Rise ( episode ) " Voyager " defends a planet that is being bombarded by asteroids . Summary . Teaser . is protecting the Nezu from an asteroid bombardment , having developed a plan with them on board to vaporize an incoming asteroid . Instead , the torpedo blast from the " Voyager " merely fragments it and most of the debris falls to the planet . All attempts to vaporize the asteroids have already failed . Act One . Fortunately , in this case , the remaining fragments land in a desert area . The next asteroid is scheduled to hit a major city in six hours and a garbled message indicating the asteroids are artificial is received from Doctor Vatm , a scientist on the planet . " Voyager " sends three shuttle s to the surface to rescue him . One shuttle , piloted by Tuvok and Neelix and accompanied by the Nezu ambassador ' s assistant Sklar , is forced to make an emergency landing due to disturbances in the ionosphere . After setting down violently , they are joined by Dr . Vatm , who introduces them to Hanjuan , a gallicite miner , who saw and heard the shuttle crash . They come in the shuttle and Tuvok asks about his discovery , but he refuses to discuss it except with the ambassador , stating that the information he holds is classified . While examining the exterior of the shuttle for damage , Neelix steps out and spots an orbital tether anchored nearby . He suggests to the others to use the carriage to ascend the tether . He explains that by using the carriage they could leave the ionosphere in order to get a signal to " Voyager " , which is blocked by the disturbances in the ionosphere , to beam them back aboard . The carriage attached to the tether is damaged , but Neelix says that he spent two years on a tether maintenance team on Rinax , and is convinced that he can repair it . Despite misgivings , Tuvok agrees to Neelix ' s suggestion . Upon arriving at the base of the tether , which is three hundred kilometer s long , the party discovers a woman who has been taking shelter within the broken carriage . She attacks Neelix and threatens his life to drive them out . Act Two . The group manages to convince her that they do not want to take her supplies and are merely looking at a way to get out . They offer to take her with them , and , eventually , she relents . Meanwhile , on " Voyager " , Torres is analyzing a sample of the asteroid to follow up on Dr . Vatm ' s theory that they are artificial . With the ambassador present , Torres finds triadium , an alloy . As Chakotay picks at the rock , he notices it can be broken in half easily . Inside , they find something obviously artificial , a control node for some kind of guidance system , making them suspicious about the nature of this planetary bombardment . On the planet , Neelix and Tuvok manage to get the lights on . Neelix then goes to help Lillias , spending some time to bond with her . Tuvok reminds him , in an authoritative tone , that he ' s taking too much time with idle conversation . Neelix , bothered by that , then concentrates on work . After a while , the whole group is hard at work and manage to get only the majority of the systems online when they see that Dr . Vatm attempts to initiate a premature launch . This forces everyone to get in the carriage . Tuvok subdues Vatm , but it ' s too late . To escape the collapse of the whole cavern they have to launch the carriage . Act Three . The carriage is on its way , with Neelix monitoring its erratic status . The magnetic cohesion is lost , and Neelix hypothesizes they need more power to the tether couplings . Tuvok is able to do it , and the carriage stabilizes at 47 kph . Then , Tuvok sees an oxygen converter has ruptured , so the other needs to be boosted . On Tuvok ' s questioning , Neelix continues to mention " glitches " that they will need to address : Neelix must manually guide the ascent , and there are small fissures in the hull which will drop the atmospheric pressure in the cabin . Unfortunately , he can ' t remember where the emergency containment grid is , prompting Tuvok to challenge his knowledge . Neelix admits he didn ' t actually work on real carriages , but models which had the same components on a small scale . Their conversation is cut short when Lillias is heard dragging Dr . Vatm to the door to throw him out . Tuvok stops her and asks why Dr . Vatm launched the carriage when he did . Dr . Vatm , who stays silent even as Tuvok suggests it ' s related to his discovery . As a result , a violent situation erupts when Hanjuan insists that Vatm be thrown out if he doesn ' t talk . It ' s barely contained at the last minute by Tuvok , who is realizing the mechanical issues are not the only ones they ' ll have on this journey . " Voyager " discovers that a large asteroid is about to hit the planet within two hours , unfortunately , Thomas Paris ' s team cannot find Tuvok and Dr . Vatm . Meanwhile , back on the tether , the group ( except Tuvok ) is beginning to suffer from carbon dioxide poisoning . Tuvok gives them tri - ox compound to help , but Neelix notes Tuvok may become the only one awake to drive the carriage . As he shows him the controls , Dr . Vatm suddenly tries to open the door to get outside , managing to mumble that something is on the roof and that he needs to get out there to get it before he goes into shock and dies . When Tuvok examines him , he concludes that it was murder . Act Four . Tuvok says he found traces of lydroxide , the coolant used for the tether couplings and poisonous , in Vatm ' s water container . Since the coolant tanks are sealed , someone must have opened them , meaning someone on board is the killer . While bickering and blaming each