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March 1, 2000
RUNTIME
44 minutes
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194
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2024-09-13 18:28:01
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SUMMARY
Stardate: Unknown. Ensign Lindsay Ballard returns to Voyager after being killed during a previous away mission. An alien race known as the Kobali, whose only method of reproduction is 'resurrection' of the dead through genetic engineering had revived her and taken her as a new member of their race. When the full extent of her new Kobali genes are activated, they reach a point where she must choose between her old home on the ship, or her new home with her adoptive Kobali family.
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REVIEWS
Christmas episode
Written by
Pike on 2018-03-30
★
★
★
★
★
I never understood the Christmas special episodes. This is to me the typical tv series cliché.
SUMMARY
I am not a fan of Christmas special episodes. I give it 5 out of 10. Good but not more.
TRANSCRIPT
[Kobali shuttle]
(An alien shuttle is under attack.It's bald, grey-skinned female pilot talks to her computer.)
BALLARD: Tam'vitte. Me'iote rel mestal.
COMPUTER: Mestal te'iote senve.
BALLARD: Siote ven'suil. Bekta!
(Two well places weapons shots disable her pursuer.)
BALLARD: Tam'vitte. Me'iote sendaya Voyager. Federation Starship Voyager. If you can hear me, please respond.
[Astrometrics lab]
(A wall monitor says Incoming Message. Young Mezoti, the former Borg, presses a button.)
BALLARD [OC]: If you can hear me, please respond. Voyager, please respond.
[Kobali Shuttle]
BALLARD: Come on, Voyager. I know you're there.
[Astrometrics lab]
MEZOTI: Hello?
[Kobali Shuttle]
BALLARD: Voyager? Are you receiving this transmission?
[Astrometrics lab]
MEZOTI: My designation is Mezoti.
[Kobali Shuttle]
BALLARD: You sound a little young to be working the comm.
[Astrometrics lab]
MEZOTI: I'm eight.
[Kobali Shuttle]
BALLARD: I see. Are there any grown-ups I could speak to?
MEZOTI [OC]: My species is six eight nine.
[Astrometrics lab]
MEZOTI: Norcadian. What species are you?
[Kobali Shuttle]
BALLARD: That's a complicated question.
[Astrometrics lab]
MEZOTI: Explain.
BALLARD [OC]: I don't know how long I can keep this channel open.
[Kobali Shuttle]
BALLARD: I need you to patch me through to Captain Janeway.
[Astrometrics lab]
MEZOTI: I'll try, but my height may be insufficient.
(She is right. In trying to reach up to the top of the screen, she rests her hand on another console and cuts off the transmission.)
[Kobali shuttle]
BALLARD: Hello? Voyager?
[Astrometrics lab]
TUVOK: Mezoti, you are not authorised to be in here.
MEZOTI: Are you going to report me to the captain?
TUVOK: Considering this is your first offence, a warning will suffice.
SEVEN: What were my instructions?
MEZOTI: To wait in the Cargo Bay until you returned.
SEVEN: Why didn't you comply?
TUVOK: You left the children unsupervised.
SEVEN: Lieutenant Torres required my assistance in Engineering. I was gone for less than ten minutes.
ICHEB: We told her not to deviate from your instructions. She wouldn't listen.
TUVOK: When the captain asked you to take charge of these children, you assured her that you could maintain order.
SEVEN: Controlling them is proving more difficult than I anticipated. They're highly unpredictable.
TUVOK: Meditation helps Vulcan children to control their emotions. You might consider
(Mezoti is using the console again.)
SEVEN: Mezoti!
MEZOTI: I'm trying to talk to the woman.
SEVEN: What woman?
MEZOTI: The one transmitting from spatial grid two three six nine.
SEVEN: She's made contact with a small ship approximately three light years from here.
TUVOK: Alien vessel, this is the starship Voyager. Respond.
BALLARD [OC]: Tuvok? It's you, isn't it?
TUVOK: This is Lieutenant Commander Tuvok.
