ONE SMALL STEP
Episode 128
Part B

 

84Kb	Voyager following the graviton ellipse.

Briefing Room. Torres, indicating an animated schematic of the Ares IV command module: "She was 46 metres, 92 metric tonnes, powered by a third-generation ion drive, and equipped with a trans-spectral imager."

Chakotay: "Ares IV was piloted by Lieutenant John Kelly." He heads towards his seat. "His ground team, astronauts Rose Kumagawa and Andrei Novakovich, were close to completing their survey mission when Kelly reported an object closing on his position. Then he and the command module disappeared off NASA's LIDAR scopes."

Paris: "And into the history books. That incident almost derailed the Mars program."

Tuvok: "Mankind's first encounter with a spatial anomaly."

Chakotay: "Seven, you said the Borg were working on a way to get inside a graviton ellipse." Seven: "Shield enhancements." Paris: "Well, maybe we could apply the same enhancements to the Flyer." Seven: "Captain, do you intend to try to find the command module?"

Janeway: "Or what's left of it." Tuvok: "By my calculations we have less than 16 hours before the anomaly goes back into subspace." Janeway: "Then we have to work quickly. Harry, B'Elanna, help Seven modify the Flyer's shields. Tom, review the database from the Ares IV mission. It might tell us something about this anomaly we've missed. We're going to need a mission leader."

Chakotay: "I volunteer." Janeway smiles at him. "I thought you might."

Janeway to all: "Let's do it." Everyone gets up and starts to leave, except Seven. Janeway notices and stops. "Something on your mind, Seven?"

Seven: "The anomaly is as dangerous and unpredictable now as it was three hundred years ago." Janeway: "The Delta Flyer's a little more advanced than the Ares IV was. We'll be taking every precaution." Seven: "That may not be enough."

Janeway: "I appreciate your concern but this is my call." Seven: "Searching for the command module seems more sentimental than scientific." Janeway: "I can't argue with that. If scientific knowledge was all we were after then the Federation would've built a fleet of probes, not starships. Exploration is about seeing things with your own eyes. In this case we're exploring the past."

Seven: "How will retrieving this artefact enhance your appreciation of history?" Janeway: "By making us part of it. In the same way that excavating the obelisks of ancient Vulcan or finding the Shroud of Kahless made those explorers a part of their history." She sighs. "Here's the crux of it. As a Borg you didn't study the past, you ingested it. You've never really developed an appreciation for humanity's history. Maybe this is an opportunity for you to do some exploring of your own."

Seven: "Are you ordering me to join this mission?" Janeway: "Let's just say I'm encouraging you to volunteer."

In the Astrometrics Lab, Chakotay and Paris are watching and listening to last recorded transmission from the Ares IV. Kelly: "It's no solar flare. Wow!" Kumagawa, via comms: "John, can you describe it?" Kelly: "It's at least a thousand metres wide. Bright." Novakovich, via comms: "Your transmission's breaking up." Kelly: "It's generating an electromagnetic radiation, interfering with primary systems. I can't get away from it. Activating the trans-spectral imager. I'll record as much data as I can. It's right on top of me! I'll transmit as much as I can." The transmission ends abruptly.

Paris: "That's all she wrote." Chakotay: "NASA received Kelly's last telemetry at 0922 hours, October 19th, 2032."

Paris: "I thought I was the Mars buff. You seem to know more about the Ares IV than I do." Chakotay: "The Mars missions paved the way for the exploration of space. Kelly was one of my childhood heroes." Paris: "Yeah, mine too."

Chakotay: "That's dedication. The man's life is about to end but he won't stop taking readings." Paris: "Makes you wonder if those old-timers were made of sterner stuff than we are." Chakotay: "You think we have it easy?" Paris: "Are you kidding? Warp drive, shields, transporters. We're travelling in the lap of luxury." Chakotay: "Kelly and Kumagawa, Armstrong and Glenn - they were the real pioneers."

Seven enters, carrying a PADD. Seven: "Am I interrupting?" Paris: "We were just admiring someone - fellow-explorer." Seven: "Hero worship - the glorification of an individual's accomplishment." Chakotay: "I guess you didn't have many role models growing up." Seven: "In the Collective, personal accomplishments are irrelevant."

Seven: "The shield modifications to the Flyer are complete." She hands him the PADD and he looks at it. "We're ready for launch." Chakotay: "We?" Seven: "You'll need someone familiar with Borg technology to monitor the shields. I'm volunteering."

Paris: "Er, you don't sound too happy about it." Seven: "I'm not, but this mission can benefit from my expertise." Chakotay: "In that case, welcome aboard."

