 | In Sickbay the Doctor displays his findings on the monitor.
Doctor: "I found something, and you're not going to like it. This is Mr Paris' memory engram for the past 24 hours. As you can see, it has a consistent and very distinctive modulation, except at 1350 hours. For 1 minute 47 seconds a different memory pattern appeared. 1350 hours is also the exact moment when Mr Paris apparently tampered with navigational control. It gets worse. In addition to that, there is another disruption at 1202 hours, the moment when he allegedly entered the new course at the helm. I also found there's an identical disruption in Lieutenant Torres' pattern at the moment that she shut down warp power. I should point out that this is a neuroelectrical signature, what I believe to be another brainwave that was superimposed on their own." |
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 | Paris: "Another brainwave? Whose?"
Doctor: "I don't know. It has an unusual energy signature, one I've never seen before." Janeway: "Doctor, what are you saying?" Doctor: "One possible explanation, and the only one I can think of at the moment, is that an unknown alien entity momentarily took control of their minds." |
 | Tuvok taps his combadge.  combadge "Intruder alert. All security personnel go to Condition 4." To Janeway: "Captain, it is possible that the intruder returned with us in the shuttlecraft."
Janeway: "If you're right, and there is an alien here, it seems intent on preventing us from going back to the nebula. What's more, it seems to have the ability to jump from person to person. If that's true, it could be in any one of us, controlling our actions without us realising it." |
Doctor: "Well, except for me."
They turn to him as the realise the significance of this.
Paris: "That's true. So far it's only affected organic beings. If it could control the computer and navigational controls directly, it would've done it already.
Janeway: "Which means the Doctor is the only person on board we can trust at this moment. Doctor, until we have eliminated this alien presence, I can't take the risk that it could take over any of the senior officers. I'd like to transfer all command codes to you until further notice."
Doctor: "What would that mean? That I'm in command?"
Janeway: "No. But you will act as a fail-safe. If you feel at any time that any of us are under the influence of the alien, you can countermand our orders and take control of the ship. Do you feel up to it?"
Doctor: "Well, of course. I make life and death decisions every day."
Paris jokes sarcastically: "I feel better already."
Janeway: "Computer, transfer all command codes to the holographic Doctor. Authorisation Janeway 841-alpha-65."
Computer: "Command code transfer complete."
Janeway: "Let's see if we can get the warp core back online ahead of schedule."
Torres: "Aye, Captain."
 | Kes hurries up to them. "Captain! I heard what's happened. I think you're right. There is an alien presence here. I've been sensing something unusual all day. I don't know how to describe it but I know there's something here."
Janeway: "Do you know where?" Kes: "No. Just that it's on the ship." Tuvok: "Captain, Kes' telepathic abilities are undisciplined. If I could initiate a Vulcan mind-meld with her, I may be able to help her focus those abilities to detect the alien more accurately." Kes: "I'm willing to do that." Janeway: "Very well. Proceed, Mr Tuvok." Accordingly Tuvok and Kes move away together. |
What none of them realise is that an unidentified invisible presence is moving toward them during their discussion, and it sees Tuvok and Kes leaving together!
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 | Durst and Kim are walking along a corridor.
Kim: "The Captain wants to seal off all critical areas of the ship, make sure that access hatch to Jefferies tube A17 is secured." Durst: "So, what exactly are we securing against?" Kim: "We're not sure yet, but we think it's some form of non-corporeal alien." |
 | Durst: "Non-corporeal?" They stop at the entrance to a turbolift and summon it. "That means it can probably move right through a bulk-" |
 | He stops because the turbolift doors open....to reveal Tuvok and Kes sprawled unconscious! |
 | At once Kim taps his combadge. combadge "Medical emergency, deck 7 section 13 alpha!" |
 | Kes has been attacked and wounded! |
Janeway: "Captain's log, supplemental. It appears that Mr Tuvok and Kes were hit by an unidentified energy discharge. Tuvok was not badly hurt but Kes is in a coma."
 | Voyager's Briefing Room.
Tuvok: "It was similar to the attack on the shuttlecraft. An energy discharge came through the bulkhead, filled the turbolift and hit both of us." |
 | Torres: "We didn't pick up a discharge of any kind on the internal sensors."