BALLARD [OC]: Sounds like someone got promoted. I want to hear all about it, but first I need to speak to Captain Janeway.
[Bridge]
BALLARD [on viewscreen]: You're a sight for sore eyes, Captain. You, too, Harry.
JANEWAY: I'm sorry, but do we know you?
BALLARD [on viewscreen]: I'm Ensign Lyndsay Ballard. I was a member of your crew. Of course, I'm not surprised you don't recognise me.
JANEWAY: I don't know who you are, but I'm not amused. Ensign Ballard died almost
BALLARD [on viewscreen]: It was on Stardate 51563. I can't blame you for being sceptical, Captain, but if you let me come aboard, I can explain everything.
JANEWAY: We'll beam you to Sickbay.
BALLARD [on viewscreen]: I'm sure you'll want me behind a level ten force field.
JANEWAY: No offence.
BALLARD [on viewscreen]: None taken. I'm just glad to be home.
CHAKOTAY: Captain? What do you think?
JANEWAY: She seems to have intimate knowledge of this ship and its crew. I think we should find out who she is.
KIM: Captain, I'd like to come with you. I was very close to Lyndsay, and if somehow it's her, I'll know.
[Sickbay]
(The EMH scans their visitor then walks through the forcefield.)
BALLARD: Harry and I were on our way to a class M planet in the Vyntadi Expanse to recover dilithium ore we'd detected a few days earlier. When we landed, we realised it was a trap set by a Hirogen hunting party. They'd reconfigured a power cell to give off false dilithium readings.
KIM: That's exactly what happened.
JANEWAY: Go on.
BALLARD: Harry and I headed back to the shuttle. We were ten feet away when I was hit with a neural disrupter. Harry said my injury wasn't that bad. He always was a terrible liar.
KIM: I tried to get Lyndsay back to Voyager but she was already dead. We buried her in space.
JANEWAY: Go on with your story.
BALLARD: I woke up on a ship, in a stasis chamber surrounded by aliens. They told me they'd used their technology to reanimate me. I didn't believe them when they said I'd died, but they showed me visual scans of my own corpse lying in the torpedo casing I'd been buried in. The Kobali said I'd been drifting for weeks.
JANEWAY: Kobali?
BALLARD: If you ever met them, you'd remember. They look just like this. After the reanimation process, they spent months altering my DNA. They were constantly scanning me, injecting me.
KIM: Just to make you look like one of them?
BALLARD: That's how they procreate. They salvage the dead of other races. I was given a Kobali name and placed with a family to help me acclimate.
JANEWAY: You were a prisoner.
BALLARD: At first. I wanted to contact you, to tell you I was safe, but the Kobali wouldn't let me. They said you were part of my kyn'steya, my, my past life, and that I needed to forget you. All of you. So I spent two years letting my new family think I'd accepted them. When I finally earned their trust, I stole a shuttle and started looking for Voyager. That was six months ago. They've been chasing me ever since.
EMH: In spite of her appearance, I'm detecting traces of human DNA. I've compared them with the genetic samples from Ensign Ballard's file. They match.
JANEWAY: It's certainly a convincing story.
BALLARD: But your Starfleet training is telling you to consider all the possibilities. Maybe I'm some sort of hybrid clone, or telepath who accessed Ensign Ballard's memory somehow? Believe me, I was suspicious myself at first, but I am Lyndsay Ballard.
JANEWAY: Until we find evidence to the contrary, welcome home.
(Janeway lowers the forcefield and shakes Ballard's hand.)
KIM: Captain, could you give us a minute?
JANEWAY: Doctor.
(Janeway and the EMH go into his office.)
KIM: So it's really you?
BALLARD: In the flesh, so to speak.
(Kim hugs her.)
BALLARD: I've missed you, too.
[Briefing room]
JANEWAY: I know you're all as eager as I am to welcome Ensign Ballard back. She's a fine officer, who's shown a lot of courage and determination over the past few years. And we're lucky to have her with us again. Let's do everything we can to make her feel at home.
