22/09/1999        Equinox (Part 2)

As nucleogenic lifeforms attack Voyager, Captain Janeway discovers that she can use a deflector pulse to reinforce the shields and force the creatures off her ship. These attacks are occurring because the aliens are angry with Captain Ransom and the crew of the U.S.S. Equinox, another Starfleet vessel stranded in the Delta Quadrant. Ransom and his crew have killed dozens of the lifeforms for their organic matter in order to enhance the Equinox's propulsion systems and get back to the Alpha Quadrant. Now the aliens are trying to destroy both Starfleet ships.  Ransom and his renegade crew have escaped from Voyager's brig and taken back the Equinox, leaving Voyager behind and effectively kidnapping Seven of Nine and the Doctor, who were on board. When Ransom attempts to engage the enhanced warp drive, the ship stalls. They learn that Seven has locked out the power relays with codes that only she knows. Ransom tries to coerce the codes out of her, but when she refuses to talk, Ransom deletes the Doctor's ethical subroutines in order to solicit his help. The hologram then sets out to extract the information from Seven's cortical implants, which will severely damage her brain.  While the Voyager doctor is on the Equinox, the Equinox doctor in on Voyager. When Voyager gets away from the aliens and catches up with Equinox, the Equinox doctor manages to send Ransom a coded message to warn him. Janeway fires several photon torpedoes, badly damaging the Equinox. Ransom knows he cannot win, so he retreats into warp, temporarily escaping from Voyager. During the battle, Janeway managed to beam three of Ransom's crew aboard her ship.  Janeway has one of Ransom's captured crewmembers tied up and put in the cargo bay, ordering him to reveal Ransom's tactical status. She's prepared to drop the shields around the room and allow the alien lifeforms to come in and kill him. He refuses to talk, so Janeway and Chakotay wait outside the cargo bay as a fissure begins forming in the cargo bay. When Chakotay realizes that Janeway isn't bluffing, he breaks into the room and fires his phaser at the fissure, collapsing it before an alien can pass through. Janeway is shocked at Chakotay's disobedience and relieves him of duty.  Voyager manages to contact the Ankari, the race who innocently introduced the nucleogenic creatures to the Equinox crew. When the Ankari come aboard and summon the aliens, Janeway tells them that she will lead them to Equinox. When Voyager catches up with Equinox again, Ransom's conscience gets the better of him and he tells his crew that he is willing to cooperate with Janeway. Ransom's crew is not prepared to surrender, and his first officer, Lt. Burke, has Ransom arrested and takes control of the ship. Voyager begins firing on Equinox again, giving Ransom time to escape to the transporter room. Ransom then contacts Janeway, telling her that he is surrendering and will help her beam the Equinox crew aboard her ship.  The nucleogenic lifeforms also begin to attack Equinox. They manage to kill Burke before Janeway can beam him to Voyager. The only person left on board Equinox is Captain Ransom. With the warp core about to breach, Ransom tells Janeway to get as far away as possible, then he navigates his ship to a safe distance, sacrificing himself as the Equinox explodes.  Janeway reinstates Chakotay and strips the remaining Equinox crew of rank. She orders them to serve as Voyager crewman and tells them that they will have to earn her trust.

29/09/1999        Survival Instinct

Stardate: 53049.2

Voyager is docked at the Markonian Outpost Space Station. Captain Janeway announces to the crew that the doors have been opened for anyone to visit. Seven of Nine and Naomi Wildman go to lunch together in the Mess Hall where they are surrounded by numerous alien visitors.  A man approaches Seven of Nine and puts his briefcase-sized container on a table. When Seven of Nine notices the Borg equipment, she bolts up. Suddenly, Seven of Nine begins to experience memory flashbacks from her past as a Borg.  The items turn out to be Borg relays from Seven of Nine's original unimatrix. The man offers them to Seven of Nine, but when he speaks it seems that his words are not his own and are instead chosen for him. Seven of Nine accepts the Borg relays and she tells the man that Captain Janeway will compensate him. As the man walks away, he communicates telepathically with two others, telling them to prepare to penetrate Voyager's security systems.  Seven of Nine brings the Borg relays to Torres for her evaluation. Seven of Nine tells her how the items triggered visual images, sense memories, sounds and smells. Torres suggests that Seven of Nine was experiencing nostalgia when she first saw the relays. However, Seven of Nine insists that she isn't having any feelings whatsoever about the past. Seven of Nine leaves the relays for computer analysis. Just as she returns to her alcove to regenerate, the Borg relays begin to emit a soft beeping.  Next, three Borg (the first is the man who brought Seven of Nine the Borg relays) enter Seven of Nine's alcove. Two assimilation tubes appear from one of the Borg's arms and begin to penetrate Seven's neck. Seven of Nine unconsciously becomes aware of their presence and when she opens her eyes she begins to fight them. Suddenly, Tuvok and the Security team's phaser fire hits the three Borg and they crumple to the deck.  Seven identifies the three as Two of Nine, Three of Nine, and Four of Nine. They were all once members of the same unimatrix, but Seven of Nine has no idea why they were trying to access her memories. The three Borg tell Captain Janeway that their goal was to break their telepathic link and become individuals.  Apparently, Seven of Nine and the other three Borg were the only survivors of a vessel crash eight years earlier. However, when they were reassimilated into the Collective, the three were somehow linked together permanently. When the three finally escaped, they had their implants removed but they couldn't break the telepathic link between them. They were hoping that Seven of Nine remembered what happened to them.  Seven of Nine suggests linking her neurally to the three Borgs, in order for them to find the truth. Unfortunately, there is the possibility that she becomes trapped in the neural link. Despite the risks involved, Seven of Nine decides to go ahead. When Seven of Nine's neural link is connected to the Borgs, they discover that Seven of Nine was the one who reassimilated them.  The Doctor then breaks the neural link between Seven of Nine and the other three Borg. As a result of the process, the three Borg damage their brains which sends them into a comatose state. The Borg will only survive for a month unless they are reassimilated into the Collective.  Initially, Seven of Nine decides that their survival is the most important. However, after she talks with Chakotay, she decides that by removing their neural implants, they will be able to live as individuals for a short time. When the three wake up, they begin to make separate plans for their brief, yet individual futures.

06/10/1999        Barge Of The Dead

B'Elanna's shuttle runs into an ion storm upon her return to Voyager. As the shuttle hits the deck, she is thrown forward and hits her head. She is diagnosed with a mild concussion and she retreats to her quarters to rest. Chakotay brings her a metal slat with a Klingon insignia that was found attached to the rear of the shuttle.  B'Elanna puts the object down on her table and she notices that blood begins to pool out of it. She also hears haunting screams and otherworldly cries of pain radiating from the artifact. Tuvok suggests that she was experiencing a subconscious manifestation of her hatred of her Klingon heritage.  Neelix decides to throw a party to celebrate the discovery of an object from Voyager's Alpha Quadrant. Just as B'Elanna is to say a few words, a group of Klingons appear and kill Captain Janeway. No one else sees what is happening and as B'Elanna tries to escape, she too is attacked.  B'Elanna finds herself lying on the deck of a Klingon ship. A Klingon approaches her and holds a branding iron to her cheek. However, it doesn't embed the Klingon emblem since she is only half Klingon. A Klingon male named Brok'tan tells her that she is on the Barge of the Dead traveling to Gre'thor, or Klingon Hell, where dishonored souls are taken.  Next, it is announced that another dishonored soul has been delivered. B'Elanna is completely shocked to find that it is her mother, Miral. Suddenly, B'Elanna wakes up in the Sickbay. Apparently, she was in a coma after her shuttle was caught in the vicious ion storm.  B'Elanna tells Chakotay that she thinks she died and was on the Barge of the Dead. Later, after reading old Klingon scrolls, she tells Paris that she sent her mother to the Barge because of her dishonor. B'Elanna believes that she can save her mother before she passes through the gates of hell by restoring the honor that was lost.  B'Elanna has a difficult time convincing Captain Janeway to alter her vital signs. Janeway only gives her one hour to accomplish this task. B'Elanna loses consciousness and finds herself back on the Barge of the Dead. Brok'tan will help B'Elanna get to her mother by distracting the guards.  Initially, Miral believes that her daughter is only an illusion. B'Elanna finally convinces her mother that she can save her from Klingon hell and send her to Sto-Vo-Kor. After performing the ancient Klingon ritual, B'Elanna and Miral and disappointed with the failed results.  B'Elanna's only other option is to die for Miral and take her place in hell. B'Elanna agrees and Miral is taken up towards the sky to Sto-Vo-Kor. The gates of Gre'thor open ahead of the Barge and B'Elanna is lead to her own hell aboard Voyager.  Suddenly, Miral appears to B'Elanna and tells her daughter that she can be saved by freeing herself. All B'Elanna has to do is live with honor and discipline, like a true Klingon. Suddenly, The Doctor begins to bring B'Elanna out of her comatose state. Miral tells B'Elanna that they will be reunited forever in Sto-Vo-Kor.

