The Gift (episode)
From Memory Alpha, the free Star Trek reference.
| This article is written from the Real World point of view |
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| "The Gift" | ||
|---|---|---|
| VOY, Episode 4x02 Production number: 170 First aired: 10 September 1997 | ||
| ← | 69th of 168 produced in VOY | → |
| ← | 69th of 168 released in VOY | → |
| ← | 477th of 726 released in all | → |
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| Written By Joe Menosky Directed By Anson Williams | ||
| 51008 (2374) | ||
Kes' telepathic and latent psychokinetic powers begin to grow rapidly while Voyager's newest crewmember, the former Borg drone Seven of Nine, deals with her new individuality.
Contents |
[edit] Summary
[edit] Act One
USS Voyager, after having faced the Borg and an even greater threat, flies at maximum impulse across Borg space. Parts of its hull still glow Borg-green due to Borg modifications that were made to it. (VOY: "Scorpion, Part II")
Cargo Bay 2 has been de-assimilated, save for the five Borg alcoves that remain. Regenerating in one of them is the former Borg drone Seven of Nine. Captain Janeway, Lieutenant Tuvok, in his capacity of security chief, and The Doctor, the holographic chief medical officer, enter the bay and walk up to her. The Doctor reports that her Human physiology is quickly reasserting itself, but is warring against the Borg implants; he is unsure which side will win. Remarking that it is time to tell her what has happened to her, Janeway orders her awakened.
She is greatly distressed to find that she can no longer hear the Collective. When Janeway explains that her link to the Collective is severed, she angrily demands to be returned to the Borg. Janeway refuses, and tries to engender in her an appreciation for her newfound individuality. She promises to help her through the transition, guiding her back to life as a Human.
But the former drone wants none of it. She demands, if Janeway will not return her to the Borg, to be left on the nearest planet with a subspace transceiver, to contact them herself. Janeway responds that it is too late for that; she is too far gone in the resurgence of her Human systems, and needs medical care. As if to confirm this, a searing bolt of pain shoots through her head; an implant there is being rejected and must be removed at once. She demands The Doctor suppress her Human immune system, but he tells her the same thing Janeway did: the process is too far gone. "NO!" she shouts angrily, lashing out, insisting, "We are Borg! WE ARE BORG!" Janeway and Tuvok restrain her, easy to do in her weakened state, and The Doctor sedates her.
Janeway looks at her with compassion and uncertainty. The realization of the difficulty of the challenge she has taken on is clearly visible in her eyes. As her first officer, Chakotay, had told her, the Collective is all she knows; she will fight very hard to go back to it. Can she convince her to embrace her re-emerging Humanity?
[edit] Act Two
Seven of Nine is again in the sickbay. The Doctor scans her head, notes aloud the implant that is being rejected, and quickly formulates a plan how to proceed in removing it. But as he moves around the bed, he bumps into Tuvok, who is there watching her like a hawk. Despite his angry protestations that he is in the way, Tuvok refuses to leave, implacably responding that she is a security risk. The Doctor insists that this is not so while she is unconscious and not going anywhere. Tuvok simply backs away a few steps. Exasperated, but knowing that is all he is going to get from the Vulcan, The Doctor returns his attention to Seven of Nine.
He tells Kes, his assistant, to anesthetize her cranial nerves in preparation for the operation. Kes turns toward the hypospray on a table away from her... and the device obediently flies over into her hand, to The Doctor's amazement. Kes herself looks rather startled. She explains, as Tuvok, who saw the feat, comes toward them, that she simply looked at the hypospray and it came to her. Tuvok inquires if she has been experimenting with her psychokinetic abilities. She responds that she has not, but has been feeling rather strange of late, having a lot more energy and less sleep than usual.
The Doctor scans her and reports that her brain's telepathic centers are being hyper-stimulated... as they were when Species 8472 was communicating with her, he notes with some alarm. Tuvok immediately asks her if they are doing so again, but she says no. He hypothesizes that she is simply experiencing an after-effect of that contact. The Doctor promises to examine her fully, but right now they have to see about Seven of Nine. They get back to work, as Tuvok watches.
