Post by magicmuggle01 on Dec 6, 2019 11:13:46 GMT
Captain Janeway takes her quest for revenge against Captain Ransom to extremes when she orders the use of photon torpedoes against the Equinox, tractors a neutral ship, nearly kills an Equinox crewman during an interrogation, and relieves Chakotay of duty when he questions her actions. (Season premiere)
Summary
An attacking nucleogenic lifeform knocks Captain Janeway to the deck, but she manages to dodge the thermionic radiation. Yelling for tactical control, she uses a deflector pulse to reinforce the shields – at least, temporarily. The aliens' attacks are halted, but damage has been done; Chakotay is unconscious, and there's no response from sickbay. Ensign Kim reports two casualties due to the alien attacks.
The USS Equinox, in the meanwhile, realizing that Voyager is under attack decides to maintain course and not charge to the rescue. With the multiphasic shielding in place, the aliens are staying clear.
Act One
Voyager bearing the scars of the
nucleogenic beings' attacks
Janeway, wandering the corridors of the USS Voyager, comes across the remains of an alien killed in the attack, before being handed The Doctor's mobile emitter by Neelix, who found the device on Deck 9. She takes it and reactivates the EMH back in sickbay, not realizing that it is the EMH program from the Equinox, whose ethical subroutines have been deleted. "The Doctor" explains that when he was taken hostage by the Equinox he deactivated himself to escape. He begins by treating Chakotay, whom Tom Paris has managed to stabilize. While Janeway insists that they focus their efforts on finding the Equinox, Chakotay argues that they need to stop the attacks by the aliens first. While they are debating, they are interrupted by the sound of the interspacial fissures, which indicate the presence of the aliens.
On the Equinox, Ransom tries to persuade Seven of Nine to stop resisting him and to become part of the crew, instead of spending her time in the brig for the remainder of the journey. Seven refuses to comply, however, telling him bluntly that he would be an inferior role model to her, and that Voyager made a mistake to trust him. While trying to treat Seven, Max Burke realizes that their EMH has left them a replacement, and activates The Doctor from Voyager. Seven and The Doctor realize they're stuck on the Equinox together.
Meanwhile, the Equinox prepares to activate their enhanced warp drive, using the aliens as fuel to get back to Earth within several months. However, just as the ship is accelerating, it stalls. The power relays to the modified injectors have been encoded – Ransom quickly realizes it must have been Seven of Nine. He tries to get her to give him the codes, but Seven refuses again. Burke suggests extracting the codes themselves if she won't give them. When The Doctor protests, Ransom simply deletes his ethical subroutines, and gets him to extract the information by any means necessary.
Harry and a nucleogenic lifeform
On Voyager, Chakotay and Harry Kim have come up with a way that may allow them to communicate with the lifeforms. Despite misgivings, they drop the shields around the bridge and send the message. An alien appears, flies over to Kim's station and shrieks unintelligibly at the ensign for a moment, then disappears into its realm. However, the shields are attacked again. Another deflector pulse is activated, but it loses power quickly. Janeway, who is growing more impatient, gives an order to repair the warp drive so they can pursue the Equinox. When Chakotay asks to take another shot at the message to the aliens, she rudely dismisses him. Over in the ready room, Chakotay tells Janeway that he understands her anger towards Ransom who has betrayed everything the Federation and the uniform they are wearing stands for, but that she cannot compromise the safety of this ship to satisfy some personal vendetta. She tells him that she appreciates his candor, but that even so, she is not going to stand for Ransom continuing to murder and torture another lifeform so he can get home faster. She vows to hunt him down no matter how long it takes, no matter what the cost and if he wants to call that a vendetta, then he can go right ahead.
Act Two
Ransom, who is hiding the Equinox in the atmosphere of a planet so they can make the repairs, checks in with The Doctor, who reveals that in order to access the information in Seven, he will have to remove her cortical array which contains an index of her memory engrams. By doing so, however, all of Seven's higher brain functions will be severely damaged. Ransom pleads with Seven to give him the codes, but she refuses. He says that doing this to her is not easy for him but that she leaves him no choice. Seven states that he uses that phrase quite frequently: destroying lifeforms to obtain his goals and then claim that they left him no choice. She stubbornly tells him that he will have to destroy her to obtain the codes. The Doctor proceeds.
