Once Upon a Time ( episode ) Neelix tries to take care of young Naomi Wildman whose mother was aboard the " Delta Flyer " when it crashed into a planet during an ion storm . Summary . Teaser . Aboard the , in the beautiful holographic Forest of Forever , Naomi Wildman , young daughter of Ensign Samantha Wildman , walks happily , enjoying the scenery . She is running a one of a series of children ' s holoprogram s called " The Adventures of Flotter " . This one is entitled " Flotter and the Tree Monster " . She stops , smiles and approaches a pond . She picks up a rock and throws it in , promptly drawing a protest from he who dwells within it : Flotter , the titular character of series . He appears and the two make plans to capture the tree monster that prowls the forest . But , on meeting him , they find that he is merely a misunderstood forest denizen named Trevis . He and Flotter get into an argument about him supposedly stealing Flotter ' s water , until Naomi ends it by showing them that they need each other : Flotter helps Trevis ' trees grow and these trees ' limbs shade his pond ; the sun evaporates water . This is the purpose of these stories : to teach young children like Naomi basic science and deductive reasoning skills . However , Naomi is then hail ed by Neelix , ship ' s chef and Naomi ' s doting godfather : someone wants to say goodnight to her . This excites her greatly ; she does not need to be told that it is her mother , who is on an away mission . She ends the simulation and rushes to their quarters . Her mother is indeed on the desktop monitor screen . Naomi tells her about her holo - adventure , but is disappointed when Wildman informs her that she will not be back the next day as planned . But she keeps her chin up , says goodnight to her and Neelix , and heads into her bedroom . After she has gone , Wildman informs Neelix of the reason for the delay in her return : the " Delta Flyer " , the shuttle the away team is using , sustained damage in an ion storm . Repairs are being made , but another storm is approaching ; they cannot risk returning until it passes . Then static kills the com signal . Wildman asks Neelix to say goodnight to Naomi again for her , before the signal dies . Neelix watches the blank screen , frowning . The ion storm rapidly approaches the " Delta Flyer " . On it are the three members of the away team : Wildman , Lieutenant Commander Tuvok , and Lieutenant junior grade Tom Paris , piloting the vessel . Paris orders Wildman to route more power to the thrusters . She does , but it is not enough . The storm hits them at 33 , 000 kph . They brace for impact , and shut their eyes in a blinding whiteout . Act One . The senior staff is gathered somberly in the briefing room listening to a static - marred mayday from Tuvok on the " Flyer " . Ensign Harry Kim , operations officer , reports that the shuttle has been tracked to a planet ary system 0 . 6 light year s distant . But there is a yet third ion storm approaching . However Captain Kathryn Janeway dismisses this as irrelevant ; they will go through the heart of it if necessary to rescue the away team . She dismisses the meeting . But as the officers move to leave , Neelix stops them with a question : What about Naomi ? First Officer Commander Chakotay states what they all think is the obvious : she must be told . But Neelix nervously rejects this as a bad idea . Janeway finds this incomprehensible and asks why not . Neelix explains nervously that she is " sensitive " ; he does not want to " alarm her unnecessarily . " With any luck , he tells her , Ensign Wildman will be back before she starts to worry . Janeway has great reservations about this , but leaves it in his hands , as he is her godfather . Neelix watches them leave , with a very worried look . Neelix and Naomi walk to a table in the mess hall with drinks for themselves . As they do so , Naomi elucidates on a childhood fantasy plan she has to get Captain Janeway to make her the " Captain ' s assistant " . They sit and continue talking . Then Naomi ' s eyes go wide as Seven of Nine enters , instructing two crewmen , presumably sensor analysts assisting her , regarding some data on the three PADD s they carry . Naomi becomes fearful , telling Neelix not to move or turn around , lest the " Borg lady " see and assimilate him . Neelix reassures her that Seven is a valued crewmember and " a very nice person " ; she need not fear her . Then Ensign Kim enters and calls him away to update him on the search for the " Flyer " . Seven goes to the empty seat and aloofly asks Naomi if it is vacant . Naomi struggles to keep calm and fearfully blurts out no . Seven acknowledges and moves on . Naomi continues gaping at her as Neelix returns to take her to her scheduled botany lesson with The Doctor . The " Flyer " is battered by the ion storm . But it keeps going , struggling to stay ahead of the worst of it . Paris , aware that they will not be able to outrun it , orders Wildman to scan for a place to land to escape . She does and finds a planet close by : class M with a bemonite mantle and several active volcanoes . This is not by any means a preferred