Tuvok: "Perhaps this type of energy is beyond our sensor bandwidth." Perhaps, but that discharge had to come from somewhere." |
 | Paris: "The most thorough scanning device we have on board is a magneton scanner. We could search the ship centimetre by centimetre." Thinking further: "But that wouldn't do much good. This alien could be anywhere at any time."
Torres: "But what if we could perform a magneton scan on the entire ship all at once." |
 | Janeway: "What do you suggest?"
Torres: "A magneton flash scan. We could reconfigure every sensor array on this ship to emit a single burst. It might be enough to illuminate any anomalous energy. Harry, what do you think?" |
 | But Kim is not paying attention. Indeed, he looks abstracted....as if maybe taken over by the alien being! |
 | Tuvok immediately rises and points a phaser at him. Torres gets out a tricorder and scans Kim.
Kim suddenly notices everyone staring at him. "Whoa! What did I do?" Tuvok: "Stay where you are, Mr Kim." Torres reports on the tricorder's read-outs. "I don't see anything unusual, but that doesn't mean anything." |
 | Janeway: "Mr Kim, what were you doing just now?"
Kim: "I was just thinking. I was remembering an old study I saw about magneton scanners." Apologetically, "I guess my mind started to wander a bit." Janeway: "I'm very disturbed by what just happened here. We don't have any idea what occurs when someone is occupied by this alien presence. If we start pointing a finger every time somebody gets distracted it won't be long before outright paranoia starts sweeping the ship." To Tuvok, who has now holstered his phaser, and Torres: "Tuvok, B'Elanna, I want you to get started on that magneton flash scan. It's worth a try." To everyone: "Dismissed." |
| In Sickbay the Doctor is scanning the still unconscious Kes. He is being hampered by also having to cope with Neelix, who is getting in his way and who is also suffering the very 'paranoia' that Janeway mentioned during the staff meeting.
Neelix: "And that's not all. Ensign Parsons ordered his pejuta cold." Doctor: "So?" Neelix: "He always drinks it hot, hot!, with lemon. But not today. Today it's cold pejuta, hold the lemon." Doctor: "Mr Neelix, just because a man changes his drink order doesn't mean he's possessed by an alien." Neelix: "Nevertheless, don't you think you should scan him or dissect him or something? - just to make sure."
Doctor: "I could examine every crewmember you've mentioned so far, everyone on board for that matter, and it wouldn't do any good. From what we can tell, the alien can jump to person to person at will." Neelix is suspicious. "Sounds to me like you're defending Ensign Parsons." Doctor: "I'm not defending him. I'm just pointing out that you're acting a little paranoid. In fact, one could say you're acting a little too paranoid." |
 | Neelix is excessively offended by the suggestion. He splutters: "Are you suggesting...that I could possibly be...?! Doctor, I can assure you that not even an alien intruder could make me do anything to hurt Kes!"
The Doctor tries to make him understand common sense. "All I'm suggesting, Mr Neelix, is that paranoia is only going to aggravate your already precarious emotional condition. Try to relax. I don't think Kes has suffered any permanent neurological damage. I'll let you know the moment I've had any success in reviving her." |
 | Neelix has to accept this. He tells the unconscious Kes: "I'll be back as soon as you wake, dearest. Don't worry, you're in good hands." He hugs the Doctor: "Thank you, Doctor." then reluctantly leaves. |
 | The Doctor notices that Tuvok, upon his arrival in Sickbay, is accessing a wall-mounted control panel. Impatiently he demands: "What are you doing?"
Tuvok: "I am reconfiguring the sensor relays on the ship. This will only take a minute." Doctor: "Must you do it now? I'm in the middle of a treatment." Tuvok: "I am sorry, Doctor. Captain's orders." |
 | He completes the job, then moves over to Kes and enquires: "How is she?"
Doctor: "No irreparable damage. In fact, her injuries are quite different from Commander Chakotay's. Her bioneural energy is completely intact, and I'm curious about these contusions on her neck and shoulder. They're not consistent with an energy discharge. They look more like wounds sustained during a physical struggle." Tuvok: "Odd. There was no physical struggle that I can recall." |
 | Doctor: "I just don't understand it. The only thing these injuries come close to resembling is an extreme trauma to the trapezius nerve bundle. It's as though her nerve fibres have been ruptured." |
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