"Captain's log, supplemental. Our warp drive's back online but repeated sensor sweeps have failed to locate the Equinox."
Chakotay is summoned to Janeway's ready room – she notes it's unlike him to submit recommendations in writing, holding up a PADD. Commenting on their last conversation he tells her that this was the only way he thought he could interact with her. However, Janeway refuses this suggestion, namely getting in touch with the Ankari, the race who introduced Ransom to the nucleogenic lifeforms, as well. She argues that this would take them 50 light-years off course and waste their time. She notes that from studying Ransom's service record, she found that he has the tendency to hide when he is being pursued. She asks Chakotay to use astrometrics to find likely hiding places, such as a nebula.
Voyager begins its attack on the
Equinox
Equinox, meanwhile, still in hiding in the planet's atmosphere which shields them from Voyager's sensors, continues repairs. Ransom sends Noah Lessing and Angelo Tassoni down to mine some dilithium while he takes a break to use his synaptic stimulator, a device which allows him to experience various alien vistas. The pair beams down, but is captured by a Voyager away team, Paris and Chakotay. On the bridge, the Equinox EMH tries to warn Ransom that Voyager has found them, and that they have polarized their hull to mask their approach. His communication gets cut off and Ransom orders for battle stations.
Act Three
Voyager launches a torpedo at
the Equinox
Voyager and the Equinox engage in a brief battle, Voyager taking the Equinox weapon systems off-line. Not willing to accept defeat, Ransom takes his vessel deeper into the planet's atmosphere at a 60 degree vector. Voyager follows, but has to retreat when the deflector, which they are relying on to protect the vessel against the lifeforms, begins losing power in its attempts to protect the vessel against the atmosphere. Equinox escapes to warp, while Voyager is forced to repair its primary systems first before being able to pursue.
Voyager chases the Equinox into
the thermosphere
Janeway interrogates Lessing, whom she has tied up on a chair in the cargo bay. She threatens to drop the shields in the room and let the aliens in if he doesn't tell her Ransom's tactical status. Getting nowhere with him, she goes outside with Chakotay, and drops the shields. Chakotay quickly realizes Janeway isn't bluffing, and asks her to stop what she is doing, that she is going too far; she insists that Lessing will break while Chakotay states that he won't. When she refuses to do so, he first tries to raise the shield but finds only Janeway can. He then goes in himself and rescues Lessing, saving him in the nick of time. Telling Lessing that he has proved his loyalty to his captain to himself, compromises and has him tell everything he knows on the Ankari. Janeway clearly disapproves, but doesn't interfere.
Janeway agrees to try and find the Ankari vessel less than 2 light-years away. When everyone else is dismissed from the briefing, however, she confronts Chakotay, telling him that even though in the past they had their disagreements, he still never openly opposed her. Chakotay argues that she almost killed Lessing today and that this wasn't about rules and regulations, but about right and wrong; upon warning her that he won't let her cross that line again, she relieves him of duty until further notice.
Act Four
Ankari summoning the
nucleogenic lifeforms
Voyager pursues an Ankari ship, but it does not respond to Voyager's hails. Not having the patience to pursue normal diplomatic channels, Janeway orders Tuvok to use a tractor beam on the ship. Tuvok objects as the Ankari ship had done nothing, but she yells at him to "just do it". The Ankari, who don't want anything to do with Voyager after what the Equinox did, are corrected in that Voyager did nothing wrong. The Ankari captain agrees to act as a translator for the "Spirits of Good Fortune," but states that Voyager's crew will have to be the ones to convince the lifeforms.
Voyager returns to its search for
the Equinox
Speaking with them in the cargo bay, the lifeforms demand the destruction of the Equinox as retribution. It turns out they can perfectly understand the crew; it is the crew that cannot understand them. Tuvok tries to persuade them that they will punish the Equinox crew in their own way, via imprisonment, but gets nowhere. The lifeforms don't believe they would harm their own kind. Janeway tells them the Federation has rules that the Equinox disregarded and unusually promises the lifeforms to deliver the Equinox to them if they stop their attacks on the Voyager. Now it is Tuvok's turn to object against Janeway's irrational behavior, reminding her the lifeforms will kill the Equinox's crew but Janeway makes him very much aware she's willing to confine him to quarters just like she did Chakotay. The lifeforms accept Janeway's offer.