option , but they have no choice . Paris takes the shuttle toward it . But the roughest part of the storm hits them before they can reach it . The starboard thrusters fail ; they are thus unable to control their speed , and come in too fast . As they crash , they are enshrouded in darkness and know no more . Paris regains consciousness . The cabin is lit by dim emergency lighting . He looks out the forward windows ; the craft is entombed in solid rock ; their trajectory has taken them deep underground , burying them . He looks at the others ; Tuvok is conscious and relatively uninjured , but Wildman is otherwise . Tuvok examines her and tells him she needs immediate medical assistance . Act Two . Ensign Wildman comes to , wincing with pain . Paris , a trained medic , scans her with a medical tricorder . He updates her on the situation : they are about three kilometer s below the surface . She has suffered a puncture d kidney and internal bleeding ; she needs urgent surgery . Her first concern , however , is for her daughter ; she tells him she needs to talk to her and let her know she is alive . Tuvok orders her to conserve her strength . Paris asks him about the possibility of leaving the shuttle and proceeding on foot . But this is impossible ; they are buried far too deeply and the cavern the shuttle has made is flooded with poisonous fluorine gas . Their only chance is to hope that " Voyager " finds them , before their life support gives out . On " Voyager " s bridge , Janeway , in her captain ' s seat , monitors the search efforts . Chakotay is in the first officer ' s seat next to hers . Neelix is present , seated off to the side of her . Janeway asks him how Naomi is doing . He responds that he is keeping her occupied using the holodeck . Ensign Kim , at his operations station , finds the " Flyer " s crash site . He puts it on the viewscreen : a large crater containing debris . It is a " very " discouraging sight : it is obvious that the shuttle was either destroyed or buried under the surface . Janeway stares at the image and sets her jaw , resolutely reminding all of them of the toughness of the " Flyer " . She orders Chakotay to assemble an away team to go down and excavate . Chakotay leaves , taking Kim with him . Neelix stares at the image , his face full of worry . The Doctor is teaching Naomi her botany lesson , centering it on plant cells and their energy production mechanism . Naomi is a bright child and quickly absorbs the information . But then she recalls that her mother is supposed to call her this day but has not as yet . The Doctor suggests that Ensign Wildman is simply " " a bit busy " " and tries to get Naomi ' s attention elsewhere but she clings to the thought , asking him if they can call her . Fortunately for him , Neelix enters ; school is over and it is time for another adventure with Flotter on the holodeck . This succeeds in drawing her attention away from her mother ' s overdue return ; she thanks The Doctor and rushes out of sickbay . Neelix and The Doctor share a concerned look , and Neelix leaves to follow her . Neelix and Naomi walk along a corridor , on their way to the holodeck . She jocularly tells him about her previous adventure with Flotter and Trevis . But when she asks him about his own family , he becomes uncomfortable ; they along with the rest of the Talaxian colony on Rinax , one of Talax ' moon s , had been massacred by the Haakonian s . The Haakonian Order had brought its boot on the neck of the Talaxians after a ten - year long war of conquest against them by using a most horrific weapon called the metreon cascade . Neelix , however , does not speak of this to the child and succeeds more or less in maintaining his cheery demeanor front for her . At the holodeck doors , Naomi selects another " Flotter " holoprogram , this one entitled " Flotter , Trevis , and the Ogre of Fire " . Neelix is not sure about this one , concerned that she would find it frightening from its title . But she responds that she will not fear if he is with her . He accepts this and they enter . They find Trevis moaning and wailing , a flame on his finger . A few low - hanging branches on a nearby tree also burn . Flotter watches Trevis , chiding him for touching the " " strange thing " " ; neither of them has ever seen fire before . Horrified , Naomi yells at Flotter to help him , but he has no idea how . She informs him that water puts out fire . Bemused , he pinches the flame on Trevis ' finger . It goes out with a puff of steam . Trevis is overjoyed . Acting very empowered , Flotter goes to the tree and sprays the flaming limbs , which go out . He looks most pleased . But then Naomi asks them what caused the fire . They do not know ; only knowing that it came from skyward . Following the storyline , she identifies the culprit : the Ogre of Fire . Upon her mention of his name , a fearsome , sun - like flaming entity appears . In a deep , booming voice , he confirms Naomi ' s ID of him and makes known his intention to raze the forest . He becomes a huge blast of fire that flares out and consumes everything it touches ( except Neelix and Naomi , of course ; the holodeck