search engine keywords: Star Trek Voyager Caretaker USS Voyager Maquis Kathryn Janeway Chakotay Delta Quadrant Starfleet Tom Paris B'Elanna Torres, Tuvok, Neelix
 | In Voyager's Messhall, the Nurse is conversing with another crewmember before taking a seat at one of the dining tables. Paris enters and goes to one of the replicators situated along the long wall farthest from the windows. |
 | Paris orders from the replicator: "Tomato soup." |
 | He notices that Kim is at a table on the other side of the room, by the window, with Cavit and the Doctor talking to him, obviously about Paris, judging from their sidelong glances.
Computer: "There are 14 varieties of tomato soup available from this replicator: with rice, with vegetables, Bolian style, with pasta, with-" Paris: "Plain." Computer: "Specify hot or chilled." Paris, becoming exasperated: "Hot. Hot, plain tomato soup!" The replicator delivers the product requested. 
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As soon as it materialises, he takes it and approaches Kim's table. Seeing him approach, Cavit and the Doctor get up and leave, telling Kim: "I'll see you later."
Paris observes drily: "There, you see, I told you it wouldn't take long." Immediately Kim asks: "Is it true?" Paris: "Was the accident my fault? Yes. Pilot error, but it took me a while to admit it." He tastes his soup. "Ugh, fourteen varieties and they can't even get plain tomato soup right." Kim: "They said you falsified reports." Paris: "That's right." Kim: "Why?" Paris: "What's the difference? I lied." Kim: "But then you came forward and admitted that it was your fault?" Paris: "I'll tell you the truth, Harry. All I had to do was keep my mouth shut and I was home free. But I couldn't. The ghosts of those three dead officers came to me in the middle of the night and taught me the true meaning of Christmas. So I confessed. Worst mistake I ever made, but not my last. After they cashiered me out of Starfleet I went looking for a fight and found the Maquis. And on my first assignment, I was caught." Kim: "It must've been especially tough for you, being the son of an admiral." Paris: "Frankly, I think it was tougher on my father than it was on me." Getting up to leave, he pauses and says: "Look, I know those guys told you to stay away from me. And you know what? You ought to listen to them. I'm not exactly a good luck charm." Kim: "I don't need anyone to choose my friends for me." |
 | There is a com. signal. "Janeway to Paris."
Paris, via comms: "Go ahead." Janeway, via comms: "Report to the Bridge. We're approaching the Badlands." The two men both head for the Bridge. |
 | Paris enters the Bridge from the corridor entrance and walks across to join Janeway, Cavit and Rollins at the security/tactical station where they are examining star charts on the desk monitor.
Cavit to Janeway: "Plasma storms are measured at levels 3 and 4." Janeway to Paris: "The Cardassians gave us the last known heading of the Maquis ship, and we have charts of the plasma storm activity where they disappeared. With a little help we might be able to approximate its course." |
 | Paris: "I'd guess they were trying to get to one of the M-class planetoids in the Terikof Belt."
Cavit: "That's beyond the Moriya system." Rollins: "The plasma storms would have forced them in this direction." Janeway to Cavit: "Adjust our course to match." Cavit: "Aye, Captain." He leaves to implement the order. Janeway to Paris as she goes and sits in the captain's chair: "The Cardassians claim they forced the Maquis ship into a plasma storm where it was destroyed, but our probes haven't picked up any debris." Paris: "The plasma storm might not leave any debris." Janeway: "We'd still be able to pick up a resonance trace from the warp core." |
 | Kim: "Captain, I'm reading a coherent tetryon beam scanning us."
Janeway: "Origin, Mr Kim?" |
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Kim: "Not sure. There's also a displacement wave moving toward us." |
 | Janeway: "On screen." They see a strange phenomenon on the main viewscreen. "Analysis?"
Kim: "Some kind of polarised magnetic variation." |
 | Cavit: "We might be able to disperse it with a graviton particle field."
Janeway: "Do it." |
 | Janeway orders: "Red alert." A klaxon sounds for a moment. The bridge dims as the lights are turned down, red lights flash on and off in strips around the bulkheads and on vertical panels, as well as by the side of the control interfaces at the rear of the Bridge under the master situation display.
Janeway orders the helm: "Move us away from it, Lieutenant." |
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Stadi: "New heading 41 mark 180." |
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Voyager on the new heading. |
 | Cavit: "Initiating graviton field."
The image on the viewscreen looks aft to see the blue of the graviton field as it is emitted. Kim: "The graviton field had no effect." Janeway: "Full impulse." Kim: "The wave will intercept us in 12 seconds." |
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Janeway: "Can we go to warp?" |
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Stadi: "Not until we clear the plasma field, Captain." |
 | Kim: "Five seconds."
Janeway: "Brace for impact!" Kim: "Three." |
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Paris grabs a seat on the command centre. Rollins and Kim grip their consoles at tactical and ops respectively. The ship is hurled about as the leading edge of the displacement wave hits. |
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As everyone desperately holds on, Cavit races toward his seat in the command centre. But a blinding white light that pours into the Bridge intersects him, and ship and crew vanish, just like the Maquis ship! |
 | A moment later, Voyager's bridge has gone dark. The power has been lost to certain systems. There is some structural damage too. Power cables hang loose, sparking. A warning alert is sounding, unattended. |
 | Janeway checks the fallen Cavit, checking for a pulse - he is dead. |
 | Janeway: "Report!"
Kim gathers himself and checks the ops console. "Hull breach, deck 14. Com lines to Engineering are down. Trying to re-establish." |
 | Janeway signals the repair crews: "Repair crews, seal off hull breach on deck 14."
A female crewmember replies via comms: "Aye, Captain." Kim: "Casualty reports coming in. Sickbay is not responding." Janeway via comms: "Bridge to Sickbay. Doctor, can you hear me?" There is no response. |
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She looks over to the helm where Paris is crouching beside the fallen Stadi. "Paris, how's Stadi?" |
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Paris: "She's dead." |
 | Kim: "Captain, there's something out there."
Janeway: "I need a better description than that, Mr Kim." Kim: "I don't know. I'm reading- I don't know what I'm reading." |
 | Janeway: "Can you get the viewscreen operational?"
Kim: "I'm trying." |
 | He manages to get the viewscreen on. The bad signal clears and they see a vast space station ahead! The missing Maquis ship beside it. The space station or array is transmitting energy pulses away into the distance. |
 | Kim: "Captain, if these sensors are working, we're over 70,000 light years from where we were. We're on the other side of the galaxy."
Janeway stares at the viewscreen, appalled at the amount of distance Voyager has been taken. |
 | Kim: "I'm not reading any lifesigns on the Maquis ship."
Janeway: "What about on that- that Array?" Kim: "Our sensors can't penetrate it." Janeway: "Any idea what those pulses are that are coming from it, Mr Kim?" Kim checks his read-outs. "Massive bursts of radiant energy. They seem to be directed toward a nearby G-type star system." Janeway: "Try hailing the Array." |
 | A message comes over the com. system. "Engineering to bridge. We have severe damage. The chief's dead. Possibility of a warp core breach."
Janeway via comms: "Secure all engineering systems! I'm on my way." Kim: "No response from the Array." Janeway orders him: "Ensign, get down to Sickbay. See what's going on." On her way out she calls: "Mr Rollins, the Bridge is yours." Rollins: "Aye, Captain." Paris makes up his mind. "Harry!" He dashes to the turbolift and gets in with him. "Wait for me." |
Star background by me.
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