FUTURE'S END
Episodes 50 and 51
Part E

 

That evening, using a tricorder Chakotay compromises the lock on Starling's office door and he and Janeway enter.

Chakotay: "So far so good. We haven't set off any alarms."

They look around. The picture shows the Chronowerx logo on the office wall.

She sees that Starling has won prestigious trophies and awards, there is a photograph of him shaking hands with President Nixon, and he appears on the front cover of a magazine.

Janeway: "Our Mr Starling has built himself quite a corporate empire. Looks like he's got wealth, celebrity and an ego to match."

She spots Starling's computer. Sitting at it, she presses a key. The display changes from a screensaver of the Chronowerx logo to: "Enter password:"

She slowly types five characters.
Chakotay: "I see you never learnt to type."
Janeway: "Turn of the millennium technology wasn't a required course at the Academy. It's like stone knives and bearskins."

As she talks, Chakotay moves away and scans elsewhere in the room. The characters she types show as asterisks, as is usual for computer passwords of the time, but the display changes to: "Invalid password." Chakotay: "Well, this isn't. I'm detecting a forcefield." She turns to see him at the large world map display. At the same time, she gets her tricorder out of her pocket. "I can't scan beyond this wall. I don't see an access port or a control panel."

Janeway: "Maybe we can find something in his computer." She uses her tricorder to find the password and enters it. The screen changes to the desktop menu. "Oh, he's got a massive database here, but it's protected by an encryption sequence. I'm going to try interfacing my tricorder." Chakotay, looking at the screen's desktop display: "Looks like a series of pictographs. They must've used symbols to represent the different functions of the computer." Janeway: "Let's see what Henry's been up to all these years."

Elsewhere in downtown Los Angeles, Paris is still driving Rain's Volkswagon camper van. Tuvok: "The transtators were disrupted by that energy weapon. Our communicators are useless." Paris: "That means we can't call the," about to say "Captain" or "Voyager" he changes it to "our friends. What do we do now?"

Rain: "You're going to take a right at the next light and a left at the taco stand because you're taking me home, and not keeping the van!"

Tuvok: "I am afraid that is not possible, Miss Robinson. Your life may be in danger." Rain: "I'm going to pop this hatch and I'm going to start screaming until you tell me what's going on. Who are you? What is that thing in orbit? Why did that guy try to kill us?"

Paris: "I told you, we're secret agents." Rain: "I'm opening the hatch." Paris: "Look, we saved your life. Isn't it obvious we're on your side?" Rain: "I'm standing up. I'm taking a deep breath!"

Paris: "Rain, you're not going to scream! Now I know you're frightened and you've seen some pretty strange things, but you have to trust me! We're not going to hurt you and I will explain everything. It's either that or take your chances with the guy who tried to vaporise you!"

She considers, then sits down again.
Rain: "The UFO, what is it?"
Paris, thinking quickly: "It's a Soviet spy satellite. Part of a massive KGB operation. We're trying to stop it."
Rain: "Soviet? The USSR broke up five years ago. The KGB doesn't even exist any more."
Paris, again thinking quickly: "That's what they'd like you to think."
Tuvok to Paris, backing up Paris' story: "Perhaps we've told her enough for now."
Rain: "What about you, Agent Tuvok? What's up with those ears? Thought I didn't notice? I did. What about your weapons? What are they, lasers?"
Tuvok: "I'm sorry, that information is classified, and as for my ears - they are a family trait."
Paris confides to Rain: "He's very sensitive about them."

Rain: "Whatever."
Tuvok to Paris: "We must find a way to contact our friends."

Starling's office at Chronowerx.
Janeway: "Incredible. Starling's computer designs were inspired by technology from the timeship. He introduced the very first isograted circuit in 1969, two years after Braxton's ship crashlanded."
Chakotay: "And every few years there's been an equally revolutionary advance in computers, all from Chronowerx Industries, all based on Starling's crude understanding of 29th century technology."
Janeway: "Are you thinking what I'm thinking, Chakotay?"
Chakotay: "I wish I weren't."
Janeway: "The computer age of the late 20th century-"
Chakotay, finishing the thought: "Shouldn't have happened."

Timeship Aeon schematics on Starling's computer.

Janeway: "But it did, and it's part of our history. All because of that timeship. Look at this - gantry, power conduits, telemetry consoles. This looks like a design for a launching bay." Chakotay: "Braxton was right, the ship's going to be launched."

Janeway: "Got to send these schematics to Voyager for analysis." Via comms: "Janeway to Voyager."
Kim, via comms: "Kim here, Captain."
Janeway: "We're in Starling's office. I want you to establish a comm. link with my tricorder and try to upload his computer database."
Kim, via comms: "Aye Captain. We'll need a few minutes to reconfigure to their binary system."
Janeway: "Acknowledged." Contact ends. "Let's see if we can find out where the location of that launch pad is."
Chakotay, watching her type: "You're really getting the hang of this."
Janeway: "I'm a quick study."
Chakotay: "You know, Captain, in a way Braxton was right. If we hadn't fought him when he tried to destroy Voyager, he wouldn't have been pulled back in time, his ship wouldn't have crashlanded on Earth, and none of this would have happened."
Janeway: "Time travel. Ever since my first day in the job as a Starfleet Captain I swore I'm never let myself get caught in one of these god-forsaken paradoxes. The future is the past, the past is the future. It all gives me a headache."

