence with the Federation Council.
Varn: And you would use that influence on my behalf?
Dala: I'd be foolish not to. You are just the type of candidate we're looking for.
Varn: I'll have to discuss this with my shipmates.
Dala: Well, joining the Federation is a serious commitment. Take all the time you need.
Zar: Captain, our latest orders from Starfleet Command. We won't be back here for at least six months.
Dala: Perhaps we can discuss your application then.
Varn: If we were to apply now, could you assure us we'd be accepted?
Dala: You realize you'll have to commit considerable resources.
Varn: I'll do whatever is necessary.
Dala: Well, let me be the first to say, welcome to the Federation.
Neelix: You look like you could use a cup of coffee.
Paris: I've been flying concentric search patterns for the last twelve hours.
Neelix: Any sign of the impostors?
Paris: Neelix, what has happened to us?
Neelix: I know exactly what you mean. I've been over it a thousand times.
Paris: Why didn't we see this coming?
Neelix: Orphans. It's the oldest gambit in the book.
Paris: I mean, if it'd been Harry, I could understand it. He trusts everybody. But you and me?
Neelix: We've dealt with our share of shady characters.
Paris: I think maybe, maybe we've lost our edge.
Neelix: Hand me one of those terra nuts.
Paris: What are you doing?
Neelix: Proving you wrong.
Paris: Ah, the old shell game. All we need now is a mark.
Neelix: I think I see one coming.
Paris: You go ahead. I'll follow your lead.
Neelix: Now watch carefully. I place the terra nut under the cup. Then I shuffle them. Round and round they go. Keep your eye on the nut, but be careful, the hand is faster than the eye. Now, for three hours of holodeck time, can you tell me where is the terra nut?
Paris: There. No, no, no, that one.
Neelix: Oh. I really thought I had you this time.
Paris: Oh, keep trying, Neelix. You'll fool me one of these days.
Emh: This looks like an interesting game. May I have a turn?
Paris: Oh, be my guest. But you'll have to wager something.
Emh: If I win, you take three duty shifts in Sickbay.
Neelix: And if I win, you take three shifts in the kitchen.
Emh: Done.
Neelix: Ready? Now, watch carefully. Round and round they go. Follow the terra nut if you can, but be careful, the hand is faster than the eye.
Paris: Careful, Doc. Try not to blink.
Emh: Don't you worry, Mister Paris. You have to get up pretty early in the morning to fool my optical subroutines.
Neelix: Where is it, then?
Emh: In your left palm.
Paris: How did you?
Emh: Superior visual acuity. See you in Sickbay.
Tuvok: I'm detecting a vessel on long range scans. The warp signature matches the impostor's ship.
Janeway: Harry, tell Tom his coffee break is over. Set a pursuit course.
Kim: Yes, ma'am.
Varn: The photon torpedoes you gave me are worthless. No better than plasma flares.
Dala: Perhaps you didn't arm them properly.
Varn: And in the middle of the battle, the Polonians warned me to cease hostilities or face destruction at the hands of your Federation. You allowed my enemies to join.
Mobar: Evidently, the Federation Council decided that
Varn: Your Federation is a fraud. I demand reparations.
Mobar: You will have to submit a formal report to Starfleet.
Varn: Enough! If you will not reimburse me, I'll seize your ship.
Dala: Disable the beam.
Mobar: I can't.
Zar: We have an additional problem. Voyager.
Seven: There's another ship alongside the impostors. It's got them in a tractor beam.
Janeway: Hail both vessels.
Kim: No response from either one.
Janeway: Well, let's try to get their attention. Mister Tuvok.
Zar: Voyager's charging weapons.
Mobar: Perhaps we should surrender to them. The Federation has an extremely humane policy regarding the treatment of prisoners
Dala: Hail Varn again. Do it. Look on your scanners, Varn. Our mothership's arrived. She's armed and ready to defend us.
Varn: Tell them to stand down.
Dala: Release us, or Voyager will destroy you.
Kim: The other ship is hailing.
Janeway: On screen.
Varn: Stand down, Voyager.
Janeway: I have no argument with you. However, the vessel you're tractoring
Varn: I paid for my Federation membership. The Delta Flyer belongs to me now.
Janeway: Sir, I think you've been misled.
Varn: Yes. I have.
Tuvok: Three direct hits. Shields down to sixty percent.
Janeway: Target his tractor beam. Nobody is taking possession of the Delta Flyer today except us.
Janeway: Lock onto them.
Chakotay: Yes, ma'am.
Chakotay: Now our tractor generator's offline.
Tuvok: Shields down to forty one percent.
Paris: The impostor's ship is powering engines.
Janeway: Seven, transport everyone on that vessel directly to the Brig.
Seven: Establishing a lock on three life signs. That impact damaged the transporters. I'm losing annular confinement.
Janeway: Harry, reroute additional power.
Chakotay: They're gone.
Janeway: Seven?
Seven: I only got one of them.
Janeway: Get us out of here, Mister Paris.
Paris: Aye, Captain.
Janeway: Nice hair.
Dala: It's not really my taste.
Janeway: Posing as a Starfleet captain, selling memberships to the Federation. Too bad we didn't think of it, Tuvok. Imagine the resources we could have acquired over the past six years.
Tuvok: Indeed.
Janeway: I have to admit, I'm impressed.
Dala: I wish I could say the same. The great Captain Janeway. Somehow I expected you to be taller. I make a better you than you.
Janeway: Oh I don't know, I'd say we're very much alike. Resourceful, intelligent, ambitious. But with just one tiny difference.
Dala: And what is that?
Janeway: I'm not a liar and a thief. You're going to give me a detailed account of everyone you cheated, and exactly what you did with their property.
Dala: Why would I do that?
Janeway: Because if you don't, I'm turning you over to Telsian security.
Dala: Oh, is that supposed to frighten me?
Janeway: How much do you know about the Telsians?
Dala: Just that they're a more gullible species than most.
Janeway: Tell her about your research, Mister Tuvok.
Tuvok: I beg your pardon, Captain?
Janeway: On Telsian law. I think it's only fair that we let our guest know what to expect.
Tuvok: The Telsian criminal justice system is rather barbaric.
Janeway: Tell her about the prisons.
Tuvok: Barely habitable. Inmates often die of malnutrition before they are brought to trial. Torture is commonplace, as is disease, including several incurable forms of psoriasis.
Janeway: I think she gets the general idea.
Dala: Suppose I do tell you. How do I know you won't turn me over to the Telsians anyway?
Janeway: If you make full restitution to your victims, I'll give you safe passage out of this area.
Dala: Is that a promise, Captain?
Janeway: I know it's hard for you to believe, but occasionally some of us tell the truth.
Dala: Give me the Delta Flyer and three days to get as far away from here as I can, and then I'll send you the information you want.
Janeway: How naive do you think I am?
Dala: As far as the victims are concerned, you're the one who cheated them. Without my help, you'll be the one who has a problem leaving this sector.
Janeway: Tuvok, contact Telsian security. Tell them we have a prisoner to turn over.
Janeway: Psoriasis?
Tuvok: Improvisation is not foremost among my talents.
Janeway: Considering I caught you off guard, I thought your performance was exemplary.
Tuvok: Thank you, Captain. Was your order to call the Telsians part of the deception or did you actually want me to contact them?
Janeway: Not yet. Let's give Dala some time to think about those barbaric prisons.
Tuvok: Do you believe she'll relent?
Janeway: I'm not sure. Something tells me she's just as stubborn as I am.
Tuvok: Then am I to assume you have an alternative plan?
