(Suder is the sociopath who killed Crewman Darwin because he didn't like the way he looked at him. See Meld for more details. He shows Tuvok a seedling in a container.)
SUDER: Look. And you said they were incompatible.
TUVOK: You have confirmed the genetic structure?
SUDER: An entirely new species. I'm going to name it after you. The Tuvok Orchid.
TUVOK: That is an honour you should reserve for yourself, Mister Suder. You gave this species life.
SUDER: And you gave me life. All of this is because of you. Because of the meld.
TUVOK: The meld may have introduced you to my interest in floriculture, but you have embraced it entirely on your own, and discovered a unique talent within yourself in the process.
SUDER: I used to think the only talent I had was a talent for killing. Please. It's my way of saying thank you.
TUVOK: Very well. I accept.
SUDER: Tuvok, I want to do something for the ship. I'm not asking you to let me out of confinement. I accept my punishment. But if I could just, just contribute somehow.
TUVOK: What contribution do you feel you could make from your quarters?
SUDER: I was, I was thinking I might adapt some of the genetic engineering techniques I've developed for the orchids to make the airponic vegetable garden more productive.
TUVOK: Your attitude is admirable. I will discuss it with the Captain.
SUDER: Do you think she'll agree?
TUVOK: We'll see. Now, shall we begin? Notice your mind working, how it plans for the future, visits the past. Notice those thoughts and set them aside. Turn your attention to the white light that is your breath.

[Bridge]

KIM: Captain, we're being hailed on a subspace frequency.
JANEWAY: Are there ships in the vicinity?
PARIS: Negative. Tracking the source. Seems like it's coming from an unmanned buoy, coordinates one four zero mark three one seven.
KIM: It looks like a Kazon signal, Captain.
JANEWAY: Take us out of warp. Open a channel.
SESKA [on viewscreen]: Chakotay, they're going to take your son. When Culluh saw the baby. I hear them coming. I don't have much time. When he saw the baby wasn't his. Please Chakotay, help us. Not for me, for your son.
(Static on the viewscreen.)
CULLUH [OC]: I told you to stay out of here.
SESKA [OC]: No, please don't. Don't take him! I beg you. No! Please, no!
CULLUH [OC]: I'm taking him!
SESKA [OC]: No!

[Ready room]

CHAKOTAY: This is not my responsibility! She has no right to expect me to
JANEWAY: She knows you, Chakotay. She knew how you'd react when you saw your son in danger.
CHAKOTAY: I have a duty to this crew. I can't just leave and go looking for the child.
JANEWAY: And I'd never consider letting you go into a Kazon-Nistrim stronghold by yourself. If we do this, we do it together. That's something else Seska would know, too.
CHAKOTAY: Do you think it's a trap?
JANEWAY: Do I think Seska is capable of manipulating you and me with this? Oh, yes.
CHAKOTAY: On the other hand, it was time for her to deliver, and that baby we saw did look part Cardassian and part human.
JANEWAY: And knowing Culluh, I'm sure his pride was wounded when he realised the child wasn't his. It makes sense, Chakotay. It might all be true.
CHAKOTAY: Still, the safest thing would be to ignore this message and resume our course.
JANEWAY: I'm not going to resume our course just yet. I want you to think about it, Chakotay. This has to be your decision. If you choose to go after him, I know I speak for the entire crew, Starfleet and Maquis alike, when I say we'll stand behind you.

[Chakotay's quarters]

(Chakotay goes on a vision quest.)
CHAKOTAY: A-koo-chee-moya. We are far from the sacred places of our grandfathers. We are far from the bones of my people. But I ask, on this day of sorrow and uncertainty, that the wisdom of my father find me and help me understand my dilemma. Speak to me, Father. Speak to me in my dreams.
KOLOPAK [OC]: I've never seen you so troubled, Chakotay.

[Forest clearing]

(Kolopak is carefully building a fire.)
CHAKOTAY: I have a son, Father.
KOLOPAK: A son, Chakotay? Oh. This is the reason for your despair. Was he born with two arms and two legs and a heart that beats?
CHAKOTAY: Yes, but
KOLOPAK: Then it's a cause for celebration. You will make a fine father. You needn't worry.
CHAKOTAY: I'm not sure I'm willing to be a father to him.
KOLOPAK: Hmm. Not willing?
CHAKOTAY: He was born without my consent. I had no part in it.
KOLOPAK: No part in it? Well, it's been a long time, so forgive me, but it seems that I had to play a part before your mother could conceive.
CHAKOTAY: My DNA was taken from me, used by a woman to impregnate herself without my permission.
KOLOPAK: I see. You're trying to decide whether you should accept the child in your heart.
CHAKOTAY: It's more than that.
KOLOPAK: But it must begin with that!
CHAKOTAY: How do you take a child into your heart who is forced upon you by a mother's deception?
KOLOPAK: He knows nothing of deception. He is innocent. Centuries ago, when the women of our tribe were raped by white conquerors, many gave birth to their children, and we did not reject them. They were accepted by the tribe. One was a direct ancestor of ours, Chakotay. His name was Ce Acatl. He became a great leader of our people. Here is a man who was given life without his mother's consent. Are you so different from her? And is your child so different from Ce Acatl?
CHAKOTAY: No.
KOLOPAK: He is your son, Chakotay, and he is a child of our people.

[Briefing room]

NEELIX: I've been in touch with the Talaxian mining colony on Prema Two. They're willing to come to our assistance if we run into trouble.
PARIS: That's good for about forty hours if we average warp two. After that we're out of their comm. range.
JANEWAY: Well, it's nice to know we have friends in the area. Thank you, Neelix.
TUVOK: I recommend a full diagnostic of our tactical array prior to the start of the mission, Captain.
JANEWAY: Agreed. But I want more from Tactical, Lieutenant. I want to anticipate a trap, and I want a few tricks up our sleeves if we need them.
KIM: Captain. I could programme the deflector grid to make it look like we have help on the way. I'll show you what I mean. Excuse me, Doctor.
TORRES: Echo displacement.
KIM: Exactly. This is how we'd look to the enemy's sensors. If we generate multiple decoy images like these, the Kazon would think that ships are coming toward us. We could create as many as we want.
JANEWAY: That's a good start, Harry. It should distract them for a while. But what else can we do if we're eventually intercepted by a superior force?
EMH [OC]: If you don't mind, I do have something to add.
(Kim restores the EMH to the wall monitor.)
EMH [on monitor]: Thank you. Captain, I hesitate to offer suggestions in a field of endeavour that is not within my usual area of expertise.
JANEWAY: Please, Doctor, your suggestions on any subject are always welcome.
EMH [on monitor]: Really? In that case, you may expect several more on a variety of matters in the near future. Right now may I suggest that we also consider attempting to create an actual holographic illusion of friendly ships?
TORRES: With all due respect, Doctor, we can't even figure out how to project you into this room. How are we supposed to create holographic ships in space?
EMH [on monitor]: I would humbly submit that my programme is far more sophisticated than your run of the mill hologram. In fact, projecting the illusion of a large, three-dimensional object has been a trick of magicians for centuries.
PARIS: We'll just do it with mirrors.
EMH [on monitor]: Mister Paris's predictable attempts at humour notwithstanding, that is precisely what I would suggest. Installing holo-emitters along the hull with parabolic mirrors to enlarge the images as they are reflected into space.
KIM: We're going to use up a lot of our power reserves trying to pull it off.
CHAKOTAY: If these ships can fool the Kazon, it's worth it.
TUVOK: But can they? If the Kazon scan the holograms, they will immediately realise there are no life signs on board, no power signatures.
JANEWAY: Okay, so we can't fool them for long, but maybe it'll be long enough. It's an advantage, and we'll need every advantage we can get on this mission. Work with the Doctor on it, B'Elanna. Mister Kim. Cut power to all systems to minimum requirements. I don't want to show up on any Kazon long range scanners. Mister Paris, locate the warp signature from Culluh's ship and set a course to follow, warp two.
PARIS: Aye, Captain.
JANEWAY: Dismissed.
CHAKOTAY: Uh, excuse me, but there is one more thing. Thank you.

