Captain's log, stardate 48734.2.
Sometimes it's a good idea to get away from being a captain for a while.
So I'm participating in a new holonovel. The setting is ancient England.
The drawing room is in here.
Bridget, take Mrs Davenport's cape and tell Lord Burleigh she's here.
- There's tea. - That would be lovely. Thank you.
Tea is usually served at 5:30 and dinner's at 8:30.
His lordship doesn't appreciate being kept waiting.
I'll be sure to be prompt.
Let's make something clear, Mrs Davenport.
My job is to make sure that this household runs smoothly.
I have been with Lord Burleigh for nearly 20 years
because this household runs smoothly.
He has come to trust me
and I will not brook any behaviour that might jeopardise that trust.
So you will be expected to follow the rules I have set down.
Mrs Templeton, I have no wish to do anything to disrupt this household.
But let me make something perfectly clear.
I have been hired by Lord Burleigh. It's his orders I will follow, not yours.
You would be wise not to make an enemy of me.
I can make sure we have another governess by next week.
I suggest we try to get along, Mrs Templeton.
Surely there's room here for both of us.
One lump or two?
Two, please.
Lord Burleigh will be here directly.
- Forgive me. I've startled you. - I'm sorry. I didn't hear you come in.
Mrs Davenport, I'll come to the point.
I am not an easy man to live with.
Since my wife died, I'm told I'm even worse.
- She was a buffer for me. - I understand.
The children are the ones who've suffered.
I've not been much of a father and I can't be a mother.
I'm not asking you to be a mother,
but they'll respond to a woman's sensibilities.
- You might fill a void in their lives. - I'll certainly try, your grace.
Young Henry is sometimes stubborn and little Beatrice misses her mother.
I hope they won't make things difficult for you.
One thing, above all, I must demand.
Never, under any circumstances, go onto the fourth floor. Is that clear?
- Bridge to Captain Janeway. - Go ahead, Mr Kim.
Commander Chakotay and Mr Tuvok's shuttlecraft is on sensors,
but they're not responding to our hails. The shuttle's been badly damaged.
- Lifesigns? - Two, but they're very faint.
Beam them to sickbay as soon as they're in range.
Aye, Captain.
They've taken a blast to the head by an energy discharge. Cardiostimulator.
Mr Tuvok has concussion, but I can handle it.
The bio-neural energy has been extracted from the Commander's brain.
Extracted?
Someone drained the energy from every axon right down to the synapses.
I can keep him breathing, but there's nothing else I can do.
He's braindead.
The attack lasted seconds, but was effective.
- We are fortunate to be alive. - What happened, Lieutenant?
We completed our trade mission and were on course to rendezvous
when we encountered a dark-matter nebula.
As we began a routine analysis, an unidentified ship attacked our shuttle.
- Any idea why? - They would not respond to our hails.
We were hit by an energy discharge which penetrated our shields.
Commander Chakotay lost consciousness immediately
and I had barely activated the autopilot before I was overcome.
And the alien ship?
The last image I saw was the ship flying back into the nebula,
but the details are difficult to remember.
Can you tell me about the energy discharge?
Its modulation or phase distribution?
There wasn't time for analysis.
However, the shuttle's sensors may have recorded information.
I will download the sensor logs.
Why would someone want to extract his bio-neural energy?
I don't know, but if I'm to have any hope of reviving him,
I must know how his neurons were depleted.
It would be a great help if I could examine the weapon.
We're going back to find the ship that attacked you.
Janeway to bridge. Prepare a new course.
Mr Tuvok will provide the coordinates. We'll keep you posted, Doctor.
The energy discharge overloaded the computer.
- All sensor data have been erased. - Torres is in sickbay.
Tell her to go over those damaged sensor logs
to see if she can reconstruct any of the data.
This makes it more difficult.
I've been using long-range sensors to analyse the nebula.
It's sending out electromagnetic radiation.
We won't be able to scan inside it.
You know, it sounds to me like a perfect hiding place.
- I agree. - I don't like the idea of going in blind.
I'll reconfigure the sensors to a multiphasic bandwidth.
- Is there a problem? - I've lost all contact with the nebula.
I don't understand.
Wait a minute. We've altered course. Mr Paris?
Our new heading is 121, mark 6.
We've completely come about, Captain, but it wasn't me.
Check the navigational computer. Who ordered the course change?
According to this, the command was issued from the conn.
It wasn't me. The helm controls are working perfectly. No malfunctions.
Transfer control to your station and reset our course.
Course laid in.
Mr Paris, I want you to run a full diagnostic on the conn station.