Janeway: I'm like you, Tuvok. Making it up as I go along.
Neelix: The Captain said bread and water, but I didn't see any harm.
Dala: I'm not hungry.
Neelix: I'll just leave it here in case you change your mind. May I ask you something?
Dala: You want to know if you really resemble the Redeemer of Light?
Neelix: I'm not that gullible.
Dala: Then what?
Neelix: Do you ever feel guilty? Taking advantage of people who actually think that you care about them?
Dala: You seem like a good person. I'm sorry I lied to you.
Neelix: Actually, I think you're just sorry you got caught.
Dala: Probably.
Neelix: There. Now you're being honest. I knew it was possible. If you don't mind my asking, why do you do what you do?
Dala: My father taught me most people will exploit you if they can. So, it's best to exploit them first.
Neelix: You know, I used to be a lot like you. Living by my wits. Never trusting anyone. Always trying to end up on the more profitable side of a transaction.
Dala: And now you don't hesitate to help starving orphans.
Neelix: I changed. When Captain Janeway made me part of the crew.
Dala: I suppose you suddenly reformed.
Neelix: No, no. Not right away.
Neelix: At first I was just exploiting an opportunity to get a warm bed, food, protection. I kept waiting to find out what the captain wanted in return.
Dala: But she never asked for a thing.
Neelix: On the contrary. She expected a great deal from me. Honesty, loyalty, hard work.
Dala: I should've guessed.
Neelix: But I discovered that those were commodities I had in abundance. And it was much more profitable to share them than it was to be self-serving and cynical all the time. I'm happier than I've ever been.
Dala: I suppose that you think I could change too.
Neelix: Stranger things have happened.
Dala: Do you really think that she'll give me safe passage if I make restitution?
Neelix: If that's what she promised you.
Dala: Then what? I have never done anything else.
Neelix: Captain Janeway let Seven of Nine remain on board, and she was Borg.
Dala: Are you saying she'd do the same thing for me?
Neelix: I'd be willing to talk to her.
Dala: I cheated you. Why are you being so kind to me?
Neelix: Like my great grandmother used to say, it's nice to be nice.
Dala: Is that tea still warm?
Dala: Oh, I'm sorry. I'm so clumsy!
Neelix: Security to the brig!
Kim: She's gone.
Mobar: It's not right to abandon her.
Zar: Going back is too dangerous.
Mobar: She's our captain.
Zar: No, she's not. And even if she were, we wouldn't be able to rescue her. We'd be captured ourselves.
Mobar: Without Captain Janeway it will be difficult to continue our activities.
Zar: It's too late for that.
Mobar: There must be a logical way
Zar: What's logical is to get as far away as we can.
Mobar: There's a vessel approaching. It's the Delta Flyer.
Zar: Activate the shields.
Mobar: They're hailing. It's Captain Janeway.
Zar: Our Janeway or theirs?
Dala: Which one did you expect?
Mobar: I'm pleased to see you, Captain.
Dala: Lower the shields so I can transport aboard.
Zar: How were you able to escape?
Dala: I'll tell you once I'm aboard.
Zar: It's difficult to believe you weren't detected.
Dala: Are you accusing me of something?
Zar: Being cautious. How do we know this isn't a deception?
Dala: Why would I try to deceive you?
Zar: You could be helping Voyager capture us in exchange for your own freedom.
Emh: Are we in position?
Dala: I don't have time for this. Lower your shields and beam me aboard.
Paris: Ready?
Mobar: Captain on the bridge.
Dala: As you were. Now, what about the bolomite and the rest of our earnings?
Zar: They're exactly where we left them.
Dala: Well, it's time to collect them and leave the region. Set a course before Voyager finds us.
Zar: You're not in command here.
Dala: I just spent the last twenty four hours in Voyager's brig. I have no intention of going back.
Mobar: I'm picking up lifesigns on the Delta Flyer.
Dala: That can't be.
Zar: I was right. You brought them here.
Dala: Don't be ridiculous. Whoever it is must've stowed away.
Mobar: They're hailing.
Dala: On screen.
Paris: This is Tom Paris of the Starship Voyager. Prepare to be boarded.
Mobar: He's charging weapons.
Dala: Evasive maneuvers.
Dala: Let's get everything on board as quickly as we can.
Mobar: How many transport enhancers do you recommend, Captain?
Dala: Do I have to think of everything?
Zar: We'll need at least ten if we're going to beam all that bolomite through the geostrata.
Dala: Maybe we should take twelve.
Zar: We?
Dala: Is there a problem?
Zar: In six years I've never known you to dirty your hands with menial labor.
Dala: Well, there's a first time for everything.
Zar: You don't trust us.
Dala: Who knows what the two of you planned while I was in Voyager's Brig?
Mobar: As Chief of Security, I would never
Zar: It's all right. We'll all go together.
Dala: After you.
Dala: The next populated sector is thirteen days from here. When we arrive, we'll trade the Delta Flyer for a new ship. Voyager will never find us. Are all the transport enhancers in place?
Zar: That's the last of them. We can go now. If that's acceptable to you, Captain.
Dala: I'm afraid there's been a change of plans.
Dala: I've found the stolen items, Captain. You can lock onto my coordinates.
Zar: I told you she couldn't be trusted.
Mobar: How could you bring yourself to deceive your fellow officers?
Dala: Voyager, I repeat, I am in position.
Janeway: Can you get a lock?
Seven: Negative. The geostratum is too dense.
Janeway: Keep trying. Tuvok.
Dala: I'm outnumbered. Captain, I need assistance.
Dala: Voyager, now would be an excellent time to initiate transport.
Zar: You're not transporting anything.
Mobar: Captain?
Dala: Voyager, please respond.
Dala: You're a sight for sore eyes.
Mobar: Commander Tuvok?
Dala: The one and only.
Mobar: Logic would indicate that neither of us has the advantage.
Tuvok: Your logic is flawed.
Tuvok: Stay where you are.
Zar: What did they promise you for betraying us?
Dala: I believe you've mistaken me for someone else.
Zar: Where's Dala?
Emh: I'm afraid she's indisposed at the moment.
Paris: I wouldn't get up too fast if I were you, Captain. It's going to take another few minutes for the ambazine to wear off.
Janeway: Captain's log, stardate 53849.2. The stolen property has been returned to the Telsian miners, as well as vessels from seven different worlds. I'm hoping that the reputation of the real Federation will survive the events of the last several days.
Neelix: Round and round they go. Follow the terra nut if you can, but remember, the hand is sharper than your visual acuity.
Emh: I thought we'd already disproved that theory.
Neelix: You tell me.
Emh: The terra nut is firmly entrenched up your right sleeve.
Neelix: Sorry.
Emh: That's impossible.
Paris: The old hand-off.
Neelix: Ooh.
Emh: That's cheating!
Neelix: We've still got it.


Janeway: Captain's log, stardate 53896. B'Elanna Torres has requested permission to take the Delta Flyer and search for dilithium. Shining Voyager, far from home, far from the gleaming cities of Earth.
Kelis: Headstrong B'Elanna Torres, and young Harry Kim, speed away from Voyager on the Delta Flyer in search of their treasures.
Jero: I've trimmed the sails but the sea is rough. Maybe we should return.
Layna: I know what I'm doing.
Chorus: A wave as high as a mountain struck the Delta Flyer.
Layna: Get into the escape pod.
Jero: We die together.
Layna: No one is going to die. Go.
Chorus: Young Harry Kim left her side and B'Elanna Torres was thrown against the rocks, the rocks of our very shore.
