Hunters ( episode ) " Voyager " receives a message from Starfleet containing letters from the crew ' s friends and family . Summary . Teaser . The receives a garbled transmission from Starfleet Command via the Hirogen communications network , previously used to send The Doctor to the Alpha Quadrant , but after just a few words the transmission stops . Ensign Harry Kim clears the interference but the bulk of the message is lodged in one of the relay stations , 3 . 8 light year s away . Captain Kathryn Janeway sets a course , determined to find out what the rest of that message says . Meanwhile , the Hirogen controlling the network , who have already discouraged " Voyager " s use of it , intercept the message . As Alpha Hirogen Idrin instructs his Beta to locate the ship receiving it , he adorns his helmet with markings of paint . Act One . " Voyager " s bridge crew begin to speculate on the contents of the transmission . Chakotay refers to the Bajoran wormhole discovered in the Gamma Quadrant and wonders if Starfleet has found a similar phenomenon that could help " Voyager " shorten its journey home . The crew discusses their new - found optimism and the possibility that many of their friends and family might have given up on them , mourned , proceeded with their lives , and found some kind of resolution . Now they will have received word that the crew is alive but so far away that they might as well be dead . Janeway expresses her hope that they might be able to stay in constant contact with home . When Seven of Nine fails to report to sickbay for her weekly checkup , The Doctor visits her in astrometrics , where she is trying to retrieve more of the Starfleet message . He discovers that she hasn ' t regenerated in 58 hours , despite his instructions for her to do so at least three hours each day . She insists she could go as long as 200 hours without regenerating . The Doctor reminds her that was true when she was Borg but she is more Human now . The ship is shaken by gravimetric forces coming from the relay station , still two light years away . As Kim compensates for the disturbance , Lieutenant Commander Tuvok detects a ship , adrift with no propulsion systems , weapons or life support . One dead humanoid is aboard . Janeway has the body beamed to sickbay , wanting to know how he died . The Doctor examines the corpse , which has been gutted sometime between a week or a month prior . Seven recalls an incident when the Borg encountered a small ship of Species 5174 , which had been similarly destroyed . She doesn ' t know who did it , or why , as the Borg considered that information irrelevant . Two days later , " Voyager " has gotten close enough to the relay station to see it on long - range visual sensor s . The crew determines it is at least 100 , 000 years old and uninhabited . The station is also using a small quantum singularity , or black hole , only about a centimeter in diameter , as its power source . Unable to take the ship any closer due to the gravimetric eddies , Chakotay orders Paris to hold position and then contacts Janeway in astrometrics to tell her they are as close as they can get to the relay station . Seven and Janeway begin downloading the message but the data stream has degraded significantly . Some parts are dislocated while others are rearranged . Janeway tells Seven to get it out in bits and pieces and they will worry about reconstructing it later . As Janeway reads parts of the transmission , she realizes it contains letters from home . Act Two . Neelix is entrusted with delivery of the first batch of letters retrieved . As he leaves to make his rounds , Seven discovers a latent , heavily encrypted data stream , containing a large block of text and possibly maps , buried under the message but she can ' t retrieve it until more of the letters have been cleared out . Janeway expresses cautious optimism that it might contain a plan for bringing " Voyager " back to the Alpha Quadrant and asks Seven what she thinks of recent events . Seven says it lacks any emotional resonance for her , since she ' s never even been to Earth but Janeway points out it ' s possible she has family there . Seven is taken aback , admitting that thought hadn ' t occurred to her . Neelix goes to the bridge , where he delivers a letter to Chakotay from Sveta , the woman who recruited him into the Maquis . As he reads , Chakotay realizes that the contents of the letter are serious and leaves to read the letter in private . An anxious Kim asks Neelix if there are more letters but Neelix has no more , yet , for the bridge crew . He leaves to deliver a letter to Tuvok from his wife , , and is appalled when Tuvok doesn ' t immediately drop what he ' s doing to read it . Accidentally revealing that he ' s seen the contents of the first few lines , Neelix