Investigations ( episode ) Neelix searches for a traitor aboard " Voyager " using his morning news program . Summary . Teaser . " A Briefing with Neelix " goes on the air for the first time , with the approval of Captain Kathryn Janeway . Neelix happily declares the intention of amusing the ship ' s crew with news from the ship . He also tries to get other crewmembers to give input , such as The Doctor giving health news and Ensign Harry Kim ' s opinion of the show . He suggests that Neelix could also include more intriguing information , rather than just light - hearted matters . Just then , Neelix receives a message from one of his old Talaxian friends , Laxeth . After a brief catch - up , he says one of ' s crew members is going to be leaving the ship and joining their cargo supply line , to Neelix ' s surprise . Act One . When Neelix goes straight to the captain with this information , Lieutenant Tuvok and Janeway reveal that they knew that Lieutenant Tom Paris was going to be leaving , since he ' d asked to be put off the ship soon after he was taken off the bridge recently . Neelix is shocked , seeing this behavior as unusual , and goes to see him . He confirms he wasn ' t part of the reason Paris is leaving , and Paris insists it isn ' t . Paris says he ' s always been fooling himself about being in Starfleet and wants a life where he ' s more his own boss , appealing to Neelix ' s old life . Neelix finally understands . Going back to the kitchen , Neelix continues to come to grips with Paris ' decision when The Doctor calls in . He ' s changed his mind about contributing to the program , but Neelix can ' t focus on that at the moment . He wants to feature Paris that day on his program instead . The next edition of Neelix ' s program is of a much more solemn nature , with Neelix giving a moving speech about Paris and how he ' ll be missed on the ship . The whole ship watches the program . Later , Paris bids goodbye to Harry , Kes and Neelix in the transporter room . Act Two . The next day during the usual staff briefing , Janeway commends Neelix for his good work on his program , in particular his tribute to Paris , then discussion begins over who will take the now vacant post of main conn officer . Janeway suggests Baytart or Hamilton but Ensign Kim objects , feeling its too soon and Paris may still return and Janeway kindly but firmly tells Harry that when Tom left he gave no indication he could change his mind . Suddenly , B ' Elanna Torres is contacted by Michael Jonas in engineering concerning a plasma overload in the warp core . Racing down to help ( with Neelix in tow looking for a story ) , Torres works with Jonas to stop the overload . The only option is to vent the plasma through the nacelles , resulting in severe damage to the warp coil s . Jonas is badly injured when his console explodes as he tries to prevent a warp core breach . Two others are hurt as well . In sickbay , the three are treated quickly by The Doctor . Neelix tries to capture a statement from Jonas , but he shrugs him off . The Doctor is excited to give his input , but Neelix clearly wants the " hero " version . He ' s called to the bridge , where the crew is discussing where to get the materials they need to repair the coils , including Verterium cortenide . Fortunately , Neelix is familiar and suggests the nearby Hemikek system . Just then , " Voyager " receives a distress signal from Laxeth who tells Janeway that the Kazon - Nistrim have attacked them and kidnapped Paris , but , oddly , did not take their cargo . Act Three . On board the Kazon vessel , Paris is visited by Seska , who explains why she ' s kidnapped him . She lets him know that she has no intention of raising her child on a Kazon ship . Stating she doesn ' t trust him , she sets up her superior position and asks for Paris ' help in capturing " Voyager " in return for her help . She then leaves Paris alone in his room to contemplate the decision . This gives him the chance he ' d been waiting for . Using a console he attempts to access the communications array . Using a device he had hidden under his sleeve , which he attaches to the console , he attempts to amplify the last communication received by the ship . The odd circumstances of Paris ' abduction troubles Neelix . Talking to Kes in the mess hall , he suspects that there is a spy on board " Voyager " and states he intends to investigate . In engineering , Neelix accesses the communications logs with Crewman Hogan ' s assistance and discovers gaps going back several months . Torres gives him access , but goes off to work . As Neelix views the files , Jonas , who is