The mysterious woman is
revealed to be Seven of Nine
On the Equinox, Burke informs Ransom they need more "fuel," using a euphemism to describe the dead aliens, as they have only murdered enough lifeforms to jump another 500 light-years. Ransom points this out, with another moment of reflection on what he's doing. Burke notes the number they need, and Ransom then goes to the lab to see The Doctor. He's about an hour away from finishing with Seven, though he curiously finds The Doctor is singing with Seven, having triggered her responses. Ransom has another moment of reflection on having "no choice" when The Doctor points out Seven stood in his way of getting his crew home, giving him no choice. He leaves to escape the conflict he's in, to the synaptic stimulator.
Reacting violently to Ransom's
self-denial, Seven transforms
into one of the beings.
Although the stimulator is only designed to view landscapes, being nowhere as advanced as a holodeck, he sees someone in it: he is amazed to discover it is Seven of Nine, who asks, then demands that Ransom find another way home. Seven turns into a nucleogenic lifeform, at which point Ransom ends the program. Burke summons him to the bridge at the same time, as Voyager has found them again.
Act Five
With Voyager only 58,000 kilometers away and closing fast, Burke suggests hiding in a class 2 nebula less than one light year away. Ransom declines and instead orders the starship to open a channel, preparing to surrender to Janeway and make peace with the aliens. Burke doesn't want to accept surrender, sends Ransom to the brig, and takes control of the ship. Marla Gilmore points her phaser at Ransom, and takes him away. Burke contacts the Equinox EMH aboard Voyager and asks him to find the vessel's current shield frequency.
Voyager forces the Equinox out
of warp
Voyager opens fire on the Equinox, and the two ships engage in combat while at warp. Gilmore leads Ransom to engineering, and lowers her phaser – confessing that she is on his side and wants this to end as much as he does. The two begin trying to access the transporter controls.
Voyager chasing the Equinox
Voyager destroys the Equinox port warp nacelle, and the ship falls out of warp and to one-quarter impulse, leaking plasma. Voyager continues to pursue, still firing its weapons. The EMH transmits the shield frequency to Burke. Voyager moves in, preparing to engage a tractor beam, while Burke manages to fire torpedos through the shields. Despite Tuvok rotating the shield frequency every ten seconds, Voyager suffers extensive damage, including a hull breach on deck 4 and the loss of the weapons array and impulse drive. Ransom suddenly hails the ship and tells Janeway he's ready to surrender, but Burke's mutiny left Ransom no longer in charge; however he's isolated the transporter controls and that he can transport the Equinox crew to Voyager. He also advises her to have guards ready, as not everyone may be happy to see her. Amazed at their captain's sudden change in attitude, Janeway agrees. She tells her crew that Ransom is a Starfleet captain after all, even if he forgot that for a while.
The Equinox EMH contacts his
crew...
...and gives them Voyager's
shield frequencies
Burke isn't ready to surrender just yet, however, and places a force field around the bridge. On Ransom's order, Gilmore transports herself and two other crewmembers to Voyager, along with Seven of Nine while Ransom takes control of his ship's shield grid. They also transfer The Doctor's program back to his sickbay, with ethical subroutines restored. The Equinox EMH threatens to blow out every holoemitter in the room with planted photonic charges set to a command sequence; however, the Voyager Doctor simply deletes him, thus stopping his transmissions to the Equinox.
Ransom, still in engineering, contacts his bridge. He tells the stunned Burke that he has dropped the shields around the ship, except the bridge and his current location. The vital systems are exposed. Burke refuses to transport to Voyager, despite his captain's pleas – instead, he tries to lead the bridge crew to the nearby shuttlebay two decks down, but all perish en route.
As the lifeforms attack the Equinox warp core, Ransom hails Janeway. He tells her that his ship is about to explode, and he has to get it to a safe distance from the immobilized Voyager. Janeway tries to get Ransom off, asking him to set auto-navigation. He refuses, saying he has no time. He tells her that she has a fine crew and has her promise him to get them home. Having set a course away from Voyager, he wears his synaptic stimulator one last time, looking at a beautiful beach. A moment or two later, Equinox explodes, and the Captain goes down with his ship.