13/10/1999        Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy

The Doctor is disappointed because he wanted to travel with the Away Team to an unknown planet. He therefore files a formal complaint with Captain Janeway regarding poor treatment by the crew. He also requests to be made Emergency Command Hologram, or the new Captain, in the event of a catastrophic emergency. However, Janeway tells him that it just isn't possible.  In one of his daydreams, the Voyager crew is sitting in a meeting when Torres begins to rub her foot up the Doctor's leg. In the next daydream sequence, the Doctor walks into a party celebrating his promotion as Emergency Command Hologram.  In the meantime, an alien vessel tries to access Voyager's internal sensors. However, they are unable to get past its security encryption. One of the aliens named Phlox discovers that the Doctor is a computer program and he is able to watch everything that the Doctor is experiencing on Voyager, including his daydreams. Phlox discovers that Voyager is a lost vessel that is not from the Delta Quadrant.  In the Doctor's next dream, Voyager is attacked by Borg. Tuvok and Chakotay begin to sprout Borg implants and Captain Janeway is killed by the attack. The Doctor immediately takes control and tells the computer to activate the Emergency Command Hologram. The Doctor's uniform magically changes to a command style. The new Captain orders the release of his imaginary "photonic cannon," which destroys the Borg sphere.  Phlox still doesn't know that what he is witnessing is only taking place in the Doctor's imagination. The aliens think that Captain Janeway was killed in the attack and that the hologram is now in command of the vessel. They begin to plan their attack.  The Doctor tells Kim, Seven of Nine and Torres that he is having cognitive projections or daydreams. However, because his algorithms are malfunctioning, he is daydreaming whether he wants to or not. As a result, he is randomly jumping from one daydream to the next.  The crew is able to watch what the Doctor is experiencing. Captain Janeway is amazed when she sees the Doctor take command of Voyager. Meanwhile, Phlox realizes that he was only watching the Doctor's daydreams. He is afraid to tell his superiors because they don't tolerate mistakes very easily. Because Phlox feels that he has gotten to know the Doctor, he decides to transmit a simulacrum of himself into the Doctor's program and warn Voyager of the alien attack.  In return for warning Voyager of the attack, Phlox asks the Doctor to pose as the Captain in order to trick his commanders. When Voyager is hailed by the alien vessel, Captain Janeway tells the Doctor what to say by remote. Just as the alien vessel orders a type-four assault, the Doctor instructs Chakotay to activate Voyager's phony "photonic cannon." Phlox reminds his commanders how the "photonic cannon" easily destroyed the Borg. As a result, the alien vessel retreats.

20/10/1999        Alice

When Voyager happens upon a junkyard of old ships, the crew stops to purchase some parts from Abaddon, the salesman. Tom Paris falls in love with a small shuttle he finds among the junked vessels, and convinces Chakotay to let him restore it. He discovers the shuttle has a neurogenic interface, allowing it to interact directly with the pilot's thoughts. Tom gets to work immediately, naming his new toy "Alice." After a brief trial of the interfacing technology, Tom calls it a night. When he leaves, Alice powers on by herself, scanning Tom's brain imprint. In his quarters, Tom hears a female voice calling for him.  Driven by Alice's seductive power, Tom works nonstop on the shuttle. He and B'Elanna Torres try to celebrate its christening together, but Tom is obsessed to the point of excluding everyone. Tapping into Alice's database, he has found the flight suit design of her last pilot and is now wearing it instead of his Starfleet uniform. When Chakotay orders him to put his test flight on hold and attend to his official duties, Tom complains to Alice, whom he is now imagining as a flesh-and-blood woman. She eggs him on, convincing him to use the neurogenic interface again.  Alice goads Tom into stealing power cells from Voyager. When Alice traps B'Elanna, sealing a hatch and shutting off life support systems, Tom realizes the neurogenic interface is out of control. He rescues B'Elanna and tries to alert sickbay, but Alice won't let him. She forces him to launch the shuttle and complete the interface, making him one with the machine. As Captain Janeway and the crew realize what is happening, Tom fires on Voyager and escapes into warp.  The Voyager crew turns to Abaddon for answers. He explains that the shuttle Tom acquired is "haunted." Before he can say more, he begins hallucinating himself and suffers a cerebral hemorrhage. After receiving a cortical suppressant, Abaddon reveals that he too was once linked with Alice. She was looking for a top biological entity with which to work together in tandem, to guide her to an unknown point in space. After reconstructing data Tom left behind, Seven of Nine discovers where he and Alice are heading. They are going to an anomaly called a particle fountain.  Because Tom's synaptic functions are linked to the shuttle, Janeway cannot fire on him. Instead, Tuvok works to access the main computer and transmit a shutdown sequence. B'Elanna taps into his interface using a communication signal. With both B'Elanna's and Alice's voices in his head, Tom cannot think straight. Just as he is about to suffer a cerebral hemorrhage, Tuvok succeeds in shutting down Alice. Tom is beamed safely to sickbay, and Alice is destroyed in the particle fountain.

03/11/1999        Riddles

Stardate: 53263.2

Returning from a diplomatic mission with Neelix, Tuvok picks up readings of a cloaked being within their shuttle, but while scanning it with a tricorder he is attacked. Once back on Voyager, Tuvok is rushed to sickbay suffering from neuroleptic shock. The Doctor treats the officer but cannot reverse the damage until he understands the nature of the weapon used against him. Captain Janeway questions Naroq of the Kesat species with which Neelix was negotiating, and the visitor feels certain the mythical Ba'Neth — or "shadow people" — were the ones who attacked Tuvok. Legend has it the Ba'Neth attempt to assess foreigners' technology, but stay cloaked because of an obsession with hiding their identity.  After gathering particles from the cloaking field, Naroq uses a photolitic converter to illuminate the isotopes and reveal what the alien looks like. Using the same idea with Voyager's deflector array, they are able to uncloak nearby Ba'Neth ships. In fact, there is an entire fleet surrounding Voyager and they begin to fire when hailed. Unfortunately, they are soon out of range and disappear again. Meanwhile, Tuvok's Vulcan brain has begun to rewire itself. When Neelix leads him on a tour of the ship to jog his memory, he speaks for the first time.  Although Tuvok is speaking and recognizing people again, his cognitive functions are still very simple. Experiencing volatile emotions, he tries to come to grips with the damage he sustained. When Naroq questions him about the cloaking frequency, Tuvok has a flashback but cannot remember any details. Soon, he becomes angry. After studying his personnel file and realizing how different he is from the Vulcan he used to be, Tuvok lashes out at Neelix.  Neelix realizes that instead of pushing Tuvok to be who he was, he should encourage him to discover who he can become. With this in mind, the two begin to have fun together. Tuvok discovers the joy of smiling and even tries his hand at baking desserts. When Janeway questions him again about the cloaking frequency, Tuvok cannot find the words to express what he saw. Instead, he draws it out in icing on his latest cake creation. Using that pattern, the Voyager crew begins scanning for the cloaking frequency.  Voyager discovers the hidden spacefaring civilization of the Ba'Neth, and Janeway demands information about their weapon. Once she threatens to transmit their coordinates to the Kesat, the Ba'Neth captain is willing to negotiate. However, he learns that Naroq is on board and prepares to fire. In a show of generosity, Naroq offers to give the Ba'Neth his photolitic converter in exchange for the information Voyager wants. After analyzing the weapon, the Doctor is able to devise a procedure that will restore Tuvok's Vulcan personality. Although he is quite fond of his crewmate's new demeanor, Neelix knows they need Tuvok at his post on the bridge more than they need a playmate. After the procedure, Tuvok resumes his logical and subdued manner, but he has learned to appreciate the word play of Neelix's riddles.

Torres does not appear in this episode

10/11/1999        Dragon's Teeth

Stardate: 53167.9

The alien from the Turei vessel tells Voyager that they are travelling in their under-space. Captain Janeway insists that they stumbled there by accident and she asks the Turei to help them get out of it. The Turei ship is able to push them out of the subspace. According to Voyager's calculations, it traveled 200 light years in just 2 minutes. Captain Janeway asks the Turei if they could negotiate passage through their under-space, in hopes of returning home to the Alpha Quadrant.  The Turei are not pleased with Captain Janeway's request and they tell Voyager to prepare to be boarded. Captain Janeway refuses and the Turei ships begin to power their weapons. Voyager is rocked by a round of weapons fire. Their warp drive is down and shields are only operating at 60 percent.  Captain Janeway leads Voyager to a hot planet with a dark, swirling atmosphere. As it begins its descent, the Turei back off. Voyager must land in order to repair its damage. As the ship moves closer to the planet, the crew notices a decimated and burnt-out megalopolis. Scans indicate that the civilization was destroyed from a bombardment of plasma-based weapons, 500 years earlier.  Faint lifesigns are also detected in a chamber beneath the surface. Janeway, Seven of Nine and Chakotay head into the chamber and discover stasis pods which each contain some kind of lifeform. Apparently, each pod was programmed for only five years. However, since 500 years have passed, some kind of failure must have occurred.  Without receiving Captain Janeway's permission, Seven of Nine activates one of the pod's reanimation sequence. The humanoid inside opens his eyes and is startled by the presence of the Voyager crew. His primary concern is to open up the other pod that is covered with dirt and debris. Unfortunately, he discovers that his wife didn't survive and he passes out.  The humanoid wakes up in Sickbay and he identifies himself as Gedrin of Vaadwaur. He tells Janeway that the subspace corridors belonged to the Vaadwaurs. It took them centuries to map out and they used the tunnels for exploration. As a result, their enemies combined forces and launched an attack. The Vaadwaur designed the stasis network out of desperation in hopes of saving their culture.  Again, the Turei begin to fire plasma charges from up above. Gedrin then remembers that the Vaadwaur have a satellite directly above the city. Voyager uses the satellite to get a lock on one of the Turei vessels and launches a torpedo. It is a direct hit and the remaining Turei ships move off.  In exchange for subspace corridor passage, Voyager decides that it will help Gedrin and his people fight their way off the planet against the Turei. They wake up the rest of the Vaadwaur and reactivate their ships. Captain Janeway and Gedrin decide that while the Turei try to anticipate when Voyager will break for orbit, the Vaadwaur ships will head in the opposite direction. Then, Voyager will fire at the Turei and follow the Vaadwaur into the subspace corridor.  However, the Vaadwaur decide that they will take over Voyager since they could survive comfortably aboard. In the meantime, Neelix is suspicious of the Vaadwaur and their true intentions. Captain Janeway also doesn't completely trust the Vaadwaur. Her skepticism is confirmed when the Vaadwaur vessels begin heading for Voyager instead of orbit. Voyager lifts off in hopes of escaping the Vaadwaur attacks.  Gedrin tells Captain Janeway that he can stop the rest of the Vaadwaur by taking the remaining ships off-line. The Vaadwaur now have no choice except to retreat into a subspace corridor.

