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Torres successfully invents the "skeletal lock" and beams out the away team just as the alien aims another swipe at them
The alien powers up its engines.
A hit by the alien's weapons sends Voyager spinning until Paris can regain the helm and send the ship away into warp. The alien vessel does not pursue.
As Voyager flees a graveyard of Borg cubes destroyed by Species 8472, a Species 8472 bio-ship opens fire, sending Voyager into a spin. (pop-up window)
In Sickbay, the Doctor explains his research results to Janeway, who concludes, "They [the aliens] have an extraordinary immune response. Anything that penetrates the cell membrane - chemical, biological, technological - it's all instantly destroyed."
The Doctor comments, "Resistance in this case is far from futile."
Kim is in effect being eaten alive from the inside. Any treatment is immediately rejected, including sedatives therefore Kim is still conscious. The Doctor offers some hope: "I hope to unleash an army of modified borg nanoprobes into his bloodstream designed to target and eradicate the infection....so I successfully dissected a [Borg] nanoprobe and managed to access its recoding mechanism. I reprogrammed the 'probe to emit the same electrochemical signatures as the alien cells; that way the 'probe can do its work without being detected....The alien cells are completely oblivious to the 'probe until it's too late."
Before Janeway can get her hopes too high about a cure for Kim, he says, he's "only made a few prototypes" and the rest of the work could take several days. Whether Kim can survive another few days...
Torres reports to Chakotay: "We've analysed the Borg tactical database. They refer to these new aliens as Species 8472."
Tuvok: "Over the past five months, the Borg have been attacked by them on at least a dozen occasions. Each time, the Borg were defeated, swiftly."
Torres: "The Collective has very little information about the species." They also found out where Species 8472 originates from - it turns out to be the Northwest Passage!
Kes has another vision and sees a member of Species 8472 in its spaceship. "They're in a place where they're all alone. Nothing else lives there," says Kes. "I feel malevalence, a cold hatred...'The weak will perish.' It's an invasion, they're intent on destroying everything."
Janeway and Chakotay have a rapid conference.
Janeway: "That moment we spoke about. It's here. Any thoughts?"
Chakotay: "Just one. Flying into that corridor would mean certain death."
Janeway: "Agreed. The Northwest Passage is no longer an option. So now the choice is between facing the Borg in their space, or finding ourselves a nice planet here in the Delta Quadrant and giving up on ever getting home."
Chakotay: "We'd be turning around, but we wouldn't be giving up. We may find another way home."
Janeway: "I'm not ready to walk onto that bridge and tell the crew we're quitting. I can't do that. Not yet. There must be another alternative."
Chakotay: "Kathryn, you haven't slept in two days. Try getting some rest, and clearing your head. We're safe, for the moment. We can tell the crew tomorrow, if we have to."
Janeway: "See you in the morning."
Faced with such a dreadful and apparently invulnerable enemy, and with the Northwest Passage "not an option" for that is the original place where Species 8472 entered the Quadrant, Janeway goes to the Leonardo da Vinci holosimulation and consults the great man. He advises that she look at things in a new way.
When da Vinci advises her to "appeal to God", Janeway suddenly has an idea: "What if I made an appeal to the Devil?"
Paris expresses everyone's incredulity and doubt, "An alliance with the Borg?!" Janeway replies, "More like an exchange. We offer them a way to defeat their new enemy, and in return we get safe passage through Borg space." Torres says, "...That's right, the Borg gain knowledge through assimilation. What they can't assimilate they can't understand." Janeway says, "But we don't assimilate, we investigate, and in this case that's given us an edge. We've discovered something they need." Responding to the objection that the Borg could just assimilate them to gain the knowledge, Janeway orders the Doctor to transfer all research into his holomatrix: "If the Borg threaten us in any way, we'll erase your program."
Chakotay remains behind when the other staff leave.
Janeway: "You were awfully quiet."
Chakotay: "I didn't want the others to hear this. But I think what you're proposing is too great a risk."
Janeway: "How so?"