Captain Janeway is seated at her desk in her ready room, reading something on her desktop monitor while sipping coffee. First Officer Commander Chakotay enters and gives her a status report: two teams are working round the clock to remove the Borg armor from the hull, but progress is slow; Chief Engineer Lieutenant Torres is having difficulty cleaning out the plasma relays, so warp drive is unavailable as yet. He relays her request for all crew members with a level 3 engineering rating or higher to help. Janeway grants it. On the tactical side, he reports that the long-range sensors have detected the transwarp signatures of Borg vessels that passed by recently. Janeway notes this: they are not yet beyond the very real danger of being chanced upon and assimilated.
The talk of the Borg segues into talk of Seven of Nine. Janeway considers that former drone could help them with the removal of the Borg modifications. Chakotay does not believe she will be willing to. Janeway disagrees, believing she will, if only she can reach her. She shows him what she was reading on her monitor. It is the data file of the Human whom Seven of Nine used to be. It cites her Human name as Annika Hansen. It further states her parents were scientists and explorers, but did not want to work under Starfleet. They, with their daughter, were last recorded as being in the Omega sector. They left without filing a flight plan, heading in the direction of the Delta Quadrant and were never heard from again.
Their disappearance was a mystery, until now; obviously what happened was that they encountered the Borg and were assimilated. That was nearly twenty years prior. Chakotay again notes that she was assimilated as a child and raised by the Borg. They are all she knows; getting her to embrace her Humanity may prove impossible. But Janeway insists on trying; they have no choice, she asserts; returning her to the Borg, "tossing her back to the wolves", as she puts it, is out of the question. Then The Doctor calls her to the sickbay.
In the sickbay, The Doctor begins removing the rejected implant. He gives it to Kes to put in storage, and suggests to Tuvok that he can lock it down with a force field as a safety measure. Tuvok agrees and leaves to do so with Kes, as Janeway enters. The Doctor concernedly tells her that Seven of Nine's Human physiology is now reasserting itself even more aggressively. Her exo-plating and implants are all being rejected; her life is in danger. To save her, they must be removed. But this causes an ethical dilemma for him; she would certainly not want them removed, and he is obligated to respect that. He asks Janeway's input.
Janeway silently considers the point, and then makes a decision: though she was raised by the Borg, raised to think like a Borg, beneath the Borg technology, she is a Human, whether she is ready to accept that or not. Until she is ready to accept it, someone has to make her decisions for her. She orders him to proceed. He acknowledges, and, as Janeway leaves, returns to the job of removing the first rejected implant.
He calls Kes to assist him and decides on the next implant to begin removing, after this current one. But then Seven of Nine begins to convulse. A console beeps an alarm. He rushes to it to see what the problem is, and finds that she is going into neural shock, though he cannot find the source. He orders Kes to try to stabilize her, naming the device to use. But Kes stands rooted, her eyes focused intensely on the former drone.
The Doctor tensely repeats his instruction, but she tells him to wait; she can see the problem, literally; a Borg implant attached to a main nerve. Astonished, he asks her if she can tell him how to remove it without severing the nerve. She does more than tell him; she removes it herself, using her psychokinetic powers. The implant is seen being plucked off the nerve as if by an invisible hand, then disintegrating. The Doctor, scanning, reports that the implant is deteriorating, then that it is gone. Seven of Nine stabilizes immediately. The Doctor, in awe, congratulates her on her 'unconventional but effective' surgical procedure.
[edit] Act Three
In sickbay, The Doctor proudly shows Janeway the ocular implant he has developed to replace Seven of Nine's Borg eyepiece; he is particularly pleased with how perfectly it matches her organic eye. Janeway is impressed, and asks to see her. He agrees. As he goes to get a hypospray to revive her, Janeway talks to Kes about her condition. She reports feeling extremely energetic and focused, and her telepathic abilities have never been so potent. Tuvok, still present because of Seven of Nine, cautions that her psychokinetic abilities, however, are untrained, and thus unpredictable. He recommends taking her through a series of guided meditations to help her plumb the limits of these abilities. Janeway agrees and Kes is very enthusiastic to get started. They head for Tuvok's quarters immediately, by Janeway's leave.