Kelis: Which is where I, Kelis the poet, found her. Broken, dying. She told me her story, and now I've told you.
Autarch: An excellent conceit, that you discovered her yourself.
Kelis: Thank you.
Autarch: Well, now that B'Elanna Torres has come to our shore, what will happen? Does Captain Janeway come searching for her, or does she give her up for lost?
Kelis: Who can say?
Autarch: Well, I would hope that you can. I want to see more of these Voyager Eternals.
Kelis: Inspiration can't be forced.
Autarch: One week.
Kelis: Or three weeks. Maybe two. One week. The story will continue. Have you noticed how thin my performers have gotten?
Autarch: Let them eat this.
Kelis: Ladies and gentlemen, our patron salutes you.
Jero: Finally!
Kelis: We're doing another Voyager play. As soon as I can write it.
Layna: Shall we celebrate, the two of us?
Kelis: I have very little time. Celebrating will have to wait.
Torres: Who are you?
Kelis: Kelis, Kelis the poet. Your servant.
Torres: My servant? All right. Let me go.
Kelis: I can't.
Torres: Why not?
Kelis: You'll fly from me, the way inspiration always does.
Torres: You're trying to kill me.
Kelis: I'm releasing the heat from your veins.
Torres: What are you talking about?
Kelis: You've been in a fever since I found you. Bleeding is the best way to treat it.
Torres: Oh, I can see I'm in good hands.
Kelis: Something tells me you have your doubts.
Torres: There's a medkit over there. A box, made out of metal. There's a small cylinder inside. Bring it here. Give it to me.
Torres: Don't be afraid, it won't hurt you. Here. Pass it over where you cut me.
Kelis: You're an Eternal. I suppose such things are to be expected.
Torres: What other things do you expect from an Eternal?
Kelis: The power to make the ground open up and the sky to fall. All the strange events sung by the ancient poets. Fortunately for me, no poet has ever sung about your clan. I'm the first.
Torres: My clan?
Kelis: The Eternals on Voyager. Shining Voyager, far from home.
Torres: What do you know about that?
Torres: Delta Flyer log, stardate 53918. Harry and I are continuing toward the fourth planet. Sensors have picked up natural dilithium deposits on nearly every land mass.
Chakotay: Acknowledged. Has your warp core been damaged?
Torres: Yes. We're running on thrusters. Can you track our position?
Torres: How long have I been here?
Kelis: Eight days. I was walking through these mountains. I saw a light burn across the sky and I heard a terrible sound. When I arrived, I found you. I treated your wounds.
Torres: And you tied me to this chair.
Kelis: When a gift falls from the heavens, only a fool would let her go. You've already given me one play. The story told by those voices. I pieced them together, tried to fill in the gaps.
Torres: You made a play out of our logs?
Kelis: The Away Mission of B'Elanna Torres. My patron was impressed.
Torres: He has great taste. Now take that knife of yours and cut me free.
Kelis: That would be unwise.
Torres: Why?
Kelis: My patron is intrigued by the Voyager Eternals. He wants another play. To compose that, I need more details.
Torres: And you expect to get them from me?
Kelis: I did save your life.
Torres: I need to get back to Voyager.
Kelis: I need another play.
Torres: What exactly do you want to know?
Kelis: Everything.
Torres: It's not possible. We Eternals have our rules. We can't just give everything away.
Kelis: How did you get lost?
Torres: Cut me free and I'll tell you.
Kelis: You won't leave me?
Torres: Cut me free.
Torres: You're the one who's leaving.
Torres: Don't come back.
Torres: Computer, bring the subspace transmitter online.
Computer: Unable to comply.
Torres: Why not?
Computer: Insufficient power.
Torres: Great. Now there's no power.
Kelis: Are you hungry?
Torres: I told you not to come back.
Kelis: You haven't eaten in days. We have to support each other, we poets.
Torres: I'm an engineer. I fix things.
Kelis: From the looks of it, you're not doing so well.
Torres: Are you a poet or a critic?
Kelis: Tell me about Earth.
Torres: I have to sing for my supper, huh?
Kelis: We all do, in one way or another. Earth.
Torres: It's a, an island. A beautiful island, blue and green.
Kelis: And Voyager, a great ship?
Torres: In a long line of great ships.
Kelis: How did Voyager get lost?
Torres: The Caretaker.
Kelis: An Eternal?
Torres: Yes, you could say that. He caused a storm, which blew us off course.
Kelis: Tom Paris. Are you in love with him?
Torres: Supper is over. Come with me.
Torres: This is where we put all the names and dates when our heads won't hold any more.
Kelis: A memory.
Torres: Exactly. Tell me, have you ever seen this before?
Kelis: Winter's tears.
Torres: Can you get me some?
Kelis: This is dilithium, isn't it? What you were looking for?
Torres: Where can I find it?
Kelis: The only deposit I know of is on the hunting grounds of my patron. He'd execute me for trespassing. And you, well, he'd love to capture an Eternal.
Torres: Maybe I'm more powerful than he is.
Kelis: Perhaps, but if he caught you he'd force you to fight against his enemies. They're constantly at each other's throats. Bickering over territory, raiding each other's land, starting wars whenever they can be guaranteed of good weather. And we suffer the consequences. You don't want to get involved with them.
Torres: Which is why you're going to get the dilithium.
Kelis: I told you, I'd be executed if I'm caught.
Torres: The dilithium. Or I don't say another word about Shining Voyager, far from home.
Kelis: Did you?
Torres: Don't get caught.
Torres: Well?
Torres: Beautiful. I've got an idea for your next play.
Kelis: I've been visited by inspiration herself. How does this sound? The Rescue of B'Elanna Torres. Right here, in one week.
Chorus 2: One week?
Kelis: Let's get to work.
Janeway: Dismissed.
Paris: That's it?
Emh: Mister Paris, try to stay calm.
Paris: No, that's not going to happen. Isn't there anything else we can do?
Janeway: Not until something shows up on sensors.
Paris: I'll take a shuttle out myself. I'll run a planet by planet search.
Seven: An inefficient plan.
Chakotay: And too dangerous. You could be hit by the same spatial eddies that sent the Flyer off course.
Janeway: We need to concentrate our efforts from here, Tom. All right? Dismissed.
1: Steady-armed Paris, bound by a sleep that brings no rest.
Chorus 2: The door opens. The shadow of a woman falls on the helmsman. His eyes open.
Jero: Seven of Nine, did you find B'Elanna Torres?
Layna: I'm sorry to disappoint you.
Kelis: Closer. Closer!
Jero: Unpleasant news delivered by the most pleasing of messengers.
Kelis: No, no, no, no. Seven of Nine is a Borg, the scourge of the Eternals. You're portraying her like a shy bride on her wedding night Once more.
Jero: Seven of Nine, did you find B'Elanna Torres?
Layna: I am sorry to disappoint you.
Kelis: I can't blame my performers. These Eternals on Voyager are difficult to understand.
Torres: Will you stop walking around? You're going to break something.
Kelis: This Tuvok, for example. He's not like anybody I've ever met. No emotions? How is that possible?
Torres: It just is.
Kelis: It worked?
Torres: It worked.
Torres: Okay, Computer, bring subspace transmitter online.
Kelis: What happened?
Torres: I don't know. The transmitter must have been weakened in the crash. It couldn't take the energy surge.
Kelis: These Vulcans.
Torres: Enough! What kind of metallurgic technology do you people have? Alloys. Which ones can you make? Steel? Bronze?
Kelis: Bronze.
Torres: Bronze, all right. I need a plate of metal this big, as thin as it can be, three parts tin to five parts bronze. One side coated with gold.
