Home > Star Trek: Voyager

Course: Oblivion

( playing light jazz version of "Heart and Soul" )

Are you sure this rice isn't supposed to be cooked?

Steamed, fried?

The idea is to shower the couple with a symbol of good fortune, not garnish them like a roast chicken.

Smile.

Rice, anyone?

I'll take one.

Red Alert.

Ready?

( playing "Here Comes The Bride" )

This is it, Tom.

Your bachelor days are over.

Not a moment too soon.

Second thoughts?

Second, third, fourth...

I never thought I'd see the day.

Given the volatile nature of their relationship, one might have predicted homicide rather than matrimony.

When it comes to affairs of the human heart, it is wise to look beyond logic.

We're gathered here today not as Starfleet officers, but as friends and family to celebrate the marriage of two of Voyager's finest.

B'Elanna has asked me to forego the rigors of Klingon painstiks in favor of a more traditional ceremony.

They're saving the painstiks for the honeymoon.

( guests chuckling )

As Captain, the honor of joining these two people has fallen to me, but before I declare them husband and wife,

Tom and B'Elanna have prepared their own vows.

I still don't know what I've done to deserve you... but whatever it is, I'll try to keep doing it, and I promise to stand by you, to honor you... till death do us part.

Ensign.

Hmm?

( whispers ): The ring.

Oh.

May this ring be a symbol of our eternal love.

You stood by me... when most people would have run for the nearest airlock.

You were willing to see past my shortcomings... and to take all the bumps and bruises that came along with it.

You made me a better person... even though I put up one hell of a fight.

I look forward to our journey together.

Commander.

May this ring be the symbol of our eternal love.

Not so fast.

Lieutenant Thomas Eugene Paris...

Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres, with the power vested in me by Starfleet Command and the United Federation of Planets,

I now pronounce you husband and wife.

Now, Tom.

( applause )

Bravo.

Congratulations.

For what?

You may not want to know.

( playing up-tempo jazz version of "The Wedding March" )

Captain's Log, stardate 52586.3.

We've had a lot to celebrate lately--

Tom and B'Elanna's wedding, Ensign Harper's new baby

and the continued health of our enhanced warp drive,

which has taken us within striking distance of home.

In this case, the shortest path is a straight line.

We'll pass right through the center of the Milky Way.

And be in Sector 001 within two years.

More or less.

You had Seven double-check the calculations?

Two years, 11 days, six hours, provided we continue to operate at peak efficiency.

Naturally.

Of course, if we operate at peak efficiency, we'll be missing some interesting phenomena along the way-- an anomalous gradient to the curvature of space, unusual bioharmonic readings from a binary system we'll reach about six months from now.

And the scientist in you can't resist stopping to take a look.

It would only add another two or three months.

Do you think the crew would mutiny?

On the contrary.

Everyone'll jump at the chance for some last-minute exploration.

Everyone... except Seven.

Let your First Officer deal with the personnel problems.

Here's a lovely program modeled after a mountain resort on the fifth moon of Cytrax-- just you, B'Elanna and the crickets.

Crickets?

Cytraxian crickets.

Their song is reputed to be an auditory aphrodisiac.

Aha. Well, between you and me--

B'Elanna and I don't need aphrodisiacs.

( chuckling )

There's always the beaches of Ahmedeen-- windsurfing on a sea of liquid argon.

I was hoping for someplace a little more down-to-earth.

Well, it's your honeymoon.

Just how down-to-earth did you mean?

Earth.

I was thinking

Chicago in the roaring '20s-- speakeasies, flappers, the Charleston.

If that's what you want.

Why? Is there a problem?

No, of course not, it's just that we're so close to Earth anyway,

I thought you might want to try something a little more exotic.

Let me let you in on a little secret, Neelix.

Earth has the best vacation spots in the galaxy.

It's got the cultures, the climates, the history, the people.

It has everything you ever want in a planet.

You sound like a travel brochure.

( laughs )

No. No. Just a native.

Oh, and make sure the deuterium manifold's are never opened wider than 600 microns.

