JANEWAY: Lieutenant Thomas Eugene Paris. I hereby reduce you to the rank of Ensign, and I sentence you to thirty days solitary confinement. Take Ensign Paris to the brig.
PARIS: I know the way.
(The two security guards follow him out. Torres, Seven and Kim watch him go past in the corridor.)

[Turbolift]

PARIS: Brig.

[Brig]

(Paris removes his comm badge and steps inside the cell. The forcefield is activated. He lies down on the bed. A few days later, he decides to do some push-ups.)
PARIS: One, two, three
(The door opens.)
PARIS: Ninety eight, ninety nine, one hundred.
NEELIX: Staying in shape?
PARIS: Oh, yeah. I do it every time I'm in jail.
NEELIX: Well, I hope all that exercise gave you an appetite.
PARIS: Leola root stew again? That's the third time this week. Can't you just replicate me a pizza?
NEELIX: Sorry, Tom. Basic nutrition only. Captain's orders.
PARIS: Bread and water, huh? Let's have it.
(The guard lowers the forcefield and Neelix hands over the tray. The forcefield is raised again.)
NEELIX: I got you the PADD you asked for.
PARIS: Oh, thanks. So, did you ask the warden about those holodeck privileges?
NEELIX: She said, and I quote, tell Mister Paris this is punishment, not shore leave.
PARIS: It was worth a try.
NEELIX: Well, see you next meal.
PARIS: Wait. Leaving already? Pull up a chair, stay a while.
NEELIX: Sorry. No non-essential conversation with the prisoner.
PARIS: Did the words cruel and unusual mean anything to her? I'm telling you, Neelix, the inmates are getting restless. She's going to have a full-blown prison riot on her hands.
(Neelix leaves. Paris picks up the PADD and thinks for a while.)
PARIS: Begin letter. Dear Father. Pause and erase. Begin. To Admiral Paris. Pause and erase. Begin. Hey, Dad, long time no see. Chances are you'll never receive this letter, but in case you do, there's a few things I wanted to say. First of all, bad news. Er, I'm in jail again. Wait, keep listening, don't turn this off. I want you to know how I ended up in here because it's not what you think. It all started on a morning I was doing something you would find a complete waste of time.

[Holodeck - Captain Proton programme]

(Captain Proton's rocket backpack is flying him through space.)
PARIS: Captain Proton to Buster Kincaid. I've destroyed Doctor Chaotica's mind control machine and I'm on my way back to the spaceship.
DEMONICA-JENNY [OC]: Hello, Proton.
PARIS: Who is this?

[Proton's ship]

DEMONICA-JENNY: An old friend.
MALICIA-MEGAN: Make that two old friends.
PARIS [OC]: The Twin Mistresses of Evil. I should have known.
DEMONICA-JENNY: I'm afraid your trusty sidekick is indisposed at the moment.
(Kim is chained by the wrists between two uprights.)
KIM: Don't worry about me, Captain. I can handle myself.
DEMONICA-JENNY: We'll see about that. Bring me the brain probe.
MALICIA-MEGAN: The what?
DEMONICA-JENNY: The brain probe, you insolent fool.
MALICIA-MEGAN: Oh, right. Your wish is my command. Sorry, Harry.
KIM: No problem. Torture me all you want, Demonica, I'll never crack.
DEMONICA-JENNY: Oh, but you will.
MALICIA-MEGAN: By the time we're through with you you'll be begging to tell us everything you know.
DEMONICA-JENNY: You'll be our puppet.
MALICIA-MEGAN: Our slave,
KIM: Great. you're doing great.
(The airlock opens. Enter Captain Proton.)
PARIS: You're done for, Demonica.
MALICIA-MEGAN: Malicia, She's Demonica.
PARIS: Whatever. You two are going to jail for a very long time.
MALICIA-MEGAN: Ooh.
DEMONICA-JENNY: Ooh.
PARIS: Move it, toots.
MALICIA-MEGAN: He's so brave.
DEMONICA-JENNY: It's a shame we'll have to kill him.
KIM: I've got everything under control, Proton, shouldn't you be getting back to Headquarters?
PARIS: And leave you at the mercy of these two?
KIM: Come on, Tom. I'm just getting to the good part.
CHAKOTAY [OC]: Senior officers report to the bridge.
PARIS: I guess the good part'll have to wait.