17/11/1999        One Small Step

Stardate: 53292.7 - 53301.2

An unidentified object closely follows Voyager. Seven of Nine identifies the phenomenon as a huge mass of subspace energy that is attracted to objects that emit electromagnetic energy. In order to avert the graviton ellipse, which travels through subspace, Voyager must cut power and reverse their shield polarity.  After a successful aversion, Chakotay and Paris remind Captain Janeway of a similar phenomenon back in 2032, in which a command module from one of the early Mars missions was consumed by a rolling ball of deadly energy.  Captain Janeway decides to launch a search for the missing U.S. spacecraft trapped inside the energy field. She instructs Seven to join both Chakotay and Paris, as they hunt for the legendary Ares IV, the command module from the first manned mission to Mars. Janeway hopes that Seven will develop an appreciation for studying the past.  Before they leave on the Delta Flyer, Chakotay and Paris view NASA's footage, which recorded the last seconds of Lieutenant John Kelly's life within Ares IV. The Delta Flyer finally enters the mass of energy, but not before encountering excessive turbulence. Once inside, asteroid fragments and pieces of captured vessels come into its view.  The exploratory crew has approximately five hours before the energy ball heads to another subspace. However, back on Voyager, Torres discovers that a dark matter asteroid is heading straight for the mass of energy. With only minutes to spare, Captain Janeway immediately instructs the Delta Flyer to break out. Chakotay goes against the Captain's orders and decides to try to bring the module back with them. Unfortunately, the weight of the Ares IV inhibits their swift escape, and the Delta Flyer is unable to make it out in time without being affected by the meteroid's impact.  Chakotay has been knocked unconscious and the Delta Flyer is badly damaged. With their engines down and their shields off-line, Chakotay, Seven, and Paris now only have two hours before the mass of energy returns to subspace.  Finally, Voyager is able to re-establish contact with the Delta Flyer. Seven is clearly dissatisfied with Chakotay and his decision to disobey the Captain's orders. After discussion with the Voyager crew, their only hope is to beam Seven over to the Ares IV to obtain its ion distributor in order to supply power for the Delta Flyer. Before Seven is beamed over to Ares IV, Chakotay asks her to download whatever she can from the module's database.  Once inside the Ares IV, Seven enters the cockpit where she sees the body of John Kelly still strapped in his chair. Seven brings the main computer online, and a monitor immediately comes on which contains an active datafile. Chakotay asks Seven if she could playback the video log entries for them.  The video entries reveal that John Kelly was not killed on impact with the mass of energy. Instead, he lived for many more days until his life support system ran out. Due to power failure, the module was unable to escape. John Kelly saw other spacecraft within the mass and discovered before his death that the human race was not alone.  Seven is successfully able to obtain the distributor. She also decides that she will beam John Kelly's body with her back to the Delta Flyer. With only minutes to spare, the power conversion is activated. Voyager gets as close as it can to the mass to help rescue the Delta Flyer as the ball begins to retreat into subspace.  Luckily, the Delta Flyer makes it out just in time. Back on Voyager, Captain Janeway and the rest of the crew pay their respects to Lt. John Kelly and they release his body into space. Seven is able to acknowledge that John Kelly's contribution helped secure humanity's future.

24/11/1999        The Voyager Conspiracy

After encountering gravitation fluctuations, Captain Janeway hails an approaching ship and meets its captain, Tash. He is working on a catapult vessel, hoping to launch himself hundreds of light-years away. If Tash's plan succeeds, it may shave years off the U.S.S. Voyager's journey. Meanwhile, Seven of Nine has installed a cortical processing subunit in her regeneration alcove, allowing her to assimilate the ships status reports. Upon downloading data on Tash's work, she informs Janeway that his catapult is the same technology that was used to trap them in the Delta Quadrant.  Five years ago, when Voyager was caught in the displacement wave that sent it 70,000 light years off course, a tetryon beam was responsible. Now, Seven has discovered that a tetryon reactor is powering the catapult. Although the Voyager crew believes they destroyed the reactor, Seven finds out otherwise. Data shows a charge Tuvok fired tore an opening in subspace, and a tractor beam from a cloaked ship pushed the reactor into it. Seven alerts Chakotay to her startling conclusion that Voyager was stranded in the Delta Quadrant on purpose and Janeway is behind it.  Seven believes the captain is part of a Federation conspiracy to establish a military presence in the Delta Quadrant. Suddenly, Janeway's diplomacy begins to look suspiciously like establishing tactical infrastructure. Seven believes the captain intends to use the catapult to bring more ships from the Alpha Quadrant, creating a Federation/Cardassian invasion force. When Tash makes a successful journey of 100 light years using the apparatus, Chakotay secretly delays Voyager's shield modification to give him more time to consider Seven's theories.  Seven returns to her alcove to assimilate for more information. After her latest download, she summons Janeway and alerts her that Chakotay is part of a Maquis rebellion. She believes he intends to use the catapult to launch attacks against the Federation and Cardassian ships. Janeway is doubtful, but Seven presents compelling theories, using some of the same evidence she used to cast aspersions on Janeway, but drawing different conclusions.  When Janeway and Chakotay compare notes, they realize Seven has been filling both of their minds with paranoid theories. Once the Doctor runs a diagnostic on her alcove, he finds that Seven has downloaded more information than she can process. Janeway beams to the Delta Flyer, which Seven is using to make a paranoid escape, and uses her own version of past events to convince Seven that her synaptic patterns are in chaos. They return to Voyager, and Seven is treated in sickbay.

01/12/1999        Pathfinder

Back on Earth, Lieutenant Barclay becomes obsessed with making contact with Voyager. During his project to contact Voyager, Barclay becomes consumed with the holographic recreations of the Voyager crew. Barclay seeks advice from his old friend from the Enterprise-D, Counselor Troi, who helps him deal with his growing problem.  Barclay is standing alone on the re-creation of the Voyager bridge, until he is interrupted on the viewscreen by his boss, Commander Peter Harkins. Harkins reminds Barclay of his duty to finish the transmitter diagnostics, so Barclay immediately ends the program as the bridge disappears.  Barclay then suggests that the team try to use an approaching itinerant pulsar in order to make contact with Voyager. By directing a tachyon beam at the pulsar, Barclay believes that it will produce a surge powerful enough to create an artificial wormhole, thus establishing two-way communication with Voyager. However, Harkins tells Barclay that they need to instead be focusing their time on Admiral Paris' visit and briefing.  Later that night when everyone has gone home, Barclay decides to once again activate the hologrid. He enters the holo-mess hall and sits down to play cards with holo-Paris, holo-Chakotay and holo-Kim. Barclay is confident and relaxed among the holographic crew and he tells them that they are his best friends. The next day, Barclay finds himself in the holo-Sickbay where the holo-Doctor tells him that he is an invaluable member of the crew. Then in the holo-mess hall, Kim and Paris both want to hang out with him. Barclay responds by telling his holo-friends that there is plenty of him to go around.  Back in the research lab, Harkins is briefing Admiral Paris and the other Starfleet Officials on the last known position of Voyager. Against Harkins' wishes, Barclay interrupts and begins telling Admiral Paris about his wormhole theory. Harkins is so upset with Barclay that he sends him home for the rest of the day. However, instead of following orders, Barclay enters the holo-briefing room and asks his holo-friends for technological advice. Janeway offers Barclay a team to help him work out the details.  Then, Harkins enters the lab and discovers that Barclay has created holograms of the Voyager crew. Harkins suggests that Barclay needs counseling because he has struggled with holo-addiction in the past. In the meantime, Harkins decides to take Barclay off of the Voyager rescue project.  Defying orders, Barclay goes to Admiral Paris' office where he asks him for access to the lab for one more day. If he is wrong about his theory, Barclay promises to resign from his position. Admiral Paris only agrees to order an independent review of Barclay's findings. If others agree that his idea is valid, then he'll order Commander Harkins to pursue his claim.  Back at Barclay's apartment, Troi expresses concern for Barclay's anxiousness and paranoia. Barclay begs Troi to tell the Admiral that he is psychologically fit to return to work. Barclay admits that he has created a new family since he left the Enterprise, however, the family he has created is not real. Troi tells Barclay that she has requested a temporary leave of absence from the Enterprise so she can stay a while longer.  That night, Barclay once again defies order and heads to the research lab. His code is de-authorized, so he manipulates the computer to get inside. Once in the lab, Barclay accesses the MIDAS Array, directs a tachyon beam toward the pulsar to open a micro-wormhole, and sends a message to Voyager in hopes of getting a response. Suddenly, Harkins enters the lab and instructs Barclay to step away from the controls. Instead of following orders, Barclay tells the computer to transfer control to the hologrid.  Barclay tells holo-Tuvok that there are two security guards after him, and he orders the computer to trap them with a forcefield. While Harkins works on shutting down the program by simulating a warp core breach, Barclay continues to work on making contact with the real Voyager through the wormhole. Harkins and two other guards catch up with Barclay on the holo-Bridge, where holo-Janeway alerts the crew to the presence of intruders. Barclay immediately commands a forcefield, which prevents Harkins and the guards from reaching him, while he begs for more time. However, the holo-Voyager is about to self-destruct, so Barclay voluntarily ends the program and gives himself up.  Meanwhile on the real Voyager, Seven of Nine has detected an artificial micro-wormhole whose origin is in the Alpha Quadrant. Janeway immediately instructs Paris to lay in a course toward the range.  Back in the Pathfinder lab, just as Harkins asks Admiral Paris what he should do with Barclay, they receive a response from Voyager. Janeway and Admiral Paris are able to converse briefly and he tells her that they are doing everything in their power to bring Voyager back.  Harkins apologizes to Barclay for ever doubting him, and Admiral Paris announces the beginning of "Project Voyager." Meanwhile in the Delta Quadrant, the Voyager crew toasts Barclay, even though they don't personally know him, for his extraordinary efforts. Back on Earth, Troi congratulates Barclay, and he tells her about the woman he's started dating.

