SCIENTIFIC METHOD
Episode 75
Part E

 

Seven walks along a corridor, alert for anything unusual.

She turns as a turbolift door opens and a crewman exits.

He is wearing a large appliance on his head. He does not seem to be aware of it.

The crewman walks down the corridor, and she catches sight of an alien intruder up ahead.

The alien waits near the turbolift.

Seven walks past, needing to get to the turbolift. Surreptitiously she keeps an eye on the alien. The aliens are of the species called Srivani.

Seven, in the turbolift. "Deck 5." atmospheric music: Seven starts her deck-by-deck survey

The alien woman follows her in. Seven pretends that she cannot see her.

The alien inserts a probe into Seven who has to not react.

The alien leaves. Later, after visiting Deck 5 and elsewhere in order to conduct the deck by deck survey, Seven enters the Messhall on Deck 2.

The Srivani are there too, conducting experiments on the crew.

Seven pours herself coffee in the Galley in order to find a quiet place to contact the Doctor from. Seven taps her combadge. combadge "Computer, frequency epsilon-2. Doctor, the aliens are here on the ship. I can see them everywhere." Doctor, via comms: "This is worse than I imagined. You've got to let the Captain know." Contact ends. Seven leaves the Galley by its corridor exit.

Janeway is at work in her Ready Room. Tired, she goes over to the window for a short break. The door signal sounds. door signal Janeway: "Yes?" Impatiently: "Yes!" Tuvok enters. "Good morning, Captain." Janeway snaps: "That's a matter of opinion! What is it?" Tuvok: "Internal scans haven't revealed anything about the genetic mutations." Janeway: "The Doctor?" Tuvok: "Still offline. We are investigating the possibility-" Janeway interrupts: "Inform me of any progress." Tuvok: "Understood." Janeway stops him as he starts to leave: "There's one more thing. The incident with Tom and B'Elanna started me thinking about ship's protocol, or lack thereof." Tuvok: "Captain?" Janeway: "It seems to me that people have been getting a little too comfortable around here lately. They're late for their duty shifts, taking Messhall privileges during non-designated hours, and a lot of people are spending more time on the Holodeck than they are at their posts! You ARE security chief. Don't thirteen department heads report to you every day?" Tuvok: "Yes." Janeway: "Well, straighten them out!" Tuvok, lightly: "Shall I flog them as well?"

She sighs. "Maybe the Doctor was right. I think I do need a vacation."

Tuvok: "You do seem unsettled." Janeway: "'Crazed' is more like it. I haven't felt this anxious since my first day of command." The door signal sounds. door signal Janeway tells Tuvok: "Remind me to lower the volume on that door." As she calls: "Come in." she goes to sit down by the window.

Seven enters. "Captain, I wish to speak with you-"

She stops as she sees two Srivani are here, adjusting long needles stuck into Janeway's head. Janeway: "What's wrong?" Seven: "My attempts to repair the resonance scanner have failed. I require assistance." Janeway: "Ask Ensign Kim to lend you a hand." Seven: "Yes, Captain." Janeway, impatiently: "Is that all?" Seven leaves.

Janeway: "When this mutation crisis is over, I think I'll spend a few days in Renaissance Tuscany. There's a little inn outside Siena I've been wanting to try."

Tuvok comes and sits next to her. "I will join you, for a glass of wine." She puts her hand on his in appreciation of his friendship and support.

After Tuvok leaves, Janeway feels her head which is now throbbing with even more pain.

The Leonardo da Vinci holoprogram. Doctor: "How many?" Seven: "I've observed 56 of the aliens. There could be more." Doctor: "Have you seen any pattern to their behaviour, any hint what they're trying to accomplish?" Seven: "They seemed to be conducting experiments on the crew and monitoring the results." The holographic town hall clock bell strikes once. Doctor: "As if Voyager were one big Petri dish." Seven: "I may be among them. In the turbolift, one of them probed me with a medical instrument." Doctor: "We cannot allow them to continue." Seven: "I've been analysing their energy signatures. I believe there is a way to make them visible to everyone." Doctor: "How?" Seven: "Using a precisely modulated phaser beam. If we expose them, the crew may be able to fight back." Doctor: "What if the aliens retaliate by inflicting lethal mutations on everyone? It's too risky." Seven: "What do you suggest?" Doctor: "The key to the aliens' control is the genetic tags. I believe a neuroelectric shock would disable them. Unfortunately, it would be rather painful." Seven: "Will the crew recover?" Doctor: "Yes, they will. The hard part will be administering the shock to everyone simultaneously." Seven: "The power relays could be reconfigured to do it." Doctor: "Good. I assume you know how to do that." Seven: "You assume correctly. But I will have to bypass several safeguards. It will take time." Doctor: "Then you'd better get started."