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AIRED ON
April 10, 1995
RUNTIME
46 minutes
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136
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2024-09-12 19:23:23
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SUMMARY
Stardate: 48658.2. When stolen Federation technology is found on a severely damaged Kazon Nistrim ship, Seska becomes the prime suspect. The evidence is further reinforced when questions arise regarding her true heritage.
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TRANSCRIPT
[Planet surface]
(Carey comes running down the valley side with a large fruit in his hand.)
CAREY: Commander! Look at this. I think they're some kind of apple. There are trees filled with them as far as the eye can see, just over that ridge.
NEELIX: Kaylos. Ah. Aren't they gorgeous? One bite'll kill you. Puff you up like a vakol fish. First your windpipe swells, and just when you think you're going to die of suffocation, ow! Oh, you get a sharp pain in your knees, which begins to work its way right up to
(Chakotay stops Neelix's pointing finger.)
CHAKOTAY: I think we get the picture.
NEELIX: Sorry, Mister Carey. Just remember the old trader's axiom. Never judge a fruit by its skin. Er, on the other hand, take a bite.
(Neelix hands Chakotay a mandrake type root with some leaves on top.)
CHAKOTAY: What is it?
NEELIX: A leola root.
(Chakotay takes a bite, then spits it out.)
CHAKOTAY: You expect us to eat this?
NEELIX: This is the reason I brought you here, Commander. There's no better source of vitamins and minerals in the quadrant than in this, this ugly little root.
CHAKOTAY: I'd find the second best source acceptable if it tasted better.
NEELIX: You humans! You're not used to roughing it, are you? Well, you take it from one who knows. The day may come when you'll relish every last crunch of leola.
(They start pulling them out of the ground.)
NEELIX: Stewed for a few hours in a light herbal broth, you wouldn't even notice the mildew.
[Bridge]
PARIS: Captain, I don't think we're alone. Mister Tuvok, run a lateral EM scan for me. Coordinates eight one mark four zero.
TUVOK: Running scan.
JANEWAY: What do you see, Mister Paris?
PARIS: It's like a reflection, something in low orbit when it moves into a certain angle from the sun.
TUVOK: He's correct. I am picking up an ionization trail. There is another ship in orbit.
JANEWAY: Using some kind of cloaking device.
TUVOK: It's not a cloaking device as we know it, Captain. I cannot say for certain what it is, but the ship does employ some kind of masking circuitry that has affected our sensors.
JANEWAY: Voyager to Away team.
CHAKOTAY [OC]: Go ahead, Captain.
JANEWAY: Any unexpected
[Planet Surface]
JANEWAY [OC]: Life signs down there, Commander?
CHAKOTAY: Nothing but bloodworms. Neelix wants to bring some back for a tartar
[Bridge]
CHAKOTAY [OC]: He wants to make. I'm trying to talk him out of it.
JANEWAY: We're picking up an unidentified ship in low orbit. Collect your teams and prepare to transport back while we investigate.
CHAKOTAY [OC]: Acknowledged.
[Planet Surface]
CHAKOTAY: Chakotay out. All units, report to transport site A immediately.
[Bridge]
TUVOK: Captain, I believe a polaron burst may give us visual contact.
JANEWAY: Do it.
(The brief flash reveals the silhouette of a ship.)
JANEWAY: Kazon.
TUVOK: The hull design does conform to known specifications of the Kazon-Nistrim sect.
JANEWAY: Voyager to Away teams. Return to the ship immediately.
CHAKOTAY [OC]: Acknowledged
[Planet Surface]
CHAKOTAY: Captain. Transporter Room, get ready to begin on my command.
KIM: Where's Ensign Seska?
CHAKOTAY: Chakotay to Seska. Transporter room, can you locate Ensign Seska's comm. badge signal?
CREWMAN [OC]: Negative, Commander. I'm not reading any sign of her.
KIM: She was picking berries with our group over by the hillside. There were caves nearby.
CHAKOTAY: If she went inside one, it might be blocking her comm. badge signal. The rest of you get back to the ship. I'm going to look for her.
[Cave]
(Chakotay hides when he hears voices from deep inside the cave. A pair of Kazon walk past, and Chakotay heads further in. Seska points a phaser at him.)
SESKA: Oh, thank the Prophets.
CHAKOTAY: What are you doing here?
SESKA: Mushrooms. I saw them growing by the mouth of the cave. I wanted to teach Neelix how to make your favourite soup.