12/01/2000        Fair Haven

Harry Kim and Tom Paris create a new holodeck program, which is set in the Irish village of Fair Haven. However, the crew of the U.S.S. Voyager soon learns that the vessel is headed on a collision course with an interstellar hurricane. While the crew prepares for the approaching impact, Captain Janeway grants permission for the new holodeck program to have a 24-hour open door policy to keep the crew's mind off of the looming threat.  Janeway also visits Fair Haven, where she spends an evening with Michael Sullivan, a local bartender. Because she is so drawn to him, she decides to make a few modifications to his subroutine. She also tells him that her name is Katie.  The hurricane arrives, but thankfully the vessel is able to clear its heaviest portion. However, Voyager must spend at least three days inside the storm. During much of that time, many of the crewmembers return to the holographic creation. While spending more time with Michael, Janeway discovers that her amendments were almost too good to be true, because she finds herself falling in love with him. Instead of meeting him the next day as promised, Janeway doesn't show up. Michael is confused and upset and he demands that Paris tell him where she is.  The storm causes problems for the ship's systems and all power is diverted to the tractor beam. Thankfully, Voyager successfully makes it out of the hurricane. However, the holodeck program has been damaged and it must be shut down temporarily while it is repaired.  Before the program is momentarily put to rest, Janeway tells Michael that she is leaving Fair Haven for a while. Even though she cannot give him a definitive reason why, Michael still reveals his love for her. She ends the holodeck program and instructs the computer to deny Captain Janeway any future access to Michael's behavioral subroutines.

19/01/2000        Blink of an Eye

As the U.S.S. Voyager approaches a planet with extremely high revolutions, the ship enters a gravometric gradient, pulling it into orbit. A tachyon core has created a space-time differential, meaning that a second on Voyager is a day on the planet. On the planet, much time has already passed since the initial sighting of the "star" which was believed to be a deity.  When Seven of Nine receives a transmission from the planet, the message, now centuries old, tells the crew they have insinuated themselves into the planet's mythology. For centuries, this pre-warp society has endured ground shaking brought about by this "sky ship." Unwilling to throw their civilization's belief system into chaos by making first contact, Captain Janeway sends the Doctor on an undercover mission to gather clues that may help Voyager break orbit. His holomatrix will be unaffected by the differential. As Janeway prepares to beam him back, she loses his signal.  Once they recover the Doctor, three years have passed on the planet. He alerts Janeway that Voyager has encouraged much invention through the centuries. The inhabitants are in a space race to make contact. Using the Doctor's data to realign thrusters, the crew attempts to break orbit, but stops when it increases seismic activity. A shuttle from the planet docks on Voyager, and the visitors find the crew in what appears to be a metabolic stasis. Because of the time differential, they are seeing less than a second on board the ship, causing them to think the crew is not moving. When Janeway resumes motion, the visitors have collapsed on the bridge.  The surviving pilot explains that he has grown up in awe of the "sky ship," even praying to it as a child. Although any time he spends on Voyager means losing years of his life at home, he agrees to help them interpret the Doctor's data and find a way to break out of orbit. As Seven scans the planet's surface, she detects that they are now experimenting with warp technology. Soon, Voyager is under attack from antimatter torpedoes.  Janeway sends the pilot back to his planet with Voyager's specifications, hoping that he can convince his people to find a way to help them break orbit. After several more attacks, but more than a year since the pilot returned to his planet, two ships materialize next to Voyager and use a tractor beam to pull it out of orbit. Using a temporal compensator his planet has devised, the pilot returns to Voyager one more time to say goodbye before the "sky ship" is gone forever.

26/01/2000        Virtuoso

Stardate: 53556.4

While the crew of the U.S.S. Voyager helps a Qomari ship make repairs, the Qomar on board thumb their noses at the crew's inferiority. They live in a closed system and are not well-versed in social interaction. Nor are they familiar with singing, which the Doctor does as he tends to their medical needs. The visitors are quickly enthralled with the Doctor's voice and invite the Voyager crew to visit their nearby planetary alliance. As a goodwill gesture, Captain Janeway arranges a musical concert starring the Doctor, of whom the Qomar cannot seem to get enough.  After a recital, the Doctor is invited to perform on the Qomar planet and introduce the concept of music to all of its inhabitants. He excitedly agrees and plans a dazzling operatic performance complete with costumes and an elaborate set. Tincoo assures him she will make any arrangements he may need and is baffled by his crew's seeming lack of appreciation of his talents. As he steps onto the stage, he receives a standing ovation from the packed stadium.  Following the Doctor's latest concert, Voyager's communication system is inundated with transmissions to the maestro. Seven of Nine mistakes it for attempted sabotage, but Janeway explains that the correspondence is just fan mail. Qomari visitors flood the ship for a chance to see him, and the Doctor is pleased with the attention. Janeway is eventually annoyed by his neglect of his duties and admonishes him to get back to work. Tincoo urges the Doctor to stay on Qomar with her after Voyager leaves.  Believing he can realize his life dreams and enjoy the love of a woman, the Doctor turns in his resignation. Despite Janeway's protests, the Doctor insists he should have the right to self-determination. His life on Voyager becomes routine and he believes that the Qomar really appreciate him for who he is and his ability to bring music to their lives. As the Doctor says goodbye to the crew, Tincoo summons him. She has created a superior holomatrix that can hit the high notes the Doctor cannot reach and explains that he is no longer needed on their planet.  Although the Doctor protests that a superior holomatrix cannot replace the passion and artistry that he brings to the music, Tincoo only sees the situation from a mathematical angle. She is more concerned with hitting the scales than understanding their beauty. Heartbroken, the Doctor fills his final show with the melancholy of lost love. Afterwards, the holomatrix steps in with a purely technical performance, which the Qomar applaud wildly. Back on Voyager, the Doctor realizes he has friends there who do truly appreciate him as an individual with unique abilities.

02/02/2000        Memorial

Having returned from a two-week away mission of scanning planets and gathering dilithium ore, Chakotay, Tom Paris, Harry Kim and Neelix begin experiencing strange visions. While Tom dreams he is engaged in an alien battle, Harry has an anxiety attack during a routine check of a plasma leak. Meanwhile, Chakotay suffers from violent dreams that put him in the middle of an offensive, and Neelix, reacting to the weapons fire he is hearing in his head, takes Naomi hostage in the mess hall.  Once the Doctor runs some tests, he discovers the increased engrammatic activity of Chakotay and the others suggests they are reacting to memories, not delusions. As Janeway asks them to retrace their mission, they begin having flashbacks of their roles in an attack force against the Nikon. Commander Saavedra ordered them to evacuate the Nikon from their remote colony, but a small group of the colonists began firing weapons. Chakotay and the others on the force panicked in the ensuing chaos and shot back, murdering 82 civilians in the process.  Trying to piece together the puzzle, Janeway orders Voyager into the system the away team was scanning and joins Seven of Nine in reviewing the Delta Flyer's sensor logs. As soon as the Captain sees Tarakis, the second planet encountered by the away team, she also begins having flashbacks of the massacre. She remembers pleading with Saavedra to admit their mistake, but he continues to vaporize the evidence of the colonists' bodies. When she wakes up later in sickbay, Janeway learns that other crewmembers have also begun experiencing the battle memories.  The Captain sets a course for Tarakis. Once Voyager is in its orbit, Harry picks up a weak power signature from the planet. Janeway, Chakotay, Tom, Tuvok and Harry beam to the surface, but there seems to be no trace of a massacre. Soon, however, Harry locates a familiar rock formation, and he and Tuvok descend into the tunnels where he remembers killing two of the innocent colonists. After Tuvok scans their remains, he determines that they died 300 years ago. Meanwhile, Janeway and Chakotay find a large structure erected in the middle of a grassy field.  Seven identifies the structure as a synaptic transmitter sending neurogenic pulses throughout the system. Anyone who enters will experience the memories of the battle — a memorial to the victims and a vivid reminder to never let such a tragic mistake happen again. Because the power cells are deteriorating, the memories are fragmented. The crew, still shaken by the disturbing realism of the visions they were forced to endure, wants to shut down the transmitter, but Janeway orders them to recharge the power cells. The memorial will continue to spread its hauntingly effective message.

