PATHFINDER
Episode 130
Part C

Flashbacks are depicted in this style.

 

Later that day, in the Pathfinder lab, Harkins is briefing Admiral Paris on the project. Harkins: "The Delta Quadrant, sector 41751, grid nine. Voyager's Doctor reported this as the ship's position when his program was briefly transferred to Starfleet two years ago. Assuming they're still on course for Earth we've been able to extrapolate a range of likely trajectories. Estimating an average warp speed of six point two, and accounting for various astronomical obstacles, we can reasonably assume that Voyager is now in one of these three sectors." first sentence

The wall monitor displays an animated schematic of the MIDAS Array.

Admiral Paris: "Can we contact them?"
Harkins: "As you know, we've been working with the Vulcans on the deployment of the MIDAS Array. Though we're still in the testing phase we think it won't be long before we can use this technology to send signals at hyper-subspace speeds. A message that would normally take years to reach its destination could be received by Voyager in a matter of days."

Admiral Paris: "Impressive. Will they be able to respond?" Harkins: "No sir, but at least they'll know we're still looking for them. We'll send data on the hyper-subspace technology and hope they can eventually use it to return the call."

Barclay: "Excuse me, Admiral Paris."

Harkins: "Lieutenant Barclay." Barclay: "I, I'm sorry, Commander, it's just that there may be a way to establish, er, two-way communication with Voyager." Harkins: "Now is not the time." Admiral Paris: "It's alright, Mr Harkins, let the man speak." To Barclay: "I'm all ears, son."

Barclay: "Well, er, you see, there's a, er, class B itinerant, er, pulsar, er, and well, as you probably know, sir, sir, neutrino emissions, ah, oh, what I mean to say is that with the Array, we could open an artificial er, s-, a sing, singularity." Admiral Paris: "A wormhole?" Barclay claps excitedly. "Yes, yes, sir. We could use it as a conduit to to talk to Voyager."

Admiral Paris: "I can't give you high marks for clarity, Lieutenant, but you've certainly got my attention. Is there any merit to what he's saying?" Harkins: "Mr Barclay has a tendency to get ahead of himself, sir. Unfortunately, what he's suggesting is beyond our abilities." Barclay: "But you haven't even-" Harkins: "Mr Barclay!" Barclay: "I know that I haven't explained myself very well, but with all due respect, sir, what do we have to lose by trying? I think we're forgetting that there are a hundred and fifty people stranded in the Delta Quadrant!"

Admiral Paris: "I have a son on that ship, Lieutenant. I haven't forgotten that fact for a single moment." Barclay: "I'm sorry, sir. I, I didn't, er I didn't mean-"

Harkins: "Take the rest of the day off, Reg." Barclay: "But, but-"

Harkins: "That was NOT a suggestion." Realising he has blown it, Barclay leaves.

It has taken Barclay some time to explain to Troi, and it is now late afternoon. Troi: "How did you deal with your feelings afterwards?" Barclay: "What do you mean?" Troi: "Well, did you talk to Commander Harkins after the meeting? Apologise?" Barclay: "Well, no, I wanted to, er, fine-tune my plan, so, I er, just went right back to work." Troi: "Be more specific. What exactly did you do?" Barclay: "Well, I needed someone to er bounce ideas off of. Someone to help focus my thoughts." Troi: "Sounds reasonable. I suppose you consulted with some of your Pathfinder colleagues."

Barclay: "Well, not exactly." Troi, surmising what happened: "You went back to the Holodeck, didn't you?" Barclay: "They're the only people that I can talk to." Troi: "They're not people." Barclay: "I know, but they, they help me with my work." Troi: "Poker? Massages? Sleeping in holographic quarters? Sounds more like escape than work." Barclay: "I can't concentrate if I'm not relaxed." Troi: "Can't you relax with your friends?" Barclay: "Friends?"

Troi: "Commander Harkins invited you to his home. You went to the Holodeck instead." Barclay: "It's not what you're thinking, Deanna. This isn't a relapse of my holo-addiction." Troi: "OK. Tell me how the holograms helped you with your work." Barclay: "Well, I talked to them about my ideas. I worked out technical problems."

Pathfinder Holodeck - holo-Voyager's Briefing Room. Barclay: "I need specifics here, people."

Holo-Janeway: "Take us through it again, Mr Barclay, one step at a time. Maybe it'll spark an idea."

Barclay: "We've got our itinerant pulsar, we've got our interdimensional transponder array. How do we get our wormhole?" Holo-Torres: "This one could keep us up all night."

Barclay: "We know we can produce gravimetric energy, but can we do it at levels high enough to create the singularity?" Holo-Kim: "We're talking about a massive subspace reaction." Barclay: "Maybe that's the problem." Holo-Chakotay: "Reg?" Barclay: "Maybe we need to think smaller." Holo-Paris: "You're losing me."

Barclay: "And how much bandwidth do we really need? The average wormhole is huge, but if we compressed the datastream-" Holo-Torres, building on Barclay's idea: "We wouldn't need a conduit anywhere near as big."

Holo-Janeway: "What's your idea?" Barclay: "A micro-wormhole."

Holo-Tuvok: "Impressive."

Holo-Janeway: "You've outdone yourself this time, Reg." Barclay: "I'll still need, erm, help with the details." Holo-Janeway: "Put together a team. Use whatever resources you need."