[Corridor]

PARIS: Any progress on those starcharts?
MEGAN: I'll have them to you by fourteen hundred.
PARIS: Fourteen hundred? You told me they'd be done yesterday.
MEGAN: I'm sorry, Tom. The sensor array went offline. Seven of Nine will have it up and running this morning. Fourteen hundred, I promise.
KIM: You need some help? I'm not on duty again till tomorrow morning.
MEGAN: No, I don't want to spoil your day off.
KIM: Oh, I don't mind.
MEGAN: Thanks anyway.
JENNY: See you Lieutenant. Buster.
KIM: Bye.
PARIS: I think Jenny really likes you.
KIM: Yeah, I know.
PARIS: I thought the feeling was mutual.
KIM: How many times do I have to tell you? I like Megan, but she won't give me the time of day.
PARIS: What is the difference?
KIM: You can't be serious.
PARIS: They're the Delaney sisters, Harry. They're twins.
KIM: Are you kidding? They're nothing alike. Jenny's aggressive and sometimes annoying. But Megan, she's quiet, artistic, and she's got that cute little dimple in her right cheek.
PARIS: Jenny doesn't have the dimple?
KIM: No dimple.

[Turbolift]

KIM: Bridge.
PARIS: Well, you've done it again, Harry.
KIM: What?
PARIS: Fallen for the unattainable woman. First it was a hologram, then a Borg, and now the wrong twin.
KIM: At least I'm consistent.

[Bridge]

JANEWAY: Sorry to interrupt your fun, gentlemen, but long range sensors have picked up something interesting.
CHAKOTAY: A concentrated mass of oxygen and hydrogen. Lots of animal and plant life.
KIM: An M-class planet?
JANEWAY: No, that's the interesting part.
TUVOK: We're entering visual range.
JANEWAY: On screen.
(A blue planet. Uniformly blue all over.)
KIM: What is it?
PARIS: It's an ocean.
CHAKOTAY: According to these readings, it's bigger than the Atlantic and Pacific combined.
PARIS: What's holding it together?
KIM: Looks like there's some sort of containment field keeping it from dissipating.
JANEWAY: Take us in closer, Tom.
(Three vessels fly out of the water.)
PARIS: Are those starships or submarines?
JANEWAY: Open a channel. This is Captain Janeway of the Starship Voyager. Please identify yourselves.
TUVOK: They are powering weapons.
JANEWAY: Shields. Red alert.
TUVOK: Shields holding, no damage. Should I return fire?
JANEWAY: Not yet. Voyager to approaching vessels. We have no hostile intentions.
PARIS: They're maintaining their course.
JANEWAY: Target the lead ship and take out their weapons.
TUVOK: Direct hit.
KIM: They're hailing.
JANEWAY: I guess we got their attention. On screen.
(A lipless humanoid appears.)
BURKUS [on viewscreen]: I'm Deputy Consul Burkus of the Monean Maritime Sovereignty. You've violated our space. Withdraw or we'll resume firing.
JANEWAY: Consul, we could have destroyed your ships, but we didn't. We have no interest in a fight.
BURKUS [on viewscreen]: Then why are you here?
JANEWAY: Because we're explorers, and we're fascinated by your ocean. And we'd like to learn more about it, and your people if you'd be willing.
BURKUS [on viewscreen]: And if we are not?
JANEWAY: We'll be disappointed, but we'll leave you alone.
BURKUS [on viewscreen]: Your ship's impressive.
JANEWAY: Well, I'd be happy to give you a tour.

[Corridor]

(Three Moneans come aboard.)
BURKUS: Forgive our vigilance, Captain. Over the years, my government has had to protect our ocean from more than one hostile species.
JANEWAY: I understand. We're also very protective of our own natural resources.
NEELIX: We're always interested in learning about other cultures. Yours sounds particularly fascinating.

[Bridge]

JANEWAY: And this is Voyager's command centre. Feel free to have a look around.
NEELIX: I'm curious, Consul. Have your people always lived here?
BURKUS: Our ancestors were nomadic. They only discovered the waters three hundred years ago.
PARIS: I'll bet they were as stunned as we were to find this huge ball of water floating in space.
BURKUS: Yes. Mister?
PARIS: Paris. Tom Paris.
JANEWAY: My First Officer, Commander Chakotay.
BURKUS: They realised they could farm sea vegetation, extract oxygen from the ocean for their ships, create a permanent home.
PARIS: What's your population?
BURKUS: More than eighty thousand.
PARIS: And you all live underwater?
TUVOK: Lieutenant, we do have other business to attend to.
JANEWAY: Mister Tuvok, escort our guest to the briefing room. Care to join us, Mister Paris?
PARIS: How could you tell?

[Briefing room]

NEELIX: Do you still live aboard your ships?
BURKUS: We've built an industrial infrastructure and undersea dwellings, but yes, most of our people still choose to live as our ancestors did.
JANEWAY: Any idea how the ocean came into existence? In my experience, it's a unique phenomenon.
BURKUS: Riga?
RIGA: There are several theories. Our clerics teach that the ocean was a divine gift from the creators to protect and sustain us. But, in my opinion, the most plausible explanation is that the ocean formed naturally, much the same way that a gas giant does.
JANEWAY: Makes sense.
RIGA: Unfortunately, our limited knowledge of the phenomenon has created a few problems.
JANEWAY: What do you mean?
BURKUS: I'm not sure this is an appropriate topic.
RIGA: But they might be able to help us.
JANEWAY: We'll do anything we can.
RIGA: The ocean's losing containment. Hydro-volume has decreased more than seven percent in the last year alone.
JANEWAY: Any idea what's causing it?
RIGA: No. To make a thorough study we'd need to explore the ocean centre where I believe the gravitational currents are fluctuating.
PARIS: But that's more that six hundred kilometres deep.
RIGA: Our best research vessel can only go one hundred kilometres. Beyond that the pressure's too great. 
PARIS: Well, we could take you there. Captain?

[Ready room]

(Over a pot of tea.)
JANEWAY: I had no idea you were such an old salt.
PARIS: When I saw that ocean today, it reminded me of the first time I read Jules Verne.
JANEWAY: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.
PARIS: I must have read it twenty thousand times. I was obsessed with stories about the ocean. All of my friends were busy with their holoprogrammes. I had my head buried in Captains Courageous, Moby Dick.
JANEWAY: So your interest in history includes the nineteenth century as well?
PARIS: Ancient sailing ships were always my first love. I had it all planned. Finish high school, join the Federation Naval Patrol. But my father had other ideas.
JANEWAY: You'd think Admiral Paris might have understood his son's passion.
PARIS: As far as he was concerned, the only ship I was going to serve on had to have a Starfleet insignia on it.
JANEWAY: So now you have an opportunity to make up for lost time.
PARIS: Captain, with a few simple thruster modifications to the Delta Flyer, she will be seaworthy in no time.
JANEWAY: Good. It'd take at least a week to make the necessary modifications to Voyager.
PARIS: Then it's my mission?
JANEWAY: Bon voyage.

[Corridor]

PARIS: And so, I thought to myself, who better than Harry to be my first mate?
KIM: First mate?
PARIS: Oh, sailor talk. You'll get the hang of it. I'm telling you, Harry, I have been dreaming about something like this for as long as I can remember.
KIM: Correct me if I'm wrong, but there is a mission involved here, right?
PARIS: Of course, but there's no law says we can't have a little fun along the way. Ah, boatswain. Ready to shove off?
SEVEN: What are you talking about, Lieutenant?
PARIS: Call me Skipper.
KIM: Sailor talk. You'll get used to it.
SEVEN: I think not. Hull and thruster reinforcements are complete.
PARIS: That's what I wanted to hear. 
RIGA: Oh, excuse me. Am I in the right place?
PARIS: Welcome aboard. I see you like to travel light.
RIGA: These are my instruments for measuring depth, pressure, currents.
SEVEN: We will not need them. This vessel is equipped with a complete sensor array.
RIGA: Oh.
PARIS: It's okay. You can store your gear in the hold.

[Delta Flyer]

KIM: Twenty thousand kilometres to the surface.
PARIS: Immersion shielding?
SEVEN: Active.
PARIS: Anchors aweigh.
(The Delta Flyer enters the ocean. They glide down past tall buildings and other things.)
PARIS: Those structures, what are they?
RIGA: It's our main oxygen refinery and desalination plant.
SEVEN: Corrosion resistant alloys, variable density ballast. An efficient design.
KIM: That means she's impressed.
RIGA: We're very proud of what we've built here.
PARIS: I can see why.