Kelis: Gold is expensive. I can't afford it.
Torres: Then you're going into debt.
Kelis: Then tell me about the Vulcans.
Torres: Get me the plate, and then I'll tell you.
Kelis: Everyone's asleep. I'll do it in the morning. The Vulcans?
Neelix: Maybe I've miscounted but, I don't think you've slept in ten days?
Tuvok: Your count is accurate.
Neelix: Don't you think you should go to bed?
Tuvok: As a Vulcan, I can function without sleep for more than two weeks.
Neelix: But there's a point of diminishing returns, when your mind starts to play tricks on you.
Tuvok: My mind, Mister Neelix, does not play tricks.
Neelix: The ship is lonely without them, isn't it?
Tuvok: If you would allow me to continue my sensor analysis, I might be able to locate them.
Neelix: If there's anything else you need. A stronger tea, perhaps.
Jero: When a friend is lost, the mind is split in half, Divided between memory of the past and fear of the future. Harry Kim, Ensign. Only a boy when fate took you from the arms of blue green Earth. B'Elanna Torres, half Klingon, half Human. I am honored to call you
Kelis: What are you doing? Is that a tear?
Jero: Yes.
Kelis: Logical Tuvok doesn't cry. That's why they call him Logical.
Jero: Everybody cries.
Kelis: The land of Vulcan has no laughter, and it has no tears. It is a very quiet place. Calm, just like Tuvok.
Jero: I can't believe that.
Kelis: You don't have to, just don't cry.
Jero: The audience won't believe it either. They'll either think Tuvok is an unfeeling monster, or that I am a bad performer.
Kelis: They'll realize that beneath your unfeeling exterior is a heart that's breaking, silently, and in more pain than any of us can possibly understand, because that's what it is to be Vulcan. Try it again.
Chorus 3: Kelis!
Kelis: What's wrong?
Chorus 3: Our patron has been insulted by his enemy to the north. The armories are open.
Kelis: Has a battlefield been chosen?
Chorus 3: Not yet.
Kelis: Then we have a chance.
Kelis: I need your help.
Torres: I've given you enough help. Where's that piece of metal?
Torres: Not bad.
Kelis: My patron's been angered by the leader of a neighboring state. He'll want to take revenge. It could lead to war.
Torres: We Eternals aren't supposed to take sides.
Kelis: I'm not asking you to fight. I need a way to change his mind.
Torres: I don't have that kind of magical power.
Kelis: Yes, you do. I believe the right kind of play can turn the mind from violent thoughts. The perfect play might even stop a war.
Torres: I can't fix the transmitter with this. There's too many impurities. It'll never carry a plasma charge.
Kelis: If the fighting starts, scouting parties will start moving through these mountains. You'll be discovered. But my play, it could stop it from happening. You have to help me.
Torres: There's nothing I can do.
Kelis: Then come with me. I'll show you what I've done so far. It's our only chance.
Kelis: She's a fellow poet from across the Eastern Sea, an expert on the Voyager Eternals. She's devoted her life to them. She's here to help.
Kelis: The Rescue of B'Elanna Torres. We begin with Harry Kim reaching Voyager in the escape pod. He tells Captain Janeway that B'Elanna Torres is lost. We continue to the point where they discover a piece of the Delta Flyer. After that
Torres: It's simple. They search for B'Elanna Torres. B'Elanna Torres is found.
Kelis: Or not found.
Torres: Or not found. The end. It sounds pretty straightforward to me.
Kelis: That's exactly the problem. Where is the mistaken identity, the discovery, the sudden reversal? Mistaken identity, a character who is someone else. discovery, the moment when that identity is revealed. Reversal, a situation that turns from good to bad in a blink of an eye.
Chorus 1: Find the truth of your story and you won't need all those tricks. I don't know how things are done across the Eastern Sea, but here poets have become lazy. They rely on manipulation to move their audience. It wasn't always that way. Welcome.
Torres: Thank you.
Kelis: The truth of my story. It's an old-fashioned idea. Today, audiences want excitement, passion. Let me show you what I've done with Captain Janeway and Commander Chakotay. Let's make a good impression on our visitor.
Tanis: Chakotay, why must I be denied what every other female officer on this ship can have?
Jero: Captain?
Tanis: The privilege of your touch.
Janeway: Come in.
Janeway: If that was good news, you'd be smiling.
Chakotay: I was just contacted by an alien transport vessel. They picked up the Delta Flyer's distress call.
Torres: The primary controls are offline. I've ordered Harry to eject. I still have thrusters. I'm setting a course for an L class planet. I'll try to maintain contact.
Chakotay: They couldn't get a fix on her position. That was ten days ago.
Janeway: B'Elanna ordered Harry into an escape pod. What's the longest he could survive?
Chakotay: Less than ten days.
Janeway: An L class planet.
Chakotay: I've already narrowed the search parameters.
Janeway: If B'Elanna made it there, it's possible Harry did too. Good night, Commander.
Chakotay: Captain.
Kelis: We'll have a final rehearsal in the morning.
Jero: The last Tuvok scene doesn't make sense to me, and we still don't have an ending.
Kelis: I've got the rest of the night to work on it. Maybe you can get some sleep.
Kelis: What did you think?
Torres: Captain Janeway kissing Commander Chakotay? Tom Paris kissing Seven of Nine? I don't see the point.
Kelis: Anger is like fire. Love can be the rain that extinguishes it. My patron is filled with hatred for his rival, so our play should be filled with love.
Torres: You can't change somebody's way of life with a few lines of dialogue.
Kelis: Yes, you can. It's been done before. Do you know what this place used to be a hundred years ago? A temple, and this was the altar stone. Every year a victim would be sacrificed on it in honor of winter. And then one year, nobody remembers exactly when or why, a play took the place of the ritual, and no one had to die here again. Why can't my play take the place of a war?
Torres: Well, you're going to have to do a lot better than Harry Kim kissing the Delaney sisters.
Kelis: Why?
Torres: Because when you think that you are surrounded by enemies, when you're up against the Borg, or, or Species 8472, the last thing on your mind is romance.
Kelis: You're an Eternal. You have to help me.
Torres: I'm sorry, Kelis.
Kelis: The Borg. Tell me more about them.
Torres: They're soldiers, part of a vast army. They all think the same thoughts, and they travel on ships that look like hives.
Kelis: Like insect colonies.
Torres: They even have a queen.
Kelis: That sounds terrifying. Captain Janeway hasn't been able to destroy them
Torres: She is a Starfleet officer, trained to avoid violence whenever possible. She would make peace with the Borg if she could.
Kelis: This is what I need. An enemy, someone to stand in the way of Voyager finding B'Elanna Torres. Captain Janeway, driven by vengeance, must seek out the Queen of the Borg. The audience thinks she plans to destroy them all, but
Torres: Go on.
Kelis: The Sudden Reversal. Captain Janeway, holding her spear at the queen's throat, throws her weapon aside and she argues passionately to put an end to their conflict in words no one will fail to understand.
Torres: Including your patron? It's much better than all that kissing.
Kelis: Stay and help me. I still need an ending.
Torres: You'll figure something out.
Kelis: B'Elanna Torres dies tragically.
Torres: You wouldn't dare.
Layna: I followed you here expecting to find a love nest. It's quite a nest. You're no poet from across the sea. You're an Eternal. Maybe even B'Elanna Torres herself.
Torres: Don't be ridiculous.
Layna: You know all he thinks about is you?
Torres: We're collaborators, that's all.
Layna: If you come to the performance tomorrow night, I'll expose you to the Autarch. Just leave us alone. Fix your ship and go, please.
