Home > Star Trek: Voyager

Timeless

( wind whistling )

( tricorder beeping )

( tricorder beeping insistently)

( combadge signal beep )

We're here.

The glacial fractures are stable.

We're clear to beam inside.

FEMALE: Acknowledged.

Not exactly the way I remember it.

Power grid's been destroyed.

Neural gel packs-- frozen solid.

Decks 9 through 14 are now Deck 10.

They've been compacted.

Looks like they hit the ice at full impulse.

The EMH?

I'm trying to access Sick Bay.

The relays aren't responding.

I'm losing the interface.

Reset the power cell.

( panel powers down )

Come on!

Let's get moving.

Keep an open com-link.

Chakotay to Tessa.

Go ahead.

I found her.

Lock on to the transporter relay and beam her to the lab.

Stand by.

Make it quick.

This isn't exactly a happy reunion.

I've got a lock.

Please state the nature of...

Long time no see.

Ensign.

I go by Harry now.

It's a long story.

Where's your mobile emitter?

What's happened to the ship? The crew?

No time. The emitter.

It's in here, but...

Here.

Slap it on and let's go.

Wait. I demand an explanation.

I'll give you one.

We're here to change history.

( crew cheering and applauding)

JANEWAY: Ladies and gentlemen, please... may I introduce the next generation of instellar propulsion-- the quantum slipstream drive.

Four years, two months, 11 days-- that's precisely how long

Voyager's been in the Delta Quadrant.

And during that time, we've advanced the frontiers of exploration and, more importantly, we've survived.

FEMALE: Hear, hear.

Now it's time to go home.

( cheering )

Enjoy the celebration, but keep in mind, we've still got a lot of work to do before tomorrow's flight.

Go easy on that champagne, Lieutenant.

( chuckling )

Quantum matrix...

Benamite crystals... Borg technology...

Can you imagine what Starfleet is going to say?

I don't think we'll hear any complaints.

The Federation's first slipstream drive-- they'll probably nominate us for the Cochrane Medal of Honor.

I'll start working on my acceptance speech.

"I'd like to thank the Borg collective..."

Dinner plans?

Nothing special. Date with a replicator.

Cancel it. That's an order.

Aye, Captain.

Lieutenant?

Lieutenant.

Excuse me.

My contribution to the slipstream drive.

Thanks. What is it?

A Talaxian furfly.

An old spacefaring tradition among my people.

If one of these creatures stowed away on your ship, it was a sign of good fortune.

I had this little fellow preserved.

He hung in my engine room for six years.

Cute.

Mr. Neelix, you are an unending source of astonishment.

Why, thank you, Mr. Vulcan.

Seven?

My visual processors and motor cortex-- they are malfunctioning.

Sounds like a problem with your cortical implant.

We'd better have a look.

Hold still.

I cannot comply.

You're intoxicated.

Impossible.

Your blood synthehol level is .05 percent.

How many glasses of champagne did you consume?

One.

Obviously, the Borg can't hold their liquor.

Come to Sick Bay.

I'll give you some inaprovaline to counteract the effects.

I was simply trying to perfect my social skills as you instructed me to do.

And you're doing a fine job.

You have always been of enormous assistance to me, Doctor.

You... you are my mentor.

Yes.

We are as one.

We are as one.

Did you see that?

Hmm.

I think our drone did a little too much celebrating.

Speaking of which, when are you going to join the party?

In a minute.

You're running a warp core diagnostic now?

Harry, I think we built an Edsel.

A what?

A lemon; a disaster waiting to happen.

I ran a simulation last night and I discovered a .42 phase variance in the slipstream threshold.

.42? So it'll be a bumpy ride.

We've flown through worse.

If we get knocked out of that slipstream mid-flight... it could overload the quantum matrix.

Did you tell the Captain?

Not yet.

I didn't want to spoil the festivities until I was sure.

Tom, if it'll make you feel better, we'll go to the holodeck right now, run a few more simulations.

It's probably just a sensor glitch.

PARIS: We're at full impulse.

KIM: Engaging slipstream drive.

Quantum field is stable.

Deflector at maximum.

Slipstream velocity in four, three, two...

PARIS: Power output is steady.

