Operation Watson goes live:

Kim: "The deflector's in position." Janeway: "Anything?" Kim: "I'm picking up a phased tachyon beam." Seven: "There's a tri-axillating signal encoded in it." Janeway: "On screen." Live contact is established between Voyager and Project Pathfinder at Starfleet Command on Earth, but the incoming signal from Earth is weak and rather distorted. Barclay: "Voyager, this is Lieutenant Barclay at Starfleet Command. Are you receiving us?" Janeway to Kim: "Can you clear it up?" Kim: "A little." After Kim tweaks the controls, the signal becomes clear. Admiral Paris: "Captain Janeway, it's a pleasure to finally talk to you in person." Janeway: "The pleasure's mine, Admiral. How's the weather in San Francisco?" Admiral Paris: "Cold and rainy as usual." Janeway: "It sounds delightful. Lieutenant Barclay, my congratulations on establishing the first trans-galactic comlink. You've earned a place in the history books." Barclay: "I can't take all the credit, Captain. It was Harry and Seven suggested bouncing a tachyon beam off of the quantum singularity." Kim: "Just be sure to thank us when you accept the Daystrom Prize." Admiral Paris: "I wish we had more time for small talk but the singularity only stays in alignment for eleven minutes a day." Eleven minutes are better than none We appreciate all your work, Reg." Admiral Paris: "We're going to leave it up to you to determine how to allocate the com time. Barclay: "Admiral, er there was something else." Admiral Paris: "Oh yes. Mr Barclay has arranged a small gift for you and your crew." Barclay: "This is a live image from McKinley Station. Not too much cloud cover over North America today." Janeway: "Quite a view. Thank you, Reg."

Voyager's Doctor uses his call-time to talk to his publisher, Ardon Broht of Broht & Forrester (publishers of the Dixon Hill holoseries seen in [TNG]), about his forthcoming holonovel Photons Be Free'. The holonovel's narrator tells the player:

"You're about to take part in a thrilling first-person narrative. You will take on the role of an Emergency Medical Hologram, the chief medical officer aboard the starship Vortex. As our story begins an anomaly has hurled your ship thousands of light-years across the galaxy. Your mission: to uphold your medical and ethical standards as you struggle against the crew's bigotry and intolerance."

But Voyager's crew are unhappy about the holonovel, both with the issue apparently being raised that the Doctor as a photonic being is oppressed by organics, and by the fact that the far from flattering holocharacters seem based on them.

Holo-Jenkins, Captain of USS Vortex, murders an injured crewman.	The holo-first officer.	Holo-Torrey, chief engineer, a bigot.
Holo-Marseilles, conn officer, and womaniser.	Holocharacters Tulok and Kymbal. The latter is a hypochondriac.	Only Three of Eight sympathises with the player/photonic doctor.

The Doctor agrees to make revisions and tells Broht, but then Barclay has some disturbing news and at Project Pathfinder he goes in search of Admiral Paris.
Barclay: "I'm sorry to disturb you, Admiral." Admiral Paris: "Ah yes, Mr Barclay, what can I do for you?" Barclay: "I thought you'd want to see this, sir." Admiral Paris: "Well, what is it?"
Barclay: "It's a holonovel. It's becoming quite popular." Admiral Paris: "Well, I appreciate the gesture, Lieutenant, but I don't share your affinity for holographic diversions." Barclay: "You don't understand, sir. This program, it's about Voyager, and it doesn't portray the crew in a very flattering light."

When Admiral Paris contacts Janeway, and then Janeway and the Doctor contact Broht, they learn that Broht ignored the Doctor's instructions to wait for a re-write and has published the work in its original form. The holonovel has already been played in thousands of holosuites. Broht refuses to withdraw the work or apologise to Voyager's crew, pointing out that the Doctor is a hologram, and under Federation law holograms have no rights.

Left to right: Admiral Paris, Barclay, the Federation Adjudicator and Ardon Broht in the Pathfinder lab for the hearing. Barclay congratulates the Doctor on the result

The Pathfinder lab becomes the setting for a hearing by a Federation Adjudicator on whether Voyager's EMH is covered by the legal definition of a "person" and "artist". Janeway decides that to win the case, they must persuade the Adjudicator that the Doctor is a person. Members of Voyager's crew testify to his human tendencies including fallibility which is not expected in a mere computer program. Barclay: "He travelled halfway across the galaxy to care for Lewis Zimmerman, the man who created his program. It was like a son who wanted to show his father what he'd become, so the old man would be proud of him. And if you ask me, he was." While unprepared to rule that the Doctor is a "person", the Adjudicator rules that he is an "artist" and thus has the right to control his work. He orders all existing published versions of 'Photons Be Free' to be withdrawn. Adjudicator's decision

 

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