Nothing Human ( episode ) When an injured , non - humanoid alien attaches itself to Lt . Torres , a hologram of a notorious Cardassian exobiologist is created to help The Doctor remove it from her . Summary . Teaser . The Doctor is presenting a holographic slide show of his achievements since being activated . Present are several crewmembers as well as the following senior officer s : Captain Kathryn Janeway , Lieutenant Commander Tuvok , Lt . ( jg ) Tom Paris , and Lieutenant B ' Elanna Torres . The audience members struggle to keep their attention on the tedious presentation . On the bridge , Commander Chakotay is reminded by Ensign Harry Kim that the Captain had requested that he call a false yellow alert to " rescue " the audience after thirty minutes . But the First Officer has no intention of doing so . He , Kim and others had to endure it for two hours , and he sees no reason why the rest of the senior staff should be spared the same experience . He tells this to Kim , who agrees with a mischievous grin . The presentation ends . The senior officers are very chagrined by Chakotay ' s set - up . In the mess hall , Paris and Torres discuss the experience with Neelix , the ship ' s Talaxian chef , among other things . Neelix is sympathetic , having had to previously endure the ordeal himself . Then the ship begins to rattle . Officers and crew present immediately leave for their stations . On the bridge , Kim reports a huge energy wave is heading toward them . Janeway orders deflector shield s raised and evasive maneuvers attempted , but the wave actually changes direction to suit , as if it is tracking them . They are unable to escape and it hits . But it merely buffets them hard , causing only minor damage . They know not what to make of it . Act One . When the wave has passed , Janeway orders all stop and damage assessment . As was said , the damage is only minor . But then Ensign Kim reports that a signal was downloaded into the ship ' s database when the wave hit . He cannot decipher it , but there is an audio component . Janeway orders it played . A strange sound is heard . Janeway surmises that the wave and downloaded signal are actually an attempt at communication from somewhere . Their best bet to find the source is to follow the ion trail the wave left . She orders it done . The ship slows from warp speed at the end of the trail and the source is indeed found : an alien ship . It appears heavily damaged . Ensign Kim detects a single non - humanoid life sign aboard . Chakotay orders it beamed to the sickbay . In sickbay , the alien is seen lying on a bio - bed . As a safety measure , the bed ' s alcove is sealed by a force field . It is a most odd - looking creature . It is pinkish in general color , but green on the head and back . It has 4 multi - segmented limbs with three - digit appendages on each one , presumably appendages of manipulation . Two large eyes are on the front of the head . It has a long proboscis - like appendage , with two feeler - like projections protruding from it , and a long tail . Captain Janeway is present . The Doctor frustratedly reports to her about the alien ' s condition : it is definitely injured , but he has absolutely no idea as to how to treat , or even diagnose it , as the tricorder cannot make any sense of what it is scanning from it . Lt . Torres enters sickbay and reports to Janeway that the interface controls on the alien ' s ship are chemical in nature . She surmises that the alien flies it by interfacing with the systems and using biochemical secretions to command and control it . She approaches the force field . Suddenly , with a screech , the alien leaps off the biobed , passes straight through the force field and attaches itself to Torres . She falls beneath it , struggling mightily to get it off of her , but fails . The security officer present pulls his phaser and gives it to Janeway but The Doctor stops her , as a shot would harm Torres and may not even faze the alien . Janeway urgently hails the bridge and orders Ensign Kim to beam it back to its ship , but he is unable to get a transporter lock on it . The alien pierces Torres ' neck with its proboscis , and her struggling quickly lessens and stops . Torres now lies unconscious on the bio - bed the alien was occupying . The alien has its limbs wrapped tightly around her upper torso , its tail coiled equally tightly around her leg . Its head is nuzzled against her neck and it is purring like a contented cat . Janeway and Lieutenant Paris , who is strongly romantically involved with