I am familiar with the specifications.

Are you familiar with how temperamental the isolytic converter can be?

Yes.

Most important, the enhanced warp drive-- with the dilithium matrix running hot all the time now, you have to watch it like a hawk.

There is no point in providing me with knowledge I already possess.

I guess I am being a little overcautious.

I've just, uh, never been away from Engineering for more than a couple of days... certainly never a week.

My engineering abilities are more than sufficient.

Enjoy your honeymoon.

You may understand the iso-dynamics of this engine, but I don't think you understand its personality.

Personality.

It is a propulsion device.

That's my point.

It's not just a device.

It-it has its own quirks, its own... its own moods.

( alarm bleeping )

That's just a minor fluctuation in a subsidiary injector port.

I will take care of it.

I'm going with you.

Lieutenant, you are on leave.

Not for another 20 minutes.

( sighs )

So, who's the lucky guy?

You caught the bouquet.

That means you're next in line for the altar.

Yes, the Doctor informed me of that archaic human superstition.

How about Harry Kim?

I fail to see the benefit of monogamous relationships.

So you want to stay single?

If you mean remain open to social situations with a wide variety of individuals, then yes.

I'm married-- I'm not going into stasis for the rest of my life.

No, I plan to have...

I do not wish to be dependent on anyone.

By marrying, one limits one's romantic interactions to a single individual-- a circumstance which implies extreme monotony.

I'm glad we had this little talk.

( error beeping )

Try the manual release.

I thought you said it was a minor fluctuation.

This entire Jefferies tube is losing molecular cohesion.

I guess the honeymoon's off.

It's our warp field.

The enhanced drive is emitting some form of subspace radiation that's affecting Voyager's infrastructure.

It's beginning to break down the molecular bonds in all surrounding sections.

TORRES: We're seeing early stages of the effect in the warp core-- reaction chamber, injector ports-- they're all showing signs of de-cohesion.

It doesn't make any sense.

We knew all about the subspace radiation and we ran dozens of simulations before we brought the new drive on line.

Have you tried taking the core off-line?

It's not stopping the problem.

Try to isolate the cause of this.

And stabilize the sections that have already been affected.

Dismissed.

Computer.

Begin Chief Engineer's Log, supplemental.

I've spent the last four hours analyzing the warp field schematics, but I'm still no closer to finding out what's going wrong.

( gasps )

Computer, did it just get colder in here?

COMPUTER: Negative.

Raise the temperature by five degrees.

Hungry?

Ah, can't join you tonight-- dinner with B'Elanna.

Married one day and you're already domesticated.

( chuckling ): Jealous?

Night, Harry.

B'Elanna?

If we're going to live together, we're going to have to compromise on the temperature.

Computer, reset environmental controls to standard.

B'Elanna?

( shivering )

Shh.

Bring her in, quickly.

( gasping )

It looks like we've got an epidemic on our hands.

Acute cellular degradation?

Their chromosomes are breaking down at the molecular level.

Proximity to the warp field.

I believe so.

B'Elanna and my other three patients all work in Engineering.

They've been subjected to the heaviest exposure, but preliminary scans suggest the rest of the crew has been affected as well... including the Captain.

It's only a matter of time before you begin showing the same symptoms.

We've shut down the warp drive, but the ship is still deteriorating, and so are we.

Why?

Every bulkhead and conduit from Deck 1 to 15 show signs of molecular de-cohesion.

Even food from the replicator shows signs of decay.

As soon as anything comes into contact with Voyager's atmosphere, it's affected.

That's what we thought at first, but take a look at this.

These vegetables are completely free of decay.

I thought you said the replicators...

They weren't replicated.

I harvested them on an away mission last week.

The same goes for these particle accelerators, the trilithium ore samples, the keg of Hazari ale.

All of them were brought aboard over the last few months and none of them is disintegrating.

We haven't been able to narrow the time frame precisely, but it appears that anything brought onboard over the past 30 to 40 weeks is immune.

Something happened to the ship months ago that's causing this decay.