Janeway and the Doctor watch Seven of Nine slowly awaken. Much of her exo-plating has been removed, as well as many of her cranial implants. All that is left of her eyepiece is its attachment curving around her orbital socket, and its visual mechanism where the eye should be. Her skin now only has traces of the dead-pale gray, mottled Borg coloration; it is mostly now normal Caucasian in tone. She sits up and looks at her self. But, as expected, Janeway and The Doctor get no thanks; she is horrified by what has been done to her.
Looking up, her gaze falls on Janeway. She hops off the table and strides up to her, fixing her with a baleful stare. Through gritted teeth, she tells Janeway she should have let 'them' die; 'this drone' cannot survive outside the Collective. The Doctor happily begs to differ and begins to proudly elucidate on how her human systems are thriving. But before he can explain further, Janeway looks at him with an expression that clearly says: "Shut it!". His mouth closes in mid-sentence and he leaves them alone.
Janeway again tries to reach her. She tells her she is trying to understand what she is going through, and that she is obviously frightened and in pain. Seven of Nine retorts that she is an individual; small; she cannot understand what it means to be Borg. Janeway agrees, but tells her she can imagine: she was part of a vast collective consciousness of trillions of minds as joined as one, without any indecisions or disputes; the ultimate example of unified will and strength. She sympathizes with her for having lost that. This reaches her somewhat. She laments the silence in her mind, insisting that she needs that collective voice. Janeway seizes the opportunity, fervently telling her she is now part of a Human collective. She insists that Seven can find some of the unity she needs among the crew; they are individuals, but they work together as a unit.
She watches intently as Seven of Nine considers this. But her hopes are dashed when she responds that this is insufficient. She craves the Collective's voice as a drug addict craves a hit. Janeway ends her effort for now, simply insisting it will have to do, and orders her to assist in Engineering to remove the Borg modifications she and the other drones who had been aboard had made, which are preventing the ship’s warp drive from functioning. (VOY: "Scorpion, Part II")
In Engineering, Chief Engineer Lt. B'Elanna Torres is working with her staff, assisted by Operations Manager Ensign Harry Kim, to try to get the warp drive running again. They have finished cleaning the plasma intake manifolds of Borg technology, and are ready to try to restart the warp core. They begin. The reactor begins to hum as the blue, swirling dance of matter and antimatter reacting with each other within commences. Its power level begins to rise…and then, once again, it stalls, the dance stopping. A scan indicates two intake manifolds are again blocked; manifolds they have already cleaned. Torres frustratedly compares the offending Borg technology to weeds: one thinks one has gotten them all, but then, seemingly from nowhere, they spring up again.
Just then, Janeway and Seven of Nine enter, accompanied by a security officer. Immediately Seven of Nine informs them they have neglected to remove the autonomous regeneration sequencers, Borg devices that regenerate other Borg technology should it be tampered with. Janeway introduces her again to Kim and Torres and informs them of her the reason for her presence. Torres at once directs her to start with the plasma intakes. She begins telling her where they are, but Seven of Nine rudely finishes her sentence, rattling off the location and telling her, "We fully recall the engineering specifications of your vessel".
Torres, immediately put off, comes right up to her face and angrily asks her if she remembers what it looked like before she "turned it into a Borg circus". Seven of Nine responds affirmatively, returning her glare. Janeway interjects, ordering them to get to work "now that the pleasantries are over". Torres acknowledges and, with another withering look at Seven of Nine, moves to obey. Seven of Nine follows.