Chakotay chooses his words carefully, taking a very tactful approach. "There's a story I heard as a child, a parable. And I never forgot it. A scorpion was walking along the bank of a river, wondering how to get to the other side. Suddenly he saw a fox. He asked the fox to take him on his back across the river. The fox said: 'No. If I do that you'll sting me and I'll drown.' But the scorpion assured him: 'If I did that, we'd both drown.' So the fox thought about it, finally agreed. So the scorpion climbed up on his back, and the fox began to swim. But halfway across the river, the scorpion stung him. As the poison filled his veins, the fox turned to the scorpion and said: 'Why did you do that? Now you'll drown too.' 'I couldn't help it,' said the scorpion: 'It's my nature.'"
Janeway takes in the message. "I understand the risk and I'm not proposing that we try to change the nature of the beast. But this is a unique situation. To our knowledge, the Borg have never been so threatened. They're vulnerable. I think we can take advantage of that."
Chakotay: "Even if we do somehow negotiate an exchange, how long will they keep up their end of the bargain? It could take months to get across Borg territory. We'd be facing thousands of systems, millions of vessels."
Janeway: "But only one Collective! And we've got them over a barrel. We don't need to give them a single bit of information, not until we're safe. We just need the courage to see this through to the end."
Chakotay: "There are other kinds of courage: like the courage to accept that there are some situations beyond your control. Not every problem has an immediate solution."
Janeway: "You're suggesting we turn around."
Chakotay: "Yes. We should get out of harm's way, let them fight it out! In the meantime, there's still a lot of the Delta Quadrant left to explore. We may find another way home."
Janeway: "Or we may find something else. Six months, a year down the road, after Species 8472 gets through with the Borg we could find ourselves back in the line of fire. And we'll have missed the window of opportunity that exists right here right now!"
Chakotay: "How much is our safety worth?"
Janeway: "What do you mean?"
Chakotay: "We'd be giving an advantage to a race guilty of murdering billions. We'd be helping the Borg assimilate another species, just to get ourselves back to Earth. It's wrong!"
Janeway: "Tell that to Harry Kim. He's barely alive thanks to that species. Maybe helping to assimilate them isn't such a bad idea. We could be doing the Delta Quadrant a favour."
Chakotay: "I don't think you really believe that. I think you're struggling to justify your plan, because your desire to get this crew home is blinding you to other options. I know you, Kathryn! Sometimes you don't know when to step back."
The tension rises. They do not agree, cannot compromise, have reached an impasse, and it is getting more emotional.
Janeway: "Do you trust me, Chakotay?"
Chakotay: "That isn't the issue."
Janeway: "But it is. Only yesterday, you were saying that we'd face this together, that you'd be at my side."
Chakotay: "I still have to tell you what I believe. I'm no good to you if I didn't."
Janeway: "I appreciate your insights, but the time for debate is over. I've made my decision. Now do I have your support?"
Chakotay: "You're the Captain. I'm the First Officer. I'll follow your orders. But that doesn't change my belief that we're making a fatal mistake."
Janeway, sadly: "Then I guess I'm alone, after all." She ends the conversation with a formal: "Dismissed."
Chakotay turns and leaves.
The Borg transport Janeway from Voyager's bridge to a Borg cube, while the cube holds Voyager in a Borg tractor pulse. (pop-up window)
Voyager contacts the nearest Borg vessel and arrives near a Borg planet and several cubes. The Borg issue their standard challenge and lock on a tractor pulse (Borg name for 'tractor beam'). Janeway shows the Collective a sample of the nanoprobe research and is unexpectedly beamed to a Borg cube. "State your demands," says the Collective.
But negotiations are interrupted as a host of Species 8472 bio-ships fly out of a singularity and head for the Borg planet.
Nine bio-ships send a single weapons ray at the planet.
Species 8472 bio-ships combine weapons to fire a devastating blast at a Borg planet. (pop-up window)
Species 8472 destroys the Borg planet and several Borg cubes within range.
Debris from the planet's destruction showers the Borg cube which Janeway is on and which has Voyager in a tractor pulse. The cube races away, Voyager in tow. This is where Part One ends, as aired on tv, ending Season 3.