[Bridge]

CHAKOTAY: It's not Culluh's ship. Looks more like a shuttle.
JANEWAY: Slow to impulse. Set an intercept course, Mister Paris. Have they indicated the nature of the distress?
KIM: Just a signal, Captain. No response to our hails.
JANEWAY: Let's go to Red alert.
KIM: Visual range.
JANEWAY: On screen.
KIM: Showing one life sign, adult Kazon male. He's in critical condition.
JANEWAY: Janeway to Sickbay. Prepare to receive an emergency transport.
KES [OC]: Standing by, Captain.
JANEWAY: Commander. Mister Tuvok, you have the Bridge. Remain at Red alert.
TUVOK: Aye, Captain.

[Sickbay]

KES: His hip is broken. Showing severe inflammation in the bronchial tissue.
EMH: It appears he inhaled noxious gases vented in the damaged shuttle. Forty milligrams pulmozine.
CHAKOTAY: I know this man. His name's Teirna. He's one of Seska's aides. She had him work me over when I was on their ship.
TEIRNA: Seska is dead. Seska thought that she could manipulate the Maje. She bragged about it to me more than once. But this time, she was wrong. We had just launched the buoy with the message for you. Then they came for her. They cut her throat as Culluh watched. He ordered them to execute me, but I bribed one of the guards to get me to a shuttle. As soon as he saw it leaving, Culluh opened fire, destroyed my life support systems. He left me in space to die.
CHAKOTAY: What about the child?
TEIRNA: Taken to the Gema Four colony to be raised as a servant.
CHAKOTAY: We'll be needing your help getting to the Gema system.
TEIRNA: You're going after him? This ship, alone? I want nothing to do with this. I'm not taking you into Nistrim space.
CHAKOTAY: Under the circumstances, I'd say you don't have much of a choice.

[Doctor's office]

CHAKOTAY: What's his prognosis?
EMH: He'll be on his feet in a day or two but there's still a number of things we need to keep an eye on. He's had a nasty concussion, spinal cord trauma and a polycythemia, the cause of which I've yet to discover.
CHAKOTAY: Polycythemia?
EMH: An abnormal increase in the number of red blood cells.
CHAKOTAY: I'd like you to run an autonomic response analysis the next time I question him.
EMH: I'm afraid that won't help you determine if he's telling you the truth, Commander. An ARA depends on making a baseline comparison with the known response for a given species. Any Tom, Dick or Harry from the Alpha Quadrant, I could probably help you, but not with any of the new species of the Delta Quadrant. Regarding his veracity, it may help you to know that if we'd arrived an hour later, he would have been dead from his injuries.

[Engineering]

TORRES: The molecular variance residual on his shuttle is evidence of disruptor blasts and the signature is Kazon, so at least that part of his story seems to be true.
KIM: Plus, we confirmed nitrogen tetroxide fumes were in the cabin. If all this was part of a Kazon scheme, he had to be willing to breathe poison for hours before we got there.
CHAKOTAY: Have you found anything at all that would cast doubt on his story?
KIM: No.
CHAKOTAY: I still don't trust him.

[Briefing room]

TEIRNA: The trip would take six days at warp two.
NEELIX: Four days if you didn't take such a circuitous route, if we simply went across the Tenarus cluster.
TEIRNA: You would encounter the Nistrim fleet before a single day passed. Anyone who knows this part of space will tell you the same thing.
NEELIX: It so happens that I do know this part of space, my Kazon friend. I just wanted to see if you would tell us the truth. The route he suggests is safer, Captain.
TEIRNA: Of course, it's safer. I don't want to run into Culluh any more than you do.
CHAKOTAY: We might have more success avoiding him if you gave us the command codes for the Nistrim defence net.
TUVOK: Computer, display tactical overview of our current course.
TEIRNA: Enter code sequence four nine one one seven zero Culluh.
(A network of connected satellites shows up, and a curved passage through them.)
JANEWAY: Mister Paris, adjust our course to avoid the defence net.
PARIS: Aye, Captain.
TEIRNA: That is not an end to the danger. We are heading into an area of space populated by Kazon factions that are loyal to no one. They will attack without provocation.

[Bridge]

PARIS: Vessel approaching, coordinates three one four mark two one.
KIM: Signature is Kazon.
JANEWAY: Red alert. Configuration of the ship, Mister Tuvok.
TUVOK: A small raider, Captain. It does not pose a significant threat. Nevertheless, it is powering up its weapon systems.
KIM: Shields are holding.
JANEWAY: Return fire.
TUVOK: The raider is breaking off its attack.
KIM: Minor damage to secondary command processors on deck twelve. EPS power supplies and isolinear controllers are offline. No casualties, though.
JANEWAY: Begin repairs, Mister Kim. Any other sign of Kazon ships, Lieutenant?
PARIS: Nothing on long range sensors. The raider is continuing to retreat. We should have a couple of hours to ourselves at least.
JANEWAY: Good. We can use them. Stand down Red alert.
PARIS: Captain, we're about to go beyond the comm. range of the Talaxian colony. Just thought you'd like to know.
JANEWAY: Thank you, Lieutenant. Maintain current course.
TUVOK: Captain.
JANEWAY: I haven't forgotten, Mister Tuvok. Very well. This seems as good a time as any.

[Suder's quarters]

SUDER: Captain!
JANEWAY: Mister Suder.
SUDER: Please. Please come in. Won't you sit down? Excuse the mess. I wasn't expecting company. Can I get you some tea? Have you had lunch?
JANEWAY: Nothing, thank you. Lieutenant Tuvok has been telling me about your progress.
SUDER: Has he? Well, I'm, I'm very grateful to him, Captain. I still have a lot to learn of course, but he is an excellent tutor. When we first started our studies, I, I thought
TUVOK: The Captain's time is limited, Mister Suder.
SUDER: What? Oh. Of course.
TUVOK: I have explained your proposal to her.
JANEWAY: I'd like to know more about it, Mister Suder. What exactly would be involved?
SUDER: Yes, yes. Let me show you. I've actually had very encouraging results with a new gene splicing technique. I created a targeted restriction enzyme to facilitate the hybrid.
JANEWAY: And you feel you could experiment on our airponic crops here, in your quarters?
SUDER: Absolutely. I would make this an airponic laboratory, and all I would need are a few plants, certain chemicals and equipment.
JANEWAY: What sort of chemicals and equipment?
SUDER: Nothing dangerous. I, I prepared a list.
JANEWAY: It's an interesting proposition, Mister Suder. Let me discuss it with Kes and Lieutenant Tuvok, and I'll get back to you.
SUDER: I've already discussed it with Kes, and she is very interested.
JANEWAY: Good. Let me give it some thought.
SUDER: If you're worried you can't trust me, Captain
JANEWAY: Mister Tuvok has assured me
SUDER: I only want to do something. Something for the ship.
JANEWAY: I understand, Mister Suder.
SUDER: Then what's the problem? Why won't you give me an answer?
TUVOK: Mister Suder.
SUDER: I just want to do something for the ship.
JANEWAY: Excuse me.