[Ready room]

JANEWAY: Come in.
(Chakotay escorts Burkus.)
JANEWAY: I'm afraid we have some disturbing news.
BURKUS: Oh?
JANEWAY: We've run a computer simulation to determine the rate of dissipation. It's worse than Mister Riga thought.
CHAKOTAY: According to our estimates the ocean could experience a complete loss of containment in less than five years.
JANEWAY: I'm sorry.
BURKUS: Your calculations could be wrong.
JANEWAY: I know it sounds grim, but there may be some way to stop the process.
BURKUS: And if there isn't?
JANEWAY: You might have to consider evacuating.
BURKUS: I'm supposed to go back and explain this to forty seven regional sovereigns? They'll pass their first unanimous resolution, calling for my head.
JANEWAY: I can imagine how difficult this must be for you, but you will have to tell them.
BURKUS: Perhaps, but I'll wait until your Delta Flyer returns. Maybe they'll find something tangible.

[Delta Flyer]

PARIS: We're at a depth of five hundred and sixty kilometres.
(Creak)
RIGA: What was that?
SEVEN: The hull contracting.
KIM: Rerouting additional power to structural integrity. Nothing to worry about.
SEVEN: I'm detecting multiphasic energy discharges bearing zero one two mark six. Range twelve kilometres. A structure.
RIGA: At this depth?
PARIS: Adjusting course. I can't see anything. Give me forward illumination, Harry.
RIGA: What is it?
KIM: It's generating massive amounts of artificial gravity. Looks like some kind of field reactor.
RIGA: If it's malfunctioning that would explain the loss of hydro-volume.
PARIS: Maybe it can be repaired. It looks ancient.
KIM: Well, if these readings are right, it's at least a hundred thousand years old.
RIGA: We have no records of any previous inhabitants. Who built it? Where did they go?
KIM: Looks like the reactor's controlled by a core computer. I'll try to upload the database and get some answers.
PARIS: Initiate the interface.
SEVEN: Upload in progress
(The Flyer shudders and an alarm sounds.).
RIGA: What's happening?
PARIS: We've got a visitor.
(A massive creature swims above them.)
RIGA: What was it?
KIM: You're the one who lives here. You tell us.
RIGA: No one's ever been this far down before. We don't know anything about marine life at these depths.
SEVEN: You are about to have the opportunity to make a detailed study.
(They get rammed.)
SEVEN: The creature is emitting biothermic discharges.
KIM: It's like some kind of electric eel.
PARIS: Only a hell of a lot bigger.
SEVEN: And significantly more powerful. That last discharge exceeded five hundred thousand volts.
KIM: The shields are fried, Tom. You might want to think about getting us out of here.
(Another big hit.)
PARIS: Thrusters are offline.
SEVEN: Targeting forward phasers.
RIGA: No, you can't kill it.
SEVEN: I do not intend to. Unfortunately the creature does not seem to be of a similar opinion.
PARIS: How's that upload coming?
KIM: Another couple of minutes.
SEVEN: Firing phasers.
PARIS: We only made him madder.
SEVEN: The creature is retreating.
KIM: We've got a breach.
PARIS: I'm on it.

[Brig]

PARIS: Six hundred kilometres underwater, propulsion offline, water pouring into the cabin. It was like something out of one of those Jules Verne stories you used to read me when I was a kid.
(A whumph! knocks Paris off his feet.)
JANEWAY [OC]: Red alert. All hands to battle stations.
PARIS: Hey, what about me? If we're in trouble we need our best pilot at the helm! You can't just leave me here! (Another Whumph slams him into the cell wall. Later, the EMH is making a house call for the bump on his head.)
PARIS: Five ships? And they just opened fire without warning?
EMH: Mmm hmm.
PARIS: How did we get away?
EMH: Apparently, Ensign Culhane confused the enemy with a brilliant series of evasive manoeuvres. I hear Captain Janeway is considering him for Chief Conn. officer.
PARIS: Oh, yeah? Well, you just tell the Captain that Culhane's brilliant manoeuvres almost knocked me unconscious. You'd think he'd never flown a shuttle, much less a starship.
EMH: There we are,
PARIS: That's it? Aren't you going to run a neurological scan? Maybe I should be granted a medical reprieve.
EMH: Your injury was what Naomi Wildman refers to as a boo-boo.
PARIS: Come on, Doc, you don't understand what it's like being down here all day, every day. I'm going crazy.
EMH: Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that the idea?
PARIS: No, seriously Doc, you might want to take me down to Sickbay for a full psychiatric evaluation. Three or four days of observation at least.
EMH: See you in twenty days.
(The Doctor leaves.)
PARIS: Doc! Resume recording. Okay, Dad, where were we? Ah, right. We had just sprung a leak.