Kim: Friend of yours?
Torres: Harry?
Kim: Give me a hand.
Torres: Oh. How?
Kim: I ran into some turbulence in the escape pod, decided to turn around and follow your ion trail. Landed about two hundred kilometers from here.
Torres: You walked?
Kim: At night. I tracked your position with a tricorder and tried to stay hidden during the day. I've got some emergency rations left, a phaser, and the escape pod's transmitter, which I didn't have power left to run, but
Torres: Harry Kim saves the day. Just the ending I was looking for.
Kelis: The final moment, the last scene, more important than anything that's gone before. But what is it? Where is she?
Layna: Your collaborator's probably halfway across the Eastern Sea by now.
Kelis: She'll be here.
Chorus 3: You said we'd have an ending by mid-morning. We won't have time to learn it.
Kelis: It'll come to me. Don't worry.
Kim: Want to give it a try?
Torres: Why not? The thirty eighth time might be the charm.
Kim: It's working.
Computer: The subspace transmitter is online.
Kim: Why don't you do the honors?
Torres: Voyager, this is the Delta Flyer.
Jero: Our patron has arrived. He's not in a very good mood.
Kelis: He will be.
Chorus 3: Not if this is any indication.
Chorus 2: Kelis, this is no way to end a play.
Chorus 1: It doesn't make sense.
Kelis: It'll have to. Go, go.
Chorus 1: Who are the enemies of Voyager? The Borg.
Chorus 2: Species 8472.
Kelis: You know where the ridge ends just below the peak? Run there as fast as you can. You'll find a vessel wrecked against the rocks. Go inside and give this to our friend. Don't be frightened. Go.
Paris: Tuvok. Tuvok!
Tuvok: As you were. Bridge to Chakotay.
Chakotay: Go ahead.
Tuvok: Request permission to be relieved.
Chakotay: Understood. I'll be right there.
Tuvok: We're picking up a subspace transmission. Starfleet frequency.
Paris: It's a little rough. Hang on.
Torres: Delta Flyer. Harry and I are all right. We're on an L class planet. Propulsion is down.
Tuvok: Origin?
Paris: Five point two light years, F type star, looks like the fourth planet.
Tuvok: Lay in a course. Maximum warp.
Tanis: Seven of Nine.
Layna: Captain.
Tanis: The Delta Flyer has been found in pieces, on a rocky shore.
Layna: And B'Elanna Torres?
Tanis: No sign of her. Seven of Nine, you are my eyes and my ears. If anyone can find her, it is you.
Layna: Her eyes and her ears. And the viper in her nest. I, Seven of Nine, have no intention of finding B'Elanna Torres. I, Seven of Nine, am Queen of the Borg. Surprised? No one will be more surprised than Janeway when I take my revenge on Voyager. Say nothing or you, too, will be assimilated. Captain, I will comply.
Tanis: My enemies are everywhere without and within. Seven of Nine is Queen of the Borg. Surprised? So was I. Tell her nothing, or I will lose my advantage, and my ship as well.
Paris: Are you okay?
Torres: Yes.
Kim: We're fine.
Paris: Good to hear it. We'll see you soon.
Torres: Don't be afraid.
Kim: What is it?
Torres: Without inspiration, B'Elanna Torres will perish. He's threatening to kill off B'Elanna as the climax to his play.
Kim: Let him.
Torres: That means that he still can't figure out the ending.
Kim: Who cares?
Torres: I do.
Kim: You're serious?
Torres: Harry, have you ever inspired anybody?
Kim: That's kind of a strange question.
Torres: It's been a strange couple of weeks. He needs me, or he's the one who's going to die on that stage.
Kim: What are you talking about?
Computer: The transporter is online.
Torres: Tell the Captain I'll be a little late.
Kim: B'Elanna.
Torres: Wait for my signal.
Layna: My death is irrelevant. You will never see the gleaming cities of Earth. You will be assimilated.
Tanis: And if I let you live?
Layna: Also irrelevant.
Tanis: You don't believe that.
Tanis: The battle is over. Go home.
Layna: How foolish of you to let me go, free to attack you again.
Tanis: And again and again, until all your drones and all my crew are destroyed. Until everything we value is gone, and there is nothing left but our hatred.
Jero: This final scene will ruin everything that we've done out there. We'll have to improvise.
Kelis: It's too late.
Torres: No, it's not.
Kelis: I knew you'd come.
Layna: And I told you not to.
Torres: Wait! Let's go.
Chorus: Finally, Voyager has reached our shores.
Torres: And not a moment too soon. Kelis the poet must say goodbye as B'Elanna Torres returns to the Eternals in a dazzling blaze of light.
Chorus 3: On a far-away, snow-covered peak.
Torres: No, right here before your eyes.
Layna: Wait! She's not from across the Eastern Sea. She's an Eternal. I'm telling you she's B'Elanna Torres. The real B'Elanna Torres! I saw her ship.
Chorus 1: The lead actress, in a fit of jealousy, brands her rival an Eternal. Our patron rises to his feet to stop the play.
Autarch: Nicely done. I almost believed you. Continue.
Kelis: Stay.
Torres: Voyager needs me.
Kelis: So do I.
Torres: No, you don't. You have all that you need right here.
Kelis: I'll be inspired every time I think of you.
Torres: One to beam, to ascend to the heavens.
Chorus 1: And so ends the rescue of B'Elanna Torres. Half Klingon B'Elanna Torres. Half human B'Elanna Torres, Chief Engineer.
Kelis: These stories will continue for as long as we have the breath to tell them. And as long as our patrons remain wise and compassionate. And Voyager will continue on her journey to the gleaming cities of Earth, where peace reigns and hatred has no home.


Janeway: Come in.
Tuvok: You wished to see me.
Janeway: We've known each other for how long?
Tuvok: Approximately twenty years.
Janeway: We've served on three starships together. I was present at your daughter's Kohlinar. I consider you one of my closest friends.
Tuvok: And I regard you with the same esteem.
Janeway: I've always been honest with you, but you've been keeping something from me.
Tuvok: I don't know what you mean.
Janeway: Don't you? It took exhaustive research, sifting through teraquads of data, separating fact from rumor, but eventually I arrived at the truth.
Tuvok: Captain?
Janeway: Happy birthday.
Tuvok: Thank you.
Janeway: So, it's not long before you hit the big three digits, huh?
Tuvok: Indeed. Have you informed anyone else of your discovery?
Janeway: Don't worry, Tuvok, my lips are sealed. Well? You're supposed to blow out the candle.
Tuvok: That is not a Vulcan custom.
Janeway: Humor me.
Chakotay: Captain to the bridge.
Janeway: Well?
Tuvok: It was a fire hazard.
Chakotay: We're receiving a distress call. A small vessel on an intercept course.
Janeway: Lifesigns?
Kim: One. It's Ocampan.
Tuvok: We're being hailed.
Janeway: Kes?
Kes: Captain Janeway, I need your help. Will you please give me permission to come aboard?
Janeway: Of course. What's happened?
Kes: Please, let me come aboard.
Janeway: Prepare the docking port. Tell the Doctor to stand by.
Tuvok: Her ship is accelerating. It's on a collision course.
Janeway: Janeway to Kes. Cut your engines. You're coming in too fast.
Paris: Five seconds till impact.
Chakotay: Lock on a tractor beam. Evasive maneuvers.
Kim: Hull breach on deck nine.
Janeway: Emergency force fields.
Kim: Captain, a transporter was activated just before impact. She's beamed aboard.