CHAKOTAY: I appreciate the thought, but we've got to get out of here.
(Kazons start shooting at them. Chakotay is hit. Seska deals with their attackers then helps Chakotay out of the cave.)
Captain's log, stardate 48658.2. We successfully left orbit without further interference from the Kazon. Commander Chakotay was injured, but is recovering from his wounds.
[Chakotay's quarters]
CHAKOTAY: Come in.
(Seska enters, carrying a covered dish.)
SESKA: I didn't think I'd make it. Feeling better?
CHAKOTAY: Yeah. What have you got there?
SESKA: Real food.
CHAKOTAY: You got Neelix to make some mushroom soup!
SESKA: Are you kidding? The man wanted to stretch the mushrooms with just a little
BOTH: Leola root.
SESKA: We got into this tug-of-war with the bag of mushrooms in the middle. It was the most ludicrous thing you've ever seen. Tuvok and Kes broke us up, and then Neelix threw me out of his kitchen.
CHAKOTAY: So how did you?
SESKA: Strictly a Maquis operation.
CHAKOTAY: Mm hmm.
SESKA: First we arranged for a little morale crisis. A couple of our people suddenly came down with severe homesickness. Neelix, our devoted morale officer, responded to the call and came in to cheer them up. And while they are all singing Rakan folk songs, Jackson and I broke into the kitchen.
(Chakotay stops laughing and eating.)
CHAKOTAY: You looted the food reserves?
SESKA: Well, if he's not going to give us a decent meal.
CHAKOTAY: I can't believe you did this.
SESKA: Well, it's not like we're hiding anything. I did bring soup straight to the First Officer, didn't I?
CHAKOTAY: Thanks for including me in a criminal conspiracy. Does he know about this yet?
SESKA: Well, the moral crisis ended a few minutes ago, so I'd say
NEELIX [OC]: Neelix to Chakotay!
SESKA: That he probably does.
CHAKOTAY: Go ahead, Neelix.
NEELIX [OC]: I'd like to report a crime. Someone has broken into my kitchen and stolen food, taken food out of the mouths of their crew mates.
CHAKOTAY: I know.
NEELIX [OC]: It was that Seska, wasn't it?
CHAKOTAY: I promise you, everyone involved will be disciplined.
NEELIX [OC]: If you'd like my recommendations for punishment, I
CHAKOTAY: Thank you. I'll handle that. Chakotay out. Replicator privileges revoked for two days. Everyone, including me.
SESKA: They're not going to do it.
CHAKOTAY: Then I'll personally put them in the brig.
SESKA: You'd put me in the brig? After all we've been through?
(Seska embraces Chakotay from behind, and strokes his chest.)
SESKA: The soup was worth losing the replicator privileges for two days. Admit it.
CHAKOTAY: That's not the point.
SESKA: I get the point. Can we make up now? Who else knows how to make your favourite soup like I do?
CHAKOTAY: No one, but we agreed a long time ago this wouldn't work.
SESKA: Look around, Chakotay. There aren't that many potential mates out here. Of course, if you're not interested, I have had my eye on young Ensign Kim.
(Seska leaves.)
JANEWAY [OC]: Janeway to all senior officers. Please report to the Bridge.
[Bridge]
(It is a fuzzy image.)
KAZON [on viewscreen]: We require help. Immediately. Anyone who can hear this message, please help.
JANEWAY: Long-range scanners picked up the distress signal three minutes ago.
TUVOK: The ship's dimensions are identical to the vessel we encountered at the planet. It is a Kazon-Nistrim ship, Captain.
NEELIX: Captain, this may be a trap. The Kazon-Nistrim is one of the most violent sects in the entire Kazon collective.
KAZON [on viewscreen]: We need immediate assistance. We have lost all bridge operations. Barely able to function. Please assist.
JANEWAY: Mister Kim. Can you determine that this ship has sustained genuine damage?
KIM: There are fluctuating nucleonic patterns. It might indicate a reactor breakdown on board.
JANEWAY: Mister Paris, run an extended scanner sequence to identify any other Kazon ships that might be in the area.
PARIS: Nothing showing up, Captain.
JANEWAY: Maintain scans and set a heading to intercept.
PARIS: New heading entered.
JANEWAY: I take your warning seriously, Neelix, and we'll act with caution, but if we can help we should. Besides, this may be an opportunity to make a friend and out here, we can use all the friends we can get.
