For over 450 screenshots (and larger than these), start here.
the audio clip features some of the story's dramatic music
Chakotay attempts to break free of the Borg tractor pulse but Janeway appears on screen and orders him to stop. She says the Borg have agreed to her terms. While the cube and Voyager head towards the Alpha Quadrant, she is to help them construct a nanoprobe weapon aboard their vessel. She orders Tuvok to join her aboard the cube. Chakotay is still unhappy about the alliance.
The Doctor reports that he has "replicated nearly 10 million nanoprobes" coded to neutralise Species 8472 at the cellular level. When Chakotay repeats Janeway's order to keep all data on the nanoprobe technology stored in his holomatrix, the Doctor replies, "Don't worry, I'll delete myself at the first sign of trouble...well, maybe not the first sign."
In Sickbay, Kes is disturbed by another vision of Species 8472.
Tuvok and Janeway are taken Grid 92 of Subjunction 12 near the centre of the cube. Drones affix a neuro-transceiver to them, stating that assimilation is required for maximum communication. Janeway objects. "I prefer to communicate verbally, thank you." She suggests they choose a single drone whom they can talk to - they've done it before when Jean-Luc Picard was transformed into Locutus of Borg. "Choose a representative," she says, "or the deal's off."
The neuro-transceivers are removed. A female Borg drone is released from a nearby alcove and walks up to them. "I speak for the Borg....Seven of Nine, tertiary adjunct of uni-matrix zero one, but you may call me Seven of Nine."
Seven of Nine tells Janeway and Tuvok that Voyager's photon torpedoes have an explosive yield of 200 iso-tons; how does she know that? - "We are Borg." Seven of Nine wants to create a multikinetic neutronic mine with a 5 million isoton yield to disperse the nanoprobes over a radius of five light years. Janeway objects as it could "affect an entire star system and endanger innocent worlds".
Seven of Nine threatens Voyager with assimilation but Janeway calls her bluff. In the end it is the argument that "it would take 50 trillion nanoprobes to arm this mine and would take several weeks for the Doctor to replicate enough nanoprobes" which persuades Seven to co-operate with Janeway's smaller-scale plans.
Voyager alongside the Borg cube.
The Doctor reports to Chakotay: "Her telepathic visions are increasing, both in frequency and intensity."
Kes: "It feels different this time, it's almost like they're right here, in the room."
Doctor to ChakotaY: "Every time she has a vision, specific regions of her cerebral cortex go into a state of hyper-stimulation: memory engrams, perceptual centres. I can't be sure, but I think there's more going on here than just a simple 'hello'."
While the Doctor is examining Kes, she has another vision.
On the Borg cube, Janeway, Tuvok and Seven of Nine.
Chakotay contacts Janeway: "The Doctor believes that the aliens are accessing her memory."
This means that Species 8472 may know their plans.
The Borg Collective tries to get Janeway to hand over the nanoprobes unconditionally.
Seven of Nine: "We now require one of your photon torpedoes and the nanoprobes."
Janeway: "One step at a time. We're not safely across your territory yet."
Seven of Nine: "We must construct and test a prototype now. The risk of attack has increased."
Janeway: "Irrelevant. We have an agreement. You're asking me to give up my only guarantee that you won't assimilate us. I won't risk it."
Seven of Nine: "Are you willing to risk a direct confrontation with us? If we transport five hundred drones onto your vessel, do you believe you could offer sufficient resistance?"
Janeway: "We'd die trying."
This alliance is a precarious one. Eventually it is the Borg Collective which backs down.
A cured Kim reports to Voyager's bridge and takes up his post. Torres pretends, "You still got a tendril up your nose." And Kim falls for it.
Suddenly a bio-ship attacks. Seven of Nine says, "We cannot let the nanoprobes be destroyed."
The Borg cube fires on a Species 8472 bioship. (opens in a pop-up window)
The attacking bio-ship. On the cube, Janeway is hit by a discharge from its weapons and hurled across the deck.
The Borg cube moves to intercept the bio-ship on collision course. Both the bio-ship and the cube are destroyed.
Tuvok contacts Chakotay and tells him that they and some Borg managed to beam into Voyager's cargo bay. Janeway has been critically injured. The Doctor tells Chakotay he must operate on Janeway - induce a coma in order to protect her higher brain functions. Before he operates Janeway manages to speak to Chakotay: "They'll push you, they'll threaten you, but they need you, they need this alliance. You have to make this work. I want you to make this work. Get this crew home."
Chakotay finds that the Borg have assimilated the cargo bay. Seven of Nine challenges him: "Lower your weapons. We are here with your captain's consent. We have an alliance, do we not?"
Seven says, "The nearest Borg vessel is 40 light years away," and insists Voyager turn round to meet it. Chakotay objects: "Even at maximum warp that's a five-day journey."
Chakotay tells the senior staff that he is going to end the alliance. He informs Seven of Nine . When she threatens to assimilate Voyager, Chakotay says that "if a single drone steps out of line, I'll depressurise the cargo bay - you won't pose much of a threat floating in space." Seven of Nine tells him that humans "lack the cohesion of a collective mind" and that one day it will divide and destroy them. "It will be your undoing."
The Borg Collective tells Seven of Nine of heavy Borg losses in the war against Species 8472 and orders her to seize control of the Alpha Quadrant ship and take it into the enemy realm. She accesses deflector control from the cargo bay. Torres, on the Bridge, reports: "They're emitting a resonant graviton beam." The Borg open a quantum singularity and take Voyager into the realm of Species 8472, "fluidic space".
The resonant graviton beam emitted by Voyager's main deflector.
The resonant graviton beam opens a singularity into the realm of Species 8472. Chakotay depressurises the cargo bay and all the Borg drones except Seven of Nine are sucked out into space.
Voyager's cargo bay doors open to space, the interior is depressurised and all but one of the Borg drones drift into space. (opens in a pop-up window)
Chakotay surmises that the Borg have been here before, in fact, they started the war against Species 8472. Seven of Nine tells him that they must prepare to do battle with a fleet of bio-ships which has detected their presence and are converging on their position. Her link with the collective has been disrupted. She rejects Chakotay's suggestion that she open up that singularity and return Voyager: "If I did that, you would not co-operate."
Janeway and Chakotay disagree over his trying to terminate the alliance with the Borg.
Janeway: "There are two wars going on, the one out there and the one in here, and we're losing both of them."
Chakotay: "'It will be our undoing'...our conflicted nature, our individuality...Seven of Nine said that we lacked the cohesion of a collective mind, that one day it would divide us and destroy us, and here we are proving her point."
Janeway: "I'll tell you when we lost control of this situation, when we made our mistake: it was the moment we turned away from each other. We don't have to stop being individuals to get through this. We just have to stop fighting each other."
Seven is shown to the Bridge, and is met by Janeway, who says she has relieved Chakotay of command and confined him to the Brig. Janeway proves the alliance is back on again to Seven's satisfaction by ordering the nanoprobes to be given to Seven of Nine in order to produce the bio-molecular weapons, and tells the crew, "We're going to war."