Sickbay. Doctor: "I'm preparing an inoculant to counter the effects of gravimetric radiation. Of course, if you were a hologram you'd simply adjust your mobile emitter. That's what I did on Arakis Prime, one of my first away missions." Seven: "I don't recall that." Doctor: "This was before you came aboard. Such an enchanting planet - crystalline glaciers, magnesium vapour atmosphere. I had to stop my scans just to admire the sheer beauty of it, to 'smell the roses' to coin a phrase." Seven: "An inefficient use of your time." Doctor: "Perhaps. We're all finished here, except for one thing." He picks up his holocamera. "Would you record some images when you're inside the ellipse, for those of us not lucky enough to make the trip?" Seven takes the holocamera. "You envy my participation on this mission." Doctor: "There isn't a crewman aboard who doesn't." Seven: "Why?" Doctor: "I can only tell you how I felt that morning when I materialised on Arakis Prime. I left my footprints in the magnesite dust and thought, one small step for a hologram, one giant leap for mankind." Seven, echoing his earlier words: "To coin a phrase." Doctor: "Well, I know the sentiment isn't exactly original, but the fact is I was exhilarated." The com. signal sounds. Chakotay, via comms: "Chakotay to Seven of Nine. Report to Shuttlebay 2." Doctor, as Seven departs: "Good luck."

The Delta Flyer launches and heads toward the graviton ellipse.

Paris: "We're approaching the perimeter in five..... four..... three...... two..... one....."

The ellipse as seen through the front window of the Delta Flyer.

Voyager's Bridge. Tuvok: "We're within 2,000 kilometres. Gravimetric interference is increasing." Torres: "It's nothing compared to what they're going through. They're really getting knocked around in there."

Kim: "Their shields have weakened but they're still holding."

Janeway: "Harry, keep your finger on that tractor beam in case we have to pull them out." Torres: "They're approaching the anomaly's core. We've lost sensor contact." Janeway turns and looks toward Ops: "Harry?" Kim: "The comlink is still active."

Delta Flyer - cockpit.
Paris: "The gravimetric shear is increasing."
Seven: "I'm reading diminished turbulence directly ahead."

Chakotay: "Full thrusters, Tom. Punch us through." The Delta Flyer enters the graviton ellipse. They stare at the inside - it is littered with debris which includes the remains of unidentified spacecraft.

Chakotay, via comms: "Chakotay to Voyager. We're in."

On Voyager's Bridge everyone is listening intently to Chakotay's report. Chakotay, via comms: "I wish you could see this, Captain, it's incredible." Janeway, via comms: "We're all ears." Chakotay, via comms: "It's very calm. No gravimetric distortions. The EM activity is creating a natural luminescence. Tom called it mood lighting." Paris, via comms: "Hey, B'Elanna, it's the perfect romantic getaway." Torres, via comms: "I'll take your word for it." Janeway smiles.

Chakotay, via comms: "We've detected asteroid fragments, pieces of vessels, matter from every quadrant of the galaxy. Next time I lose something I'll know where to look. Instead of a graviton ellipse we should call it the kitchen sink anomaly. The chemical interactions have even created a primitive atmosphere." Paris, via comms: "Nothing you'd want to breathe, of course." Janeway, via comms: "What do you make of it, Seven?" Seven, via comms: "Well, I suppose it's intriguing. Some of the matter appears to be extra-dimensional in origin." Kim: "Sounds like this anomaly's gotten around." Janeway, via comms: "Any sign of the Ares command module?"

Paris, via comms: "We're picking up traces of the hull, but our sensor readings are being refracted by all the debris in here." Tuvok: "That was a gravimetric surge caused by the anomaly changing course by .006 degrees."

Suddenly Voyager trembles. Janeway, via comms: "We just had a big jolt out here." Chakotay, via comms: "We didn't feel a thing." Janeway, via comms: "By our estimates you have 5 hours 36 minutes before the anomaly returns to subspace. You'd better get a move on." Chakotay, via comms: "Understood." Contact ends.

Seven: "I'm having difficulty isolating the debris from the command module."

Paris: "I'll lay in a search pattern. It may take a couple of hours to cover an area this large." Chakotay: "Seven and I can use the time to take some samples, get a better idea of where this anomaly's been."

Seven: "We should focus on achieving our objective and returning to Voyager." Chakotay: "We're not here just to find a module, we've got an opportunity to ex-"

Seven finishes his sentence: "To explore." She adds: "I am familiar with our mission." Chakotay: "In that case, let's get started."