NEELIX: Tom and I have already taken the liberty of removing Lyndsay's personal effects from storage.
TORRES: And whenever you're ready, your old shift is waiting for you in Engineering.
BALLARD: Thanks, Lieutenant.
CHAKOTAY: Before we get ahead of ourselves, let's not forget the Kobali are still out there.
JANEWAY: It seems they want her back as much as we want to keep her. We'll need to take precautions in case they track her to Voyager.
TUVOK: I've run preliminary scans on the Kobali shuttle. I believe I can adapt our systems to counter a possible attack.
JANEWAY: Very good. Well, if there's no further business.
(The meeting breaks up.)
BALLARD: Thank you for saying those nice things about me.
JANEWAY: You seem surprised.
BALLARD: To be honest, I never thought you noticed me.
JANEWAY: My mistake.
[Corridor]
BALLARD: So, you still playing the clarinet?
KIM: Actually, I've taken up the saxophone.
BALLARD: Ambitious. I bet you're good at it.
KIM: You always were my biggest fan.
BALLARD: Please, no past tense.
KIM: Sorry. This is a little strange for me.
BALLARD: Really? It's been a perfectly normal day for me.
[Turbolift]
KIM: Deck two.
BALLARD: It just so happens that hearing you play music again is number twenty six on my list.
KIM: List?
BALLARD: Something I made up to pass the time while I was away. I tried to think of everything I would do if I got back to Voyager, including some things I wasn't able to accomplish the first time I was here.
KIM: Like showing up for duty shifts on time?
BALLARD: That's number twenty seven.
[Mess hall]
(Neelix and Naomi are playing Kadis-kot. Seven brings in the junior Collective.)
NAOMI: They're here.
NEELIX: Ah. Why don't you and I have a cup of tea while the children play?
SEVEN: Thank you, but they require my supervision.
NAOMI: I like your braid.
MEZOTI: I could show you how to do it.
SEVEN: Mezoti.
NEELIX: Something wrong?
SEVEN: I've allotted one hour for recreational activity. There's no time for irrelevant conversation.
MEZOTI: It's not irrelevant.
SEVEN: Adhering to our schedule will allow us to use our time more efficiently. We'll be able to participate in
MEZOTI: A wider variety of activities.
SEVEN: Fun will now commence.
NAOMI: Green. Grid three thirteen.
(The twins look at each other for a few moments.)
AZAN: Counter. Grid ten.
(Naomi beckons Neelix over.)
NAOMI: They're cheating.
NEELIX: How?
MEZOTI: Azan is using his neural interface to share information.
SEVEN: Is this true? You will exercise punishment protocol nine alpha.
(Azan and Rebi leave the table. Icheb stands.)
ICHEB: If they cannot participate, neither will I.
SEVEN: You are encouraging disorder.
ICHEB: And you never let us do what we want.
(Icheb knocks the counters onto the floor.)
SEVEN: You will exercise punishment protocol nine alpha.
ICHEB: No, I won't.
[Ballard's quarters]
KIM: There you go.
BALLARD: I can't believe you saved all this.
KIM: Tuvok thought I should recycle everything, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it.
BALLARD: My skates and I thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
(Ballard unpacks by grabbing things and throwing them into corners and drawers.)
KIM: Do you know how long it took me to fold those?
BALLARD: Same old Harry.
KIM: What's that supposed to mean?
BALLARD: You're still sort of obsessive.
KIM: I'm tidy.
BALLARD: Is that why you used to request baryon sweeps of your dorm room?
KIM: When you live across the hall from a slob.
BALLARD: Hey, show some respect for the dead. Did I say something wrong?
KIM: It's nothing.
BALLARD: Just because I've been gone for three years doesn't mean I can't still read you like a book.
KIM: I gave the eulogy at your funeral.
BALLARD: Oh? What'd you say? Come on, it's everyone's fantasy to hear their own eulogy.
KIM: Absolutely not.