Torres , look at her with great concern as The Doctor reports on her condition . The Doctor informs them that her lung s and heart are being severely compromised by the alien interfacing with them , and her kidney s are failing . Paris , frantic and very frightened , all but shouts at him to do something . He responds that if he tried to remove it , her affected organs would be irreparably damaged . Neither can it be beamed off her , as Janeway suggests , as that would remove those organs with the alien . To come up with any kind of treatment , he tells them , he needs to consult an extensive database on exobiology . Janeway suggests that he consult more than a mere database ; the said database could actually be merged into a created interactive hologram of a leading exobiologist , to work with him as a consultant . He agrees , and Paris cites Ensign Kim as the best crewmember to do this . Janeway agrees . Kim works at the holographic " consultant " on one of the ship ' s two holodeck s , as The Doctor watches with interest . The Doctor has found a suitable leading figure in exobiology in the database to use : one Dr . Crell Moset . Kim activates the holographic matrix , and a hologram of Dr . Moset appears . But on seeing him , Kim immediately notes that his species would be a serious problem for Lt . Torres , who is a former Maquis ; Moset is a Cardassian . The Doctor is unconcerned , however ; Moset was listed as the most highly qualified and respected exobiologist in the database . Kim activates the hologram ' s interactive subroutines . The Moset hologram greets them in a cordial , friendly manner , especially The Doctor , citing him as a fellow medical professional . Act Two . The Doctor quickly warms up to Moset and they begin discussing Lt . Torres ' situation . Kim transfers Moset to the sickbay so that The Doctor could show him the problem . There they confer further , and begin brainstorming possible treatments . On the bridge , Janeway and Chakotay oversee continuing efforts to decrypt the alien signal . Seven of Nine , the former Borg drone , is in engineering , having been made the temporary chief engineer . Working with her is a young Bajoran ensign named Tabor . They attempt to download the alien ship ' s database . But the attempt fails , and , moreover , a sudden surge in the badly damaged ship ' s power system causes it to explode , taking the database with it , destroying all hope of decrypting the signal . In the sickbay , The Doctor and Moset continue to discuss treatments . Paris remains at Torres ' side ; a trained medical assistant , the captain has allowed him to remain in the sickbay to assist , for which he is extremely grateful . Moset tells The Doctor that he would be much better able to come up with possible treatments if he had his laboratory . The Doctor suggests having Ensign Kim create a holographic simulation of it . Moset , pleased , agrees . However , as the two holograms confer , Torres regains consciousness and sees Moset . She is instantly angry , as Kim suspected she would be , but Paris assures her that he may be the only way to save her life . The simulated lab is created , along with a simulation of the alien on an examination table . The Doctor and Moset get to work examining it . As they work , they find themselves , to each other ' s pleasant surprise . Then The Doctor conversationally asks Moset about his accomplishments , particularly his work in devising a cure for the fostossa virus , a pathogen that killed thousands on Bajor during the Cardassian occupation of that planet . Moset replies in a friendly manner , but sidesteps the question , only replying that he did the work on Bajor itself during the occupation , and not mentioning anything about the details of his research , such as the methods he used . On the bridge , Janeway and Chakotay surmise that the alien ' s signal may have in fact been a distress call . Therefore , if it is broadcast , others of its kind may receive it and come , and they may be able to learn to communicate with them . Janeway orders Tuvok to broadcast the signal using " Voyager " s navigational deflector array , which he does . The Doctor and Moset begin the examination . The Doctor , however , becomes uncomfortable when he sees the procedure that Moset intends to use : cutting the " living " thing open with scalpel . The Doctor assists despite his discomfort , but winces when the creature screams as the first incision is made . Moset examines the creature ' s internal organs and decides that a neurostatic shock would