safety protocols are very active in this children ' s story ) . Trevis escapes , but Flotter is caught and instantly vaporized . Naomi shouts his name in horror as she sees this happen . The fire disappears , leaving a smoky , charred waste of the once beautiful forest . Neelix helps Naomi look for Flotter for a bit , but he is thoroughly flustered ; this is far too close a reminder of what happened on Rinax . They find Trevis , sad that his trees are no more . Neelix takes Naomi ' s hand to leave . She wants to stay and continue the search , but he has none of it . They leave . Once she is in bed , Neelix decides to try to cheer her up by having Ensign Kim make a Flotter doll for her . With this in hand , he returns to her quarters , but finds her up and in front the desktop monitor . She is investigating an idea : water evaporates when heated ; thus , if they can cool the remains of the forest down , Flotter may condense and be able to reform himself . This , as was said , is exactly the purpose of these holoprograms : to teach basic science and foster deductive reasoning skills . Then Naomi begins to again ask about her mother . It is becoming harder and harder for him to come up with excuses to explain her delay in returning , and has not called in . This is especially so as the child is fully aware of the Starfleet protocol regarding away teams reporting in : they must do it every 24 hours . Neelix settles for assuring her that everything is fine , puts her to bed , promising to alert her at the instant her mother calls in , even if that time is 0200 hours . Once she is bedded down , he goes into the small living room and sadly calls up an image of his late sister , Alixia , seeking guidance on what to do . Act Three . He falls asleep and has a terrifying nightmare about the night the Haakonian Order unleashed the metreon cascade on Rinax . He relives the horror of watching his family and fellow Talaxians incinerated by the metreon cascade , along with everything else . He wakes up , sweating and breathing hard . He checks on Naomi and leaves . After checking how Seven of Nine is progressing in using the astrometrics sensors to aid the search for the away team , Neelix goes to the bridge to check how things are going there . There is still no good news . Captain Janeway then revisits her earlier decision to have Naomi remain in the dark about what is happening , if Neelix sees it fit to be so . It has been five days ; logically , they must consider the possibility that the team is lost . Thus , Naomi should be told . She is definitely aware that something is wrong ; it is not right to keep lying to her , pretending that everything is alright . Neelix , flustered , adamantly refuses : he is her godfather , he bristles ; he knows what is best for her . He says it loud enough for the bridge crew to hear , prompting Janeway to order him to follow her into her ready room with a hard gaze . Once in , however , she shows no anger over his insubordinate act , instead gently , though firmly , insisting that she has to be told . This flusters Neelix even more ; what shall he say to her : that her mother is buried under thirty kilotons of rock ? He insists that he will tell her when they know something solid about her fate . Janeway , still gently but now with an edge to her tone , informs him that if he cannot bring himself to tell Naomi , that she was resolved to do so herself . At this he explodes with frightened anger , insisting that she has no right to do so . She has , he asserts , no understanding of what is at stake , having always had parents to care for her as a child , never having to worry about being alone . This shows Janeway the real reason why he is so reluctant to tell her ; he identifies with Naomi ' s situation . He admits this , shakily saying that he does not want her to go through what he did : the emotional trauma and nightmares he had endured every day since losing his family . Janeway understands this . But , she insists , it would be cruel to try to keep her thinking everything is fine , only to be confronted with the worst possible news , instead of letting her know what is happening , so that she can be prepared in case the worst becomes reality . And , she adds , Naomi has one advantage that he did not have ; someone to help her through it , namely him . This calms him ; he can see the wisdom in what she is saying . He agrees to tell her in the morning . On the " Flyer " , Paris and Tuvok have tried and failed to get the life support system to return to full functionality . Their air is running out . Ensign Wildman despairs of rescue , but Tuvok tells her not to lose hope ; statistically , there is still a chance of rescue . Wildman worries about what will happen to Naomi without her , but Tuvok , a father of four , calms her fears with a logical , yet highly comforting assurance that she will survive and prosper regardless of what happens to her . She thanks him sincerely . Naomi wakes up suddenly , calling reflexively for her absent mother . She collects her wits , and calls for Neelix , who is also not there . She asks the computer for his location and gets it : on