Chakotay: "I guess you've made your choice."

The com. alert sounds. comms. signal "Jonas to Chakotay." Chakotay, via comms: "Go ahead." Jonas, via comms: "They're putting up a fight on deck 2. We could use some help." Chakotay: "Carlson, O'Donnell, get these people to the Brig. Ayala, take the conn and move us out of com. range of Janeway's shuttle." To Torres: "You're with me." Torres follows him into the turbolift.

Chakotay instructs the computer: "Deck 2." As the turbolift travels the short distance, down one deck, he tells Torres: "Thanks for watching my back in there." Torres: "Right." Chakotay: "Are you ok?" Torres: "To tell you the truth: shooting Harry got me a little rattled." Chakotay: "He's only stunned. We're not going to kill anyone today, not unless it's absolutely necessary." The turbolift stops. "Just stay close."

They exit the turbolift. He warns her: "Stay low." In the corridor Torres looks around the corner.

She moves back hastily as phaser fire just misses her. The phaser fire is coming from two crewmembers. Torres tells Chakotay: "They've got us pinned down." Chakotay: "We'll just have to shoot our way past them. Ready?" Torres indicates yes. Together they leap out from cover and fire at the crewmembers, stunning them.

A crewmember appears and is ready to fire at them, but she is warned by a voice that calls: "I wouldn't do that if I were you." and is instantaneously felled by a phaser blast that comes from behind them.

Chakotay and Torres turn. The blast came from a phaser rifled carried...... Torres: "Seska!" Seska: "It's just like old times, isn't it? Chakotay to Seska: "Thanks for the help."

Seska: "We've got to get moving. Some of Janeway's people are trying to set up a command centre in the Messhall."

In the Messhall, Neelix, Ensign Brooks (female) and several others have piled up the furniture around themselves and are crouching in this makeshift cover.

The starboard Messhall doors are blasted open. Chakotay, Torres and Seska storm through the doors, taking advantage of the surprise generated by the explosion. They gain the upper hand.

Seska warns one of the prisoners who seems intent on resisting: "I wouldn't do that if I were you. This phaser's set on wide beam: I could take you all in one shot." Chakotay: "Everybody, drop your weapons." Neelix gets to his feet and moves over towards him. He turns on the Starfleet defenders. "You heard the man. Drop your weapons!" Nervously, to Chakotay: "Don't look so surprised, Commander. I know a winner when I see one. I'm with you."

Seska is unimpressed. She asks Chakotay: "Do you want me to shoot him?" Neelix turns and looks at her.

Chakotay replies: "We're still going to need a cook." He taps his combadge. combadge "Chakotay to Engineering. What's your status?"
A Maquis crewman replies, via comms: "Engineering is secure."
Chakotay, via comms: "Transporter rooms 1 and 2. Status?"
A Maquis crewman replies, via comms: "Transporter room 1 is under control."
A Maquis crewman replies, via comms: "Transporter room 2 is secure."
Chakotay, via comms: "Shuttlebay. Status?"
A Maquis crewmember replies, via comms: "Shuttlebay is secure, Commander."
Chakotay to Seska and Torres: "I'll take care of the prisoners here. You two get some help and start rounding up the personnel that are still locked down in quarters. Bring them to Cargo Bay 1."

Seska, privately to Chakotay: "We did it." He replies warmly: "Just like old times." He smiles at her.

As Seska and Torres move along the corridor together, Seska says: "You did a good job today."
Torres: "Thanks."
Seska: "Just make sure you keep it up."
Torres: "What's that supposed to mean?"
Seska: "It means I'm not as easy to win over as Chakotay."

Seska unlocks the door on a crewman's quarters. She rushes in, telling the prisoner: "Come on! Let's go." She shoves him out of the door and along the corridor in front of them.

Seska tells the crewman, as they reach Kes' quarters: "Wait here." Torres unlocks the door. Faced with a phaser rifle, Kes demands: "Seska, what's going on?" Seska: "Move it." Kes: "Why are we being treated like prisoners?" Seska: "No talking."

The two prisoners are hurried along the corridor, with Seska and Torres following them, weapons at the ready.

They are taken to Cargo Bay 1. cargo bay doors A lot of other prisoners are already there.
Seska orders the prisoners she has brought: "Over there, with the rest of them."

Kes: "What are you going to do with us?" Seska pushes her, snarling: "I said no talking!" Torres restrains Seska: "Hey, hey, take it easy." As Chakotay enters, Seska tells him: "I told you it was a mistake, letting Starfleet people in on this." Chakotay: "Now's not the time, Seska."

Chakotay addresses the captured prisoners: "Take a good look around you. You're under armed guard. You may also notice that your senior officers aren't here. They're in the Brig. They'll be put off the ship at the first habitable planet we come to, all except Janeway and Paris, who will arrive at their rendezvous co-ordinates to find that Voyager's not there. In short, I've taken control of the ship. I don't blame any of you for the mistakes of your leaders. I'm giving you a choice: you can be put off the ship with your superiors, or you can do what Neelix and some of your other crewmembers have already done and join me." He stops walking around and stops in front of Torres who leans over and tilts her head in order to see round past him. "If you do you'll be part of a crew that'll do whatever it takes to get us home as fast as possible. Under my command we won't let almighty Federation principles get in the way of opportunities, the way that Janeway did when she destroyed the array that could have gotten us home, and we won't be wasting precious time stopping to investigate every insignificant anomaly that we come across. What we will do is use any means necessary to acquire technology that can shorten our journey. To hell with Starfleet regulations. You have fifteen minutes to make up your minds."

Suddenly Paris enters. "B'Elanna. What's going on here?"

Has Paris returned to Voyager and managed to get past the mutineers? No, for Torres orders: "Computer, freeze program." The mutiny was a holoprogram!

Torres: "Are you in the habit of just walking in on other people's private holodeck time?!" Paris: "It's not as if I caught you dancing the rumba with a naked Bolian. We had a lunch date, remember?" Torres: "Is it lunchtime already? I must've lost track of the time."

Paris: "Well, I expected to find you shooting pool at Sandrine's, not hanging out with Seska. What sort of program is this anyway?"

Torres and Paris contemplate the frozen holocharacters.

Torres: "It's really something. I was doing a routine purge of the database, you know: taking out old files that were taking up space. And I found this holonovel. It's a kind of 'what if?' story all about a Maquis mutiny. It's completely compelling, and believable, I guess it's because it's all about us." Paris: "Who wrote it?" Torres: "Now that is the big mystery." Torres: "Whoever the author is has gone to a lot of trouble to keep his identity a secret. It's been encrypted." Paris: "Why do you suppose someone would try so hard to be anonymous?" Torres: "Think about it: whoever plays this program takes on the role of a Starfleet security who gets approached by Chakotay to help the Maquis take over the ship! I mean, it's pretty inflammatory." Paris: "You think we should tell the Captain?" Torres: "Probably." Paris: "It would be pretty hard for us to give her a full report if we don't know how the story ends." Torres: "Excellent point." Paris: "Great. Can you reset it for me?" Torres: "You! I was just getting to the good part." Paris: "Oh come on, B'Elanna, be a sport. I've got to be back on duty in less than an hour. Besides, isn't half the fun of a holonovel having someone to talk it over with?" Torres: "Alright. You owe me one."