[Kazon Ship]
(Tuvok, Torres, Seska and Chakotay beam aboard the dark little ship. It's crew seem to be melted into the bulkheads.)
TORRES: What could do something like this?
CHAKOTAY: I'm showing high levels of nucleonic radiation. It seems to be isolated in that area.
TUVOK: It is likely that the ship's automatic containment systems were activated when the radiation entered the bridge. We should be safe as long as we stay on this side of the force field.
SESKA: Someone's alive over here.
CHAKOTAY: Away team to Voyager. We've got a single male Kazon alive on the bridge. Transport him directly to Sickbay.
KIM [OC]: Energising.
(The Kazon is beamed out.)
TUVOK: It appears the explosion emanated from this console.
TORRES: Does something look a little odd about it to you?
TUVOK: The structural pattern does not conform to the rest of the bridge.
TORRES: No, there's something else strange about it. The residue has a point four one percent trace of a neosorium composite, and I don't know anyone who uses neosorium technology except for the Federation. So how did it get into the hands of the Kazon?
[Sickbay]
EMH: Incredible. Somehow virtually every cell in his body has been altered.
JANEWAY: Altered?
EMH: His cells have mutated. Or they've been fused with inorganic matter. I can't make heads or tails of it. Look at this. His blood cells have bonded with metallic nuclei.
CHAKOTAY: The crew members closest to the explosion were virtually melded with huge pieces of metal fragments. He was luckier than the others.
EMH: That remains to be seen. I'm going to have to do a complete pyrocyte replacement if we're going to keep him alive. We'd better hope there are compatible donors on board.
KES: I'll run a cytological screening of the crew.
EMH: We'll let you know the results as soon as we can.
[Corridor]
TUVOK: Captain, there was an apparent Federation signature to the explosion.
JANEWAY: What?
CHAKOTAY: It looked like they were trying to install some new technology that detonated.
JANEWAY: You're saying they have some kind of Federation weapon on board?
CHAKOTAY: A console on the bridge was the source of the explosion. We're not sure what its function was, and it's going to be hard to get to.
JANEWAY: We can't transport it out?
CHAKOTAY: Not with those levels of nucleonic radiation. The transporter beam would disperse the moment it hit the irradiated cabin.
JANEWAY: How could they possibly have Federation technology?
TUVOK: There are only three alternatives I can discern at this time. One, it is not Federation technology at all but something similar.
[Turbolift]
JANEWAY: Bridge.
TUVOK: Two, another Federation starship may have been brought to the Delta Quadrant prior to our arrival, and they interacted with the Kazon-Nistrim.
CHAKOTAY: Were there any other reports of missing starships?
JANEWAY: Not to my knowledge.
TUVOK: Three, someone from this ship has covertly given technology to the Kazon.
JANEWAY: Computer, hold turbolift. I don't like number three at all, Tuvok.
TUVOK: Nevertheless, it is the most probable explanation. It may not be a coincidence that the Kazon ship we encountered at the planet was able to deceive our sensors. Perhaps someone transmitted instructions to them before we arrived.
JANEWAY: I want you to personally go through the transmission logs, Tuvok. Compare them to the actual telemetry. See if there's any evidence of prior contact with the Kazon. Who would have had a chance to meet with them while you were on the surface?
CHAKOTAY: A dozen people. We were scattered all over the area.
TUVOK: You did discover Ensign Seska in proximity to them.
CHAKOTAY: Seska almost killed me because she thought I was Kazon. She wouldn't do something like this.
TUVOK: Nevertheless, I urge you to regard her with caution for the time being.
JANEWAY: Why would anyone on this ship betray us? We're all in this together. We need to retrieve that console and get some answers before the rumours get out of hand. Computer, resume.
[Engineering]
TORRES: Releasing the force field isn't an option. That would just allow the radiation into the whole cabin.
SESKA: We could generate a localised subspace bubble to get past the force field.
TORRES: One minor subspace disruption and you're dead. It's too risky.
SESKA: I'd be willing to risk it.
CAREY: We could use an expander to manipulate the containment field.
TORRES: Manipulate it how?
CAREY: Move it out of the way. Rotate the field and the radiation trapped inside it away from the console. Once it's clear, we have access.
JANEWAY: How long will it take to set this up?
TORRES: We, er, we should be able to make an attempt by tomorrow.
JANEWAY: I want it ready by the end of the day.
TORRES: No, Captain. When I say tomorrow, I mean tomorrow. I don't exaggerate. Tomorrow is the best I can do.