"Captain's log, supplemental. With the Equinox destroyed, the aliens have withdrawn to their realm. I've reinstated Chakotay and we've set a course for home."
Janeway demoting the surviving
Equinox crew members.
In the briefing room, after dressing down and harshly rebuking the five former and surviving Equinox crew members (Noah Lessing, Marla Gilmore, James Morrow, Brian Sofin and Angelo Tassoni), Janeway strips them of rank, telling them that from now on they will serve as crewmen on Voyager, their privileges will be limited, and they will work under close supervision for as long as she deems fit. They will need to earn her trust this time. They are escorted away by Tuvok.
Heading out the other way onto the bridge with Chakotay, the subdued Janeway wonders how the crew is doing. Chakotay says that Neelix has organized a potluck to boost morale. In a silent moment, she tells him that he may have had good reason to stage a little mutiny of his own. Chakotay admits that the thought had occurred to him, but that it would have been "crossing the line." This strikes a chord with the captain who reflects upon how close her recent actions had come to being no better than that of the Equinox and Captain Ransom.
She then notices the dedication plaque of Voyager that has fallen down for the first time in all these years. Wiping it off, Chakotay suggests putting it back where it belongs – mirroring the earlier fall of the Equinox plaque and a similar conversation she had with Ransom…
Memorable quotes
"You destroy lifeforms to attain your goals then claim that they left you no choice. Does that logic comfort you?"
- Seven of Nine, questioning Captain Ransom
"Please state the nature of the… [looks around] don't bother."
- Equinox EMH impersonating The Doctor, upon seeing Voyager's sickbay littered with casualties
"You know, Janeway's not the only one who can help you explore your Humanity."
"You would be an inferior role model."
- Captain Ransom and Seven of Nine, when the captured Seven is brought to him on the Equinox
"This man betrayed Starfleet. He broke the Prime Directive, dishonored everything you believed in, and threw Voyager to the wolves."
"Kazon, Vidiians, Borg, Hirogen, Malon. We've run into our share of bad guys. Ransom's no different."
"Yes, he is. You said it yourself. He's Human."
- Chakotay and Janeway, about Captain Ransom
"We've almost got him. One more torpedo ought to do it!"
"Captain–"
"Fire!"
- Captain Janeway going too far and Tuvok preparing to object
"What the hell is he doing? Follow him!"
- Captain Janeway
"We all make our own Hell, Mr. Lessing. I hope you enjoy yours."
- Captain Janeway, to Noah Lessing during the interrogation
"Do these programs have people in them?"
"No, just landscapes."
- Captain Ransom and Marla Gilmore on the synaptic simulator
"I'm warning you: l won't let you cross that line again."
"Well then you leave me no choice. You are hereby relieved of duty until further notice."
"What's happened to you, Kathryn?"
"I was about to ask you the same question."
- Chakotay to Janeway
"Tractor beam."
"Captain, the Ankari ship has done nothing to…"
"Just do it."
- Janeway ordering to tractor beam the Ankari ship and Tuvok objecting
"I will summon them, but you must talk to them. You must convince them."
- The Ankari captain, agreeing to help Voyager
"They say, they want the Humans to die."
"A difficult place to start a negotiation."
- The Ankari captain and Tuvok, upon the former summoning the aliens
"This isn't the brig."
"I know. I'm with you, sir. Let's find a way to end this."
- Captain Ransom and Marla Gilmore
"He's still a Starfleet captain. He may have forgotten that for a while but I believe him."
- Janeway
"Well, I see you've made yourself at home."
"What are you doing here?!"
"Taking back my sick bay!"
- The Doctor and The Equinox EMH
"I'm afraid your physician's no longer on call."
- The Doctor, after Burke demands to know what the Equinox EMH is doing
"You've got a fine crew, captain. Promise me you'll get 'em home."
"I promise."
- Captain Ransom (final words) and Janeway's promise
"The last time we welcomed you aboard, you took advantage of our trust. You betrayed this crew. I won't make that mistake again. Noah Lessing, Marla Gilmore, James Morrow, Brian Sofin, Angelo Tassoni; you are hereby stripped of rank. You'll be expected to serve as crewmen on this vessel. Your privileges will be limited, and you'll serve under close supervision for as long as I deem fit. This time, you'll have to earn our trust. Dismissed."
