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As Voyager helps a generational
ship of Varro repair their warp drive, Kim and a female Varro,
Tal, become attracted to each other. Knowing that Kim is
violating several rules of protocol, they sneak away to Tal's
quarters to be together. While they are making love, light
flickers just below the surface of their skin. Later, the
luminescence returns to Kim's skin, and Seven of Nine insists he
go to sickbay.
When the Doctor thinks he has
contracted a virus, Kim confesses to his intimate relations.
Janeway is notified, and she orders him to stop seeing Tal. The
Captain believes that Kim has put the crew's relationship with
the Varro at risk. After Kim tells Tal the luminescence
returned, she explains it is what they call olan'vora, or the
shared heart. The more time they spend together, the harder it
will be to part. He tries to leave, but they kiss instead.
Meanwhile, Tuvok and Neelix discover a Varro male hiding in one
of the Jefferies tubes. When questioned, he reveals he is
seeking asylum on Voyager. He says many Varro feel imprisoned on
their ship and there are rumors of a violent movement to leave
it.
After finding microfractures in Voyager's hull, Seven and Torres
discover silicone-based parasites are present. They are
synthetic and believed to be an act of sabotage. First planted
on the Varro ship, now the parasites have migrated to Voyager.
On the shuttle, Kim and Tal secretly rendezvous and fly to a
nearby nebula. When Tuvok tracks them down, he informs them both
to report to Voyager.
A schematic for the parasite was found on Tal's personal
database, and she reveals the dissident group is dismantling the
Varro ship. The parasites are targeting the linkage between
segments, which will break off into separate ships and allow
people to choose whether to stay or go. When Janeway explains
the decay will cause decompressive explosions, Tal agrees to
slow down the parasites long enough for the ship to be
evacuated. Janeway orders Kim to sickbay to treat the
bio-chemical bond he has developed with Tal, but he refuses. As
they argue, the Varro ship experiences structural breaches, and
Voyager is unable to separate from it.
With only minutes before collapse, Janeway agrees to Kim's
suggestion to extend Voyager's integrity field around the Varro
ship and buy them more time for evacuation. Once completed,
Voyager detaches, and the Varro vessel breaks off into several
separate ships. Their leader, Jippeq, is forced to let the
dissidents seek out their own path. After he and Tal say
good-bye, Kim refuses to take medicine for his lovesick
condition, preferring to let the pain remind him of the
happiness he felt. |