overhearing this , asks what Neelix is up to . Neelix , unsuspecting of Jonas ' transmissions to Seska , gives him what he needs to know , but Jonas can ' t let Neelix continue to investigate . He tries to explain away the irregularities he is seeing , but , when Neelix isn ' t convinced , he picks up an engineering tool to kill Neelix . As he approaches , however , The Doctor interrupts , having been looking for Neelix to remind him to include him in Neelix ' broadcast . Neelix abruptly leaves , and Jonas realizes he has a problem . Act Four . Neelix reports what he ' s found to Tuvok in his security office , who thanks Neelix for this information but requests that the matter be left to him . Disgruntled , Neelix agrees but secretly continues his investigation . He goes back to Torres , but she ' s too busy and hands him over to Hogan . Hogan initially doesn ' t see value in this , but then he sees an anomaly . While Jonas is covertly overhearing from afar , Hogan sees that the power grid was used to send the messages , not the arrays . The waste energy was used to encode the messages . He tracks the source of the communications to Paris ' quarters . Neelix goes there and uncovers evidence implicating Paris as the traitor . Without mentioning this to anyone , Neelix goes straight on the air with his conclusions . Hearing this , Janeway and Tuvok summon Neelix to a meeting with them and Commander Chakotay and it is revealed that Tuvok has been conducting his own investigation into the communication logs however he did not find the evidence that Neelix did , meaning it was put there after the initial investigation for the Talaxian to find . Neelix and Chakotay are confused , and Janeway finally tells them the whole story ; she and Tuvok have known for some time that a member of the crew was communicating with the Kazon but were unable to find out who it was through conventional methods . As a result , they collaborated with Paris who has been acting out in order to make it believable that he would want to leave the ship , knowing that this information would get back to the Kazon - Nistrim . That way , they could get him aboard their ship in order to find out who the spy is . Chakotay , stunned and angry about being left out of the loop on this plan , demands to know why he ' d not been included . Tuvok says that it was his idea , because he suspected that the traitor was a Maquis crewmember and that he didn ' t want to put Chakotay in an awkward position . Chakotay suggests maybe it was Hogan since he helped Neelix trace the transmissions , but Neelix points out Hogan just happened to be the engineer who was passing . Janeway tells Neelix that his false accusation has probably left the spy feeling cozy , but they want to put the pressure on him and tells him to continue his investigation and make it clear he no longer suspects Paris . Chakotay points out this is placing Neelix in a dangerous position , and Janeway tells Neelix the assignment is voluntary , but Neelix is willing to do anything to help Paris return safely to " Voyager " . On the Kazon ship , Paris finally manages to clear up the communications log enough to recognize Jonas communicating with Seska as well as finding out about the ambush at Hemikek . Just as he does this , Seska and two Kazon guards arrive , giving Paris a second to activate a small bomb that forms a part of the amplification device . Just before he is taken away by the Kazon guards , the device detonates , knocking them all off their feet , allowing Paris the opportunity to grab a weapon and race out of the room with the guards following close behind . Act Five . On " Voyager " , Neelix is in engineering , trying to get to the bottom of the investigation . Hogan and Jonas are busy , though Hogan is surprised to hear the new information . Torres gives an order prompting Jonas to send Hogan off with some PADD s . After Neelix and Jonas are alone , an alert is called . Paris in the Kazon fighter is approaching . It ' s up to Jonas to transport Paris back , but Jonas instead begins the second part of his plan . He activates a force field , blocking off the access to engineering and , much to Neelix ' s surprise , he begins deactivating the weapons systems one after the other . He objects , and Jonas knocks him down , taking his combadge . As this is happening , Paris manages to tell Janeway that Jonas is the traitor , and she promptly sends Tuvok to engineering with a security team . Paris is beamed off the fighter by someone else and , as it explodes , the pursuing warship continues on , attacking " Voyager " . Unfortunately , Tuvok and his team