BALLARD: It's probably for the best. You always were a terrible public speaker. I just hope you didn't stutter too much.
KIM: I told them you had a favourite saying. Something you got from an old Klingon battle cry?
BALLARD: Own the day.
KIM: I said that you always believed in attacking each day, possessing it, and that that was what made you so much fun to be around.
BALLARD: Is that when everybody burst into tears?
KIM: I said that if you'd been there, you would have told them to own that day. To attack it, make it their own, and plan to do the same thing tomorrow.
BALLARD: Pretty strong stuff.
KIM: You were a strong person.
BALLARD: Not always. These last six months haven't been easy. There were plenty of times when I could have given up.
KIM: But you didn't.
BALLARD: You know why? You. I wanted to see you again. Hmm. Guess I won't be needing this anymore.
(She holds up her hairbrush)
EMH [OC]: Sickbay to Ensign Ballard. I've finished analysing your bio-scans.
BALLARD: I'm on my way.
[Sickbay]
EMH: My scans identified a genetic pathogen in your bloodstream. It appears to have converted most of your human DNA into a Kobali protein structure.
KIM: Is there any way to reverse it?
EMH: The biochemical changes have affected every system in your body. I'm afraid there isn't enough of your original DNA left to make you human again. But I believe I can affect some cosmetic changes.
BALLARD: Are you saying you could make me look like me again?
EMH: Yes. The alternations would literally be skin-deep, and it may take several treatments, but I've devised an inaprovaline compound which should do the trick. Physiologically, you'd still be Kobali with a multispheric brain, a binary cardiovascular system.
BALLARD: But I'd look human?
EMH: Oh, yes.
BALLARD: I've lived with this face for long enough. Let's do it.
EMH: Have a seat. You may experience some dizziness.
BALLARD: I'll hang onto Harry for support, if he doesn't mind.
KIM: That's what I'm here for.
(The EMH gives her a hypospray, and her skin starts to turn pink.)
BALLARD: What? Something wrong?
KIM: See for yourself.
[Mess hall]
NEELIX: Here we are, one Jibelian berry salad.
BALLARD: I have been looking forward to this for a very long time.
KIM: It was number six on her list.
BALLARD: There isn't much variety in the Kobali diet. I ate the same grey paste for three years. It doesn't taste the way I remember it.
NEELIX: What's wrong? Too sweet?
BALLARD: No offence, but it's got sort of a metallic flavour.
KIM: Seems fine to me.
BALLARD: I guess my taste buds are still Kobali.
NEELIX: Can I get you something else?
BALLARD: Thanks, but I need to take care of number sixteen. Dazzle Lieutenant Torres.
[Engineering]
TORRES: One minute early.
BALLARD: There's a first time for everything.
TORRES: An alignment error has been cropping up in the dilithium matrix. We can't seem to figure out what's causing it. I, I know that you're still settling in so I'll give you a couple of days to
BALLARD: It's a vyk'tiote.
TORRES: Excuse me?
BALLARD: Oh, a Kobali word to describe a certain kind of wave phenomenon. It's hard to translate.
TORRES: Try me.
BALLARD: Literally, it means crumpled dance. All I need to do is vyq'tal the qen'dioqe matrices, stabilise the per'cheya. Tez'tel, se menna. Cham'bioque! What?
TORRES: You were speaking Kobali.
BALLARD: I didn't realise. I'm sorry.
TORRES: Well, whatever you did, the alignment error is gone. Nice job.
BALLARD: Thanks.
TORRES: I think there might be a few crumpled dances in the warp core, too. Feel like taking a look?
[Astrometrics lab]
CHAKOTAY: Any sign of the Kobali?
SEVEN: None.
CHAKOTAY: The latest tactical reports from Tuvok.
SEVEN: Commander. I no longer wish to serve as guardian to the Borg children.
CHAKOTAY: What's the problem?
SEVEN: Their behaviour is chaotic. My attempts to apply discipline only result in further disorder.
CHAKOTAY: Well, kids and disorder usually go hand in hand.