cause the alien to lose motor function , allowing its removal . The Doctor concernedly surmises that such a procedure would kill it . Moset , however , responds that the choice may be between it and Torres . Then he begins to fritz . The Doctor has the computer deactivate him and hails Ensign Kim . Kim agrees to meet The Doctor in the sickbay . Kim arrives at the sickbay , bringing Ensign Tabor with him to assist . Torres , still awake , angrily tells The Doctor that Moset should not be reactivated . He tries to tell her that he is , in fact , very kind and compassionate , unlike her stereotypical view of Cardassians , however grounded in fact that view may be ; if she would just get to know him , she would see that . In fact , he adds , he is planning to ask the captain to keep him as a permanent consultant for him . She coldly responds that there are many aboard besides her who would have great objection to that . The Doctor turns his attention to Kim and asks him how he is progressing . Kim responds that they are almost finished . He reactivates Moset . The moment Tabor sees him , he stands rooted with shock , before becoming apoplectic . Screaming that he is a mass murder er , he shouts that Crell Moset killed his grandfather , brother and hundreds of other Bajorans . Act Three . Tabor lunges at Moset and has to be held back by Paris and Kim . The Doctor tells him he is mistaken but , nearly choking with fury , he retorts that he is not ; Crell Moset performed horrific experiments on living people . Thousands of Bajorans , he charges , were killed by him at his " " so - called hospital " " on Bajor . Moset denies his accusations . He tells The Doctor he should probably leave , and The Doctor transfers him back to the holodeck . In Chakotay ' s office , Tabor in control of himself but still extremely angry , repeats his accusations against Crell Moset to Chakotay . The Doctor is present . Tabor lists some of Moset ' s alleged atrocities : exposing Tabor ' s grandfather ' s organs to nadion radiation , condemning him to a painful , six - day - long demise ; blind ing others to study how they adapted to being deprived of their sight ; exposing others to polytrinic acid to see how long it took their skin to heal . The Doctor reminds him of the fostossa virus which killed thousands of Bajorans . Moset , he tells him , found the cure . Tabor retorts that he did so by " infecting " hundreds of other Bajorans with the virus , so he could experiment with treatments on them . Chakotay interjects that he recalls , in his time as a Maquis commander , that some of the Bajoran Maquis under his command spoke of an infamous Cardassian doctor . Tabor begs him to have the hologram , and all traces of Moset ' s research , destroyed . In sickbay , Torres , though very weak , vehemently tells Paris that she will " not " let Moset treat her . Before , she simply hated him as a Cardassian ; now that she knows who Crell Moset is , she passionately " loathes " him . She asserts that if she lets " " that " pig " operate on her , she will be benefiting from his wickedness and his victims ' suffering . She would rather die than to do that . Paris is horrified . He tries desperately to get her to reconsider , but she is adamant . The Doctor also tries , telling her that they are very close to a treatment . But she insists that another way be found , before again slipping into unconsciousness . An alarm indicates she is going into cytotoxic shock . The Doctor quickly administers counteracting medication . Seven of Nine and Ensign Kim are in engineering , studying the ship ' s databases for information that may prove or disprove Tabor ' s accusations . What they find is very troubling . Kim hails The Doctor , who soon arrives . They show him what they found : during his time on Bajor during the occupation , Moset had purchased several biological agents , including every known strain of fostossa . The Doctor points out that he would have needed such samples to conduct experiments on vaccine creation . However , they show him the requisition orders ; none of them contained any of the enzyme s needed to synthesize vaccines . Then , four days later , in the vicinity of his hospital , a major outbreak of fostossa occurred . Before that there had never been a single recorded case in the entire province . The Doctor is stunned . Kim takes the data to Chakotay . The Doctor returns to the holodeck and finds Moset preparing for the procedure he had earlier decided on to remove the alien from Lt . Torres . But this time , The