JANEWAY: Understood, Lieutenant.
(Janeway leaves.)
TORRES: All right. We'll begin on the Kazon bridge. Carey, Nicoletti, Seska.
CHAKOTAY: No. I want Ensign Seska to coordinate the operation from our bridge.
TORRES: Okay. Henard, you're with us. Dismissed.
[Corridor]
SESKA: What was that all about?
CHAKOTAY: What?
SESKA: Oh, you know what I'm talking about. There's nothing important to do on the Bridge.
CHAKOTAY: I disagree. We need someone up there who
SESKA: What the hell is going on?
CHAKOTAY: There's some concern about you.
SESKA: What kind of concern?
CHAKOTAY: Concern because I found you near the Kazon on the planet.
SESKA: Oh, I see. So now I'm a traitor. I sell technology to the enemy.
CHAKOTAY: I don't believe that.
SESKA: No, you just take me off my assignment.
CHAKOTAY: I'm trying to take you out of harm's way to protect you.
SESKA: This is your idea of protection? You might as well point a finger at me in front of the entire crew!
CHAKOTAY: You don't assign someone you don't trust to the Bridge. Look, I'm sorry, but if something goes wrong over there, I don't want you anywhere near it.
SESKA: Thanks for your concern.
[Sickbay]
SESKA: How is he?
KES: Not very good. We need to completely replace his blood.
SESKA: Will he regain consciousness?
EMH: I'm not sure. Even if he does, there's no way to predict what kind of brain damage there might be.
SESKA: He's the only one who really knows what happened on that ship, Doctor. The only one who can tell them I had nothing to do with it.
EMH: You? I don't understand.
SESKA: Would you call me right away if he wakes up?
EMH: All right.
KES: Ensign, did you ever come in to leave a blood sample on file?
SESKA: No. I never got around to it. Why?
KES: I've been running a crew compatibility analysis and your file never came up.
SESKA: My blood won't help you. I had a childhood disease that infected it. I was warned never to donate blood for transfusion.
EMH: All the more reason we should have your blood on file.
SESKA: I will. Right now I have something more important to take care of.
[Ready room]
TUVOK: Someone did make an unauthorised transmission.
CHAKOTAY: And whoever it was, was an expert at covering their tracks.
TUVOK: The signal was masked by a test of the dorsal emitters that we conducted a week ago.
JANEWAY: Who was working on that test?
CHAKOTAY: Only the whole engineering crew.
TUVOK: We're trying to trace the station where the signal originated. Again, the perpetrator was skilled enough to make the tracking process extremely difficult for us.
CHAKOTAY: It's like working backwards through a maze of circuits. We keep bumping into dead ends.
PARIS [OC]: Paris to Captain Janeway. Please report to the Bridge.
[Bridge]
PARIS: Captain, another Kazon ship is approaching, trying to hail the disabled ship. They're not within visual range yet.
TUVOK: Perhaps someone else picked up the distress call.
JANEWAY: What's their ETA?
PARIS: At their current speed, four hours twenty minutes. Should I tell them we're here?
JANEWAY: If we know about them, it's a good bet they know about us. We don't have anything good to tell them. I think we'll wait.
KIM: Captain, I'm showing an unauthorised autosequence in Transporter Room two. Someone's left Voyager.
JANEWAY: Computer, identify who just beamed off the ship from Transporter Room two.
COMPUTER: Ensign Seska.
[Kazon ship]
(Seska walks through the forcefield to the mysterious console.)
CHAKOTAY [OC]: Chakotay to Seska.
SESKA: I really don't have time to talk to you right now, Chakotay.
[Bridge]
CHAKOTAY: What the hell do you think you're doing?
SESKA [OC]: Retrieving the console, my way.
CHAKOTAY: I want you back on this ship, and I mean now.
[Kazon ship]
SESKA: The Captain said she wanted the console today. Carey's plan couldn't do it in time
[Bridge]
SESKA [OC]: But mine can.
TUVOK: Captain, it is conceivable that she's gone to the Kazon ship to destroy evidence that might implicate her.
CHAKOTAY: She's gone back to the Kazon ship to prove herself to us. Can't you see that?
KIM: I've got a lock on her, Captain. Do you want me to transport her back?
JANEWAY: If we try to beam her out while she's manipulating subspace, we might kill her.
(Seska screams.)