- Janeway demoting and berating the surviving Equinox crew members
"It's quite disconcerting to know that all someone has to do is flick a switch to turn me into Mr. Hyde."
- The Doctor to Seven of Nine, about his ethical subroutines.
Summary
An attacking nucleogenic lifeform knocks Captain Janeway to the deck, but she manages to dodge the thermionic radiation. Yelling for tactical control, she uses a deflector pulse to reinforce the shields – at least, temporarily. The aliens' attacks are halted, but damage has been done; Chakotay is unconscious, and there's no response from sickbay. Ensign Kim reports two casualties due to the alien attacks.
The USS Equinox, in the meanwhile, realizing that Voyager is under attack decides to maintain course and not charge to the rescue. With the multiphasic shielding in place, the aliens are staying clear.
Act One
Voyager bearing the scars of the
nucleogenic beings' attacks
Janeway, wandering the corridors of the USS Voyager, comes across the remains of an alien killed in the attack, before being handed The Doctor's mobile emitter by Neelix, who found the device on Deck 9. She takes it and reactivates the EMH back in sickbay, not realizing that it is the EMH program from the Equinox, whose ethical subroutines have been deleted. "The Doctor" explains that when he was taken hostage by the Equinox he deactivated himself to escape. He begins by treating Chakotay, whom Tom Paris has managed to stabilize. While Janeway insists that they focus their efforts on finding the Equinox, Chakotay argues that they need to stop the attacks by the aliens first. While they are debating, they are interrupted by the sound of the interspacial fissures, which indicate the presence of the aliens.
On the Equinox, Ransom tries to persuade Seven of Nine to stop resisting him and to become part of the crew, instead of spending her time in the brig for the remainder of the journey. Seven refuses to comply, however, telling him bluntly that he would be an inferior role model to her, and that Voyager made a mistake to trust him. While trying to treat Seven, Max Burke realizes that their EMH has left them a replacement, and activates The Doctor from Voyager. Seven and The Doctor realize they're stuck on the Equinox together.
Meanwhile, the Equinox prepares to activate their enhanced warp drive, using the aliens as fuel to get back to Earth within several months. However, just as the ship is accelerating, it stalls. The power relays to the modified injectors have been encoded – Ransom quickly realizes it must have been Seven of Nine. He tries to get her to give him the codes, but Seven refuses again. Burke suggests extracting the codes themselves if she won't give them. When The Doctor protests, Ransom simply deletes his ethical subroutines, and gets him to extract the information by any means necessary.
Harry and a nucleogenic lifeform
On Voyager, Chakotay and Harry Kim have come up with a way that may allow them to communicate with the lifeforms. Despite misgivings, they drop the shields around the bridge and send the message. An alien appears, flies over to Kim's station and shrieks unintelligibly at the ensign for a moment, then disappears into its realm. However, the shields are attacked again. Another deflector pulse is activated, but it loses power quickly. Janeway, who is growing more impatient, gives an order to repair the warp drive so they can pursue the Equinox. When Chakotay asks to take another shot at the message to the aliens, she rudely dismisses him. Over in the ready room, Chakotay tells Janeway that he understands her anger towards Ransom who has betrayed everything the Federation and the uniform they are wearing stands for, but that she cannot compromise the safety of this ship to satisfy some personal vendetta. She tells him that she appreciates his candor, but that even so, she is not going to stand for Ransom continuing to murder and torture another lifeform so he can get home faster. She vows to hunt him down no matter how long it takes, no matter what the cost and if he wants to call that a vendetta, then he can go right ahead.
Act Two
Ransom, who is hiding the Equinox in the atmosphere of a planet so they can make the repairs, checks in with The Doctor, who reveals that in order to access the information in Seven, he will have to remove her cortical array which contains an index of her memory engrams. By doing so, however, all of Seven's higher brain functions will be severely damaged. Ransom pleads with Seven to give him the codes, but she refuses. He says that doing this to her is not easy for him but that she leaves him no choice. Seven states that he uses that phrase quite frequently: destroying lifeforms to obtain his goals and then claim that they left him no choice. She stubbornly tells him that he will have to destroy her to obtain the codes. The Doctor proceeds.
"Captain's log, supplemental. Our warp drive's back online but repeated sensor sweeps have failed to locate the Equinox."
