Seven believes that a visiting weapons merchant assaulted her.
Summary
Captain Janeway is bargaining with Kovin, a self-interested Entharan trader, about the purchase of an isokinetic cannon. He agrees to help install it, for a fee. Despite misgivings about her attitude, Janeway agrees to have Seven of Nine work on the installation as well.
While working on it, Kovin pushes Seven out of the way. She takes offense and hits him. Kovin is unsurprisingly upset, but Seven is as well. While The Doctor is examining her, Seven has an anxiety attack. The Doctor, always eager to try out new programming, tries to uncover the cause of her distress.
After some prodding, she recalls an incident which took place on the Entharan planet. While she and Tom Paris were trying out some of Kovin's disruptors, Seven and Kovin went back to his lab to make modifications. When they got there, Kovin fired the disruptor on her. She awoke, restrained, on an examination table. Kovin and a female assistant examined her, extracted nanoprobes, injected them to another subject, and removed her memory of the incident.
The Doctor believes Seven's story completely. The rest of the crew is more hesitant (especially Tuvok) but is more sympathetic to Seven than Kovin, who responded somewhat haughtily to questioning. Kovin, though reluctant, agrees to let an Entharan magistrate assist in the examination.
The Doctor, Tuvok and the Entharan magistrate examine Kovin's laboratory in his presence. His guilt seems confirmed when they find regenerating nanoprobes. Kovin transports away, back to his ship. When Voyager tries to keep him from fleeing, Kovin disables their sensors with a photonic blast and enters warp. Voyager gives chase.
As Janeway and Tuvok discuss the situation, Tuvok believes that their investigation has been impartial, but Janeway admits that her misgivings about Kovin influenced her judgment. When experiments with nanoprobes show that the probes regenerate when fired on by Kovin's disruptor, Janeway, Tuvok, and The Doctor realize that Kovin is innocent. Seven believes Kovin is guilty and refuses to listen. When she asks The Doctor to tell them that she was attacked, he admits that her neurology is still a mystery to him, and she could've misinterpreted what really happened with her experiences with the Borg. Seven wants Kovin to be punished, and she will not settle for anything less.
When Voyager catches up with Kovin, they try to convince him that they've found proof of his innocence. He is convinced that it is a trap, and attacks Voyager. His weapons destabilize, and his ship is destroyed. Seven tries to come to terms with a new emotion: remorse.
Meanwhile, The Doctor feels extremely guilty over the part he played in Kovin's death, and asks Captain Janeway to delete the additional subroutines that he's programmed himself with over the years, believing that his desire to expand his programming has caused him to overstep his boundaries and step in where he wasn't required. However the Captain refuses, saying that everyone involved is responsible to some degree.
Voyager continues its journey home, with two of its crew sadder but wiser for their experiences.
- Note: Please obey copyright policy; do not copy material from other sources without permission.
Log Entries
- Captain's log, stardate 51679.4. We've detected the warp signature from Kovin's ship and we're now in pursuit. In the meantime, Tuvok and I have been examining the tools from Kovin's lab.
- Chief medical officer's log, stardate 51658.2. I've spent the past three days being cross-examined by the Entharan authorities, but the matter is finally resolved.
Memorable Quotes
"I do not feel perfect."
"What do you mean?"
"I am preoccupied by Kovin's death."
"Join the club. It's all I can think about."
"As a Borg, I was responsible for the destruction of countless millions and I felt nothing, but now I regret the destruction of this single being."
"It's called remorse, Seven. It comes into play when you make a mistake, and you feel guilt about what you've done. Another new emotion for you to experience."
"I do not enjoy this remorse any more than I enjoyed anger. Will the feeling subside?"
"Yes. But not quickly."
"I would rather not have to wait."
"I'm afraid you don't have much choice. But maybe I do."
- - Seven of Nine and The Doctor, in sickbay.
Background Information
- Ethan Phillips (Neelix) does not appear in this episode.
- Michael Horton played Lieutenant Daniels in Star Trek: First Contact and Star Trek: Insurrection.
- The interior cockpit of the timeship Aeon is reused in this episode as the cockpit of Kovin's ship.
- The script develops an episode of false memory syndrome.
Video and DVD releases
- UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 4.9, catalogue number VHR 4630, 7 September 1998.
- As part of the VOY Season 4 DVD collection.
Links and References
Guest stars
Co-stars
Uncredited co-stars
- David Keith Anderson as Ashmore
- Marvin deBaca as Timothy Lang
- Tarik Ergin as Ayala
Stunt double
- Chester E. Tripp III as stunt double for Michael Horton
References
adrenaline; Amanin; assimilation tubules; astrometric chart; Betazed; bio-ablation pump; blood pressure; Borg; Borg Collective; boxing; chromoelectric force field; combadge; compression rifle; counselor; dermal regenerator; diagnostic bed; disruptor; duratanium; electro-dynamic probe; emitter matrix; engram; Entharan; Entharan colony; Ferengi; field generator; hippocampus; Hirogen; isokinetic cannon; isolinear buffer circuit; isolinear processing chip; Jungian; Entharan starship; magistrate; metagenic pulse; medical tricorder; memory reconstruction; micro-caliper; monofilament stimulator; monotanium; nanoprobes; oscillator; photonic emitter; photonic pulse; power cell; premaxilla; scattering field; target buoy; terawatt; terawatt powered particle beam rifle; therapist; thermal guidance sensor; thoron
| Previous episode: "Prey" |
Star Trek: Voyager Season 4 |
Next episode: "The Killing Game" |