Day of Honor (episode)
From Memory Alpha, the free Star Trek reference.
| This article is written from the Real World point of view |
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| "Day of Honor" | ||
|---|---|---|
| VOY, Episode 4x03 Production number: 172 First aired: 17 September 1997 | ||
| ← | 71st of 168 produced in VOY | → |
| ← | 70th of 168 released in VOY | → |
| ← | 478th of 726 released in all | → |
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| Written By Jeri Taylor Directed By Jesús Salvador Treviño | ||
| Unknown (2374) | ||
Lieutenants B'Elanna Torres and Tom Paris admit feelings for each other while close to death. The Caatati, a race of homeless aliens, ask for Voyager's help. Janeway gives them what she can...but they want more...
Contents |
Summary
Act One
The newest name on the USS Voyager's crew manifest, Seven of Nine, steps out of her alcove in the darkened cargo bay 2, which has effectively become her quarters. Lt. Commander Chakotay, the first officer, enters in response to a request from her to see him. She requests a duty assignment. Captain Janeway has confined her to the bay until convinced she no is no longer a threat. As a recently-liberated former Borg drone, she finds the constant solitude and inactivity very difficult; she wants something to do. Chakotay asks her if she has anything particular in mind. She does, indeed.
Chief Engineer Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres is not having a good day. From oversleeping, to her sonic shower malfunctioning, to sudden plasma coolant leaks in engineering, her day has just been one blow after another. She talks about it with Flight Controller Lt. (j.g.) Tom Paris, with whom she has gotten close. Paris is there to remind her about their dinner date, but her mood has been spoiled by her bad day; she has canceled it, and is in a very testy mood.
Paris knows to tread lightly. He asks her about the Klingon ritual she had been considering taking part in, marking the Day of Honor, an important Klingon observance. The bad day she is having has made her abandon the idea outright; ancient Klingon traditions are the last thing on her mind. Paris sees that it is fruitless (and dangerous) to continue with the subject further. He leaves with a gentle urging to reconsider their dinner date, as Chakotay enters.
Chakotay informs her that Seven of Nine will be coming to work with her in engineering to attempt to modify the warp engines to use transwarp technology, a much faster FTL technology that the Borg employ. To Torres, this is yet another blow; she intensely dislikes the former drone, finding her arrogant and rude. She frankly makes her opinion known to Chakotay; bottom line: she does not want her there. But she quickly finds out that she has no choice; Chakotay tersely responds that the bottom line is, in fact, he is giving her an order and she will obey. She blanches and acknowledges. Her face falls even further as he leaves.
Could her day get any worse?
Act Two
Captain Janeway speaks to Seven of Nine in her ready room about her assignment in engineering. After Seven of Nine again assures her that she will not again try to contact the Borg, Janeway reveals that she has decided to trust her by not having security in Engineering while she is there. But, she instructs, she is to follow all orders given to her by Lt. Torres. Seven of Nine acknowledges.
Janeway then turns her attention to her Borg designation, "Seven of Nine". It is, she tells her, rather cumbersome; would she would not prefer to go by her Human name, "Annika"? Seven of Nine is not enamored with the idea; she has been "Seven of Nine", she responds, for as long as she can remember. Janeway considers this, then finally suggests truncating it to "Seven". Seven of Nine finds this acceptable. Then Chief Tactical Officer Lt. Commander Tuvok calls Janeway to the bridge. She goes, Seven following her. On the bridge, Tuvok informs her that a very beat-up, barely-functional ship is approaching. It hails. Janeway orders an on-screen answer.
An image of a most decrepit-looking alien appears on the viewscreen. He introduces himself as Rahmin, and his people as the Caatati. He explains the horrific reason for his condition and that of his ship: most of his people were assimilated by the Borg over a year prior. His entire civilization, millions of people, once proud and accomplished, was completely destroyed. He and a few thousand managed to escape on thirty or so ships. Their planet assimilated, and forced to flee with nothing, they now roam the quadrant, the last of their species, destitute, starving, their ships always low on power.
Janeway and the bridge officers are greatly moved by the horror he has just described. She offers him any help that she and her crew can give. He thanks her, and makes a specific request for thorium isotopes, which their technology (what is left of it) depends on for power. Janeway promises to see what they can do.
Torres' bad day continues. Seeing Seven working at a console, she cannot help but to ask her: now that she is de-assimilated, does she feel any sense of guilt or remorse over what she and the Borg Collective have done to civilizations such as the Caatati? She is sickened when Seven matter-of-factly answers, "No". She presses the issue, but Seven calmly responds that guilt is irrelevant. She then notes that the deflector modifications for the transwarp technology will be ready in a few hours, and states she should wait in her alcove until then. Torres, barely containing her disgust, is only too happy to dismiss her.
