Jeffrey, Belle,
we're going to be late if we don't hurry.
Come on, now.
Line up next to the door, children.
Your father's ready to leave for work.
Uh-huh. Uh-huh.
All right.
Show me your fingernails.
Very nicely done.
Are your shoes polished?
Perfect.
I'm very pleased, children,
and I'm sure your father will be, too.
I want to be first to say good-bye to Daddy.
Jeffrey always goes first.
You were first yesterday.
Now, children, little birds in their nest get along.
You're right, Mother.
I'm sorry, Belle. You can go first.
No, it's really your turn.
I did go first yesterday.
Here he comes!
All right, now.
Bright, happy faces.
The coffee was quite good this morning.
I'm so glad you like it.
I replicated a new blend from Paksor III.
I'll be home at the usual time.
Now, don't let them overwork you.
You should save yourself for the important things.
Others can do the busywork.
I couldn't agree more.
I hope you have a good day, Father.
I'll have my homework finished by the time you get back.
I'll look forward to reviewing it, Jeffrey.
And is my little angel going to get an "A"
on her history exam today?
Of course I will, Daddy.
And can we do some algebra problems when you get home?
Gladly.
And don't forget— you're going to ask
some of your friends from work
to have dinner with us.
I'd like to meet them.
I haven't forgotten.
Well...
good-bye, all.
Good-bye, Good-bye, Good-bye, Daddy. Father. Darling.
How's the new holofamily, Doctor?
They're everything I could've hoped for.
Captain's Log, Stardate 50836.2.
We've had long-range communications
with a seemingly friendly race known as the Vostigye.
We'll be rendezvousing within the hour
at one of their space stations.
Ensign Kim, perhaps you could direct your attention
to the sensors and tell us if we're nearing
the Vostigye space station.
We should be getting close.
That's funny.
I'm not detecting it.
You've checked the coordinates they sent us?
Yes, and...
Hold on.
Now I'm getting something.
It's...
debris.
Debris?
Confirmed.
I am reading a debris field
encompassing nearly 80 cubic kilometers.
What's the composition of the debris?
Boronite, sarium, carbon 60 composites.
Sounds like it could've been a space station.
On screen.
What happened to it?
Something ripped it apart.
And from the energy decay readings,
I'd say it was no more than an hour ago.
I'm not picking up any life signs, Captain.
There don't appear to be any survivors.
There were 60 Vostigye scientists
on that station.
I don't read any recognizable weapon signatures.
Maybe somebody in this part of space has weapons
that don't leave a traditional signature.
I'd like to know who they are,
and why they'd annihilate a science station.
Maybe we can find out, Captain.
There's a strange pattern
that seems to be emanating from subspace.
Looks like some kind of plasma particles.
I've got it, too.
It's like a... a wake
leading away from the debris field.
From a ship?
I can't tell.
Set a course to follow it, Tom.
Yes, ma'am.
Optical processors, imaging array—
they all check out, Doctor.
You are in perfect health.
I'm sure I could've told you that.
Yes, I'm sure you could have,
but with all the tinkering you've been doing
with your program lately,
I'd feel better giving you these little tune-ups
on a regular basis.
The tinkering you speak of
has been for the sole purpose
of improving my performance as a physician.
I can hardly be faulted for that.
I'm not faulting you for your intentions, Doctor.
I think it's rather commendable
that you want to improve yourself.
That's why I've created a family.
A family?
I've listened to enough patients
talk about their families to realize
how meaningful they are to biological beings.
For better or worse, yes.
The Doctor has created
a holographic wife and two children,
so that he can experience family life for himself.
Interesting.
And how's it going so far?
Splendidly. From what I heard,
I thought it would be difficult,
but I'm enjoying the experience.
You are?
Funny. I never thought of you as a family man, Doc.
I'd like to meet them.
As a matter of fact,
the "little woman" has been asking me to bring
some of my colleagues home for dinner.