[Delta Flyer]

(Paris fixes the hull breach with a laser welder.)
PARIS: Nothing like a cold shower to wake up the senses.
KIM: Structural integrity is weakening. We've lost communications, shields, propulsion.
SEVEN: We can reduce our density by venting plasma and transporting all non-essential equipment off the ship. It will take time, but we will eventually rise to the surface.
PARIS: I think we should stay.
RIGA: Stay?
PARIS: I'm not about to be scared off by a few damaged systems.  
KIM: Tom, don't you think maybe you're carrying this Captains Courageous thing a little too far?
PARIS: Look, it's a good bet the reactor's malfunctioning. Now we're only going to get one shot at fixing it. You want to leave? Fine. Give me an environmental suit and you can pick me up after you've repaired the Flyer.
KIM: You're going for a swim? Are you crazy?
PARIS: You have a better idea?
KIM: Well, we already managed to interface with the reactor's computer. Maybe we can make the repairs, maybe we can't, but I'm not leaving you down here alone.
PARIS: What about you two?
RIGA: I'll stay.
PARIS: Seven?
SEVEN: It is in my nature to comply with the Collective.

[Bridge]

(A plume of water leaves the ocean.)
TUVOK: I'm detecting a breach in the containment field.
CHAKOTAY: Any way we can seal it?
TUVOK: We might try reinforcing the field with a deflector beam.
JANEWAY: Do it. Try hailing the Delta Flyer again.
CHAKOTAY: Nothing.
BURKUS: What do you think's happened?
JANEWAY: They may be too deep to receive a transmission.
BURKUS: They may have had an accident.
JANEWAY: It's possible.
BURKUS: Possible? Captain, I'll need a better explanation than that. What am I supposed to tell the Council?
JANEWAY: Clarify something for me. Are you more concerned about the lives of the people on that shuttle or your political career?

[Delta Flyer]

RIGA: What's that?
SEVEN: A gravimetric discharge. The reactor's core is unstable.
PARIS: You'd be unstable too if you were as old as this thing.
KIM: Age has nothing to do with it. The reactor's diverting massive amounts of power to its structural integrity field. Power normally reserved for oceanic containment.
PARIS: That would explain why containment is weakening.
KIM: Looks like the density of the water's been increasing over the past few years. It seems the reactor's just trying to keep itself from being crushed.
PARIS: Can we initiate a power transfer? Stabilise the core?
SEVEN: I believe so, but it would be a temporary solution.
PARIS: That's better than nothing.

[Bridge]

(The plume returns to the ocean.)
TUVOK: Captain, full containment has just been re-established.
JANEWAY: The deflector beam?
TUVOK: Negative. The ocean appears to have been stabilised from within.
BURKUS: It looks like our team has succeeded.
CHAKOTAY: I'm picking up an object on a slow ascent. It's the Flyer.

[Delta Flyer - lab]

RIGA: You've found something?
PARIS: I've been studying the generator's database. You're not going to believe this, but apparently, your ocean used to be part of a landmass.
RIGA: Really?
PARIS: As far as I can tell, it was part of a planetary ecosystem inhabited by a very advanced civilisation.
RIGA: What happened to them?
PARIS: That's a good question. All I know is they launched this reactor into orbit. They used some kind of elaborate kinetic transfer system to draw the water and everything in it up to the reactor.
RIGA: Extraordinary. Why would anyone want to move an entire ocean?
PARIS: Maybe there was some kind of disaster on the planet, or maybe it was just an experiment.
RIGA: That must have been a massive undertaking.
PARIS: Took them almost two hundred years.
RIGA: I wonder what they'd think if they knew we settled here and built another civilisation.
PARIS: Actually, I think they'd be pretty concerned.
RIGA: Oh?
PARIS: This field reactor that they designed, it's a pretty amazing piece of technology. Durable. I don't think it's responsible for the loss of containment.
RIGA: But as soon as we made the recalibration, the water stabilised. I don't see what else it could be.
PARIS: Riga, your mining operations are destroying the ocean.