Quantum field is holding.

Shields down to 73 percent.

Looking good.

Keep that deflector aligned and we should be...

( console beeps insistently )

We've got a phase variance-- point one.

Point two.

Remodulate the deflector.

No effect. Point four.

I'm shutting down the drive.

No, wait. I want to invert the quantum field.

It's no use.

That slipstream is collapsing.

Inertial dampers are off-line.

Warning. Hull breach on Deck 10.

We're losing structural integrity.

Computer, freeze program!

( sighs )

One more time. I think if we reroute emergency power to the deflector a little earlier...

It won't help.

Computer, restart simulation at time index...

Computer, belay that order.

It's no use, Harry.

We can't just give up.

23 simulations, 23 catastrophes.

This is no sensor glitch.

( sighs )

We've got to tell them.

TORRES: That can't be right.

We tested this engine molecule by molecule.

I'm sorry, B'Elanna.

SEVEN: I wish to examine the results of the simulation.

Holodeck 2-- run them for yourself.

That is, if you don't mind being vaporized a few dozen times.

I looked at their findings, Captain.

If we try to take that flight in the morning, we'll be in escape pods by afternoon.

TUVOK: It would appear we have no choice but to cancel it.

Either that or... we can try it Harry's way.

JANEWAY: Ensign?

( sighs )

I've got an idea.

It's tricky, but I think it could work.

The trouble begins about 17 seconds into the flight.

The phase variance kicks in and the slipstream becomes unstable.

What we need is someone in a shuttle to ride the rapids in front of Voyager.

TORRES: Yes.

They could map the threshold of the slipstream as it's forming and send the phase corrections back to us.

That is a great idea, Harry.

Now, here's the tricky part.

The shuttle will only be a couple of seconds ahead of Voyager.

That doesn't give auto-navigation much time to compensate.

Tom?

Couple of seconds?

KIM: We can do this, Captain.

Put me on that shuttle.

I'll get Voyager through the slipstream.

What choice do we have?

Take the drive off-line?

Months of work for nothing?

We built a highly experimental piece of technology.

There were bound to be setbacks.

The benamite crystals at the heart of this engine have already started to decay.

It could take years to synthesize more.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I didn't do all this work just to be stopped by a .42 phase variance.

No offense, Captain.

None taken.

All right, Mr. Kim... you've convinced me.

Prepare a flight plan and have it on my desk within the hour.

Yes, ma'am.

I'll let you know what I decide.

( door chimes )

Come in.

Commander, I hope you've got an appetite.

Famished, but I assumed you called me here to talk about the slipstream flight.

No reason to cancel our dinner plans.

I've programmed a dish my grandmother used to make back on Earth-- vegetable biryani.

Sounds delicious.

I didn't know you could cook.

Normally, I draw the line at a pot of coffee, but tonight is a special occasion.

Oh?

Our last night in the Delta Quadrant.

I'd say that's special enough.

You've made your decision.

We launch tomorrow at 0800.

You and Harry will take the Delta Flyer.

Voyager will be right behind you.

The crew will be pleased.

You can give them the news yourself... after dessert.

What about you, Chakotay?

What do you think about my decision?

( sighs )

I've analyzed Harry's flight plan.

The theory is sound, but there are just too many variables.

If something goes wrong in that slipstream...

This could be our only chance to use the quantum drive.

True, but if you showed this data to any Starfleet engineer, they'd think we were out of our minds.

We can find another way home.

We've waited this long.

Long enough. We've waited long enough.

I know it's a risk... probably our biggest one yet... but I'm willing to take it.

Are you with me?

Always.

Speaking of risks... are you ready to try some home cooking?

I'll alert Sick Bay.

15 years?

Give or take a few weeks.

Where are we?

In the Takara sector just outside the Alpha Quadrant.

The crew?

Except for us... dead.

We think Captain Janeway tried to make an emergency landing on this planet.

The ship must have been too heavily damaged.

They were all killed on impact.

You've been buried inside a glacier for the past 15 years.

You two were here, on the Delta Flyer ahead of Voyager.

You made it.

All the way back to Earth.

We got home, Doc, and all it took was killing everyone we cared about.

Harry.

Starfleet certainly took their time finding us.