Perhaps you and Kes
would care to join us tonight?
Charlene is a wonderful cook.
I'd like to meet them, too.
Well, Doc, tell your wife to haul out the good china.
You're having company.
Ah.
Please, have some more
wild mushroom pilaf, B'Elanna.
Uh, thanks. I've had two helpings already.
It's delicious.
I took a course in continental cuisine
so I could replicate interesting meals
for Kenneth.
Kenneth?
My husband.
What do you call him?
Oh, we call him Doctor.
Oh, of course.
Anyway, he works terribly hard
and he's under such great stress.
I want this home to be his sanctuary,
the place he can come
and have all the cares of the day disappear.
How nice for him.
My daddy is a very important man.
He's the best doctor there ever was,
and he saves people's lives all the time.
A slight exaggeration.
It is not! You said...
Belle, eat your dinner.
They're well aware of my talents.
Jeffrey, why don't you tell our guests
about your new project at school.
I've designed a micro-filter implant
which will make it possible
to cleanse blood of harmful microorganisms
too small to stimulate an immune response.
Jeffrey is extremely bright.
He's in the accelerated physical sciences
program at school.
A regular chip off the old block, right?
And don't forget about our little Belle.
She's already
studying algebra and trigonometry
and she's quite
the budding athlete.
You must be very proud of your family, Doctor.
Oh...
Well, we're proud of him, too.
In fact, we think we have just about the most wonderful
husband and father in the Quadrant, don't we?
Computer, freeze program.
Yes, we d...
Lieutenant, what are you doing?
I am stopping this before my blood sugar levels overload.
Doctor...
Yes?
If you think that this is giving you
an accurate impression of being in a family,
you are sadly mistaken.
I don't understand.
They're kind of perfect.
They are ridiculously perfect.
No one has a family like this.
This is a fantasy.
You're not going to learn anything
from being with these... lollipops.
I provided the computer
with my requirements for a mate and children.
If I were to choose a real wife,
my taste would be the same—
intelligence, education, organizational skills...
There is nothing wrong
with your premise, Doctor.
It just needs a little tweaking
to bring it closer to real life.
I can help...
if you'd like.
Captain, the particle wake
we've been following is beginning to thin out.
Is there any indication what caused it?
I am detecting no ships, no structures,
no weapon signatures.
Wait a minute.
Something.
I see it, too.
A subspace disruption.
What's causing it?
I can't tell, but it's getting more intense.
Shields up. Red Alert.
Tom, back us off.
Something's coming out of subspace.
Tom, move us away!
I don't have engines!
Propulsion is off-line.
So is navigational control.
Bridge to Engineering. We need power.
I'm on it, Captain.
The anomaly is bearing down on us, heading 047 mark 19.
Brace for impact.
It hit our starboard shields.
There's damage on Deck 3.
Ready weapons. We're going to disperse it.
Phasers on line...
Wait a minute.
I'm not afraid to say it.
I've never seen anything like that before.
Damage report.
20 percent loss of the starboard dorsal shields
and minor buckling of the hull on Deck 3.
No indication of casualties.
We've got propulsion
systems back on line.
I think I can put some distance between us
and whatever that was.
Maybe we don't want to.
We've just witnessed a phenomenon
none of us has ever heard of before,
much less experienced.
On a purely scientific level,
I think we owe it to ourselves
to investigate.
I'm looking at the telemetry we collected.
It was an astral eddy that seems to have formed
at the confluence of space and subspace.
It was highly charged with plasma.
That explains the particle wake.
If we could harness some of that energy,
we could go off replicator rations for a while.
Captain, we don't have any idea what caused that phenomenon
or what made it dissipate.
So how do we investigate it if it's gone?
I suspect there are conditions in this part of space
that lend themselves to the formation of those eddies.
Set sensors for continuous scans
of subspace.
Maybe we can anticipate the next one.
I thought for a long time about what Lieutenant Torres said
and I finally concluded she was right.
