LIVING WITNESS
Episode 91 : Part F

In the Voyager Encounter simulation's medical chamber, the Doctor and Quarren are working together on the medical tricorder, aiming to extract the bio-readings data. Doctor: "700 years, and I'm still caught in the middle of your little dispute. One might've hoped for a bit of social progress in the interim." Quarren: "Change never comes easily for us." Doctor: "Humph. That's an understatement." Quarren: "I've entered the specifications that you gave me." Doctor: "Let's give it a try. Close enough. This diagnostic tool should help me get past the initial encryption sequences. Too bad we can't re-create B'Elanna Torres." Quarren: "Torres, the chief transporter operator." Doctor: "Chief engineer. You might want to make the correction in your history books." Quarren: "What was she like, Torres? I suppose we've gotten her personality wrong too." Doctor: "You're starting to believe me, are you?" Quarren: "Well, let's just say I'm trying to keep an open mind." The Doctor reminisces: "B'Elanna Torres: intelligent, beautiful, and with a chip on her shoulder the size of the Horsehead Nebula. She also had a kind of vulnerability which made her quite endearing." Quarren observes: "You miss her, and the others." Doctor: "From my perspective, I saw them all only a few days ago, but in fact it's been centuries, and I'll never see them again. Did they ever reach home, I wonder?" Quarren: "I've always wondered that too, from as far back as I can remember." Doctor: "Really?" Quarren: "Ever since I was a small child. The first time I heard the name Voyager it conjured up my imagination." Doctor: "Even though we were the bad guys?" Quarren: "That didn't matter. I was too young to understand the implications. The fact that you were so far from home, travelling across the stars." He sighs, lost for a moment in nostalgia. "I found it all very heroic. I suppose Voyager is what made me fall in love with history." Doctor: "If it means anything to you, you'd've made a fine member of our crew."

Suddenly there is the sound of an explosion and the Voyager Encounter simulation is shaken. Doctor: "I hope that's part of the simulation." Quarren checks the controls. Concerned: "No, it isn't."

They hurry outside where they see a mob rushing through the Museum smashing the exhibits.

An exhibit is explodes, destroyed by the vandals.

Quarren tries to remonstrate with one of the Vaskans, who turns out to be the man who spoke to him earlier. "No, stop this!" Vaskan: "We know about the hologram. This Museum's filled with lies!"

Quarren: "Stop, listen to me!" Vaskan: "We've listened long enough!" The Vaskan shoves Quarren to the floor and rushes off to continue wrecking the Museum. The Doctor hurries over and helps Quarren up. Quarren: "They're using photon grenades. We've got to take cover."

The Doctor helps Quarren to a sheltered spot. As he does so, he forgets to take the medical tricorder with him which he had put down in order to help Quarren up. Taking cover, the pair can only look on helplessly as the Museum is completely trashed.

After the Vaskans have left, leaving the interior of the Museum in ruins, the Doctor anxiously questions Quarren as they wander through the now unidentifiable remains.

Doctor: "What's happening? I've been hearing weapons." Quarren: "It's getting worse - protests, vandalism, two people have been killed. Don't worry, they've cordoned off the Museum. We're safe for now." Doctor: "That's not what I'm concerned about. Two deaths, a race riot, all because of me?!" Quarren: "You were only the catylyst. The pressure's been growing for years. It was only a matter of time before something set it off. Have you found the tricorder?" Doctor: "Not yet." Quarren: "It's crucial that we do. The Kyrians are demanding that you be punished for your crimes, but the Vaskans want to hear your version of events again. They want to continue the investigation." Doctor: "What's going to happen?" Quarren: "I don't know. The Vaskans are more powerful but the Kyrians are very angry. They're talking about another war." Doctor: "There's only one solution. Delete my program. I've become a kind of symbol for this conflict. As long as I'm around your people are going to keep on fighting. I'll show you how to decompile my program. You can say I was damaged in the attack last night. No one will hold you responsible." Quarren: "I can't do that to you." Doctor: "Then I'll do it myself." Quarren: "No!" Doctor: "I'm a medical hologram, programmed to do no harm, but I'm doing harm on a global scale. Ever since you reactivated me I've been concerned with clearing Voyager's good name, but that's not important now. There's more at stake." Quarren: "A few days ago I might've agreed with you, but what about the facts?" Doctor: "Facts be damned! Names, dates, places. It's all open to interpretation. Who's to say what really happened? And ultimately, what difference does it make? What matters is today and the future of your people." Quarren: "Doctor, you were there. You can't deny what happened." Doctor: "I can. And I will. Tedran was a martyr for your people, a hero, a symbol of your struggle for freedom. Who am I to wander in 700 years later and take that away from you?" Quarren: "History has been abused! We keep blaming each other for what happened in the past. If you don't help us now, it could be another 700 years." The Doctor takes his point and concedes. "Let's find that tricorder."

They continue searching.

The image of them searching freezes. This and everything previously contemporary with Quarren has been part of a simulation being viewed years later by a group of Kyrians and Vaskans.

Visitors in the groups listening to the female Museum Curator whose name (from the script) is Tabris.

Tabris: "It was a pivotal moment in our history. As a result of the Doctor's testimony, a dialogue was opened between our peoples. Eventually we found a new respect for our divergent cultures and traditions. The efforts of people like Quarren and the Doctor paved for way for unity. Quarren died six years later but he lived long enough to witness the Dawn of Harmony."

She continues: "And the Doctor? Well, he served as our Surgical Chancellor for many years, until he decided to leave. He took a small craft and set a course for the Alpha Quadrant, attempting to trace the path of Voyager. He said he had a longing for home."