 Various crewmembers are making
sure the power at their stations is shut down. The ship is sent
into darkness as even the holographic doctor is turned off. As
the power to the regeneration alcoves is removed, the four Borg
children are awakened and confused.
The children find Neelix
waiting for them with a plasma lantern, and inquire what is
wrong with the ship. He does his best to encourage the kids to
relax; telling them the shut down is only temporary.
As Captain Janeway instructs the last of the ship to be shut
down, the Borg children gather around Neelix's lantern. As they
try to guess what is wrong with the ship, they decide it must
have something to do with the "ghost" that is said to haunt a
sealed off section of Deck 12. Neelix wants to make sure their
imagination does not get the best of them and proceeds to tell
them the story of the last nebula Voyager traveled through.
As Neelix's story opens, Voyager is cruising into a nebula
similar to the one that is responsible for the power shut down.
Neelix is explaining his own over-active imagination to Tuvok
while Voyager collects deuterium outside.
Kim notices the collection was destabilizing the nebula and
Chakotay convinces Janeway to stop the extraction. A second
before Voyager leaves the nebula, an electric bolt rocks the
ship! The captain immediately begins scanning the ship for
damage and injuries, gradually finding that most of the
electrical systems are failing.
Various functions on board begin to malfunction when Janeway
notices they are off course and returning to the nebula they
just left. Down in the cargo bay, where Seven of Nine is
working, the air begins to fill with colorful gas, similar to
that of the nebula. When Seven attempts to escape the room, she
is surrounded by a forcefield and knocked unconscious by an
energy beam moving through the gas.
In another part of the ship, Kim orders Neelix to remain in the
mess hall while the other officers go to their posts. As the
others leave, the lights in the mess hall go out, leaving Neelix
alone in the dark.
While trying to bring the engines back on line, Paris is
attacked by the same energy surge that got Seven. When Janeway
and Tuvok take him to see the Doctor, they find a now conscious
Seven of Nine, having been rescued by Chakotay. When the captain
learns what happened to Seven, she begins to figure out what the
problem with the ship really is.
Still in the dark, Neelix hears a thumping noise and moves to
investigate. He is frightened when he sees a monster in the
hallway, but is relieved to find it's only Tuvok in a gas mask.
Tuvok has Neelix follow him through a Jefferies Tube, heading to
engineering where the others are waiting.
Captain Janeway realizes that she can talk to this new electric
life form through the ship's computer as it instructs her to go
to the Astrometrics Lab. The lab reveals that the nebula the
alien came from is no longer there. Out of anger, the
computerized voice commands the Voyager crew to abandon ship.
In the Jefferies Tube, Tuvok is attacked by the electricity and
wounded. Facing his fears, Neelix gains the courage to drag
Tuvok through the dark all the way to engineering.
Reluctantly, Janeway complies with the abandon ship order,
evacuating the entire crew except herself, who remains, trapped
by the electric being. Reasoning with the new life, she
convinces it that she can take it to a new nebula if it gives
her back control of the ship. The creature agrees and releases
Janeway.
When Janeway gets her crew back on board, they seal the alien
off on Deck 12. This ends the story Neelix is telling the Borg
children. When a loud thud is heard, Neelix explains to the kids
that it's the alien being released into the new nebula.
The kids are excited about his story, but some of them are
afraid that the creature did not leave and will attack them in
the regeneration alcoves. Neelix then tells the children that he
made the whole thing up. On the bridge, Captain Janeway confirms
that the electric life form is now safely outside, happy in its
new home. |