[Paris' dream]

(A young boy is playing with a four-masted sailing ship.)
ADMIRAL PARIS [OC]: You'll never get into Starfleet Academy by playing with toys. Do your homework. Are you listening to me, Thomas?
JANEWAY [OC]: Thomas Eugene Paris, I hereby reduce you to the rank of Ensign and I sentence you to thirty years of solitary confinement
ADMIRAL PARIS [OC]: Go to your room, young man. That's an order. Stay there and think about what I've said.
KIM: Tom?

[Brig]

KIM: Tom? Tom, wake up. Bad dream?
PARIS: Oh, you could say that.
KIM: You know, you look like hell.
PARIS: Thanks. How'd you get past the guard?
KIM: The Vulcan neck pinch.
PARIS: Come to spring me?
KIM: Well, the Captain finally gave me permission to visit, but I've only got a few minutes.
PARIS: That's big of her.
KIM: How are you doing?
PARIS: Oh, thirty days? No problem. How's B'Elanna?
KIM: She misses you.
PARIS: Yeah, I know the feeling.
KIM: So, what have you been doing to pass the time?
PARIS: Thinking and, thinking. Trying not to think. Actually, I started recording a letter to my father.
KIM: Really?
PARIS: Yeah. For some reason I, I wanted to explain to him how I ended up in here. I didn't want him to think. Well, anyway, I realised how ridiculous it was.
KIM: You should finish it.
PARIS: Give me one good reason.
KIM: Maybe he'll hear it someday.
PARIS: Doubtful.
KIM: You'll feel better getting it off your chest?
PARIS: Are you bucking for ship's counsellor, Harry?
KIM: What are you going to do, delete the letter? That would be pointless.
PARIS: At least I'm consistent.
KIM: Tom.
PARIS: Thanks for the visit, Harry.
KIM: See you in fourteen.
(Harry steps out of the cell, and the forcefield goes up.)
KIM: What was it you once told me? That your father used to say you never finished anything.
(Kim leaves.)
PARIS [OC]: Resume recording, So, we told Consul Burkus about the alien field reactor and how his oxygen refineries were destroying it. He took the news pretty well. At first.

[Briefing room]

BURKUS: The Council's very grateful for your help, Captain. They've asked me to request the shield and thruster schematics for your Delta Flyer. We're hoping to design a probe that'll allow us to monitor the containment generator.
JANEWAY: Lieutenant Torres will give you everything you need.
TORRES: I've also drawn up some designs for an oxygen replication system. It'll allow you to create free oxygen without extricating it from the water. It won't solve your problems overnight, but it's a start.
BURKUS: I'm sure it'll be very helpful.
RIGA: Our oxygen extraction levels are still dangerously high. I'm going to recommend shutting down refineries four, five and six.
BURKUS: We'll take it under advisement. Well, Captain, I wish you a safe journey.
JANEWAY: Oh, we have a few more suggestions if you'd like to hear them.
BURKUS: Please. Pass them along to Mister Riga. He'll include them in his report.
PARIS: I'm curious. Who's going to read that report?
BURKUS: It will be given to the subcommittees on life support and agriculture.
RIGA: Excuse me, Consul. I'm not sure you understand the magnitude of the crisis. What you're suggesting could take months.
BURKUS: Thank you, Mister Riga.
PARIS: You should listen to him. If you don't make some serious changes around here soon, that ocean won't be here much longer.
BURKUS: As I said, we understand his concerns.
PARIS: Do you? Seems to me like you're just trying to sidestep the issue and send us on our way.
BURKUS: With all due respect, who are you to tell us what to do with our ocean?
PARIS: With all due respect, it's not your ocean.
JANEWAY: Lieutenant.
BURKUS: It's all right, Captain. I'd like to respond, but not as a diplomat, as a Monean. You came here claiming you wanted to learn about our way of life and now, having spent three days here, you're suggesting we abandon it. We have an expression. Brine in the veins. Tell him what it means.
RIGA: It's used to describe someone who has special connection to the waters.
BURKUS: My family has lived here for ten generations. We protected this ocean, cultivated it, lived in harmony with the animals that inhabit it. Can you say the same? I didn't think so. Good day, Captain.
(The three Moneans leave.)
PARIS: We can't just let this go.
JANEWAY: What do you want me to do?
PARIS: Of course. The almighty Prime Directive.
JANEWAY: Would you please excuse us, Lieutenant?
TORRES: See you later.  
(Torres leaves.)
JANEWAY: I know you're upset, Lieutenant, but when you're in a room with me you check that attitude at the door, understood?
PARIS: Captain, I'm sorry
JANEWAY: We can't expect an entire society to change because we think they should.
PARIS: Then you agree with me.
JANEWAY: Yes, and we gave them the help they asked for. We told them what we know. Now it's up to them to do what they think is appropriate.
PARIS: You heard that Consul. They're not going to do a damn thing.
JANEWAY: Maybe not, but that's their prerogative.
PARIS: Captain.
JANEWAY: End of discussion, Lieutenant. At fourteen hundred hours, we'll resume a course for the Alpha Quadrant. Is that clear. Is that clear?
PARIS: As a bell.