A logical conclusion.

Eight months, 17 days ago-- first contact with the Kmada.

They tried to sabotage our life-support systems with low-frequency theta radiation.

Any chance that could have caused the phenomenon?

Unlikely.

Let's keep looking.

The next event of note took place nine months, two days ago when the N'Kree tried to conscript Voyager into their battle fleet.

And failed.

Next?

Hey.

Hey.

How's my old lady?

Well enough... to break your nose if you call me that again.

( chuckles )

Here it is.

What?

Our honeymoon.

Tell me.

Six days and seven nights... in the historic Graystone Hotel in beautiful downtown Chicago, circa 1928.

Uh, wait till you see it-- crystal chandeliers, wall-to-wall Italian marble.

We'll take a drive up Michigan Avenue in a vintage Duesenberg, hobnob with the stars of the silver screen, dance the Charleston at a genuine speakeasy called the Green Mill.

What do I wear?

That's already taken care of.

Our bags are packed and waiting for us at the hotel.

( sighs )

Champagne?

It's on ice... in a silver bucket... right next to our canopy bed.

B'Elanna?

( bio-bed alarm bleeping )

Doctor?

Cortical stimulator.

Initiate an iso-synaptic pulse.

It's not working.

Again!

Increase the electrolytic levels to 75 millijoules.

( steady tone sounds )

We've lost her.

Increasing electrolytic levels to 90 millijoules.

There's nothing more we can do.

Uh, maybe we can try a direct neural resequencing.

Lieutenant...

We can't just let her die!

Return to your quarters.

No!

( sighs )

I don't want to leave her.

I understand, but I need to perform an analysis before her cells have completely degraded.

Please.

Nine months, 28 days.

We collected silicate from a comet in the Podaris sector.

According to Neelix's manifest, those samples are stored in the geology lab.

They're showing no signs of molecular degradation.

Take us further back.

Ten months, 11 days ago.

Voyager was forced to land on a Class-Y planetoid in the Vaskan sector.

The Demon-Class planet... one of our more interesting missions.

We set down looking for deuterium and ended up helping a new form of life to be born.

The planet possessed a biomimetic compound.

The "silver blood."

It sampled our DNA and created duplicates of the entire crew.

I've often wondered what happened to them.

Are they flourishing?

Have they continued to evolve?

Do they still resemble us?

Is she...?

I'm afraid so.

Scan for traces of deuterium, hydrogen sulfate and dichromates.

Dichromates?

Just do it.

What's this about?

We have a disturbing theory.

I'm detecting all of those compounds.

I want you to inject her with a dichromate catalyst.

Commander?

We've got to be sure.

I don't understand.

That wasn't B'Elanna.

It was a duplicate... a biomimetic copy.

Copy?

We are all duplicates.

None of us are real.

Behold the primordial soup.

That's what created us.

Not just us.

The entire ship is composed of the same material.

It's a biomimetic compound that duplicated the crew's molecular structure so precisely that I would never have detected it if I hadn't known what to look for.

I was born on Earth... in Indiana.

I remember growing up there.

I remember graduating from the Academy.

I have no memory of being a copy.

Apparently, the original Kathryn Janeway's memories were duplicated as well.

Somehow, after the real Voyager left, we began to forget we were duplicates.

Eventually, we assumed their lives and set a course for Earth.

And now the warp core is breaking down our cellular structure.

We didn't think the radiation would hurt us, because it isn't harmful to humanoids.

DOCTOR: Each and every one of you will disintegrate just as B'Elanna did.

I'm not immune, either.

The holo-emitters, like everything else, are copies.

It's only a matter of time before my program begins to degrade.

What can we do to stop the process?

CHAKOTAY: There is one option.

Go back.

To the Demon-Class planet?

We were created to survive there.

He's correct.

It's reasonable to assume that if we return to our native environment, the degradation will cease.

Even if we survived the trip, we'd be traveling thousands of light-years in the wrong direction.

It may be the only way.

Duplicate or not,

I'm still the same person I was yesterday, and so are all of you... and that means we're going to do everything possible to complete our mission, which is to reach Earth.