Starfleet...

Starfleet gave up their search for Voyager over nine years ago.

We had to find you on our own.

Well, I don't know what to say except... thank you.

I suppose I'd have stayed in that deep freeze forever.

We're not here to salvage your program.

We're here to prevent this disaster from ever happening.

KIM: You see, Doc,

15 years ago, I miscalculated the slipstream threshold and transmitted the wrong phase corrections to Voyager.

Boom.

They were knocked out of the slipstream and sent to an icy death.

"Thank you, Ensign Kim."

But I've had a long time to rethink my mistake, and now I know how to fix it.

So... we're going to send Voyager a new set of phase corrections.

Isn't it a little late for that?

We've found a way to communicate with Voyager in the past, just before the accident.

Better late than never.

A message back through time?

Exactly.

How?

I don't understand.

One of her cranial implants is a transceiver designed to communicate with other drones.

That's right. It's called an interplexing beacon.

We want you to extract the beacon and determine its translink frequency.

That shouldn't be a problem.

She looks reasonably well-preserved.

Good. That'll tell us where to send the message.

Now, the hard part-- we need to know when to send it.

Can you access Seven's chronometric node and pinpoint the exact moment her cybernetic implants disengaged from her organic systems?

Her time of death?

Down to the millisecond, if possible.

I'll see what I can do.

I told you he'd come in handy.

You said you'd found a way to communicate with Seven in the past.

How?

Behold... Salvage Component 36698-- a Borg temporal transmitter.

CHAKOTAY: Starfleet Intelligence found it in the wreckage of a Borg cube in the Beta Quadrant.

We stole it.

( door opens )

Trouble.

Long-range sensors are picking up a Federation vessel.

How much time do we have?

I entered a low orbit and remodulated our shields, but it won't be long before they find us.

Six hours if we're lucky.

Let me get this straight... you're fugitives?

"Galaxy's Most Wanted."

We stole the Delta Flyer, too... right out of a Federation shipyard.

We're wanted on two counts of high treason and conspiracy to violate the Temporal Prime Directive.

Wonderful.

Out of the icebox and into the fire.

We don't have time for this. Get started.

Aye, sir.

We still have to retrieve those sensor logs.

Get ready.

Hello, Doctor.

Do I know you?

No, but I feel like we're old friends.

Tessa Omond.

Hello.

It's an honor to finally meet Voyager's infamous EMH.

"Infamous"?

I've told her a few horror stories.

TESSA: Actually, they've always spoken very highly of you.

Uh-huh... and how did you get involved with Bonnie and Clyde here?

Oh, I've had an interest in Voyager for a long time.

They're having sex.

Pardon?

Chakotay and Tess.

They're a couple; joined at the hip.

The truth is, Doctor,

I didn't want Chakotay or Harry to have to face this alone.

I thought I could help.

Ready?

Stay warm.

TESSA: These controls are a little clumsy.

I thought you said this ship was state of the art.

CHAKOTAY: It was at the time.

I've located the sensor logs, but... the computer is denying me access.

My command codes should still carry some weight.

Hmm... looks like there's an active file here.

( static )

JANEWAY: ...but should our luck run out, I'd like to say for the record

that the crew of Voyager acted with distinction and valor.

( recording ends )

You okay?

Yes.

It's just... the last time I was in this chair, they were all here... alive.

We're here to get them back.

Can I see that tricorder?

It's downloading.

Give it a minute.

I don't supposed we have time for a tour?

Afraid not.

Besides, I left my quarters a mess.

In just a few hours, if all goes as planned, we'll have changed history.

The past 15 years... erased.

We don't have to do this.

Now you tell me.

I'm serious.

So am I, and I have no intentions of backing out.

Chakotay...

Look at me... last minute jitters, cold feet...

I don't know what to call it.

Ridiculous, isn't it?

After all these years, working toward this moment and when it finally comes, all I can think about is losing you.

Your heart has always been here, on Voyager.

That'll never change.

This is where you belong.

And who knows?

Maybe we'll meet someday.

But if we don't...?

Then I'll miss you all the same.

...means all of that has changed.

You owe me one.

DOCTOR: Mr. Kim, your assistance, please.