Doctor ' s friendly , admiring attitude is absent . He sternly informs Moset that Torres refuses to accept any treatment from him , and that corroborating evidence supporting Tabor ' s accusations against him has been found . Moset dismisses the barbaric nature of his actions with claims that one must use whatever resources one has available for research . Matters such as ethics , he asserts , are purely arbitrary ; what is important is the final result and the benefit it brings . The Doctor angrily disputes this . He is no longer interested keeping him as a consultant and informs him that he may have to be deleted . Moset matter - of - factly responds that he is the only way a solution can be found in time to save Torres . The Doctor has no answer for this . Captain Janeway calls a senior staff meeting to discuss the situation . Word of Moset has gotten round the ship . Ensign Tabor has tendered the resignation of his commission to Chakotay . More such action from the Maquis and Bajorans among the crew will likely follow . The issue " has " to be dealt with immediately . Janeway hears the arguments . There are two sides : The Doctor informs them that he cannot come up with any alternative treatment in time to save Lt . Torres , and Mosets idea will indeed work . Lt . Paris insists that it be used then , regardless of issues about who and where the research came from . Tuvok and Chakotay voice the opposing view , which , ironically , Torres shares : to use Mosets idea would be to validate his methods , which are ethically unacceptable . Paris ' response is very heated , and his refuting comments to Chakotay begin to border on insubordination . Janeway silences him sternly . The final decision is hers . She announces it : all issues regarding Moset aside , the fact of the matter is they cannot afford to lose their chief engineer in their situation , lost and alone in the Delta Quadrant . Therefore if his treatment will work , then it must be used , regardless of Torres ' or any other crewmember ' s opinion . She orders The Doctor to proceed with Mosets assistance . Any consequences of this decision , she tells them , will be her responsibility . She dismisses the meeting . The Doctor immediately makes ready , and he and Moset begin the procedure . Act Four . On the bridge , Tuvok , whose Vulcan hearing is more acute than a Human ' s , begins to hear a noise . The noise quickly becomes loud enough for all officers present to hear , and increases in volume until they have to shout loudly to be heard . Tuvok reports that it appears to be an alien com signal . Ensign Kim reports that a ship has slowed from warp speed and is quickly approaching . Janeway orders it put on - screen . It is the same type of ship the alien attached to Lt . Torres was on . The deafening noise suddenly stops . Janeway asks Kim what the message says . But the universal translator cannot make any sense of it . Janeway decides to give them a standard response . Ordering a channel opened , she greets them , identifying herself and " Voyager " , and explains that one of their kind is in " Voyager " s sickbay being treated for injuries it has sustained . The response she gets is another loud shriek . Torres has been moved to the holographic lab . Moset and The Doctor perform the operation . Moset leads . As per what he decided , he has opened the alien ' s body and is applying neurostatic shocks with a cortical probe to stimulate its primary neural cortex and make it release . The alien screams with pain from the procedure , to The Doctor ' s great discomfort . The procedure begins to work , but Moset raises the probe ' s pulse frequency for quicker results . The alien screams louder . The Doctor notes with consternation that its synapses are degenerating ; it is dying . Moset tells him not to " " lose nerve " " and continues . The Doctor watches and listens until he can do so no longer . He pushes Moset aside , takes the instrument from him , and angrily tells him that if they apply the shocks to the " secondary " neural cortex , the same result can be achieved , without killing the alien or causing it so much pain . He does so , with the alien ' s response dropping to plaintive whines instead of agonized shrieking . The alien ship begins firing on " Voyager " . Janeway orders shields raised . On the holodeck , the lab and Moset begin to waver . The Doctor urgently hails the bridge . Tuvok reports to Janeway that the alien ship has locked onto them with what is presumably a tractor beam ; it is draining their power . On Janeway ' s