Captain's log, supplemental. None of the four Kazon attacks have caused serious damage, but the starboard ventral has been hit each time, complicating repairs on the secondary command processors.

[Sickbay]

EMH: You are making an adequate recovery, Mister Teirna. The only matter that I simply cannot understand is this lingering polycythemia.
TEIRNA: I feel fine.
EMH: The medical record you gave us does not indicate any prior blood disorders. Might it be an inherited trait? Do you know if your parents ever
TEIRNA: My parents were killed in a Trabe attack shortly after I was born.
EMH: I see. Well, we'll need to monitor this condition for a while. It might be due to some chemical imbalance that our sensors aren't recognising, possibly the result of the toxins you inhaled while on the shuttle. You're welcome.
CHAKOTAY: Feeling better?
TEIRNA: I'm sure I'll make a complete recovery just in time for the Gema colony's defence force to destroy us all.
CHAKOTAY: You're still not optimistic about our chances, are you?
TEIRNA: No.
CHAKOTAY: We've had no problem repelling the attacks so far.
TEIRNA: Attacks? When there's a real Nistrim attack, you'll know it.
CHAKOTAY: You still have pride in the Nistrim, don't you, Teirna? Even after what they did to you. I remember that pride in your eyes when you pounded me with your fists while I was tied to a chair. And I can see it in your eyes now, and that scares the hell out of me.
TEIRNA: You must scare easily, Federation.
(Chakotay pushes Teirna up against the wall.)
CHAKOTAY: Tell me something, Teirna. Every Kazon attack seems to focus on our starboard ventral. Think that might be some kind of pattern?
TEIRNA: I wouldn't know.
CHAKOTAY: Because if it is, and you've been lying to us
EMH: Commander Chakotay! Not in my Sickbay. Please.

[Bridge]

TUVOK: Firing phasers.
JANEWAY: Increase speed to one half impulse.
PARIS: Aye, Captain.
KIM: They're coming at our starboard ventral again. Our shields there haven't been repaired yet. We're going to sustain more damage to the secondary command processors.
CHAKOTAY: Starboard ventral.
COMPUTER: Warning. Fires have been detected on decks twelve and fifteen, sections A four through C eighteen.
KIM: Control units are responding, Captain.
JANEWAY: Keep our port forequarter facing the line of attack, Mister Paris. Don't let them see our starboard ventral.
PARIS: I'm doing my best.
JANEWAY: Continuous fire, starboard phasers.
TUVOK: Acknowledged. They're withdrawing, Captain.
CHAKOTAY: Stand down Red alert.
JANEWAY: Mister Kim.
KIM: Deck twelve is in shambles.
CHAKOTAY: We barely have time to begin repairs before they attack it again.
KIM: At least no one was hurt. The secondary command processors are non-functional. We'll have to rebuild them. I'd say we're looking at two days work if we're not attacked again.
CHAKOTAY: Why would these factions of Kazon, loyal to no one, all have the same agenda? And why would that agenda focus on a nonessential area of the ship?
JANEWAY: I don't know, but it feels like we're being pecked to death by ducks.
CHAKOTAY: We can't just stay on this course and wait to see what they have in store for us.
JANEWAY: I agree. It's time to re-examine our game plan. Mister Paris, reverse course.
PARIS: Aye, Captain.
CHAKOTAY: Mister Teirna should be restricted to quarters on a secured deck until further notice.
TUVOK: Acknowledged.

[Suder's quarters]

NEELIX: Dinner time, Mister Suder. We have a fine leola root soup tonight.
SUDER: I'm not hungry.
(The alert sounds.)
NEELIX: Oh, Red alert. I'm afraid we have to go. I'll leave it here, just in case.

[Bridge]

JANEWAY: How many do you count, Mister Tuvok?
TUVOK: Eight large carrier vessels, confirmed Kazon signatures.
CHAKOTAY: Funny how they show up right after we reverse course.
JANEWAY: Time to intercept.
PARIS: Eight minutes. Their attack formation is a classic Cardassian echelon.
TUVOK: Curious. They have left us with an obvious avenue of escape, Captain.
JANEWAY: You're right, it is curious. Too curious for me. I don't know what's down that avenue of escape, Mister Tuvok, but I like to choose my own way. Set a course to intercept their lead ship.
PARIS: Aye, Captain.
JANEWAY: Battle stations. Time to intercept.
PARIS: Three minutes, ten seconds, give or take a photon torpedo.
JANEWAY: Mister Kim.
KIM: Echo displacement ready, Captain.
JANEWAY: Send in the cavalry.
KIM: Activating deflector grid. They should be seeing the same thing on their scanners. Ten ships with Talaxian signatures.
TUVOK: Four of the Kazon ships are breaking formation.
PARIS: Confirmed. They're changing course.
CHAKOTAY: They took the bait.
JANEWAY: That only leaves four for us to handle.
CHAKOTAY: I like those odds better than eight to one.
PARIS: Two minutes to intercept.
JANEWAY: Janeway to Torres.

[Engineering]

TORRES: We're ready down here, Captain. All the new holo-projectors are on-line. We can create three Talaxian ships whenever you want to.
JANEWAY [OC]: In about a minute and a half, B'Elanna. Stand by.
EMH [on monitor]: Perhaps we should try one last systems check.
TORRES: You've already done it twice.
EMH [on monitor]: I'm new at this. And we've never put such a demand on the holo-generators before. We should have boosted the power input.
TORRES: The defence systems are going to need all the auxiliary power we have, Doctor.
EMH [on monitor]: We might try a preliminary
TORRES: Doctor!
EMH [on monitor]: It'll work. Everything will be fine. I'm not worried.

[Bridge]

PARIS: Here we go.
TUVOK: They are randomly detonating torpedoes in our flight path.
KIM: Shields are holding. No damage.
JANEWAY: Hold your fire, Mister Tuvok. They may have torpedoes to waste. We don't.
PARIS: Thirty seconds to intercept.
JANEWAY: Take us out of warp.
PARIS: Engaging impulse engines.
JANEWAY: Power to all weapon systems. Stand by phasers.
TUVOK: Kazon vessel ten thousand kilometres off our starboard bow.
JANEWAY: Not yet.
TUVOK: Six thousand kilometres.
JANEWAY: Not yet.
TUVOK: Five thousand, three, two thousand.
JANEWAY: Now.
(Voyager starts firing as it flies past.)
PARIS: Initiating evasive manoeuvres, beta sequence.
TUVOK: Two more Kazon ships approaching.
KIM: Shields at ninety percent.
(In his quarters, Teirna starts chanting.)
JANEWAY: Janeway to Torres. Initiate holo-programmes.