Kim: I'm reading bulkhead ruptures. Deck eleven, section seventeen, eighteen, nineteen.
Chakotay: Cause?
Kim: Unknown.
Tuvok: I've located Kes. She's moving through those sections. She's giving off high levels of neurogenic energy.
Janeway: Janeway to Kes. Kes, respond.
Kim: Hull breach, section twenty.
Janeway: Forcefields. Security to deck eleven.
Kim: Forcefields are not holding.
Tuvok: She's approaching main Engineering.
Janeway: Bridge to Engineering. Intruder alert.
Ayala: Stop where you are.
Torres: Kes?
Seven: State your intentions.
Torres: Evacuate Engineering.
Paris: Warp power is fluctuating.
Torres: Torres to bridge. Kes is in direct contact with the warp core.
Torres: She's drawing power from it somehow.
Janeway: Shut it down.
Paris: Warp power is returning to normal.
Janeway: B'Elanna, report.
Seven: Lieutenant Torres is dead. Kes has vanished.
Torres: Send Mulchaey, he's in deflector control. We'll need more power to junction twelve J, and tell Harry I want to talk to him about building a new energy grid. Lost?
Kes: No, just looking. Captain Janeway suggested that I get more familiar with the ship.
Torres: Well, if you have any questions, let me know.
Kes: Thanks.
Torres: We're about to run a diagnostic on the warp core assembly. You can watch if you want.
Kes: Thanks, but I really should be getting back to Sickbay.
Kes: Computer, has long has Voyager been in the Delta Quadrant?
Computer: Fifty six days, seventeen hours.
Emh: Back so soon? I thought you went to the Airponics bay to collect herbs.
Kes: I forgot something.
Emh: Ah. Pyong Ko.
Kes: Excuse me?
Emh: You encouraged me to choose a name, remember? Pyong Ko was a twenty first century surgeon who discovered the genetic sequence for inhibiting cancer cells. It heralded a new chapter in Earth's medical history.
Kes: That's a perfect name, Doctor.
Emh: Then again, I'm also considering Schweitzer, Jarvik, Pasteur. There are so many options, each with its own merits.
Kes: Why don't you give it some more thought? You don't have to decide right away.
Emh: Of course, it's not that I require one for reasons of vanity. I'm just a hologram after all. But if I had a name, other than Doctor or Hey you, it might encourage the crew to treat me with a little more respect. Kes?
Kes: Hello? Neelix?
Paris: Neelix, if you want to put your own stamp on it, maybe you should give it your own name, like the Greasy Neelix or the Double Talaxian with cheese.
Neelix: It has a nice ring to it. Thank you, Lieutenant, I'll keep that in mind. Sweeting, What'll it be? The usual?
Kes: I'm not hungry. I thought that I'd bring Captain Janeway some coffee.
Neelix: That's very thoughtful. I'm looking forward to tonight.
Kes: Actually, I have a lot of work to do in Sickbay.
Neelix: But I already reserved the holodeck. I thought we could take a moonlit stroll through the marshlands of Oshionian Prime.
Kes: Another time. I promise.
Neelix: Something wrong?
Kes: Bad morning.
Neelix: Anything I can do?
Kes: I'll be fine.
Neelix: I'm not having a great day, either. Nobody seems to like today's menu. I tried blaming it on a replicator malfunction, but no one believed me. Wait, I, I think I see something. Neelix to Security, Kes' frown is losing its structural integrity. Red alert, I'm detecting a smile. That's my Kes.
Kes: The coffee?
Chakotay: That last attack nearly cost us our impulse drives. Fortunately, B'Elanna found a way to reroute power from the deflector.
Janeway: A good choice for Chief Engineer, if I do say so myself.
Chakotay: Getting to know your enemy.
Janeway: I feel like I already do. Remember the old story? Man goes to Risa, where he meets a beautiful woman who invites him over for an evening of passion.
Chakotay: He wakes up in the morning, feeling wonderful, until he discovers he's missing a kidney.
Janeway: Every cadet about to go on his first shore leave hears that cautionary tale. Doesn't seem so outrageous anymore, does it?
Chakotay: No, but the Vidiians are more than just your garden variety monsters. I've been studying their culture. They were a lot like us before the Phage.
Janeway: Do I detect a note of sympathy?
Chakotay: Makes you wonder what we'd do under the same circumstances.
Janeway: Come in.
Janeway: Oh, you read my mind.
Kes: Vidiians?
Janeway: I'm afraid so. We've picked up two more ships on long range sensors. I've gone to full tactical alert. We're taking every precaution.
Kes: I'm sure you'll get us through it safely.
Janeway: Thanks for the vote of confidence. Tuvok thinks he's found a way to penetrate their shields. The next time they attack us, it won't be so easy.
Kes: That's good to hear.
Tuvok: Captain to the bridge.
Janeway: On my way.
Kes: Oops. I'm so clumsy, I'm sorry.
Janeway: Don't worry about it. This desk has seen its share of coffee spills, believe me.
Tuvok: Ensign Wildman has an intriguing proposal.
Wildman: We've been analyzing the Vidiian bio-readings from the last attack. Their immune systems have been compromised by the Phage. We could synthesize a neural agent that would incapacitate them without affecting us.
Janeway: Might come in handy if we're ever boarded.
Wildman: Exactly.
Janeway: Work with the Doctor. When you've got something, find a way to deploy it through the environmental systems.
Wildman: Aye, Captain.
Tuvok: The ships we detected earlier have disappeared from our sensors.
Kim: Maybe we outran them.
Torres: They wouldn't give up that easily.
Emh: Why would they? Voyager's the only organ bank within half a parsec.
Chakotay: We fought off their first attacks. Now they seem content to show up on sensors just long enough for us to change course. It's like we're being herded somewhere.
Paris: If we maintain our present course we're going to enter a region filled with subspace vacuoles.
Torres: We'd have to drop to impulse to get through.
Chakotay: Sounds like a good place for an ambush.
Torres: The Maquis used to lure the Cardassians into the Badlands. Those Galor class cruisers had nowhere to run.
Janeway: Neither will we, unless. Tom, how dense are those vacuoles?
Paris: They cover about seventy percent of the region.
Janeway: Excuse me, Doctor.
Janeway: Tom, what's the first thing they teach you about maneuvering at warp?
Paris: Faster than light, no left or right. When possible, maintain a linear trajectory. Course corrections could fracture the hull.
Janeway: Exactly. We'd have to drop to impulse every time we made a course change but, what if we let Voyager do the driving?
Paris: Ma'am?
Janeway: We could pre-program every kilometer. That way we'd only spend a second or two at impulse every time the computer executed a turn.
Paris: Auto-navigation the entire way?
Janeway: No offense, but the neural gel packs can calculate vectors a little faster than you can.
Chakotay: B'Elanna?
Torres: We'd need a more accurate scan of the region. If we even graze one of those vacuoles
Kim: We could send a shuttle ahead.
Tuvok: The Delta Flyer. Its sensors are more advanced.
Janeway: The Delta what?
Tuvok: Forgive me. I must have been thinking of another starship.
Janeway: Prepare a shuttle. I want all of Voyager's systems operating at peak efficiency by the time Tom gets back. If we're going to pull this off, there's no margin for error. Dismissed.
Kes: Computer, display an image of the Ocampan homeworld. Plot a course from Voyager's current position.
Paris: Homesick?
Kes: Lieutenant!
Paris: Tom. It's okay, a lot of people on board feel the same way.
Kes: I spent my entire life trying to get away from Ocampa. Why would I want to go back?