offers to read it to him , saying it contains important news . Tuvok ' s firstborn son , Sek , has been through the pon farr and he and his mate now have a daughter , , who was named after Tuvok ' s mother . Neelix leaves Tuvok alone to read the rest . At first , Tuvok puts it down and returns to his weekly tactical review but then reconsiders and puts his work aside and begins reading his wife ' s letter . Janeway enters the bridge with her own letter that has just been retrieved . She goes to her ready room to read it , and sees that it is from Mark . As she does , she first smiles , but then her expression slowly changes to one of sorrow . Chakotay goes to Engineering to speak with Torres about the contents of his letter , telling her that it contained very bad news and that he had to re - read it for an hour before he could even begin to believe it and now he has to tell everyone else . B ' Elanna demands to know what ' s happened , and Chakotay reveals the terrible truth to her ; the Maquis are gone , wiped out by the Cardassian s and an ally from the Gamma Quadrant . Sveta and a few others are in prison but the rest , including their friends Atara and Roberto , are all dead and the rebellion was completely crushed . Incensed , Torres vows to make someone pay if they ever get back home . In the mess hall , Kim tells Paris that he ' s heard at least thirty more letters have been downloaded and Neelix is on his way there to deliver them . Paris is more interested in his meal , a " mystery dish " that tastes vaguely like chicken but has the consistency of corn husk s . Kim is stunned by Paris ' disinterest . Neelix arrives , with letters for Susan Nicoletti , , , Golwat , Ashmore , Dorado and Parsons . Upset , Kim asks where the remainder of the thirty letters are but Neelix tells him that what he heard was just a rumor . In her ready room , Janeway stares blankly ahead . Seven enters and tells the captain that the message is becoming harder to retrieve as it continues to degrade while it remains logged in the relay station . She requests permission to take a shuttle , which can withstand the gravimetric eddies more easily than " Voyager " , to the station to stabilize the containment field . Janeway tells her to go and take Tuvok with her . Seven questions her reason for assigning Tuvok to the mission as well and Janeway says it is not her custom to send an away team of one . Kim finds Torres in astrometrics , where she has taken over retrieving the messages while Seven is on the away mission . Torres teases him about his attraction to Seven but Kim is just there to find out if he ' s received a letter yet . Torres tells him no but encourages him to have patience . In the shuttle , Seven asks Tuvok if Janeway was being truthful when she said she always sent at least two people on away teams , or was it a ruse because the captain still doesn ' t trust Seven and believes she requires supervision . Tuvok assures her it is not only custom but recommended Starfleet protocol . He tells her the captain ' s decision to have him accompany her shouldn ' t be taken as evidence of a particular attitude . As they work to stabilize the station ' s containment field , Tuvok asks Seven if the captain ' s opinion is important to her . Seven evades a direct answer and the conversation is cut short by an attack from an approaching ship that knocks out the shuttle ' s navigation , communications , warp engine s , and weapon s . Act Three . Tuvok and Seven try to lure their attacker closer to the station , believing the larger ship will be far more vulnerable to the gravimetric eddies than they are but are unsuccessful . Tuvok launches a distress beacon just before the two of them are rendered unconscious . Torres calls Paris down to astrometrics , having received a letter for him . Paris isn ' t interested and says he ' s going back to the bridge . Torres is perplexed by his behavior . When Paris retrieves the letter , it turns out to be from Admiral Owen Paris , Paris ' father . Even less enthused , Paris tells Torres that the more everybody gets excited about the letters from home , the more he wants no part of it . He tells her that what he has on " Voyager " is better than anything he ever had back home . Torres urges him to reconsider : He ' s not the same person he was four years ago so what makes him think his father is ? She asks him to give his father a chance but Paris tells her that he won ' t , which causes Torres to break down . She tells him of Sveta ' s letter and how she ' s gone from blinding anger to crying for an hour to trying to accept it and move on . Paris comforts her , apologizing for going on about his problems with his father that don ' t even matter . Torres tells him he obviously still cares what his father thinks of him and he reluctantly admits