CHAKOTAY: Chakotay to Seska. Seska, respond! Get her out of there! Send her to Sickbay.
KIM: Energising.
[Sickbay]
EMH: Prep three cc's kelotane. I'll need a dermal regenerator. Run a full blood scan.
(Chakotay holds Seska's hand.)
[Ready room]
(Tuvok escorts Carey in.)
JANEWAY: Have a seat, Mister Carey.
CHAKOTAY: How have things been going for you in Engineering?
CAREY: Fine. Why, is there a problem?
CHAKOTAY: You getting along all right with Lieutenant Torres?
CAREY: I think we've settled our differences.
JANEWAY: She was promoted to Chief Engineer over you, Lieutenant. That might be difficult for someone in your position to accept.
CAREY: Captain, I accepted your decision, and I've worked as hard as I can to make myself a valuable member of Lieutenant Torres's team. I can't believe she'd have any complaints about my performance.
JANEWAY: She doesn't.
CAREY: Then what am I doing here?
TUVOK: Lieutenant, have you had any contact with the Kazon-Nistrim since we arrived in the Delta Quadrant?
CAREY: What? You mean me, personally? No, of course not.
CHAKOTAY: You were out of contact for almost an hour on the planet where we encountered the Kazon.
CAREY: You mean when I was picking those poisoned apples?
JANEWAY: What about before we arrived at the planet? Did you have any reason to signal the Kazon-Nistrim ship?
CAREY: No.
TUVOK: Nevertheless, a signal was sent to the Kazon from your station in Engineering during our dorsal emitter test last week.
CAREY: My station?
TUVOK: Were you not in Engineering at that time?
CAREY: Well, yes, I was, but you know how it is down there during a systems analysis.
CHAKOTAY: Did you see anyone else at your station?
CAREY: Honestly, I don't remember. Maybe you should ask Seska.
JANEWAY: Why Seska?
CAREY: Everybody knows she was found in the cave with the Kazon. Look, I'm not saying she did anything wrong, but I didn't either.
JANEWAY: I'd like to believe you, Mister Carey, but somebody did contact the Kazon. And until we know who, I'm going to have to restrict you to quarters.
(Carey leaves.)
JANEWAY: What do you think?
CHAKOTAY: He had the motive and the opportunity.
JANEWAY: He's also had a distinguished Starfleet career. Seska has spent most of the last two years as an enemy of the Federation.
CHAKOTAY: So have I.
[Bridge]
KIM: Captain, we're being hailed by the approaching Kazon ship.
JANEWAY: How soon will they be here?
KIM: Four minutes.
JANEWAY: I wish we had something more definitive to tell them. Open a channel. I am Kathryn Janeway, Captain of the Federation Starship Voyager.
CULLUH [on viewscreen]: My name is Culluh, First Maje of the Kazon-Nistrim. What have you done to our ship?
JANEWAY: We responded to a call for help. Unfortunately, by the time we were able to respond, all but one of the crew were dead.
CULLUH [on viewscreen]: I would like to speak to the survivor.
JANEWAY: He hasn't regained consciousness. We have him in our Sickbay. We'd be happy to beam you aboard so you can see him.
CULLUH [on viewscreen]: You will prepare for my arrival.
(Transmission ends.)
PARIS: Friendly sort.
[Sickbay]
(Janeway and Tuvok enter with Culluh and his escort.)
EMH: Ah, Captain. I'm glad you're here. I was just about to call you.
JANEWAY: Doctor, this is First Maje Culluh of the Kazon-Nistrim. Could you give us the latest condition report on your Kazon patient?
EMH: Well, the good news is, we've been able to stabilise him. We had to completely replace his blood.
CULLUH: Replace his blood? With what?
JANEWAY: The blood of volunteers from our crew. They saved his life.
EMH: His own blood cells were killing him. They were changed by the accident on his ship.
CULLUH: Changed in what manner?
EMH: We haven't been able to determine that yet.
JANEWAY: We've been working on a plan to access the source of the explosion, which should answer a lot of the questions.
CULLUH: That will no longer be necessary. We will take the damaged vessel to our port for inspection.
JANEWAY: I'm afraid I can't allow you to do that just yet.
CULLUH: And what gives you the right to interfere in our affairs?
JANEWAY: There was a trace of a Federation compound in the remains of the explosion. We have reason to believe that someone on board this ship gave technology to your people. Until we have a better explanation of what occurred, I can't release that ship to you.
CULLUH: That is not acceptable.