SEVEN: Neelix issued a similar warning prior to my taking this assignment, which is why I devised an activities schedule to promote focus and unity. Oh seven hundred hours, the children emerge from their alcoves. Nutrients are ingested in the mess hall prior to proceeding to the science lab to begin classes. At thirteen hundred hours nutrients are consumed a second time, before reporting to the holodeck, where they're studying comparative alien physiology.
CHAKOTAY: Doesn't sound like there's much time for fun.
SEVEN: On the contrary, I've scheduled recreational activities.
(She has the schedule on the screen. 1500-1600 hours. Fun.)
CHAKOTAY: You can't always schedule fun, Seven. Sometimes it needs to be spontaneous.
SEVEN: According to my research, children require structure.
CHAKOTAY: I agree, but not to this extreme. You're treating them like they're still on a Borg Cube.
SEVEN: You're comparing me to the Collective?
CHAKOTAY: You have all four children functioning as one. They do the same things together at the same time.
SEVEN: So that each child has the same opportunities to learn.
CHAKOTAY: They're individuals. Maybe they're rebelling because you don't let them express themselves.
SEVEN: Then grant my request. Choose a more suitable crew member to instruct them.
CHAKOTAY: Sorry, Seven. Permission denied.
[Corridor]
(Kim has a pair of ice skates slung over his shoulder.)
PARIS: Well, I see you're finally going to try my hockey programme.
KIM: Actually, I'm taking Lyndsay skating.
PARIS: Oh. You two sure have been spending a lot of time together lately.
KIM: Don't start.
PARIS: Oh, now, let's see. For those of us keeping score, Harry Kim has fallen for a hologram, a Borg, the wrong twin, and now the dearly departed.
KIM: We're friends, just like before. All right. Maybe there was a time when I thought of pursuing Lyndsay, but I closed the door on that when we both got assigned to Voyager.
PARIS: Hmm. Don't look now, but that door is creaking open.
[Sickbay]
(Ballard's cosmetic surgery is complete. She has a head of short red hair.)
BALLARD: What do you think?
KIM: You look great.
BALLARD: Doctor thought I should stick to my original colour, but this seemed more exciting.
EMH: Hair is one of my specialties, despite evidence to the contrary.
BALLARD: It's just too bad that beneath this beautiful red hair still lies the six-lobed brain of a Kobali.
KIM: Well, are you feeling human enough for a little skating?
BALLARD: I'd love to, but I already have a date.
KIM: Who with?
BALLARD: The Captain. She's invited me to her quarters for dinner.
KIM: In six years, I have never been invited to the captain's quarters for dinner.
BALLARD: Well, I'll give her your regards.
[Janeway's quarters]
JANEWAY: Oh, damn! (The replicator is mutinying when the doorbell chimes.)
JANEWAY: Come in. Formal dress wasn't required, Ensign.
BALLARD: Well, I just, I figured, dinner with the captain.
JANEWAY: I'd hardly call this dinner. My replicator decided to liquefy the pot roast.
BALLARD: It looks fine to me.
JANEWAY: Stop trying to get on my good side and grab a slice of bread. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I hope you don't mind.
BALLARD: Not at all. I lived on them at the Academy.
JANEWAY: So, how was your first day back on the job?
BALLARD: Pretty good, I think. Lieutenant Torres called my work competent.
JANEWAY: Trust me, that's high praise coming from B'Elanna. Commander Tuvok finished his analysis of your shuttle and presented me with thirty seven different ways of repelling a Kobali attack.
BALLARD: Did he include your pot roast? I'm sorry. I didn't mean. I can't believe I just said that.
JANEWAY: Why? It was funny. We're not on the bridge, Lyndsay. You have permission to speak freely.
BALLARD: Do you really mean that?
JANEWAY: I wouldn't have said it otherwise.
BALLARD: Then there's something I've wanted to ask you for a long time. Why me?
JANEWAY: I'm sorry?
BALLARD: Why did you choose me for that away mission?