If I'm going to have the experience of a family,
it should be as authentic as possible.
What changes have you asked her
to make in the program?
Oh, she's already made them.
She simply added some randomized
behavioral algorithms to the program I constructed.
How will that affect your family?
Events will simply unfold
as a natural evolution of probabilities
within the program.
But there's no way to predict what those might be.
That could mean a few surprises.
Are you sure you're ready for this?
My database contains everything there is to know
about pediatric care and childhood development.
I can't imagine a parenting problem I couldn't handle.
Your wife will have changed, too.
Well, I have had some experience
with romantic relationships.
I don't anticipate any problems there.
Sounds like you have it all worked out.
When do you plan on meeting
this new, improved family?
Right now.
I'm due home for dinner.
Computer,
initiate Doctor's family program Beta-Rho
and transfer the EMH to Holodeck 2.
Hello!
I'm...
home.
There you are.
I thought you'd never get here.
It was a busy day.
I was quite challenged by the task of preparing
a DNA probe to test Ensign Parson's glial cells.
It seems he has a microbial infection.
Rather unusual.
Tell me about it when I get home.
I'm late already.
Late?
Oh... it's Wednesday, remember?
I'm speaking at the Bolian Embassy.
Ah, right.
Is dinner ready?
It's your night to cook.
Mom, I can't find my ion mallet!
If you cleaned your room, you'd have better luck!
What is that noise?
Oh... I've had to listen to it all day.
Maybe you can do something about it.
Daddy! You've got to help me!
I'll be late for practice.
Coach Morgan will be furious if I'm late again.
If you put your mallet in your closet
when you were done with it,
you'd know where it was.
I know that, Daddy!
Oh! Tell Jeffrey to turn that off!
It makes my eyes hurt!
Mine, too.
Jeffrey!
What?
What is that music?
Klingon.
Well, turn it down! You can't do your homework
with that noise.
Daddy, I can't find my mallet! I know that, Belle.
The coach will send me down to the second team!
Well, perhaps that will teach you a lesson.
You don't understand anything!
Belle, you have to realize...
Where's Jeffrey?
Who are you?
Friends.
Do you have names?
Larg.
K'Kath.
Well, Larg, K'Kath, you'll have to come back later.
Jeffrey's doing his homework.
He invited us.
Daddy! I need
my ion mallet!
I...!
Just a minute.
I'm sorry, but Jeffrey can't see friends
until he has finished his homework.
Dad... I asked them to come.
Daddy!
Jeffrey, this is unacceptable.
It'll only take a minute.
We have some business we have to do.
Business?
yigHoS pa'wijdaQ.
Qay'be'.
Where's my mallet? I need it now!
Young man!
You're mean!
You don't love me as much
as Mommy does.
She'd help me find my mallet!
I want Mommy! I want Mommy!
Nothing striking your fancy, Lieutenant?
Isn't this the fourth day in a row,
we've had the same casserole?
Pleeka rinds and grub meal—
very tasty, if I do say so myself.
Well, you did a great job with it, no question.
It'd just be nice to have a little variety.
Well, you're perfectly free to use the replicators.
Um, I'm out of rations.
Then...
enjoy the casserole.
A beautiful woman should never have to eat alone.
What are you reading?
It's nothing important.
Women Warriors at the River of Blood?
It's just... escapist reading.
"Rorg turned his fierce eye upon her
"and M'Nea felt her heart begin to quicken
"even as her hand went to her dagger.
"She had intended to plunge it into his throat,
but something about him made her hesitate."
B'Elanna, is this a Klingon romance novel?
Klingons do have what you might call a romantic side.
It's a bit more vigorous than most.
I think I'll read it.
Maybe it'll give me some ideas
about how to make your heart quicken.
It's not a technical manual, Tom.
Well, that depends on what you mean by "technical."
To an engineer, that means...
"specializing
in particular systems."
I think that definition works.
Well, I can't promise I won't put a dagger in your throat.