Tuvok and Kes are in the Vulcan's quarters, beginning the first of his suggested guided meditation lessons. Using the flame of his lit Vulcan meditation lamp, he practices her in controlling her psychokinesis by having her psychokinetically strengthen and weaken the flame, altering the combustion at the subatomic level. Things proceed well. He readies to move on to something else. But she tells him to wait, maintaining her concentration on the flame. She tells him she can see it beyond the subatomic level.
This is incomprehensible to him; known science dictates that there is nothing beyond the subatomic. But she insists that there is; she can see it. Concerned, he suggests stopping. She insists on continuing, wanting to try to control this unknown level of reality. Her eyes rivet onto the lamp and, as Tuvok watches, it begins to warp and jiggle, as if something living were moving beneath its surface. It then returns to normal and Kes looks at him triumphantly. He looks back at her, face betraying the barest hint of his immeasurable amazement.
In Engineering, Torres shows Seven of Nine a Borg linkage in a wall panel, and cites them as what is blocking the plasma intakes. She complains that they reappear every time they are removed. Seven of Nine identifies it as one of the autonomous regeneration sequencers. Ensign Kim, impressed, asks her how the Borg came up with this technology. She responds that it was assimilated from a species they designated 259. Torres, however, is neither impressed nor interested in how the Borg got it; to her, it is nothing but a monumental headache. She impatiently demands of Seven of Nine how to remove them. Seven of Nine outlines the procedure, and Torres directs her and Ensign Kim to a plasma intake control in a Jeffries tube access room, to remove the sequencers installed there.
Kim and Seven of Nine enter the access room. A security officer waits outside. As they work at an open circuit panel, Kim, being the friendly sort that he is, tries to make conversation with her. He is ignored, until he asks her about the area of space Species 259 is native to. She coldly responds that it is beyond his comprehension. He insists, so she tells him about it. She is right; it is beyond his comprehension. He sheepishly withdraws and goes to another panel to work. But as she works, the imager from her removed eyepiece sees something in the circuit panel normal human eyes cannot: the tiny labeling of a Starfleet communications node among the panel's circuitry.
She calls Kim back to assist her and, as he comes, utilizing her Borg-enhanced strength, she backhands him so hard that she knocks him right out of the room, into the security officer. She then shuts the door. At the bridge's conn station, Flight Controller Lieutenant (J.G.) Thomas Paris alerts Captain Janeway of an unauthorized attempt to access the ship's subspace transmitter. Janeway instantly knows who it is, and knows if she succeeds, they are doomed. At once, she alerts security, who immediately converge on the room, along with Chief Engineer Torres. But they discover she has put a Borg force field over the door, so they cannot touch it, let alone try to open it. On the bridge, Janeway orders Chakotay to disable the transmitter. But it is too late; she has accessed it.
In Tuvok's quarters, Kes suddenly senses that something is wrong. She probes the sensation and telepathically sees Seven of Nine as she attempts to use the transmitter to contact the collective. She tells Tuvok, who immediately heads for the door to to Engineering. But Kes stops him, saying she believes she can stop her. Her eyes get a far-away look as she concentrates. Seven of Nine, in the room, suddenly hears a strange noise. She looks to her right and goes wide-eyed as she watches a part of the wall begin to warp and wobble, as if there were something moving under it.
The distortion moves toward her until it moves into the circuit panel she is in front of. A bolt of energy flashes forth from the panel, striking her in the chest. She is thrown back and lands unconscious on the floor. In his quarters, Tuvok hails the bridge and asks for a status report. Janeway responds that a strange explosion occurred in the Jeffries tube access room where Seven of Nine was, stopping her before she could send the transmission; they do not know what it was. Tuvok, looking at Kes, responds that he thinks he has the answer.
[edit] Act Four
Captain Janeway and Tuvok walk down a corridor, toward the brig, where Seven of Nine has been placed. He has two pieces of bad news; firstly, Seven of Nine did manage to send a partial signal, possibly enough for a Borg ship to track. Secondly, Kes' act that stopped her destabilized the access room at the molecular level; the effect weakened the hull structure throughout the entire deck. Kes wants to explore her abilities further; he is concerned that that would not be safe, for her or the ship.