JANEWAY: Why, I suppose I thought you were best suited for the job.
BALLARD: No, I wasn't. Dilithium extraction was always Lieutenant Torres' specialty. And Tuvok had far more experience conducting away missions. But you didn't send either one of them. Was it because they were closer to you?
JANEWAY: You blame me.
BALLARD: No, no, that's not what I meant.
JANEWAY: It's okay, Lyndsay.
BALLARD: No, it's not.
JANEWAY: I'm not offended.
BALLARD: No, you don't understand. Never harbour anger toward those who brought you death, for they gave you the chance to live again. In letting me die, Captain, you gave me life. I'm sorry.
JANEWAY: Lyndsay.
BALLARD: I'm sorry. I shouldn't have come.
[Mess hall - Ballard's dream]
(We know it is a dream because it is in soft focus and desaturated colouring.)
JANEWAY: You're late.
EMH: We expected you hours ago.
BALLARD: For what?
NEELIX: Your farewell party.
TORRES: You weren't supposed to come back.
CHAKOTAY: You don't belong here anymore.
BALLARD: Harry, what's going on?
KIM: Lyndsay Ballard, beloved friend and crewman. Does that sound right?
BALLARD: What?
KIM: For your eulogy. Does that sound okay?
BALLARD: Harry, I'm not dead.
EMH: Denial. One of the final stages.
TUVOK: It was illogical for you to return.
BALLARD: Please, I don't want to go.
KIM: I couldn't save you before, Lyndsay. What makes you think I can save you now?
(There is Kobali male there.)
Q'RET: Jen'to ka'siote, Jhet'leya.
[Kim's quarters]
(The doorbell wakes Kim.)
KIM: Come in. (Ballard walks straight in and sits on the side of his bed.)
KIM: What's wrong?
BALLARD: Bad day, I guess.
KIM: B'Elanna told me you did great in Engineering.
BALLARD: I solved a simple problem.
KIM: Didn't sound so simple to me.
BALLARD: Any Kobali can discern simple wave distortions. And even if B'Elanna was impressed, the others were staring at me.
KIM: I'm sure it was just your imagination.
BALLARD: And then, to make matters worse, I started babbling in front of the Captain.
KIM: I used to get pretty nervous around her, too. Don't worry. I'm sure she didn't take it personally. Hey. I know this isn't easy, but I'll help you through this.
BALLARD: You have always been far too nice to me. Why is that?
KIM: You really don't have any idea, do you? Think about it. I rearranged my schedule at the Academy just so we'd be in the same classes. I let you teach me how to skate even though I hate the cold. I'm crazy about you. I have been since the day we met.
BALLARD: Why didn't you ever tell me?
KIM: I was never good at public speaking, remember, but I figure, how often do you get a second chance? Which is why I'd very much like to kiss you now.
BALLARD: Own the day.
[Mess hall]
(Clay sculpture class. The twins are making cubes, Icheb a more complicated polygon. He gets splattered by water squeezed from a lump of clay.)
MEZOTI: Sorry.
ICHEB: You are creating disorder. Seven will be angry.
MEZOTI: I don't care.
(Mezoti is creating a bust. Seven enters.)
AZAN: They're cubes.
SEVEN: I can see that.
REBI: Precisely one one thousandth the size of a Borg vessel.
SEVEN: Well done.
ICHEB: A twenty six sided polyhedron, composed of hexagons, octagons and squares.
SEVEN: Impressive. What's this?
MEZOTI: Can't you tell? It's you.
SEVEN: I don't see the resemblance.
MEZOTI: Look. Here's your ocular implant, your nose, your mouth.
SEVEN: You were instructed to create a geometric shape.
ICHEB: I reminded her of that. She wouldn't comply.
MEZOTI: This was more fun. Don't you like it?
SEVEN: It is crude. However, it does demonstrate ingenuity and individuality.
ICHEB: She deviated from your instructions. Aren't you going to implement a punishment protocol?
SEVEN: No. Resume your disorder.