Have you heard about the Doctor's new family?
How's it going?
I think he was a little overwhelmed at first,
but I have to give him credit.
He's sticking with it.
It's hard to imagine the Doctor with children.
Senior staff to the Bridge immediately.
Tom, I want to send a probe into that anomaly.
Can you hold position close enough
for us to get accurate telemetry?
I can try.
Be ready to move away quickly
if it starts moving toward us.
Sorry about that.
Just trying
to find a way to ride the graviton waves
it's throwing off.
There. That's a little better.
We're in as good a position as we're going to be.
Tuvok?
The probe has been launched.
Actually, this is kind of fun.
Speak for yourself.
We're starting to
receive telemetry.
Captain, this is one weird disturbance.
I'm reading a temperature gradient
of nine million kelvins,
massive discharges of plasmatic energy
and there's a perfectly calm eye at the center.
Apparently, some of the matter
inside it is being exchanged between space and subspace.
What about the plasma?
Is there any way we can transfer some of it to Voyager?
I don't see how.
We can't transport
with this kind of turbulence.
Maybe we could try a...
We lost it.
Where's the probe?
It's disappeared.
It's still transmitting,
but there's a lot of interference.
I'm detecting some kind of unstable interfold layer,
not in space or subspace.
It could be where the eddies originate
and where the probe is now.
We've got another particle wake.
Since we can't get plasma directly
from the eddies, maybe we could collect some from their wakes.
The Bussard collectors could be modified
to gather plasma particles.
We could do that,
but Voyager's energy emissions are so high,
they'd corrupt the particles.
I'm not sure the plasma would be much use to us.
What if I took a shuttle out?
The energy emissions would be a lot lower.
That sounds like it's worth a try.
Well, you'd be exposing yourself to radiation poisoning.
Check with the Doctor.
Maybe he can give you some kind of protection.
Yes, ma'am.
I'll head to the shuttle bay as soon as I'm done.
I've given you a combination
of hyronalin and lectrazine.
That should give you temporary protection.
But I can't guarantee its duration.
That's all right, Doc.
I don't think I'll be out there too long.
If I know you, you'll push it to the limit.
You enjoy flirting with danger.
You know me too well.
You were undoubtedly one of those children
who had to climb the highest tree...
scale the tallest cliff.
That was me.
I can only imagine
what you must have put your parents through.
How's the family, Doc?
I hear they're a real handful.
Indeed. However, I have analyzed the situation
and come up with a solution.
There should be no more problems.
You make it sound like you're treating a sick patient.
I'm not sure you can diagnose and cure a family.
We'll see.
You're in fine physical shape, Lieutenant.
You may go ahead and engage in this reckless activity.
Thanks, Doc.
Where's Jeffrey?
He's coming.
I asked everyone to be here at 1600 hours, precisely.
Jeffrey was asleep.
Asleep? In the middle of the afternoon?
Is this true? Were you asleep?
Are you sick?
I had a late night.
That's one of the matters I want to discuss.
Thank you all for coming.
I thought it would be a good idea
if we had a family meeting.
In fact, I'd like to do this on a regular basis.
That's something to look forward to.
If you have something to say, Jeffrey,
say it so everyone can hear.
Nothing.
I've been feeling that this family
is beginning to spin out of control.
As husband and father,
I believe it is my duty to set some parameters.
It's part of good parenting.
What are parameters?
Limits. Boundaries.
To that end, I have drawn up
a revised family schedule and a list of rules and regulations.
I'd like you all to study them carefully.
You've rearranged my lecture nights!
I had to do that in order to make everything work.
Everybody has had to make some sacrifices.
Daddy! You changed parrises' squares
from Monday-Wednesday-Friday to Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday!
Mm-hmm. That puts me
on the second team!
I'm good enough to be on the first team!
You shouldn't be on the first team.
You're not old enough.
As I said, Belle, we must all make sacrifices.
What sacrifices did you make?
