Star Trek: Voyager (1995–2001): Season 5, Episode 26 - Equinox: Part I - full transcript

Voyager encounters the Federation Starship Equinox, a Starfleet vessel trapped in the Delta Quadrant by the same alien who brought Voyager there. Equinox is heavily damaged and running with...

Stay on your course.

Shields are down to 29%.
They're breaking through.

Let them. Take the shields off-line
and recharge the emitters.

- That'll bring them up to full power.
- Charging cycle takes 45 seconds.

We'll be dead if we don't get
the shields back up. Arm yourselves!

Drop shields!

- Recharge cycle.
- 30 seconds.

There.

- Time?
- Ten seconds.

This is starship Equinox. We're
under attack. We need assistance.

This is Captain Ransom
of the starship Equinox.



We're under attack.

We need assistance.

Ransom. He was in command

of a science vessel, the Equinox.

This call was transmitted 14 hours ago.

Distance?

3.2 light years.

Get their location.

Why is it in the Delta Quadrant?

Perhaps searching for Voyager.

The Equinox is nova class,

designed for planetary research,

not long-range missions.

I've got their coordinates.



Heading 258, mark 12.

Set a course. Maximum warp. Red Alert.

Hang on, Captain.

Did you know this individual?

Only by reputation.

He was an exobiologist promoted after

he made contact with the Arydians.

Species 6291.

The collective thought them extinct.

Ransom proved otherwise.

I always wanted to meet him.

I wish it was in better circumstances.

I look forward to meeting him, too,

to expand my knowledge of humanity.

Let's hope you get the chance.

- Approaching coordinates.
- Take us out of warp.

I've got them. 2,000 kilometres up,
moving at low impulse.

Intercept. Can you get a visual?

They're heavily damaged.
Multiple hull breaches. Warp off-line.

- What's happened to their shields?
- They're disrupted by energy surges.

- Weapons fire?
- There are no ships in the vicinity.

- Hailing range.
- Open a channel.

This is Captain Kathryn Janeway of
the Federation starship Voyager. We...

You've got to extend your shields
around our ship.

- Are you under attack?
- Quickly.

Do it.

- We're in position.
- Attempting to match shield frequency.

Do you hear something?

Interspatial fissures
opening on decks 10, 6 and 1.

- Tuvok.
- Stand by.

Shields are holding.

- The fissures?
- No sign of them.

Voyager to Ransom. Captain?

Assemble rescue teams. Secure
the Equinox. Tuvok, you're with me.

Hello? Is there anyone here?

See if you can bring main power on-line.
Tom...

- What happened?
- Some kind of thermolitic reaction.

It's desiccated every cell in that body.

Commander, I can't make heads or tails
of this injector manifold,

and the dilithium matrix
has been completely redesigned.

We'll try and find one of their engineers
to help. See if you can bypass the core.

Aye, sir.

Hang on.

I'm Commander Chakotay.
USS Voyager.

But we're the only humans
in the Delta Quadrant.

That's what we used to think. Come on.

Over here.

- Hang on. We'll get you out.
- I don't believe we've met.

Ensign Kim and this is Seven of Nine.

I have to cut him out with a plasma
torch. Talk to him. Keep him calm.

- State your name.
- Lessing. Noah.

What are you doing
on this side of the galaxy?

- The answer is complicated.
- Do me a favour.

See if my legs are still there.
I haven't felt them in two days.

Your limbs are intact.

- Thank you.
- Seven, give me a hand.

- Do not be frightened.
- Too late for that.

I'm picking up lifesigns.

Hello?

Is there anyone here?

- We're here to help you!
- Take cover! We're under attack!

- Neelix to sickbay.
- Sickbay here.

We found another survivor. His wounds
are not serious, but he is distressed.

Acknowledged.

My crew...

Heavy casualties.
We're treating the survivors.

- Who attacked you?
- We don't know.

We can't communicate with them.
They've been attacking us for weeks.

Easy.

- I've got to secure the ship.
- Leave that to us.

No. Treat me here.
I'm not leaving my bridge.

I can't pull rank on you, but you're
in no condition to put up a fight.

So...

- How's Earth?
- I wish I could say.

