FALSE PROFITS
Episode 47
Part F

 

Arridor and Kol, who are enjoying oo-mox given by their handmaidens. The cries of the gathered populace penetrate the Divine Vault: "The Holy Pilgrim! The Holy Pilgrim! He's here!"

The Ferengi get up and go outside to see what the clamour is all about. Neelix is telling the crowd: "I have come to fulfil the destiny that is prophesied in the Song of the Sages." Arridor: "What in the name of eternal destitution is going on here?!"

Neelix to Arridor and Kol: "Ah, there you are. Do you not recognise me? I am the Holy Pilgrim." Kol splutters: "The Holy Pilgrim? Who's the Holy Pilgrim?" Arridor to Kol: "Quiet, you idiot. This man is no Holy Pilgrim. He's a Talaxian!" The crowd mutter the unfamiliar word "Talaxian" among themselves, wondering what it is. Neelix: "Oh, no, Great Sage, you are mistaken. I am indeed the Holy Pilgrim, and just as the Song of the Sages promises, I have come to lead you back, high into the sky of black."

Sandal-maker: "I have prayed for this day to come." Paris: "Lead them back! Lead them back!" Crowd: "Lead them back! Lead them back! Lead them back!" They carry on chanting this.

Kol to Arridor: "What do they mean, lead us back?" Arridor tells him: "I don't know. It must be part of the Song. I told you we should have listened to the whole thing!" Neelix to the Ferengi: "Well, it looks as though you two will be heading off to see the Grand Nagus after all." Arridor to Neelix: "We'll see about that." He addresses the crowd. "This man, this man is a FALSE pilgrim. He's come to steal your profits." Neelix: "I am not a false pilgrim and I'll prove it."

Paris: "That's our cue." Chakotay taps his combadge. combadge "Chakotay to Voyager. On my mark."

On Voyager's bridge, Janeway orders: "Stand by to initiate the photon burst, Mr Kim." Kim: "Aye, Captain."

Tuvok: "Captain, I am still unable to penetrate the Ferengi dampening field. If the away team experiences difficulties, we will be unable to beam them out."

Janeway: "Keep working on it. In the meantime, we'll just have to rely on their ingenuity to get themselves out of there if trouble arises."

Neelix: "The Song says that amid the eastern lights, three new stars appeared that night." People in the crowd tell each other: "That's true. That's what the Song says." Neelix: "Look, my friends. Look! Right up there!" Chakotay taps his combadge. combadge Via comms: "Now."

On Voyager, Kim reports: "Initiating photon bursts." On the planet surface, the Takarians see three shooting stars! They gasp in awe. They are convinced Neelix is indeed the Holy Pilgrim. Arridor: "It's a trick." Kol: "He's a fraud, I tell you." Arridor: "Kafar, arrest this man. Well, arrest him!"

Instead Kafar rushes to the gong and beats it five times. The noise sounds even louder to the Ferengi than to the humans and Takarians, as Ferengi have better hearing and more sensitive ears. Kol and Arridor put their hands over their ears: "Ow!" Kol: "Hey!" Arridor: "Stop!" Kol: "What do you think you're doing?" Arridor: "Ow!" Kafar: "Like the song says, Lesser Sage, With the ringing of the bell, the Sages knew where they must dwell." Crowd: "Yes!"

He beats the gong thrice more, and again the Ferengi cover their ears. Arridor: "Ow! Ow!" Kafar: "Like the Song says, you Sages, it's time for you to go back where you came from!" Crowd: "Yes! Yes! To the stars!"

Kafar: "And they must go on wings of fire!" Crowd: "Wings of fire! Wings of fire! Wings of fire! Wings of fire! The sky! The sky! The sky!"

The crowd move in on the Sages, including Neelix, and tie them up. Several bring flame-torches. Kol shouts: "We are your gods. This is outrageous. This is outrageous. We are your gods, your Sages! This mustn't happen!" Arridor: "I am your god. Hands off your god." Neelix: "No, no! Wait a minute, people! No! There's, there's no reason to interpret the Song of the Sages so literally. Kafar! Kafar! Tell them!" Kafar: "We are fulfilling the destiny of the Sages."

Neelix: "I am the Holy Pilgrim, and I have come to tell you that there's another verse to the Song." Kafar waits. "It's er, er: please don't burn the Holy Ones." Kafar: "I'm sorry, Holy Pilgrim, but that's not part of the Song."

The crowd chants: "Wings of fire! Wings of fire! Wings of fire!" Neelix: "Commander! I think now would be a very good time for that beam-out."

Several Takarians bring kindling and pile it around the prisoners' feet as the mob continually chants: "Wings of fire! Wings of fire! Wings of fire!"

Paris: "We've got to disable the dampening field so they can beam us out of here." He and Chakotay dash up to the prisoners. "Where's the generator?" Arridor and Kol both shout: "In the vault!"

Crowd: "Wings of fire! Wings of fire! Wings of fire!" The kindling is lit. Before long there is a roaring fire around the prisoners!

On Voyager, Tuvok reports: "We still cannot establish a transporter lock, Captain."

Janeway looks across at Kim, who reports: "Boosting power to the annular confinement beam."

Chakotay and Paris enter the vault. Outside the hysterical shouts of the mob can be heard. They see the opulence around them as they look for the generator.

They find it and start examining it to see how to shut it off.

Kol: "Arridor?" Arridor: "What is it now?" Kol: "We had seven years of pure profit."

Arridor: "We did, didn't we?" Crowd: "To the stars! To the stars!"

Paris: "I can't shut it down." Chakotay: "Stand back." He phasers the generator. As it is destroyed.....

.....Voyager's transporters are able to get a lock on the prisoners plus Chakotay and Paris. The bound prisoners begin to disappear.

The holy ones vanish! transporter The crowd gasps.

Kafar: "The Holy Ones have ascended!" There are cheers. The crowd rejoices.

Everyone arrives in Voyager's transporter room, where security guards are waiting. Janeway, via comms: "Is everyone OK down there, Commander?" Chakotay, via comms: "We're all here in one piece, Captain." Janeway, via comms: "Good work. Report to the Bridge as soon as everything is in order. We'll be entering the wormhole in approximately seven minutes." Chakotay, via comms: "Acknowledged."

Arridor and Kol have overheard. Arridor protests: "We're not going through any wormhole without our possessions." Chakotay: "Listen, friend, you're lucky to be alive. We beamed your shuttle to the Shuttlebay. As for the rest of your possessions, they're back in the hands of the people you stole them from." He addresses a security officer: "Ensign Murphy, escort these men to secured quarters."

The security guards have to force the Ferengi out of the room. Kol: "This is outrageous." Arridor: "I'll hold you personally responsible for any losses we suffer!" Kol: "We'll sue!"