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A disguised Chakotay is being
pursued by Quarren security officers and is trapped at a
forcefield. He smashes a control panel to disable the forcefield,
then overpowers the guards and escapes, but not before getting a
phaser shot in the arm. Meanwhile, Harry Kim and the Doctor are
in command of Voyager as it is being fired upon by Quarren
patrol ships. They disable the first two ships, but five more
approach and they are forced to retreat. The injured Chakotay
enters the tavern where a brainwashed Janeway has just decided
to move in with her new boyfriend, Jaffen.
A Quarren investigator named
Yerid enters the tavern inquiring about two people who
disappeared earlier that evening — named B'Elanna and Neelix.
The waiter, Tom Paris, points him to Chakotay, but he's already
disappeared. In the Quarren hospital, Dr. Kadan orders a
skeptical Dr. Ravoc to do a memory sequencing treatment on Tuvok.
Meanwhile in the power plant, Seven of Nine is on the job and
has a flashback of life on a Borg cube. Connecting the flashback
to her encounter with Tuvok earlier, she goes to her
Supervisor's office and asks about him. Yerid arrives to inquire
about the two missing employees, saying he believes that Amal
Kotay — Chakotay's assumed identity — is responsible for their
disappearance.
Janeway moves her things to Jaffen's apartment, but when she
returns to her old place she finds Chakotay hiding out there. He
tells her that B'Elanna and other people in the city were
brought to the planet against their will and made to forget
their real lives, and he's trying to help them. Janeway
reluctantly lets him stay, and decides to do something about his
injury. Voyager, meanwhile, has hidden in a moon's crater to
make repairs and to treat Torres for her altered memory. Neelix
takes Torres to her quarters to re-introduce her to her real
life, and she is surprised to learn that the waiter from the
tavern is her husband. At the plant, Seven catches Janeway
taking a dermal regenerator, but she promises to return it.
Seven is sidetracked when she has an opportunity to enter the
Supervisor's office and use his console; she learns that Tuvok
has accessed numerous employee files including Janeway's,
B'Elanna's, and her own. Janeway returns to Chakotay to heal his
injury, and he reveals that he's from a ship called Voyager.
Chakotay observes that she seems happy in her job and her life,
but she seems capable of so much more. Janeway responds that she
wouldn't want more responsibility. Chakotay is contacted by
Voyager through his subdermal transponder, and they inform him
that the ship is two days away but need the planet's shield grid
disabled so they can transport the crew members back. Chakotay
tells Janeway that she's the captain of that ship, but she has a
hard time believing him. To prove himself, he takes the dermal
regenerator and undoes the alterations made to his face,
revealing that he is the same race as she. He tells her they are
also friends.
Janeway tells Jaffen the story she just heard, but he thinks
Chakotay is trying to manipulate her with promises of a better
life. Meanwhile Chakotay is found by Yerid and is taken in for
questioning. Chakotay tells him they are both investigating
disappearances, and has questions of his own. Just then Dr.
Ravok enters with orders to transfer Chakotay to Neuropathology
to be treated for mental illness. As he's taken away, Chakotay
tells Yerid the truth about himself and his abducted crewmates.
On Voyager, Kim and the Doctor are discussing tactics and
arguing over whether the Doctor should remain a Command
hologram, when they are hailed by Chakotay. He says he's almost
ready to shut down the shield grid, and gives instructions on
where and when the ship should enter orbit. They don't know that
Chakotay is being subjected to a mind control device and is
sending them into a trap.
At the tavern, Seven meets discreetly with Yerid to share her
findings that more than a hundred employees — most of the same
species — began work on the same day, which is unusual during a
labor shortage. Also, they were all processed through the
Neuropathology division, including herself, which she doesn't
remember. Seven wants Yerid to interview Tuvok in the hospital,
but Yerid reveals he was relieved of duty that morning. So Seven
goes to the hospital herself and visits with Dr. Ravoc,
reporting that she's been having "disturbing thoughts." Ravoc
looks up her file and sees she was previously treated for
Dysphoria Syndrome. She asks to speak to an expert on the
condition, so Ravoc steps out to get Dr. Kadan. She takes that
opportunity to use his computer. Meanwhile, Yerid contacts
Janeway and asks to know everything Chakotay told her.
At the hospital, Kadan is enraged that Ravoc allowed Seven to
access restricted files and leave. Ravoc is suspicious that an
apparent "outbreak" of Dysphoria Syndrome occurred under Kadan's
watch, and realizes that he had made false diagnoses on
patients, altered their memories and sent them to work at the
power plant. Kadan admits it's true, but claims it was to cure
the labor shortage and improve the patients' lives. Ravoc
threatens to report him, but Kadan says the authorities are
behind him. Meanwhile, Paris harbors Seven, Janeway, Jaffen and
Yerid at the tavern, who are collaborating about Chakotay's
story and how to prove it. Janeway and Jaffen go to the power
plant to use a subspace transponder to contact Voyager, while
Seven and Yerid return to the hospital to help Chakotay and
Tuvok.
With Jaffen's help, Janeway succeeds in hailing Voyager, where
she sees B'Elanna in uniform and hears Kim call her "captain."
B'Elanna asks her to find a way to shut down main power so the
shield grid will be disabled. Just then Voyager comes under
attack by three ships, and Janeway is surrounded by security
guards. Jaffen helps her evade them, then she works the computer
to make it think the reactor core is overloading so it'll
automatically shut down main power. Meanwhile in the hospital,
Seven and Yerid point a weapon at Kadan to force him to release
Chakotay and Tuvok from the mind control devices. On Voyager,
Kim gets the idea to use three escape pods as armed decoys to
disable the attacking ships. They succeed, and B'Elanna gets the
transporters back on line. Janeway's own plan works, and power
goes out all over the city. With the shield grid down, Voyager
beams up all of its crew members. The Doctor treats them and
they recover, but in the meantime he, Kim and Neelix confer with
Yerid and the Quarren Ambassador about undoing the conspiracy,
with a promise that all of Kadan's "patients" will be treated
and repatriated. Janeway says a final good-bye to Jaffen, then
resumes her role as captain and takes Voyager on its way. |
