An alien scientist finds evidence linking his species' ancestry to Earth, but government officials refuse to accept his evidence because it conflicts with their ancient beliefs.
Summary
A pair of Voth, a species of reptilian humanoids, named Forra Gegen and Tova Veer conducts an archaeological investigation in a cave on an M-class planet. They search the cave with their flashlights and Veer discovers a tattered piece of cloth; while he does not appear to recognize it, the audience knows it to be from a gold-colored Starfleet uniform. Gegen meanwhile journeys a bit further into the cave where he delicately unearths a human leg bone. Upon realizing what it is, he emits a series of clicking sounds to summon Veer and scans the bone with a small round device similar in function to a tricorder.
Veer asks if the discovery is a genetic match, although to what he does not say, and Gegen confirms it is. "Could this be it? The proof?" Veer asks eagerly. "If it is," responds Gegen, "We've just made the most important discovery in Voth history." He shines his light on a nearby human skull as he speaks, and the camera fades out.
Act One
Forra Gegen and a Human skull
Now aboard their vessel, Gegen and Veer have laid the bones collected out on a table, forming an approximation of what the skeleton would look like if complete. They study the incomplete skeleton much as paleontologists would study a dinosaur fossil and determine it is related to the Voth. They decide to present their findings to the Ministry of Elders.
However, Minister Odala does not take kindly to their findings. She claims the similarities are coincidental, accusing Gegen of questioning Voth Doctrine. Once he realizes that he will get nowhere with her, Gegen decides to mount an expedition on his own.
His daughter Frola wants to believe in him, but she finds it hard to believe that the Voth are related to mammals (known as endotherms) from elsewhere in the galaxy. Unfortunately, Tova informs him that he has been charged with heresy against The Doctrine and all of his supporters have abandoned him. Determined to find the truth, Forra and Tova set out on their own.
The two of them find one clue on the uniform of the corpse they recovered: they need to find something called the USS Voyager.
Act Two
- "Across the vastness of space, to find one ship among a sea of stars is no simple matter, and for many weeks we found nothing. And then, fortune glanced in our direction. A trader from a space station bordering the Nekrit Expanse informed us of a curious group of explorers claiming to be from the other side of the galaxy. The merchants there spoke of a vessel called Voyager. They were able to help us clarify certain details. With this new information, we began to acquire other items and new evidence. Our most significant find: a canister of warp plasma from Voyager's engines. For now, we are scanning space for a matching signature. Little is known about these explorers, but they call themselves human, and they claim to be traveling home to a distant planet. My thoughts are with you, Frola, as are those of my colleague Veer."
On the ship, Gegen jokes with Veer about mating with his daughter, Krola. Suddenly Veer detects a energy transmission and after coming out of warp phase, he and Gegen see the Voyager.
After deciding to observe on the Voyager, the two are under a interphase cloaking device on the ship and wander around the ship looking at several things such as the computer, the "male and female interacting" and "courting behaviour" between Tom Paris and B'Elanna Torres. As they observe, they seem to think of the humans as primitive compared to their own species. On the bridge, still cloaked, they assume that the social hierarchy is matriarchal due to Kathryn Janeway being the captain. At this time the crew discovers two unknown hidden beings on board. Gegen and Veer attempt to leave only to realize they cannot transport off their ship. While the bridge is being sealed by a force field level-10, Gegen and Veer teleport to the Mess Hall. Commander Tuvok makes the two appear and when Veer shoots Chakotay with a small dart on instinct, Gegen instantly transports him and Chakotay away to his vessel.
Act Three
In Sickbay, Janeway attempts to converse with Veer to find that Veer speaks with clicks. The Doctor finds that his body temperature and metabolism have dropped and Janeway orders others to examine the new species.
On Gegen's ship, Chakotay finds that Gegen is a molecular paleontologist and explains that he accidentally took Chakotay instead of Veer. While on Gegen's ship, Gegen questions whether there are any of his species on Earth, a term unfamiliar to him. After Gegen shuts the forcefield around Chakotay off, he and Chakotay make formal first contact between the two.
A hadrosaur seen on the Holodeck, possibly the ancient ancestor with the unknown species
The Doctor finds that the DNA of the Voth are remarkably similar and Janeway makes the conclusion that the Voth evolved on Earth. Janeway goes to Holodeck 2 and tries to picture the closest relative to the Voth from Earth. In the Holodeck she and the Doctor sees various reptiles from Cretaceous era, most notably a hadrosaur. The Doctor predicts that the hadrosaur continued to evolve after the extinction of other beings to the present Voth civilization.
On Gegen's ship, Chakotay and Gegen propose that any existence of the intelligence of the dinosaurs could have been deep under the surface, never to be found by the humans on Earth. Gegen begins to see that the humans and mammals as a whole are not as inferior as he once thought. When Chakotay requests to beam back to the Voyager, Gegen denies it and says that he must bring Chakotay to the Ministry to prove that humans exist.
