|
Professor Gegen and his
assistant Veer find the remains of a Starfleet officer in a cave
on an alien world. Gegen feels the evidence holds the key to the
real origins of his race, the Voth, a saurian species that he
suspects got its start in a distant part of the galaxy. The
"Distant Origin" theory contradicts the doctrine of Chief
Minister Odala and the powerful Voth elders, who believe the
Voth were the first intelligent beings to evolve in the
quadrant. The elders are unreceptive to his claims, but Gegen
finds a clue on the deceased's uniform: the name of a ship
called "Voyager."
Gegen and Veer trace Voyager's
path across the Delta Quadrant and finally find the ship itself.
Thanks to their sophisticated cloaking technology, the Voth are
able to transport onto the ship and observe the crew undetected.
Eventually, Voyager's sensors detect the use of cloaking
technology on board the ship, and the crew uncloaks Gegen and
Veer. Frightened, Veer fires a tranquilizer dart at Chakotay,
but is himself incapacitated by a phaser blast. Gegen transports
back to his vessel with the unconscious Chakotay.
In Sickbay, Veer goes into protective hibernation. The Doctor
discovers that Veer has evolved from Earth's dinosaurs. On the
Voth ship, after Chakotay regains consciousness, he and Gegen
come to similar conclusions, reasoning that the Voth's ancestors
survived extinction, developed space-faring technology and left
Earth. Charged with heresy by the Voth elders, Chakotay is the
best proof of Gegen's theories. But before he can take Chakotay
to his supporters, the U.S.S. Voyager is transported inside a
massive Voth city-ship.
The crew is held captive by the Ministry of Elders, who vow to
kill them all unless Gegen returns to face them. Gegen agrees to
confront his accusers and Chakotay promises to help him. Since
their fate is tied to Gegen's, the Voyager crew eagerly awaits
the results of his hearing. Odala accuses Gegen of being a
destructive influence on Voth society and orders him to disavow
his claims. But Gegen refuses to back down until Odala threatens
to send the crew to a detention colony. To save them, Gegen
retracts his theory, resigning himself to the fact that the
Voth's true heritage will remain a secret — for now. |