[Engineering]

TORRES: Acknowledged. Energising. That's two, and here's number three.
(The EMH vanishes from the monitor.)

[Space]

EMH: Help! Man overboard!
(The EMH raises his arm to let a Kazon phaser go past, then he disappears.)

[Doctor's office]

TORRES [OC]: Doctor, are you there? Are you all right?
EMH: I told you we should have run one last systems check.

[Bridge]

KIM: Four Kazon ships dead ahead, but they're dividing their fire, Captain. The holograms are working.
JANEWAY: Ready photons.
TUVOK: Torpedoes loaded.
JANEWAY: Take us about, Mister Paris. We want a good angle on that fourth ship.
PARIS: Coming about, one four one mark two zero.
JANEWAY: Fire photon number one. Full starboard roll, evasive manoeuvres lambda sequence. Fire.
(Three direct hits, and the Kazon ship goes KaBOOM. Teirna peels off his left big toe nail, then pulls a tiny needle from it)
KIM: Shields at eight five percent and holding. Minor damage reported deck fourteen.
JANEWAY: Come about to one four three mark zero six zero.
PARIS: Coming about.
JANEWAY: Ready photons, dispersal pattern sierra. Fire.
(Teirna sticks the needle into himself, and screams as he explodes. The fireball blasts a hole through to Suder's quarters next door and barrels along the corridor.)
KIM: I'm reading a massive discharge on deck eight. We've lost a primary plasma conduit.
CHAKOTAY: Deck eight. Teirna's quarters.
TUVOK: Damage control teams to deck eight.
KIM: I'm showing power failures all over the ship.
(The holographic ships are destroyed.)

[Engineering]

TORRES: We've lost power to the new holodeck grid. I can't restore it.

[Bridge]

JANEWAY: B'Elanna, are you all right?

[Engineering]

TORRES: Yes, Captain. But it looks like our reactant's injector controls were hit. Stand by.

[Bridge]

TUVOK: All three Kazon ships are concentrating their fire on us now, Captain.
KIM: Shields at seventy percent and falling. Starboard targeting scanners are offline.
CHAKOTAY: Evasive manoeuvres, Mister Paris. Gamma sequence.
JANEWAY: Engineering, I need warp power.

[Engineering]

TORRES: We can't go to warp, Captain. The containment field generator has been damaged. I'm attempting to bypass.

[Bridge]

PARIS: Captain, if I can get a shuttle through the cross fire, I can go back and bring the Talaxians to help us.
JANEWAY: Chakotay, take the conn. Good luck, Lieutenant.
(Paris leaves. A short time later a little vessel skims the side of a Kazon ship and gets shot at.)
KIM: Shuttle is clear. So far, so good.
JANEWAY: Give him as much cover fire as you can, Tuvok.
TUVOK: Aye, Captain.
KIM: Voyager to Paris. Please respond. Tom, can you hear me? I've lost contact with the shuttle.
CHAKOTAY: Navigational array is offline.
TUVOK: We've lost power to forward phasers.
KIM: Shields at thirty percent. They're buckling.
(Big bangs. Consoles explode.)
JANEWAY: Report.
KIM: The driver coil assembly has been destroyed. Impulse engines are offline.
TUVOK: We're being boarded through the shuttle bays, Captain. Phaser fights reported on decks five, six, seven.
CHAKOTAY: Intruder alert. Security to decks five through seven.
JANEWAY: Begin evacuation. Janeway to Computer. Initiate self-destruct sequence. Authorisation, Janeway pi one one zero. Set at ten minutes.
COMPUTER: Unable to initiate self-destruct sequence due to damage to secondary command processors.
KAZON: Stay where you are. Don't move.
(Two crewmen get shot.)
JANEWAY: Hold your fire.
KAZON: Get down there! You! Move!
(The crew are forced to their knees as the three massive Kazon ships surround tiny Voyager.)
JANEWAY: I want to speak to Maje Culluh.
CULLUH: Easily arranged, Captain.
SESKA: Hello, everyone. What do you think of your son, Chakotay? He has your eyes, don't you think? Thank goodness he doesn't look too human. You all have such weak foreheads.
CHAKOTAY: May he grow up never knowing the contempt his father has for his mother.
CULLUH: I think I can assure you of that, Commander. I intend to take him for my own son. A man who would violate a woman under his own command
CHAKOTAY: What?
CULLUH: Doesn't deserve a son.
CHAKOTAY: Is that what she told you?
CULLUH: The boy will be trained as a Nistrim askara. Already he has helped us win the greatest battle in our history.
JANEWAY: Culluh, I'd like to discuss what happens now.
(Culluh hits Janeway.)
CULLUH: You'll be given no more respect than any Kazon woman, now that your ship and technology are mine. I will tell you when you may speak.
JANEWAY: Allow my crew to live. They were following my orders.
CULLUH: You're even worse than she is. What is it about the women from your quadrant? You know, she contradicts me in front of the senior askara? My own woman disputing her Maje in front of others. This is your fault. You've let your women get out of control.
SESKA: You know you have my deepest respect, Maje.
CULLUH: Why is it so dark in here? Somebody turn on the lights. Order the repair crews to begin work immediately. I want to leave for the Hanon system as soon as possible.
CHAKOTAY: What's in the Hanon system?
SESKA: Your new home. Take them to a cargo bay. Have the whole crew brought there. Check all quarters.
(Culluh snaps his fingers, and the Kazon obey.)
KAZON: Move.
SESKA: Goodbye, Chakotay. I'll take good care of our son. Oh, are you hungry, my brave little boy?
(Culluh takes the Captain's seat, and Seska takes Chakotay's to breast feed her child.)

[Engineering]

KAZON: Move it!
CREWWOMAN: Oh, God. Stop it.

[Corridor]

KAZON: You! Come on, move! Keep moving.
NEELIX: This is outrageous!
KAZON: Shut up!

[Sickbay]

KAZON: You! Get up! Move! Get out!
EMH: Computer, activate Medical Holographic recall. Set for twelve hours. Mark.
(The Kazon cannot find him.)

[Deck 8]

KAZON: Check every room.
KAZON 2: In here.
KAZON: What's that?
(Suder's wrecked quarters with dead plants and a hole in the wall.)

[Bridge]

KAZON: The sensor repairs are complete, Maje. We have accounted for all but two of the Federation crew. There's also a shuttle missing.
CULLUH: Yes, we destroyed the shuttle as it was leaving.
SESKA: Has that been confirmed?
CULLUH: Fine. Have the other ships send out search parties. Confirm the shuttle was destroyed.
SESKA: And even if they find wreckage that seems to be from the shuttle, tell them to check for a recent warp trail.
(Later, they arrive at a planet.)
CULLUH: Stand by to engage atmospheric thrusters. Prepare for landing. Activate the viewscreen.
(A river of lava flows from a volcano.)
CULLUH: Extend landing struts. Ready environmental controls.
(Voyager lands with a bump.)
CULLUH: Disengage engines. Secure thruster exhaust.