order , he sends an antimatter surge through the shields ' matrix in an attempt to disable it , but this fails to do so . He recommends using " Voyager " s weapons , but Janeway refuses ; her instinct tells her this is not an attack , but merely an attempt by the aliens to rescue their fellow . She hails the holodeck for a status report . The Doctor ' s idea works ; the alien withdraws its tendril interface with Torres ' organs . Torres passes from danger . But the alien ' s condition deteriorates . The holograms quickly decide on a drug to use to stabilize its condition , and Moset administers it . With its life no longer in danger , The Doctor hails the bridge and tells Janeway to have it beamed to the alien ship . Janeway immediately has it done . On the bridge , Kim reports that the alien ship is withdrawing . One final screech comes through the com system , which Janeway takes as a " " Thank you " " , and the ship leaves . Act Five . The Doctor reports on Torres ' condition to Janeway in her ready room . He has released her to her quarters for convalescence . He also reports that she was " extremely unhappy " ( which , given her Klingon temper , translates as " violently angry " ) that Moset was used to treat her ; she nearly had to be sedated . Janeway responds that she will speak to her . The Doctor then brings up the issue of what to do with Moset . Janeway tells him that she is leaving that decision to him . But she urges him to make it quickly , whatever it is , so the whole thing can be laid to rest . Torres in is her quarters . Janeway goes to see her . She tries to soothe Torres ' very evident anger with concerned questions about how she is feeling . Torres coldly responds that she is " " alive " " . Seeing that Torres will not be soothed , Janeway softly , but with authority , tells her that losing her was unacceptable , therefore , despite her objection , she authorized the use of Moset to treat her . With the steel of command beneath her calmly spoken words , she tells Torres she needs to put this behind her . Torres asks if this is an order . Janeway affirms . Torres angrily tells her that she had no right to make the decision for her . Janeway stops covering the steel and sternly responds that she is the captain and did what she thought best . She leaves . Torres angrily watches her go . The Doctor goes to the holographic lab . Moset greets him amiably , with an air of celebration , but The Doctor does not reciprocate . He tells Moset that the captain left the decision of what to do with him up to him , and this is what it is : he will be deleted , along with all of Crell Moset ' s research , as he cannot in good conscience continue to make use of either . Moset becomes angry . He reminds The Doctor that those same techniques which so appall him were instrumental in saving Lt . Torres . He asserts that The Doctor will need him again ; " Voyager " faces new , unknown and often dangerous lifeform s every day . To delete him would be to deny the crew a vital medical resource ; The Doctor would be violating his physician ' s oath : " Do no harm " . The Doctor is greatly offended to hear these words coming from him of all " people . " Crell tells The Doctor that whether he deletes him or not , the damage is done : the crew has already benefited from Crell ' s research . The Doctor crisply orders the computer to do the deletion . Mosets eyes go wide and he opens his mouth to protest , he is deleted before any word can come out . The Doctor turns and leaves the holodeck without a backward glance . Memorable quotes . " " I can still remember the sounds his instruments made ; the screams of his patients ; the smell . . . of chemicals and dead flesh . He operated on my grandfather , exposed his internal organs to nadion radiation . It took six days for him to die . " " " " He " blinded " people so he could study how they adapted ; " exposed " them to polytrinic acid just to see how long it would take for their skin to heal ! " " " " Ensign , the man you ' re accusing cured the fostossa virus . He stopped an epidemic that killed thousands of Bajorans ! " " " " By " infecting " hundreds of people ! So that he could experiment with different treatments ; old , helpless people . . . like my grandfather . . . because he considered their lives worthless ! " " " " How do you " know " this ? " " " Everybody " knew ! " " " " I remember some of the Maquis under my command talking about an infamous Cardassian doctor . " " " " Could these simply have been rumors spread by Bajorans who hated the