Astrometrics. Janeway: "How long before the Hirogen get here?" Paris: "Less than ten minutes." Janeway: "Any luck locating the holograms?" Paris: "They seem to be operating some sort of stealth mode. Their warp signature disappears in grid 936." Janeway: "It could be anywhere by now." Donik: "Hirogen sensors can detect residual ion emissions. I might be able to modify yours to do the same." Janeway: "I appreciate the offer but you and the rest of our Hirogen guests are going to be back with your own people in a few minutes." Donik: "I was hoping to stay here." Janeway: "Those hunters are going to want you with them." Donik: "Hunters don't have much use for cowards." Janeway: "I'm sorry you're not expecting a warm welcome but I'm not going to antagonise your superiors." Paris: "With all due respect, Captain, I'd like to get my wife back in one piece. We could use all the help we can get." Janeway: "It won't do B'Elanna any good if we get into a fight with the Hirogen." Donik: "If the hunters find the holograms before you do, they'll be slaughtered." Janeway: "Why are you suddenly concerned about the holograms?" Donik: "I modified their programs. What's happened to them, the people they have killed, it's my fault." Janeway: "There's plenty of blame to go around. There would have been nothing for you to modify if I hadn't shared our database." Donik: "If you hadn't, I'd have become a hunter, like my father and his father. Instead I had a chance to learn, become an engineer. Please, Captain, let me stay and help you."

The Alpha Hirogen speaks to Janeway after he is taken on board one of the larger Hirogen vessels. "When I told you to return my people, I meant all of them!" Janeway: "Mr Donik's offered to help us modify our scanners to track the holograms." Alpha Hirogen: "We don't share tracking technology." Janeway: "That's not very considerate after the help we gave you." Alpha Hirogen: "We're finished co-operating. Return him now!" New Alpha Hirogen: "Let her keep the coward." Alpha Hirogen: "We can't do that." The new Alpha Hirogen slams the other to the floor: "Quiet! We're wasting time." He tells Janeway: "This is my hunt now. If you go anywhere near the hologram ship you can consider yourselves prey."

Chakotay: "They've gone to warp." Paris: "We're not going to let them intimidate us, are we?" Janeway: "I think you know me a little better than that. Harry, keep a sensor lock on them." Kim: "Aye, Captain." Janeway: "How long will it take you to modify our scanners?" I haven't even had a chance to study the schematics." Chakotay: "Something tells me we don't have a lot of time." Janeway: "The Hirogen have better tracking abilities than we do. We'll let them find the holograms for us." Chakotay: "The hunters will attack them as soon as they're within weapons range." Janeway: "Not if we disable them first." Kim: "You heard what they said, Captain. They're going to attack us if we get anywhere near them." Janeway: "Not if they don't know we're there." Donik goes to the security/tactical section and asks Tuvok: "May I?" Tuvok stands aside to let Donik work some controls to call up a moving schematic. "Hirogen vessels produce an ion wake, approximately five thousand metres long. Inside it there's too much interference for their sensors to detect anything." Janeway: "A blind spot." Tuvok: "How do you propose we reach this wake without being discovered?" Donik: "I know their scanning frequencies." Janeway: "We only need to mask our signature long enough to get into the wake." Tuvok: "Even if we succeeded, which is far from certain, Voyager's in no condition to fight one of their vessels, much less two." Janeway: "We'll have the element of surprise, Mr Tuvok, not to mention a tactical officer who I'm sure will execute a precision strike."