They arrive at the brig. Janeway has Tuvok wait at the door while she goes to Seven of Nine's holding cell. The former drone is pacing up and down inside like a caged tiger. She turns to Janeway, stares at her and snarls: "So, this is Human freedom." But Janeway is having none if it. She is not angry, just disappointed; she really thought she was willing to help them. Seven of Nine responds that she did intend to help. But she saw a chance to contact the Collective and took it. She insists to Janeway that her attempts to "assimilate this drone" will fail; she can change 'their' physiology, but not 'their' nature. "We are Borg" she insists. Janeway sees that this is not the right time to attempt to reach her again, and merely responds that she has met Borg who were de-assimilated; in time, they accepted their return to individuality, and so will she.
Seven of Nine, however, considers this: individuality means choices; including the choice to return to the Collective if she so wishes. She pointedly asks Janeway if she will allow her to do that. Janeway is now in a spot; by her own words, her answer should be "Yes". She attempts to avoid a direct answer, but Seven of Nine correctly assumes the answer is "No". She angrily calls her hypocritical, imprisoning 'them' in the name of Humanity, yet denying 'them' the most basic Human right of choosing one's fate.
Janeway firmly responds that she does not have that right, as she is unable to make rational choices; the Borg took that ability from her the moment they assimilated her. Until she is convinced she has re-developed it, she will make that choice for her: she stays on Voyager. Seven of Nine responds cuttingly (and very significantly; it is the first negative thing she says about the Collective) that Janeway is then no different from the Borg. Janeway stares at her silently as she turns and stalks away, to the back of the cell.
In the mess hall, Neelix, the ship’s Talaxian captain-appointed chef and "morale officer", is treating Kes, his former romantic partner, to a glass of her favorite Talaxian champagne. They have not had a moment with each other since they broke up months before. He sees her burgeoning mental powers as something to celebrate; she has always wanted to be something more than what she was. They talk about their former relationship, and he inquires about what is happening to her. With quiet excitement, she explains it to him; it is as if, she says, she is now able to see into a place where the distinction between matter, energy and thought no longer exists.
Neelix is amazed. She further elucidates that merely by looking at an object, she can see the space between the atoms of its matter being filled with something else; something unknown. As she speaks, she begins to stare at the table, and as Neelix watches, it begins to warp and jiggle in a now-familiar manner, as if a living thing were inside it. He becomes very alarmed, rising and asking her to stop. She says no, but the lapse in concentration allows the effect to get out of control; it reaches Neelix and throws him backward, hard. Horrified, Kes rushes to him, but, halfway there, falls to her knees, dazed.
On the bridge, Ensign Kim reports strange energy readings coming from the deck the mess hall is on. Janeway hails Neelix, but gets no response. Kim further reports that the bulkheads in that section are coming apart. Chakotay orders him to increase the deck’s structural integrity field. Janeway motions to Tuvok to accompany her, and they head for the turbolift.
They arrive at the mess hall to an unnerving sight. Kes is on her knees, a beatific smile on her face, looking upward, hands upward expansively. Her upper body is glowing with an ethereal light, shifts between translucence and opaqueness. Neelix stares, dumbfounded. The phenomenon ends and she slumps down. The officers and Neelix exchange concerned looks, before going to her.
[edit] Act Five
Kes has been taken to sickbay. In his office, The Doctor reports on her condition to Janeway and Tuvok, saying that he has run every conceivable diagnostic test, but cannot figure out what is happening to her, or how to stop it. Tuvok informs them that the ship's sensors indicate that her body actually destabilized at the subatomic level, and then re-stabilized. The Doctor concernedly points out that the next time it happens, it may not re-stabilize; something has to be done. Janeway orders Tuvok to increase power to the ship’s structural integrity field, to avoid a possible hull breach should it happen again.