JANEWAY: It will have to be.
CULLUH: Your unique technologies make you brave, Captain, but you have only one ship. In less than a day there will be four Kazon vessels off your bow.
JANEWAY: Perhaps by then we'll have the answers we need.
CULLUH: You will leave us with him.
(Janeway and the EMH move away from the biobed.)
JANEWAY: I assume they'll want to take him back to their ship. I'd rather not let them do it just yet in case he regains consciousness. There are a lot of questions he can answer. Can I tell them it's not safe to move him?
EMH: It will be the truth.
JANEWAY: Good.
(A needle comes from Culluh's ring and he injects the injured Kazon. Tuvok spots in and leaps forward to grab him.)
EMH: He's dead.
JANEWAY: Get off this ship.
(Tuvok escorts the Kazon out.)
EMH: There was some kind of nerve toxin in that needle. He died instantly. Captain, may we talk to you in my office?
[Doctor's office]
EMH: It's about Seska.
JANEWAY: Complications?
KES: I was analysing her blood chemistry to try to locate a compatible donor. But when I got the results, her blood was lacking all the common Bajoran blood factors.
JANEWAY: Meaning?
SESKA: The only conclusion we can reach is that she is not, in fact, Bajoran. It appears Seska has been genetically altered. My suspicion is she was born Cardassian.
[Ready room]
CHAKOTAY: You're making me to believe she's a Cardassian agent who infiltrated the Maquis?
TUVOK: Starfleet Security has documented several incidents in which Cardassian have used cosmetic alterations for the purpose of infiltrating an enemy.
CHAKOTAY: This is crazy. This is just impossible.
TUVOK: The Doctor has informed us that there's no other plausible explanation for the medical anomalies, Commander.
CHAKOTAY: If you don't mind, I'd like to hear her explanation before we dismiss it. Has she been told?
JANEWAY: No.
CHAKOTAY: I'd like to be the one who questions her.
JANEWAY: I suggest we wait until we retrieve the console. Janeway to Torres.
[Engineering]
TORRES: Yes, Captain.
JANEWAY [OC]: Your status?
TORRES: We're finished with the computer simulations.
[Ready room]
TORRES [OC]: Everything looks okay. We're ready to beam over.
JANEWAY: Good. Then let's get started. Janeway out.
(Janeway leaves.)
CHAKOTAY: You were working for her. Seska was working for them. Was anyone on board that ship working for me?
[Bridge]
KIM: The Kazon ship is hailing us.
JANEWAY: Open a channel. On screen.
CULLUH [on viewscreen]: Our sensors show that you are trespassing on our vessel.
JANEWAY: As I've already informed you, we're attempting to retrieve the console that caused this explosion.
CULLUH [on viewscreen]: If you attempt to remove anything from our ship, it will be considered an act of war.
JANEWAY: You know, I'm really easy to get along with most of the time. But I don't like bullies, and I don't like threats, and I don't like you, Culluh. You can try and stop us from getting to the truth, but I promise you, if you do I will respond with all the unique technologies at my command. Janeway out.
TUVOK: Their weapon systems are standing down. They do not appear to be posing a threat to us at this time.
JANEWAY: At least not until reinforcements get here. Janeway to Away team.
TORRES [OC]: Yes, Captain.
JANEWAY: I don't want to rush you, Lieutenant, but
TORRES [OC]: We're finished, Captain.
JANEWAY: I beg your pardon?
TORRES [OC]: Decontamination went exactly as planned. The console has been transported to Engineering, and we're on our way back now.
JANEWAY: Acknowledged. Well done, Away team. We'll meet you in Engineering.
[Engineering]
TORRES: Of all the things to die for. It's a food replicator, or at least it was trying to be.
JANEWAY: We may take replicators for granted, but imagine what it would mean to a culture that doesn't have this technology.
TORRES: They didn't use a thick enough interior shield casing. Once the nucleonic radiation leaked out, a cascade reaction was inevitable.
JANEWAY: Can you tell if any part of the console came from out ship?
TORRES: There's no doubt about it, Captain. The pattern buffer relays are clearly composed of bio-neural fibres. No other Federation ship would have them. Somebody on board Voyager gave them what they needed. I guess they just didn't know what to do with it.
JANEWAY: I want a complete report on everything we've found so I can share it with our Kazon friends.
[Sickbay]
(Chakotay enters, and Kes leaves.)
CHAKOTAY: We've recovered the console. It's a replicator, constructed with materials from Voyager.