Got to go.

What was that all about?

Oh, nothing.

Letter to a friend.

How does it look?

No damage to the infrastructure, but I'll need an isoprobe.

Way ahead of you, Doc.

So, what was it like, your homecoming?

Antimatter fireworks, longwinded dignitaries, a Vulcan children's choir.

Oh, we got medals pinned to our tunics.

Chakotay gave a speech commemorating the Voyager crew.

Brought a tear to everyone's eye.

Admiral MacIntyre even wanted me to marry his daughter.

At least you weren't buried under 20 meters of ice.

You don't know how many times I wished I was.

I suppose it must have been difficult with all your friends and colleagues left behind.

"Survivor guilt."

Yeah. I heard a lot about that from the counselors back at Headquarters.

"You must learn to accept the fact that you lived.

"Embrace life.

Move forward."

I signed on to the first deep space vessel

I could find.

We tried to calculate where Voyager might have fallen out of the slipstream.

Four years of searching.

We were close.

I could feel it.

Then, Starfleet Command said it was time to end the search.

"Low probability of success."

All those admirals who shook my hand at the homecoming--

I went to see every last one of them... begged them to keep the search alive.

Pretty soon even Admiral MacIntyre stopped returning my calls.

So I resigned from Starfleet.

For the record,

Seven's translink frequency is 108.44236000.

Could be our lucky number.

I'm encoding it now.

When did you embark on your life of crime?

The second I heard about this little gem.

Mr. Kim, did you ever stop to think about what you're trying to do here?

Altering the timeline may make things worse.

At least you and Chakotay survived.

Why tempt fate?

This "timeline" only exists because I made a mistake 15 years ago.

The crew trusted in me and I let them down.

COMPUTER: Tactical alert.

Vessel approaching, bearing 184 mark 7.

They've found us.

Chakotay.

Go ahead.

Starfleet's on an intercept course.

It's now or never.

We're on our way.

If you're having doubts, let me know.

I'll take your program off-line.

But if you're with us, we tempt fate together.

To aid an honorable thief or to spend eternity in cybernetic oblivion?

Let's tempt fate.

JANEWAY: Captain's Log, Stardate 52143.6.

With any luck, my next log entry

will be made in the Alpha Quadrant,

but should our luck run out, I'd like to say for the record

that the crew of Voyager acted with distinction and valor.

Shield generators?

On line.

Plasma flow?

Stable.

Com-link?

Secure.

Lunch?

Salami sandwiches.

Feel up to this, Ensign?

Yes, sir.

Chakotay to Voyager.

We're ready.

All hands, this is the Captain.

Take your stations, secure all systems, and stand by for the jump to slipstream.

I've established a telemetry link with the shuttle.

Match their course and speed.

They're gaining on us.

200,000 kilometers and closing.

You call these evasive maneuvers?

I'm doing my best.

Harry, status?

The Borg transmitter's on line, but I'm still waiting for the Doctor to give me the temporal coordinates.

Just a few more minutes.

Speed it up.

We've got a Galaxy-class starship on our tail.

I'm working as fast as I can.

They're hailing us.

You want to talk to them?

It could buy us some time.

Open a channel.

This is Captain La Forge of the Starship Challenger.

You seem to be in quite a hurry.

You could say that.

Why don't you shut down those impulse engines,

drop your shields and let's talk about this face-to-face?

Mind if I take a rain check?

As a matter of fact, I do.

We know what you're about to attempt

and we can't let that happen,

so the Federation Council is willing to make you an offer--

hand over the Borg transmitter, stand down your vessel

and the charges of conspiracy will be dropped.

That's not much of an offer.

If we succeed, those charges will never have existed in the first place.

If you succeed, countless lives will be affected.

We're here to save 150 lives-- our crew.

I understand and I might

be doing the same thing if I were in your position,

but I've got my own crew to protect,

not to mention 15 years of history,

so... I'm asking you again.

Stand down and return the transmitter.

You know I can't do that.

And you know I have to try to stop you.

Yes, I know.

Good luck.

Same to you.

( rumbling )

They're targeting our engines.

Shields to full.

Stand by weapons.

Voyager to Chakotay.

Yes, ma'am.