- See if you can isolate the problem. - Aye, Captain.
You might have asked before adorning my sickbay with animal remains.
It's a medicine wheel, a talisman used by Chakotay's tribe.
He once... showed me how it works.
If anything happened to him, I was to perform a healing ritual.
The wheel represents both the universe outside and inside our minds.
They believe each is a reflection of the other.
When a person is sleeping, or on a vision quest,
it's said that his soul is walking the wheel.
But if he's in a coma or near death, it means that he's gotten lost.
These stones are signposts...
to help point the way back.
Not exactly standard medical procedure, I know, but...
You've placed the Coyote Stone at the crossroads of the fifth and sixth realms,
which would divert the commander's soul, his consciousness,
into the Mountains of the Antelope Women, an extremely attractive locale.
He might not want to leave.
How do you know about this?
It's my business to know treatments, including psycho-spiritual beliefs.
Unfortunately, in this case, the medicine wheel won't be much help.
There's just not enough of his mind left to work with.
Find your way home, Commander.
Hello?
Is someone here?
It's like sensing some kind of presence, as if someone else were here.
Your telepathic senses again.
Is this like last week when you went into sickbay
and you knew Lieutenant Hargrove had been there, only he'd left hours before?
It's not the same. That was like...
like hearing faint music from a faraway place.
When I was in my quarters just now...
it was almost tangible. I felt like someone was in the room.
- Who was it? - I don't know.
A presence. That's all I can say.
Warp engines still within normal parameters.
We just changed course again. Mr Kim?
- Our new heading is 121 mark 6. - Get us back on course.
The helm's not responding. I'm locked out.
- The command station was blocked. - From where?
Lockout originated on Deck 12, Section B7, navigational control.
See if you can re-establish control.
I checked every ODN junction and I can't find a problem.
It seems we've developed a new problem.
- Helm control re-established. - Get us back to the nebula.
Janeway to Torres. Who's in the navigational control?
No one. I was there this morning
and Lieutenant Paris was there a few minutes ago.
- That's not true. - Are you certain, B'Elanna?
Positive. I saw him leave five minutes ago.
Janeway out. Explanation, Mr Paris.
I passed by on my way back from the Jefferies tube, but that's all.
Am I being accused of something?
We are following a line of deductive reasoning.
Both deviations were issued from locations where you were working.
I'm telling you, I didn't do it!
Well, I'm willing to rule out mutiny for the time being.
I believe you, but there is the possibility you are having memory problems.
Go down to sickbay. Have the doctor check you out.
- All right. - Lieutenant Durst.
Neurotransmitters at normal. Synaptic functions stable.
Hold still. This is an extremely sensitive scan.
What I wouldn't give to see good old Doc Brown.
- What? - Doc Brown.
Lollipops in the waiting room,
no holocomic books more than six months old, house calls.
I caught a bad cold when I was nine years old.
He whipped up a pot of garlic soup and brought it over.
- Your report? - I still have tests to perform,
but other than his irritating lapses into nostalgia, I see nothing wrong.
You'll have to round up another suspect.
On the contrary. I ran a forensic sweep of the navigational control.
I found traces of your DNA on the console.
That's impossible.
The cellular residue you left is less than 12 hours old.
Do you still maintain your innocence?
I don't know what to think.
Perhaps my biomolecular scan will reveal something.
Keep me informed, Doctor.
I found the ion trail of the ship that attacked us.
It leads into the dark matter nebula.
This is the nebula and this is the ion trail.
- Their flight path is erratic. - These planetoids inside the nebula,
they may be generating a dangerous gravitational effect.
The chances are they're taking the only safe way through.
I recommend we follow their exact flight path.
Agreed. Lay in a course to the...
We're dropping to impulse power. I'm reading a massive energy drain.
- And the warp core is shutting down. - Engineering, report.
Lieutenant Torres, please respond.
Mr Kim, take the bridge. Tuvok, you're with me.
- Torres, what's going on? - Captain?
You've initiated an emergency warp core shutdown.
Too late. It'll take two hours to regenerate the dilithium matrix.
Get the rest of the systems back on-line.
Apparently, you've crashed the main computer,
Iocked out the bridge and stopped this ship cold.
- Do you want to tell me why? - I don't know what you're talking about.
What the hell is going on here?
I found something and you're not going to like it.
This is Mr Paris's memory engram for the last 24 hours.
It has a very consistent and distinctive modulation, except at 13:50 hours.
For 1 minute 47 seconds, a different memory pattern appeared.
It is the exact moment he presumably tampered with navigational control.