Torres sits in the mess hall, picking morosely at her food. Neelix, the Talaxian chef and the ship's "morale officer", approaches her quietly, looking to cheer her up. He produces a freshly-prepared rokeg blood pie her observance of the Day of Honor; he makes it a point to know about the race-specific traditions of the crew members. Torres, however, is even less inclined now to perform the ritual than before. Neelix tells her at least she can then use him to blow off steam; she obviously needs it. "When you're angry, come see me," he offers. “Call me names. Insult me. Question my parentage. I won't take it personally. And you won't need to keep things bottled up inside anymore." She is genuinely touched, but cannot do that to him. His offer does have an unexpected effect, however: she decides to go through with the ritual. He is pleased.
But it does not go well. It is supposed to take place in a holographic simulation which she and Paris had created for that purpose. Torres enters the simulation, going into a holographic Klingon cave, where she accosted by a Klingon warrior. On his demand, she tells him her purpose: to have her honor challenged. But her voice is shaky an uncertain, nothing like a hardened Klingon warrior. The holographic Klingon gruffly lets her know the procedure: first she must eat of the heart of a sacred targ, and then drink mot'loch from the Grail of Kahless. Thirdly, she must endure the ordeal being struck by twenty painstiks, and, finally, she must defeat a master of the bat'leth. She manages to make it past the first two, but the trouble comes when other Klingon warriors appear and begin the painstik segment. After the first 2 or 3 strikes, her already very low resolve to go through with it evaporates; she fights them off and flees the simulation, forgetting to end it.
Paris goes to see her in her quarters and finds her even more depressed and angry than before. He asks her how it went, but she becomes very defensive, snapping at him that the whole thing was ridiculous and meaningless. He insists that it is part of who she is; she has been running away from her Klingon side her entire life. This hits a very unpleasant nerve; she angrily demands that he leave her alone. Disgusted, he responds that if she keeps pushing away those who care about her, she will indeed be alone... all her life. He storms out, leaving her, her spirit even lower.
Act Three
Voyager is seen accompanied by three Caatati vessels. In the briefing room, a Caatati representative named Lumas addresses a gathering of a number of the senior staff: Janeway, Tuvok, Chakotay and Neelix. He again speaks of the direness of his people's situation: they have over 200 on those three ships alone, and all of them are malnourished. Apparently, he is unsatisfied with what Janeway has granted him and is making a case for more. Chakotay responds that they do not have more to give; certainly not in the amounts that they are asking for.
His response moves them from being sympathetic to being insulted. He blatantly attempts to lay a guilt trip on them, remarking that they, well-fed, seem to be more concerned with keeping their bellies full than helping the less fortunate. Neelix, in particular, is highly offended. He heatedly responds that this characterization is unfair; the Voyager crew are the most generous of people. But they, like the Caatati, albeit not as desperately, do not have much: if they gave what they had away to everyone who asked, they would have nothing left. Janeway, seeing that, if she is not careful, she will never get rid of them, asks Neelix how much food he thinks can be spared. Neelix responds a few hundred kilos per Caatati ship. She orders him to get it to them, along with any medicines The Doctor, their holographic chief medical officer, can spare. Lumas, still unsatisfied, but seeing this is all he is going to get, thanks them unenthusiastically and Tuvok accompanies him back to the transporter room.
Paris and Seven walk a corridor on the way to engineering. On the way, they pass Tuvok and Lumas. The moment Lumas sees Seven, he agitatedly asks Tuvok what species she is; there is something about her that is nastily familiar. Tuvok, very unwisely, one may add, tells him she is a Human who is a former Borg drone. Lumas goes ballistic. "BORG!" he screams and charges at her. Tuvok restrains him and Paris puts himself in front of Seven, while Lumas peppers her with questions about what was done to his family; his wife; his children. Seven watches him impassively. Tuvok orders Paris to proceed to their destination, and drags the kicking, screaming alien away. As they resume, Paris apologizes. But Seven is totally unaffected by what happened, dispassionately noting that she evokes this reaction from several members of the crew, such as Torres. Paris, perhaps seeing in her the outcast he used to be, offers her his assistance if she should need anything. She thoughtfully responds that she will remember that, and they continue on.
