EQUINOX

Episode 120 (Season 5) and Episode 121 (Season 6)
Part C

 

In a corridor Gilmore catches up with Chakotay. Gilmore: "Commander? Erm, I've been assign to one of the repair crews on the Equinox and I was wondering if I could join a different team, maybe one on Voyager." Chakotay: "Problem?" Gilmore: "Just a little post-traumatic stress syndrome." Chakotay: "Bad memories?" Gilmore: "A few." Chakotay: "Actually I could use someone with your engineering abilities." Gilmore: "Well, thank you. Such a clean ship. I'm used to falling bulkheads and missing deck plates." Chakotay: "In a few weeks you won't even recognise the Equinox. You'll be happy to go back." Gilmore: "Unless I stay. You said you could use someone with my engineering abilities?" Chakotay: "I don't think your captain would appreciate that. He's got a skeleton crew as it is. Engineering's five decks down. It's a long crawl through the Jefferies tubes." To the turbolift: "Deck 11." Gilmore: "I haven't set foot in a turbolift in over 3 months." Chakotay: "Claustrophobia?" Gilmore: "If one of those fissures opened up in here, where would we take cover?" The turbolift makes a slight whining sound. Chakotay: "It's only a graviton relay. Nothing to worry about." Gilmore: "Do I look worried?" But she imagines she hears a fissure opening and the fear is too much. "Emergency stop!" The lift stops at a floor and she gets out. She regains enough composure to say: "Erm, if you don't mind I think I'd rather take the Jefferies tube." Chakotay replies tactfully: "I could use the exercise."

Astrometrics Lab. Seven: "I've run a thermographic analysis of our shields. It revealed multiple stress points. We believe they're the result of alien attempts to infiltrate our vessels."

Tuvok: "Each time a fissure opens within a metre of our shields it weakens them by .3 per cent. At the present rate, we have less than two days to mount a defence." Seven: "According to your bio-scans the aliens can survive in our realm for only several seconds."

Ransom: "They're like a fish out of water. But they can do a lot of damage in those seconds." Tuvok: "Nevertheless it is a tactical weakness. Perhaps we can exploit it." Burke: "What have you got in mind?" Seven: "If we can show them that we have the ability to hold them h ere they'll think twice about launching another attack." Janeway: "Well, the question is, how do we catch these fish?"

Burke: "You build a net." Janeway: "Commander?" Burke: "A multiphasic forcefield, to be exact. We wanted to see what we were up against. So we built a small chamber that could keep one of them trapped for several minutes." Janeway: "If we could expand on that technology, we might be able to create a latticework of multiphasic forcefields around both ships." Burke: "Rudy?"

Ransom: "If Captain Janeway agrees." Janeway: "We'll need to examine that stasis chamber." Ransom: "I'm afraid that won't be possible. It's in our research lab. That whole section was flooded with thermionic radiation during the last attack. It'll be days before anyone can go in there." Burke: "The design schematics are in our auxiliary datacore." Ransom: "I'll see if I can download them." To Janeway: "Will you give me a hand?"

USS Voyager and USS Equinox.

Janeway and Ransom are on the Equinox bridge, downloading the schematics. Janeway: "I couldn't help but notice your crew calls you by your first name." Ransom: "When you've spent as much time in the trenches as we have, rank and protocol are luxuries. Besides, we're a long way from Starfleet Command." Janeway: "I know the feeling."

Ransom: "You seem to run a pretty tight ship."
Janeway: "We've been known to let our hair down from time to time, but I find that maintaining protocol reminds us of where we came from and hopefully where we're going."
Ransom: "It seems to work quite well for you."
Janeway: "Oh, we've overcome our share of obstacles - warp core breaches, ion storms, a few rounds with the Borg..."
Ransom: "Borg? We have seen so much as a cube since the day we arrived."
Janeway: "Consider yourself lucky."
Ransom: "Have you ever run into the Krowtonan Guard?"
Janeway: "Never heard of them."
Ransom: "That's how we spent our first week in the Delta Quadrant. They claimed we'd violated their territory. I gave the order to keep going. I lost thirty-nine - half my crew."
Janeway: "I'm sorry."
Ransom: "We never recovered from that loss. It changed everything."
Janeway: "What do you mean?"
Ransom: "When I first realised that we'd be travelling across the Delta Quadrant for the rest of our lives, I told my crew we had a duty as Starfleet officers to expand our knowledge and uphold our principles. After a couple of years we started to forget that we were explorers. There were times when we nearly forgot we were human beings."

Janeway: "This is a Nova-class science vessel, designed for short-term research missions - minimal weapons, you can't even go faster than warp 8. Frankly, I don't know how you've done it. You've obviously travelled as far as we have, with much fewer resources." Ransom: "I wish I could take all the credit, but we stumbled across a wormhole, made a few enhancements to our warp engines. May I ask you something, captain to captain? The Prime Directive: how often have you broken it for the sake of protecting your crew?"

Janeway: "Broken it? Never. Bent it, on occasion. And even then, it was a difficult choice. What about you?" Ransom: "I've walked the line once or twice but nothing serious."