I will make dinner on the nights
your mother lectures.
You do that anyway. That's not a sacrifice.
What's this mean
about no Klingon friends?
Exactly that.
They're a bad influence on you.
They're prone to violence, they keep you out
till all hours.
Why don't you find some nice Vulcan friends?
You can't just decide who my friends will be!
Hold on.
Kenneth, that may be a bit unreasonable.
Charlene?
You know very well
how important it is to keep a united front.
I expect you to support me in these decisions.
Well, if that's what you expect
then maybe you should have asked my opinion
before you started unilaterally deciding things.
I'm not one of the children, after all.
I believe I should have some say
in just what rules and regulations are established!
And I think it's unfair for you to tell Jeffrey
what friends he can and cannot have.
Right! This whole meeting is a vulky idea!
And you can have it without me.
Jeffrey, you were not excused!
You've upset him. Let him go.
I don't want to argue this in front of the children.
We'll discuss it later.
You really made a mess of things,
didn't you, Daddy?
Apparently so.
Although, I must admit, I fail to understand the reaction.
I... I'm just trying
to help the family function better.
How does it make the family function better
if I go to parrises' squares Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday?
Belle, you've been playing with children
two and three years older than you.
That's much too dangerous.
But that's what's fun about it.
You're not old enough to realize
how hazardous that game can be.
It's up to me to keep you safe.
I...
I'm just trying to be a good father.
If it'll help, Daddy, I'll be on the second team.
Thank you, Belle.
That's very grown-up of you.
And I think you're a very good father.
Why... thank you.
I love you, Daddy...
even if you did make a mess of things.
Voyager to Shuttlecraft Cochrane.
Do you read?
Loud and clear, Captain.
I'm about 3,000 kilometers from the eddy.
As soon as it dissipates,
I'll head for the particle wake.
If this one follows the pattern of the others,
it should begin to collapse within a few seconds.
That's good.
I'm beginning to wish I hadn't had
that second helping of French toast
this morning.
Captain.
The eddy is starting to dissipate.
Stand by, Tom.
I'm ready.
I'm in position, Captain.
Activating the Bussard collectors.
It's working.
This may save us from Neelix's
pleeka rind casserole after all.
We'll all thank you for that.
Captain.
Subspace disruption.
Is another eddy forming?
It looks that way.
Tom, get out of there...
now.
I'm going.
Harry, can you beam him out?
Transporters are off line.
I'm working on them.
Tom, are you there?
It's pulling me in!
I don't have enough power!
Where are the transporters?
I can't access them!
The shuttle's being drawn inside the eddy.
Janeway to Paris. Do you read me?
Captain...
the astral eddy is beginning to dissipate.
Harry, when the probe disappeared,
it kept transmitting.
What about Tom's shuttle?
We're getting a lot interference.
I can't tell if it's a transmission or not.
See if you can clean it up.
I've adjusted the encoding filter.
Try it now.
Voyager to Tom Paris.
Can you hear us?
Respond.
Calibrate to a theta-band frequency.
Maybe that'll help.
I can't hear you, Captain.
There's a lot of plasma interference.
I can't clean it up.
Say again, Tom. You're breaking up.
Adjust your transceiver lock and try again.
I can hear you. Is that better?
Yes, a little.
Where are you?
Captain, I wish I could tell you.
Doctor?
Hmm?
Can I help you with something?
Oh, no, no.
Perhaps.
I've been trying to do an immunogenicity analysis
on Ensign Parson's cell culture
and I can't seem to get the measurements right.
I'd be happy to give it a try.
Thank you. I'd be grateful.
Actually, I've been having
a few problems at home.
I can't seem to stop thinking about them.
Well, there's nothing important going on here.
Why don't you take the afternoon off
and spend some time with your family?
I'm not sure they'd appreciate it.
Doctor, you can't just ignore them.
Computer, initiate Doctor's
family program Beta-Rho
and transfer the EMH to Holodeck 2.
be certain that everything is done in exactly...