Is that clear?

Yes, ma'am. I want you to adjust the environmental controls to simulate a Class-Y planet.

That should slow the rate of degradation.

It's only a matter of time before the environmental controls themselves are affected.

I realize that.

That's why we're going to try and find a safe harbor till we can figure out a way to stop the degradation.

Scan for the nearest

Class-Y planet and set a course.

In the meantime...

I'll explain our situation to the crew.

There's still a great deal we don't know about this phenomenon, and I have every confidence we'll find a way to reverse it.

So you're saying all our experiences before we were duplicated-- none of it's real?

I don't pretend to understand it myself, Harry... but the way I choose to look at it is this-- if everything about us was duplicated, that includes our memory engrams, the emotional centers of our brain.

So, if you feel something... remember something... believe something...

I'm not about to tell you it's not real.

But there is another crew out there, right?

The real Voyager.

I suppose there is, but I don't want that thought to distract any of you from our mission.

What mission is that?

The same as it's always been, Tom-- to reach the Alpha Quadrant safe and sound, but to do that, we're going to have to beat this problem... and for now, that means conserving energy, running the ship in gray mode, cutting crew shifts in half.

The less you exert yourselves, the slower the cellular decay.

Duplicates or not... you're still my crew.

Dismissed.

Tom...

There's no one here by that name.

I just wanted to say...

I'm sorry about B'Elanna.

Sorry?

What for?

She was your wife.

She was a duplicate... just like you are, Harry.

You heard the Captain.

If we're going to survive this, we've got to believe in ourselves.

( scoffs )

( chuckling )

You can drop the good soldier routine.

You don't have to do everything the Captain says anymore.

Hell, she's not even the Captain.

She is to me.

Okay. Well, let's suppose she does get us back to Earth.

What then?

You really think your family is going to welcome you with open arms?

I don't know.

For all you know, the real Harry Kim is having Sunday dinner with them right now.

And you come strolling through the door, they're going to see you for exactly what you are-- an impostor.

So what are we going to do, huh?

Wait around till we all disintegrate?

( door chimes )

Come in.

Chicken paprikash-- my grandmother's recipe.

Well, maybe not my grandmother, but it's still delicious.

It's our weekly dinner together.

Don't tell me you forgot.

We've lost three more people.

We've got to head back.

I've spent the past five years trying to get this crew home.

I'm not about to quit now.

Listen to yourself.

You haven't even been alive for five years.

Home is a Class-Y planet in the Delta Quadrant.

We don't belong on Earth.

How do you know where we belong?

For all we know, the real Voyager's been destroyed and we're all that's left.

For all we know, we're supposed to be living their lives.

That's a pretty big assumption... and it's putting this crew in danger.

There's only one thing I know how to be, Chakotay, and that's Kathryn Janeway.

I'd like to think

I know Captain Janeway pretty well myself, and as much as she'd like to get her crew home,

I don't think she'd be willing to kill them in the process.

Maybe this dinner wasn't such a good idea after all.

I've tried everything I can think of-- bio-molecular enhancers, gene splicing with replicated DNA-- and I'm no closer to finding a cure.

But I do have an idea.

I'm listening.

Find the original Voyager.

If the real Captain Janeway were here, we could sample her DNA and imprint it onto your mimetic pattern.

But, Doctor, we have no way of knowing where they are.

They could be behind us, ahead of us, back on Earth... destroyed.

Besides, even if we could find the real Janeway, how do we know she'd help?

She's you.

My emitter's starting to degrade.

You better get back to Sick Bay.

Tuvok to the Captain.

Sensors have detected a Class-Y planet.

On my way.

KIM: It may not be home, but it checks out.

Thermionic radiation... surface temperatures in excess of 500 kelvins.

Just what the Doctor ordered.

Safe harbor?

There's no guarantee this is going to work.

Harry, vent all plasma from the nacelles.

Transfer available power to atmospheric thrusters and stand by to commence landing sequence.

Yes, ma'am.