Prepare to enter the slipstream.

Acknowledged.

Engage.

Slipstream velocity in four, three, two...

Shields down to 62 percent.

Return fire.

Direct hit. No effect on their shields.

We're no match for them, Chakotay.

Keep trying.

I don't mean to be a pest, but we're losing power back here.

Hold on. We're switching to emergency backup.

( power revving up )

Thank you.

Doc, I need those temporal coordinates now.

Badgering me won't help.

I'm detecting a phase variance-- point one, point two...

Helm?

I'm still waiting for Harry.

Point three.

Voyager to Delta Flyer.

We need those corrections

or we'll have to shut down the drive.

We're on it, Captain.

The threshold is fluctuating.

Okay. I can do this.

I'm compensating for the spatial gradients...

Deflector geometry stable.

Got it!

I'm receiving the phase corrections.

The phase variance is decreasing.

Shields are holding.

Looks like we're on our way.

Phase variance is increasing.

Point three... point four.

Harry, what's happening?

The phase variance is still increasing.

I-I'm not sure, Captain.

It should be working.

I need an answer, Harry.

We're running out of time.

Let me try recalibrating the sensors.

( staticky ): I might be overcompensating for the variance in the...

( transmission fades to static)

We've lost our com-link.

Telemetry's down, too.

The slipstream's destabilizing.

Shut down the drive!

I can't.

There's some kind of overload in the quantum matrix.

I've lost helm control.

I have it.

Her cybernetic systems were terminated on Stardate 52164.3,

Borg time index 9.43852.

You're encoding the transmitter for time index 9.40?

Uh-huh.

That's less than four minutes before Voyager was destroyed.

Cutting it a little close, aren't we?

This is no ordinary phone call, Doc.

We're talking to yesterday.

Timing is everything.

I want to make sure Seven of Nine gets the information at just the right moment.

There.

I'm bringing up the new phase corrections.

This was where I failed 15 years ago, Doc.

This time will be different.

( beeping )

Captain, I am receiving a transmission.

You said the com-link was down.

It is.

The signal is being routed through one of my cranial implants.

It contains a new set of phase corrections.

Does Harry know how to access your Borg systems?

No.

He must have figured out a way.

Enter the corrections.

They're not compensating for the phase variance.

The slipstream is collapsing.

Full power to the deflector.

No effect.

Our hull is buckling.

Shields at maximum. Hold her steady, Tom.

It's no use. We're losing attitude control.

Inertial dampers off-line!

What about the Delta Flyer?

There is no sign of them.

They must have remained in the slipstream.

Voyager's been thrown into normal space.

Alter our slipstream course.

We've got to go back.

We can't. Even if they survived reentry at this velocity, we wouldn't.

What are you saying? We've got to find them!

Ensign, there's no choice.

Captain, we're just a few parsecs from the Alpha Quadrant.

Not exactly how I wanted to cross the finish line.

Hull breach on Decks 5 through 10.

We're losing life support.

If we don't land the ship, we're risking structural collapse.

I'm reading a planet nine million kilometers ahead.

It's Class-L.

Do it.

We're coming in too fast. Reverse thrusters.

All hands, brace for impact!

We're still here.

Why are we still here?

Mr. Kim?

The new phase corrections didn't work.

Are you certain?

If Voyager had gotten through safely, we wouldn't still be here trying to save them.

The transmitter's functioning.

Seven must have received our message.

Chakotay, problems!

I can see that.

Our engines are down.

They're locking on to us with a tractor beam.

Full thrusters.

No effect.

Do we have enough power to send a plasma surge through their tractor beam; break ourselves free?

I think so, but the EPS relays have taken heavy damage.

It could destabilize the warp core.

If you want to beam over to that ship,

I'll understand.

And let you have all the fun?

Harry, we just bought you a few more minutes.

Acknowledged.

I'm no time travel expert, but can't we just call Voyager again?

The past isn't going anywhere.

That's not going to help if we don't know what to tell them.

( console beeping )

The slipstream kinetics look right.

Hyperdimensional progressions... perfect.

Maybe it's the deflector geometry.

We're free.

The EPS relays are overloading.

Harry, we're looking at a possible core breach in less than three minutes.

