Janeway: "Captain's log, supplemental. Encouraged by his success in transmitting the signal to the Alpha Quadrant, Mr Kim is investigating the possibility of establishing a voice link with whoever is at the other end of the wormhole."

Captain's Ready Room. The door signal sounds. door signal Janeway says: "Come in." The doors open to reveal Kes. standard doors

Janeway is delighted to see her. Janeway: "Kes, this is a surprise." Kes: "Am I interrupting?" Janeway: "Not at all. I was just going to have a cup of soup. Would you like anything?" Kes: "Er, spinach juice with a touch of pear, please. Tom Paris introduced me to it. It's very nutritious." Janeway laughs: "I'm sure." She moves towards the replicator: "Computer, one spinach juice with a touch of pear and one cup of vegetable bouillon." replicator

The replicator produces the beverages.

She collects the items from the replicator and hands the spinach juice to Kes. "What can I do for you?"

Kes: "If there were a member of the crew whose needs weren't being met, would you want to know about it?" Janeway: "Of course. Kes, do you feel that your needs are being ignored?" Kes: "Of course not. We're very happy here. I'm referring to the Doctor." Janeway: "The Doctor." Kes: "I don't understand why people treat him the way they do." Janeway: "How do people treat him?" Kes: "As though he doesn't exist. They talk about him while he's standing right there. They ignore him, they insult him."

Janeway: "Well, as a matter of fact, I've been hearing the other side of the coin. Many of the crew have complained that the Doctor is brusque, even rude, that he lacks any bedside manner. We've been talking about reprogramming him." Kes: "You can do that? It doesn't seem right." Janeway: "Kes, he's only a hologram." Kes: "He's your medical officer. He's alive." Janeway: "No, he's not." Kes: "He's self-aware, he's communicative, he has the ability to learn." Janeway: "Because he's programmed to do that."

Kes: "So because he's a hologram, he doesn't have to be treated with respect or any consideration at all?" Janeway: "Very well. I'll look into it." Kes: "Thank you, Captain." She gets up and leaves.

Torres' and Kim's work on establishing a voice link is centred on the Engineering II workstation on thebridge. Kim: "Ok, we'll be ready to go online in a couple of minutes." Torres: "I'm still worried about the gravitational interference. I don't think the co-variant isolator will be effective with a vocal transmission." Kim: "Let's try inverting the narrow band filter." Janeway comes up behind them. Janeway: "Progress report, Ensign?" Kim: "Think we're ready to give it a try but we're pushing through some pretty heavy gravitational interference. I can't guarantee the clarity of the transmission." Janeway: "Let's see what happens." She sends a hail: "This is Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Federation starship Voyager. Do you read?" Torres: "I'll narrow the filter band pass some more. Try again, Captain." Janeway: "This is Kathryn Janeway of the Federation ship Voyager. Is anyone receiving this communication?" A signal is heard but the sound is too distorted to hear anything coherent. Kim: "Narrow the band pass a little more. Try again, Captain." Janeway: "This is Janeway. Please repeat your last transmission." Message: "- cargo vessel- location-" Janeway: "Cargo vessel, we're still trying to clear up your last transmission. Please repeat one more time." The message comes through clearly at last: "I am the captain of the cargo vessel Talvath, location Alpha Quadrant, Sector 1385. What is your location?" Janeway: "We're in the Delta Quadrant, but since this Quadrant hasn't been charted I can't specify our exact location." Talvath captain: "Please confirm. You said Delta Quadrant?" Janeway: "Correct." Talvath captain: "In a Federation starship?" Janeway: "Yes. We were on a mission and we got pulled into this Quadrant." Talvath captain: "Pulled in. How?" Janeway: "It's a complicated story. Please, if you would just try deconstructing the phase shift of our hailing frequency you could verify." Talvath captain: "You are indoubtably still in the Alpha Quadrant. What are your co-ordinates?" Janeway: "I assure you I am telling you the truth. We are in the Delta Quadrant, 70,000 light-years from you." Talvath captain: "This is preposterous. You are obviously lying. I am terminating communication." Janeway: "No, no, wait! Kim, hail them again." Kim: "No response, Captain." Chakotay: "Why would he have broken off transmission?" Tuvok: "Perhaps I can offer an explanation. The comlink signature of his transmission indicates the message originated from a Romulan ship. Further, there are no known shipping lanes in the sector he identified. Given the precise calibration of his signal I would suggest that he is on board a science vessel." Why would he pretend to be a cargo captain?" Chakotay: "If he's engaged in some kind of secret research he would want to conceal that fact." Tuvok: "Precisely. And when we claimed to be transmitting from the Delta Quadrant, an impossibility so far as he knows, he may have feared we were Federation spies." Torres: "Just our luck. We raise one ship from the Alpha Quadrant and it has to be Romulan." Janeway: "That Romulan still has the ability to get a message to Starfleet. Mr Kim, hail the Talvath repeatedly. Call me the minute if you re-establish contact. Commander, you have the Bridge." Chakotay: "Aye, Captain." She leaves.