Red Alert.

Landing struts on line.

Inertial dampers at maximum.

Take us down, Mr. Paris.

Captain, a vessel is approaching from the planet's surface.

On screen.

KIM: They're hailing.

Open a channel.

MALE: You're in direct violation

of the Ord'Mirit Mining Treaty.

Leave orbit or you'll be destroyed.

( console beeping )

They are firing weapons.

( sighs )

This is Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Federation Starship Voyager.

We are not your enemy.

They seem to disagree.

We're not interested in your mining operation.

Our ship is badly damaged.

We need to set down on the surface to make repairs.

We repeat: Leave or be destroyed.

Shields down to 52 percent.

With our systems degrading, we won't be able to take this much longer.

Target their weapon systems.

Fire.

No effect.

Hull breaches on Decks 11, 14 and 15.

The damaged sections are turning into biomimetic matter.

Containment fields are failing.

Evacuate those decks.

If we emit a polaron burst, we can disable their shields long enough to target their warp core.

No. We're not going to destroy them over a misunderstanding.

Either that or retreat.

( gasps )

We're Starfleet officers.

We can't forget that.

Break orbit.

That planet may be our last chance for survival.

We'll have to find another option.

I'm not sure why we're still taking orders from you.

Lieutenant, follow orders or leave the Bridge.

The alien vessel's not pursuing.

Begin scanning for other Class-Y planets.

Harry, transmit a distress call on all subspace bands.

If the real Voyager is out there,

I want to find them.

In the meantime, which direction do you want me to go?

Resume course for the Alpha Quadrant, Mr. Paris.

I know what you're going to say and I don't want to hear it.

Too bad.

I'm willing to take a little insolence from Tom, but I shouldn't have to remind you that I'm still the Captain.

You're not.

You're a biomimetic life-form created in her image.

Are you saying you're not taking orders from me anymore?

I'm saying you need to step back and look at our situation objectively.

You think I should have given the order to fire on that vessel.

No. I agreed with your decision to stand down, but how long can we adhere to Starfleet principles before we start making compromises?

As long as it takes.

Our ship may be deteriorating, but our humanity is intact.

Belief alone won't hold this ship together.

It's gotten us this far.

Not far enough.

( sighs )

Tom and I aren't the only ones who question your decisions.

Now that the truth is known, a lot of people think we should turn around and head for the Class-Y planet.

They're starting to remember their existence before Voyager.

What?

What existence?

Pools of biomimetic fluid?

We didn't even experience sentience until Voyager came along.

What good is sentience if we're not alive to experience it?

Kathryn, we've got to go back.

I promised the crew I'd get them home.

Home isn't Earth.

Janeway to Sick Bay. Medical emergency.

He's not responding.

( alarm bleeping )

His neural pathways are destabilizing.

( steady tone sounds )

We've lost Commander Chakotay.

Duplicate or not, he was real to me... and he was a fine Starfleet officer.

And... he was a friend... who... wasn't afraid to let me know when I am wrong.

Mr. Kim, bring the enhanced warp drive on line.

Turn Voyager around.

We're going home.

Captain...

Set a course... for the Demon planet.

Captain's Log, supplemental.

We've lost 63 crewmen, and our systems are continuing to fail.

Though we're still five weeks away from the Demon planet,

we haven't given up hope.

The holographic projectors in Sick Bay went off-line at 0300.

We've lost the Doctor.

What's Tom's condition?

No change.

Well... hmm... looks like we're in the market for a new medical officer.

Feel up to it, Neelix?

I've only been trained as a field medic.

It'll have to do.

What about my other duties?

Make Sick Bay your priority.

( weak laugh )

At this point... morale is a luxury.

How's the core holding up?

The modified nanoprobes are still reinforcing the warp field.

It should remain functioning until we reach the Demon planet.

However, there is less than a 20 percent probability that Voyager will remain intact that long.

Well... it won't be the first time this crew has been... up against...

Captain?

It's all right. I'm just... a little tired.

Let Ensign Kim take command for a while.

I'm still the Captain.

