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As the U.S.S. Voyager approaches a
nebula rich in sirillium, Tuvok is plagued by flashbacks of
himself as a boy, trying to rescue a girl who's falling from a
cliff. The Doctor suspects Tuvok is experiencing a repressed
memory, which can cause permanent brain damage in a Vulcan.
Vulcan healing techniques call for the patient to mind-meld with
someone he trusts, so that together, the two can bring the
memory into the Vulcan's conscious mind. Because of their
long-standing friendship, Janeway agrees to meld with Tuvok.
The meld takes Tuvok and
Janeway back 80 years to the Vulcan's first assignment on the
starship U.S.S. Excelsior, commanded by Hikaru Sulu. Sulu served
under the legendary Captain James T. Kirk for many years, so his
crew isn't surprised when he disobeys Starfleet orders to try
and help Kirk and another old shipmate, Dr. McCoy, who are being
held for the murder of the Klingon Chancellor. On the way, the
Excelsior passes through a nebula that is similar to the one
Voyager spotted prior to Tuvok's first flashback. Once again,
Tuvok experiences the memory of the little girl falling, but
this time he goes into convulsions.
On Voyager, the Doctor revives Tuvok, and Janeway wonders what
the little girl had to do with this period on the Excelsior. All
Tuvok can recall is that the Klingons ambushed the starship in
the nebula, forcing Sulu to abort the rescue mission.
Reforming the mind-meld, Tuvok relives the Klingon attack. He
recalls that during the battle, he aided an injured crewman
named Valtane, who died in Tuvok's arms. As he goes through this
again, the Doctor notices that the Vulcan is again experiencing
erratic brain patterns. Unable to break the mind-meld between
Tuvok and Janeway, the Doctor exposes Tuvok's brain to bursts of
thoron radiation and in doing so, inadvertently discovers the
truth. When Valtane died, a strange alien virus that he'd been
carrying in his brain migrated to Tuvok's brain, camouflaging
itself as a repressed memory. The Doctor increases the intensity
of the radiation and is at last able to destroy the peculiar
virus, leaving the mind of Tuvok healthy and Janeway nostalgic
for the "old days" when space was still a wild frontier. |
