Episode 94 : HOPE AND FEAR : Part B

The shuttlecraft returns to Voyager.

In the cargo bay Starfleet personnel are sorting through the cargo brought back by Paris and Neelix. There are containers of various sizes and shapes. Paris gives directions: "That," pointing to one container, "goes to Engineering." Pointing to another: "Sickbay."

A female crewmember walks up to him carrying a bizarre-looking alien object. Chakotay jokes: "I hope that's not going to the Messhall." Paris: "I don't remember what this is." He calls out: "Neelix!"

Neelix is standing near the door with Janeway and the alien who is to be given passage. The alien, whose name is Arturis, is highly intelligent, soft-spoken and charismatic. Neelix is relishing his (Neelix's) ambassadorial role.

Neelix: "Captain, he's a genius! I was trying to negotiate with a xenon-based lifeform when the Universal Translator went offline. Arturis here stepped in and acted as a perfect go-between, and he'd never heard either of our languages!" Arturis: "They're simple." To Neelix, smiling: "No insult intended." Paris calls out again: "Neelix!" Neelix calls back: "On my way." To Janeway and Arturis: "If you two will excuse me." He rushes off.

Janeway: "Welcome to Voyager. We may be a linguistically simple folk but we're happy to give you a ride." She takes him to the door and out into the corridor: "Let's see if we can find you some quarters." Arturis: "Neelix was right - Voyager is a welcoming place." Janeway: "We do our best."

As they walk along the corridor together, she tells him: "I can't say I've ever met a living Universal Translator." Arturis: "My people have a way with languages. I myself know over four thousand." Janeway is impressed: "And to think I still struggle with basic Klingon. You couldn't have heard Neelix say more than a few phrases." Arturis: "That's all I needed. It's enough to grasp the grammar and syntax." Janeway: "Impressive."

Arturis: "Not really. It's a natural ability. Some species are born with great physical prowess. Others, like yours, with a generosity of spirit. My people can see patterns where others see only confusion." Janeway looks at him, her mind working. "Is something wrong?" Janeway: "No. Tell me, how are you at computational languages, algorithms, trinary syntax?"

Arturis: "It's all the same to me." Janeway: "I was wondering if you might do us another favour." He looks back, rather puzzled, but is happy to oblige. They continue walking but Janeway changes direction and they head for the Astrometrics Lab.

Later, Janeway, Seven and Arturis look at the console screen while examining Starfleet's encrypted message. He comments: "You weren't exaggerating, Captain. This data stream is badly damaged. I'd like to see the entire transmission again." The transmission is run again.

Arturis is curious about Seven and asks her: "Are you Borg?" Seven: "Yes." Arturis, lightly: "You're much more attractive than the average drone." Seven, as usual, takes every comment seriously and replies seriously: "I am no longer part of the Collective." Arturis studies the monitor. "Yes....yes...I see the problem." To Janeway: "May I?" Janeway: "Please." He takes Seven's place and taps the controls.

Janeway to Seven: "Have you encountered his people before?" Seven: "Species 116." Arturis, of course, hears their conversation clearly. Hearing his people given a number, he asks: "Is that what you call us?" Seven: "Yes." To Janeway, ignoring the fact that Arturis is present. "The Borg have never been able to assimilate them, not yet." Janeway chides her for her tactless remark: "Seven." Arturis, however, is apparently not offended and responds good-naturedly: "Oh, it's alright, Captain. The Borg Collective is like a force of nature. You don't feel anger toward a storm on the horizon. You just avoid it."

The console responds to Arturis' commands and he looks pleased. "Ah! Here it is." The monitor is now displaying a vast amount of different information with rapidly changing images of stellar data.

Arturis: "It's a simple matter of extracting the iconometric elements and triaxillating a recursion matrix." Janeway: "Now, why didn't I think of that?" Arturis: "There's a great deal of information here, Captain. It might be helpful to utilise the other monitors."

The display of the information is transferred. Arturis and Janeway look at the main viewscreen.

The information is shown as a multiscreen display, with each section filled with different kinds of data - schematics and celestial images. One section shows a Starfleet admiral talking. The information is not clear, however, but subject to heavy interference.

Janeway, pleased: "You've done it." Arturis: "Almost. I've reconstructed over 68 kiloquads of information but a lot of it's still garbled." Janeway: "What about this datablock, 14 beta?" Arturis: "That part of the message is too degraded to recover."

Seven has moved from behind them to go up to the viewscreen to look at it close up. "Captain, I've found a spatial grid." Janeway joins her, followed by Arturis. Janeway observes: "It looks like a map of a nearby sector." Referring to the column of figures: "They've marked a set of co-ordinates. It's less than ten light years from here."

Seven: "Maybe Starfleet wants us to proceed to that location." Janeway: "Maybe. There's only one way to find out."

Janeway, Seven and Arturis enter the Bridge. Paris: "We're approaching the co-ordinates." Janeway: "Take us out of warp. Scan the vicinity." Tuvok reports on the scans: "I'm picking up a vessel." Janeway: "On screen."

The viewscreen shows a starship, glowing with power, hanging in space. It is sleek, bullet-shaped, as though built for speed, and is roughly half the size of Voyager.

Chakotay: "Identify." Tuvok: "Unless I'm mistaken, captain, the warp signature is Starfleet."

The unknown starship.

Kim is almost beaming with delight. Paris speaks quietly to himself: "I'll be damned. They came through." Janeway: "Tuvok." Tuvok: "Hailing them. No response." Chakotay: "Lifesigns?" Kim reports: "There's no organic matter of any kind, no sign of damage to the outer hull, primary systems are online including life support. Something must've happened to the crew."

Janeway: "The answer is somewhere in that Starfleet transmission. We need to finish decoding it." She turns to Arturis: "May I call on your talents again?" Arturis bows: "Of course." Janeway to Chakotay: "Take an away team. Secure the vessel." Chakotay calls: "Tuvok, Tom." The three of them head for the turbolift and Lieutenant Ayala takes over from Tuvok at the security/tactical station.

Arturis approaches Janeway who is looking thoughtful: "Captain, I won't pretend to know you well, but I'm surprised you're not more encouraged by this discovery." Janeway: "I've learned to walk theline between hope and caution. We've had other opportunities that didn't work out. But I will admit, I'm leaning toward hope this time."

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