09/02/2000        Tsunkatse

53477.2 - 53529.4

While on shoreleave, Chakotay and Torres attend a Tsunkatse match in a nearby alien world. In the meantime, Captain Janeway is off touring a planet in a neighboring system. However, before Chakotay can attend another match, he first must get another crewmember to cover his duties.  Meanwhile, Seven of Nine and Tuvok ask Chakotay if they can study a micro-nebula on an away mission. Chakotay grants them permission, telling them that they can spend their shoreleave in whatever manner they choose.  While in the shuttle, Seven of Nine and Tuvok are captured by an alien vessel. An alien named Penk welcomes Seven of Nine to Tsunkatse, telling her that she is going to be a very popular attraction. Seven demands to see Tuvok, who was injured when their shuttle was hit.  While attending to Tuvok, Seven of Nine tells Penk that she has no intention of participating in his game. However, Seven agrees to fight for Tuvok in exchange for his medical care.  Back on Voyager, Chakotay, Kim, Paris and Torres engage in a conversation about boxing and fighting matches. And the Doctor tries to get Neelix to go with him to the Norcadian Museum of Entomology instead of attending the Tsunkatse matches with Chakotay.  At the match, Chakotay, Kim, Paris and Neelix are shocked to discover that Seven of Nine, dressed in an alien fight suit, is the challenger of the Tsunkatse match. Seven tells her opponent in the ring that she doesn't want to fight. Meanwhile, Chakotay leads the others through the crowd, struggling to get closer to the pit.  From Voyager, Torres calls Chakotay looking for an update on the match. Chakotay tells her what's going on and instructs her to beam Seven out. However, Torres is unsuccessful because she thinks that Seven's lifesigns are masked somehow.  Torres tells Chakotay that the figures in the pit are photonic, or holographic projections that are being transmitted from a different location. Drawing back his arm, the Champion swings at Seven who falls to the ground.  In the meantime from the Delta Flyer, Captain Janeway asks Chakotay and Torres for an update. And while Seven of Nine is nursing her injuries, Penk tells her that he is entering her in the Red Match, where only one of the opponents leaves the ring alive. Penk's sidekick The Hunter promises to train Seven for the match. He reminds her that there are no individuals in Tsunkatse, only prey.  Continuing the effort to rescue Seven of Nine, the Norcadian Ambassador tells Neelix that he will begin an immediate investigation. However, Neelix is not convinced that the Ambassador has nothing to do with the fact that friendly aliens are being forced to compete in Tsunkatse matches against their will.  Torres tells Chakotay that they were having trouble isolating the source of the transmissions because they never seemed to be coming from the same place. They realized that the transmissions are emanating from a ship that is protected from neutronic weaponry.  Back on the alien ship, Seven is instructed to rest before her match. Just as the match is about to begin, Seven is shocked when The Hunter enters the ring. The Hunter tells Seven that he was training her so that she could kill him and give him an honorable death.  Meanwhile, Voyager finally tracks down the Tsunkatse Vessel. Chakotay tells Penk that they only have 30 seconds to return Seven and Tuvok before Voyager begins firing. Back in the ring, Seven tries to convince The Hunter that they both should refuse to fight. Voyager and the Tsunkatse Vessel begin to exchange fire, allowing the crew to beam Tuvok over. However, they are unable to get a lock on Seven's individual positioning, and instead beam both Seven and The Hunter onto Voyager.  Back on Voyager, Paris instructs The Hunter to step away from Seven. Chakotay tells The Hunter that a Hirogen hunting party has agreed to meet with them. The Hunter discloses his gratefulness to the crew and tells them that he plans to look for his son.

16/02/2000        Collective

Chakotay, Kim, Paris and Neelix are taken hostage when the Delta Flyer is captured by a Borg Cube. However, it is inhabited by a small group of Borg children who were left behind, unworthy of assimilation. The underdeveloped Drones attempt to assimilate their captives, while Captain Janeway sends Seven of Nine to negotiate.  After the Delta Flyer is intercepted by a Borg Cube, Chakotay, Paris and Neelix find themselves placed in what appears to be an assimilation chamber. However, Kim is not with them. A dead body lies on a table in the center of the room. It's partly Borgified and its face and arm are covered with implants that appear crudely inserted.  Meanwhile, Voyager discovers that the Borg Cube's propulsion system is off-line. The Cube first targets Voyager's warp core and then moves to its impulse engines. While the Cube's attack strategy is erratic and inefficient, Voyager capably disables the Cube's weapons. Seven discovers that there are only five signatures, instead of thousands of Borg, manning the vessel.  The Borg will return the crewmembers in exchange for Voyager's navigational deflector. However, Voyager will be unable to go to warp without it. Seven tells Janeway that the Borg most likely want Voyager's deflector in order to contact the Collective because their own is damaged.  While stalling the Borg, Janeway tells them that she is sending Seven over to make sure that her crewmembers are unharmed. Aboard the Borg Cube, Seven discovers that it is manned by neonatal Drones, or children, who have not matured long enough. The children insist that the Borg will come for them once their link is re-established.  Seven returns to Voyager along with a dead body of an adult Drone. She tells the Borg children that it must be examined in order to establish what went wrong aboard the ship. The Doctor discovers that a spaceborne virus attacked the Drones and is responsible for their deaths. The virus never reached the developing drones because they were protected within the maturation chambers. Malfunctions caused by the deaths of the adults led several chambers to open prematurely. The Doctor also discovers that if the pathogen is revived, it could be used to neutralize the Drone children.  Because Voyager cannot give up its deflector, Janeway offers Seven's services in repairing the Cube's technology. One of the Borg children tells Janeway that she has exactly two hours before one of the hostages dies. Meanwhile, Kim wakes up after lying unconscious within the Delta Flyer and attempts to contact Voyager. And while speaking with the Borg children, Seven tries to jostle their memories in hopes that they will turn away from the Collective and come aboard Voyager.  While working on the Cube's repairs, Seven discovers that the Collective did receive the Drones' initial distress call and that they never dispatched a vessel to rescue them. The Collective declared the neonatal Drones irrelevant and damaged, severing their link to the Hive permanently. However, the Drone children were unable to decrypt this message, which stated that they are unworthy of re-assimilation. Meanwhile, Kim is captured and he awakes to raw-looking implants on his face.  By this point, one of the boy Drones becomes so frustrated that he insists that Voyager turn over their deflector immediately. Seven tells the Drone children that the Hive will never come back for them and that their call for help was ignored.  Meanwhile, Voyager works to beam the hostages back by emittiing an energy pulse over the Borg Cube. Tuvok successfully beams Chakotay, Paris and Neelix onto Voyager. However, Seven and Kim are being held in a shielded area of the Cube.  Angered, one of the boy Drones shoves tubules into Seven's neck. However, another boy Drone pulls him away from Seven. As the Cube's transwarp core begins to destabilize, Seven instructs evacuation. However, the first Drone boy refuses to leave and he is shocked and is knocked to his feet. Seven comforts him while he dies.  Back on Voyager, The Doctor successfully removes the children's implants. Seven was able to salvage part of the Cube's database, which includes the children's original assimilation profiles. Thus, the children discover that their names are Icheb, Mezoti, Azan, and Rebi.

23/02/2000        Spirit Folk

The city of Fair Haven is set within 19th-century Ireland. While driving along a road, Tom Paris crashes his vintage automobile. Seamus Driscol, one of the townsfolk, cannot believe his eyes when he sees Paris' tire magically repair itself. He immediately heads to Sullivan's Pub, and tells its inhabitants that he believes Tom is from the spirit world.  Back in town, Kim and Maggie are walking together and holding hands. Meanwhile, they are unaware that Seamus and Milo are watching their every move. Just as the two are about to kiss, Paris plays a trick on Kim by morphing Maggie into a cow in a holographic effect. Kim can hear Paris laughing, just as they are instructed through a com call to return to the bridge.  Seamus tells his priest exactly what he saw. Acting as his priest, the Doctor tells Seamus that Tom Paris is a known prankster and that he is not to worry. Later that day, Seamus and Milo run into Maggie who tells them that she feels like she woke up from the strangest dream where she was walking around town with a bell around her neck.  Soon, the townsfolk gather and exchange similar stories. Michael Sullivan tells Katie that the townsfolk think that she and her friends are not from this earth. Because he believes that Katie is lying to him, Janeway decides to end the program. Back on Voyager, Janeway doesn't know how the holodeck characters could possibly be asking so many questions about their origin.  Back on Voyager, Paris instructs the computer to display all of Fair Haven's characters. Michael Sullivan appears and is suprisingly aware of his surroundings. Kim discovers that each characters' perceptual filters are off-line. The Voyager crew decides that they will repair the malfunction by accessing each of the characters' controls from Sullivan's Pub.  Back at Sullivan's Pub, Michael remembers being "spirited" away to an unknown place where there was talk of changing the people of Fair Haven. At the church, several of the townfolk begin to assemble and warrant their concerns. They storm into Sullivan's Pub, where Kim and Paris are working on the Starfleet control panel. Before the two can react, a net of red twine is thrown over them, knocking them to the ground. Milo suddenly fires his gun at the panel which causes sparks to fly. Paris instructs the computer to freeze the program, but since it is damaged only some of the animated townsfolk are frozen.  Paris and Kim are soon on the run with the mob of townsfolk following close behind. They instruct the computer to exit the program, but unfortunately their commands are unrecognized. Meanwhile on Voyager, Torres suggests cutting power to the hologrid. Although the inhabitants of Fair Haven are not real people, but rather holograms, Janeway possesses genuine feelings towards them.  Paris and Kim find themselves tied to chairs near the altar of the church. Reading from a thick, old book, Seamus demands the return of the prisoners to the otherworld. Nothing happens and Seamus instructs the others to tie the Doctor up as well.  Seamus hypnotizes the Doctor, asking him questions about banishing the spirit-folk to the "otherworld." The Doctor begins to tell them about Voyager, and Michael demands that he instruct him on how to be transported to Katie's location.  Janeway tries to explain to Michael that they are simply explorers that like to spend time in Fair Haven. Janeway and Michael both return to the holodeck, and Michael tries to calm the townsfolk down, insisting that the Voyager crew means no harm.  While the damaged holodeck is being repaired, the Voyager crew decides to have one last night at Sullivan's Pub before Fair Haven is temporarily put to rest. It is clear that Janeway and Michael have formed a special bond with one another, as Michael reaches and takes her hand.