- You weren't sent here to find us?
- I'm afraid not.

We've been stranded for five years.
We were pulled here by an alien called...

The Caretaker.

We'll compare notes later on.
Let's get you to Voyager.

We're here to commemorate
our honoured dead.

Lieutenant William Yates,
Lieutenant John Molar,

Ensign Dorothy Chang,
Ensign Edward Regis,

and Crewman David Amanti,
who all served with distinction.

Their bravery and sacrifice
will not be forgotten.

They will be missed.
But now, there is cause for optimism.

Captain Janeway, Voyager.

On behalf of my crew, thank you.

We'll give the newest members
of our family a proper welcome in time,

but right now we've got our hands full.

The Equinox is secure but its primary
systems are still badly damaged.

Harry, B'Elanna - make it your priority.

Captain Ransom has provided us
with data regarding the alien attacks.

Tuvok, Seven - you'll be working
with First Officer Maxwell Burke.

To kindred spirits. May our journey home
together be swift. Dismissed.

We should begin by familiarising you
with Voyager's defences.

Give me a minute.
There's someone to say hello to first.

We'll be in the astrometrics lab.
Deck 8, section 29.

See you there.

- BLT.
- Max.

I tried to say hello in sickbay
but you were sedated.

I remember. I thought I was dreaming.

So. Where's my sweater?

The blue one.
Class insignia on the back.

We went to the Academy together.

- Maxwell Burke.
- Tom Paris.

- Harry Kim. Welcome aboard.
- First officer. Impressive.

Last time we talked
you were about to drop out of Starfleet.

- I heard you beat me to it. The Maquis?
- For a while.

Until I ran into these two.

And it's been hell ever since.

I told your resident Vulcan I'd be right
with him. Can we catch up later?

- Why don't we all have dinner?
- Sounds great.

- BLT?
- Bacon, lettuce, tomato. A nickname.

- A nickname?
- My initials.

How romantic.

We broke up over ten years ago.

- No need to go to Red Alert.
- How about "Yellow Alert"?

- You're cute when you're jealous.
- Jealous?

- See you on the Equinox.
- Well, "Turkey Platter”. Let's go to work.

Who's jealous?

Commander?

I've been assigned to one of
the repair crews on the Equinox.

I was wondering if I could join a different
team. Maybe one on Voyager.

- Problem?
- A little post-traumatic stress syndrome.

- Bad memories?
- A few.

I could use someone
with your engineering abilities.

Well, thank you.

Such a clean ship. I'm used to falling
bulkheads and missing deck plates.

In a few week you won't recognise
the Equinox. You'll be happy to go back.

Unless I stay. You said you could use
someone with my engineering abilities.

I don't think your captain would like that.
He's got a skeleton crew as it is.

Engineering is five decks down. It's a
long crawl through the Jefferies tubes.

Deck 11.

I haven't set foot in a turbolift
in over three months.

Claustrophobia?

If one of those fissures opened up
in here, where would we take cover?

It's only a graviton relay.
Nothing to worry about.

Do I look worried?

Emergency stop.

Um, if you don't mind,
I'd rather take the Jefferies tube.

I could use the exercise.

I've run a thermographic analysis
of our shields.

Multiple stress points, a result of alien
attempts to infiltrate our vessels.

Each time a fissure opens within a metre
of our shields, it weakens them by 0.3%.

At this rate we only have
two days to mount a defence.

Your scans show the aliens can survive
in our realm for only several seconds.

They're like fish out of water, but they
do a lot of damage in those seconds.

- A tactical weakness we could exploit.
- What have you got in mind?

If can show them we can hold them here,
they'll think twice before attacking.

But the question is,
how do we catch these fish?

- You build a net.
- Commander?

A multiphasic force field to be exact.

We built a small chamber that could keep
one of them trapped for several minutes.

If we could expand on that technology

we might be able to create a lattice
of force fields around both ships.

- Rudy?
- If Captain Janeway agrees.

- We'll need to examine that chamber.
- That won't be possible.

It's in our research lab. It was flooded
with radiation during the last attack.

- It'll be days before anyone can go in.
- The designs are in our data core.