[Planet surface]

(The crew are all out on the ground, under guard. The Kazons take their comm. badges.)
CULLUH: A fitting end for a people who would not share their technology. Let's see if you manage to survive without it.
(The Kazons leave them.)
JANEWAY: All right. Let's go. We've got to find water and shelter.
(They head off into the rocky scrubland.)
JANEWAY: We'll divide the crew into teams. Each of you will be a team leader. Make it clear to all your people that we expect to be rescued and our job is to survive until help arrives.
NEELIX: Do you really think it's likely that someone will find us, Captain?
JANEWAY: You're the morale officer, Neelix. You give me an answer.
NEELIX: Help is on the way!
KIM: Maybe Tom's shuttle got through.
JANEWAY: It's very important that this crew be given a sense of hope. That's our most important job right now. Our top priority is drinking water. Second is shelter to spend the night.
CHAKOTAY: A clearing with a protected side like the base of a cliff would be best.
JANEWAY: Food, fuel. Look for all the basic survival requirements.
CHAKOTAY: That includes anything that can be used as a tool or a weapon.
JANEWAY: We'll reconvene here in about two hours.
CHAKOTAY: All right, start dividing the crew. Looks like we don't have much daylight left. We'll spread the teams out in a standard alpha search pattern to see what we have to work with.
JANEWAY: Chakotay, Torres, you're with me. Alpha team here.
TUVOK: Beta team, this way.
KIM: Gamma team.
NEELIX: Delta team with me.
(The ground shakes.)
JANEWAY: The planet seems to be seismically active.
CHAKOTAY: At first glance, it's an M-class planet in a Pliocene stage of evolution.
JANEWAY: Comparable to Earth several million years ago.
(Voyager's engines start up. A large creature looks out from its cave.)
TORRES: Captain.
(Cavemen appear from behind some rocks. They turn back to watch Voyager take off. The EMH reappears in Sickbay. Suder is hiding in a ventilation duct.)

To Be Continued.....

(Later, the crew are walking up into towards a range of hills, with an active volcano on the horizon behind them. Some are carrying pointed sticks. Ensign Wildman is carrying her baby, and staggers briefly. Commander Chakotay walks back to her.)
CHAKOTAY: Let me help you.
WILDMAN: No, really, I'm all right.
CHAKOTAY: Don't push yourself. That goes for everyone. Perspiring wastes water.
(He takes the baby from her. There is a ground tremor. Captain Janeway leads them through a gap in the rocks.)
JANEWAY: All right people, follow me. Let's take it slow. This is the most defensible location we've seen so far. The overhang should provide us with shelter, and the breeze should keep insects away. All right, let's make camp.

[Outside tunnel entrance]

(Meanwhile, Neelix's team is foraging. Hogan is by a hole in the rocks that has a skeleton lying in front of it.)
HOGAN: Neelix, look at this. They almost look constructed. Maybe the people on this world are cave dwellers.
NEELIX: If that's true, I'd say this is a do-not-disturb sign, wouldn't you? They look humanoid. We might be able to use these as tools or weapons. Gather them up, Mister Hogan. Is there a problem?
HOGAN: No, sir. Do you want all of them?
NEELIX: Waste nothing. That's one of the first rules of survival.
(Neelix drops the thigh bone he has picked up and leaves Hogan to his task.)
CREWWOMAN: Neelix, over here!
(Something rushes along the tunnel to the cave entrance. Hogan screams. When Neelix and others get there, he is gone.)
NEELIX: Hogan!

[Shuttlecraft]

PARIS: Computer, repeat stabiliser diagnostic.
COMPUTER: Damage has been detected in the stabiliser acceleration sensors.
PARIS: I just repaired the acceleration sensors.
COMPUTER: Warning. Vessel approaching on intercept course.
PARIS: Signature?
COMPUTER: Kazon patrol vessel.
PARIS: Damn it! I don't have time for this.
(They start shooting at him.)
PARIS: I don't have time for this! Computer, all stop. Engage impulse.
(It takes three shots to destroy his attacker.)
PARIS: I told you, I don't have time for this.

[Camp]

(Night is falling.)
CHAKOTAY: That's all that's left of Hogan's uniform, Captain. We didn't find anything else.
NEELIX: This is my fault. If I hadn't told Hogan to pick up these bones.
KES: You shouldn't blame yourself, Neelix.
JANEWAY: Stop it. There's no time to worry about blame. Hogan was a fine officer and a good man. And our job is to make sure his death is the last one for a long time! I will not let this planet destroy my crew. Kes, see to it that everyone knows the tunnels are off-limits. I want clear safety protocols established. Mister Tuvok, we need weapons.
TUVOK: I have already begun to design some rudimentary devices, Captain.
JANEWAY: What's our food and water status?
CHAKOTAY: I know it sounds grisly, but I can make solar stills with the material from this uniform. We could have water tomorrow.
JANEWAY: Do it.
NEELIX: Captain, none of the search teams were able to find plants of any nutritional value.
JANEWAY: Then tell the crew to start turning over rocks.
(She does so and finds some worms.)
JANEWAY: If anyone balks at eating these, tell them it's an order from their captain. They may be the difference between life and death.

[Sickbay]

SESKA: Activate Emergency Medical Holographic Programme.
(The EMH comes out of his office.)
EMH: Please state the nature of the medical emergency.
SESKA: Hello, Doctor. Remember me?
EMH: How could I forget such an intriguing medical mystery? A Bajoran crewman with a Cardassian physiology. How are you, Seska? I see we have a new passenger.
SESKA: Doctor, I have to inform you about a change of command. I'm curious how you'll react. The Kazon-Nistrim have taken Voyager.
EMH: How interesting.
SESKA: Does your programme have any problem with that?
EMH: One humanoid is pretty much the same as another from a holographic point of view. I'm programmed to provide medical care to anyone who needs it.
SESKA: Tell me, is it within your program's capabilities to lie or be deceptive?
EMH: I've learned that a bedside manner occasionally requires me to, how should I put it, soft-pedal the truth. But bald-faced lying, calculated deceit? I don't have much experience with that sort of thing. But my programme is adaptive. If you really need me to be deceptive, I'm sure I could learn.
SESKA: It's not exactly what I meant. I think we'll keep you just as you are.
EMH: As you wish. Your baby's in good health.
SESKA: Ah, you don't know how primitive Kazon medicine is. I'm sure Chakotay would be glad to know you're looking after his son.
EMH: Chakotay's son? That isn't Chakotay's son.
SESKA: But you're wrong, Doctor. I impregnated myself with his DNA.
EMH: That may have been your intention, but it certainly wasn't the result. Here. See for yourself.
(The EMH calls up his scan results on a monitor. Scan 4077 of course.)
EMH: Your child has Cardassian DNA strands here and Kazon DNA here. Human DNA has a significantly different nucleotide sequence.
SESKA: But I was so certain. He, he looks
EMH: He's the first offspring of a Cardassian and a Kazon. We have no frame of reference by which to judge his initial appearance. Perhaps he will develop more Kazon features as he matures.
SESKA: Maje Culluh will be so pleased. End Medical Holographic Programme.
(The EMH disappears and Seska leaves. Then he reappears again to make his log entry whilst walking into his office.)