01/02/2000        Ashes To Ashes

Stardate: 53679.4

As a tiny Delta Quadrant shuttle outruns a larger vessel, the shuttle's pilot tries to radio the U.S.S. Voyager. When she does contact Voyager, she claims she is Lyndsay Ballard, a former shipmate who has been dead for three years. Nobody on Voyager believes her story because she no longer looks human. She tells Captain Janeway and the crew that a Delta Quadrant race known as the Kobali had found her body drifting in space and reanimated it. The Kobali procreate by altering the DNA of the dead they salvage from other races. Her former best friend Harry Kim was with her when she died and believes her story based on the facts she gives about her death. The Doctor finds traces of human DNA in her, which convinces Janeway she is telling the truth.  Seven of Nine has been placed in charge of four Borg children that are onboard Voyager. She plans every hour of their day, including an hour for fun, and does not understand why the children are so rowdy. When the children do not play games according to the rules she makes them stand in a corner.  The Doctor creates a hypospray that can make Ballard look human again. She does begin to look more human, but the hypospray makes her feel sick. When she eats her former favorite meal, she claims that it tastes funny. As she returns to her post in engineering she begins to speak in Kobali.  Seven asks Chakotay if she can be relieved of her duty as guardian of the Borg children. Chakotay tells her that she is treating the children like they are on a Borg cube, while she should be treating each child as an individual. He denies her request.  The Kobali vessel that had been chasing Ballard makes contact with Voyager. The vessel's commander, Q'ret, asks to speak with Ballard. Q'ret asks Ballard to return to their planet. He tries to confuse her emotions by accusing the Voyager crew of setting her adrift like trash and telling her that her Kobali sister misses her. She refuses to go back.  As Kim talks with Ballard later, she admits that she does feel more at home with the Kobali now. Q'ret begins to fire on Voyager and insists he will not stop until Ballard comes back. When Kim attempts to return fire, Ballard tells him that she wants to go. Kim is sad, but lets her go.

08/03/2000        Child's Play

Captain Janeway tells Seven of Nine that one of the children Seven has been taking care of, Icheb, is going to have to leave the U.S.S. Voyager. Icheb is one of the four children that were liberated from the Borg collective. Voyager's crew managed to locate Icheb's parents and are planning to take him back to them. Seven is upset at this because she has come to think of Icheb as a son.  When they near Icheb's home planet, readings indicate there is a Borg transwarp conduit very nearby and the planet has been attacked by the Borg several times. When Janeway, Seven, Icheb and Tuvok beam to the surface, they meet the planet's inhabitants, the Brunali. They notice that most of the buildings are small huts and the Brunali tell them that have to keep things very low-tech or the Borg will detect them and attack the planet again. The only time the Borg attack is when they think they can get new technology.  When the away team is greeted by Icheb's parents, Luecon and Yifay, Icheb asks to go back to the ship. The away team and Icheb's parents all go back to Voyager and discuss how to make the transition easier but Seven begins to argue with the boy's parents. While onboard, Yifay makes Icheb's favorite meal, which he really enjoys. Leucon explains to Seven that the Borg took Icheb four years ago when he wandered off to see a new fertilization array. Leucon explains how sad he was when he lost the boy.  After spending time with his parents, Icheb decides to stay with the Brunali. He knows that his knowledge of technology can help them rebuild their villages. Seven is sad to see him go.  As Voyager leaves orbit from the planet, one of the three remaining Borg children, Mezoti, cannot sleep because she misses Icheb. As she talks about it with Seven, she mentions that Icheb told her he was taken from a ship, not from the planet's surface. Seven is curious why Leucon had lied to her and begins to research the planet. Her research reveals that the Borg did not attack the planet four years ago, so Icheb could not have been taken at that time. When Seven gives this information to Janeway, the Captain turns the ship around and heads back to the Brunali planet.  On the Brunali world, Icheb's parents grab him and inject him with an alien medical device. The device renders Icheb unconscious and his parents put him on a shuttle heading for the Borg transwarp conduit.  When Voyager returns to the planet, Leucon is defensive and tells them to leave. Harry Kim scans the planet for Icheb's life sign but does not find him. Seven discovers the shuttle heading for Borg space, and Voyager pursues. Seven manages to transport Icheb onto Voyager just as a Borg Sphere emerges from the conduit and traps both the Brunali shuttle and Voyager in a tractor beam. The crew transports a photon torpedo to the shuttle, which detonates inside the Sphere and damages it, allowing Voyager to escape.  The Doctor determines that Icheb had been genetically engineered at birth with anti-Borg pathogens. His parents had raised him specifically to infect the Borg and stop the attacks on their planet. The Doctor is able to suppress the anti-Borg virus, but Seven is not sure she will be able to help Icheb come to terms with what has happened. Seven trusts her maternal instincts and begins to help Icheb understand that on Voyager he has a family that loves him and will never let him go.

15/03/2000        Good Shepherd

Stardate: 53753.2 - 53764.3

Upon completing a routine shipwide efficiency analysis, Seven of Nine determines that three of Voyager's young crewmembers are unable to perform at acceptable levels. Normally after six months or a year, a crewmember that has been assigned to a starship will simply be reassigned to a less challenging Federation vessel if their limitations cannot be corrected. However, this is not an option since the three crewmembers are stranded in the Delta Quadrant on Voyager.  When Captain Janeway becomes aware of the situation, she decides to take the three young crewmembers on an away mission with her aboard the Delta Flyer. The first of the trio is Celes, an Astrometrics assistant who constantly has to have all of her work double-checked. Crewman Mortimer Harren has five advanced degrees in Theoretical Cosmology, but would rather spend his time down on Deck 15 and figure out the origin of the universe. Finally there is William Telfer, a Security Officer and hypochondriac who visits Sickbay weekly and is afraid of medication.  First and foremost, Janeway briefs the trio on their duties. Celes will be running an on-going sensor analysis and Harren will be looking for subspace particle decay which may offer new information about star formation. Meanwhile, Telfer will be on the lookout for any signs of life. Before they leave, Seven of Nine warns Janeway that an experienced crew would better serve the mission.  Not long into the mission, an invisible force suddenly strikes the Delta Flyer. Its propulsion has been knocked off-line and 90 percent of its antimatter has been neutralized. Harren suggests to Janeway that a comet-like assemblage of dark matter is responsible for the neutralization. Furthermore, he proposes that they eject their remaining antimatter in order to avoid another impact. However, according to Janeway, his theory is still an unproven hypothesis and she needs more convincing evidence.  Returning once again, Janeway decides to fire a photon torpedo at the force. Suddenly, the three crewmembers hear a humming sound and look on as Telfer begins to unexpectedly dematerialize and then disappear. Suddenly, he reappears and collapses to the floor and it appears as if something is writhing beneath his skin.  Janeway has no choice except to fire a phaser at Telfer when he reveals that the phenomenon is activating his motor neurons. As he struggles to stay on his feet, a stick-like, segmented entity extends out of an incision wound on his neck. The entity flings itself onto a console and attaches itself to the surface. Harren immediately aims the phaser, but Janeway instructs him to hold his fire. Ignoring the Captain's order, Harren fires and vaporizes the entity. Frustrated with Harren, Janeway suggests that the entity was simply trying to communicate with the crew.  Janeway decides to lead the Delta Flyer to a nearby planet where she hopes to reinitialize its warp core. Suddenly, a slow-moving swath begins to open up in the glowing particles of the planet's radiogenic ring. An unknown force is heading toward the vessel.  Janeway instructs her crew to get into the escape pods and to plot a course away from the planet. However, Celes tells Janeway that a crew never abandons its captain. Suddenly, Harren releases one of the escape pods and heads toward the swath while inside. Over the com, he tells Janeway that it will allow the Delta Flyer some extra time to make an escape. Janeway decides to go after the pod instead. Just a split second before it collides with the swath, the Delta Flyer's transporters lock onto the pod. The Delta Flyer then begins to fire phaser volleys at the glowing ring behind it, igniting a chain reaction of blazing, exploding light.  Suddenly, the Flyer begins to shake as bright light pours in the windows. The vessel is rocked hard and a blinding white light flashes outside the windows.  Next, a confused Janeway wakes up in Sickbay. Chakotay reports that Voyager received her initial distress call and found the Flyer drifting above a gas giant with everyone unconscious inside. Janeway tells Chakotay that the Good Shepherd went looking for a few lost members of her flock and ended up running into a wolf. However, in the end, the Good Shepherd did find them.

