Dax chief. Commander, what are you doing up at this hour . I want you to look at something. I couldnt sleep, so i got up and decided to scan the wormhole for radiometric anomalies. At 3 00 in the morning . I find anomalies very relaxing, dont you . I was using the wideband filter protocols and when i ran the primary calibrations check i found this. Oh, theyre slightly off spec. Yes. I thought it might be a fused matrix invertor until i ran a level three diagnostic. Have a look. Wed better wake the captain. At are you eligible for medicare . The medicare enrollment deadline is just a few weeks away. Changes to medicare plans could impact your healthcare costs. Are you getting all the benefits available to you . Increase your benefits and lower how much you pay out of pocket. To update your coverage or enroll for the first time call healthmarkets. Well help you make sure you have the right medicare plan. Hi, im doctor martin gizzi. Its a new medicare year. That means more changes. 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Weve identified 943 tiny fluctuations in the primary communication relays and several Power Distribution junctions. Fluctuations that cant be attributed to anything except external intervention. Someones gained access to our systems and is altering them. For what purpose . Were working on that. At this point, its hard to even call it sabotage. Theres been no real damage. The systems are just a little off spec. So far, these alterations dont seem to pose any threat be just the tip of a very large and dangerous iceberg. Can we trace how this was done, and by whom . It has to be someone familiar with the stations systems. Maybe someone who worked on the station under the cardassians. Im running extensive security checks on all recent visitors but i havent found anything. Maybe someone whos been on the station a long time someone with a lot of access. Maybe even someone on the maintenance crew. Chief . Yes. Yes, what . Do you think its someone on your staff . Man chief obrien, i have a call from your daughter. Go ahead. Dax it really could be anyone. Odo there are numerous possibilities. Its hard to narrow them down. Molly, honey, what is it . Hi, daddy. Mommy told me i could call you. I hope we didnt interrupt anything important. Its all right, molly. She missed her mommy. Isnt that sweet . When are you going to come. . Ow, mommy that hurt. Oh, im sorry, sweetie. All you all right, molly . Shes fine, miles. She just wants to know when youll be finished. I told her you had to work another two hours 22 minutes and 13 seconds. How long is that, daddy . Soon. Ill be home very soon. Good. We both miss you. Everything all right . Fine. Im sorry about the interruption. You were saying you thought you knew who the saboteur might be. Le. Hello, chief. What are you doing, rom . I cant talk about it. Oh, yes, you can. And you will. Coming, chief . Id better see what hes been up to here. Ill take care of those. Has he said anything . Not much. For the first 40 minutes, it was like pulling teeth even getting him to admit his name. I dont know. Rom admits to nothing. Now hes asking to see chief obrien. He wont talk to anybody else. Then get the chief down here. I want to know whats going on. Security to chief obrien. Go ahead, constable. We need you in security right away. Im still trying to figure out what rom did to these systems. That will have to wait. I have captains orders to get you down here immediately. On my way. Computer, time remaining . 36 minutes and nine seconds. Computer, locate Maintenance Technician rom. Maintenance technician rom is in Security Holding cell number four. Initiate security override and scramble surveillance channels foura, b, c and d. Authorization obrien 712. