Flashbacks are denoted by this font and color.

	Kim: "There was no reason to say no. If we hadn't gone with him that night, none of this would've happened." The screenshot shows the Banean city, at night.
	Tolen brings Paris and Kim into his home. The dog barks at them. Tolen goes and picks up the dog. "Oh come on now, Neeka, stop that racket. They're friends!" Neeka stops barking. "That's better, that's better. What a good doggie, what a good doggie."
	Still holding Neeka, Tolen turns and calls into the house: "Oh dearest, are you dressed? We have guests." To Paris and Kim: "I should've called. I just don't think of the common courtesies. She's really wonderful about tolerating my dreadful manners."
	His wife strolls into the room. She stops and casually checks her hair in the mirror. "So you've done it to me again?" Tolen: "Yes, dear. I apologise. Oh Lidell, this is Ensign Harry Kim and Lieutenant Tom Paris. They're from the other side of the galaxy."

Lidell: "Hello." Paris is clearly taken with her and replies: "Nice to meet you."

She does not go near them nor does she shake hands with them, as Tolen did earlier when introduced to them by the Banean minister. Instead she turns her back on them all and pretends to arrange flowers that are already arranged as she says to Tolen Tolen: "You might've called." Tolen: "You're absolutely right. You have enough to feed us all or shall we go out?"

Lidell turns. "No, it's fine. I have some leftover rolk from yesterday. I'll just throw it in the stew." Tolen: "Wonderful. Gentlemen, make yourselves at home. I'm going to put on my slippers. Lidell will take good care of you." He leaves the room.

	Lidell: "Would you like a drink?" When Paris does not reply, Kim hastily says: "Sure." She goes over to the drinks cabinet and opens it. She turns to Paris: "Help yourself." She does not pour the drinks for them herself. She has a meal to go and prepare.
	She leaves the room. Paris to Kim: "What're you looking at?" Kim: "Not the same thing you're looking at, that's for sure."
	Neeka barks at them. Paris to Neeka: "What're you looking at?"
	Lidell appears with a plate and throws a piece of the leftover rolk onto the floor for Neeka. Neeka eats it. She says, to their puzzled looks: "If it's spoiled, Neeka wouldn't eat it." This seems to be a pointed snub to her husband because, unless there is something wrong with their food preservation methods, rolk that has been leftover for only one day should not have had time to spoil (a Banean day seems to be about the same length as an Earth day).

Lidell throws a piece of leftover rolk on the floor for Neeka.

	At dinner, Tolen helps Kim to stew. Tolen: "Nothing too fancy, nothing exotic round here. We're very simple folks." Kim: "You're very kind to include us at your supper table."
	Tolen: "We enjoy an occasional guest. I think Lidell would prefer us to entertain more often than we do, yes? She's er, far more social than I am. I'm afraid she gets a little bored here sometimes. I'm so consumed with my work."

	Paris to Lidell: "And here we are bringing more of it home to take your husband's attention away for the evening." Lidell: "Whether you were here or not makes no difference. Tolen would work anyway."
	Tolen: "I'm afraid she's right. We are at war after all. By the way, how did you get past the Numiri patrols?" Kim: "Lieutenant Paris is our best pilot."

Paris: "Captain Janeway decided not to take our ship into orbit. She wanted to avoid getting involved in your conflict. So we came in on a shuttlecraft that would avoid immediate detection by the Numiri. I hid behind the lim of the moon before I made a break for your defence perimeter. By the time their sensors picked us up they didn't have a chance to catch us."

	Tolen claps Paris on the shoulder: "Well done!" Lidell leaves the table. "Finished already?" Lidell puts her unfinished plate on the floor for Neeka to get at. "The meat doesn't taste right." She leaves the room. Tolen to Paris and Kim: "Well, we do have a lot of work to get done. Perhaps we should begin."

above and below: Lidell puts her plate on the floor for Neeka to finish up her meal, saying: "The meat doesn't taste right."