19/04/2000        Live Fast and Prosper

Stardate: 53849.2

Two aliens are part of a band of "con artists" who believe that they've stumbled upon the greatest scam of their careers: Impersonating Janeway and her senior officers. Using their new Starfleet identities, they move from system to system engaging in a series of lucrative deceptions. Eventually, the real Janeway and her crew are blamed for these deceptions when the con artists do not deliver the goods as promised. Ultimately, the Voyager crew must bring the imposters to justice.  Neelix and Paris remember that they met two clerics named Dala and Mobar three weeks earlier while on shore leave. Apparently while Neelix and Paris weren't paying attention, Voyager's entire database was downloaded from the Delta Flyer. As a result, Dala and Mobar were able to obtain the information they wanted in order to pose as Federation officers.  In an attempt to track down the con artists, Janeway asks Orek, a Telsian who has been cheated by Dala and Mobar, for access to the scans of the imposters' vessel in order to derive their warp signature. Meanwhile, Paris and Neelix are frustrated with themselves for being duped so easily.  Back on the bridge, Tuvok detects a vessel whose warp signature matches the imposter's ship they are looking for. There's a larger vessel alongside the imposters which belongs to Varn, another angry alien who also was duped by the two con artists. Dala tells Varn that their "mothership" Voyager has arrived to defend them. Varn's ship begins firing at Voyager. The starship is successfully able to strike Varn's ships with its phasers, and knock out the tractor beam holding Dala's vessel.  Janeway instruct Seven of Nine to transport everyone on Dala's vessel to Voyager. However, because Voyager's transporters are damaged, Seven is only able to beam Dala onto the ship. Aboard Voyager, Dala refuses to reveal a detailed account of everyone they cheated, as well as the location of the stolen property. Janeway instructs Tuvok to hail Telsian Security and tell them that they have a prisoner to turn over (pulling a scam on Dala herself by relating how barbaric Telsian prisons are). In actuality, Janeway doesn't want Tuvok to call the Telsians just yet because she wants Dala to sit and think for awhile first.  Neelix visits Dala in the brig and engages in a heart-to-heart conversation with her regarding her options. However, when Neelix turns the other way, Dala knocks him to the ground and grabs the phaser from his belt. She takes off running down a corridor and stuns Tuvok with the phaser. She climbs inside the Delta Flyer and immediately escapes at warp speed.  Dala catches up with Mobar and Zar, a third con artist posing as Chakotay, and asks them to beam her aboard. In the meantime, Paris has been hiding in the Delta Flyer. He activates the mobile emitter and the Doctor shimmers in. Paris and the Doctor successfully capture Dala and the Doctor then turns into Dala in holographic disguise. He beams himself to the bridge of the imposters' vessel and cleverly manipulates Mobar and Zar into revealing the location of their stolen loot. Meanwhile, Voyager is waiting in the wings, and the two remaining con artists are apprehended.

26/04/2000        Muse

Torres is slumped in the pilot's chair of the Delta Flyer. She has a wound on her forehead and she is unconscious. She had ordered Kim into the escape pod before the crash, but he is nowhere to be found. As Torres is coming to, she notices someone standing over her. It is Kelis, an actor and playwright on the L-Class planet, who is trying to heal her wounds. Torres, startled, jumps to her feet and questions his intentions. Kelis replies saying that he is her servant and she is his muse.  Kelis' intentions are to keep Torres on the planet as his inspiration. Kelis feels that Torres can inspire him to put together a play that will promote peace between the Warlord, his clan, and the rival clan.  Kelis further explains that the Warlord became insulted over a dowry offered by a patron from Kelis' clan. Kelis feels that the play may help the Warlord and the patron forget their anger.  Meanwhile back on Voyager, the crew is busy searching for Kim and Torres. Tuvok is very upset about the loss of his comrades. He has not slept in the eight days and exhaustion is starting to take its toll on him. Chakotay tells him that he can take over the search, but Tuvok sternly refuses.  Back on the L-Class planet Torres is trying to repair the ship, however the propulsion has died and the ship will not start. Kelis offers to help her in return for stories about the Voyager and its crew. He feels the stories will promote enough interest among the patrons that they will forget why they are fighting. He offers her food and supplies that she desperately needs. She reluctantly agrees to help Kelis.  It has been almost two weeks and Torres and Kelis have been rehearsing the play non-stop. They still do not have an ending to the show that is opening the following day. Layna, an alien actress portraying Torres in the play, has grown jealous of Torres' relationship with Kelis.  The night before the performance, Layna follows Torres back to the ship and confronts her. She threatens to expose Torres' real identity to the Warlord if Torres does not leave at once.  After Layna leaves, Kim appears through the window of the ship. Kim ran into turbulence and decided to turn around and follow Torres' signature. He tracked Torres' position with a tricorder. Kim has a Starfleet satchel that contains emergency rations such as a phaser and the escape pods emergency transmitter.  All the while, Kelis is preparing for the big night. He is waiting for Torres, but the patrons are growing impatient and he must start the show.  On Voyager, Tuvok is caught sleeping by Paris who decides it is time for him to take a break. As Chakotay enters to relieve Tuvok, they hear the messages sent by Kim and Torres.  While waiting for word from Voyager, Torres receives a note from Kelis implying that there will be a war if she does not help him come up with an ending to the play. He needs her for inspiration. Torres, feeling obligated to help Kelis, tells Kim she will be back and leaves for the play.  Torres enters the stage and begins performing an ending that she has come up with. She came up with a scene in which she and Kelis say good-bye because it is time for her to leave. Layna tries to sabotage everything by telling the Warlord that Torres is really an Eternal, but Kelis pretends that it is part of the play and that Layna is just playing the part of the jealous girlfriend. The Warlord loves the plot twist. The show is a success and there will be no war. Kim then beams Torres up and they return back to Voyager.

03/05/2000        Fury

Voyager receives a distress call from a small vessel, piloted by a much older and weathered Kes. Captain Janeway grants her permission to come aboard, but she comes in much too fast and the vessel collides with Deck 9. However, Kes beams herself aboard Voyager just before impact.  A cold and angry Kes uses her psychokinetic abilities to disable the ship's systems, giving off high levels of neurogenic energy that destroy everything in her path. Even a forcefield and a phaser shot from a security guard cannot stop her as she carves a path of destruction toward Engineering. Torres and Seven of Nine, shocked to see that the invader is Kes, train weapons on her, but the phasers ripple and distort in their hands. Kes steps up to the warp core and places her hands upon it. Just as Torres goes to shut down the core, she is struck by a tendril of energy. Seven rushes over to Torres' dead body, while Kes vanishes in a flash of light.  When Kes disappears, she travels backward in time to Voyager as it was five years earlier, only a few weeks since being pulled into the Delta Quadrant. Sneaking up behind the original Kes, the undetected Kes from the future injects her with a hypospray, rendering her unconscious.  The Janeway of this time period is concerned that another conflict may soon ensue with the Vidiians since two more ships have been detected on long-range sensors. On a secure channel, Kes from the future makes contact with the Vidiian captain. She tells him she will provide him with information necessary to capture Voyager, in return for her safe passage home to Ocampa.  Meanwhile, Tuvok seems to be experiencing premonitions. Stepping into a turbolift, he encounters a young girl who identifies herself as Naomi Wildman. Tuvok follows the girl into the Cargo Bay, and when the doors open he sees Seven of Nine and the Borg children from the future regenerating in Borg alcoves.  The Doctor confirms for Captain Janeway that Ensign Wildman is expecting a baby girl. Back in Engineering, Tuvok is once again having visions of the future. This time he experiences a fragmented replay of events when Torres is struck in the back with an energy tendril as a much older Kes looks on. Tuvok is brought to Sickbay where he begins to convulse upon the surgical bed. Janeway views the proximity scan of Tuvok at the time he collapsed in Engineering, and discovers there was a surge of tachyon particles. Since tachyons are normally generated by temporal distortions, Janeway concludes there's some form of time travel involved.  When Janeway orders the bridge crew to scan for tachyon particles, Voyager suddenly finds itself under attack by the Vidiians. The crew realizes the Vidiians know more than they should about Voyager, including when they would be coming out of warp, their shield frequencies and which systems to target. Chakotay detects a transmission originating in the Airponics Bay, where he picks up two bio-readings that both read as Kes. Janeway heads to Airponics with a Security team as the bridge crew tries to break off the grappling hook that the Vidiian ship has attached to Voyager's hull. Meanwhile the Vidiians have started boarding Voyager, and Janeway must evade them in order to enter the Airponics Bay.  She makes it, and confronts the Kes from the future. Kes tells Janeway she wants to rescue her past self, that she was taken from her home and made a prisoner on the ship, corrupted with ideas of exploration and discovery. She accuses the Captain of encouraging her to develop her mental abilities before she was ready, and now she would not be able to return home to Ocampa because her people would be frightened of her. Kes attacks Janeway telekinetically, but meanwhile Voyager breaks free of the Vidiian ship, and the resulting jolt leaves Kes off balance. Eventually Janeway is able to blast the future Kes with a phaser and kill her. When the Kes of the past recovers, Janeway asks her help to prevent something terrible from happening in the future.  When an older Kes hails Voyager again in the future, the crew is already prepared. This time Captain Janeway orders the warp core shut down completely. When Kes enters Engineering, the Kes from the past appears in a message that she recorded to herself five years earlier. She reminds the older Kes that she made her own choices, and that the people she came back to harm care about her. Janeway approaches and reminds her why she made that recording. She urges her to stay on Voyager, but Kes says she needs to be with her own people. Finally she remembers making the holo-recording, and her anger dissipates. Realizing she can go home after all, she transports back to her vessel after a brief and awkward reunion with Neelix.