[Doctor's office]

EMH: Medical Log, Stardate 50032.7. I have determined that Commander Chakotay is not the father of Seska's child. I only wish there was some way to inform him. What am I supposed to do? Lead a revolt with a gang from Sandrine's? Conjure up holograms of Nathan Hale and Che Guevara? I'm a doctor, not a counterinsurgent. Get hold of yourself. You're not just a hologram. You're a Starfleet hologram. Maybe, maybe I could access a tactical database, teach myself guerrilla warfare. But that would take time. Computer, what is the crew complement?
COMPUTER: There are eighty nine Kazon
EMH: Eighty nine.
COMPUTER: And one Betazoid on board.
EMH: What did you say? Betazoid?
COMPUTER: There is one Betazoid on board.
EMH: Where? Who?
COMPUTER: Please restate a single question.
EMH: Who is it?
COMPUTER: Crewman Lon Suder.
EMH: Suder. Where is he?
COMPUTER: Between decks eight and nine.
EMH: Doctor to Suder.

[Jefferies tube]

SUDER: Yes! Yes, Doctor. I hear you.
EMH [OC]: The ship has been taken over by the Kazon-Nistrim.
SUDER: I know. I've been hiding.
EMH [OC]: Can you make it to Sickbay?
SUDER: I think so.

[Sickbay]

EMH: Computer, emergency medical priority one one four. Delete the signature of Mister Suder's comm. badge from the system. There is to be no record of his being on board.

[Camp]

JANEWAY: Huddle together in groups. That'll preserve body heat. This is no time to be shy. Tuvok.
(Kim and Torres enter carrying ostrich-sized eggs.)
KIM: Captain. How do you like your eggs?
TORRES: We found a nest about two kilometres away.
KIM: And that's not all. Cucumbers, or something like them. There are vines full of them two hours from here.
JANEWAY: Take them to Neelix and tell him to hold off on the beetle stew, at least for the time being. How's she doing, Samantha?
WILDMAN: I don't know, Captain. She seems tired, listless.
JANEWAY: Maybe she's just adjusting to the environment. After all, she was born in space. Make sure you stay close to the fire, as soon as we have one.
CHAKOTAY: Trapped on a barren planet and you're stuck with the only Indian in the universe who can't start a fire by rubbing two sticks together. I was never good at this as a child and I'm still not good at it.
JANEWAY: Don't be so hard on yourself. None of the others have had any success with it either. Must be the wood.
CHAKOTAY: We need kindling of some sort.
(He stares at the Captain.)
JANEWAY: What?
CHAKOTAY: Something my father once told me about starting a fire.
(A short time later, all the long-haired crew have had to sacrifice a lock to the cause. Kim gets to cut Janeway's hair.)
KIM: There you go.
(Torres takes it to Chakotay and puts it by the friction hole in the log. The spinning stick finally makes it catch fire. A local watches his warm his hands by the flames. Later -)
NEELIX: If we put some bigger rocks around the fire, they'll reflect the heat better. I'm going to go get some.
(Neelix leaves. Kes follows.)

[Outside the camp]

KES: Neelix. You shouldn't go too far away from camp.
(She turns to go back and is grabbed by a local.)

[Shuttlecraft]

(Paris contacts the Talaxians.)
PAXIM [on monitor]: Voyager's been taken by the Kazon-Nistrim. They're flooding every subspace frequency with the news.
PARIS: Is there any word on the crew?
PAXIM [on monitor]: I'm afraid not.
PARIS: If you can help me with repairs, we can be on our way in a few hours.
PAXIM [on monitor]: Lieutenant, our ships are no match for Voyager and your shuttlecraft can hardly be expected
PARIS: Commander Paxim, my people are counting on you. Look, no one knows Voyager like I do. I know every vulnerability, every blind spot. Don't worry. I have a plan.
PAXIM [on monitor]: Very well. We'll rendezvous in an hour. Paxim out.
PARIS: One hour. I should be able to come up with some kind of plan in one hour.

[Sickbay]

(Suder enters through an access panel.)
EMH: I was beginning to think you'd got lost.
SUDER: I'm sorry. They're still repairing the ship. I had to be careful.
EMH: We have no time to waste. According to the computer, we're at warp. We've got to figure out some way to slow the ship down before we get too far from the crew. That would seem to be our first priority. And then we have to get some weapons. Mister Suder, are you listening to me?
SUDER: Yes.
EMH: Oh. I see. Perhaps you consider this an opportunity.
SUDER: Opportunity?
EMH: To obtain your freedom from confinement. How foolish of me to think you would want to help.
SUDER: You're wrong. I do want to help.
EMH: Then what?
SUDER: I'm going to have to kill some of them.
EMH: It is possible. Violence might be required to retake the ship.
SUDER: I've worked so, so hard over the last few months to control the violent feelings. I'm almost at peace with myself. I mean, I see the day coming when I could be.
EMH: Mister Suder. If Lieutenant Tuvok were here, I know he would tell you there are times when violence is required to defend yourself, to defend your ship, to defend your crew.
SUDER: Yes, there is a logical use for violence for everyone else. With me, once it begins
EMH: We must do this together, Mister Suder. If you don't trust yourself yet, then trust me. I will help you anyway I can. One hologram and one sociopath may not be much of a match for the Kazon, but we'll have to do.

[Camp]

CHAKOTAY: There are signs of a struggle near the edge of camp. I found alien tracks.
JANEWAY: We can't wait until morning to go after them.
CHAKOTAY: Well, I'm better at tracking than starting fires.
TUVOK: I've completed a few weapons that might be appropriate, Commander.
CHAKOTAY: This is thoughtful of you Tuvok, but my tribe never used bows and arrows, and I've never even shot one.
TUVOK: This is mine. I taught archery science for several years at the Vulcan Institute of Defensive Arts.
JANEWAY: Take as many crew members as you need.

[Planet surface]

(Morning. Neelix and Kes are sitting in the middle of a circle of squatting locals dressed in skins. One moves forward and strokes Kes' hair. Another pushes him away and beats his chest like a gorilla.)
NATIVE: Toos. Feelhi hiseri.
NEELIX: Now, see here. You just keep your hands off her!
NATIVE 1: Toluhee.
NATIVE 2: Kahee! Kahee! Feelhi.
(The native males square up to each other and fight like gorillas. A female screams as Chakotay walks down the slope towards them. The fight ends and they try to wave Chakotay away.)
NATIVE 1: Sho! Kumi, kumi sho.
NEELIX: Commander. Thank goodness.
CHAKOTAY: Are you all right?
KES: They haven't hurt us.
CHAKOTAY: Have you been able to tell if they have a leader?
KES: I'd say it's the one with the claw.
(The oldest male with a claw on the end of a stout stick.)
NEELIX: I agree. The other two seem to be trying to figure out what to make of us. In a manner of speaking. Not in a culinary sense, I hope.
CHAKOTAY: Listen to the sound of my voice, and you'll know that I mean you no harm. I come without weapons. But I must have my people back.
(The chief silences the males and talks to Chakotay.)
CHIEF: Lum, usetum hator.
(He pushes a female towards Chakotay.)
CHAKOTAY: Thank you, but she should stay with you. I must take them with me.
NATIVE 1: Kodor, kodihor, kotiheer!
NEELIX: Stand? Certainly. I'll be happy to stand. What, 0ver here? Fine, fine, fine, fine.
CHIEF: Jimugan neesensak.
NEELIX: What? No. No. No! That is unacceptable!
CHAKOTAY: Kes, stand up slowly and walk away with us.
(Neelix and Kes walk away as Chakotay faces the chief.)
CHAKOTAY: We have to go now.
(He follows Kes and Neelix up the slope.)
CHAKOTAY: Just keep walking. Don't look back.
CHIEF: Tahee! Tahee!
(The tribe gives chase, and they run. Crewmen appear on the skyline, and one shoots a male with an arrow. A couple of spears are also thrown.)