SESKA: I suppose now everyone thinks I went over there to destroy the evidence.
CHAKOTAY: Did you?
SESKA: I was only trying to show everyone, show you. You really think I had something to do with this, don't you?
CHAKOTAY: To be honest, I'm not sure anymore. I'm not sure of a lot of things.
SESKA: Well, why don't you go talk to your animal guide and figure it all out?
CHAKOTAY: I plan to.
SESKA: Good. Get back to me when you do.
CHAKOTAY: You know, it's funny. I've been thinking about what's been real and what's not been real.
SESKA: What is this about? What's wrong with you? Talk to me, Chakotay. You owe me that much.
CHAKOTAY: What would you say I owe to a Cardassian who infiltrated my crew?
SESKA: What are you talking about?
CHAKOTAY: Isn't that why you never got around to a blood analysis when we came on board?
SESKA: I didn't get around to it because I didn't get around to it.
CHAKOTAY: Turns out your blood is missing all the common Bajoran blood factors.
SESKA: It's a side effect of Orkett's disease. Ask your doctor.
CHAKOTAY: Orkett's disease.
SESKA: A childhood virus that swept through the Bajoran work camps during the occupation. Thousands of children didn't survive. I did, thanks to a bone marrow transplant from a sympathetic Cardassian woman. Her name was Kattell. When we get home, you can ask her yourself. You must think I'm horrible. Do you think I gave you my, my heart to get your Maquis secrets?
CHAKOTAY: I'm starting to wonder.
SESKA: Let me tell you something. Your secrets weren't good enough. They wouldn't have been worth the trouble for a Cardassian agent. I had only one agenda with you, Chakotay, and I never kept it secret. So, do you believe in me again?
CHAKOTAY: I want to.
SESKA: Good. Because I want to go back to work.
CHAKOTAY: Let's not rush things.
SESKA: I'm going stir crazy in here.
CHAKOTAY: You're going to have to stay confined, at least until we find out exactly where the replicator components were taken from.
SESKA: Well, what'll that tell you?
CHAKOTAY: There might be evidence of who took them.
SESKA: Oh, you don't think whoever did this is foolish enough to log in using their own name?
CHAKOTAY: Chief Inspector Tuvok leaves no stone unturned. I'll tell the Captain what you told me. Somehow we'll try to clear this up soon.
[Corridor]
CHAKOTAY: She said a Cardassian bone marrow transplant saved her life as a child.
TUVOK: Did you set our plan in motion? I gave Lieutenant Carey the same information.
CHAKOTAY: Now all we can do is wait and hope someone takes the bait.
[Engineering]
(Night shift.)
TUVOK: Gin.
CHAKOTAY: I never knew Vulcans had such a talent for cards.
TUVOK: It is simply a matter of logical discards, which give a false impression of my own requirements and deny the needed cards to your hand. I believe that's ninety four points to me.
CHAKOTAY: If you ever need a sponsor in a gin tournament, let me know.
TORRES: We're picking up two more Kazon warships about six hours away. We're not going to be able to stay her much
(Beep! Beep!)
CHAKOTAY: That's sounds like a nibble to me.
TUVOK: Someone is accessing the inventory data base.
TORRES: And they're going straight to the missing replicator materials.
CHAKOTAY: Should we start the trace now?
TUVOK: Negative. It might alert them.
TORRES: They're entering data.
TUVOK: Intriguing. It appears as though they're trying to place evidence at the scene of the crime to indicate the guilty party.
TORRES: They're entering an encrypted security code into the materials requisition file.
CHAKOTAY: Which would suggest they're hiding it. But not very well.
TORRES: Anybody know whose security code that belongs to?
CHAKOTAY: I do. It's Seska's.
TORRES: Then it has to be Carey. Carey is trying to point the finger at Seska.
[Sickbay]
SESKA: Chakotay. Is anything wrong?
CHAKOTAY: It's over. We know who gave the technology to the Kazon.
SESKA: Who?
CHAKOTAY: You did.
SESKA: Look, I don't know what evidence you think you've found, but
CHAKOTAY: We found the evidence you put there for us to find. Your own security code.
SESKA: I have no idea what you're talking about.
CHAKOTAY: We already knew where the stolen materials had been taken from before I met with you. We were monitoring the inventory manifest, hoping either you or Carey would try to cover your tracks.
SESKA: Hell of a way for me to cover my tracks, putting in my own security code for you to find.