Chakotay is summoned to Janeway's ready room – she notes it's unlike him to submit recommendations in writing, holding up a PADD. Commenting on their last conversation he tells her that this was the only way he thought he could interact with her. However, Janeway refuses this suggestion, namely getting in touch with the Ankari, the race who introduced Ransom to the nucleogenic lifeforms, as well. She argues that this would take them 50 light-years off course and waste their time. She notes that from studying Ransom's service record, she found that he has the tendency to hide when he is being pursued. She asks Chakotay to use astrometrics to find likely hiding places, such as a nebula.
Voyager begins its attack on the
Equinox
Equinox, meanwhile, still in hiding in the planet's atmosphere which shields them from Voyager's sensors, continues repairs. Ransom sends Noah Lessing and Angelo Tassoni down to mine some dilithium while he takes a break to use his synaptic stimulator, a device which allows him to experience various alien vistas. The pair beams down, but is captured by a Voyager away team, Paris and Chakotay. On the bridge, the Equinox EMH tries to warn Ransom that Voyager has found them, and that they have polarized their hull to mask their approach. His communication gets cut off and Ransom orders for battle stations.
Act Three
Voyager launches a torpedo at
the Equinox
Voyager and the Equinox engage in a brief battle, Voyager taking the Equinox weapon systems off-line. Not willing to accept defeat, Ransom takes his vessel deeper into the planet's atmosphere at a 60 degree vector. Voyager follows, but has to retreat when the deflector, which they are relying on to protect the vessel against the lifeforms, begins losing power in its attempts to protect the vessel against the atmosphere. Equinox escapes to warp, while Voyager is forced to repair its primary systems first before being able to pursue.
Voyager chases the Equinox into
the thermosphere
Janeway interrogates Lessing, whom she has tied up on a chair in the cargo bay. She threatens to drop the shields in the room and let the aliens in if he doesn't tell her Ransom's tactical status. Getting nowhere with him, she goes outside with Chakotay, and drops the shields. Chakotay quickly realizes Janeway isn't bluffing, and asks her to stop what she is doing, that she is going too far; she insists that Lessing will break while Chakotay states that he won't. When she refuses to do so, he first tries to raise the shield but finds only Janeway can. He then goes in himself and rescues Lessing, saving him in the nick of time. Telling Lessing that he has proved his loyalty to his captain to himself, compromises and has him tell everything he knows on the Ankari. Janeway clearly disapproves, but doesn't interfere.
Janeway agrees to try and find the Ankari vessel less than 2 light-years away. When everyone else is dismissed from the briefing, however, she confronts Chakotay, telling him that even though in the past they had their disagreements, he still never openly opposed her. Chakotay argues that she almost killed Lessing today and that this wasn't about rules and regulations, but about right and wrong; upon warning her that he won't let her cross that line again, she relieves him of duty until further notice.
Act Four
Ankari summoning the
nucleogenic lifeforms
Voyager pursues an Ankari ship, but it does not respond to Voyager's hails. Not having the patience to pursue normal diplomatic channels, Janeway orders Tuvok to use a tractor beam on the ship. Tuvok objects as the Ankari ship had done nothing, but she yells at him to "just do it". The Ankari, who don't want anything to do with Voyager after what the Equinox did, are corrected in that Voyager did nothing wrong. The Ankari captain agrees to act as a translator for the "Spirits of Good Fortune," but states that Voyager's crew will have to be the ones to convince the lifeforms.
Voyager returns to its search for
the Equinox
Speaking with them in the cargo bay, the lifeforms demand the destruction of the Equinox as retribution. It turns out they can perfectly understand the crew; it is the crew that cannot understand them. Tuvok tries to persuade them that they will punish the Equinox crew in their own way, via imprisonment, but gets nowhere. The lifeforms don't believe they would harm their own kind. Janeway tells them the Federation has rules that the Equinox disregarded and unusually promises the lifeforms to deliver the Equinox to them if they stop their attacks on the Voyager. Now it is Tuvok's turn to object against Janeway's irrational behavior, reminding her the lifeforms will kill the Equinox's crew but Janeway makes him very much aware she's willing to confine him to quarters just like she did Chakotay. The lifeforms accept Janeway's offer.
