Nightingale ( episode ) When Harry Kim rescues a crippled alien starship , the grateful crew offers him command . Summary . Teaser . sets down on an uninhabited planet to begin maintenance to the warp drive that B ' Elanna Torres tells Captain Janeway they desperately need . The crew begins the repairs and Icheb impresses Torres and Janeway with his technical knowledge . Janeway tells him that he can help Torres with repairs instead of delivering PADD s . Meanwhile , the " Delta Flyer II " is scouting for dilithium in a nearby nebula , which they apparently have scanned four times already much to Seven of Nine ' s annoyance . Suddenly weapons fire is all around them . A vessel is approaching them from the rear and firing its weapons at a vessel in front of the " Flyer " , which , in turn , becomes visible . Act One . The " Delta Flyer " receives a distress signal from the commander of the Kraylor starship , which then decloaks involuntarily . It ' s apparently on a humanitarian mission carrying medical supplies . Piloting the " Delta Flyer " , Ensign Harry Kim ' s first instinct is to leave , but he is reminded by Neelix that there is a higher cause here . Kim discovers the Kraylor are at war with the Annari and are under attack by Annari vessels . He tries to negotiate with the Annari , but is forced to disable their vessel ' s weapon system when the " Flyer " comes under attack . After beaming onto the Medical Transport 136 , Kim and Neelix find the vessel in complete disarray – about half the crew are dead , including all but one of the bridge officer s . And the surviving bridge officer , Terek , has no experience . Kim offers to help with repairs of the vessel , along with Neelix and Seven of Nine . While making the repairs Kim answers Terek ' s questions . Terek assumes Kim is the captain , which Kim quickly corrects . It turns out it ' s Terek ' s first assignment after which Kim shares his experiences , being propelled to the Delta Quarant in the first week of his first mission . On " Voyager " Torres finds Icheb on a workstation in the cargo bay with a plate of food next to him . Icheb tells Torres he likes to work and eat at the same time , which seems more efficient to him . To the question what he does for fun he answers that he has little time for fun between his work and his studies . Torres Invites him to a rock climbing session in the holodeck after all the work is done . Icheb expresses an interest in geology to which Torres answers that it ' s about the climbing , not the rocks . After the vessel is repaired , Loken , head of the research team , begs Kim to captain it back to their homeworld . Terek only trained on shuttles . Harry hesitates , not wanting to violate the Prime Directive . Loken eventually tells him that the vaccine they have been working to develop must reach there . When Neelix tells Kim that the planet where the has landed is en route to the Kraylor ' s planet , Kim agrees to take them that far at least . When Kim reaches the planet " Voyager " is on , they find three Annari warships orbiting the planet . Act Two . Janeway is giving Geral , one of the Annari Captains , a tour of the ship . " Voyager " needs deuterium injectors and is offering zeolithic ore in return . At that moment Kim contacts " Voyager " asking them if everything is all right , not divulging his whereabouts to the captain . On the Kraylor vessel Loken is visibly disturbed . Apparently the Annari come as friends and then declare you subjects . After the Annari leave Kim contacts " Voyager " again telling his real whereabouts and telling about new friends . Janeway meets with Loken . Janeway is eventually convinced to take the Kraylor ' s side in the matter , and permits Kim to take command of the " medical transport " . However , Janeway asks Seven to go along on the journey . Kim is excited at the chance of having his " first real command . " Meanwhile Icheb is sent to sickbay to repair a malfunctioning holoemitter . While making the repairs he asks about the social instruction The Doctor gave to Seven and asks The Doctor to instruct him as well . He asks how he can find out if someone has romantic feeling for someone else . Hypothetically , of course , The Doctor mentions compliments , invitations to social activities , finding excuses to be in close proximity to that someone . Icheb asks if those thing could happen in normal relationships . The Doctor points out ways to be sure . Icheb then leaves without finishing the repairs . Paris meets with Kim begging him to take him along . Kim tells him its his turn after Paris always being Captain Proton and Kim being Buster Kincaid , so he declines . Kim enters the Mess Hall and Neelix asks him what he wants plomeek soup or eggplant parmesan to which Kim answers that either is fine . Neelix tells him " wrong answer " . Neelix tells him that is he