[Holodeck - Proton's ship]

(Paris is not in costume, he's just sitting and thinking.)
TORRES: Hey. Here to stamp out intergalactic evil?
PARIS: It's funny.
TORRES: What?
PARIS: I went on this mission expecting to play out a childhood fantasy. But along the way, when I realised that ocean would just be gone one day, it started to matter to me. It sounds pretty stupid, huh?
TORRES: No. No, it sounds like you've found yourself a cause.
PARIS: I never thought of myself as a cause kind of guy.
TORRES: Well, for what it's worth, I'm proud of you.
PARIS: Thanks. But Captain Proton's not going to be able to save the day this time, is he?
TORRES: What about Tom Paris?

[Transporter room]

RIGA: Council chamber, please.
(Paris runs in.)
PARIS: Riga. You're dismissed, crewman.
(The transporter operator leaves.)
PARIS: I want you to tell me honestly. What do you think's going to happen now?
RIGA: I think the bureaucracy isn't going to make more than token changes.
PARIS: Isn't there anything else you can do?
RIGA: I don't see how, other than taking the oxygen refineries offline.
PARIS: What would happen, hypothetically, if someone were to shut down the refineries?
RIGA: Well, I suppose they'd have to be rebuilt.
PARIS: Yeah, and they'd probably be more willing to redesign them while they're at it. If nothing else, it would grab their attention.
RIGA: Are you suggesting
PARIS: I'm just asking questions, because I'm not supposed to get involved in the internal affairs of alien worlds. Unless, of course, someone makes a direct request.
RIGA: If you can get me down there, I'd be willing to do it.
PARIS: You'd be risking your life.
RIGA: I know.

[Bridge]

TUVOK: Captain, there has just been an unauthorised launch from shuttlebay one, The Delta Flyer.
JANEWAY: Tom.
(The Flyer plunges into the ocean.)
JANEWAY:  Hail him.
TUVOK: No response.
CHAKOTAY: Try a tractor beam.
TUVOK: We're out of range.
KIM: We're being hailed, Captain. It's Consul Burkus. 
BURKUS [on viewscreen]: Your shuttlecraft has violated our borders. I demand an explanation.
JANEWAY: Mister Paris is acting without authorisation.
BURKUS [on viewscreen]: To what end?
JANEWAY: According to our scans, Mister Riga is with him. I have to assume they intend to take some sort of radical action to protect the ocean.
BURKUS [on viewscreen]: Then I presume you intend to take radical action to stop them.

[Delta Flyer]

(The Flyer is pursued by Monean craft firing weapons. The hull is creaking ominously.)
COMPUTER: Warning. Hull pressure approaching critical.
RIGA: We're going down too fast.
PARIS: It's the only way we can outrun your ships.
JANEWAY [OC]: Janeway to Paris. Return to Voyager immediately.
PARIS: Sorry, Captain. I can't do that.
JANEWAY [OC]: Lieutenant, you are disobeying a direct order.
PARIS: I know.

[Bridge]

CHAKOTAY: He cut us off.
JANEWAY: What the hell are they up to?
KIM: Looks like they're heading directly beneath the industrial complex.
JANEWAY: Can we reach them with phasers?
TUVOK: Unadvisable. It would create a hydro-dynamic shock wave.
CHAKOTAY: What about an old-fashioned depth charge?
TUVOK: It should be possible to modify a photon torpedo.
CHAKOTAY: We could programme it to detonate once it's in proximity to the Delta Flyer.
JANEWAY: Do it.
TUVOK: The torpedo is ready, Captain. However, the Delta Flyer has submerged below our targeting range.
KIM: Consul Burkus, hailing again.
JANEWAY: On screen.
BURKUS [on viewscreen]: Our refinery workers have been given five minutes to clear the structure. Was this the kind of evacuation you had in mind, Captain?
JANEWAY: Can you get them our in time?
BURKUS [on viewscreen]: Yes, but,
JANEWAY: Do it. I'll find a way to protect your refinery. End transmission.
BURKUS [on viewscreen]: Captain!  
(Transmission ends.)
TUVOK: He descended to avoid attack. If my calculations are correct, he will have to come back up to a depth of two thousand metres to strike his target.
JANEWAY: Giving us a window of opportunity,
TUVOK: Precisely.
KIM: Captain, this is Tom we're talking about. We're not going to open fire, are we?
JANEWAY: As far as I'm concerned, he forfeited his status as a protected member of this crew the second he launched that shuttle.