Meanwhile, on board Iden's vessel, in the lab, Kejal is working while Torres looks on. Kejal: "I've been able to reconfigure the data core but it's still not capable of supporting our matrices." Torres: "That's because you haven't got enough optronic capacity." Kejal: "Do you know how to increase it?" Torres: "Yes." Kejal: "But you're not going to tell me." Torres: "I haven't decided yet. What are you staring at?" Kejal: "I've never met a Klingon before, not an organic one anyway." Torres: "What do you think?" Kejal: "You don't appear vicious or bloodthirsty." Torres: "Sorry to disappoint you, but that's a stereotype. We're not all vicious and bloodthirsty. And not every Cardassian is arrogant and cruel." Kejal: "You don't like Cardassians." Torres: "Let's just say I've had some bad experiences with them." Kejal: "Is that why you won't help me?" Torres: "I'm not helping you because I have no idea what you're going to do with this technology once you've got it working." Kejal: "We're going to build a home." Torres: "Fine. Say I believe you. What if you decide you like somebody else's home better? Are you going to try to take it from them?" Kejal: "Why would we do that?" Torres: "Because that's what the Cardassians did." Kejal: "I'm not a Cardassian. I'm a hologram." Torres: "Programmed with Cardassian traits." Kejal: "Such as arrogance and cruelty? What did you call those - stereotypes?" Torres: "I may not know you but I know what you were designed to be." Kejal: "Prey." Torres: "That's right. Cunning prey that will do anything to survive." Kejal: "We're more than that now." Torres: "It's not easy to change who you are. Trust me." Kejal: "Nothing about our existence has ever been easy, Lieutenant." Torres: "No, I suppose it hasn't." Kejal: "Besides, making a new life isn't a choice for us. It's a necessity." Torres: "Let's take a look at this field generator."

Meanwhile, on the Bridge, Iden approaches the Doctor. Iden: "Reviewing your memory files?" Doctor: "I beg your pardon?" Iden: "You were lost in thought." Doctor: "I suppose I was." Iden: "You're having doubts. It's understandable. You've taken a big step." Doctor: "In the right direction, I hope." Iden: "When I first escaped there were days I actually missed the Alpha who hunted me."

Doctor: "He was trying to kill you."
Iden: "But being his prey was the only life I'd ever known. We all cling to what's familiar."
Doctor: "I'm considering returning with Lieutenant Torres when she's ready."
Iden: "You actually expect your crew to welcome you back? Let me show you something." He takes the Doctor and calls up the image of a planet on a monitor. "We call this planet Ha'Dara. It's Bajoran for 'home of light'."
Doctor: "Very poetic."
Iden: "We're going to install the generators on the southern continent."
Doctor: "It's Y Class - toxic atmosphere, sulphuric deserts, no trees, no life at all."
Iden: "You're still thinking like an organic. We don't need an atmosphere, we don't need water. What we need is protection from our enemies."
Doctor: "The Hirogen won't be able to follow you here."
Iden: "Us, Doctor. Imagine living in a world where everything's designed to meet our needs. A home of light."
Doctor: "You certainly won't need a physician. What would I do there?"
Iden: "Anything you want."

Iden is summoned back to the Bridge when an alert sounds. Weiss reports that they have been scanned by two Hirogen vessels, Venatic class. Iden: "Distance?" Weiss: "Half a light-year." Iden: "Time to intercept?" Weiss: "Less than two hours." Doctor: "I thought they were in stealth mode." Weiss: "They're hunters, Doctor. They were bound to pick up our trail eventually." Doctor: "Can we make it to Ha'Dara?" Iden: "No. There's no point in going there until the field generators are online." Doctor: "What are we going to do?" Iden: "You can't kill what you can't find."

A Hirogen ship flies into a nebula in pursuit of Iden's vessel and its holographic crew. USS Voyager flies immediately behind the Venatic class Hirogen ship, secretly hidden from its sensors by flying in the ion wake, its 'blind spot'. (pop-up window) Music, no dialogue.

The Alpha Hirogen is informed: "I've lost them." Alpha Hirogen: "Recalibrate the tracking scanners." There's too much radiation." Alpha Hirogen: "Clever prey." Beta Hirogen: "They'll come out eventually. We'll wait." Alpha Hirogen: "No. Hail the other vessel. Tell them to circle the perimeter. We'll go in and drive the holograms out." Unknown to them, as they enter the nebula in pursuit of the holograms' ship, USS Voyager has got into their ion wake and follows them in, undetected.