[Outside a tunnel]

(The natives have the crew surrounded.)
CHAKOTAY: In there!
NEELIX: Commander, that looks just like the tunnel where Hogan
CHAKOTAY: I know. If they know it too, they won't follow us in. Come on!
(He is right.)

[Engineering]

(Cullah is watching from the top walkway. Seska is on the one below.)
CULLUH: You'd think this crew had never seen a warp drive before.
SESKA: No one tried to adjust the antimatter flow today?
KAZON ENGINEER: No one.
(Cullah goes down in the lift.)
CULLUH: If you're lying, I'll have your head.
KAZON ENGINEER: I swear it, Maje.
SESKA: There should have been some warning before the antimatter injector froze. A drop in core temperature, a magnetic constriction alarm, something. He's either lying, or
CULLUH: Or what?
SESKA: Computer, run a level one scan for intruders.
COMPUTER: Unable to comply. Internal scanner relays have been damaged.
CULLUH: I thought you said all repairs were complete.
KAZON ENGINEER: They were. I thought they were.

[Doctor's office]

SESKA [on monitor]: I want a deck by deck search of all Jeffries tubes and conduits. Use the Federation tricorders.
SUDER: Do you have a portable thoron generator?
EMH: Yes, of course. We use it to treat radiation burns.
SUDER: It's an old Maquis trick. Thoron particles neutralise tricorder sensors.
EMH: Mister Suder, we need some weapons if we're going to retake the ship.
(Suder goes into the access tunnel.)

[Camp]

(Baby Wildman is crying.)
WILDMAN: She has a fever. I don't know what to do.
JANEWAY: Let me get her some water.

[Outside camp]

JANEWAY: The baby needs water.
KIM: Those tremors seem to be getting stronger.
JANEWAY: Chakotay's team should have been back by now. We'd better look for them before it gets too hot. Get a few people together. I'll join you in a second.

[Tunnel]

(The natives start a brush fire to smoke them out.)
CHAKOTAY: Come on. We have to see if there's another way out of here.
(Further along, there is a small rock fall after a tremor.)
KES: I feel a breeze.
NEELIX: It's coming from this way.
(That way lies a cave with a giant serpent sleeping in it.)

[Outside the tunnel]

(The search party see the natives outside the tunnel entrance.)
KIM: Do you really think Commander Chakotay would go in there after what happened to Hogan?
JANEWAY: He may have had no other choice.
TORRES: How do we get them away from the tunnels?
KIM: A couple of phaser blasts would do the trick.
JANEWAY: Who are the fastest runners here?
TORRES: I was on the decathlon team before I quit the Academy. The track and field coach was furious with me.
JANEWAY: Anyone else here who can run?
AYALA: Yeah.
JANEWAY: Okay. You three will be the sprint team. Once you reach our camp, you should be safe.

[Tunnel]

CHAKOTAY: Which way do you like, Tuvok?
TUVOK: From a tactical point of view, the options are not encouraging. However, moving past the creature might lead us to an exit.
CHAKOTAY: All right, let's take it slow. Single file.

[Outside the tunnel]

(Torres, Ayala and a crewwoman throw rocks at the natives.)
TORRES: Hey! Up here!
AYALA: Come on!
TORRES: Up here. You want us? You want us? Come and get us! Come on. Come and get us.
(The natives give chase. Janeway, Kim and two crewman run down to the brush fire to clear the entrance.)
JANEWAY: Pull this.

[Cave]

(A crewman slips on the ledge and hangs by his fingertips above the serpent. It stirs as they pull him back up.)
KES: Look out!
(It snaps at them, and they fire arrows and spears at it.)

[Outside the tunnel]

JANEWAY: Chakotay! Tuvok!

[Cave]

KIM [OC]: The tunnel is clear!
CHAKOTAY: Go!

[Tunnel]

(They run back to the entrance. The serpent follows.)
CHAKOTAY: Everybody out!

[Outside the tunnel]

JANEWAY: Move. Let's go. Go! Go! Go, go!

[Tunnel]

TUVOK: Chakotay, your spear.
(The two men prod at a fracture in the tunnel roof, and create a fall just as the serpent reaches them.) 
CHAKOTAY: Go, go, go!

[Outside the tunnel]

JANEWAY: Come on, come on. Go!
CHAKOTAY: Come on.

[Jefferies Tube]

KAZON ENGINEER: I don't understand it. Thoron particles are leaking into the conduits from somewhere. I can't get any other readings. Check the next level.
KAZON CREWMAN: Yes, sir.

[Doctor's office]

COMPUTER: Incoming subspace message on the Emergency Medical Holographic channel.
EMH: On the emergency channel?
PARIS [on monitor]: Doc, I hope you're receiving this because if you're not, I'm a dead duck. I'm piggybacking this message on a fake Kazon signal I'm sending to the Bridge. I'm betting they won't be monitoring your Emergency Medical channel. I'm bringing help, but you have to do something for us. When the attack begins, I need you to get the computer to block the discharge from the backup phaser power couplings. You got that? The backup couplings. I'm taking out the primary couplings myself, but I need those backups to overload when they switch to them. Don't do anything until the attack begins or they might notice. That's it for now. I'll be seeing you soon. I hope.
(Vessel schematic 4747 returns to the monitor screen. Suder returns through the access panel.)

[Sickbay]

EMH: Good news. Help is on the way. Mister Paris apparently was able to. Oh.
(The Kazon crewman is dead.)
SUDER: I didn't know what to do. I didn't think I should leave him there where they could find him.
EMH: Of course. You were smart to bring him here. We can put him in a stasis drawer.
SUDER: Well, we have weapons now.
(Suder collapses and curls up on the floor.)
EMH: You did what was necessary, Mister Suder. Five cc's of improvaline will help you calm down.
SUDER: No! No drugs. I just need to breathe. See the light that is my breath.

[Ready room]

CULLUH: We've just received a message from our patrol ship. They have tracked down the shuttle from Voyager and destroyed it.
SESKA: Were two people on board?
CULLUH: They didn't say.
SESKA: Two people were unaccounted for when we captured the crew. Have they found any evidence of an intruder on board?
CULLUH: No. But the search has been slowed down by a thoron particle leak.
SESKA: Thoron particles? That's an old Maquis trick to fool tricorders.

[Outside the camp]

TUVOK: After what transpired, I believe we have to prepare ourselves for an alien attack, Captain. Our priority should be to increase the weapons arsenal and to begin training everyone in the use of these weapons.
JANEWAY: I don't like the sound of that, Lieutenant. We may have to coexist with these aliens a long time.
TUVOK: Nevertheless
CHAKOTAY: I agree with the Captain. We have to find a way to share this world with them.
TUVOK: You may find nobility in the savage, Commander, but he is only interested in killing you.
CHAKOTAY: I don't believe that.
(Kes runs out to them.)
KES: Captain! The baby is very sick. She's having trouble breathing. She has a high fever. There's nothing more I can do for her.
KIM: Captain!
(There is a nearby volcanic eruption.)
JANEWAY: I think our top priority has just been dictated. Break camp. We've got to get out of here before it blows.