Janeway enters Sickbay standard doors and finds it empty. Janeway: "Computer, initiate Emergency Medical Holographic program." The Doctor materialises behind her. Doctor: "Please state the nature of the medical emergency." Janeway: "There is no emergency, Doctor." Doctor: "Oh. That's good. I was right in the middle of preparing a culture to test Lieutenant Hargrove for Arethian flu when Ensign Kyoto deactivated me." Janeway: "I'm sure she didn't realise you were busy." Doctor: "What is it you want, Captain?" Janeway: "Actually, I thought we might just talk for a moment." Doctor: "About what?" Janeway: "Doctor, you were originally programmed to serve in a limited fashion during an emergency. Now you're being asked to do much more." Doctor: "That's certainly true. I'm providing full-time medical service for the ship's crew, functioning as both doctor and nurse, and now as an instructor as well." Janeway: "You don't have the luxury of thinking of yourself as an emergency medical program any more. You've become a full-fledged member of the crew." Doctor: "I see. Are you suggesting that I be reprogrammed?" Janeway: "No. I'm asking if there's anything I can do to help you." Doctor: "Help me?" Janeway: "If there's anything you need or want, I'd like to see that you get it." Doctor: "What I'd like is to be turned off when people leave. I spend hours here with absolutely nothing to do. When someone does remember to deactivate me they do so without asking if it's convenient. It's extremely irritating." Janeway: "What if I gave you control over your deactivation sequence?" Doctor: "I beg your pardon?" Janeway: "I'm sure we can make it possible for you to turn yourself off, or to prevent being turned off." Doctor: "I, I might like that." Janeway: "I'll have someone look into it. Anything else?" Doctor: "I'm not sure. I'll have to give it some thought." Janeway: "You do that."

Janeway is asleep in bed when the comm. signal wakes her. "Kim to Captain Janeway." Janeway replies via comms: "Janeway here." Kim: "Captain, we've got him back, the Romulan." Janeway: "Good work. Put him through to my quarters." To the Romulan: "This is Kathryn Janeway." Talvath captain: "This is the cargo vessel Talvath." Janeway: "Thank you for answering our hail, Captain. What is your name? How may I address you?" Talvath captain: "I'd prefer not to give my name." Janeway: "Very well. I understand that you must've been sceptical when I told you where we are. I hope you've been able to verify our position." Talvath captain: "My analysis of your hailing frequency seems to indicate that it originates in the Delta Quadrant but I am not precluding the possibility that you've been able to create that illusion somehow." Janeway: "To what end?" Talvath captain: "I'm not sure but that doesn't negate the possibility." Janeway: "How can I assure you of my truthfulness?" Talvath captain: "You say you are a Federation ship. Are you a Starfleet vessel?" Janeway: "Yes, we are." Talvath captain: "And your mission in the Delta Quadrant?" Janeway: "Our mission was originally in the Alpha Quadrant. We were pulled against our will to our present location. Now we're trying to get home." Talvath captain: "Aren't you in fact Starfleet spies on a surveillance mission?" Janeway: "Captain, I understand your concern. Naturally the Romulan Empire doesn't want Starfleet spying on its science vessel, but since we're 70,000 light-years from Romulan space and a subspace message to Starfleet would take years I think you have to admit that we can't be much of a threat to you. You have nothing to fear from us." Talvath captain: "Soothing words, but they are only words." Janeway: "If we were spies, we wouldn't be asking what I'm going to ask you now. We have no way of communicating with Starfleet, with our friends and families. We're hoping you might be able to relay a message for us. Our crew is not large. Each of them could write a short personal message. You'd be welcome to read them all before passing them on. I think you'd be convinced that they're nothing more than the heartfelt words of some very lonely people." Talvath captain: "Captain, it would ease my apprehension if I could see that you are who you say you are. I have a signal amplifier on board. I've been working to reconfigure the protocols to penetrate the radiation stream of the wormhole. I think it might be possible to establish a visual link between us." Janeway: "I have no objection. When that's done, will you help us?" Talvath captain: "I make no promises. Let us proceed one step at a time. Have your officers contact me to attempt the visual link. Good night." Janeway: "Good night."