And I am the Chief Medical Officer.

Don't force me to relieve you of your duties.

Your concerns have been noted... sir.

Now... there is another matter.

I want to download the ship's database... and our personal logs into a signal beacon.

In the event we don't survive, there should be some record of our accomplishments.

A time capsule.

This crew's existence may have been brief... but it's been distinguished.

None of you... deserves to be forgotten.

I will use unaffected components to construct a beacon.

( rumbling )

( alarm blaring )

The deflector's off-line.

Interstellar dust is contaminating the warp field.

Purge it.

SEVEN: I can't.

The exhaust manifolds have disintegrated.

( ship's hull creaking )

We've come too far to be stopped by dust.

Reroute auxiliary power to the deflector.

Warp field failure in eight... seven... six... five... four... three...

Got it.

Reinitializing the deflector.

The warp field has stabilized.

( tired sigh )

I may not be morale officer anymore, but I think this is a cause for celebration.

What do you say, Captain?

Captain?

( steady tone sounds )

She's gone.

KIM: Acting Captain's Log, stardate 52597.4.

Our situation's getting worse every day.

More than 80 percent of the ship is uninhabitable.

Most of the crew are gone.

It seems less and less likely that the few of us left

will reach our destination.

Computer, hull status.

Hull integrity at 45 percent.

What was that?

Cargo Bay 2 has decompressed.

Seal off that deck.

Computer, erect a level-10 force field around the Bridge.

Unable to comply.

Seven...

I need more power up here.

The bulkheads are coming apart.

I'm transferring the last of our power reserves.

COMPUTER: Deck 1 force field is in place.

That's better.

How's life support?

SEVEN: Degrading.

We have approximately ten hours of air remaining.

What about the time capsule?

It's ready for launch.

Do it.

The launch sequencer has misfired.

Reset the initiator; try it again.

It won't work.

The launch mechanism is demolecularized.

Salvage the probe.

It's too late.

It's been destroyed.

Personal logs... mission logs... all our history... gone.

( console beeping )

Now what?

I'm detecting a vessel...

22 light-years away.

I see it.

I'm trying to hail them.

The subspace transceiver's malfunctioning.

If they move out of range, they won't see us.

We still have one active com circuit, but we'll have to go to impulse to use it.

Seven, drop out of warp.

The engine controls are fused.

Then unfuse them.

Without an isolytic converter,

I cannot comply.

Dump the core.

Ensign, dropping out of warp at this velocity could tear the ship apart.

We're already falling apart.

We're not going to make it

to the Class-Y planet in one piece, which means that ship is our only hope.

Think about it.

What would Captain Janeway have done?

Computer, prepare to eject the warp core.

Authorization: Seven of Nine- omega-phi-nine-three.

Warp ejection systems enabled.

Eject the core.

( yells )

We've lost attitude control and shields.

Hull integrity at 19 percent.

Reroute life support!

Hell, reroute everything we've got left to the containment fields.

Hull breaches on Decks

9, 10 and 11.

Seven.

Seven!

Computer... how long until we're within hailing range of that ship?

( distorted ): F-f-f-five minutes and 30 seconds.

F-f-f-five minutes and 30 seconds.

Range?

Five million kilometers.

Try hailing again.

No response.

Captain, I've found the source of the distress call.

It's coming from a vessel.

Can you identify it?

No. The readings are erratic.

Looks like they've taken heavy damage.

400,000 kilometers.

Drop to impulse. Are the rescue teams ready?

Bridge to Sick Bay. Stand by for casualties.

In visual range.

On screen.

Where's the ship?

No sign of it.

That debris... that couldn't be all that's left.

I'm detecting residual deuterium, antineutrons, traces of dichromates.

If it was a vessel, it isn't anymore.

Scan for life signs, escape pods.

None.

Make a note in the ship's record-- we received a distress call at 0900 hours.

Arrived at the vessel's last known coordinates at 2120.

The ship was destroyed.

Cause unknown.

No survivors.

Mr. Paris, resume course.

Aye, sir.