[Sickbay]

(Seska enters with two guards.)
SESKA: Why are you still here? I shut down your programme when I left.
EMH: You must be mistaken.
SESKA: Where's your thoron generator?
EMH: It was damaged on a recent away mission and left behind.
SESKA: Who else from Voyager is on board?
EMH: I wouldn't know.
SESKA: I don't believe you.
EMH: There are several dozen crewmen on board actually, and they have been working round the clock to sabotage your vessel.
SESKA: That's a lie. At most, there is one, and I believe it is a Maquis crewman.
EMH: Yes. Of course, you're right. It is one of the Maquis.
SESKA: I won't play these games with a trick of light.
EMH: Sticks and stones won't break my bones, so you can imagine how I feel about being called names.
SESKA: I don't believe you could have sabotaged this ship alone.
EMH: Very well. Since you are obviously about to disable my programme anyway, let me take the credit I deserve. I did sabotage the ship all by myself, with the computer's help, of course. As a matter of fact, one of your crewman came in unexpectedly and caught me in the act.

[Stasis room]

(Just off Sickbay. The EMH opens the drawer containing the Kazon crewman.)
SESKA: You killed him?
EMH: He left me no choice.
SESKA: Why create a thoron leak if you're not hiding someone?
EMH: I would think it's obvious. To make you believe I was hiding someone. I've had your people crawling through the bowels of this ship for hours looking for an intruder.
SESKA: You're more talented in the art of deception than you led me to believe.
EMH: I was inspired by the presence of a master.

[Sickbay]

SESKA: Computer, access Culluh Zero One. Disregard all voice commands from Starfleet personnel. Security lockout.
(Thump!)
SESKA: Seska to Bridge. What's going on?
KAZON CREWMAN [OC]: A couple of Talaxian ships have fired on us. Nothing to worry about.
SESKA: Goodbye, Doctor. I'd rather not take any more chances.
(Seska shoots at his hologram control panel, and he disappears.
(Down on the planet, the entire range of hills is starting to erupt. Suder returns to Sickbay.) 
SUDER: Doctor? Activate Emergency Medical Holographic Programme.
COMPUTER: Unable to respond. All Starfleet voice access has been cancelled.

[Doctor's office]

EMH [on monitor]: Mister Suder. If you are hearing this, you have just unsuccessfully attempted to access the Emergency Medical Programme. I have programmed this message to play in the event that I have been disabled. This means, of course, that the fate of Voyager now depends solely on you. I can imagine how you must feel at this moment. I want you to know, you have my full confidence. You have already shown great courage and dedication to your crew. I have left an additional message for Captain Janeway and Lieutenant Tuvok noting your heroism, in case I am irretrievable. You know what you have to do and when to do it, and I know with our fate in your hands, we will prevail. Good luck, Mister Suder.
(The ship shakes under the Talaxian attack.)

[Bridge]

KAZON ENGINEER: The Talaxians are retreating toward the nebula.
CULLUH: We'll teach them the price for attacking the Nistrim. Lay in a pursuit course.

[Shuttlecraft]

PAXIM [OC]: Commander Paxim to Paris.
PARIS: Go ahead.
PAXIM [OC]: They're following us as planned. We're bringing them to you.
PARIS: Acknowledged. Ready and waiting. I just hope you are too, Doc.

[Planet surface]

JANEWAY: This way.
(The tribe are also on the move. A female calls out and another turns and screams. The first female is trapped by lava on a rock. Chakotay goes down to help her.) 
FEMALE: Makee nah!
CHAKOTAY: It's okay.
(He puts her over his shoulder and carries her back up to safety. The chief is impressed.) 
CHIEF: Tal kada.
(He invites them to travel together.)

[Shuttlecraft]

(Voyager follows the Talaxians into the nebula.)
PARIS: Here we go.
(The shuttlecraft swoops underneath Voyager and fires at its targets.)

[Bridge]

CULLUH: What's happening?
KAZON ENGINEER: Our phaser power couplings are under attack.
SESKA: From where?
KAZON ENGINEER: I don't see anyone. I'm not picking up anything on the scanners. Shields are buckling.
CULLUH: Take evasive action.
(Suder creeps into Engineering, then starts shooting the Kazons there. They are all down in moments. He drops the phaser rifle and sets about disabling the backup couplings. A Kazon shoots him in the back, but he manages to complete the sabotage with his dying breath.) 
KAZON ENGINEER: I have it on the scanners. It's a Federation shuttlecraft.
CULLUH: Lock phasers. Destroy it.
KAZON ENGINEER: Primary phaser power is down.
SESKA: Switch to backup systems.
KAZON ENGINEER: Confirmed. Phasers are locked on.
CULLUH: Fire!
KAZON ENGINEER: I don't understand. I'm showing an overload.

[Shuttlecraft]

(Energy plays all over Voyager's hull.)
PARIS: Yes, Doc, yes! Paris to Commander Paxim. Stand by. I'm going to start transporting your people to Voyager.
PAXIM [OC]: Standing by.

[Bridge]

(Everyone has been knocked out, except the baby, which is crying. Seska recovers first and crawls towards the sound.)
CULLUH: Seska! Seska!

[Ready room]

(Seska dies by her baby. Paris and the Talaxians beam into a transporter room.)
CULLUH: Seska? No.
KAZON CREWMAN [OC]: Engineering to Maje Culluh. We're being boarded.
CULLUH: Abandon ship.
(He picks up the baby and leaves.)

[Bridge]

PARIS: I'm sealing off the Bridge manually. I've got to get the computer back online. All Starfleet voice access has been disabled.
PAXIM: I'm reading a Kazon shuttle leaving the ship. There are also escape pods being launched.
PARIS: Forget them. We have more important things to do.

[Planet surface]

(The chief places a leaf containing other herbs on Wildman's baby's chest. She stops crying.)
KES: She's breathing better, isn't she?
CHIEF: Sad katonk.
NATIVE: Anuk! Anuk! Anuk! Anuk!
(Voyager flies down through the atmosphere towards them.)

[Bridge]

PARIS: Welcome back, Captain.
JANEWAY: Well done, Lieutenant.
PARIS: I had a lot of help. The Talaxians, the Doc, Mister Suder.
KIM: Suder? We thought he was killed during the initial attack.
PARIS: No, he and the Doctor sabotaged the ship. Suder disabled the phasers before they killed him.

[Sickbay]

(Suder is laid out on a biobed, hands folded on his chest.)
EMH: You would have been proud of him, Mister Tuvok.
TUVOK: I offer you a Vulcan prayer, Mister Suder. May your death bring you the peace you never found in life.
(Chakotay is by Seska's body on another biobed. He draws the sheet over her face.)

[Bridge]

JANEWAY: Mister Kim, is this ship capable of sustained flight?
KIM: All propulsion and navigational systems are functioning within normal parameters, Captain.
JANEWAY: Good. Take us away from our new home and set a course for the old one, Mister Paris. Warp eight.
PARIS: Heading four one, mark seven seven. Destination, Alpha Quadrant.
JANEWAY: Engage.