[Kim's quarters]
(Kim wakes to see Ballard sitting a little way from his bed.)
KIM: Lyndsay?
BALLARD: They're coming.
[Bridge]
JANEWAY: Red alert. Raise shields.
TUVOK: We're being hailed.
JANEWAY: On screen.
Q'RET [on viewscreen]: I've come for Jhet'leya.
JANEWAY: If you're referring to Ensign Ballard, she's made it clear that she doesn't want to go with you.
Q'RET [on viewscreen]: She's my daughter. Please, I've come a long way. I only want to speak with her.
[Corridor]
KIM: You don't have to see him, you know. They can't make you.
BALLARD: I want to, Harry. It's time to stop running.
[Briefing room]
Q'RET: I appreciate this, Captain.
JANEWAY: I'm willing to oblige as long as you understand that this meeting is over as soon as Ensign Ballard says it is.
Q'RET: What have they done to you?
BALLARD: Given me my life back.
Q'RET: You were so beautiful. It's good to see you, Jhet'leya.
BALLARD: My name is Lyndsay.
Q'RET: Why did you leave us?
BALLARD: I wanted to be with my people again.
Q'RET: These people? The same ones who set you adrift in space?
JANEWAY: We jettisoned her body in accordance with our customs.
Q'RET: You abandoned her.
KIM: You had no right to tamper with her remains.
Q'RET: We were acting in accordance with our customs.
KIM: You mutilated her.
TUVOK: Ensign.
Q'RET: The reanimation process usually results in extensive memory loss, which makes the transition less painful. Unfortunately, some remember their former lives more than others. Jhet'leya, for example.
BALLARD: I told you to call me
Q'RET: Lyndsay Ballard. She's dead. She has been for three years. Forgive me for being so blunt, but when we found her she was a lifeless corpse. We salvaged that raw material to create a new person, my daughter, whom I love.
BALLARD: I'm not your daughter.
Q'RET: You may have altered your appearance, but do you still think like these people? Even now, the first words that come into your head, are they in their language or mine? I realise this place is familiar to you, but it's not where you belong. Your sister misses you.
BALLARD: Tynsia.
Q'RET: She keeps asking when you're coming home. What should I tell her?
BALLARD: Tell her that her sister's dead.
(Ballard leaves.)
TUVOK: I'll escort you to the transporter room.
Q'RET: I won't give her up, Captain.
JANEWAY: She made her wishes clear.
Q'RET: She's confused.
KIM: Thanks to what you did to her.
Q'RET: I don't want to fight you.
JANEWAY: Your ship is no match for Voyager.
Q'RET: Every life is precious to my people, Captain. I won't be coming back alone.
[Mess hall]
(Ballard is eating grey mush.)
KIM: Midnight snack?
BALLARD: Kobali cuisine at its finest.
KIM: So I was giving some thought to number thirty two, make Tuvok laugh? He has this holoprogramme, The Temple of T'Panit. I thought we might tweak it so that instead of Vulcan prayers, the monks recite Ferengi limericks? You're not laughing.
BALLARD: Sorry. I can't stop thinking about Q'Ret.
KIM: I can't believe he had the nerve to call himself your father. I'll bet Professor Ballard would have had something to say about that.
BALLARD: Who?
KIM: Your dad. Doesn't he teach at some university?
BALLARD: I don't remember. I don't remember anything about him.
KIM: Let's get down to the holodeck. We've got some monks to tweak.
BALLARD: Sure.
(She collapses in pain)
KIM: What's wrong?
(Ballard's skin turns grey.)
[Sickbay]
KIM: Why did she start to revert all of a sudden?
EMH: Our old friend, the pathogen. It's adapting to counteract my treatments. It's possible she'll suffer occasional relapses for the rest of her life.
BALLARD: You said you could maintain my appearance.
EMH: I can, but it looks like I'll need to increase the frequency of your treatments. You'll have to see me at least twice a day.