CHAKOTAY: That's exactly what you did. You knew no one would believe you could be that careless. You wanted us to believe that someone else was trying to frame you.
SESKA: Ever consider that maybe someone was?
CHAKOTAY: We traced the computer station used to enter the data. Oh, you took us all around the system and back again before we could locate the source, but it was this station, in Sickbay.
(The lights come up. Janeway and Tuvok enter with two Security guards.)
CHAKOTAY: I'd almost say it was a Maquis operation, if I didn't already know you were a Cardassian. Computer, activate Emergency Holographic Medical Programme.
EMH: Ah. Have I been called to testify?
CHAKOTAY: Before you even mentioned Orkett's disease to me, the Doctor had already discounted that as a possible explanation for your blood anomalies.
EMH: And may I say a doctor less informed about Bajoran medicine might have been fooled, but my programme includes the complete Bajoran medical text on Orkett's disease. There's no way any childhood virus or Cardassian bone marrow transplant can explain away the genetic markers in your blood. You are Cardassian, Ensign.
CHAKOTAY: But that didn't necessarily make you the traitor we were looking for. We needed more evidence, and you gave it to us. The one thing I still can't understand is why?
SESKA: I did it for you. I did it for this crew. We are alone here, at the mercy of any number of hostile aliens, because of the incomprehensible decision of a Federation Captain. A Federation Captain who destroyed our only chance to get home. Federation rules. Federation nobility. Federation compassion? Do you understand, if this had been a Cardassian ship, we would be home now. We must begin to forge alliances. To survive, we must have powerful friends. The Kazon-Nistrim were willing to be our protectors in return for some minor technology.
JANEWAY: Minor technology that could change the balance of power in this quadrant.
SESKA: Change it in our favour! That is all that matters at this point. Building a base of power in this quadrant. You are a fool, Captain, and you're a fool to follow her. I can't imagine how I ever loved you. Computer, command XJL.
(Seska beams out.)
CHAKOTAY: Computer, override transport in progress.
COMPUTER: Unable to comply. Security lockout is in place.
JANEWAY: Computer, identify destination of transport.
COMPUTER: A Kazon vessel fourteen kilometres off the port bow.
[Bridge]
PARIS: Bridge to Janeway.
JANEWAY [OC]: Go ahead.
PARIS: The Kazon ship
[Sickbay]
PARIS [OC]: Is powering up its engines. It looks like they're getting ready to go to warp.
JANEWAY: Ready a tractor beam.
PARIS [OC]: I've also got two Kazon warships on an intercept course less than ten minutes away.
TUVOK: Captain, even with our superior defence capabilities, we cannot prevail against three Kazon warships.
PARIS [OC]: Awaiting your instructions, Captain.
JANEWAY: Power down the tractor beam. Set a course out of here, Mister Paris, warp four. Engage when ready.
PARIS [OC]: Yes, ma'am.
JANEWAY: We'll have to wait for another day to settle up with Seska.
[Mess hall]
(Chakotay goes straight to Tuvok, who is reading at his corner table.)
CHAKOTAY: Can I ask you to be honest with me, Lieutenant?
TUVOK: As a Vulcan, I am at all times honest, Commander.
CHAKOTAY: That's not exactly true. You lied to me when you passed yourself off as a Maquis to get on my crew.
TUVOK: I was honest to my own convictions within the defined parameters of my mission.
CHAKOTAY: You damned Vulcans and your defined parameters. That's easy for you.
TUVOK: On the contrary. The demands on a Vulcan's character are extraordinarily difficult. Do not mistake composure for ease. How may I be honest with you today?
CHAKOTAY: I'd just like to know, from someone else who pulled the wool over my eyes, was I particularly naive? Was I not paying enough attention? What the hell was it that let all you spies get by me?
TUVOK: Like all humans, you depend on feelings and instincts to guide you, and they invariably let you down. But particularly naive? No, Commander, and I've always considered your attention span to be adequate.
CHAKOTAY: Did you ever see anything about Seska that make you suspicious?
TUVOK: No. She quite expertly pulled the wool over my eyes as well.
CHAKOTAY: Well, that makes me feel a little better. Thanks.
TUVOK: Curious.
CHAKOTAY: What?
TUVOK: That my failure, added to your own, should improve your feelings.
CHAKOTAY: Misery loves company, Tuvok.
2024-09-12 19:23:23 -
Pike:
Added the transcript.