Barclay, while basking in the adulation of the holo-staff, is pleased that he has come up with the solution to his theory's problem.

Pathfinder Holodeck - holo-Voyager Engineering. Barclay and Holo-Chakotay are playing catch with a ball. Barclay: "A power ratio of approximately 60 terawatts should do the trick." Holo-Chakotay: "You think that's enough?"

Barclay: "Should be, but then we have to compensate for gravimetric interference." Holo-Torres: "And how do we do that?" Barclay: "I was thinking, what if we applied a narrowband filter to the transponder signal?"

Holo-Chakotay: "Barclay strikes again." He throws the ball to Barclay but Harkins, who has just entered, catches it. Harkins: "What's going on here?" Barclay: "Commander."

Holo-Torres: "Who's your friend, Reg?" Harkins: "Yes, aren't you going to introduce me?" Barclay: "Computer, delete characters."

Above and left: Holo-Chakotay and Holo-Torres go offline.

Harkins: "I thought I told you to go home." Barclay: "I was, er, working." Harkins: "You call this work? You've created holograms of the Voyager crew." Barclay: "Oh, it's, it's not what you think. It's an interactive, er, diagnostic program. I designed it to help me solve problems." Harkins: "How long have you been in here?" Barclay: "Since the briefing." Harkins: "The briefing ended ten hours ago."

Barclay: "I, I know that I er embarrassed you in front of the Admiral, and I'm, I'm sorry. I wanted to refine my idea so that I could present you with a specific plan and I've done that, Pete. You were right about the wormhole idea being too expansive. So I've, I've scaled it back."

Harkins: "All the extra time you've been putting in. If I checked the holo-logs, would I find you've been spending those hours in here?" Barclay: "Well, not, not ALL that time." Harkins: "How much of it?" Barclay: "Maybe, er, twenty or thirty hours a week." Harkins: "Don't you think that's a little excessive?" Barclay: "Erm, not if it helps us contact Voyager."

Harkins: "Before I brought you onto my team, I reviewed your file. You've struggled with holo-addiction before. From where I stand it looks like you've had a relapse." Barclay: "I, I know it it may look that way-"

Harkins: "I think you need counselling." Barclay: "What I need is for you to pay attention to my ideas!" Harkins: "I should've been paying more attention to your behaviour. I thought I was being a friend by giving you some leeway. I didn't realise how involved you've become with Voyager."

Barclay flings his arm out to point to a vast distance away: "...sixty THOUSAND light years from home?!"

Barclay: "Is it really so wrong? Do you have any idea what it must be like for them to be stranded sixty THOUSAND light years from home?! Do you have any idea how lonely that must be?"

Harkins: "I'm sorry, Reg, but until you get some help you're off the project." Barclay: "You, you can't do that." Harkins: "You've given me no choice. This hologrid and the lab are officially off-limits. Now go home."

Barclay: "I won't leave. Not until you've heard what I have to say." Harkins: "Reg! Don't make me call Security."

Later on at Starfleet Command...

Admiral Paris is in his office working, when the intercom buzzes. Admiral Paris: "What is it, Nicole?" His secretary, Nicole, via intercom: "He's still here." Admiral Paris: "You told him I have a meeting scheduled at fifteen hundred?" Nicole, via intercom: "Yes, sir. He won't go away." Admiral Paris: "Send him in." Nicole, via intercom: "Yes, sir."

Barclay enters, carrying a PADD. The screenshot shows a picture of Tom Paris on his father's desk, from the time when Tom was a cadet at Starfleet Academy.

Barclay: "Admiral, er, thank you, thank you for seeing me."
Admiral Paris: "You're frightening my secretary, Mr Barclay. You have five minutes."
Barclay: "Five minutes. Right."
Admiral Paris: "Sit down."
Barclay takes a seat.

Barclay: "Er, first, first I, I want to apologise for speaking out of turn yesterday. It's, it's only because I, I, I care so much about Voyager." Admiral Paris: "Yes, Commander Harkins has informed me about your attachment to the crew. I understand you've been spending time with a holographic re-creation of my son, among others. Frankly, I find that rather disturbing." Barclay: "Well, I understand how, how you could see it that way but, er, that does not negate the fact that I have a plan for communicating with Voyager." He hands the Admiral his PADD.

Admiral Paris, looking at it: "Commander Harkins doesn't seem to think your plan is viable." Barclay: "I have refined the idea. I've simplified it. All I'm asking for is a chance to try, and if I'm right it could mean a chance to talk to Tom."

Admiral Paris looks at the photo of his son that is on his desk.

But the Admiral hands back the PADD. "In my opinion, Commander Harkins removed you from the project with good cause, and that's his prerogative. I won't let my personal feelings interfere with Starfleet procedure."

Barclay: "I, I've broken protocol and I should be punished, but the crew of the Voyager shouldn't be, and neither, neither should you. I just need access to the lab for one more day. After that, if I er, if I'm wrong, I'll resign my commission."

Admiral Paris: "I'll order a review of your findings. If it's concluded your ideas are valid, I'll instruct Commander Harkins to pursue it." Barclay: "But I'm the one who knows the-" Admiral Paris: "That's the best I can do, Mr Barclay. Good day." Barclay puts the PADD on the desk and leaves.