I'll see if I can download them.
Give me a hand?

I couldn't help but notice your crew
calls you by your first name.

When you've been in the trenches
as long as we have, protocol is a luxury.

- We're a long way from Command.
- I know the feeling.

- You seem to run a pretty tight ship.
- We let our hair down sometimes.

But I find protocol reminds us where
we came from and where we're going.

- It seems to work well for you.
- We've overcome many obstacles.

Warp core breaches, ion storms,
a few rounds with the Borg.

The Borg? We haven't seen so much
as a cube since the day we arrived.

Consider yourself lucky.

- You've run into the Krowtonan Guard?
- Never heard of them.

It's how we spent our first week
in the Delta Quadrant.

They claimed we violated their territory.

I gave the order to keep going.
I lost 39. Half my crew.

I'm sorry.

We never recovered from that loss.
It changed everything.

What do you mean?

I realised we'd be stuck in the Delta
Quadrant for the rest of our lives.

I told my crew that we had a duty
as Starfleet officers

to expand our knowledge
and uphold our principles.

After a couple of years, we started
to forget that we were explorers.

And there were times that we nearly
forgot we were human beings.

This is a noble-class science vessel,
designed for short-term research.

Minimal weapons.
It can't even go faster than warp 8.

Frankly, I don't know how you've done it.
You've travelled far with few resources.

I wish I could take all the credit.
We stumbled across a wormhole

and made a few enhancements
on our warp engines.

I'd like to ask you something
captain to captain.

The Prime Directive. How often have
you broken it to protect your crew?

Broken it? Never.

Bent it on occasion.

And even then it was a difficult choice.

- What about you?
- I've walked the line once or twice.

But nothing serious.

There you are.

It's a good omen.
Let's put it back where it belongs.

I thought I'd find you here.

How could I resist after two years
on emergency rations?

Don't get too comfortable.

If Janeway's any indication,
these people will never understand.

They're going to find out eventually.

Not if we keep them out of the research
lab and away from warp core injectors.

And be careful what you say
around their crew.

That includes old girlfriends.

Understood.

Mmm. Not bad.

How's my angel of mercy?

Crewman Lessing.
I didn't expect such a quick recovery.

You have an outstanding EMH.
Ours can barely hold a laser scalpel.

The Doctor is efficient.

I've been assigned to help you
sort through our bio-data.

You saved my life. The least I can do
is save you a little time.

- Lateral shields off-line.
- How is that possible?

- Fissures opening decks 1, 8 and 11.
- Reroute power.

What happened?

Apparently, the aliens began to focus
their attacks on a single-shield vector.

It collapsed before the auxiliary emitters
could respond.

They've changed tactics. We may have
less time than we thought.

We examined the schematics
of your chamber. It can be adapted.

We intend to create
an auto-initiating security grid.

The moment an alien invades either
ship, a force field will surround it.

Once we modify our generator
to emit multiphasic frequencies,

it will power the security grids.

- How long will it take?
- Approximately 14 hours.

They might break through again.
We may not last that long.

We could cut the time
if we evacuate the Equinox

and focus our efforts here on Voyager.

Remember we are still
35,000 light years from Earth.

We should try to preserve both ships.

With two, we can pool our resources,
doubling our chances of getting home.

Normally I'd agree
but one of our ships is vulnerable.

Chakotay's right.
We should make our stand on Voyager.

Well, I don't want to force the issue.

But I am prepared
to return to the Equinox with my crew.

What is the protocol?

We have two captains and two ships.
Who gets the last word?

Starfleet Regulation 191, article 14.

In a combat situation
involving more than one ship,

command falls to the vessel
with tactical superiority. I looked it up.

- Good thinking.
- Protocol recognises my authority.

- Are you ordering me to abandon ship?
- I'd rather not have to.

That was written in the Alpha Quadrant.
I'm not sure it makes much sense here.

The regulation stands.

Who am I to dispute protocol? Give
Captain Janeway your full cooperation.

- Rudy...
- That's an order. We'll get through this.

If that's all, I'd like to return to my
quarters and collect a few mementoes.

By all means.

Intruder alert.
Same old Max, going through my things.

