Part  B  

Chakotay's flashbacks to his youth are noted in this style.

 

Torres and Crewman Nozawa are in Transporter Room 3. Tuvok and Chakotay arrive.

Torres: "We may be out of luck." Chakotay: "Problem?" Torres: "I'm not sure we can transport down. Every time we try to lock onto a transport site, a storm begins." Chakotay: "Storm?"

Torres: "We've tried seven different sites, and as soon as we lock on, an electrical storm forms right above the location. When we change sites, a new storm forms, and the old one dissipates." Tuvok: "Might the transporter beam itself be causing an electrostatic charge in the atmosphere?" Torres: "That's as good a guess as any. I can't explain it. We just can't transport."

Chakotay: "Fine. We'll take a shuttle." He, Tuvok and Torres leave, heading for the hangar deck.

The shuttlecraft experiences turbulence on its journey.

Tuvok: "Once again, the storm seems to have formed as a direct result of our interaction with the atmosphere. The meteorological conditions changed radically when we began our entry sequence."

Torres: "Shields are holding."

Neelix: "It takes more than a little thunderstorm to bother one of your mighty Starfleet ships, huh?"

Chakotay: "Nothing we can't handle. Relax, Neelix."

Kolopak: "That's why they call it a rain forest." Young Chakotay, who hates being rained on and is being bitten by insects, turns and gives him an unimpressed look. He complains: "Why do your Sky Spirits choose a place where it rains all the time? And it's hot, and there are so many bugs." Kolopak: "It's said the Sky Spirits honoured the land above all else. Maybe it's because this land yields so many different kinds of life. Maybe they wanted us to become friends with everything in nature, including the bugs." Young Chakotay: "Sorry, Sky Spirits, I will never make friends with bugs." Kolopak: "Maybe that's why they keep biting you. You're miserable. It was a mistake to bring you. I'm sorry." Young Chakotay: "I'm sorry I can't be what you want me to be." Kolopak: "From the day you came out of your mother, upside down, I knew the Spirits had chosen you to be a Contrary." Young Chakotay: "No one chooses for me. I choose my own way. And if that makes me a Contrary, I'll have to live with it." Kolopak: "If you have no spirits to guide you, I fear you will lose your way."

Torres: "Altitude 5,000 metres."
Chakotay: "Decreasing speed to 720 k.p.h. Entering terminal approach phase."
Torres: "Visibility still zero. Switching to enhanced terrain scanning."
Chakotay: "Touchdown site scanned. Continuing descent."

Suddenly Chakotay sees the image of a face.

Kes enters Sickbay. standard doors
Kes: "Computer, activate the Emergency Medical Holographic program."
Doctor: "Please state the nature of the medical emergency."

Kes: "I thought we changed your program so you wouldn't have to say that any more." Doctor: "We did. But I became so uncomfortable trying to find new ways to break the ice, as it were, that I restored it. Let's just say it works for me."

He sneezes. Kes: "Doctor." Doctor: "Ah, you noticed." Kes: "Are, are holograms supposed to sneeze?"

Doctor: "Generally, no. But I have accepted your challenge. I've programmed myself with the symptoms of the 29-hour Levodian flu. Thus I will gain the experience that you suggest would be beneficial to the performance of my duties." He sneezes again and takes a tissue. "Holographic tissue paper for the holographic running nose. Don't offer them to patients."

The Doctor blows his nose. "Hmm, interesting sensation, blowing one's nose. It's my first time."

Kes: "I think this is very brave of you." Doctor: "Nothing of the sort. I intend it to be an educational experience." Kes: "I'm sure you'll learn a lot." Doctor: "I meant for the crew. I'm tired of the whiny cranky attitudes we see around here. I intend to serve as an example of how one's life and duties do not have to be disrupted by simple illness."

Kim enters. standard doors "Doc, I don't feel so good." Doctor: "Neither do I, and you don't hear me complaining."

The away team have landed and are exploring the planet surface. Tuvok: "We are not making any progress locating the source of that unusual power reading, Commander." Chakotay: "Then I guess we'll have to search for these people the old fashioned way - with our eyes and ears." Neelix: "Is something bothering you, Commander?"

Chakotay: "No. It just reminds me of another jungle that I visited once - the Central American rain forest on Earth. It's the only other place in the universe that I've ever seen this flower."

Tuvok: "It appears to be a rare variety of Cypripedium, of the Asiatic genus Paphiopedilum."
Neelix: "I never knew you had such horticultural expertise, Mr Vulcan."
Tuvok: "In fact, I am, or more accurately I was, a breeder of prize Vulcan orchids."
Neelix is delighted and slaps Tuvok on the shoulder. "Then we have something in common - I breed orchids too! Don't they make the most exquisite salad? A touch of Baldoxic vinegar - pure heaven."
Chakotay: "I hereby designate the two of you the team's botanical surveyors. Collect a sample of that flower." He checks with Torres: "B'Elanna?"
Torres: "It's just what we've been looking for - almost pure polyferranide. But there's a problem with crust reactivity. If we can't solve it before excavation, we might contaminate the entire yield."

Chakotay: "Have Ensign Kim run an analysis from the ship. We should be able to- I'll be damned." Torres: "What?" Chakotay, as they both look skywards: "It almost looks like a hawk, doesn't it?"

Kolopak, indicating the hawk in the sky: "Listen to him, Chakotay. What does he say to you? He says, 'You are home.' eh." Young Chakotay: "I'm leaving the tribe, Father." Kolopak: "What?" Young Chakotay: "I got to know a lot of the Starfleet officers patrolling the Cardassian border. I asked Captain Sulu if he would sponsor me at Starfleet Academy." Kolopak: "And he would do such a thing without even discussing it with me?" Young Chakotay: "I told him I had your approval." Kolopak, not that pleased: "Ah." Young Chakotay: "I kept him as far away from you as I could." Kolopak: "I take it you've been accepted by the Academy. Well, you've never fully embraced the traditions of our tribe. I know that. And you've always been curious about other societies. And that is why I allowed you to read about them, because I believe that ignorance is our greatest enemy. But to leave the tribe-" Young Chakotay: "Our tribe lives in the past, a past of fantasy and myth." Kolopak: "That past is a part of you, no matter how hard you try to reject it." Young Chakotay: "Other tribes have learned to accept the 24th century. Why can't ours?" Kolopak: "It is not the place of a 15 year old boy to question the choices of his tribe." Young Chakotay: "I know. That's why I have to leave." Kolopak: "You will never belong to that other life. And if you leave, you will never belong to this one. You'll be caught between worlds." Young Chakotay: "I ask for your blessing, Father."

Antonio calls. They join him, and they see a deserted village.