Dad, what are you doing here?
I live here, Jeffrey, in case you've forgotten.
I mean... you're home early.
Am I interrupting something?
No, no. Just talking with my friends.
I'd like to get to know your friends.
Larg, K'Kath, please sit down.
What is that?
What?
You're holding something.
This?
Yes. What is it?
It's a knife.
What does it look like?
Why do you boys have a knife?
A d'k tahg knife is an important part of our culture.
Every Klingon is given one
in preparation for his Rite of Ascension.
Hmm.
I happen to know something about Klingon rituals
and I believe this is actually a dagger of kut'luch.
Isn't it?
Well?
Yes.
This dagger is used in a ritual of violence—
a first bloodletting
in preparation for becoming a warrior.
Who's supposed to use this?
Well?
Is one of you preparing for the kut'luch ceremony?
I'm waiting for an answer!
Dad, you're making something out of nothing.
I don't think so.
I'm going to have to ask you boys to leave.
Dad...
And don't bring a weapon
into this house again.
I told you, humans are weak...
cowardly.
Call me later.
Now look what you've done!
You've ruined it!
What, exactly, have I ruined?
Nothing! Never mind!
You were going to use that knife,
weren't you?
Did they talk you into some kind of ritual violence?
They didn't talk me into anything.
I asked them.
It's an honor to get to perform the kut'luch.
They don't just let anybody do it.
They trusted me
and now you've made me look like... like a human.
You were going to attack someone, draw blood,
just so you could appear daring in the eyes of your friends?
I was doing it to become honorable—
something that you wouldn't understand.
Jeffrey, how can I make you understand
that what you were going to do is wrong?
It isn't wrong!
It's just a custom of another culture.
Who are you to say
there's something wrong about it?
I am your father, and I expect you to be guided
by my ethical standards.
Well, I'm not going to be.
Your standards are human standards.
They're weak and inferior.
Klingon ideals are much nobler
and they are the ones I'm going to follow.
If you expect to live in this household,
you will abide by the rules.
If that's the way you want it,
then I won't live here.
Jeffrey...
think about this.
Oh, I've thought about it.
I'm going to become a warrior
and I can't do that if I'm being led around on a leash
by some bloodless pahtk.
Kenneth?
What is it? What's happened?
It's Belle. There's been an accident.
How is she?
Dr. Finley and I operated on her for three hours.
We've tried everything.
We shut down one hemorrhage
and another starts.
I don't understand.
She just hit her head on the corner of the court.
How could that have injured her so badly?
She suffered severe cranial trauma.
It's compromised her brain stem and motor cortex.
No matter how we try to control the vascular injuries,
blood clots keep forming.
The hemorrhaging is...
intractable.
Then what do you do?
What's the treatment?
Unfortunately...
the brain is still a...
a somewhat mysterious organ.
What does that mean?
What's going to happen to her?
There's nothing more to be done.
Nothing medical, anyway.
Oh, but there has to be.
Kenneth, you can do something.
You have to.
You can't just let her...
No.
No, I won't accept it.
I'm going to talk to Dr. Finley.
Belle...
Daddy?
Yes?
I'm here.
Everything's all blurry.
What's the matter?
You took a tumble...
hit your head.
It doesn't hurt.
No, because we gave you some medicine.
Is that why I can't feel my legs?
Yes.
What's going to happen?
When will I be able to see again?
Computer, end program.
Oh, you're back.
Yes.
Did you find the culture I did
on Ensign Parson's glial cells?
I did, thank you. Good job.
How's the family?
I suppose they're fine.
I've actually finished the program.
Finished? Already?
Well, I'd gotten what I needed from the experience.
It was thoroughly pleasurable, of course,
but to continue would be a waste of time.
I was hoping to visit them again.
I really enjoyed our dinner together.
Well, if I ever create a new family,
I'll be sure to invite you.
The communications bandwidth is as wide as I can get it.