The mysterious woman is
revealed to be Seven of Nine
On the Equinox, Burke informs Ransom they need more "fuel," using a euphemism to describe the dead aliens, as they have only murdered enough lifeforms to jump another 500 light-years. Ransom points this out, with another moment of reflection on what he's doing. Burke notes the number they need, and Ransom then goes to the lab to see The Doctor. He's about an hour away from finishing with Seven, though he curiously finds The Doctor is singing with Seven, having triggered her responses. Ransom has another moment of reflection on having "no choice" when The Doctor points out Seven stood in his way of getting his crew home, giving him no choice. He leaves to escape the conflict he's in, to the synaptic stimulator.
Reacting violently to Ransom's
self-denial, Seven transforms
into one of the beings.
Although the stimulator is only designed to view landscapes, being nowhere as advanced as a holodeck, he sees someone in it: he is amazed to discover it is Seven of Nine, who asks, then demands that Ransom find another way home. Seven turns into a nucleogenic lifeform, at which point Ransom ends the program. Burke summons him to the bridge at the same time, as Voyager has found them again.
Act Five
With Voyager only 58,000 kilometers away and closing fast, Burke suggests hiding in a class 2 nebula less than one light year away. Ransom declines and instead orders the starship to open a channel, preparing to surrender to Janeway and make peace with the aliens. Burke doesn't want to accept surrender, sends Ransom to the brig, and takes control of the ship. Marla Gilmore points her phaser at Ransom, and takes him away. Burke contacts the Equinox EMH aboard Voyager and asks him to find the vessel's current shield frequency.
Voyager forces the Equinox out
of warp
Voyager opens fire on the Equinox, and the two ships engage in combat while at warp. Gilmore leads Ransom to engineering, and lowers her phaser – confessing that she is on his side and wants this to end as much as he does. The two begin trying to access the transporter controls.
Voyager chasing the Equinox
Voyager destroys the Equinox port warp nacelle, and the ship falls out of warp and to one-quarter impulse, leaking plasma. Voyager continues to pursue, still firing its weapons. The EMH transmits the shield frequency to Burke. Voyager moves in, preparing to engage a tractor beam, while Burke manages to fire torpedos through the shields. Despite Tuvok rotating the shield frequency every ten seconds, Voyager suffers extensive damage, including a hull breach on deck 4 and the loss of the weapons array and impulse drive. Ransom suddenly hails the ship and tells Janeway he's ready to surrender, but Burke's mutiny left Ransom no longer in charge; however he's isolated the transporter controls and that he can transport the Equinox crew to Voyager. He also advises her to have guards ready, as not everyone may be happy to see her. Amazed at their captain's sudden change in attitude, Janeway agrees. She tells her crew that Ransom is a Starfleet captain after all, even if he forgot that for a while.
The Equinox EMH contacts his
crew...
...and gives them Voyager's
shield frequencies
Burke isn't ready to surrender just yet, however, and places a force field around the bridge. On Ransom's order, Gilmore transports herself and two other crewmembers to Voyager, along with Seven of Nine while Ransom takes control of his ship's shield grid. They also transfer The Doctor's program back to his sickbay, with ethical subroutines restored. The Equinox EMH threatens to blow out every holoemitter in the room with planted photonic charges set to a command sequence; however, the Voyager Doctor simply deletes him, thus stopping his transmissions to the Equinox.
Ransom, still in engineering, contacts his bridge. He tells the stunned Burke that he has dropped the shields around the ship, except the bridge and his current location. The vital systems are exposed. Burke refuses to transport to Voyager, despite his captain's pleas – instead, he tries to lead the bridge crew to the nearby shuttlebay two decks down, but all perish en route.
As the lifeforms attack the Equinox warp core, Ransom hails Janeway. He tells her that his ship is about to explode, and he has to get it to a safe distance from the immobilized Voyager. Janeway tries to get Ransom off, asking him to set auto-navigation. He refuses, saying he has no time. He tells her that she has a fine crew and has her promise him to get them home. Having set a course away from Voyager, he wears his synaptic stimulator one last time, looking at a beautiful beach. A moment or two later, Equinox explodes, and the Captain goes down with his ship.
"Captain's log, supplemental. With the Equinox destroyed, the aliens have withdrawn to their realm. I've reinstated Chakotay and we've set a course for home."
Janeway demoting the surviving
Equinox crew members.