the bridge . She gets dressed and heads for the nearest turbolift to go there . On the way , she sees signs of something very amiss : Chief Engineer Lieutenant B ' Elanna Torres walking briskly with a team of crewmembers , speaking to them in urgent tones and ordering a beaming down to somewhere . She manages to keep hidden , and continues to the turbolift when they are out of sight . She reaches it , boards and orders to be taken to the bridge . On arrival , she walks out , the viewscreen directly in front of her . She immediately understands what is happening . She sees the tense activity of Captain Janeway and the duty officers , hears them speak of the away team with alarming words such as " crash " , and " survivors " , and sees , on the viewscreen , the crash site : the huge crater , containing debris . Neelix turns and is horrified to see her . He calls her desperately as she turns and dashes back into the turbolift , her face filled with shock and fear . The doors close before he can reach her . The captain watches worriedly . Act Four . Neelix rushes to her quarters , frantically asking the computer for confirmation that she is there . It indeed confirms this . He enters , but does not find her ; instead he finds her combadge , which she has put onto the Flotter doll . Since the computer locates personnel aboard the ship by the location of their combadges , fooling it is easy ; through his worry he notes with pride her knowledge of this fact . He thinks about where she could be and comes up with it : the holodeck . He rushes there , as Naomi activates " Flotter , Trevis , and the Ogre of Fire " and enters the holodeck . A search team has beamed down , led by Chakotay , equipped with phaser drill s and scanning equipment . Seven of Nine is also on the team . Their efforts to locate the " Flyer " finally succeed ; the craft is found to be eighty meter s away ; but now the problem is getting to it through the huge amount of rock entombing it . They inform Captain Janeway and request more manpower and drills , which Janeway grants immediately . Inside the shuttle , as the computer alerts them that life support is almost gone , Tuvok , Paris , and Wildman record their final goodbyes to loved ones . Tuvok writes his on a PADD , but Paris and Wildman record theirs verbally using the computer . Wildman ' s is particularly touching . Neelix walks through the torched Forest of Forever , calling to Naomi . Trevis and Flotter accost him , angrily telling him she does not want to speak to him , since he lied to her . He tries to have the computer delete them but , in another testament to the child ' s intelligence , the computer responds that it cannot ; she has encrypted the controls . He sees the top of her head above a rock , facing away from him and begs her to let him talk to her . She quietly tells Trevis and Flotter to let him through . They do , warning him " " Be nice ; no more lying . " " He sits next to her and tries as best as he can to answer her questions , explaining about the ion storm that forced them to crash - land on the planet ; they do not know if the team survived . He then apologetically explains why he lied to her that everything was fine by telling her about what happened on Rinax . He wanted to keep her from feeling the agonizing emotional pain he endured , wondering if her mother might have somehow survived , or if she was worried about her , just as he had done with his parents . She accepts this and forgives him . Then Janeway issues an order for all hands to report to their emergency stations ; the ion storm that was approaching is almost upon them . It is extremely severe ; they need to be gone before it arrives or face very severe damage . Janeway hails Chakotay and informs him . Chakotay and Seven supervise concerted efforts to excavate through the rock entombing the " Flyer " with phaser drills . He estimates they will be through in six minutes . Janeway tells him that is all the time they have ; the storm will collapse the cavern . Act Five . Janeway orders a course laid in and the ship set to immediately leave at warp 2 the moment the away team and rescue team are aboard . The outer bands of the storm begin to lash them , causing their deflector shield strength to begin to drop . Inside the " Flyer " , the computer warns that two minutes worth of oxygen are left . Paris , Tuvok and Wildman sit quietly , waiting for death . Paris remarks to Tuvok that he never thought his life would end in this manner ; buried alive " " on some nameless planetoid " " . Tuvok counsels him that one finds peace in acceptance of the inevitable . And then , after hope against hope , they hear the phaser drills hitting the rock around them . Chakotay informs Janeway that they have gotten close enough for a transporter beam to lock onto the shuttle and beam it out through the rock . The team quickly installs pattern enhancer s to assist the process . On the bridge , Ensign Kim reports a full lock on the " Flyer " and the rescue team and beams them all to the shuttle bay . As per Janeway ' s order , the officer at helm control immediately engages warp 2 . " Voyager " races away , faster