It gets worse. In addition to that,
there is another disruption at 12:02 hours,
the moment he allegedly entered the new course.
I found an identical disruption in Lieutenant Torres's pattern
at the moment she shut down warp power.
This is a neuroelectrical signature,
what I believe is another brain wave superimposed on their own.
- Another brain wave? Whose? - I don't know.
It has an unusual energy signature, one I've never seen.
Doctor, what are you saying?
One possible explanation and the only one I can think of at the moment
is that an unknown alien entity momentarily took control of their minds.
Intruder alert. Security personnel, go to Condition 4.
It is possible the intruder returned with us in the shuttlecraft.
If we're right and there is an alien here...
it seems intent on preventing us going back to the nebula.
What's more, it seems to have the ability to jump from person to person.
If that's true, it could be in any one of us,
controlling our actions, without us realising.
Well, except for me.
That's true. So far, it's only affected organic beings.
If it could control the computer directly, it probably would have done it already.
Which means... the doctor is the only person we can trust at this moment.
Doctor, until we have eliminated this alien presence,
I can't take the risk that it could take over any of the senior officers.
I'd like to transfer all command codes to you until further notice.
What would that mean? That I am in command?
No, but you will act as a failsafe.
If you feel at any time that any one of us are under the influence of the alien,
you can countermand our orders and take control of the ship.
Do you feel up to it?
Of course. I make life-and-death decisions every day.
I feel better already.
Computer, transfer all command codes to the Doctor.
Authorisation, Janeway 841 alpha 65.
Command code transfer complete.
Let's get the warp core on-line ahead of schedule.
Captain, I heard what's happened. I think you're right.
There is an alien presence. I've been sensing something.
I can't describe it, but something is here.
- Do you know where? - No, just that it's on the ship.
Kes's telepathic abilities are undisciplined.
If I could initiate a Vulcan mind-meld with her,
I'll help her focus those abilities to detect the alien.
- I'm willing to do that. - Very well. Proceed, Mr Tuvok.
The captain wants to seal off critical areas.
Secure the access hatch of Jefferies tube A-17.
What exactly are we securing against?
We're not sure. We think it's a noncorporeal alien.
Noncorporeal? That means it can move through...
Medical emergency. Deck 7. Section 13 Alpha.
Captain's log, supplemental.
Mr Tuvok and Kes were both hit by an unidentified energy discharge.
Tuvok was not badly hurt, but Kes is in a coma.
It was like the shuttlecraft attack.
An energy discharge came through the bulkhead and hit us.
We didn't pick up a discharge on the sensors.
Perhaps it is beyond our sensor bandwidth.
Perhaps, but that discharge came from somewhere.
The most thorough scanning device we have is a magneton scanner.
We could search centimetre by centimetre,
but that wouldn't do much good. This alien could be anywhere.
What if we could perform a magneton scan on the entire ship all at once?
- What do you suggest? - A magneton flash scan.
We could reconfigure every sensor array to emit a single burst.
It might illuminate anomalous energy. Harry, what do you think?
- Whoa. What did I do? - Stay where you are, Mr Kim.
I see nothing unusual, but that doesn't mean anything.
Mr Kim, what were you doing just now?
I was just thinking.
I was remembering an old study I saw about magneton scanners.
I guess my mind started to wander a bit.
I'm very disturbed by what just happened.
We have no idea what occurs when someone is occupied by this alien.
If we point a finger when someone gets distracted,
it won't be long before paranoia sweeps the ship.
Tuvok, B'Elanna, I want you to get started on that magneton flash scan.
It's worth a try. Dismissed.
And that's not all. Ensign Parsons ordered his pejuta cold.
- So? - He always drinks it hot. With lemon.
But not today. Today it's cold pejuta, hold the lemon.
A man changing his drink order doesn't mean he's possessed by an alien.
Nevertheless, don't you think you should scan him,
or dissect him, or something, just to make sure?
I could examine every crew member you've mentioned
and it wouldn't do any good.
From what we can tell, the alien jumps from person to person.
It sounds to me like you're defending Ensign Parsons.
I'm not defending him. I'm just pointing out you're acting a little paranoid.
In fact, one could say you're acting a little too paranoid.
Are you suggesting that I could possibly...
I can assure you, not even an alien could make me do anything to hurt Kes.
All I'm suggesting, Mr Neelix, is that paranoia will aggravate
your already precarious emotional condition. Try to relax.
I don't think Kes has any permanent damage.
I'll let you know the moment I revive her.
I'll be back as soon as you wake. Don't worry. You're in good hands.
Thank you, Doctor.
- What are you doing? - Reconfiguring the sensor relays.