Chakotay: "Hold on. This looks promising. Try 'timeship security portal'." Janeway: "Maybe it's linked to some kind of surveillance system. An image of the launch bay would give us a clue as to its location." Behind them the window changes from obscure to transparent. They turn and go and look.

There, in a large laboratory adjacent to the office, is the timeship!

They exchange a look.

Suddenly the office lights go on. They turn. Starling and Dunbar are there. The latter is pointing a gun at them!

Starling: "I see you've made yourself at home. Welcome to the 20th century. I know who you are. You're from the future. I knew you'd come back one day. I detected your vessel in orbit and Mr Dunbar here had a run-in with your friends. You're here to take the timeship." music lead-up to commercial break removed

Janeway: "Mr Starling, you're about to cause a terrible disaster that will affect the 29th century - an explosion that will cost billions of lives. We're here to stop you from doing that."

Starling: "What are you talking about?" Chakotay: "If you launch that ship and travel to the future, it will destroy Earth's solar system." Starling: "How do you know this?" Janeway: "Well, let's just say we talked to the ship's previous owner. He told us that if it's temporal matrix isn't precisely calibrated you'll trigger a temporal explosion. That ship shouldn't be here. It belongs to another century. We have to take it back."

Janeway's combadge emits a muted contact signal. Starling: "What's that?" Janeway: "It's a communication device. Someone's trying to contact me." The signal repeats. Starling: "Answer it." Janeway gets out her combadge and taps it. "Janeway here." Kim, via comms: "Captain, we've established the comm. link. We're ready to upload on your signal." Janeway, via comms: "Do it." Starling notices activity on his computer.

Starling: "My database!" He seizes the combadge and speaks into it. "Stop or I'll kill your Captain."

Kim, via comms: "Who is this?" Starling, via comms: "You've got five seconds." Kim to Torres who is at Ops: "Break the link." Torres: "Done." Contact ends. Kim: "What's our transporter status?" Torres: "The main pattern buffers are still offline. We can try an emergency transport from a lower orbit." Kim: "That's exactly what the Captain ordered us not to do. We'd be risking detection." Torres: "Harry, we can't worry about that now, their lives are in danger." Kim: "And if somebody sees a starship flying through the clouds?" Torres: "The Captain put you in charge. It is your decision." Kim decides. Firmly: "Helm, get a fix on Chakotay and the Captain." Male conn officer: "Aye, Sir." Kim: "B'Elanna, stand by emergency transporters. Get ready to beam them directly to the Bridge." To the helm: "Take us down."

A short while later, in Starling's office at Chronowerx. Starling, sitting at his computer and checking its status: "You've taken over 3,000 gigabytes of information, including my launch plan. But that's not going to be a problem, Captain. I'll make a few changes to my travel itinerary. You're not going to stop me." Janeway: "If you don't give us that ship, we'll take it by force." Starling: "In case you haven't noticed, I'm holding the gun." Janeway: "Not for long. I've got a starship in orbit that can vapourise this entire building in the blink of an eye." Starling: "And you along with it." Janeway: "If necessary." Starling looks at her: "Captain, you've got some cohones."

Suddenly Janeway starts to dematerialise. Immediately Chakotay flings a chair at Dunbar.

Starling to Dunbar: "Kill them!" Dunbar does not know which enemy to tackle first. Chakotay freezes as the transporter beam takes him too.

With Janeway and Chakotay both gone, Starling swears. "Damn."

Voyager, having swept low over Los Angeles in order to beam up Janeway and Chakotay, flies swiftly upward.

Voyager's Bridge. Janeway: "Helm, maintain present altitude. Keep us within transporter range. Chakotay, see if you can disable the forcefield around that timeship. B'Elanna, prepare to lock onto the timeship and beam it into cargo bay 2."

Janeway: "Ensign Kim, you have an impeccable sense of timing. Not bad for your first day in the big chair." Kim smiles.

Starling's office at Chronowerx. Starling: "The forcefield's down!"

Dunbar looks into the lab: "Sir, the timeship!"

Starling looks: "They're trying to teleport the ship!"

On Voyager's Bridge, Torres reports: "The matter stream is modulating. He's disrupting transport!"

Starling's office at Chronowerx. Starling is busy working at his computer. Information about USS Voyager downloads onto his computer.

Starling: "Yes." He smiles, very pleased. On Voyager Kim reports: "Captain, I don't understand how, but he's using our transporter beam as a downlink. He's accessing our main computer!"