How's it coming back there?

Great! Just great!

It took me ten years to make these corrections.

I can't fix it in three minutes!

You've got to try!

I can't! It's not working.

Why won't it work?!

I killed them!

Control yourself.

They trusted me, and I killed them!

Mr. Kim! I didn't spend all those years in an ice bucket, so I could listen to you berate yourself.

If you want to wallow in self-pity, fine!

Do it on your own time!

Don't you see? History's repeating itself.

I destroyed Voyager once, and I'm doing it again!

Somebody has got to knuckle down and change history and that somebody is you.

It can't be done, Doc. I told you.

No, you told me, you can't correct their phase variance.

All right. We have to accept that.

But what about sending Voyager a warning?

Is there a way to get them to abort the slipstream flight?

Yes. Yes!

I could send a phase correction which would disperse the slipstream entirely.

If we can't get the crew home, at least we can save their lives!

Warning. Warp core breach in 60 seconds.

Can you eject the core?

TESSA: No.

Emergency systems are off-line.

La Forge to Delta Flyer.

Our sensors are reading an overload in your warp matrix.

Lower your shields.

We'll beam you out of there.

I appreciate the offer, Captain, but the answer's no.

I suggest you get to a safe distance.

COMPUTER: Warning. Warp core breach in 45 seconds.

Harry, now would be a good time.

Mr. Kim!

It's losing power.

Warning. Warp core breach in 30 seconds.

Your emitter. It's got its own power source.

Would it be enough?

It's our only chance.

Glad you could join us, Doc.

It's been a pleasure.

Warning. Warp core breach in 15 seconds.

Chakotay, I'm giving this one more try.

Warning. Warp core breach in ten, nine, eight, seven, six,

five, four, three, two, one...

Yes!

Captain, I am receiving a transmission.

I thought you said the com-link was down.

It is.

The signal is being routed through one of my cranial implants.

It contains a new set of phase corrections.

Does Harry know how to access your Borg systems?

No.

He must have figured out a way.

Enter the corrections.

( console beeping )

Captain, the quantum drive just went off-line.

We're dropping to impulse.

TUVOK: Captain, we've lost the slipstream.

The slipstream collapsed.

We were thrown out right along with Voyager.

Our com system's back up.

Delta Flyer to Voyager.

What happened?

You miscalculated, Harry.

We entered the exact phase corrections you sent to Seven of Nine.

They shut down the quantum drive.

Captain,

I didn't send any corrections to Seven of Nine.

She received a message through one of her cranial implants.

It wasn't you?

No, ma'am.

Captain's Log, supplemental.

Our slipstream flight may have been brief,

but it took nearly ten years off our journey.

I've given the order to dismantle the quantum drive

until the technology can be perfected.

Despite the setback, we have a renewed sense of momentum.

It no longer seems a question of if we get home, but when.

At ease.

Am I interrupting?

No.

I just came here to try to figure things out.

Phase corrections.

The corrections I sent you were wrong.

If you had used them,

Voyager would have been heavily damaged, maybe even destroyed.

What I can't figure out is who sent the other phase corrections to Seven of Nine.

Looks like we've got a guardian angel.

Oh, I wish I could believe that.

Believe it.

His name is Harry Kim.

Captain?

Seven found a Starfleet security code embedded in the transmission-- yours.

I'm telling you, I didn't send it.

Not yet.

The transmission had a temporal displacement.

We believe it originated from the future-- ten, 20 years from now.

We can't be sure.

Wait a second.

If I sent a message from the future and changed the past, then that future would no longer exist, right?

So... how could I have sent the message in the first place?

Am I making any sense?

My advice in making sense of temporal paradoxes is simple-- don't even try.

To me... all that matters is that somewhere somehow... sometime, you'll come through for us.

Well, if you won't take it from me, take it from you.

Seven found a log entry encoded in the telemetry... from Harry Kim to Harry Kim.

Hello, Harry.

I don't have much time so listen to me.

15 years ago, I made a mistake and 150 people died.

I've spent every day since then regretting that mistake,

but if you're watching this right now,

that means all of that's changed.

You owe me one.

DOCTOR: Mr. Kim, your assistance, please.

Got to go.

( sighs )