ONE SMALL STEP
Episode 128
Part E

 

Kelly: "Ares IV, mission record, October 25th. It's been a nice place to visit but I'm ready to come home. I've prepped the ion drive, channelled all the power from the thruster reserves into the main tank. I have enough fuel for one last engine burn. Wish me luck." He puts out his hand to put in place.....

.....a photograph of himself with his wife, which he tucks by the control panel.

Kelly: "Ignition sequence: five.....four.....three.....two- I'm losing pitch control. Gyros aren't responding. Power failure. I've got to abort. I'm not going to make it!"

Seven looks at the photograph. She cannot help but be moved. Carefully she returns it to its place.

Later, as Kelly's log continues to play, it is clear he is light-headed from lack of food now that his supplies have run out: "All systems go. Watch me Dad, I'm flying." He imitates an engine noise. "Bad landing. Call the MedEvac team. Ha." Paris: "Paris to Seven. Status?" Seven: "I've located the device but it's fused to the hull. Stand by." Paris: "Make it quick; we've got less than fifteen minutes." Seven: "Understood."

Kelly: "All systems go. Watch me, Dad, I'm flying." He imitates an engine noise. "Bad landing. Call the MedEvac team. Ha. John Kelly's first flight, not exactly A-OK. Remember that, Dad? Jumped off the roof with a parachute made of blankets. I guess I didn't calculate the aerodynamics. Of course, I was only six. I guess this is John Kelly's last flight. This time I can't blame it on pilot error. This time no regrets." Paris, a pilot, feels a connection with Kelly, understanding much of the young Kelly's motivation and his wanting to fly.

Kelly: "Oh, what I've seen proves we were right to come out here, and we're not alone, I know that now." His words speak right to Seven and Chakotay, who know how true they are.

The dying Kelly says weakly: "The module's losing power. I'm taking life support offline. Re-routing whatever's left to the imager. Keep it running as long as possible. Mission Control, Dad, whoever finds this, do me a favour. Take all the data I've collected. Put it to good use. I hope you don't look at this as a failure." He coughs. "I don't-"

Kelly: "Actually, I do have one regret. I never found out who won the World Series. I'm tired. I can't-"

They are his last recorded words. Kelly's image disappears from the screen as the log ends abruptly.

At the same time, Seven manages to free the ion distributor. She puts it down.

She gets out her tricorder and starts to download Kelly's database. Paris: "Paris to Seven. How's it going over there?" Seven: "I have the distributor. I'm downloading Lieutenant Kelly's database." Paris: "Hurry. We're running out of time."

The download completes. She closes the tricorder. She turns and goes over to Kelly's body. She places her combadge on him.

Seven: "Lock onto my bio-signature AND my combadge." Paris: "Seven?" Seven: "Energise!" She and Kelly's body are beamed to the Delta Flyer.

The Delta Flyer, adrift inside the graviton ellipse.

Inside the Delta Flyer Seven enters the cockpit and hands the ion distributor to Paris who checks it and starts installing it.

She takes her post.

Voyager's Bridge. Janeway, via comms: "Delta Flyer, report." Paris, via comms: "We're trying to integrate the distributor. Stand by, Captain." Contact ends.
Janeway: "How long do they have?" Tuvok: "Four minutes."

Paris: "Try bypassing the power couplings." Seven, after a short moment: "No effect."

Paris: "Re-sequence the ion modulators, see if that does it." It works. She reponds: "Power conversion in process."

Paris: "We have propulsion, shields."
Seven: "The plasma flow is still fluctuating."
Paris, coming over and briefly looking at her console instruments: "Stay on top of it."

Paris takes his seat at the helm. He opens a com. channel to Voyager: "Paris to Voyager." Janeway, via comms: "Go ahead." Paris, via comms: "Open the shuttlebay doors, we're coming home."

Paris working the helm controls

Janeway, via comms: "Acknowledged." Contact ends. Paris: "Laying in an escape trajectory."

Voyager waits close to the edge of the graviton ellipse.
Voyager's Bridge. Tuvok: "The ellipse is returning to subspace."
Janeway: "The Flyer?" Kim: "They're approaching the perimeter. 2,000 metres.....1800......"
Torres: "The anomaly's submerging." Janeway: "Are we in tractor range?" Tuvok: "Not yet." Janeway: "Take us closer." Torres: "Captain?" Janeway: "Do it." Tuvok: "They're still out of reach. Another 300 metres." Janeway: "Closer." Torres: "We'll be pulled right in with them."