Cardassians ? " " ( Furious ) " " I was " there ! " " " I may be a walking encyclopedia but even " I " don ' t know everything . " " " " It is curious . The Borg are accused of assimilating information with no regard for life . This Cardassian did the same ; and yet , his behavior is tolerated . " " " " Fine . Let ' s just deactivate the evil hologram and let B ' Elanna die . At least , we ' d have our morals intact . " " " " The arguments have been made and we ' re running out of time . The fact is , you ' re both right , but when it comes down to it , the only issue I ' m concerned about is the well - being of that crew member lying in Sickbay . We ' ll wrestle with the morality of this situation later , after B ' Elanna is back on her feet . Doctor , you have my authorization to proceed , with Moset ' s assistance . " " " " Yes , captain . " " " " Any consequences of this decision will be my responsibility . Dismissed . " " " " I hope you can understand why I went against your wishes , B ' Elanna . Losing you was unacceptable . I know you ' re angry , but we need to put this behind us . Understood ? " " " " Is that an order ? " " " " Yes . " " " " You can ' t order someone to get rid of an emotion , Captain . " " " " And what emotion is that ? " " " " You had no right to make that decision for me ! " " " " I ' m the Captain . You ' re my crewman . I did what I thought best . I get the feeling there are still a few demons in the air . Let ' s hope this does the trick , huh ? " " " " Think about what we accomplished in the last twenty four hours . Our first case was a triumph . Both patients are thriving , and we advanced the frontiers of medical science . I ' ve already outlined a paper that you and I will one day present to the Federation Medical Academy : " Total Systemic Invasion of a Klingon - Human Hybrid by a Cytoplasmic Pseudoparasite " . Has a nice ring to it , don ' t you think ? " " " " Are we also going to tell them where you honed your surgical techniques ? A footnote , perhaps . ' For further details , see Cardassian death camps . " ' " " " Those techniques were crucial this morning . Where was your sarcasm then ? " " " " I didn ' t come here to debate the issue with you , Crell . I came here to inform you of my decision . It is my judgment that the Medical Consultant Program and all the algorithms contained therein shall be deleted from the database . In light of recent evidence , I cannot in good conscience utilize research that was derived from such inhuman practices . " " " " In good conscience ? What about the well - being of your crew ? You ' re confronted by new forms of life every day , many of them dangerous . You need me . Delete my program and you violate the first oath you took as a physician . Do no harm . " " " Do no harm ? ! " You have no right to say those words . Computer – " " " " You can erase my program doctor , but you can never change the fact that you ' ve already used some of my research . Where was your conscience when B ' Elanna was dying on that table ? Ethics , morality , conscience ; funny how they all go out the airlock when we need something . Are you and I really so different ? " " " " Computer , delete medical consultant program and all related files . " " Links and references . References . anaphylaxis / anaphylactic shock ; assimilation ; auxiliary power ; Bajor ; Bajoran ; blindness ; Cardassia Prime ; Cardassian ; cardiopulmonary system ; centimeter ; coffee ; consultant ; cortical probe ; cortical stimulator ; cytoplasmic lifeform ; cytotoxic shock ; death camp ; decryption algorithm ; deflector dish ; Delta Quadrant ; demon ; Earth ; ; emergency power ; energy wave ; enzyme ; ethical subroutine ; ethics ; evasive maneuvers ; exobiology ; Federation ; Federation Medical Academy ; footnote ; Fostossa virus ; heart ; holodeck ; hull plating ; inaprovaline ; internal organ ; isomolecular scanner ; kidney ; kilometer ; Klingon ; laser scalpel ; Lav ' oti V ; Legate ' s Crest of Valor ; liver ; logic ; lung ; Maquis ; Medical Consultant Program Beta one ; medical ethics ; medical tricorder ; Milky Way Galaxy ; morality ; nadion ; neocortex ; neurostatic shock ; Occupation of Bajor ; Palomar ; ; personal database ; personality subroutine ; plasma injector ; polytrinic acid ; recursive algorithm ; red alert ; scalpel ; slideshow ; stenophyl ; subspace band ; Tabor ' s brother ; Tabor ' s grandfather ; tone deafness ; tractor beam ; transceiver ; triaxilating wavelength ; " " ; universal translator ; University of Culat ; vaccine ; Vulcan ; yellow alert