121. Equinox, Part II
Captain Ransom and the U.S.S. Equinox have left Voyager behind to battle angry nucleogenic lifeforms, and have kidnapped Voyager's Doctor and Seven of Nine. Ransom tries to convince Seven to help them restore their enhanced warp drive, but she refuses because it would involve murdering innocent beings. Meanwhile, Janeway must convince the nucleogenic lifeforms that Voyager is on their side.

122. Survival Instinct 53049.2
In this episode, Seven of Nine is confronted with her past as a Borg. She has several flashbacks when other members from the group of Nine arrive on the ship.
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 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.

123. Barge of the Dead
After a near-death experience, B'Elanna Torres embarks on a journey to Klingon hell to restore her mother's honor. Her mythological adventure leads her to the "Barge of the Dead" where damned souls are transported to hell. There, B'Elanna must outwit the demons of the Klingon underworld to save herself and her mother's soul.
B'Elanna's shuttle runs into an ion storm upon her revenge 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.

124. Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy
In this episode, The Doctor experiences several different daydreams when he incorporates cognitive projection into his own program.
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 parts 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 Phylox 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. Phylox 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 instructs the release of his imaginary "photonic cannon," which destroys the Borg sphere.
Phylox 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 tels 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, Phylox 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 Phylox 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 alien attack, Phylox 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. Just as the alien vessel orders a type four assault, The Doctor instructs Chakotay to activate Voyager's phony "photonic cannon." Phylox reminds his commanders how the "photonic cannon" easily destroyed the Borg. As a result, the alien vessel retreats.

125. Alice
During a stopover at a space junkyard, Tom Paris convinces Chakotay to purchase a sporty space shuttle which Paris then constantly labors over to repair its extensive technology - but he's oblivious that the craft has assumed a sexy female persona that influences his mind to suit her own dangerous agenda.
Paris becomes addicted to "Alice," the loving name he bestows on the sleek shuttle that comes complete with an invasive personality capable of convincing him to cannabalize vital parts from the Voyager's systems to retrofit her own. In need of a pliant pilot to get to her destination, Alice tricks Paris into blasting off in the mini-ship while evading Janeway's desperate attempts to chase them.

126. Riddles 53263.2
During negotiations with the Kesat government, Tuvok is zapped by a powerful energy force, suffers severe neurological trauma and emerges as a mere shell of his former self while Janeway searches for the mythical species responsible for the attack in hopes of finding a cure.
While the optimistic Neelix keeps pushing to restore the mental prowess of the confused Tuvok, Janeway works with Naroq, a Kesat inspector, as they try to solve the enigma of the cloaking device used by the hostile Ba'Neth -- or "shadow people" --who seek Voyager's technical data. Even as the crew pursues the elusive Ba'Neth for a solution to Tuvok's misfortune, the suddenly vulnerable Vulcan discovers emotions he never could appreciate before.

127. Dragon`s Teeth 53167.9
Voyager suddenly begins to tremble. An enormous tunnel of energy filled with rushing debris and micro-meteoroids surrounds the ship. Voyager is racing through some kind of subspace corridor. Suddenly, an alien vessel flies past the ship and hails them.
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 decent, 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 occured.
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.

128. One Small Step 53292.7
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 Four, 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 Four. 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 Four 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 Four to obtain its ion distributor in order to supply power for the Delta Flyer. Before Seven is beamed over to Ares Four, Chakotay asks her to download whatever she can from the module's database.
Once inside the Ares Four, 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.

129. The Voyager Conspiracy
When Voyager encounters an alien whose space "catapult" can speed them back home, a data-overloaded Seven of Nine causes chaos when she incites a civil war then divides the crew with secret allegations of treachery and insurrection.
While Janeway debates accepting the use of an alien's technology that can cut their trip back to the Alpha Quadrant by years, an earnest Seven of Nine processes accompanying information and convinces Chakotay that the captain is sabotaging the true mission of Voyager. Likewise, she privately informs Janeway of a budding rebellion, mysteriously fanning flames that threaten to tear the ship apart.

130. Pathfinder
In this episode which takes place 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, 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 tries 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 so that she can stay a while longer.
That night, Barclay once again defies order and heads to the research lab. Manipulating the computer, he is finally granted access since his code is de-authorized. Once in the lab, Barclay opens a channel through the wormhole, looking for a response from Voyager. 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. While Harkins works on shutting down the program, the security guards find themselves trapped by a forcefield. In holo-engineering, Barclay continues to work on making contact with the real Voyager through the wormhole. Harkins and the two guards gain access to 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. However, it doesn't stop Harkins from shutting down the computer program, placing them back in the hologrid.
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.
The Voyager crew decides to toast Barclay, even though they don't personally know him, for his extraordinary efforts. Meanwhile back on Earth, Harkins apologizes to Barclay for ever doubting him and Admiral Paris announces the beginning of "Project Voyager."

131. Fair Haven
Captain Janeway and her crew enjoy some hard-earned leisure time in the holographic setting of a charming Irish village where she can't help falling for a ruggedly handsome townsman-but their holiday is darkened by an approching wave of deadly neutron radiation.
Created by Paris as a diversion for himself and his mates, sunny Fair Haven offers Janeway a deceptively realistic fantasy figure named Michael, whose physical and intellectual specifications are made to order for her. Soon, her attention is commanded by the trailing edge of a speedy wavefront that poses more of a threat than anyone knows.