that maybe he does . She promises to let him know when she gets the whole letter . Chakotay reports to Janeway that Tuvok and Seven must have been successful , as Torres is downloading the letters a lot more easily now . The shuttle hasn ' t appeared on sensors yet but is expected back soon . Janeway has been analyzing the station and wants to stay for a while longer , calling it the kind of archaeological puzzle that has always fascinated her . Chakotay asks about her letter and she reveals that Mark told her about Mollie , Janeway ' s Irish Setter , giving birth to a litter of puppies , about how devastated he was when " Voyager " was lost and how he held out hopes they were alive longer than most people did . Eventually , though , he let go and began living his life again . Four months earlier he married a woman who worked with him . Chakotay asks Janeway if she ' s all right and she says she knew he ' d eventually move on with his life , but now she ' s had confirmation that he had and it feels very final . Kim calls Janeway to the bridge . Sensors have picked up an automated distress signal from Tuvok ' s shuttle and no one is onboard . Act Four . Tuvok and Seven regain consciousness to find themselves bound in the trophy room of a Hirogen warship . As they consider using one of the bladed weapons hanging on the wall to free themselves , Idrin appears , telling them they were " pathetic prey . " Unsatisfied by the hunt , Idrin demands information on why they were using the communications network . Tuvok explains they were trying to retrieve important messages from their home and tells Idrin if he returns them to their ship , they ' ll leave without trespassing again . Idrin claims they are s of the hunt and marks each of them with colored paint on their forehead . Seven tells Idrin their captain is a formidable opponent and their ship is heavily armed , which pleases Idrin , who believes stronger prey will make for a better hunt . The Beta Hirogen locates " Voyager " forty - thousand ketric s away from the relay station and informs Idrin that it is an hour away . When Idrin orders him to go to stalking mode , the Beta hesitates , preferring to wait for other Hirogen ships en route . Idrin insists on claiming the prey for himself but the Beta fears they may not be able to take on " Voyager " alone . Meanwhile aboard the " Voyager " , Kim locates the Hirogen ship with Tuvok and Seven on it . Janeway hails Idrin ' s ship and attempts to negotiate their release but Idrin refuses . Kim informs the captain that three more Hirogen ships are bearing down on " Voyager " . Janeway orders a red alert . Act Five . Though the Beta - Hirogen disagrees with Idrin , Idrin prepares to kill Tuvok first , using a blade from the wall display . On the " Voyager " , Torres reports that she still needs another half hour to finish retrieving the Starfleet messages from the relay station . On the bridge , Kim reports that he is unable to get a transporter lock on Seven and Tuvok due to the Hirogen ship ' s monotanium armor plating . He further reports that the three other ships , each with massive weapons , are fast approaching their location . Janeway reasons that if the " Voyager " can increase the gravitational pull of the quantum singularity powering the relay station , and weaken the station ' s containment field , it might help in the battle . Kim is ordered to create a low level warp field around the " Voyager " to protect it from the gravitational pull but not so strong as to prevent them from beaming Tuvok and Seven aboard . Firing an antithoron burst at the station , the " Voyager " successfully weakens the station ' s containment field enough to start pulling the Hirogen ships toward it . Tuvok seizes the opportunity to grab the blade and attack both Hirogen but one hurls him against a bulkhead . Torres hails the bridge . The antithoron burst has collapsed the signal and she ' s retrieved as much of the message as she ' s going to get . The Hirogen ships continue their attack , further destabilizing the containment field , despite Janeway ' s warnings . As the singularity is exposed , " Voyager " sets a tractor beam on the ship Tuvok and Seven are on . Kim targets Tuvok and Seven but any attempt to transport them could result in the gravity well scattering their patterns . As the tractor beam weakens , Janeway decides they must risk it . Despite distorting patterns Kim manages to safely rematerialize both of them as the Hirogen ship disappears into the black hole . " Voyager " succeeds in breaking free of the singularity by shutting down various systems and overexerting the antimatter injector s by 120 % . In Astrometrics , Torres tells Janeway she has discovered that the energy released from the singularity created a massive discharge along the relay network . This discharge has disabled every one of the stations , meaning the crew can no longer look forward to regular updates from the Alpha Quadrant . She was able to retrieve most of the encrypted Starfleet text and a few more personal letters but it will take time to decode the encrypted messages . Torres excuses herself to deliver the personal letters . Janeway tells her Neelix can do that but Torres says there ' s one she wants to do personally . On the bridge , Torres gives Kim the last letter she was able to retrieve , from his parents . She tells Paris that the letter from his father was lost before she could get it . She tells him " " You could assume that he said he loves you and that he ' s proud of you " . " Paris responds that he will . Tuvok reports to Janeway on what little he was able to learn regarding the Hirogen . He calls them extremely dangerous , lacking any moral center . He theorizes they probably used the relay network for communications and won ' t be pleased about its destruction . As Tuvok leaves , Chakotay joins the captain for coffee . Janeway frets over the crew , certain they were hoping mail call would become a regular part of their day . Chakotay tells her Neelix is planning an impromptu and immediate party to cheer people up . The captain and first officer discuss recent events , including her letter from her former fiancé . Janeway tells Chakotay she didn ' t really expect Mark to wait for her and she ' s realized she was using him as a safety net to avoid becoming involved with someone else . She adds that with her eventful life in the Delta Quadrant , she wouldn ' t have had the chance to pursue a relationship even if she had realized she was alone . Chakotay assures her she ' s hardly alone and the two of them head for Neelix ' s party . Memorable quotes . " " I ' m finishing my weekly tactical review . When it ' s completed I ' ll read the message . " " " " You ' re going to wait until you finish the tactical review ? " " " " Do you have any reason to believe the content of the message will change during that time ? " " " " It ' s over , B ' Elanna . There are no more Maquis . " " " " Another one . " " " " I beg your pardon ? " " " " I ' ve retrieved another word of text . That makes six . " " " " Six words in fifty - eight hours ? ' " " " " You want some coffee ? " " " " Thanks . " " " " Cream and sugar , huh ? " " " " Two sugars . " " " " Oh , two sugars ! ? " " " " Coffee – the finest organic suspension ever devised . " " Links and references . References . Admiral ; Alpha - Hirogen ; Alpha Quadrant ; antimatter injector ; antithoron ; archaeology ; armor plating ; artificial quantum singularity ; Astrometrics ; Atara ; away team ; Bajoran wormhole ; Beta - Hirogen ; black hole ; blood ; Borg ; Borg alcove ; Borg implant ; ; bowl ; bridge crew ; Buck - toothed alien ; Buck - toothed alien starship ; Cardassian ; Cat ' s Eye Nebula ; centimeter ; chicken ; children ; " Cochrane II " ; coffee ; communications system ; confinement beam ; confinement field ; consistency ; containment field ; corn ; couch ; course ; cousin ; cup ; data processor ; data stream ; Delta Quadrant ; desk ; desktop monitor ; directional beacon ; distress beacon ; Dominion ; Eagle Nebula ; Earth ; emotion ; erythrocyte ; father ; fork ; Gamma Quadrant ; gemstone ; grandparent s ( aka grandfather , grandpa , gramps ) ; gravimetric eddy ; gravimetric field ; gravimetric force ; gravity well ; Hirogen ; Hirogen communications network ; Hirogen scanner ; Hirogen warship ; holographic matrix ; hostage ; hull breach ; ; husband ; husk ; internal organ ; intestine ; ; ketric ; kilometer ; ; ; kitten ; ; letter ; lie ; life support ; ligament ; light year ; litter ; long - range visual sensor ; mail call ; mail carrier ; main deflector ; Maquis ; Mark ' s kitten ; medical tricorder ; micro - singularity ; " Mister Vulcan " ; Mollie ; Mollie ' s litter ; monotanium ; mother ; muscle ; mystery dish ; navigational sensor ; organ ; osteotomy ; ; ; pattern buffer ; percent ; plate ; polaron pulse ; " pon farr " ; port ; power ; prayer ; priest ; propulsion system ; puppy ; puzzle ; quantum singularity ; radiometric decay ratio ; ready room ; red alert ; regeneration ; rehab colony ; relay station ; ; repair team ; Roberto ; safety net ; Saturn ; schematic ; Sek ; Sek ' s mate ; sculpture ; security office ; sensor array ; skeleton ; skin ; Species 5174 ; stalking mode ; Starfleet Command ; Starfleet protocol ; structural integrity ; sugar ; subnucleonic beam ; suspension ; Sveta ; T ' Meni ; ; ; tactical review ; ; targeting beam ; Temple of Amonak ; terawatt ; thruster ; tractor beam ; tractor emitter ; Trayken beast ; trespassing ; trophy ; Veil Nebula ; Vulcan ; ; Vulcan language ; warp coil ; warp core ; warp engine ; warp field ; weapon ; weapons system