Prime Factors ( episode ) The crew of " Voyager " discovers a planet that has the technology to send them more than halfway along their journey home . However , the planet ' s inhabitants are more than reluctant to share this technology with " Voyager " s crew , as doing so would violate one of the society ' s own prime directives . Summary . Teaser . During a meal in the mess hall on the , the two crews , former Maquis and Starfleet , are eating separately as usual . Among them , B ' Elanna Torres and Seska are at one table , and Tom Paris and Harry Kim at another . Interestingly , the two sides are finally starting to talk socially . Seska notes Torres catching a glimpse of one passing Starfleet officer she might like , and she also teases Kim about going out with one of the Delaney sisters . She had been talking to Paris , who was spreading the rumor . Kim says nothing happened , and is forced to prove it by saying he actually fell out of a gondola in the holodeck while alone with her . Captain Janeway , observing from afar while she eats with Tuvok , is pleased to see them talk to each other like that . Tuvok notes efficiency is sure to be optimal . The crew is called away to investigate a distress call , however , " Voyager " encounters a man who introduces himself as Gathorel Labin of the planet Sikaris . He explains through the viewscreen that he is not in distress at all , and that he had initiated the call because " Voyager " s crew was in distress . Act One . After extending a welcome to the Sikarian sector , Gath comes aboard with samples of the local dishes and delicacies and explains that their people had heard of the plight of " Voyager " ; he therefore invites the crew to shore leave on his planet . Neelix , who has heard of the planet , also proposes using this opportunity to gather seeds from the local flora to increase the selection of edible plant s and vegetable s growing on board . Captain Janeway graciously accepts the invitation and is excited about finally meeting a friendly species on their journey through the Delta Quadrant . A few of the crew including Janeway , Paris , Tuvok and Kim beam down and accompany Gath to a marketplace . Kim meets a local named Eudana who is playing what seems to be a musical instrument , but is really a Sikarian atmospheric sensor . She shows him how to use it and he ' s quite amused . Gath , meanwhile , stays with Janeway and leads her to a fabric vendor . He ' s obviously taken an especially strong interest in Janeway and insists she accept a whole wardrobe made just for her . She politely declines the strong offer and simply considers a scarf . He continues increasingly uncomfortable forward advances , but Janeway politely wants to organize other officers to take turns there . He agrees and keeps his hands on her , not letting go until she agree to attend festivities that evening . Act Two . At the evening ' s festivities , Harry Kim shares a romantic moment with Eudana . He begins telling her about how " Voyager " became stranded in the Delta Quadrant when Eudana suggests they go some place with more privacy . She pulls Kim onto a platform and transports to a place called Alastria . It is a warm and tropical place with gentle trade winds blowing during a red sunset . Kim is feeling a slight elation when he notices that Sikaris does not have two suns . Eudana explains that they are in fact no longer on Sikaris but that they have actually been transported to another planet 40 , 000 light year s from Sikaris . Realizing that this might mean the crew could make it more than halfway home , Kim wants to go back immediately . He informs Janeway of his instantaneous travel via a transporter that operates on the principle of folding space called a spatial trajector . Excited about real prospects of finally getting home , Janeway proposes to Gath that they allow them to modify the technology in order to transport " Voyager " closer to home . But Gath informs them that based on their Canon of Laws , sharing this technology would be out of the question as it may get out of control and fall into the wrong hands . Kim and Janeway are very disappointed . Act Three . During the staff meeting later on , the crew discuss the possibilities that the trajector presents them , including the chance that it could be used more than once allowing them to make it all the way to the Alpha Quadrant . Tuvok points out that Gath has already said no with nothing to indicate that he could change his mind , making the debate pointless . Janeway listens to the various comments and then points out that , as Starfleet , they have similar restrictions with regard to sharing technology . Janeway remarks with irony that it is the first time they are on the other side of the Prime Directive which prevents them from interfering with alien cultures no matter what kind of a disaster they were facing . Tuvok then says , on the other hand , their refusal might be the prelude to negotiation . Kim then offers the insight of how the Sikarian culture values stories as a measuring device of character and moral value , and proposes the idea of offering the entire ship ' s library as a bartering token . Janeway approves the idea and plans to run the idea by Gath . Excited , Torres says she ' ll scan the device in the meantime , but Janeway explicitly forbids this saying they won ' t violate their laws until she finds them negotiable . Torres is very let down . Over a slice of pecan pie in her quarters , Janeway moves to negotiating the acquisition of the trajector . At first she promises Gath that they promise to destroy the trajector after they have reached their destination . However , as expected , Gath