She then advises the Doctor that this is now beyond medical science. Particle physics is now involved; perhaps an answer as to how to treat Kes can be found there. He agrees and decides to check the relevant database on the subject. Janeway instructs him to keep her informed. She leaves and he goes out to speak to Kes, who is sitting on a bio-bed. He tells her that, until he can come up with another diagnostic procedure, she can return to her quarters. However, she responds that she would like to stay for a while, and help with the research, and because she misses him, not having seen much of him over the last few days. He smiles and agrees…just for a while.
In the brig, Seven of Nine paces slowly in her cell. She stops and stares at the entrance. Her face twists with anger and frustration. With enraged bellows, she repeatedly throws her self on the force field that seals the entrance, startling Ensign Ayala, the officer on duty. He hails the captain, telling her she needs to come immediately.
Janeway arrives, and finds a very different Seven of Nine from before. Not defiant, but stoop-shouldered, defeated and anguished. Head down, heart broken, she quietly mutters that her designation, "Seven of Nine", is now irrelevant. The others are gone. "I am... one" she finishes sadly. This is the opportunity Janeway has been waiting for. Her face radiating her genuine sympathy and concern, she agrees with her that yes, she is indeed now one. "But I cannot function this way! Alone!" Seven of Nine laments with a sob.
Janeway assures her she is not alone; she will help her. She desperately responds that, if this is true, she will not do this to her. She pleads to be taken back to her "own kind". Janeway insists that she is already among her own kind: Humans. "I don't remember being Human. I don't know what it is to be Human!" she wails.
Janeway goes for broke. She picks up a PADD on the brig console and proceeds to deactivate the force field. Seven of Nine threatens to kill her if she comes in. Janeway stares at her, and tells her she does not believe that. The field shuts off and she enters. Ensign Ayala moves to follow her in, but she signals him to remain outside. He does, covering her with his phaser. She slowly approaches Seven of Nine and holds out the PADD to her. On it is an image of a smiling young girl. In a quiet, wistful voice, she tells her the child's name; her name: Annika Hansen. She speaks about the child, voicing questions intended to bring up long-buried memories, while drawing closer to her; questions about her siblings; her friends; her favorite color.
Seven of Nine stares at the image hauntedly for several seconds. But the Borg in her will not go down so easily. "Irrelevant!" she suddenly shouts, backhanding the PADD out of Janeway's hand. She again pleads to be taken back to the Borg. Janeway quietly but firmly responds that she cannot do that.
Seven bends over as if sick, sobbing and gasping, holding her head, bemoaning the silence in her mind. "So... quiet! One voice...!" she wails. Janeway responds with conviction that one voice can be stronger than a thousand voices; her mind, she stresses, is independent now, with its own unique identity. She accuses Janeway of forcing that identity upon her; it is not hers. Janeway forcefully responds that it is hers. She fervently tells her that she
"I don't want that life!" Seven of Nine cries. "It's what you are. Don't resist it!" Janeway urges. "NO!" Seven of Nine screams, and swings wildly at her, catching her in the midsection. Janeway's mouth goes wide with pain, but she catches Seven of Nine as the former drone nearly falls down from the force of her swing. She helps her to the cell's bunk as, with all the fight, all the resistance, now completely spent from her, she begins to cry in tight sobs. The pain of the blow is sharp, but Janeway holds on to her shoulders, sitting behind her, comforting her as she weeps with the agony of what she has lost, and the fear of what she has gained. She has finally reached her.
[edit] Act Six
Kes is in her quarters, waiting for Janeway. She has come to a decision. The Captain enters and sits with her. The mother-daughter affection between them is evident. Smiling gently, Kes tells her that she has been thinking about all that's happened, and now knows that the time has come for her to leave. She wants to further explore what is happening to her, but she cannot do that on Voyager; it could destroy the ship and all aboard.
Janeway is stunned; this was the last thing she was expecting Kes to say when Kes hailed her, asking to see her. She desperately tries to convince her to stay, telling her that The Doctor is already working on a new approach to treating her. Kes responds that her condition is not an illness, but a transformation, and she has to explore it. Janeway, close to tears, knows her mind is made up. In a breaking voice, she tells her how much she will miss her. They embrace warmly.