- I will only be a minute. - Must you do it now?
- I'm in the middle of a treatment. - I am sorry, Doctor. Captain's orders.
- How is she? - No irreparable damage.
Her injuries are different from Commander Chakotay's.
Her bio-neural energy is intact.
I'm curious about the contusions on her neck.
They're not consistent with an energy discharge.
They look like wounds from a physical struggle.
Odd. There was no physical struggle that I can recall.
I just don't understand it.
These injuries resemble an extreme trauma to the trapezius nerve bundle.
It's as though her nerve fibres have been ruptured.
Come in.
Lieutenant Torres and I will initiate the magneton scan in two hours.
It will be a high-intensity burst.
It will cause dizziness in all crew, including myself, for several seconds.
Make an announcement before you initiate it.
Aye, Captain. And there is another matter of some concern.
Kes's injuries were not caused by an energy discharge.
The Doctor has evidence that she was physically assaulted.
Assaulted?
- But you weren't physically assaulted. - That is correct.
Is it possible that you inflicted her wounds?
- Me? - Maybe you were inhabited by the alien.
It is possible. The Doctor could run a neurological scan
to see if I show memory disruption.
Agreed. Janeway to sickbay.
Activate Emergency Medical Holographic System.
Unable to comply. The EMH program has been disabled.
Disabled? By whom?
Unknown.
The Doctor's initialisation routine has been locked out. It's encrypted.
I can't reactivate the program.
It appears the lockout originated above Deck 4.
Why would someone deactivate the Doctor?
He holds Voyager's command codes.
Yes, but once he was deactivated, the codes reverted back to me.
If we assume the alien could not take over the Doctor,
then it would try to force the command codes back into a humanoid host.
Me.
It's too dangerous for one person to retain the command codes.
I suggest we divide them into two code groupings.
A sensible precaution.
You are the reasonable choice to hold the second grouping,
if there's such a thing as a reasonable choice right now.
The alien could occupy either one of us at any time.
But presumably, not both of us at the same time.
I'll tell the bridge crew. We'll all act as checks and balances.
I want you all to be aware of something
I must assume was due to the alien.
The Doctor has been deactivated
and we can't get him back. I'm dividing my command protocols.
Captain?
Stun her! She's the alien!
- That should do it, Captain. - Thank you. I feel better already.
- Any luck getting the Doctor back? - Not yet.
Someone put up one hell of a roadblock.
I have to break through at least six levels of encryption.
- How long will it take? - Two or three hours.
Torres to Janeway. Can you come to engineering?
- There's something you should see. - On my way.
Mr Paris, you're our temporary medic. Ensign, I need you on the bridge.
I tried to reconstruct the sensor logs from the shuttlecraft.
I didn't have any luck until I ran a parity trace scan.
The sensor logs weren't destroyed by an energy discharge.
Someone erased them and overloaded the sensor matrix
to make it look like they'd been damaged. It gets worse.
There was enough information left for me to reconstruct what happened.
They were near a nebula
and there was an energy discharge, but there was no other ship.
- No ship? - I'm certain of it.
The energy discharge came from the nebula itself.
- Why would Tuvok lie? - Was he under the alien's influence?
Bridge to Janeway. We're approaching the nebula.
How long until the magneton flash scan is ready?
The sensor arrays are charging now. 15, maybe 20 minutes.
When it's ready, transfer control to the bridge.
In the meantime, let's take a look at what it is we're not supposed to see.
Mr Tuvok, can you locate the ion trail of the alien ship that attacked you?
I believe so.
Mr Kim, lay in that course.
Shields are at maximum.
All preparations for entering are complete.
I've finished the Doctor's bioanalysis on Kes before he was deactivated.
I think he was on to something. If I'm interpreting his data correctly,
the bruises on her neck were the result of a Vulcan neck pinch.
Lieutenant?
I have no memory of injuring Kes. Perhaps I was occupied by the alien.
Perhaps so.
But then... why does it keep attacking you?
In three separate instances now, it's assaulted you.
I am the chief of security. It may see me as a threat.
So far you've posed no greater threat than anyone else.
And yet it keeps going after you.
Captain, you are having a typically human response to circumstances
which are inexplicable, commonly known as paranoia.
Maybe,
but paranoia's not keeping me from picking up this ion trail.
- What bandwidth are you on? - I'm using a multiphasic scan.
If you examine the alpha K-band, you will see it.
Yes. Here it is. A very interesting ion trail.
There's no sign of any subspace distortions in its wake.
According to these readings, it's a ship without engines.