other , Neelix suggests stopping the carriage . He insists that they go look on the roof to check Vatm ' s motive for wanting to climb up there ; he says he has a " gut feeling " about there being something . Tuvok disagrees , believing that what Vatm said was just some foolish , delusional mumbling as a result of oxygen deprivation . Neelix insists however , that they go up and check this out . When Tuvok refuses to further hear him out , Neelix voices his anger at Tuvok ' s arrogance . He tells Tuvok that he is filled with contempt and sarcasm and that he is tired of being the target of his hostility . Neelix tells him that he is condescending and dismissive . He says that even though he admires Tuvok ' s logic and intelligence , he also thinks that he doesn ' t really understand people . When Tuvok insists that Neelix is wrong , Neelix stops the car and says it will go no higher until someone checks the roof . Tuvok eventually goes and when he reaches the top , he finds an alien datapad with information on it . As he is examining it , Sklar climbs up to the roof as well , after having just fought off Neelix and making him fall from the ladder to the hatch . He fights with Tuvok , getting his phaser and pushing him off the roof . He grabbed part of the carriage as he fell , however , he ' s dangling . Act Five . Sklar climbs back down , and threatens everyone else to get the carriage moving again but no one can because Neelix is the only one who knows how . Seeing Neelix too hurt to respond , he goes to see if they can figure it out for themselves . Meanwhile , " Voyager " sees an alien ship that claims this planet for themselves and fires on it . Fortunately , Neelix sees Tuvok through the window of the door and lets him in as Sklar is distracted . The wind throws everyone off balance when he lets Tuvok in . Sklar is then blown out of the cabin during a struggle with Tuvok . After diagnosing Neelix with a concussion , Tuvok thanks Neelix for opening the door and talks Neelix into finding the strength to get the carriage past the ionosphere . They then contact " Voyager " , are beamed aboard and , with the information on the PADD , defeat the attacking aliens . Later in the mess hall on board " Voyager " , Neelix reveals to Lillias that Vatm believed there was a traitor among the Nezu . He tells her that the people who attacked their colonies call themselves the Etanian Order : they create what appears to be a natural disaster and once the population has been evacuated , they arrive and stake their claim . Dr . Vatm had found out about the Etanian Order and also knew that one of their own people was a traitor ; he just didn ' t know it was Sklar and thus whom to trust . Tuvok then comes in , saying that Lillias is ready to return to the planet . She gives Neelix a kiss before leaving . Tuvok tells Neelix that he is giving him a special commendation for his endurance and bravery . At the same time , however , he tells him that one day his intuition will fail and then he will have to accept that logic is primary above all else . Neelix , on the other hand , says that one day , he will get Tuvok to trust his gut . Tuvok says that he highly doubts this , upon which Neelix amusingly responds that Tuvok always wants to have the last word and just seems to hate to lose an argument . Somewhat annoyed , Tuvok insists that he is mistaken – having the last word once more . Memorable quotes . " " I ' ve been assigned to Lieutenant Tuvok ' s team , and no matter what I do , I can ' t seem to please him . " " " " Vulcans are notoriously difficult to impress . Mr . Tuvok seldom acknowledges my brilliance . " " " " Mechanical glitches would seem to be the least of our problems . " " " " It is illogical to dwell on situations beyond your control . It will only serve to heighten your anxiety , which , if I may say so , is heightened enough . " " " " Oh . Well , thank you for the reassurance . " " " " Where are you going ? You don ' t even know what you ' re looking for . " " " " I am looking for Mr . Neelix ' s instinct . Perhaps it will be marked . " " " " Mr . Sklar . . . returned to the surface . " " " " You always have to get in that last word , don ' t you ? " " " " I am simply responding to your erroneous statement . " " " " Something tells me you just hate to lose an argument . " " " " Losing is irrelevant . " " " " See what I mean ? " " " " No . I do not . " " Links and references . References . 47 ; Alixia ; alloy ; " Alixia " ; analeptic compound ; arctic spider ; ascent thruster ; asteroid ; astrophysicist ; astrophysics ; atmospheric pressure attitude control thruster ; auto - ascent sequencer ; biolab ; British pound ; carbon dioxide ; carbon dioxide poisoning ; Caves of Touth ; centimeter ; Central desert ; citizen ; colony ; concussion ; continent ; continent grid ; control node ; damage report ; data storage device ; debris ; delirium ; electrodynamic turbulence ; Etanian s ; Etanian Order ; Etanian starship ; equatorial dust shrouds ; exogeology ; fissure ; foundry ; foundry worker ; gallicite ; Halla ; holodeck ; idle conversation ; induction coil ; induction damper ; ionosphere ; iron ; kilometer ; logic ; lydroxide ; mach ; mag - lev carriage ; magnetic leverage ; meter ; millibar ; mission report ; Mister Vulcan ; Nezu ; nickel ; olivine ; orbital engineer ; orbital tether ; oxygen ; oxygen converter ; oxygen regenerator ; penny ; pressure valve ; prototype ; Rinax ; shock ; shock wave ; signal relay ; stratosphere ; suffocation ; Talaxian ; Talaxian - Haakonian War ; tether coupling ; toroidal antenna ; tranquilizer ; triadium ; tri - ox compound ; tricorder ; troposphere ; tryoxene ; Vulcan s