Suddenly Kes begins to fade in and out, as she did in the mess hall. "It's starting" she announces. At once, Janeway hails the bridge and orders Chakotay to have a shuttle prepped for launch, and for Tuvok to meet her on that deck. She tells them what is happening: Kes is leaving them. Chakotay and the bridge officers are as stunned as Janeway was, but he acknowledges, as Tuvok heads for the turbolift.
Janeway and Kes move quickly along the corridor, heading for the shuttle bay. Janeway helps Kes along, but it soon becomes obvious they will not make it. Her body's molecules begin to destabilize again, this time permanently. Electronic panels and components, affected by her power, explode in the wake of their passage. Janeway tries to have a site-to-site transport done to take them directly to the shuttle bay, but Kim reports that Kes' destabilizing molecules prevent the transporter from locking on. With no choice but to continue on foot, they hurry.
The ship's hull is seen to be warping and jiggling as the mess hall table, Jeffries tube access room wall and Tuvok's meditation lamp had done. On the bridge, Lt. Paris reports that the hull is destabilizing on a molecular level. Tuvok, meanwhile, steps out of a turbolift on the shuttle bay's deck and meets Janeway and Kes in the corridor. Kes desperately tells him she cannot keep going. He mind-melds with her to help her stave off the transformation for just a bit longer. The meld succeeds, but the effect will not last long; he urges Janeway to hurry with her.
On the bridge, Kim report hull breaches on three decks. Chakotay orders him to deploy emergency containment fields. Janeway hails, informs them Kes is aboard the shuttle, and orders the launch sequence started. Chakotay acknowledges and obeys. A shuttle is seen speeding out from the shuttle bay and away from the ship. Janeway and Tuvok return to the bridge. She asks Kim if he can hail her; he responds he has been trying. But then it no longer becomes necessary; Kes contacts them. "It's happening" she tells them. Kim reports her atomic structure is completely destabilizing. On the shuttle, a joyous smile is on Kes' face as her body fades, for the final time.
But just before she, and the shuttle, fade completely in an explosion of white light, she says one more thing to them:
"My gift to you."
Voyager begins to tremble. Torres hails the bridge from engineering and reports the warp core is again online. But she is shocked when she checks the matter/antimatter efficiency; it is going beyond what the core was ever built to put out. Voyager is seen going to warp speed... and then even faster, faster than any Federation starship could possibly go. On the bridge, Paris cannot even name the warp factor they are going at. Kim tensely reports the ship is coming apart.
This continues for several more seconds, the ship hurtling forward at speeds no Starfleet engineer ever dreamed of, and then, suddenly, it slows down, dropping back to impulse. Paris reports that they have dropped out of "whatever it was we were in". Janeway orders an on-screen view of their location. She asks Paris where they are. He reports, incredibly, that they are 9.5 thousand light years from where they were. The bridge officers are speechless. It is Janeway who, with a thankful smile, tells them what has happened: Kes has used her powers to move them safely beyond Borg space, taking ten years off their journey.
[edit] Epilogue
In Cargo Bay 2, Seven of Nine stands, looking at herself. The drone is now gone. Her exo-plating is absent, replaced by a silver cat suit. Her skin is now fully back to its normal, pre-assimilation, Caucasian tone. Her previously bald head, with its Borg implants, is now crowned by blonde hair, secured in a French twist at the back. Except for the curving attachment over her left eye socket, the rest of her eyepiece has been replaced by the life-like ocular implant the Doctor had crafted for her. The eyepiece attachment, a star-shaped attachment on the right side of her face just before her ear, and the silver, skeletal outline of the exo-plating that covered her left hand, going up under the left arm of the cat suit, are the only visible traces of Borg technology that can be seen on her.