Janeway to Paris.
How's the transmission now?
Loud and clear, Captain.
I've been analyzing the shuttle's sensor readings
and as nearly as I can figure,
I'm in the interfold layer that we talked about—
somewhere between space and subspace.
That's why we can't find you on any of our scans.
Harry was right.
This looks like the spawning ground for the astral eddies.
There are thousands of baby ones in here.
That's very interesting, Tom,
but it doesn't address the problem
of how to get you out of there.
Well, I've been giving that
some careful thought, Captain,
and it seems to me the only way to get out
is the same way that I got in.
Inside one of the eddies?
Exactly.
I've been watching one.
It seems about ready to erupt into normal space.
If I can position the shuttle on its leading edge,
I should be able to ride it back.
If I had another idea, I'd suggest it, but I don't.
It's your call, Tom.
I don't see that there's much choice.
So far so good, Captain.
I'm almost inside the eye.
I think this one is just about big enough
to enter normal space.
Here it comes.
Captain?
Yes, Tom.
I think you should get Voyager away from here.
What's wrong?
This one's turning out
to be a whopper,
the biggest one we've seen by far.
I don't think you should put the ship in danger.
I'm not leaving, Tom.
We've got to stay in close if we're going
to beam you out.
The eddy is moving toward us
at a velocity of 300 kilometers per second.
Chakotay, take the conn.
Keep us ahead of it, but stay within transporter range.
Right.
Okay, I'm going to try to get out of this.
Harry, can you get a lock on him?
Not yet!
Everything's too unstable.
Tom, how much longer before you clear the eddy?
It had better be soon.
The hull is beginning to buckle.
I've got the shuttle on sensors.
The hull is breaching!
Harry, can you get a lock on him yet?
I'm trying! Hang on!
Got it! The shuttle's aboard, Captain.
One life sign.
He's injured.
Beam him to Sick Bay.
Chakotay, move us away.
Yes, ma'am.
Your hard head has protected you again, Lieutenant.
There was only a mild concussion.
It was worth it, though.
That was one wild ride.
I'm sure it was.
And it's a wonder you're not dead.
People like you who court danger should be thrown into the brig.
Doc...
You never think of the consequences of your actions,
the effect they might have on others.
Oh, no, live for the moment, take risks
you shouldn't...
I'm sorry.
Are you all right?
I...
It's my family.
My daughter Belle had an accident.
She's a child who tends to take risks.
She's going to die.
I'm so sorry.
I'll be all right.
I shut down the program.
I'm not going back.
Maybe you should think about that, Doc.
I couldn't begin... to face it.
It was too difficult.
I guess all of us would avoid
that kind of pain if we could...
but most people don't have that choice.
Well, fortunately, I do.
Is it so fortunate?
You created that program so you could experience
what it's like to have a family,
the good times and the bad.
You can't have one without the other.
I fail to see why not.
Well, think about what's happened to us here on Voyager.
Everyone left people behind, and everyone suffered a loss,
but... look how it's brought us all closer together.
We've found support here, and friendship,
and we've become a family,
in part because of the pain we shared.
If you turn your back
on this program,
you'll always be stuck at this point.
You'll never have
the chance to say good-bye to your daughter,
or to be there for your wife and son
when they need you,
and you'll be cheating yourself
of the chance to have their love and support.
In the long run, you'll miss the whole point
of what it means to have a family.
Computer, continue Doctor's family program Beta-Rho
from the last point of deactivation.
Daddy...
what's going to happen to me?
When will I be able to see again?
I'm not sure.
You're a very sick girl.
Am I going to die?
You're...
you're too sick to get better.
So I'm going to die.
Yes.
If you stay with me...
I won't be afraid.
I'll stay right here.
I promise.
Dad...
Here you go, shorty.
It's your blanket.
We're here, Belle.
We're all here.
It's getting darker.
I'm...
sleepy.
It's all right.
Go to sleep.
We're all right here.