is going to be a captain he has to act like a captain . " " Never admit you are being uncertain about anything . " " Janeway always knows exactly what she wants , after which Neelix ends his remarks with ensign . Kim than tells him plomeek soup , hot . Kim enters the bridge of the Kraylor vessel , greeted by Terek with the captain on the bridge . He apparently has read it in the Starfleet manual Kim loaned him . After finding out the ship has an uninspiring name he promptly renames the " Nightingale " , after which the ship leaves orbit . Act Three . Kim has settled himself in the Captain ' s Ready Room and is making some log entries . Seven enters to hand him the hourly status report . Seven asks Kim why he has brought so many personal items on board , since they are only going to be on board for a couple of days . Kim answers that it ' s important to have a personal connection to the ship . " Make the ship your own " . Seven then tells Kim she asked Terek to make a course correction . Kim then storms out of the ready room to check on Terek and he basically takes over . Seven sighs . On " Voyager " Icheb and Torres are working together in a Jefferies tube . Torres tells Icheb how much she is looking forward to their climbing appointment . And while Torres moves a roof panel in the tube she puts her hand on Icheb ' s shoulder . Icheb is getting more and more convinced Torres is flirting with him and pulls out his tricorder to check for the other signs The Doctor mentioned . On the Nightingale , the cloaking device begins to fail a short time into the journey due to a fluctuation in the propulsion power systems . Repairs are made , yet Kim dismisses Seven ' s recommendations to run a full diagnostic , reminding her that Janeway wanted them back before " Voyager " finished repairs . Loken expresses his concerns and is dismissed . When they are alone Seven tells Kim that she has discovered a serious flaw in the ship ' s systems , namely the captain . Instead of issuing orders and having others carrying them out as captains are supposed to function , he is doing both . Kim goes on defense by telling Seven the crew is inexperienced . Seven then reminds Kim how Janeway supported Kim when he first came on board , not by doing his work for him , but by giving him a lot to do , so he could gain confidence . A short time later , as predicted , the primary generator fails , as does the cloak . Half a dozen Annari vessels move into attack range , and a Kraylor researcher named Dayla volunteers to try to bring the cloak back online , receiving instructions from Kim , yet she and Loken together figure out how to bring the cloak back online by taking the warp core off - line . Unfortunately for Dayla , life support fails in the engineering area and she dies . It turns out they aren ' t medical doctors . Act Four . Confronting Loken , Kim discovers the " Nightingale " s cloak is actually a prototype that Lokan ' s team , including Dayla , had really been working on at a secret base . The Annari knew about the prototype and didn ' t want it to arrive at the Kraylor homeworld . Harry realizes that he is in the middle of a breach of the Prime Directive and orders the " Nightingale " to reverse course , but the Kraylor crew refuse to follow his orders . Loken tells Harry he is relieved of command and Harry leaves the bridge . Meanwhile on " Voyager " Icheb bumps into Paris on his way to engineering . Paris then as a joke mentions whether or not he should be worried now Icheb and his wife are going to scale cliffs together . Paris then invites him to one of his holodeck programs , a race car program . Icheb misreads that proposal as a typical Klingon ritual competition because of Torres . Confused and overwhelmed , Icheb confronts Torres after entering engineering , telling her that they can no longer " see each other " , especially given that she is a married woman . Shocked at what she is hearing , but also realizing that there is no way to convince him that he is just misreading her friendliness , Torres agrees to his proposal . On the " Nightingale " Kim goes to see Seven who is feeling better . He tells her he is no longer in command because he ordered a reverse course after he found out the true mission , bringing the cloaking device , a prototype , to the Kraylor homeworld . Kim suggests taking an escape pod in the hope they would be considered a neutral party to which Seven answers that they stopped being neutral the moment Kim took a shot at the Annari vessel . Seven goes on to question Kim ' s real reason to abandon the mission . Is it because the mission was not what he had expected or was being a captain not what he expected , since he is clearly uncomfortable delegating tasks and giving orders . Kim then says that someone died because of his orders . Seven points out that people die on missions despite