You're lying, Tuvok. There is no alien ship and there never was.
We're not going into the nebula until we get answers. Mr Kim, reverse course...
Belay that order. The alien has been keeping us from entering the nebula.
I suspect she has been occupied. I am relieving her of command.
Proceed into the nebula, one-half impulse.
Don't do it, Harry.
Now, Ensign.
No, sir. I won't do it.
This phaser is on wide-beam dispersal and set to kill.
I am taking command of this bridge.
I must ask you to stand together where I can see you.
Step away from the console, Ensign.
Captain, we're entering the nebula.
Captain, I'm picking up energy pulses in the nebula coherent with the biomatrix.
- Life-forms. - And they're heading this way.
Those beings out there, are they your people?
We are the Komar. This is our domain.
- What is it? - The warp core's been ejected.
No. We must continue.
Torres to Bridge. Captain, I think I was just taken over by the alien.
I was working the plasma relays and then I ejected the warp core.
- Acknowledged, Lieutenant. Stand by. - I don't get it.
If the alien's in Tuvok, how could it be down in engineering?
I don't know.
Unless there are two aliens.
Two?
Wait a minute. Lieutenant Torres isn't authorised to eject the warp core.
That requires a command code authorisation.
Computer, who authorised the ejection of the warp core?
Authorisation was entered by Commander Chakotay.
- Chakotay. - How is that possible?
The alien in Tuvok wants us in that nebula,
but another presence is trying to keep us out.
It doesn't make sense, unless it's Chakotay
and he knows we'll be in danger.
- But he's in sickbay. He's braindead. - Maybe not.
Maybe his neural energy was displaced somehow
and he's able to move from person to person.
Tuvok's engaged emergency thrusters. We're moving again, Captain.
You brought us here for what? To extract our neural energy?
Very perceptive, Captain.
The neural energy of your crew will sustain my people for years to come.
You don't have to do this.
Maybe we can help you find another source of energy.
We're under attack. We're being bombarded.
The magneton scan identified the entity. It was a trianic-based energy being.
Looks like he's joined his friends outside.
Shields are holding, but they won't last.
The radiation is blinding our sensors. I can't find a way out.
If we reverse course, we can backtrack.
- Yes, ma'am. - I don't know if that'll work.
Tuvok's course was complicated. We're going into the nebula.
Reconstruct Tuvok's navigational logs.
I'm on it, Captain.
Shields down to 65%! They are penetrating our defences.
I'm having no luck. Tuvok deleted the navigational logs.
He made sure we wouldn't get out.
- Neelix to Bridge. - Go ahead.
Captain, I can't be sure, but I think I was just taken over by the alien.
I've done something strange.
I've rearranged the stones on the medicine wheel.
Maybe Chakotay's trying to tell us something.
Mr Kim, activate sickbay Visual Relay 16 and put it on the viewscreen.
Aye, Captain.
What is it? What does it mean?
- Is it a code, a message? - Or a map?
Overlay a star map of the nebula on the current viewscreen image.
The stones are in the same position as those planetoids.
Chakotay must be using them to point a way out.
Mr Kim, lay in a course taking us along a line connecting the three planetoids.
Engage.
Shields failing. The aliens are penetrating the hull.
- Mr Kim, report. - We're passing the third planetoid.
Dark matter thinning. Normal space ahead.
Transfer all power to the thrusters, including life-support.
We've cleared the nebula. Main power coming back on-line.
Shields at full strength. Hull integrity normal.
The aliens are not pursuing.
Captain's log, stardate 48735.9.
We have returned to where we ejected the warp core and retrieved it.
Now we're hoping the doctor can reintegrate Chakotay's consciousness.
- Did it work? - It appears so.
Commander.
Can you hear me?
Yes.
I'm a little dizzy, but I think I'm all here.
How did you reintegrate his consciousness?
It involved three neural transceivers,
two cortical stimulators and 50 gigaquads of computer memory.
I would take you through the process, but it would take ten hours to explain.
Needless to say, it was remarkable.
I would write a paper if there were a forum in which to publish it.
What happened, Commander?
After the attack on the shuttle...
I had the sensation of floating above my own body.
I thought I was dead.
When the shuttle returned to Voyager, you were still disembodied?
Yes.
I couldn't speak.
I couldn't touch anything.
But then I found if I concentrated on someone who was in the room with me,
I could share their consciousness.
At first, I could only do little things.
Push buttons, work a console.
As time went on, it became easier to do more.
- Sorry to knock you around, Tuvok. - No apology is necessary.
Good job, Commander.
And welcome back.
To be honest, I feel like I never left.