10/05/2000        Life Line

When Earth's "Pathfinder Project" transmits its first block of data to Voyager, the Doctor receives disturbing news — Lewis Zimmerman, the creator of modern holography and the Doctor's program, is dying.  Hoping to save this "father" he never met, whose likeness he shares, the Doctor's program is transmitted back to the Alpha Quadrant.  Instead of being pleased with the Doctor's attempts to help, Doc Zimmerman is completely standoffish. Zimmerman tells the Doctor that he is simply a Mark One hologram. He has been examined by the Mark Two, Mark Three and Mark Four, in addition to the finest "real" doctors in Starfleet, and none of them have been able to help him. Barclay points out that the Doctor has been running almost continuously for six years and that he has seen things that most doctors couldn't even imagine. Zimmerman eventually becomes frustrated with all of the Doctor's questioning and he abruptly instructs the computer to transmit the Doctor to the living quarters.  Meanwhile, Barclay pleads with Counselor Troi to return from the U.S.S. Enterprise in order to counsel Doc Zimmerman. However, when she does show up, things seem to be worse between the two doctors. Troi tries to convince Zimmerman that the Doctor has developed a promising treatment.  While the arguing continues between the Doctor and Zimmerman, Barclay discovers a problem with the Doctor's program. His program is unraveling and there is nothing that Barclay can do because the damage is too severe. Zimmerman is the only one who can save the Doctor, but of course he refuses to help a "replaceable" computer program.  In an attempt to convince him to help the Doctor, Zimmerman's right-hand hologram Haley tells him that she will ask to be installed elsewhere unless he does something to save the Doctor.  Zimmerman successfully identifies an error within the Doctor's pattern buffer. Thankfully, the Doctor is able to stop him from changing his personality subroutine as well. In the process, the two seem to make peace with each other and Doc Zimmerman finally agrees to treatment.

17/05/2000        The Haunting Of Deck Twelve

Various crewmembers are making sure the power at their stations is shut down. The ship is sent into darkness as even the holographic doctor is turned off. As the power to the regeneration alcoves is removed, the four Borg children are awakened and confused.  The children find Neelix waiting for them with a plasma lantern, and inquire what is wrong with the ship. He does his best to encourage the kids to relax; telling them the shut down is only temporary.  As Captain Janeway instructs the last of the ship to be shut down, the Borg children gather around Neelix's lantern. As they try to guess what is wrong with the ship, they decide it must have something to do with the "ghost" that is said to haunt a sealed off section of Deck 12. Neelix wants to make sure their imagination does not get the best of them and proceeds to tell them the story of the last nebula Voyager traveled through.  As Neelix's story opens, Voyager is cruising into a nebula similar to the one that is responsible for the power shut down. Neelix is explaining his own over-active imagination to Tuvok while Voyager collects deuterium outside.  Kim notices the collection was destabilizing the nebula and Chakotay convinces Janeway to stop the extraction. A second before Voyager leaves the nebula, an electric bolt rocks the ship! The captain immediately begins scanning the ship for damage and injuries, gradually finding that most of the electrical systems are failing.  Various functions on board begin to malfunction when Janeway notices they are off course and returning to the nebula they just left. Down in the cargo bay, where Seven of Nine is working, the air begins to fill with colorful gas, similar to that of the nebula. When Seven attempts to escape the room, she is surrounded by a forcefield and knocked unconscious by an energy beam moving through the gas.  In another part of the ship, Kim orders Neelix to remain in the mess hall while the other officers go to their posts. As the others leave, the lights in the mess hall go out, leaving Neelix alone in the dark.  While trying to bring the engines back on line, Paris is attacked by the same energy surge that got Seven. When Janeway and Tuvok take him to see the Doctor, they find a now conscious Seven of Nine, having been rescued by Chakotay. When the captain learns what happened to Seven, she begins to figure out what the problem with the ship really is.  Still in the dark, Neelix hears a thumping noise and moves to investigate. He is frightened when he sees a monster in the hallway, but is relieved to find it's only Tuvok in a gas mask. Tuvok has Neelix follow him through a Jefferies Tube, heading to engineering where the others are waiting.  Captain Janeway realizes that she can talk to this new electric life form through the ship's computer as it instructs her to go to the Astrometrics Lab. The lab reveals that the nebula the alien came from is no longer there. Out of anger, the computerized voice commands the Voyager crew to abandon ship.  In the Jefferies Tube, Tuvok is attacked by the electricity and wounded. Facing his fears, Neelix gains the courage to drag Tuvok through the dark all the way to engineering.  Reluctantly, Janeway complies with the abandon ship order, evacuating the entire crew except herself, who remains, trapped by the electric being. Reasoning with the new life, she convinces it that she can take it to a new nebula if it gives her back control of the ship. The creature agrees and releases Janeway.  When Janeway gets her crew back on board, they seal the alien off on Deck 12. This ends the story Neelix is telling the Borg children. When a loud thud is heard, Neelix explains to the kids that it's the alien being released into the new nebula.  The kids are excited about his story, but some of them are afraid that the creature did not leave and will attack them in the regeneration alcoves. Neelix then tells the children that he made the whole thing up. On the bridge, Captain Janeway confirms that the electric life form is now safely outside, happy in its new home.

24/05/2000        Unimatrix Zero (Part 1)

Seven of Nine awakens from a "nap" in an uneasy state. She dreamed of a beautiful forest with trees and flowers. In this place people knew her as Annika and she was almost human. Seven is not used to "dreaming" so she is unsettled by the experience.  Paris, thinking he is being reprimanded by the crew for being late, is surprised by being awarded an Officer's Pip. He is then reinstated to Lieutenant by Captain Janeway.  Seven retires again to her alcove wearing the cortical monitor the Doctor gave her and closes her eyes. She finds herself back in the beautiful forest. She tells herself that this is "not real" when suddenly a voice is heard assuring her that it is. It is the voice of Axum, someone she has seen before in this environment. He calls this place Unimatrix Zero.  Axum explains to Seven that Unimatrix Zero is a place where the Borg Drones go during regeneration so they can exist as individuals. The Collective knows about this place but cannot find it. The Drones who visit Unimatrix Zero have the recessive mutation that the Borg Queen is trying to find and destroy.  Axum informs Seven that she used to visit Unimatrix Zero before she escaped the Collective. She too has the recessive mutation that only one in a million Drones has. Axum tells her that the Collective has found a way to detect them, so it is only a matter of time before they find enough of the Drones to isolate the interlink frequency and demolish Unimatrix Zero.  Axum begs Seven for her help, even though she is no longer a part of the Collective. Seven is their only hope because unlike her, after the Drones complete their regeneration they have no memory of Unimatrix Zero.  When Seven awakens she informs the crew of what she encountered. The Doctor confirms that she was not just having a dream, she never reached REM, therefore what she is telling the crew is real. Seven asks the Voyager crew for their help to save Unimatrix Zero.  Meanwhile, the Borg Queen is coming closer and closer to finding Unimatrix Zero. She has continued to dismantle other Drones in order to observe their parts and find a way into Unimatrix Zero.  Janeway feels that the crew should help, because it is a new aspect of the Collective and a potential weakness. They begin coming up with a plan to help the Drones.  Tuvok suggest a Vulcan technique known as the "Bridging of Minds," Janeway agrees. Janeway, Seven, and Tuvok will be hooked up to monitors. Tuvok will oversee their thoughts and Janeway will go with Seven back to Unimatrix Zero.  Upon their arrival they find Drones, sent by the Borg Queen, trying to destroy Unimatrix Zero. A battle ensues and Janeway defeats the last of the Drones. The Borg Queen has seen the fight through the eyes of a regenerating Drone and does not like what she sees. Janeway assures Axum that they will help defeat the infiltration of the Borg Queen's Drones into Unimatrix Zero.  Janeway and Seven begin working on a plan to help Axum and the others. The crew is trying to find a way to deploy a highly experimental "nanovirus" designed to target all the Drones with the recessive mutation and reprogram their memory centers. That way, when they leave their alcoves they will retain their memories. Janeway tells Seven to go back and reassure Axum that they are working on a plan and will be there as soon as they can.  Seven arrives at Unimatrix Zero and things have gotten worse, however the Klingons have banded together and are fighting off the Borg Queen's Drones. Axum confesses to Seven that they were involved before she escaped the Borg. They had promised not to leave one another, but as things got worse Axum insisted that she leave him behind and save herself. Although Seven feels familiar with Axum and Unimatrix Zero, she still does not remember what he is talking about.  Back on Voyager, Janeway is preparing to transform herself into a Drone in order to implement the nanovirus, Chakotay does not think it is a good idea. While they are arguing, the power beings to flicker and the command center becomes dark and foggy. The Borg Queen appears on the screen and threatens Janeway and her crew by informing them that she knows they have been in contact with Starfleet. The Queen informs Janeway that if she becomes involved with helping Unimatrix Zero, Voyager will have a difficult time making it home. Janeway does not back down, frustrated, the Borg Queen disappears and the crew knows they are going to have a fight on their hands.