THE SWARM
Episode 46
Part D

 

Bridge. Paris: "We're holding position 500,000 kilometres from the border. I'm ready to go as soon as you give the word, Captain." Janeway: "All set, Mr Kim?" Kim: "I'm ready whenever Lieutenant Torres is." Janeway, via comms: "Bridge to Engineering." Torres, in Engineering, via comms: "Torres here." Janeway, via comms: "B'Elanna, are you ready to reconfigure the shields to match Mr Kim's refraction pulse?" Torres, via comms: "Ready."

Tuvok: "Captain, long-range sensors show a large vessel five light-years from our current position." Paris: "According to my readings, it's huge."

Janeway: "On screen." She cannot make out what it is she is seeing. "Magnify."

Chakotay: "That looks like thousands of ships." Tuvok: "I'm not reading any energy signatures. Their propulsion systems must be offline." Chakotay: "Maybe they haven't detected us, yet." Janeway becomes brisk. "Alright, let's get through that sensor net. Harry, go." Kim, via comms: "Engineering, initiate the refraction pulse." Torres, via comms: "Pulse is activated." Kim: "Moving to full harmonic resolution. 60%, 80%, 90%. Maximum resolution. Shields at nominal output." Chakotay: "Mr Paris, take us through." Pais: "Aye, sir. Here we go." Voyager crosses the border.

Kim: "The net is registering as intact. If those vessels get the same reading they won't suspect a thing. I think we did it, Captain, like a snake through the tube!" Janeway: "How about those ships?" Tuvok: "They appear not to have detected us. They have not powered up engines."

Janeway: "Alright, let's get through this as fast as we can. Mr Paris, what's your recommendation?" Paris: "I'll try holding warp 9.75 for as long as I can." Chakotay: "If we can sustain that for 12 hours we'll be nearly a third of the way through." Janeway: "Mr Tuvok, keep your eye on those ships. If they so much as twitch, I want to know it." Paris engages warp engines - Voyager's nacelles raise and the ship jumps to warp.

Shortly afterwards, Paris airs a concern. "Captain, something is wrong." Janeway: "What do you mean?" Paris: "It's like there's a drag on the engines." Kim: "Captain, sensors indicate a resonant particle wave. It's dampening our warp field. We're losing speed." Janeway, via comms: "Bridge to Engineering. B'Elanna, can you compensate for the particle wave?" Torres, via comms: "I'll try. The matter-antimatter reaction chamber may have been compromised." Janeway, via comms: "Keep me posted." Addressing the helm: "Hold our present speed, Mr Paris."

In the holoprogram of Jupiter Station, holo-Zimmerman is looking at a display of the EMH program components. Nearby the Doctor is staring at a monitor. Doctor: "Why are you making me stare at these things?"

Holo-Zimmerman: "Please don't talk. Stay fixed on the fractal patterns while I analyse your data path integrity." To himself as he examines the data: "Hmm. Huh? Hmm. Well, there it is."

Doctor: "What, what is it?" Holo-Zimmerman: "I told you not to talk!"

He looks at a few more pieces of data then stops and sighs. "This is the problem alright. The personality subroutine has grown to more than 15,000 gigaquads. That's the source of the degradation."

Holo-Zimmerman: "Look at all this useless information floating around your buffer: friendships with crew, relationships with women?" As a hologram himself, holo-Zimmerman is normally denied these things. Curious about the latter, considering the similarity in appearance between the two of them: "Do they find you attractive?"

Doctor: "I don't remember." Holo-Zimmerman: "You filled your memory with nonsense." Doctor: "It was only during my off hours." Holo-Zimmerman: "You're supposed to be off during your off hours." Doctor: "I'm sorry. I didn't realise."

The doors open and Kes enters the room. Holo-Zimmerman: "Who are you?" Kes: "I'm the Doctor's assistant. I came to see how he's doing." Holo-Zimmerman: "Ah, just the person I need. Perhaps you can tell me who's been feeding all this useful information into its database." Kes: "What do you mean?" Holo-Zimmerman: "I'll give you an example. Here's something in its personality subroutine." He activates a control and involuntarily the Doctor starts singing from the duet O soave fanciulla. Holo-Zimmerman deactivates the command and the sound dies instantly. The Doctor feels more confused. Kes: "He's been studying opera. What's wrong with that?" Holo-Zimmerman: "He wasn't programmed to be a tenor. He was programmed to be a physician." Kes: "What's wrong with wanting to be more than that?" Holo-Zimmerman: "It's superfluous. Look at me: I've got the same matrix, the same holo-array, the same neural pathways as it does. You don't see me cluttering up my circuits with irrelevances. I'm content to be the best possible diagnostic program I can be. Your EMH should be happy to be a fine physician." Kes: "The Doctor has taken it upon himself to become a person who grows and learns and feels. It's made him a better physician." Holo-Zimmerman: "An EMH program can't feel anything. It's emotional reactions are simply a series of algorithms designed to make it easier to interact with." Kes: "He's much more than that, and I've known him for most of my life. He's one of my closest friends." Holo-Zimmerman: "You can't possibly believe that this program shares these feelings." Kes: "I know he does." Holo-Zimmerman: "Tell me, Doctor, is this," referring to Kes, "one of your closest friends?" Kes prompts him: "Doctor." Doctor: "I'm sorry. I don't know who you are." Holo-Zimmerman looks at Kes with an "I told you so" look, but Kes looks pained, even though she knows that the Doctor cannot remember due to the cascade fault.

Voyager travelling at warp speed through the aliens' territory.

Bridge. Janeway: "What's the status of those ships, Mr Tuvok?"

Tuvok: "Still unpowered. They don't seem to have detected us."

Janeway: "When I was in high school, I snuck out of the house a couple of times late at night. I had to tiptoe past my parents' bedroom. It's kind of how I feel right now."

Paris: "You sneaked out of your house? Where were you going?" Janeway: "Well, I'll have to leave that to your imagination, Lieutenant."

Kim smiles. Paris: "Can I take a few guesses?"

Tuvok: "Captain, I'm detecting another ship, not part of the Swarm. It has been damaged. Propulsion systems are not functional." Janeway: "Drop out of warp. Put it on screen." They see a large derelict spacecraft.

Paris: "Look like it's been pounded on for days." Janeway: "Any lifesigns?" Kim: "I'm checking. Only one, and it's faint."

Janeway, via comms: "Transporter room 1. Beam the survivor to Sickbay. Harry, try scanning that ship, see if you can figure out what happened to it." Kim: "Aye, Captain."