COUNTERPOINT
Episode 104
Part E

 

USS Voyager: Captain's Ready Room. Janeway enters, with a light spring in her step. Kashyk, brightly: "Captain. Good to see you again." Janeway, brightly in return: "Likewise."

Kashyk: "Tchaikovsky. Of all the selections in your database, this remains my favourite." Janeway: "Mine, too." This is a veiled reference to time they spent together in Voyager's Messhall.

Devore soldiers inspect and scan throughout the ship, including in Engineering.

Devore soldiers scan the crewmembers in the Messhall and Cargo Bay 1.

Kashyk: "I'm afraid Prax isn't impressed. He's solely concerned with his work, aren't you, Prax?" Prax: "As you say, sir." Kashyk: "Yes, he's curious why you entered this sector. You're aware it's restricted." Janeway: "We were planning to study a supernova remnant not far from here." Kashyk: "You strayed a full light-year from your course in order to observe an astronomical phenomenon?" Janeway, raising her hands: "We're explorers."

Kashyk: "Yes, I remember. I also remember warning you about going where you don't belong." Janeway: "Exploring can sometimes be hard to resist, Inspector." Kashyk: "Well, it's a romantic notion, Captain, but one I can't allow you to indulge. I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to leave our space immediately. Prax, why don't you check on our teams while I reiterate our protocols for Captain Janeway." Prax and his men leave.

Janeway: "Do they suspect anything?" Kashyk: "Not yet, but our warships have been monitoring Voyager's movements for the past few days, and mine as well. I don't think we have much time. The Brenari?"

Janeway: "They're in transporter suspension." Kashyk: "And the wormhole?" Janeway: "We've found it. It's 20,000 kilometres off our port bow. We've determined that a photon torpedo properly calibrated will force open the threshold long enough for Voyager to get through."

Kashyk: "Congratulations, Captain! For a while, I wasn't sure if even you could find it. Prax!"

Prax and two guards enter. "Go to Cargo Bay 1. You'll find the transporter patterns for more than a dozen telepaths. Rematerialise them." Prax: "Yes, sir." He departs, while the two guards remain.

Janeway, betrayed but managing to keep her emotions under control: "Impressive. You gave a masterful performance." Kashyk: "I'm the one who's impressed, with your selflessness, your humanity. It made all this so much easier." Janeway, sarcastically: "Oh, but what about your selflessness? That touching story about the little girl. Was that a fabrication, too?" Kashyk: "Oh, that incident was real. What I didn't tell you was that after wrestling with my ethics I realised that I'd done the right thing, in order to protect my people from a very real threat."

He indicates the door to the Bridge: "Please." When she hesitates, he signals his men who aim their weapons at her: "I insist."

They enter the Bridge. She sees that Devore soldiers at the work stations, replacing her officers.

Kashyk: "Captain." She goes and sits in the First Officer's chair while he sits in the Captain's.

Kashyk orders his men: "Access their forward sensor array. You should find neutrino emissions at roughly 20,000 kilometres off the port bow. On screen." To the Devore officer at the secondary tactical station: "Target two photon torpedoes. When the first one detonates the wormhole will open. Use the second one to destabilise its subspace matrix. That will destroy it. " Via comms: "Prax, report!"

USS Voyager: Cargo Bay 1. Prax: "I've isolated the bio-patterns." He activates the transporters. Shapes start to materialise.

USS Voyager: Bridge. Kashyk: "Fire!" The torpedo shoots into the distance.

Kashyk: "It should've detonated." He looks again at the instrument panel share between the captain and first officer. "Those aren't neutrino emissions, they're antimatter residue signatures. There's no wormhole here." He realises and accuses Janeway: "You created false readings."

Janeway: "That is the theme for this evening, isn't it?" Kashyk, via comms: "Prax, do you have the telepaths?"

USS Voyager: Cargo Bay 1. Prax: "I have cargo containers," lifting the lid of one,......

....."filled with vegetables."

USS Voyager: Bridge. Kashyk to Prax, via comms: "Return to the Bridge."

Janeway: "Computer, change music selection. Mahler's Symphony Number 1, Second Movement. Maybe this will help you relax." This is a deliberate echo of Kashyk's earlier words about the same music: "I took the liberty of playing this music throughout your ship. I thought it might help your crew relax. Sometimes these inspections can be stressful."

Devore officer, via comms: "Inspector, we've completed our inventory of the vessel. Two of their shuttlecraft are missing." Kashyk: "They couldn't have gone far. Why didn't they appear on our long-range scans? Of course! - adjust their scanners to compensate for refractive shielding." Janeway: "Well, you gave us the specifications. Seemed a shame to waste them." The com. signal sounds. Prax, via comms: "We've located the two shuttlecraft, range 20 million kilometres." Kashyk, via comms: "Order our ships to pursue. Maximum speed!"

The Brenari are aboard two Voyager type-9 shuttlecraft, speeding toward the wormhole co-ordinates. Kir: "We're approaching the co-ordinates. I'm firing the torpedo." The torpedo detonates and opens the wormhole. As they start flying into the wormhole, the woman sitting next to him smiles. "Kir, we're safe." He clasps her hand.

The two shuttlecraft flying into the wormhole. The wormhole then closes.

USS Voyager: Bridge.

Prax enters and goes to the secondary tactical station.

Prax: "The shuttles have disappeared from sensors. We've scanned for a wormhole. If there was one, it's gone." Kashyk slumps in the Captain's chair.

Prax moves to face Kashyk: "I'll order Janeway and her crew removed. We'll confiscate the vessel, deliver them to the nearest detention centre."

Kashyk: "You're dismissed." Prax: "Imperative twelve, codicil six requires-"

Kashyk: "To hell with protocol! Prax! Do you think either of us will benefit from having this failure on our records?! As far as you're concerned this incident never occurred. Make sure your teams share that understanding." Prax and the other Devore leave the Bridge.

Kashyk: "Well played, Captain. It seems I never did earn your trust." Janeway: "I had to take a few precautions. You understand." Kashyk: "Better than anyone."

Janeway: "I never lied to you. My offer to take you with us was genuine, and it would still stand if you'd kept your part of the bargain." Kashyk: "For what it's worth you made a tempting offer."

He rises. "The Bridge is yours."

The turbolift doors open. Kashyk looks back for a moment, then enters.

The doors close on him. Janeway is thoughtful - she has won and the Brenari are safe, but she has also lost because her romance with Kashyk was false. The Devore warships leave.