meet the sealed doors . Neelix recovers quickly and picks up an antimatter pod - holder and follows Jonas up a ladder to the upper level . Neelix manages to gain the upper hand and Jonas is knocked over the railing into the plasma - stream from a ruptured plasma conduit , incinerating him instantly . Neelix quickly reverses Jonas ' s actions and brings " Voyager " s weapons back online , allowing the ship to disable the Kazon vessel . On the next edition of " A Briefing with Neelix " , Neelix interviews Paris about his heroics . Paris modestly claims it was nothing and apologizes to the crew members he offended when he was acting insubordinate , especially Chakotay , though he does admit it was a certain amount of fun . Memorable quotes . " " Good morning , " Voyager " . I want to tell you about a friend of mine . I first met this man almost a year ago . And to tell you the truth , I didn ' t like him much . He seemed a little too cocky . A little too sure of himself . A lot of people had questions about him . He proved that he would sell himself off to the highest bidder go wherever the wind blew him . So people wondered , can you trust this person when times got tough ? Would he stand side - by - side with you , or would he let you down when you needed him most ? But the fact of the matter is , he proved himself right from the beginning . I wouldn ' t be alive right now if it wasn ' t for him , and the same goes for many of you . It took me a while to realize it . Like a lot of people I was too caught up in first impressions to see the truth that was right in front of me . I overlooked his bravery , because I was focusing on his brashness . I ignored his courage because I saw it as arrogance . And I resented his friendliness because I took it for licentiousness . So while this man was giving us his best every minute of every day I was busy judging him . And now he ' s leaving . I ' m proud to say that despite my narrow - mindedness , Thomas Eugene Paris became my friend . I ' m going to miss him . No more laughs over a game of pool . No more sitting up to the wee hours swapping stories . No more complaints about my cooking . Good bye , Tom . I think I speak for more of us than you might imagine when I say you ' re going to leave an empty space when you go . I hope you find what you ' re looking for . " " " " Well ? What did you think ? " " " " I ' m a doctor , not a performer . " " " " Hello , Seska . You ' re looking radiantly maternal . " " " " I hear you ' re leaving the ship . " " " " Good news travels fast , I guess . " " " " Are you saying Paris ' insulting behavior , the gambling , being late for duty , mouthing off at me . . . was all a ruse ? " " " " That is correct . It was important that his decision to leave the ship appear plausible , so he began behaving like a malcontent . " " " " I know that I ' ve been acting like a jerk for the last couple of months . Unfortunately , I had to behave that way if the spy was going to believe that I really wanted to leave the ship . So , I ' d like to apologize to anyone that I might have offended . . . especially Commander Chakotay , I gave him a pretty hard time . Not that it wasn ' t a certain amount of fun , mind you . " " " " Are you injured ? " " " " Don ' t worry about me , Mr . Vulcan . I ' m perfectly all right . " " Links and references . References . adrenal gland ; antimatter ; Bolian s ; " " ; Cardassian s ; class M ; combadge ; comm link ; communications master ; computer core ; cortenum ; data fragmentation ; Delta Quadrant ; dermal regenerator ; dilithium ; drifter ; editor ; core ; environmental control log ; Eskarian egg ; EPS manifold ; EPS system ; ethical obligation ; evasive maneuvers ; frosting ; galactic background noise ; glottis ; Hamilton ; Hemikek IV ; Hemikek system ; " Hlaka " soup ; holodeck ; hypospray ; impedrezine ; injector valve ; interlink sequencer ; journalism ; journalist ; juggler ; Kazon ; Kazon fighter ; Kazon - Nistrim , Klingon s ; Kotati ; magnetic constrictor ; Maquis ; mining ; Mister Vulcan ; Mithren ; monocrystal ; PADD ; Pendrashian cheese ; phaser ; phaser array ; plasma ; polysilicate ; pool ; power allocation log ; power grid ; power transfer conduit ; recipe ; red alert ; second - degree burn ; security authorization ; sensor ; sensor log ; signal correlation trace ; signal modulation analysis ; silmic wine ; Starfleet Academy ; subspace antenna array ; subspace communication log ; Talaxian s ; Talaxian convoy ; ; triage ; turbolift ; verterium ; verterium cortenide ; Vulcan ; warp coil ; warp core ; warp core breach ; warp maintenance log ; ; yellow dwarf ; Zabee nut s