[Delta Flyer]

RIGA: How long till we reach our target?
PARIS: Thirty six seconds.

[Bridge]

CHAKOTAY: He's started his ascent.
JANEWAY: Hail him.
KIM: Go ahead.
JANEWAY: Lieutenant Paris, this is your final warning.
KIM: He's not responding.
JANEWAY: Arm the torpedo.
KIM: Twenty seconds to weapons range.

[Delta Flyer]

PARIS: Are you sure you want to go through with this?
RIGA: Do you?
PARIS: I've taken you this far. We'd better arm that missile.
RIGA: Missile armed.
JANEWAY [OC]: Stand down, Mister Paris.

[Bridge]

JANEWAY: Or I will open fire.
KIM: Still no answer.

[Delta Flyer]

RIGA: Time.
PARIS: Ten seconds. Nine.

[Bridge]

TUVOK: Eight. Seven. Six.

[Delta Flyer]

PARIS: Five. Four. Three.

[Bridge]

TUVOK: Two. One.
JANEWAY: Fire.

[Delta Flyer]

PARIS: Fire!

[Bridge]

(The two missiles collide, creating a big shockwave.)
TUVOK: The Flyer has been disabled.
JANEWAY: Their missile?
TUVOK: Deflected.

Captain's log, Stardate 52179.4. After salvaging the Delta Flyer, we've resumed our course toward the Alpha Quadrant. I now have to turn my attention to a matter of discipline.

[Ready room]

JANEWAY: Lieutenant Thomas Eugene Paris. You are guilty of insubordination, unauthorised use of a spacecraft, reckless endangerment, and conduct unbecoming an officer. Do you have anything to say?
PARIS: Riga needed my help.
JANEWAY: In doing so, you disobeyed my direct orders.
PARIS: Yes, ma'am.
JANEWAY: You violated the protocols that govern this crew.
PARIS: Yes, ma'am.
JANEWAY: You nearly caused an armed conflict with the Moneans. And frankly, you're lucky to be standing here right now. I would have destroyed your shuttle if necessary.
PARIS: Yes, ma'am. Permission to speak freely. Riga's people weren't going to listen. They were going to ignore our warnings.
JANEWAY: You don't know that.
PARIS: Riga knew, and I was the only one who could help them.
JANEWAY: I understand your passion, but passion alone doesn't give you the right to take matters into your own hands. Four years ago, I released you from prison and gave you a fresh start. Until now, you've been a fine officer. Your service on this ship has been exemplary. I really believed you were past this kind of conduct.
PARIS: I've never been very good at playing by the rules. That doesn't mean that serving under your command hasn't changed me, for the better. At least this time, I broke the rules for a reason. For something I believed in.
JANEWAY: I admire your principles, Tom, but I can't ignore what you've done. I hereby reduce you to the rank of Ensign, and I sentence you to thirty days solitary confinement. Take Ensign Paris to the brig.
PARIS: I know the way.

[Brig]

TUVOK: Rise and shine, Ensign. Your thirty days have been served. Report for duty. You may want to shave first.
PARIS: Yes, sir.

[Paris' quarters]

(After his shower and shave.)
TORRES [OC]: Torres to Paris.
PARIS: Go ahead.
TORRES [OC]: Rumour has it that you're free for dinner.
PARIS: Gee, I don't know. Are you sure you want to be seen associating with an ex-con?
TORRES [OC]: My quarters, oh seven hundred. That's an order, Ensign.
PARIS: Yes, ma'am.
(He sits down with the PADD.)
PARIS: Resume recording. Well, I'm out now and back to my duties. I honestly don't know if I'll ever understand you, or what went wrong between us, but I hope this letter helps you understand me a little better. Computer, file letter in my personal database, and transmit when we're within range of Earth.