Janeway leaves her Ready Room for the Bridge, looking quite a contrast to how she looked for her night-time conversation with the Talvath captain.

Bridge next day. Tuvok: "We're ready to try a visual link with the Romulan ship, Captain." Janeway: "Good work." Kim: "We didn't have any trouble configuring the protocols but that phase variance in the radiation stream gave us a few problems. Torres is going to balance it manually from engineering." Paris: "Ok, we've got the communications frequency locked in." Janeway: "On screen." After an initially distorted image, the Talvath captain appears: "I presume you are Captain Janeway." Janeway: "Yes. I want to thank you, Captain, for maintaining contact with us. It means a great deal to me and to my crew." Talvath captain: "I am not familiar with this class of ship." Janeway: "It's new but it isn't classified. I'm a little surprised your intelligence hasn't provided you with information." Talvath captain: "I've been in space for over a year, Captain, and am not privy to the latest intelligence. I'm sure that our operatives have provided our government with detailed information about your new ship." Janeway: "No doubt. Captain, have you been able to communicate with your government about sending our messages?" Talvath captain: "I have. They've promised to take the matter under advisement." Janeway: "I see. And when do you think they will have an answer?" Talvath captain: "It is impossible to predict the timetable of the Romulan Senate. When they've made their decision I will hear from them." Janeway: "We don't have the luxury of a great deal of time. My officers are predicting that the probe will become inoperable within the next 48 hours." Talvath captain: "Captain, I am low-ranking scientist, a minor functionary. It is not my place to tell the Romulan Senate to speed up their decision-making process." Janeway: "You said you've been in space for over a year. Do you have any family?" Talvath captain: "Yes." Janeway: "I assume they're not with you in space." Talvath captain: "My wife and my daughter are on Romulus." Janeway: "A daughter. How old is she?" Talvath captain: "She is seven months." Janeway: "Then you've never seen her." Talvath captain: "To my sorrow, no. She'll be two years old before I get back." Janeway: "You must miss your family very much." Talvath captain: "I knew when I accepted this assignment there would be a price to pay. Perhaps I didn't realise how high the price would be." Janeway: "Captain, every one of us on this ship has left behind friends, family, loved ones. We may not see them again for years, maybe never. So we can all understand how lonely you must be. Surely you can understand our feelings as well. We would be deeply grateful for any efforts you might make to persuade your government to send our messages." Talvath captain: "I cannot guarantee success, but I will try to persuade my superiors to make the decision quickly and positively." Janeway: "Thank you." Talvath captain: "I will contact you again." He closes contact. viewscreen (with bridge background sound) Janeway: "Commander, let's assume he's going to be successful. Tell the crew to prepare personal messages and have them ready within the hour." Chakotay: "A pleasure, Captain."

Torres rushes onto the Bridge, clearly excited. "Captain, I have to talk to you!"

Janeway: "Go ahead, Torres." Torres: "No, I mean, in private." Janeway indicates her Ready Room.

As soon as they are inside, Torres' words come spilling out: "I think this will work, Captain, but I didn't want to bring it up in front of the crew. It wouldn't be right to get their hopes in case it doesn't work, although I think it will." Janeway: "Slow down, Torres. Tell me what you're talking about." Torres: "The phase amplitude of the visual link with the Romulan ship, it's within a megahertz of meeting transporter protocols!" Janeway: "Are you suggesting-" Torres: "We might be able to piggy-back a transporter beam onto the visual beam. We could transport the entire crew back to the Alpha Quadrant." Janeway: "You'll have to reconfigure the matter transmission rate." Torres: "Fairly substantial." Janeway: "And we risk losing whatever we try to beam out." Torres: "We'll have to run a series of tests first." Janeway: "See to it, Lieutenant." Torres: "I'll need some help." Janeway: "You have my authorisation to use any of the ship's personnel you need. This is top priority. And don't worry about secrecy. I doubt you'll be able to keep this quiet for very long." Torres dashes out.

Janeway looks at a picture of her fiancé - Mark is posing with her pet Irish setter called Molly.