Back on the Voyager, the ship begins to be probed with an energy beam that cuts through the shields and beams the entire ship into the alien vessel.
Act Four
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Interior of the city ship with the Voyager inside
With the Voyager inside the massive Voth city ship, the ship and weapons begin to lose power. Tuvok is shot by a dart from behind and orders Paris, who is with him, to leave without him. Janeway with Ensign Kim and another officer, encounter the Voth and realize they are under captivity. The Voth interrogates the humans' origin. When Janeway mentions Earth, the Voth suspects Gegen in spreading rumors. When Paris attempts to fire a missile inside the city ship, he is stopped by an unknown force.
Professor Gegen meets the Ministry again and is accused of going against the Doctrine. On trial, the Ministry further accuses Gegen of disputing Doctrine through the Distant Origin Theory and being a destructive influence on society. After given a chance to deny of the evidence, Gegen refuses. The Minister states that the humans are not related at all to counter Gegen's theory. Chakotay responds by saying that the Voyager's fossil records prove otherwise. The Ministry stops and begs him to admit that his interpretation and theory is wrong. Gegen again refuses and claims that the entire Voth civilization is from the human planet of Earth.
When the Minister questions Veer about the theory, he states that Gegen's research was flawed. The Minister praises him on his sayings. Once again, Gegen is questioned about his theory whether or not he has been mistaken. When Gegen rebels against why Veer would have spoken against him, he challenges the plan of the Voth to keep their myth of their history and beliefs. When the Minister asks yet again, Chakotay speaks against the Minister about how their beliefs are so clouded just as Gegen's theory is and that Gegen and he found out that the genetic structure of Voth is incredibly similar to almost every species found on Earh , which is too much to be coincidence. Chakoty states that the Doctrine was changed when transwarp technology was introduced, just as Gegen's theory is attempting to be introduced. The Minister states that she does not want to believe the theory because it might show weakness on the Voth's behalf. Chakotay responds that the Voth culture had a great past and the denial of the past shows the denial of their true heritage. Despite Chakotay's plea, Gegen is found guilty and is ordered to be placed into a detention cell along with the entire Voyager crew after the surrender of their ship. At the last moment, Gegen, defeated, admits to the Minister's desire.
Back on Gegen's personal ship, Chakotay offers Gegen a globe of Earth. Gegen ponders about the day when all of Voth will see where they came from as Chakotay beams back to the Voyager.
Memorable Quotes
"Did your eyes see the planet of our origin, the true home of our race? Was it beautiful? Was it covered by oceans? By sand? Were there nine moons above your head? Were there none?"
- - Gegen, to the human skull
"We are not immigrants!"
- - Odala
"One day, every Voth will see this as home."
- - Gegen, to Chakotay while holding a globe of Earth
"I hope that's your stomach, Tuvok."
- - Tom Paris, to Tuvok after being boarded
Background Information
- Voyager crew count: 148
- The Voth scientists' discovery of the human skull and subsequent search for Voyager are a perfect example of continuity in the Trek franchise; the skull is left over from "Basics, Part II," while the cannister of warp plasma at the space station is an acknowledgement of the events of "Fair Trade". Despite these factors, this episode's popularity among fans is largely for its unique presentation; the story is told from the point of view of the Voth, and Voyager and its crew do not even appear until the third act.
- The warp plasma retreived from the trading station was not actually from Voyager itself. The director of the Trade station provided it to Neelix and his associate to trap the smuggling operation on his station. Hence the report by Dr. Gegen that the plasma was "full of impurities".
- The plight of Gegen and his promotion of the Distant Origin Theory, and being labeled a heretic in his battle against established doctrine, is in all likelihood an allegory of Galileo's fight against the Catholic church's belief in a geocentric model of the solar system or the current incarnation of the Christian churchs attempts to drive the teaching of evolution from American schools.
- In keeping with this allegory, the name "Gegen" is similar to the German word entgegen -- "against."
Links and References
Guest Stars
Special Guest Star
Co-Stars
- Nina Minton as Frola Gegen
- Majel Barrett as the computer voice
- Tarik Ergin as Ayala (uncredited)
- John Tempoya as Kashimuro Nozawa (uncredited)
References
anodyne relay, bat'leth, bio-cylinder, B.Y.O.B., Circle of Archeology, Circle of Exobiology, Circle of Philosophy, Circles of Science, communicator, compression phaser rifle, Cretaceous, dinosaur, Distant Origin Theory, Devonian, Earth, Eryops, first contact, hadrosaur, heresy, Hogan, Hokath, holodeck, Klingon martial arts program, level-10 containment field, mammalian, Ministry of Elders, Nekrit Expanse, replication technology, saurian, tetryon radiation, transwarp, tricorder, Towt, Voth, Voth city ship, Voth Colony 4, Voth Doctrine, Voth research vessel, warp plasma
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