That is a command station. It's off-limits
without my direct authorisation.

I didn't realise. Are you gonna
throw me in the brig?

We can overlook this infraction.
Can I help you with something?

I'm just studying your propulsion system.

I figured I'd better learn my way around.
You could you tutor me. Over dinner?

Problem is, you were never really
interested in the work. Or the meal.

- You haven't changed.
- You'd be surprised.

I'm not the...
What did you once call me?

- Pahtk.
- I'm not the pahtk I used to be.

Let me prove it to you.

Look, Max. Don't get me wrong. It's
good to see you again, but ten years...

- Tom Paris.
- Tom Paris.

You could do worse.

So we're still on for dinner?

- Just the two of us?
- Get going or I will throw you in the brig.

Before we abandon the Equinox,
we should salvage useful components.

- Let's start with dilithium crystals.
- What we have left of them.

- We only have a few isograms.
- Not enough to power sonic showers.

Can I make a suggestion? Forget about
the primary systems. They're damaged.

Let's focus on supplies. We picked up
a few items that might come in handy.

Two kilotons of kemacite ore.
A dozen canisters of mercurium.

- Make room in cargo bay 1.
- Right.

Could you use a synaptic stimulator?

- Depends. What is it?
- An interface you wear behind your ear.

It taps into your visual cortex
and shows you different alien vistas.

Think of it as a poor man's holodeck.

- That's how you kept entertained.
- Beats checkers.

- The Ponea gave it to us.
- Never heard of them.

We called them,
"the life of the Delta Quadrant”.

They see first contact
as an excuse for a party.

I wish that we had encountered
more species like that.

You're the first friendly faces
we've seen in months.

- I'm glad we found you.
- The feeling's mutual.

Those modified plasma injectors looked
elaborate. What were you trying to do?

We were experimenting with ways to
enhance our warp drive. It didn't work.

- Maybe we should let B'Elanna try.
- It won't work. We tried for months.

- Excuse me.
- Hello there.

- Permission to interrupt.
- Granted.

Ensign Gilmore? Naomi Wildman.
Captain's Assistant.

I wanted to officially welcome you
aboard the starship Voyager.

I'm glad to be here.

If you need anything - rations,
a tour of the lower decks - I'm your man.

- Thank you. I'll keep that in mind.
- As you were.

I didn't realise
you had children on board.

- Only one. She was born here.
- I have a nephew back on Earth.

The same age. Well, not any more.

I guess he's a teenager by now.
I probably wouldn't even recognise him.

- You'll see him again.
- 'Ransom to Gilmore.'

- Yes, Captain.
- 'Report to the Equinox bridge.'

On my way.

Duty calls.

- Assemble a salvage team.
- Aye, sir.

Once we take their field
generator, we'll part company.

- What happens to Voyager?
- They have shields. They'll survive.

Maybe we should abandon ship.
Forget everything that's happened here.

A shower and a hot meal...

I guess that's all it takes for some of us
to forget what's at stake here.

We're going home.
We can't let Voyager stop us now.

Not when we're this close.
Now we're proceeding as planned.

Are there any other objections?

I need each and every one of you
to give me your very best,

as you always have.

Max.

This won't be easy. The generator's
located on deck 11 by the manifold.

We can't get a lock
without boosting the signal.

We need you to set aside
your claustrophobia,

crawl through the access port
and set up enhancers.

- Understood.
- We'll have to take the sensors off-line.

- Noah, you're elected.
- You can count on me, sir.

I'll disengage the power couplings
from engineering.

You'll all have time for one last shower.
Make the most of it.

There's a minor power fluctuation
in the security grid.

It's within tolerance.

I can correct it.
Discrepancy in the Equinox lab.

If we find the frequency of their chamber,
I'll tune our field generator to match it.

There are times
when perfection hinders efficiency.

This is odd. The lab is still permeated
with high levels of thermionic radiation.

- It should have dissipated.
- I have an explanation.

Three conduits have been rerouted to
the lab. They are emitting the radiation.

- The lab was contaminated intentionally.
- Any theories?

Only one. Ransom doesn't want us
to enter the research lab.

He has been adamant
about protecting his ship.

I thought it was simply a captain's pride.

