PARTURITION
Episode 23
Part E

 

Voyager, above the planet - stand-off, with the alien starship positioned between Voyager and the planet.

Voyager's bridge. Kim: "The atmospheric window is forming, Captain, 30° off the predicted co-ordinates." Janeway: "How soon will we have maximum aperture, Mr Kim?" Kim: "Nine minutes."

Janeway: "Alright, Commander, let's try to draw some fire from their aft weapons systems. Bring us within ten kilometres." He does so and the alien starship opens fire.

Chakotay: "Shields at 80%." The ship is rocked by weapons fire.

Torres: "Minor damage to our port nacelle. Re-routing power to lateral thrusters."

Janeway: "Tuvok?" Tuvok: "So far I'm not detecting the same vulnerability in their shields this time, Captain. We may have to resort to additional force."

As Voyager continues to receive a pounding, Janeway orders: "Arm photons." Kim: "Ready." Janeway: "Prepare to-"

Tuvok interrupts: "Stand by, Captain. I'm detecting an opening." He opens fire.

Tuvok: "Direct hit to their aft control systems. Their weapons are disabled."

Janeway: "Commander, proceed to Mr Kim's co-ordinates. One-half impulse."

In the cave on the planet. Paris is trying to feed the cute little baby alien, but it does not want to accept the small wafer disc offered. Paris coaxes the baby: "Aw, come on, come on." He pauses. "It doesn't seem to care for Starfleet rations." Neelix talks fondly to the baby: "If I were in my kitchen, I could cook you up some delightful leola root broth."

Paris to Neelix: "Are you serious? Ugh. I hope I never see another leola root. And you're certainly not feeding any of that hideous broth to my niece......or nephew......whatever it is." But the hostility between them seems to have vanished and it is merely banter now. Paris: "Its heartbeat is getting weaker. I don't like it. Come on, kid. You've got to eat something."

Neelix points out: "It seems far more interested in my jacket than your food." Paris realises: "Neelix, it's not your jacket. It's the residue of the trigemic vapours we walked through. Think about it. Voyager's sensors picked up high levels of proteins and amino acids, which we assumed meant this was a planet filled with vast supplies of edible plant life." Neelix: "We were certainly wrong about that." Paris: "The residue is a concentration of proteins and amino acids." Neelix: "The perfect source of nutrition for the hatchling." Paris: "The source we cut off when we blocked the cave. Come on. We've got some rocks to move."

Voyager's bridge. Kim: "The atmospheric window is at full aperture, Captain. We should have at least 17 minutes before it starts to close."

Tuvok: "Captain, the alien vessel is in pursuit." Janeway: "Are their weapons systems back online already?" Tuvok: "Negative, they are still disabled."

Chakotay: "They couldn't be preparing to ram us, could they?" Janeway: "Hold your course. We need to get through that window but prepare to take evasive action if necessary."

Chakotay: "Understood." Tuvok: "Alien vessel closing to 1,000 kilometres......500......300." They wait with baited breath to see what hostile action, if any, it will take, but he reports: "It has passed us and is proceeding toward the surface." Janeway to Chakotay: "Take us down, Commander."

Voyager heads toward the planet surface.

On the planet surface, Neelix and Paris have managed to shift the rockfall they caused earlier. They rush out into the open carrying the hatchling. By now, after the delay shifting the rock debris, they are very worried about the alien baby. Neelix: "It's not breathing! I don't think it's breathing!" He coaxes it: "Come on, suck in some of those hearty vapours!" Paris: "It's just too weak."

Neelix rummages frantically in the medkit: "There must be something in here we can use to resuscitate it." Paris: "Neelix, we did the best we could." Neelix: "No! It's our fault, it's our fault, if we hadn't come....." He fetches out a hypospray. "Here, cordrazine - this is a stimulant." Paris protests: "You can't pump it full of drugs without knowing its body chemistry." Neelix: "So we should just let it die?"

A thought has suddenly occurred to Paris. "Give me that." He takes hold of the hypospray. "When I was a kid, a baby bird fell out of a nest and landed on the window sill next to my bed. We had to feed it water with an eye-dropper to keep it alive." Neelix: "What are you doing?" Paris: "Filling the eye-dropper." Having taken up a quantity of the trigemic vapours in the hypospray, he tells Neelix: "Can you hold its mouth open?"

Neelix does so and Paris gradually empties the hypospray into the alien baby's mouth. Neelix: "Do it again." Paris does so. "Again. It's working. It's working!" Paris: "Its lifesigns are getting stronger." They are relieved and so pleased. Neelix: "You did it!" Paris: "We did it. You know, I never would have thought of that hypospray if-"

Suddenly he scratches hard at the multiple welts forming on his skin. "The vapours!"

Neelix, looking at the alien infant: "Who cares?" Paris smiles.

The alien baby is no longer weak and dying, and is now breathing freely.