Paris: Because it's home. Home for me means a penal colony. Out here, I get to fly a state of the art ship, and there's no admirals in sight.
Kes: What are you doing?
Paris: Getting ready for a scouting mission.
Paris: You planning on going somewhere?
Kes: Er, no, of course not. I was just studying the helm configurations.
Paris: I didn't know you could pilot a shuttle.
Kes: I can't, but I'd like to learn.
Paris: Well, then, why not learn from the best? I could start you off in the holodeck, in an old class One. It's the kind of shuttle my father used to take me up in.
Kes: That would be very nice, Lieutenant. Tom.
Tuvok: Identify yourself.
Naomi: It's me, Tuvok. Naomi Wildman.
Carey: May I help you, sir? Lieutenant, is something wrong?
Neelix: Hello, Sweeting. I took the liberty of preparing one of your favorite meals. It's under replicator program Neelix One. Call me if you'd like some company. Miss you.
Kes: Computer, end music. Open an encrypted channel. Direct the signal to the following coordinates.
Computer: Channel open.
Kes: My name is Kes. I'm aboard the Starship Voyager. Respond. I know you're receiving this transmission, and I also know that your attempt to capture this ship will fail. If you want to harvest Voyager's crew, I suggest you answer me now.
Viidian: Explain.
Kes: Captain Janeway is aware of your ambush. She's found a way to evade your vessels, but I can help you.
Viidian: I'm listening.
Kes: I can send you tactical data on their shields, weapons. Everything you need to take this ship.
Viidian: This is a deception.
Kes: Do you want this crew or not?
Viidian: In return?
Kes: Safe passage to Ocampa for myself and one other.
Viidian: Why would you sentence your own crew to death?
Kes: They're not my crew. They abandoned me a long time ago.
Kes: Computer, access Voyager's tactical database.
Computer: Command authorisation required.
Computer: Access granted.
Janeway: Naomi Wildman?
Tuvok: She appeared to be half Ktarian.
Janeway: Ensign Wildman's husband is Ktarian. I met him once on Deep Space Nine.
Tuvok: There's more. I followed her to Cargo Bay two, where I saw a woman and two children, all with cybernetic implants.
Janeway: Borg?
Tuvok: I can't explain it, Captain. I've had hallucinations before, but only while in a state of deep meditation. These were specific and they evoked a sense of anticipation.
Janeway: It almost sounds like you're describing a premonition.
Tuvok: Indeed.
Janeway: I didn't think Vulcans had premonitions.
Tuvok: They don't. That's what concerns me.
Janeway: Computer, maintain a continuous proximity scan of Lieutenant Tuvok. Ten meter radius, all sensor parameters. In case you have any more visions.
Tuvok: A logical plan.
Chakotay: Bridge to Captain Janeway.
Janeway: Go ahead.
Chakotay: We're approaching the vacuoles.
Janeway: On my way.
Chakotay: Last chance to take the long way around.
Janeway: It does feel like we're sneaking through a graveyard at midnight. Any sign of the Vidiians?
Chakotay: Not yet, but it's a safe bet they're in there.
Janeway: Tom?
Paris: Trajectory's laid in. Our trip will take three hours, twelve minutes, eleven seconds with two hundred and sixteen course changes.
Janeway: Well, let's get started.
Paris: Engaging at warp eight. Sit back and enjoy the ride.
Kim: One of the vacuoles shifted position. The computer's adjusting our vector.
Paris: Dropping to impulse, two point three degree turn starboard, jumping to warp six.
Chakotay: One down, two hundred and fifteen to go.
Janeway: I'll be in Sickbay.
Paris: Dropping to impulse. New heading, oh thirty one mark two.
Tuvok: There's a ship approaching. It's on a collision course.
Paris: I'm not reading any ship.
Chakotay: Lieutenant?
Tuvok: Permission to be relieved, sir. I am not well.
Chakotay: Of course.
Emh: The molecular structures appear to be stable. Good.
Janeway: Report.
Emh: We've devised a neural agent that should inhibit the Vidiian's motor functions without causing any permanent damage.
Janeway: Good. I don't want to add to their health problems. I just want to keep them from adding to ours.
Wildman: I'll get to work.
Janeway: Doctor, when was the last time you examined Ensign Wildman?
Emh: I performed her annual physical six weeks ago.
Janeway: Did you find anything unusual?
Emh: She's in perfect health.
Janeway: This may seem like a strange question, but I need to know if she's pregnant.
Emh: I'm not at liberty to disklose that information. Doctor-patient confidentiality.
Janeway: What about Captain's orders?
Emh: Sorry, medical protocol supersede your authority in these matters.
Janeway: The security of this ship could be at stake.
Emh: She planned on telling you herself.
Janeway: Boy or girl?
Emh: Female. Half Ktarian, as a matter of fact, which should nearly double the infant's gestation period. How did you know?
Emh: And they say I'm rude.
Chakotay: We're receiving a distress call.
Janeway: Life signs?
Kim: It's Ocampan.
Janeway: Kes?
Kes: Let me come on board.
Tuvok: Her ship is accelerating. It's on a collision course.
Kim: Hull breach on deck nine.
Janeway: Emergency forcefields.
Tuvok: She's approaching main Engineering.
Seven: State your intentions.
Kes: Let me come on board.
Tuvok: It's on a collision course.
Janeway: Forcefields.
Chakotay: We're receiving a distress call.
Janeway: Bridge to Engineering. Intruder alert.
Ayala: Stop where you are.
Seven: State your intentions.
Paris: Warp power is fluctuating.
Torres: She's drawing power from it somehow.
Torres: Problem?
Torres: Hey.
Torres: Torres to Sickbay, medical emergency.
Emh: Twenty milligrams lectrazine. Cortical stimulator. We'll start at twenty millijoules.
Kes: Ready.
Emh: Now. He's gone into synaptic shock. I don't understand.
Janeway: Can I speak with him?
Emh: I think it's best to keep him sedated for now.
Janeway: When did this begin?
Emh: Early this afternoon, in Engineering.
Janeway: Time. I need the exact time.
Emh: Lieutenant Torres called Sickbay at fourteen hundred twenty two hours.
Janeway: Computer, display proximity scan of Lieutenant Tuvok at fourteen hundred twenty two hours. Oh.
Emh: Captain?
Janeway: Tachyons.
Emh: I beg your pardon?
Janeway: There was a surge of tachyon particles just before Tuvok collapsed.
Emh: That could have triggered this, but where did they come from?
Janeway: They're normally caused by temporal distortions.
Emh: Time travel?
Janeway: Let me know if his condition changes.
Janeway: Kes, you have telepathic abilities. Have you experienced anything unusual during the past couple of days? Hallucinations, premonitions?
Kes: No, nothing.
Janeway: If you do, you'll let me know?
Kes: Of course, Captain.
Kes: We're low on neuro-stabilizers. I'll go replicate some more.
Emh: Hurry back.
Vidiian: Where's the tactical data you promised us?
Kes: I'm downloading it now. I'll transmit it to you once you've arrived.
Vidiian: I need it now.
Kes: Janeway's already suspicious. If I transmit it now, I'll be discovered.
Vidiian: That's your problem.
Kes: Apparently it's yours, too.
Janeway: Gentlemen, scan for tachyon particles deck by deck.
Kim: Tachyons?
Janeway: Do it.
Chakotay: Looking for something specific?
Janeway: I'm not sure.
Chakotay: Report.
Paris: We're under attack. A Vidiian ship is closing on our position.
Janeway: Battlestations.
Kim: We've lost warp drive and weapons.
Chakotay: They're cutting through our shields. Remodulate.