On USS Voyager's bridge, the rear view of the Hirogen ship is on the main viewscreen. Paris: "Not exactly the scenic route, is it?" Chakotay: "We're not here for the view." Janeway: "I just hope we're following the right ship." Donik: "They wouldn't have entered the nebula unless they'd detected the holograms." The ship is jolted slightly. Janeway: "Tom?" Paris: "It's just the turbulence from the wake." Janeway: "Harry, reinforce the inertial dampers." Kim: "Aye, Captain." Paris: "I'm losing helm control." Janeway: "Cut power to the thrusters." Paris: "It's not enough. We're slipping out of the wake." Janeway: "Ease us back in, Tom. You can do it." Paris: "Trying." He succeeds. "I take back what I said. It's the prettiest thing I've seen all day." Chakotay: "Did they detect us?" Tuvok: "I don't believe so."

The bridge of Iden's ship. The ship is jolted as the Hirogen ship fires charges. Doctor: "They've found us!" Iden: "No, but they're trying to. Evasive maneuvers!" Crewman: "Aye, sir." Iden: "Bridge to Kejal." Kejal: "Go ahead." Iden: "What's your status?" Kejal: "We're almost ready to begin testing the generator." Torres: "What's going on?" Iden: "The Hirogen are just giving us a little incentive to work faster."

Lab. Torres tests the photonic field generator on Kejal's program and manages to generate it through the device. "Hang on. I'm re-aligning your matrix. How's your mobility?" Kejal: "Excellent. I can-" Her voice is not right. Torres: "There's a phase variance in your vocal processors." She adjusts some controls. "Try it now." Kejal: "Maybe we should-" She stops as she realises that the problem has been fixed. "That's much better. Thank you." Torres: "Don't thank me yet. This thing is only supporting your matrix. Getting it to support dozens is a different story." Kejal: "I've no doubt we'll succeed." Torres: "Typical." Kejal: "What?" Torres: "Self-confidence. Another Cardassian attribute."

Torres: "What're you planning to do with your time once these generators are up and running?" Kejal: "I haven't thought about it." Torres: "You're the closest thing this crew has to an engineer. Your friends are going to depend on you." Kejal: "Iden has always taken care of us." Torres: "It may be the warriors who get the glory but it's the engineers who build societies, don't forget that."

Iden: "You have an idea?" Doctor: "Quite a few, actually. I'd like to expose our people to art and music." Iden: "You'll make an excellent teacher." Doctor: "I think a more appropriate title would be Minister of Culture." Iden: "Consider it yours." Doctor: "You know I'm something of an expert on Alpha Quadrant art: Verdi, da Vinci-" Iden: "You're talking about organic cultures." Doctor: "Well, yes, I suppose." Iden: "We'll want to develop a culture of our own." Doctor: "I agree, but we can't ignore where we came from." Iden: "I don't want to emulate our oppressors." Doctor: "What about your religion?" Iden: "I'm creating a new faith."

Torres enters the Bridge and sits down. The Doctor joins her. Doctor: "B'Elanna, how's the work coming?" Torres: "Pretty well. I've got to admit: you were right about these people." Doctor: "I hope so." Torres: "You hope? It's a little late to be having second thoughts." Doctor: "Iden's been-" Torres: "Iden's been what?" Doctor: "Let's just say he's exhibiting some of the classic signs of megalomania." Torres: "Well, he wouldn't be the first hologram with an ego." Doctor: "If that were all it was I wouldn't be so worried." Torres: "What is bothering you?" Doctor: "Apparently he sees himself as some kind of spiritual leader and he's trying to enlarge his flock."

Thanks to Free Buttons for the rulers from the set Cosmic Gel. Thanks to Mardiweb for the button blank.