In engineering, with Paris observing, Torres and Seven are ready to test the transwarp modifications. On the bridge, Janeway facilitates by having the ship engage warp speed. Torres and Seven then initiate the test; they have modified the navigational deflector's tachyon matrix. This modification, if utilized at warp, will open a transwarp corridor. In this corridor, the ship will achieve speeds far faster than what standard warp drive is capable of.
They activate the modifications. Ensign Vorik, a Vulcan member of Torres' staff, assists them. He reports that the requisite subspace field is beginning to form, which would open the corridor. But then it goes wrong; the warp core begins to get flooded with tachyons. Attempts to stop the flooding fail; if it continues, a catastrophic, ship-destroying core breach could result. They try to shut down the core, but fail. On the bridge, Janeway orders engineering evacuated. Torres orders everyone out. Seven tries to stay, offering her help to try to avert the disaster, but Torres angrily orders her to leave, which she does immediately. Torres makes one more attempt to shut down the core, to no avail. Paris drags her out and the doors as she orders the computer to prepare to eject the core. Once in the corridor, the core is ejected; outside the ship, its long, chimney-like form, glowing blue within from matter/antimatter reaction, is seen passing out. Voyager moves away from it at maximum impulse, no longer capable of warp drive. Out in the corridor just outside engineering, Torres reports the ejection of the core to the bridge. Her face has a very pained look. This is the worst blow of her bad day yet.
Act Four
Captain Janeway is in engineering receiving a situation report from Torres. Torres tells her the tachyon flood also damaged the impulse engines; they cut out soon after they got a safe distance from the ejected warp core. Sensors, however, show that the core, in fact, did not breach. But without impulse, they cannot return to retrieve it in any reasonable time, and they need to, lest something happen to it and they do not get it back. This leaves one course of action: use a shuttle to go and get it and bring it to Voyager. Janeway orders Paris to do so. Torres informs her that the core, though not breached, is still damaged; it needs to be fixed before being reinstalled. She orders her to go with Paris to effect the necessary repairs.
Torres and Paris leave on a shuttle, heading for the warp core at full impulse. Torres bitterly complains about the continuing trouble she has had this day; she plans to go to bed once the core is reinstalled and not come out until the next day.
They arrive at the core's coordinates. But they find the Caatati there as well. The aliens are in the middle of stealing it, using their own tractor beam to tow it away and claiming salvage rights. Of course, letting them have it is out of the question. They fire at the tractor beam generator to disable it. But the Caatati retaliate by hiting the shuttle with antimatter feedback. This completely destabilizes the shuttle's warp core; all attempts to fix it fail and the computer alerts that the craft will explode in 2.5 minutes. Paris and Torres have just enough time to done EV suits and beam off. They attempt to send a distress signal to Voyager before leaving but fail. They beam into space, a safe distance away, and watch as the shuttle explodes, while the Cataati make off with Voyager's warp core.
Torres was wrong: this is the worst blow of her bad day yet.
Act Five
Floating in space, Paris attempts to contact Voyager' using his suit's communicator. But Torres tells him the signal would never cross the distance. Paris muses that once Voyager's impulse engines are back online, they will come and pick them up. But Torres is not one to sit and wait for rescue. She suggests linking their communicators to form a phased carrier wave that might be strong enough to reach Voyager. Paris agrees. They pull themselves into each other's arms and Torres begins accessing Paris' communicator circuitry. Paris, to lighten the mood, initiates gentle banter with her about having to get beamed into space to "initiate first contact" with her. She lightheartedly responds. The link is made and the signal is sent, a high, piercing squeal. They hope it works; their oxygen supplies will not last forever. They wait... still in each other's arms.
On Voyager, Janeway calls Seven into her ready room to ask her what happened with the test. She tells Seven it is procedure for there to be an investigation after any accident. She asks the former drone several questions about the accident, and Seven responds coolly and concisely. But when Janeway asks her if she at any time accessed the deflector, it dawns on her that there is a hidden motive to Janeway's questions: suspicion of her as having caused the accident.
She tells this to Janeway, remarking that she is like the others; she sees her as a threat. Her words are calmly stated, but there is a bit of a disappointed sting in her tone. Janeway admits that she is indeed suspicious; they have dealt with tachyons before and have never had anything like this happen. Seven assures her that she had nothing to do with it. She is not deceiving her; deception is a thing that is impossible within the Borg Collective, thus she is completely unaccustomed to it. Janeway looks at her and sees she speaks the truth. Seven comments that she is finding it difficult to integrate into the unfamiliar, complex social structures she is finding among the crew. But, she pointedly continues, though, compared to the Borg, the crew is inefficient and contentious, it is capable of "... surprising acts of compassion". This seems to be a source of great wonder for her. Janeway is pleased about this, and responds that unexpected acts of kindness are common for them, and a defining characteristic of humanity. Seven muses on this. Her thoughts are interrupted, however, when Janeway, no longer accusing her, invites her to help her investigate exactly what when wrong. They get to work.