Ransom ponders their conversation.

Once the download is complete, Ransom looks up. He notices the ship's dedication plaque on the floor: "There you are." He picks it up, wipes it clean.

Janeway: "It's a good omen. Let's put it back where it belongs."

USS Voyager and USS Equinox.

Ransom enters Voyager's Messhall and approaches Burke who is eating a meal. Ransom: "I thought I'd find you here." Burke: "How could I resist after two years on emergency rations..."

Ransom: "Don't get too comfortable. If Janeway's any indication, these people will never understand." Burke: "They're going to find out eventually." Ransom: "Not if we keep them out of the research lab and away from the warp core injectors. And be careful what you say around their crew and that includes old girlfriends." Burke: "Understood." Ransom samples a bit of Burke's meal before leaving. "Not bad."

Lessing enters the Astrometrics Lab where Seven is working. Lessing: "How's my angel of mercy?" Seven: "Crewman Lessing, I didn't expect you to recover so quickly." Lessing: "You've got an outstanding EMH. Ours can barely hold a laser scalpel." Seven: "The Doctor is efficient." Lessing: "I've been assigned to help you sort through the biodata. You saved my life. The least I can do is save you a little time."

Suddenly they hear the sound of a fissure opening! They draw their phasers.

On the Bridge Tuvok reports: "Lateral shields are offline." Chakotay: "How's that possible?

Kim: "Fissures are opening on decks 1, 8 and 11!" Chakotay: "Re-route power!" It works and the fissures cannot open. Kim: "What happened?" Tuvok: "Apparently the aliens began to focus their attacks on a single shield vector. It collapsed before the auxiliary emitters could respond." Chakotay: "Looks like they've changed their tactics. We may have less time than we thought."

In the Briefing Room, they look at schematics on the wall-mounted monitor display.

Seven: "We've examined the schematics of your multiphasic chamber. It can be adapted. We intend to create an auto-initiating security grid." Tuvok: "The moment an alien invades either ship, a forcefield will surround it."

Seven: "Once we modify our field generator to emit multiphasic frequencies, it will power the security grids on both ships." A schematic of the field generator comes up on the screen. Janeway: "How long will it take?" Tuvok: "Approximately fourteen hours." Gilmore: "We don't know when they'll break through again. We may not last that long."

Chakotay: "We could cut that time in half if we evacuate all personnel from the Equinox and focus our efforts here on Voyager." Ransom: "Remember we are still 35,000 light-years from Earth. We should try to preserve both ships." Burke: "With two vessels we'd be able to pool our resources, double our chance of finding a shortcut home." Janeway: "Normally I'd agree, but right now one of our ships is vulnerable. Chakotay's right. We should make our stand on Voyager."

Ransom: "I don't mean to force the issue, but I am prepared to return to the Equinox with my crew. What is the protocol for this situation? We have two captains and two ships. Who gets the last word?"

Janeway: "Starfleet Regulation 191, Article 14: 'In a combat situation involving more than one ship, command falls to the vessel with tactical superiority.' I looked it up this morning." Ransom: "Good thinking." Janeway: "In this case protocol recognises my authority." Ransom: "Are you ordering me to abandon my ship?" Janeway: "I'd rather not have to." Ransom: "And that protocol was written in the Alpha Quadrant. I'm not sure that it makes much sense out here." Janeway: "The regulation stands."

Ransom gives in gracefully: "Who am I to dispute protocol." To Burke: "Give Captain Janeway your full co-operation." Burke: "Rudy-" Ransom: "Max, that's an order. We'll get through this." To Janeway: "If that's all, Captain, I'd like to go back to my quarters and collect a few mementoes." Janeway: "By all means."

Burke enters the upper engineering level.

He sets a tricorder on top of a contol console and initiates a download of the data and schematics of the multiphasic field generator discussed earlier.

Torres, who is coming up the ladder to this level, sees him. Torres jokes: "Intruder alert." She approaches. "Same old Max, going through my things. That's a command station. It's off limits without my direct authorisation." Burke: "I didn't realise. Are you going to throw me in the Brig?" Torres: "I think we can overlook this infraction. Can I help you with something?"

Burke lies: "Just doing some homework, studying your propulsion system. If there's a chance I'm going to be stuck on Voyager, I figured I should learn my way around." He continues: "Maybe you could tutor me, over dinner?" Torres: "Problem is, you were never really interested in the work, or the meal. Something tells me you haven't changed." Burke: "You'd be surprised. I'm not the- What did you once call me?" Torres: "Pahtk." Burke: "Pahtk. I'm not the pahtk I used to be. Let me prove it to you."

Torres: "Look, Max. Don't get me wrong. It's good to see you again, but ten years-" Burke: "Tom Paris." Torres: "Tom Paris." Burke: "You could do worse." The download completed, he collects the tricorder. "So we're still on for dinner?" Torres, amused: "Get going! Or I will throw you in the Brig."

 

TOP

BACK

PREVIOUS

NEXT

DRAMATIS PERSONAE