Distant Origin ( episode ) An alien scientist finds evidence linking his species ' ancestry to Earth , but government officials refuse to accept his evidence because it conflicts with existing doctrine . Summary . Teaser . A pair of Voth , a species of reptilian humanoid s , named Forra Gegen and Tova Veer conduct an archaeological investigation in a cave on an M - class planet . They search the cave with their flashlights and Veer discovers a tattered piece of cloth ; while he does not appear to recognize it , it is a gold - colored Starfleet Operations division uniform . Gegen journeys a bit further into the cave where he delicately unearths a Human leg bone . Upon realizing what it is , he emits a series of clicking sounds to summon Veer and scans the bone with a small round device similar in function to a tricorder . Veer asks if the discovery is a genetic match , although to what he does not say and Gegen confirms it is . " " Could this be it ? The proof ? " " Veer asks eagerly . " " If it is , " " responds Gegen , " " We ' ve just made the most important discovery in Voth history . " " He shines his light on a nearby Human skull as he speaks and the camera fades out . Act One . Now aboard their vessel , Gegen and Veer have laid the bones collected out on a table , forming an approximation of what the skeleton would look like if complete . They study the incomplete skeleton much as paleontologists would study a dinosaur fossil and determine it is related to the Voth . They decide to present their findings to the Ministry of Elders . However , Minister Odala does not take kindly to their findings . She claims the similarities are coincidental , accusing Gegen of questioning Voth Doctrine . Once he realizes that he will get nowhere with her , Gegen decides to mount an expedition on his own . His daughter Frola wants to believe in him but she finds it hard to believe that the Voth are related to mammal s from elsewhere in the galaxy . Unfortunately , Tova informs him that he has been charged with heresy against The Doctrine and all of his supporters have abandoned him . Determined to find the truth , Forra and Tova set out on their own . The two of them find one clue on the uniform of the corpse they recovered : they need to find something called . Act Two . On the ship , Gegen jokes with Veer , who is clearly interested in Gegen ' s daughter , Frola . Suddenly Veer detects an energy transmission and after coming out of warp , he and Gegen see a ship 90 light - years away traveling at warp 6 . 2 : " Voyager " . After deciding to observe " Voyager " , the two board " Voyager " undetected under an interphase cloaking device and wander around the ship looking at several things such as the computer , the " male and female interacting " and " courting behavior " between Tom Paris and B ' Elanna Torres . As they observe , they seem to think of the Humans as primitive compared to their own species . On the bridge , still cloaked , they assume that the social hierarchy is matriarchal due to Kathryn Janeway being the captain . At this time the crew discovers two unknown hidden beings on board . Gegen and Veer attempt to leave only to realize they cannot transport off their ship . While the bridge is being sealed by a level 10 force field , Gegen and Veer teleport to the mess hall . Lieutenant Tuvok makes the two appear and when Veer instinctively shoots Chakotay with a small dart , Gegen instantly transports himself and Chakotay away to his vessel . Act Three . In sickbay , Janeway attempts to converse with Veer to find that he speaks with clicks . The Doctor finds that his body temperature and metabolism have dropped as he enters protective hibernation and Janeway orders others to examine the new species . On Gegen ' s ship , Chakotay discovers that Gegen is a molecular paleontologist , and Gegen explains that he couldn ' t reach Veer in the mess hall and took Chakotay instead as a living specimen of Human . Gegen questions whether there are any of his species on Earth , but Chakotay asks Gegen to drop the force field around him . After Gegen shuts off the force field around Chakotay , he and Chakotay make formal first contact between the two . The Doctor finds that the DNA of the Voth and Humans are remarkably similar ( 47 genetic markers in common , a conclusion Gegen and Veer had reached earlier ) and Janeway makes the conclusion that the Voth evolved on Earth . Janeway goes to holodeck 2 and tries to picture the closest relative to the Voth from Earth . On the holodeck , she and The Doctor see various reptiles from the Cretaceous era , most notably a hadrosaur . The Doctor predicts that the hadrosaur continued to evolve after the extinction of other beings to the present Voth civilization . On Gegen ' s ship , Chakotay and Gegen propose that any existence of the intelligence of the dinosaurs could have been deep under the surface , never to be found by the Humans on Earth . Gegen begins to see that the Humans and mammals as a whole are not as inferior as he once thought . When Chakotay requests to beam back to " Voyager " , Gegen denies his request and says that he must bring Chakotay to the Ministry to prove that Humans exist . Back on " Voyager " , Tuvok and Paris are attempting to understand the Voth cloaking technology . Suddenly an enormous Voth city ship several times the size of Voyager de - cloaks . Voyager goes to red alert , then begins to be probed with an energy beam that cuts through the shields before the entire vessel is beamed into a large hangar onboard the Voth ship . Act Four . With " Voyager " inside the massive Voth city ship , the ship and weapons begin to lose power and Janeway orders to crew to repel boarders . Heading for the bridge , Tuvok is shot by a dart from behind and orders Paris , who is with him , to leave without him . The Voth manage to easily take over the ship , with Janeway and Harry Kim being interrupted by them while attempting to restore power . The Voth interrogate the Humans about their origin . When Janeway mentions Earth , the Voth suspects Gegen of spreading rumors . Paris is able to make it to Main Engineering and attempts to fire a full spread of photon torpedo es through the city ship , however the Voth are able to detect and block his attack . Meanwhile , Gegen gets a communication from the Ministry threatening to destroy " Voyager " if he doesn ' t return . He reluctantly sets course back to the ship . Professor Gegen meets the Ministry again and is accused of going against The Doctrine . He does not retract his statements , so Odala begins the trial . Act Five . On trial , the Ministry further accuses Gegen of disputing Doctrine through the Distant Origin Theory and being a destructive influence on society . After given a chance to deny of the evidence , Gegen refuses . The Minister states that the Humans are not related at all to counter Gegen ' s theory . Chakotay responds by saying that " Voyager " s fossil records prove otherwise . The Ministry stops and begs Gegen to admit that his interpretation and theory is wrong . Gegen again refuses and claims that the entire Voth civilization is from the Human planet of Earth . When the Minister brings forth Veer and questions him about the theory , he states , rather unenthusiastically , that Gegen ' s research was flawed . The Minister praises him for his testimony and he shuffles off sadly when she dismisses him . Once again , Gegen is questioned about his theory whether or not he has been mistaken . Gegen questions why Veer would have spoken against him , strongly suspecting that the Minister threatened the younger scientist in some way , perhaps from taking away his honors all the way up to threatening the man ' s family . He challenges the plan of the Voth to keep their " myth " of their history and beliefs . When the Minister asks yet again , Chakotay speaks against the Minister about how their beliefs are so clouded just as Gegen ' s theory is and that Gegen and he found out that the genetic structure of Voth is incredibly similar to almost every species found on Earth , which is too much to be coincidence . Chakotay states that the Doctrine was changed when transwarp technology was introduced , just as Gegen ' s theory is attempting to be introduced . The Minister states that she does not want to believe the theory because it might show weakness on the Voth ' s behalf , depicting them as a race of cowards who fled their home . Chakotay responds that the Voth culture had a great past , surviving on Earth against great odds and subsequently coming to leave Earth and thrive in a distant part of the galaxy , their denial of the past shows the denial of their true heritage . To deny this heritage would be to ignore what their ancestors accomplished in order to save the species . Despite Chakotay ' s plea , Gegen is found guilty and is sentenced to life imprisonment on a detention colony , which he accepts . However to the scientist ' s horror and protests , the Minister then tells Chakotay that he and the entire " Voyager " crew are to be imprisoned along with Gegen and their ship destroyed . At the last moment , Gegen , defeated and unwilling to see the " Voyager " crew being dragged into his predicament , gives in to the Minister ' s desire and heartbroken , recants his theory . Satisfied , the Minister reassigns Gegen to a " more rewarding vocation " in metallurgical analysis and frees Chakotay , ordering " Voyager " to leave Voth space . Back on Gegen ' s personal ship , the scientist , professing at not being that good at chemistry , sadly resigns himself to an unremarkable career in metallurgical analysis and thanks Chakotay for his help and friendship . Chakotay commends him on his bravery , and gives Gegen a small hand - held globe of modern Earth in the hope that one day the Voth will see it as their home . Chakotay bids Gegen farewell with " " Eyes open " " that Gegen returns , before beaming back to " Voyager " . Memorable quotes . " " It would be in your best interest if I never saw you again . " " - Minister Odala to Chakotay " " Did your eyes see the planet of our origin , the true home of our race ? Was it beautiful ? Was it covered by oceans ? By sand ? Were there nine moons above your head ? Were there none ? " " " " I ' ll see you tonight . BYOB . " " " " What ? " " " " Bring your own " bat ' leth . " " " Note how the female through the feigned antagonism encourages the male in his attempt to mate . " " " " Tuvok , I hope that ' s your stomach . " " " " Who ' s that ? " " " " My helmsman . Sounds like he ' s about to blast a hole in the side of your ship . " " " " We are not immigrants ! I will not deny twenty million years of history , and doctrine , just because one insignificant Saurian has a " theory " ! " " " " Someday every Voth will see this as home . " " " " This should do the trick . " " " " An apple ? " " " " You said you wanted an organic test subject . " " " " I was referring to a bio - cylinder , but the fruit will suffice . " " Links and references . References . 47 ; academic circle ; anodyne relay ; apple ; automated message ; autonomic nervous system ; auxiliary power ; " bat ' leth " ; bio - cylinder ; BYOB ; cartilage ; Circle of Archeology ; Circle of Exobiology ; Circles of Philosophy ; Circles of Science ; communicator ; computer extrapolation ; containment field ; cranial capacity ; Cretaceous ; dart ; decalcification ; Delta Quadrant ; dilitus lobe ; dinosaur ; dispersion frequency ; Distant Origin Theory ; Devonian ; DNA ; Earth ; endotherm ; " Eryops " ; first contact ; fossil ; Fourth Colony ; genome projection algorithm ; gigahertz ; hadrosaur ; harpoon ; heresy ; hibernation ; Hogan ; Hokath ; holodeck ; Holographic Voth ; interphase ; interrogation surgeon ; immigrant ; Jefferies tube ; kilometer ; Klingon martial arts program ; lagoon ; mammalian ; matriarchy ; medical tricorder ; mentor ; metallurgical analysis ; microcellular scan ; Milky Way Galaxy ; minister ; Ministry of Elders ; molecular paleontologist ; Nekrit Expanse ; paleontological database ; phase variance ; photon torpedo ; plasma conduit ; polymer ; portation ; prejudice ; red alert ; refugee ; replicator ; saurian ; spatial fluctuation ; spatial displacement ; subspace frequency ; sulfur ; tetryon radiation ; transwarp ; tricorder ; Towt ; turbolift ; vasodilation ; Voth ; Voth city ship ; Voth Doctrine ; Voth research vessel ; warp plasma ; weapons control