I want to take a closer look at that lab.

If we close off the EPS conduits, how
long will it take to vent the radiation?

- Several hours.
- I can't wait that long. Send the Doctor.

He'll be immune to its effects. Tell him
to look for anything out of the ordinary.

- Monitor his progress from astrometrics.
- Shall I notify Captain Ransom?

Not yet. I want to wait
until we test your theory.

I'm in.

I've found the multiphasic chamber.
There's some organic mass inside.

It appears to be a member of the alien
species, but its cells have vitrified.

This is more than a chamber. It's some
kind of matter conversion technology.

Hold on. There's a control port here.

- Doctor?
- The chamber contains a polaron grid.

And a submolecular resequencer.

It was designed to convert the alien cell
structures into a crystalline compound.

That was not specified
in their schematics.

I've a feeling there's a lot here
they didn't specify.

I've accessed their research logs.
They're encrypted.

Judging by the file headings, they've
performed this procedure many times.

More of the alien compound,
but it's been bio-chemically altered.

They've extracted the base proteins.

Its molecular structure is most unusual.

- Can you be more specific?
- It stores a lot of nucleogenic energy.

I'm no engineer, but I'd say
they were trying to convert this material

into a source of power.

- I'm going to miss this ship.
- On Earth, there'll be plenty of women.

- Status?
- The transport enhancers are in place.

Noah's masked
Voyager's internal sensors.

- Power couplings?
- Controls routed to our bridge.

All you need to say is say "energise" ”.

Janeway wants to bring on
the security grid at 1900 hours.

We'll have to act before then.
Tell the others to be prepared to...

Max, the transporter room's
not far from here. Keep moving.

Captain Janeway
wishes to speak with you.

The alien compound.
Ten isograms.

If I understand your calculations that
increases your warp factor by what?

0.73% for one month? Unfortunately,
that boost wouldn't get you very far.

So you'd need to replenish the supply.
And that means killing another life-form.

And then another. How many lives would
it take to get you to the Alpha Quadrant?

I think you know the reason
we're under attack.

These aliens are trying
to protect themselves from you.

63. That's how many more it will take.

Every time I sacrifice one of those lives,
a part of me is lost as well.

I might believe that
if I hadn't examined your research.

These experiments were meticulous
and they were brutal.

If you'd felt any remorse,
you'd never have continued.

Starfleet Regulation 3, paragraph 12.

In the event of imminent destruction,
a captain is authorised

to save lives by any justifiable means.

I doubt that protocol
covers mass murder.

- In my judgement, it did.
- Unacceptable.

We had nothing. Our ship was in pieces.
Our dilithium was gone.

We were running on thrusters.
We hadn't eaten in 16 days.

We had just enough power to enter orbit
of an M-Class planet.

And lucky for us,
the inhabitants were generous.

They were called the Ankari.
They gave us a meal and a few supplies,

even some dilithium crystals.

They even performed one of their rituals
to invoke spirits of good fortune

from another realm to bless our journey.

But these weren't spirits.
They were nucleogenic life-forms.

They were emitting
high levels of antimatter.

Later that same night, we obtained
one of the summoning devices

in exchange for an energy converter.

We constructed a containment field that
would prevent them vanishing so quickly.

But something went wrong.

Get it out of there.

We tried to send it back.

- We can't.
- But it was too late.

From the remains we discovered it could
be converted to enhance propulsion.

It was already dead.
What would you have done?

We travelled over 10,000 light years
in less than two weeks.

We'd found our salvation.
How could we ignore it?

By adhering to the oath you took
as Starfleet officers,

to seek out life, not destroy it.

It's easy to cling to principles
when you're on an intact vessel,

manned by a crew that's not starving.

It's never easy, but if we turn our backs
on principles, we stop being human.

I'm putting an end to your experiments
and you're relieved of your command.

You and your crew
will be confined to quarters.

Please. Show them leniency.
They were only following my orders.

Their mistake.

It's a long way home, Captain.

Doctor, return to their research lab
and retrieve all the data on the aliens.

I want to communicate with them.
Go to their engine room.

- Take those modifications off-line.
- Captain?

Let's try to make first contact
the right way.