Paris and Torres float in space, no longer in each other's embrace, but still close. They talk about the experience and how it compares to Academy training. This leads Torres to speak a little about why she dropped out. Paris gently responds that he wished he had known her while he was there.
They look at each other. The attraction between them is obvious, even through the EV suits. Then they are jolted by an ion storm that hits them suddenly. Without the protection of deflector shields, it takes a serious toll; Paris' oxygen supply is damaged; he begins losing air. Torres connects her air supply to his so that they can share hers, but then discovers hers was damaged as well. They now only have half-an-hour of air left.
If Voyager does not come soon...
Act Six
Janeway and Seven peruse data from the accident in Janeway's ready room. Ensign Vorik hails and informs Janeway that the impulse engines should be back up and running within the hour. Seven then finds among the data evidence that shows that the mishap was indeed just that: a mishap. Janeway is relieved. From the bridge, Lt. Commander Tuvok hails and informs her of a phased carrier wave signal received from Torres and Paris; the signal did indeed make it. The fact that they sent the signal at all tells that they are in trouble. Janeway orders him to prepare to go to them once impulse is back online.
Then, however, Tuvok calls her to the bridge. The Caatati, he tells her, have returned. This time, there are many more than the original three.
Janeway stands before the bridge viewscreen as one of the Caatati ships hails them. Seven is there as well. Janeway orders an on-screen answer. Lumas appears. All sympathy that was engendered for them vanishes as he smoothly informs her that they have Voyager's warp core. Their ships outnumber Voyager greatly, and can inflict significant damage. They want everything that they have: all their food, supplies and weapons, and their entire supply of thorium. And, he adds, they want Seven; there are many of them who would relish the chance to make sport of her for what the Borg did to their people.
Paris and Torres share their almost depleted oxygen. Torres comments about feeling groggy; Paris tells her it is due to oxygen deprivation. She bitterly laughs and comments on the irony that this, the Day of Honor, will be the day of her death. They start confessing to each other; she recalls considering him an "arrogant, self-absorbed pig" when she first met him. He asks her if she thinks he has changed. She jocularly responds that this is indeed so; now she considers him a "stubborn, domineering pig". But then she apologizes and admits that he is right: she does indeed push people away, out of fear of getting hurt. Paris responds that he can understand that. She sadly calls herself a coward for doing so. They fall silent, again in each other's arms.
Voyager is surrounded by Caatati ships. Janeway's brow is a mass of thunderclouds; Paris and Torres are in distress, but these parasites are preventing their rescue. First Officer Chakotay has no problem recommending to fight; outnumbered or not, Voyager's weapons are still a lot more powerful, and she, unlike their ships, is not in decrepit condition. Ensign Harry Kim, the operations manager, suggests that perhaps if they give them some more of their supplies, they could talk them into to returning their warp core and letting them leave. But that will not work; Janeway responds that nothing they give them will satisfy them now, short of everything.
Seven offers to go; if they have her to exercise their fantasized revenge against the Borg on, then perhaps they will be sated. Janeway rejects that stoutly. Seven, confused, insists that she is only offering to do what is best for the ship and crew. But Janeway tells her that she is one of them now, and they will protect her. Her patience worn out, she orders all hands to prepare for battle. The bridge crew readies, and she and Chakotay move to their command chairs. Tuvok reports that shield strength is extremely low, but she orders rerouting of power to compensate.
Then Seven tells her she has an alternative: Caatati technology is based on thorium; if they have enough, they could be self-sufficient. Kim reminds her that they do not have enough for all of them, and it has been established that nothing less would satisfy them. Seven responds that she, as a former drone, has the Caatati's assimilated knowledge on replicating thorium isotopes. The survivors of the assimilation do not have that knowledge, but she could give it to them. Chakotay looks at her dumbfounded and asks why she did not say so in the first place. She admits that the thought simply had not occurred to her; the Borg do not consider giving technology away, only assimilating it. Janeway looks her in the eyes and asks her why she thinks the idea came to her now. Seven looks at her uncertainly and hesitantly responds that she is unsure why. Janeway smiles. "Maybe," she suggests, referring to Seven's earlier observation, "it was just an unexpected act of kindness." She orders Seven to work with Ensign Vorik to build the replicator, while she makes the offer to the Caatati. Seven leaves, her face bemused.