turns down her offer . Janeway then proposes that the Sikarians use the device to send " Voyager " itself , without giving up the technology , in return for a full library of the Federation ' s finest literature . Gath is immediately enticed and promises to discuss it with the other magistrate s within the area , though Janeway tries to read him to see how serious he is . In the meantime , Torres is going on with her engineering duties and inspects " Voyager " s shock attenuation cylinder s . However , seeing Seska is not paying attention , they both get drawn into a theoretical discussion about how the trajector works , anxious about having finally found a real possibility to go home . Joseph Carey , overhearing , joins in and they begin theorizing , noting that such spatial folding would leave subspace residue . Detecting a particular neutrino dispersion pattern , the three theorize that if the spatial trajector uses a neutrino bubble to transport objects , the main deflector could be modified to emit phased neutrino s to create a bubble around " Voyager " . On the surface , Eudana leads Kim to a secret meeting with Jaret Otel , Gath ' s aide , who offers to unofficially give them the technology in exchange for the ship ' s collection of literature . Jaret explains that his people believe rules should be flexible enough to meet the needs of the moment and reveals that he wants to be the provider of the stories to the public in order to gain prestige . Jaret also tells Kim that Gath has no intention of handing over the technology himself . Ensign Kim returns to the ship intending to report this immediately to Janeway . While he waits in the mess hall , he talks with Paris , Torres and Seska . Paris ultimately recommends letting the captain handle it , and the two leave once Kim is told Janeway can see him . When they go , Seska and Torres briefly discuss stealing the technology . Torres , surprised , asserts that being the higher ranking officer she has responsibilities , but Seska declares that if they were to gain access to the trajector matrix , the use of main engineering would be essential and that Torres had to be on their side . Seska appeals to the captain ' s seemingly being taken by Gath and unwilling to do what ' s needed . Seska leaves Torres conflicted . Act Four . Janeway and Tuvok hear what Kim has to say . Janeway can ' t help but feel that Jaret is correct when he says that Gath does not intend to help them . She thanks Kim for coming to her with the information before dismissing him , after which she continues discussing the situation with Tuvok . She notes that she ' s in a unappealing situation ; she can either negotiate with a man whom she suspects has his own agenda , or deal with a man who is willing to break the law . Tuvok points out that if they get the technology through Jaret , then its his laws that are being broken , and not theirs . Janeway would rather not do that , reminding Tuvok that when they started the trip home she told the crew that they would follow Starfleet principles , but , at the same time , she doesn ' t know if she can tell the crew that her principles are more important than getting the crew home . With that , the two agree that Janeway should deal with Gath for now and explore the chance that he may be willing to help them . On the planet , Janeway presses the issue once again , asking Gath about the decision of the magistrates . But after Gath ' s repeated evasion of the subject and ridiculing their desire to go home , Janeway soon realizes Gath ' s true intentions , which were only to provide the populace with a novelty and avenue of entertainment , without ever having had any real intention of helping them out . Gath then promptly orders Janeway and her crew to leave the planet , accusing them of threatening to infect the ' joyousness of our lives ' . Disheartened and insulted , the captain taps her combadge and returns to the ship . Entering the bridge , Janeway tells Chakotay that shore leave is cancelled and to start beaming the crew back . She tells Tuvok that she knows that Gath never intended to help them , but is nonetheless unwilling to go against Sikaran law by getting the technology from Jaret Otel . Unfortunately , as the crew is scattered all over Sikaris , it ' s going to take some time to get everyone back onto the ship , so Janeway simply tells Chakotay to do it as quickly as possible before retiring to her ready room . Back in the mess hall , Torres , Seska , and Carey discuss what ' s happened . Seska has downloaded the Federation library into isolinear chip s , ready to be handed over to Jaret and she and Carey end up getting a reluctant Torres onto their side by discussing their families and the Maquis plight in the Demilitarized Zone . They head immediately to the transporter room , and prepare to beam to the surface only to be frozen out by security protocols . Tuvok suddenly enters , explaining that he changed the subroutines when he attempted to download the library only to find it had already been accessed . The others are confused until Tuvok reveals that he plans to make the exchange with Jaret Otel himself and beams down telling the shocked officers to prepare the ship for the device . Act Five . The final crew members are being beamed up , and Janeway tells Torres to prepare the ship to leave within minutes . Seska is very worried , but then Tuvok returns with the device and hands it over in engineering and asks them not to use it until he has spoken to the captain . Seska begins tests immediately . While doing the tests , the three engineers suddenly discover that they would need an amplifier the size of a planet to make the system work . The Sikarians are able to use the technology because Sikaris itself has a crystalline mantle that focuses and amplifies the trajector field . But " Voyager " does not possess such an amplifier . Carey notes that if the planet is needed to use the trajector , once " Voyager " leaves orbit they will lose the ability to traject . They realize that they have to run the trajector right here and now , or else they will not be able to do so later . In order to distract everyone from their actions , Torres – keeping the thrusters offline – prevents the ship from leaving , citing a phase variance . After they activate the matrix , a trajector field begins to form . Initiation of the process is successful , but the plasma manifold soon becomes unstable when a bombardment of antineutrino s ( designed to act as a catalyst for the space - folding process ) results in increasing plasma temperatures that threaten a warp core breach . Reluctant to abort the mission , Seska attempts to compensate for the antineutrino s but fails . Nothing can stop it so Torres is forced to destroy the trajector matrix with a phaser . She realizes with a heavy heart that the use of antineutrinos in the space - folding process would have made any compatibility with Federation technology impossible and that this technology would ultimately never have worked for " Voyager " . Seska immediately attempts to erase the sensor log s of their testing , but Torres steps in , rejecting a cover - up . She is ready to face the consequences and is actually glad that she has changed enough to want to be responsible . Standing before the captain , she tries to take the blame as the ranking officer , but Tuvok reveals that he was the one who made the exchange with Jaret . After a serious dressing - down , Janeway lets Torres go , warning her that any further transgression - even a minor one - would lead to the discharge of her field commission . She is , however , shocked about Tuvok having had anything to do with this . He explains that he knew that the captain found herself in a moral dilemma and thus couldn ' t allow herself to make such a decision . So - fully prepared to accept the entirety of the consequences , alone - he decided for her ; to lift the burden off her shoulders . Janeway , clearly touched , tearfully reminds him of their long standing relationship , citing him as her moral compass , trusted officer , and dear friend , upon whom SHE is dependent . She firmly states that , although deeply appreciative of his sacrifice , she would never have wanted or allowed him to make any such sacrifice for her , and tacitly demands that he never act on his logic behind her back again . Tuvok personally assures her that she can count on him from now on more so than ever , and that he will never disappoint her in that regard . After stating that the error was not in his logic , but in his decision , Tuvok leaves . Janeway ' s face falls into both of her hands , clearly distraught . Memorable quotes . " " It ' s the first time we ' ve been on the other side of the fence . How many times have we been in the position of refusing to interfere when some kind of disaster threatened an alien culture ? It ' s all very well to say we do it on the basis of an enlightened principle . But how does that feel to the aliens ? " " " " I don ' t enjoy being judged like this . It ' s most unsettling , not at all pleasurable . " " " " I will make the exchange with Jaret Otel . " " " " I don ' t have the luxury of throwing you in the brig for the rest of this voyage . I need you . I need every person on this ship . But I want you to know how very deeply you have disappointed me . If there are any further transgressions - even a minor one - you will no longer be an officer on this crew . " " " " I don ' t even know where to start . I want you to explain how you , of all people , could be involved in this . " " " " It ' s quite simple , captain . You have made it quite clear , on many occasions , that your highest goal is to get the crew home . But in this instance , your standards would not allow you to violate Sikarian law . Someone had to spare you the ethical dilemma . I was the logical choice . And so I chose to act . " " " " You are one of my most valued officers . And you are my friend . It is vital that you understand me here . I need you . But I also need to know that I can count on you . You are my counsel . The one I turn to when I need my moral compass checked . We have forged this relationship for years , and I depend on it . " " " " You can use logic to justify anything . That ' s its power , and its flaw . " " " " My logic was not in error … but I was . " " Links and references . References . 47 ; Alastria ; ; antineutrino ; apron ; atmospheric sensor ; bearing ; brig ; Canon of Laws ; Cardassian ; court martial ; dawn zephyr ; Dedestris ; Delaney sisters ; ; Delta Quadrant ; Demilitarized Zone ; distress call ; dress ; erosene winds ; ethical dilemma ; ethical grounds ; euphoria ; Federation ; folded - space transporter ; food service ; gondola ; hemisphere ; holodeck ; isolinear chip ; kiss ; kph ; literature ; logic ; magistrate ; mantle ; microscope ; Milky Way Galaxy ; Mollie ; neutrino ; neutrino bubble ; neutrino imaging scan ; Nivoch ; non - linear resonance ; orbit ; painting ; pecan pie ; phase variance ; phonograph ; plasma conduit ; plasma manifold ; Prime Directive ; quantum analysis ; quartz ; scarf ; sculpture ; security subroutine ; senior officer ; sensor log ; shock attenuation cylinder ; shore leave ; Sikaris ; Sikarian ; Sikarian vessel ; spatial trajector ; statue ; subspace residue ; theodolite ; thruster ; trajector matrix ; Venice ; yellow alert