- What's going to happen to us?
- That's up to Captain Janeway.

You'll be confined to quarters until
we make peace with these life-forms.

If it's not too late.

To be honest, I'm glad you stopped us,
living my life knowing what we'd done...

You could have stopped yourself.

- Why didn't you?
- I don't know.

When I was ordered to modify the warp
core, I concentrated on the work.

I tried not to think about
how it would be used.

Well, think about it now
because we need your help.

- Commander?
- After you.

- We can't make sense of all this.
- The schematics are encrypted.

- I can't access them.
- Do you know the decryption codes?

Your captain's been relieved of
command. You take orders from me.

Do you have the codes?

- Yes.
- Proceed.

Think of it this way, Ensign. You might
live with yourself a little easier.

You said you wanted to learn more
about humanity.

I guess we're not exactly
prized examples.

- I'm sorry.
- On the contrary.

You've taught me a great deal.

Computer, I decrypted this data file.
Why can't I access it?

EMH authorisation is required.

- Is your EMH functional?
- Affirmative.

Activate him!

State the nature
of the medical emergency.

- Who are you?
- Your counterpart from Voyager.

- Where's Captain Ransom?
- In custody.

- How were you able to leave sickbay?
- This allows me to go anywhere.

If you weren't aware, your crew
has been running criminal experiments.

- I know. I designed them.
- You?

- That's a violation of your programming.
- They deleted my ethical subroutines.

- I'm picking up spatial fissures.
- They've stepped up their attacks.

- Reroute available power to shields.
- They're holding.

It won't be long
before the aliens break through.

- Tuvok, we need that security grid.
- Bringing it on-line.

- Charge the emitters.
- Bridge to the Doctor.

- Did you find anything?
- Could you be more specific?

Neural patterns, anything to help us
program the universal translator.

Negative. I couldn't access the Equinox
data files. They were encrypted.

- Keep studying. See what you can find.
- Acknowledged.

Computer, locate Captain Ransom.

He is in crew quarters Deck 9,
section 22.

Chakotay to Seven.
What's your status?

I've dismantled their injectors
but I need time to neutralise the matrix.

- We don't have much time.
- Understood.

The Equinox crew has been infected
with a virus. It may be contagious.

I've been authorised to inoculate them.

You've all contracted a virus.
I need to treat you.

- A virus?
- Doctor's orders.

It's me.

Activate the grid.

- What happened?
- This should be working.

I'll run a system-wide diagnostic.

- Phaser fire on deck 9, crew quarters.
- Security, seal off deck 9.

Shields are weakening. Down to 84%.

The field generator is off-line.
Its power was disengaged.

Someone reconfigured
the internal sensors.

Whatever it takes, get that grid on-line.

I rerouted transporter control
to a panel in the next junction.

- They've sealed off the deck.
- Don't worry. We're getting out of here.

- Shields down to 52%.
- Unauthorised transport. Equinox crew.

Block it.

- They've bypassed ops control.
- 40%.

Janeway to Seven of Nine.

Seven, respond.

Damn. B'Elanna's erected a force field.
I can't get a lock on the generator.

Try overriding the command codes.

Someone's disrupting the force field.
It's Max.

He's using a triquadric algorithm.
I taught him to do that ten years ago.

Shields are failing.
Less than one minute.

Open a channel.

If you don't stop, we'll both be destroyed.

- What's my alternative? Your brig?
- I'll open fire if I have to.

We've been through worse.

Target their power systems.

Fire.

Max.

Stand by. OK, BLT.
Let's see if you remember this trick.

- They've got the field generator.
- What do you mean they've got it?

They beamed it off Voyager.

- Get us out of here.
- I can't. Warp drive is down.

Marla, report.

One of their crew tried to dismantle
the antimatter injectors.

- Repairs under way.
- The generator?

Integrating it now.

Shields are down.

Arm yourselves.

- It's now or never.
- I'm bringing the grid on-line.

Fissures are opening! All decks!

Hold your fire.

Take it to the lab.

- Sir, engines up and running.
- Set a course for the Alpha Quadrant.

- Course laid in.
- Maximum warp.

Engage.

Captain!