the captain ' s best efforts to which Kim answers that he should have stuck to playing Buster Kincaid . " " A holodeck program can be turned off when it suits you , reality can ' t " " , Seven answers . Seven points out to Kim that if he truly cares about the crew , he needs to help the Kraylor home , otherwise they may not survive . At the Kraylor homeworld , a new series of scanning pulses illuminates cloaked vessels . Having been detected , surrounded and outgunned by Annari vessels , Kim takes command , promising to help them , to which Loken agrees . Act Five . Meanwhile on " Voyager " Geral is back , this time to escort " Voyager " out of Annari space . He found out that one of his ships had been shot at by the " Delta Flyer " several days earlier . To add to that they also detected two Human biosignatures on a Kraylor vessel . Janeway has no choice but to comply . On the " Nightingale " , Kim appears to offer a conditional surrender with the Annari ; however , if they do not allow the scientist s to safely evacuate to the planet , Kim threatens to destroy the " Nightingale " . Loken is furious about Kim ' s apparent betrayal , but is assured the young captain has a plan to save the vessel – but if he fails , " . . . at least the scientist who designed [ the cloak ] will be alive to create another one . " Once under the grip of the Annari tractor beam , Kim reverses the " Nightingale " s shield polarity and uses the momentum to outrun their pursuers to the defense perimeter . Meanwhile " Voyager " has been escorted out of Annari space and their ships have gone to warp . Janeway tells Chakotay and Paris to take the " Flyer " and tells Tuvok to hail the Kraylor homeworld . However Kim is already hailing them from a cloaked ship directly astern . Harry Kim ' s final entry in the " Nightingale " s log notes that his actions have led to cloaking mechanisms being added to the Kraylor fleet . Back on " Voyager " , Kim realizes that he ' s not quite ready for command . . . yet . Memorable quotes . " " We ' re passengers , not crewmen . " " " " How long have you been captain ? " " " " I ' m just an ensign . " " " " Ensign ? Uh , what is that ? " " " " A junior officer . The " lowest " ranked officer , actually . " " " " My first week on the job didn ' t go very well either . We ended up 70 , 000 light years from home , lost over a dozen crewmembers . But I got through it and so will you . " " " " Neelix , " plomeek " soup . . . and make sure it ' s hot ! " " " " Does this ship have a name ? " " " Medical Transport 136 . " " " I think we can do better than that . . . " Nightingale " . The name of someone from my homeworld . She was famous for treating soldiers on the battlefield . " " " " I ' ve discovered a serious flaw in one of the ship ' s systems . " " " " Which one ? " " " " The captain . " " " " You ' ve been seeing a lot of my wife lately . Should I be worried ? " " " " Your blood pressure and neurotransmitter readings indicated a state of arousal . " " " " It was " hot " ! " " " " I should have stuck to playing Buster Kincaid . . . " " " " I ' m not a captain , Neelix . Not " yet " , anyway . " " Links and references . References . 2374 ; " " ; Annari ; Annari Empire ; ; antimatter injector ; assimilation ; asteroid field ; auto - navigation system ; beta - endorphin ; biology ; biosignature ; blockade ; blood pressure ; bolt ; Borg ; Borg resistance ; claustrophobia ; cloaking device ; cloaking generator ; cloaking system ; command structure ; cortical stimulant ; defense perimeter ; deflector beam ; deflector pulse ; " Delta Flyer II " ; deuterium injector ; dilithium ; diploma ; distress call ; driver coil ; Earth ; emergency power ; endorphin ; Ensign ; environmental control ; eggplant parmesan ; escape pod ; escort ; evasive maneuvers ; field polarity ; flight plan ; geology ; guidance vector ; guide star ; holo - emitter ; interplanetary war ; isoton ; Judge Advocate General ; Jefferies tube ; junior officer ; ; Klingon ; Kraylor ; Kraylor homeworld ; Kraylor medical transport ( aka Kraylor warship ) ; lasagna ; lawyer ; Lieutenant ; Lieutenant Commander ; main computer ; marriage ; medical ship ; Medical Transport 136 ( aka " Nightingale " ) ; meter ; micro - fracture ; micron ; mutiny ; navigational sensor ; nebula ; neurotransmitter ; ; ; nutritional supplement ; phase compensator ; phase converter ; phaser bank ; physician ; plomeek soup ; polarity ; polaron matrix ; Prime Directive ; promotion ; ; prototype ; race car ; rock climbing ; saxophone ; scanning pulse ; scientist ; shield grid ; shield polarity ; shock ; social lesson ; social skills ; soldier ; Starfleet Academy ; Starfleet Officer ' s Manual ; structural integrity ; supply officer ; surgical bay ; thermal regulator ; tractor emitter ; tula cheese soufflé ; unnamed Delta Quadrant planet ; Vaadwaur ; vaccine ; zeolitic ore