132. Blink of an Eye
When Voyager becomes ensnared in the orbit of a strange, primitive planet - its energized core enables it to rapidly develop into a society with warp technology. So Janeway briefly transports The Doctor to the alien world, only to learn that the presence of Voyager has inspired invention among the society, which without warning, aims its own weapons at Voyager.

133. Virtuoso 53556.4
The Doctor's ego soars when Voyager engages an advanced but arrogant race which is entranced by the medical officer's passable singing talent, granting him instant rock-star status that tempts him to leave the ship for his legions of fans.
Janeway and the crew are perplexed by the effect that The Doctor's voice and variety of song selections have on such a superior alien culture as the Qomar. Millions of them mob his concerts, countless "fan mail" messages arrive and groupies abound, but one particular female Qomar catches the good Doctor's eye, and he ponders resigning his commission to stay behind.

134. Memorial
Having returned from a two-week away mission of scanning planets and gathering dilithium ore, Chakotay, Tom, Harry 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 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.

135. Tsunkatse 53447.2
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.

136. 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.

137. Spirit Folk
Problems begin to arise when Voyager runs a Holodeck program non-stop. Characters within the holographic re-creation of Fair Haven become suspicious of the Voyager crew when they begin to notice strange, otherworldly happenings.
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 howw 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 decids 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 damages 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 instructs 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 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.

138. Ashes To Ashes
To the shock and disbelief of the crew, their colleague, Ensign Lyndsay Ballard, returns to the Starship after having been killed on a mission long ago. Pursued by her alien Kobali abductors, whose reproductive system is centered on reanimation of the dead, she rekindles her former relationships with Janeway and the crew of the Voyager, hoping to reverse the effects of the alien genes implanted in her system.
Her old friendship with Lieutenant Harry Kim ignites and deepens until the moment in his quarters when she realizes the horror and extent of her Kobali genes. Harry's support and affection complicates Ballard's final decision as to whether she will remain human or return to the Kobali homeland with the alien family that loves her.

139. Child`s Play
Seven of Nine reveals her protective instincts for one of the former Borg children on board Voyager when the child's parents reclaim him and secretly place the boy on a suicide mission against their Borg enemies.

140. Good Shepherd
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.

141. 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 Nine. However, Kes beams herself aboard Voyager just before impact.
Aboard Voyager, a cold and angry Kes uses her psychokinetic abilities to disable Voyager's systems. Voyager is in red alert as Kes gives off high levels of neurogenic energy. A security guard fires a phaser at Kes as she heads toward Engineering. She is hit by the blast and when she recovers she screams in anger, causing the bulkheads around them to blast inward in an explosion of fire and debris.
Armed with phasers, Torres and Seven of Nine are shocked when the weapons ripple and distort in their hands. Kes places her hands upon the warp core. Just as Torres goes to shut it down, she is struck in the back 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. It's only been a few weeks since Voyager was 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.
Janeway 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. While walking down a corridor, he sees a young girl working a wall console that turns out to be Naomi Wildman. Tuvok follows the girl into the Cargo Bay, and when the doors open he sees Seven of Nine and the Borg Twins regenerating in their 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 is watching a fragmented replay of events that have already occurred in the future, 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 decides to view the proximity scan of Tuvok at the time he collapsed in Engineering. Apparently there was a surge of tachyon particles in Engineering just before Tuvok collapsed. Janeway suggests that tachyons are normally generated by temporal distortions, also known as time travel.
Chakotay discovers that tachyon readings are being emitted in Sickbay, the Airponics Bay and Kes' quarters. Suddenly, Voyager finds itself under attack by the Vidiians. Paris is shocked that the Vidiians know so much about Voyager, including when they would be coming out of warp, as well as their shield frequencies. Kim detects transmissions to the Vidiians originating from Voyager on Deck Ten.
The Vidiians have managed to board Voyager upon Deck Eight. Voyager's only chance is to explosively decompress that section of the ship. In a violent explosion, the Vidiian grappling pylon is blasted away from the ship.
Janeway and Kes from the future come face to face. Janeway instructs Chakotay to redirect all plasma flow on Deck Eleven to the Shuttlebay command console. Arcs of energy course up Kes' arms and into her body. She begins to convulse violently and then falls dead to the floor.
When an older Kes hails Voyager again in the future, the crew is already prepared. This time Captain Janeway shuts down the warp core completely. Kes from the past appears to the older Kes in a message that she recorded to herself five years earlier. She reminds the older Kes that she didn't always harbor so much anger toward the crew. Janeway tells her that the Voyager crew is not her enemy and that there is always room for her. However, according to Kes, there is no place for her anywhere. Altering the chemical composition of her body, Kes begins to dissipate and then vanishes.

142. Live Fast And Prosper 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. Voyager is successfully able to strike Varn's ships with its phasers, and knock out the tractor beam holding Dala's vessel.
Janeway instruct Seven 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.

143. 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 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.

144. Muse
Torres, on a mission with Harry Kim to find dilithium that may send the Voyager home, crashes the Delta Flyer and finds herself stranded on an L-class planet without the resources necessary to get back to Voyager.
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 her 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.

145. 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 twelve. 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 ships' 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 Voyagers crew to abandon ship.
In the Jefferies Tube, Tuvok is attacked buy 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 twelve. 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 it's new home.

146. Unimatrix Zero
When the Borg Queen discovers that some of the Drones have a recessive mutation that allows them to travel to a place where they become almost "human," she is determined to stop them.
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 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.

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