than light , avoiding the storm with seconds to spare . Naomi is brought to the sickbay , where a pleased Doctor has healed Ensign Wildman ' s injuries . As soon as Naomi sees her , she rushes into her open arms . The Doctor and Neelix look on happily . Naomi , Neelix and Ensign Wildman walk through the fully restored Forest of Forever , in another Flotter holoprogram . They meet Flotter and Trevis . Flotter is thrilled when he sees Ensign Wildman . She herself used to use this series of Flotter holoprograms as a child , and her interactions with the character were stored , so that he would " remember " her and she and Naomi could truly participate as a family . Flotter is thrilled to see her all grown up . He tells her much how he missed her , to which she responds , " " Likewise . " " He then tells her and Naomi about a castle with a giant beetle and suggests the three of them go explore it . Wildman agrees with a smile and they go off together , Naomi very excited . Neelix watches them go with a satisfied smile . He is then pleasantly surprised when Captain Janeway enters . Neelix tells her what Naomi and her mother are doing . She looks around nostalgically , remembering her own enjoyable childhood experiences in the Forest , particularly one in which she and Flotter diverted the river to counteract a dry spell Flotter said was imminent . They ended up flooding the entire Forest , giving rise to Stinger , the biggest mosquito you ' d ever seen . She and Neelix walk off together as she tells him about it , her arm round his shoulder . Memorable quotes . ( Worriedly ) " " Whos going to look after Naomi ? " " " " You should not concern yourself with that now . " " ( Aggrievedly ) " " How can you say that ? " " " " My youngest child has been without a father for four years . . . yet I am certain of her well - being ; that I conveyed my values to her before leaving , and I have confidence in the integrity of those around her . You have been an exemplary mother to Naomi and she is in the hands of people you trust . She will survive , and prosper no matter what becomes of us . " " ( Gratefully ) " " Thanks , Tuvok . " " " " Who ' s the furball ? " " " " I ' ve forgotten how ugly this guy was . " " " " Naomi ! Look who I found in the replicator ! " " " " Thanks . . . but that ' s not really Flotter . " " " " Well . . . Flotter ' s not really Flotter . " " " " Coffee , anyone ? Captain ? " " " " No thanks . I ' ve had enough . One more cup and I ' ll jump to warp ! " " " " I realize you care about Naomi , and you are only trying to protect her . But you ' ve got to tell her the truth . " " ( Flustered ) " " Good morning , Naomi . Would you like some papalla juice with your cereal ? And , oh , by the way , your mother is buried under 30 kilotons of rock ! ' " " Neelix . . . " " " " When we know something for " sure " ; when we find her mother , alive . . . or dead . . . I ' ll – I ' ll tell her then . Not before . " " " " If you can ' t do it , I will . " " " " You don ' t have the right ! You don ' t understand what ' s at stake here ! When you were her age you were safe and sound on Earth with two healthy parents to take care of you . You never had to worry about the possibility of being alone ! You take it from me ; you wouldn ' t have liked it ! " " ( Sadly and gently ) " " Hi , honey . I know you ' re feeling sad right now , but I want you to listen to me very carefully , okay ? First of all . . . I love you . Second , I want you to know that I ' m proud of you . How smart you are , how funny , how kind you are to other people . And I know that you are going to grow up to do extraordinary things . Last . . . and I know this is a hard one . . . try not to be scared . Listen to Neelix . He ' ll be taking care of you now . Bye , honey . " " " " I never thought it would come down to this - suffocating beneath kilotons of rock on some nameless planetoid . . . " " " " Did you envision a more " heroic " death ? " " " " I didn ' t envision dying at all ! " " " " In . . . accepting the inevitable , one finds peace . " " " " If that ' s another Vulcan saying , Tuvok , I ' l stick with ' Live Long and Prosper ' . . . " " Links and references . References . " The Adventures of Flotter " ; airponics bay ; Alixia ; Alpha Quadrant ; anxiety ; artistic license ; Asil ; assimilation ; astrometrics ; away team ; bedside manner ; beetle ; bemonite ; cereal ; class M ; coffee ; concussion ; " Delta Flyer " ; dry spell ; duranium ; Earth ; Flotter ; fluorine ; Forest of Forever ; goddaughter ; ; ; hemisphere ; holodeck ; impulse signature ; impulse wake ; internal bleeding ; ion storm ; iron ; kidney ; kilometer ; kiloton ; magnetic relay ; mantle ; medkit ; meter ; metreon cascade ; mitochondria ; mosquito ; Naomi anxiety scale ; nickel ; Ogre of Fire ; organelle ; pain medication ; panic attack ; papalla juice ; pattern enhancer ; phase transition ; phaser drill ; planetoid ; polarized hull plating ; pond ; puncture ; rescue team ; Rinax ; rubber tree ; selenite ; Starfleet Regulations ; Stinger ; ; suffocation ; supernova e ; swamp ; symbiosis ; Talaxian - Haakonian War ; Trevis ; tricorder ; Vulcan ; warp core