Epilogue
Seven and Janeway show the completed replicator to Lumas in one of Voyager's labs. He is so accustomed to begging that he is slow to see the significance, responding that only one of these devices will not meet the needs of all them. Seven explains that they can build more, using this one as a template. They will be supplied with the necessary components and specifications. He finally sees what he is being offered. He takes up the device and looks at it, then at Seven and Janeway. "You're free to go," he says finally, and leaves, thanking them. "You're welcome," Seven suddenly responds, just before he exits. She then herself leaves. Janeway remains, looking extremely pleased.
Paris and Torres float, still in each other's arms, close to unconsciousness. Their oxygen is just about finished. Torres has one more confession to make. She begins by telling him she has been a coward about everything. He interrupts, responding that she is being too hard on herself. But she insists it is true. She is going to die, she tells him, without a shred of honor, so she wants him to know this before she goes:
She loves him.
Paris is jolted fully awake, despite his severe oxygen deprivation. All he can manage for a reply is that she picked a great time to tell him. But he feels the same about her. They fall silent again. Both are too weak to say anything more. They touch each other's faceplates and embrace tighter, wanting to be found together in death.
"Voyager to Tom Paris." comes Janeway's voice through his communicator. "Tom, do you read me? Respond."
He weakly acknowledges. In Torres' faceplate, Voyager's reflection is seen, approaching.
A smile emerges on her face as the transporter beam takes them.
Memorable Quotes
"Welcome to the worst day of my life."
- - Torres
Background
- The series of novels also entitled Star Trek: Day of Honor was conceived and released at about this time. As the series developed, this episode was designed to tie the concept into televised Trek, and was novelized as part of the series.
- This episode shows a warp core ejected from a Federation starship for the first time up close. This may have influenced Star Trek: Insurrection, although it didn't quite show the Enterprise-E ejecting its core.
- This episode is the first appearance on Voyager of the EV suits that were previously used in Star Trek: First Contact. Tom Paris actually mentions the term "first contact" during the EV sequence. In every episode of Voyager or Star Trek: Deep Space Nine that features these suits, no more than three are shown on screen at once, as that was how many hero suits were used in First Contact. This was likely due to budgetary constraints.
- Executive Producer Jeri Taylor described this episode in Star Trek Monthly as the one "where we had a pregnant Roxann in the spacesuit." Roxann Dawson was indeed pregnant with her first child during most of Season Four; in searching for ways to disguise the fact, the production team designed a loose-fitting overcoat for B'Elanna, which she wears between "Waking Moments" and "Hope and Fear". The pregnancy was, however, written into the two-part episode "The Killing Game" as part of B'Elanna's holodeck alter-ego.
- According to the storyline, Paris and Torres performed quite a feat by taking less than two minutes to put on their EV suits.
- B'Elanna Torres states that zero-g environments make her "sick to [her] stomach", just as Worf mentioned in Star Trek: First Contact.
- Robert Picardo (The Doctor) does not appear in this episode.
- The novelization of the episode gives the names of the two Cataati who dealt with Voyager as Agron Lumas and Temmis Rahmin.
- In the season 2 episode "Investigations", Neelix reads from the communications logs and finds one titled "Voyager to Cataati". Given that the events of season 2 take place at least 10,000 light years away from where Voyager encounters the Cataati in this episode, it is safe to assume that the writers simply recycled the name for use here.
Video and DVD releases
- UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 4.2, 2 March 1998.
- As part of the VOY Season 4 DVD collection.
Links and references
Guest stars
- Alexander Enberg as Vorik
- Alan Altshuld as Lumas
- Michael A. Krawic as Rahmin
- Kevin P. Stillwell as Moklor
Co-star
References
acoustic inverter; antimatter; bat'leth; Borg Collective; Caatati starship; Cochrane; coolant assembly; coolant injector; Day of Honor; dilithium matrix; energy matrix; fuel cell; Gorath; Grail of Kahless; gram; hyperspanner; impulse engine; Intrepid-class; ion turbulence; isotope; main deflector; millibar; mot'lach; neutron; Nicoletti, Susan; pain stick; particle beam; phased carrier wave; pig; plasma coolant; Rokeg blood pie; sonic shower; spitting cobra; subspace field; sulfur; tachyon; targ; thorium; tractor beam; transwarp conduit; type-9 shuttlecraft; warp core; warp core ejection system
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