Janeway and The Doctor enter, accompanied by a security officer. The Doctor tells her he has removed 82% of her Borg implants; the rest are tied into her vital functions. He proudly takes credit for designing her attire and re-stimulating the growth of her hair. He leaves to go and familiarize himself with the Borg alcoves; she will still need to regenerate to maintain her remaining Borg systems, and he will be monitoring her regularly to ensure these systems stay working properly. Janeway smiles slightly as she informs her that she will consider allowing her access to the rest of the ship once she is sure she will not try to get them assimilated again. Seven of Nine assures her that will not happen. Janeway is happy to hear this. She leaves, giving her a combadge and telling her to contact her if she needs anything.
But just before Janeway goes out the door, Seven of Nine gives her the answer to one of the questions she had raised in the brig about the child, Annika Hansen. Her favorite color, she tells her, was red.
Tuvok, in his quarters, carries his lit meditation lamp to a window. He holds it up briefly as if offering it, and places it on the ledge, in honor of his former student. He and the lamp are both seen from outside as the ship continues on toward home, most of the Borg modifications on its hull now absent, Borg space now, thankfully, behind them.
[edit] Log Entries
- Captain's log, supplemental. Warp drive is still off-line and we don't know whether the Borg have detected us. Kes' psychokinetic abilities continue to damage the ship's structural integrity, and as a result our defenses have been compromised.
[edit] Memorable Quotes
"I've got an Ocampan who wants to be something more and a Borg who's afraid of becoming something less. Here's to Vulcan stability."
- - Janeway, to Tuvok
"So what's it like out there in Galactic Cluster 3?"
"Beyond your comprehension."
"Try me."
"Galactic Cluster 3 is a transmaterial energy plane intersecting 22 billion omnicordial life-forms."
"Oh. Interesting."
- - Kim and Seven of Nine
"I'm just giving you back what was stolen from you; the existence you were denied; the child who never had a chance; that life is yours to live, now."
"I don't want that life!"
"It's what you are. Don't resist it!"
- - Janeway and Seven of Nine
"Red."
"What?"
"The child you spoke of, the girl. Her favorite color was red."
- - Seven of Nine and Janeway
"She threw us safely beyond Borg space. 10 Years closer to home."
- - Janeway, moved by Kes' parting gift.
[edit] Background Information
- This was the last regular episode of Star Trek: Voyager that starred Jennifer Lien as Kes. Lien later returned to the role in the sixth season episode "Fury".
- This episode is considered a bottle show.
- This is also the second episode in which the main characters from all seasons appear, the first being the previous episode, "Scorpion, Part II", and the third and final episode being "Fury".
- Janeway states that she has met de-assimilated Borg. This could be a reference to Jean-Luc Picard, the rogue Borg group led by Hugh after the events in TNG: "Descent, Part II" or Riley Frazier and the other drones released from the collective as seen in VOY: "Unity".
- This episode marks the first appearance of Seven of Nine's ubiquitous and infamous bodysuits. In this episode she wore the rarely used silver version.
- This episode features the first large-scale jump Voyager makes toward home. In this case 9,500 light years (10 years).
- According to the Doctor, this episode takes place "a few days" after the events of "Scorpion".
- Chakotay's statement, that "For all we know, Annika and her parents were the first Humans the Borg ever assimilated", is counteracted by Star Trek: First Contact when some of the USS Enterprise-E crew are assimilated before First Contact.
[edit] Video and DVD releases
- UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 4.1, 2 February 1998.
- As part of the VOY Season 4 DVD collection.
[edit] Links and References
[edit] Also Starring
- Jennifer Lien as Kes
[edit] Uncredited Co-Stars
- Tarik Ergin as Ayala
- Chester E. Tripp III (stunt actor)
[edit] References
47; anetrizine; assimilation; autonomous regeneration sequencer; Ayala; bio-synthetic gland; Borg alcove; Borg Collective; Borg drone; brain; brig; cells; cellular flux; circus; class 2 shuttle; communications node; Galactic Cluster 3; immune system; iris; Larson; nanoprobes; nervous system; neural transceiver; ocular implant; Onion; respiratory system; Species 259; Species 8472; Talaxian champagne; telekinesis; trochlear nerve; Vulcan mind meld
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