Kim: I'm trying. They keep matching the frequencies.
Chakotay: We've still got impulse.
Paris: They've taken out navigation. I can't plot a course.
Chakotay: They're cutting an access route through the hull. Evacuate deck three and seal it off.
Janeway: Bridge to Sickbay. Are you ready with that neural agent?
Emh: Aye, Captain.
Janeway: Stand by to release it on deck three.
Emh: Acknowledged. Fifty milliliters should suffice.
Wildman: Doctor!
Emh: Doctor to the bridge. Environmental controls aren't responding.
Janeway: Harry, what's going on?
Kim: We've been locked out of that system.
Janeway: What do you mean, locked out?
Kim: The command relays have been fused.
Janeway: They know where to find us, they know our shield frequencies, which systems to target.
Kim: We're being boarded.
Chakotay: I'm reading an EM fluctuation. It could be a transmission.
Janeway: Location?
Chakotay: Airponics bay.
Janeway: Who's down there?
Chakotay: I'm picking up two bio-readings. The sensors must be malfunctioning. They're both reading as Kes.
Janeway: Security to Airponics bay. Shut down control functions to that section. I'm going down there. Something tells me we've got more than one battle on our hands.
Kes: Computer, initiate site-to site transport program Kes beta six.
Computer: Unable to comply. Control functions have been disabled.
Kes: Shush, shush. I'm taking you home.
Kim: We've got weapons back.
Chakotay: Can you target those hooks?
Kim: Not at this range. We'd breach the upper hull.
Paris: It's better than being dissected.
Chakotay: Reverse the hull polarity. Maybe we can shake them loose.
Janeway: Now one of you doesn't belong here, and I'm guessing it's you. Tuvok's premonitions were real. You're from the future.
Kes: A future I'm about to change.
Janeway: You're helping the Vidiians, Kes. Why?
Janeway: Tell me why you're doing this.
Kes: I won't let you hurt her again.
Janeway: I haven't done anything to harm her.
Kes: You took her from Ocampa, her home. She's a prisoner on this ship.
Janeway: No one's a prisoner here, Kes.
Kes: I was a child. You corrupted me with your ideas.
Janeway: What ideas?
Kes: Exploration, discovery. I believed you.
Kim: Hull polarity loosened their hold, but not by much.
Chakotay: It's a start. Reroute the deflector. Have it discharge anti-graviton pulses along the hull. Engage the inertial dampers. Get a controlled pitch going.
Kes: In three years, I'm going to leave Voyager in search of higher things because you encouraged me to do it. You encouraged me to develop my mental abilities. I wasn't ready for what I found. I couldn't control it. It scared me. I had nowhere to go. I thought of returning home to Ocampa, but I'd changed too much. I knew they'd be frightened of me. I knew they wouldn't accept me, but they'll accept her.
Janeway: You don't have to destroy this ship, Kes. We can help you.
Kes: No, I trusted you.
Janeway: Kes.
Kes: No!
Kim: We're breaking free.
Paris: They're trying to lock on us with a tractor beam.
Chakotay: Reverse thrusters. Full power.
Paris: That could tear the hull apart.
Chakotay: Then tear it apart!
Chakotay: Photon torpedoes, full spread. Ready, fire!
Janeway: It's set to kill, Kes.
Janeway: Janeway to bridge. Status?
Chakotay: The Vidiians are in retreat. Everything all right down there?
Janeway: For now.
Tuvok: She was here in my last premonition. She appeared older. Her face was tired.
Janeway: What was she doing?
Tuvok: She had her hands on the casing, as if she was drawing energy from it.
Janeway: The tachyons are concentrated here. It's possible she needed the core to travel back in time.
Tuvok: If that's true, then she'll need it again.
Janeway: And we don't know when that'll be. We have to be ready.
Emh: Doctor to the Captain.
Janeway: Go ahead.
Emh: Kes has regained consciousness.
Tuvok: What do you remember?
Young Kes: I was in Airponics, and then I felt dizzy, and then I was watching myself.
Emh: Yourself?
Janeway: Computer, deactivate EMH. What I'm about to tell you stays between the three of us. Understood?
Young Kes: Yes, Captain.
Janeway: Something terrible has happened. Or more precisely, will happen. We're going to need your help to prevent it from happening again.
Janeway: It took exhaustive research, sifting through teraquads of data, separating fact from rumor, but eventually I arrived at the truth.
Tuvok: Captain?
Janeway: Happy birthday.
Tuvok: Thank you.
Janeway: So, it's not long before you hit the big three digits, huh?
Tuvok: Indeed. Have you informed anyone else of your discovery?
Janeway: Don't worry, Tuvok, my lips are sealed. Well, you're supposed to blow out the candle.
Tuvok: That is not a Vulcan custom.
Janeway: Humor me.
Chakotay: Captain to the bridge.
Janeway: On my way. Well?
Tuvok: It was a fire hazard.
Chakotay: We're receiving a distress call. A small vessel on an intercept course.
Janeway: Life signs?
Kim: One. It's Ocampan.
Janeway: I'd almost forgotten.
Tuvok: We're being hailed.
Janeway: Red alert. Raise shields.
Chakotay: Captain?
Janeway: All hands, this is the Bridge. Begin emergency evacuation of deck eleven. Repeat.
Janeway: All hands evacuate deck eleven.
Torres: You heard her, get moving. Now!
Janeway: Open a channel. Kes.
Kes: Captain Janeway, I need your help. Will you please give me permission to come aboard?
Janeway: Of course. What's happened?
Kes: Please, let me come aboard.
Tuvok: Her ship is accelerating. It's on a collision course.
Paris: Five seconds to impact.
Janeway: Tuvok.
Chakotay: Lock on a tractor beam. Evasive maneuvers.
Tuvok: Shields are holding. Her ship is intact.
Kim: Captain, a transporter was activated just before impact. She's beamed aboard. I'm reading bulkhead ruptures on deck eleven, section seventeen, eighteen, nineteen.
Chakotay: How did you know?
Janeway: Ready? Shut down the warp core. You have the bridge.
Kes: Remember me? The innocent child you're here to save? You blame Captain Janeway, but the choice was yours. You made the decision to leave Ocampa, and you made the decision to leave Voyager. If you're watching me now, you've come back to take revenge on the people who cared about you. That's not who you are, and that's not who I am. Don't do this. Find another way home. Captain Janeway will help you if you give her a chance. Try to remember who you were. Try to remember me.
Janeway: Don't you remember? You made that holo-recording because you didn't want this to happen again. Three years ago, you traveled back in time. Kes, you wanted to take that woman with you and you were willing to hand the rest of us over to the Vidiians to do it. It didn't work. You forced me to kill you, Kes. If you go back now, it'll all happen again. Just before this terrible thing happened, you told me you had nowhere to go. That's not true. Stay here with us.
Kes: I can't. I don't belong here. I need to be with my own people.
Janeway: You told me you had the ability to get home, but you were afraid the Ocampans wouldn't accept you. Why?
Kes: I remember.
Janeway: What? What do you remember?
Kes: The holo-recording. I remember making it. You asked me to help you, to help myself. You wanted me to remember who I was. These years were so filled with confusion and anger. I buried the memory. I'd almost forgotten.
Janeway: Does it really matter which Kes goes home?
Neelix: A few snacks for the journey. You do still like leola root?
Kes: Thank you. What?
Neelix: Just looking.
Kes: See anyone you know?
Neelix: Only you.
Janeway: Goodbye, Kes.
Kes: Captain.
Tuvok: What should we tell the others?
Janeway: A friend got lost. We helped her find her way.