In the briefing room, after dressing down and harshly rebuking the five former and surviving Equinox crew members (Noah Lessing, Marla Gilmore, James Morrow, Brian Sofin and Angelo Tassoni), Janeway strips them of rank, telling them that from now on they will serve as crewmen on Voyager, their privileges will be limited, and they will work under close supervision for as long as she deems fit. They will need to earn her trust this time. They are escorted away by Tuvok.
Heading out the other way onto the bridge with Chakotay, the subdued Janeway wonders how the crew is doing. Chakotay says that Neelix has organized a potluck to boost morale. In a silent moment, she tells him that he may have had good reason to stage a little mutiny of his own. Chakotay admits that the thought had occurred to him, but that it would have been "crossing the line." This strikes a chord with the captain who reflects upon how close her recent actions had come to being no better than that of the Equinox and Captain Ransom.
She then notices the dedication plaque of Voyager that has fallen down for the first time in all these years. Wiping it off, Chakotay suggests putting it back where it belongs – mirroring the earlier fall of the Equinox plaque and a similar conversation she had with Ransom…
Memorable quotes
"You destroy lifeforms to attain your goals then claim that they left you no choice. Does that logic comfort you?"
- Seven of Nine, questioning Captain Ransom
"Please state the nature of the… [looks around] don't bother."
- Equinox EMH impersonating The Doctor, upon seeing Voyager's sickbay littered with casualties
"You know, Janeway's not the only one who can help you explore your Humanity."
"You would be an inferior role model."
- Captain Ransom and Seven of Nine, when the captured Seven is brought to him on the Equinox
"This man betrayed Starfleet. He broke the Prime Directive, dishonored everything you believed in, and threw Voyager to the wolves."
"Kazon, Vidiians, Borg, Hirogen, Malon. We've run into our share of bad guys. Ransom's no different."
"Yes, he is. You said it yourself. He's Human."
- Chakotay and Janeway, about Captain Ransom
"We've almost got him. One more torpedo ought to do it!"
"Captain–"
"Fire!"
- Captain Janeway going too far and Tuvok preparing to object
"What the hell is he doing? Follow him!"
- Captain Janeway
"We all make our own Hell, Mr. Lessing. I hope you enjoy yours."
- Captain Janeway, to Noah Lessing during the interrogation
"Do these programs have people in them?"
"No, just landscapes."
- Captain Ransom and Marla Gilmore on the synaptic simulator
"I'm warning you: l won't let you cross that line again."
"Well then you leave me no choice. You are hereby relieved of duty until further notice."
"What's happened to you, Kathryn?"
"I was about to ask you the same question."
- Chakotay to Janeway
"Tractor beam."
"Captain, the Ankari ship has done nothing to…"
"Just do it."
- Janeway ordering to tractor beam the Ankari ship and Tuvok objecting
"I will summon them, but you must talk to them. You must convince them."
- The Ankari captain, agreeing to help Voyager
"They say, they want the Humans to die."
"A difficult place to start a negotiation."
- The Ankari captain and Tuvok, upon the former summoning the aliens
"This isn't the brig."
"I know. I'm with you, sir. Let's find a way to end this."
- Captain Ransom and Marla Gilmore
"He's still a Starfleet captain. He may have forgotten that for a while but I believe him."
- Janeway
"Well, I see you've made yourself at home."
"What are you doing here?!"
"Taking back my sick bay!"
- The Doctor and The Equinox EMH
"I'm afraid your physician's no longer on call."
- The Doctor, after Burke demands to know what the Equinox EMH is doing
"You've got a fine crew, captain. Promise me you'll get 'em home."
"I promise."
- Captain Ransom (final words) and Janeway's promise
"The last time we welcomed you aboard, you took advantage of our trust. You betrayed this crew. I won't make that mistake again. Noah Lessing, Marla Gilmore, James Morrow, Brian Sofin, Angelo Tassoni; you are hereby stripped of rank. You'll be expected to serve as crewmen on this vessel. Your privileges will be limited, and you'll serve under close supervision for as long as I deem fit. This time, you'll have to earn our trust. Dismissed."
- Janeway demoting and berating the surviving Equinox crew members
"It's quite disconcerting to know that all someone has to do is flick a switch to turn me into Mr. Hyde."
- The Doctor to Seven of Nine, about his ethical subroutines.