BALLARD: How am I supposed to do my job if I'm in here all the time. How am I supposed to do anything?
EMH: Please try to understand.
BALLARD: Stoi'gia! Net'staika pen'daeli shevaob! I'm sorry.
[Kobali shuttle]
(In the shuttlebay.)
KIM: Wow. This place sure is lived in.
BALLARD: If you're here to lecture me about cleanliness.
KIM: I'm here to ask you to stop the treatments.
BALLARD: You know what happens if I do.
KIM: You'll look Kobali again? So what? I thought you were cute bald. I don't care if you're human, Kobali or Bolian, I just want you to be happy.
BALLARD: I wouldn't fit in.
KIM: Are you saying Tuvok and Neelix don't fit in?
BALLARD: That's different. They got to grow up in their own cultures. They know where they come from, who they are.
KIM: Wherever they come from, they're part of this crew now. Just like you.
BALLARD: Lyndsay was part of this crew. If I stop the treatments, I won't be Lyndsay anymore.
KIM: You don't honestly believe that.
BALLARD: Since the day I got back here, I haven't felt right. At first I thought it was Voyager. Things had changed so much, I thought if I just gave myself more time I'd get used to it. But it's me. I've changed. And the more I try to deny it, the more I feel like a ghost. I'm sorry, Harry, but I can't keep fighting anymore.
KIM: What about us?
BALLARD: The girl you were in love with died three years ago.
(Whumph!)
[Bridge]
(Three Kobali ships are attacking Voyager.)
TUVOK: Shield's down to forty eight percent.
JANEWAY: Target the lead ship's weapons array.
CHAKOTAY: Life support's failing on decks six through ten.
JANEWAY: Reroute power to compensate.
TUVOK: Shields at twenty percent.
BALLARD: Hail them! Tell them you'll surrender me.
KIM: Don't listen to her, Captain.
JANEWAY: I appreciate the gesture, Lyndsay, but I'm not giving you up.
BALLARD: It's not a gesture. I want to go. I don't belong here.
KIM: She's not well. She doesn't know what she's saying.
BALLARD: I know exactly what I'm saying.
TUVOK: Shields at thirteen percent.
KIM: I'm detecting power fluctuations in the lead vessel's warp drive. A polaron burst could overload the core.
BALLARD: That would destroy the ship.
KIM: They're not leaving us much choice.
CHAKOTAY: Whatever we do, we have to do it fast.
JANEWAY: You're sure this is what you want?
KIM: Captain, I can fire that polaron burst myself.
CHAKOTAY: Stand down, Ensign.
KIM: We can't just let them take her.
BALLARD: Even if you stop them, I can't stay on Voyager.
KIM: I don't want to lose you.
BALLARD: You already did, but at least this time we've been given the chance to say goodbye.
Captain's log, stardate 53679.4. The Doctor has stopped Ensign Ballard's treatments and her Kobali physiology is already beginning to reassert itself. All but one of us have said our goodbyes.
[Transporter room]
KIM: Vien'ke debala, Jhet'leya. I taught myself to say a few words in Kobali.
BALLARD: That's very sweet of you, but you just told me the comets are tiresome.
KIM: I guess I'd better work on my pronunciation. I'm sorry you didn't get to finish everything on your list.
BALLARD: I think I took care of what really mattered.
(She kisses Kim and gets onto the transporter platform. He beams her away.)
[Mess hall]
(Kim is holding Ballard's hairbrush.)
MEZOTI: That's pretty.
KIM: It belonged to a friend of mine. Would you like it?
MEZOTI: Your friend won't mind?
KIM: I think she'd be happy knowing I gave it to someone with such pretty hair.
MEZOTI: Seven's letting us go to the holodeck by ourselves. She says we can run any programme we want. Do you want to come?
KIM: Have you ever heard of The Temple of T'Panit? It's a Vulcan programme.
MEZOTI: Sounds boring.
KIM: Don't worry, we'll make a few tweaks.
2024-09-13 18:28:01 -
Pike:
Added the transcript.