The Doctor gives Kim a hypospray injection. hypospray injection

Kim: "We went into the other room and started to work on the navigational beam specifications. It was pretty dry stuff, you know, re-writing baseline code algorithms. Tom got bored. He left us alone for a while. I guess he was with Mrs Ren. I know they saw each other the next day. That was the night Professor Ren was murdered."
Tuvok: "Did you talk to Lieutenant Paris after he was detained?"
Kim: "No. They never let me see him. They interrogated me for almost two days straight. They asked me a lot of questions about the Numiri. At first they must have thought we were Numiri agents or something. Professor Ren was the inventor of the Banean ship technology."

Doctor: "He's completely exhausted. Can some of this wait until he's had a chance to rest?" Janeway: "We'll find out about Paris, Mr Kim." She taps her combadge. combadge "Janeway to Chakotay." Chakotay, via comms: "Go ahead." Janeway, via comms: "Set a course for the Banean homeworld, Commander." Chakotay, via comms: "Aye, Captain."

Captain's Ready Room. The door signal sounds. door signal Janeway calls: "Come in." standard doors Neelix enters.

	Neelix: "You sent for me, Captain?" Janeway: "Lieutenant Paris has gotten himself into trouble. I'm taking the ship into orbit while we try to sort things out." Neelix: "Be prepared to be intercepted by Numiri patrols. They always try to intimidate travellers to the Banean planet." Janeway: "The stakes are too high to send a shuttlecraft this time. I want to show our flag to make it clear that we mean business." Neelix: "I understand."
	Janeway: "Based on your experience, what can we expect the Numiri to do to intimidate us?" Neelix: "To be honest, whenever I saw the Numiri coming I always left before the intimidation began." He chortles at his own joke, but Janeway is not amused. She moves to stand behind him and folds her arms sternly.
	Neelix resumes being serious. He continues: "Er, however, I know from knowledgeable sources that they have directed energy weapons comparable to your own, our own, that is, plus regenerative shields that may even give them a certain advantage over us in a fire fight."
	Janeway: "Tell me about them, as a people. Are they aggressive, technical, intellectual, emotional? - anything that might help me deal with them." Neelix: "The Numiri and the Banea are quite different from one another, even though they once co-existed on the same planet. That's why I recommended the Banea to you in the first place. The Numiri have a remarkably covert society." The comm. signal sounds. comms. signal Chakotay, via comms: "Captain to the Bridge." Janeway, via comms: "On my way."
	Janeway enters the Bridge, followed by Neelix. Chakotay reports: "We're scanning the Numiri vessel approaching. They're at combat readiness, Captain." Janeway: "Shields up. On screen.

Janeway: "Mr Neelix." Neelix: "Standard patrol vessel. Curious." Janeway: "Why?" Neelix: "I would've expected them to send out more than one tiny patrol to meet a ship like this." Janeway: "Let's hope it's a positive sign."

	Janeway orders: "Hail them." Tuvok: "They're responding."
	Janeway: "Open a channel." The image of the Numiri patrol ship captain appears on the screen as the channel is opened. "I am Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Federation starship Voyager." Numiri captain: "What is your business in this system?" Janeway: "One of my crewmen is being held on the Banean planet. We're on our way to investigate." Numiri captain: "Consider this official notice that you are entering a war zone. You do so at your own risk." Janeway: "Understood." Numiri captain: "Any attempt to provide aid or supplies to the Banea will be considered an act of war against the Numiri."
	Janeway: "You have my word that we intend to remain neutral in your conflict. Our only interest is in our own crewman." Numiri captain: "Proceed. Your activities will be monitored." Contact ends. viewscreen off Neelix: "Very very curious. In Numiri terms, that greeting was downright friendly." Janeway: "Have all security stations remain at full alert. Continue long-range scans for Numiri vessels around the clock." Tuvok: "Aye, Captain."
	Janeway goes and sits in the captain's chair. She orders: "Take us into orbit."

Thanks to Free Buttons for the rulers from the set Cosmic Gel. Thanks to Mardiweb for the button blank.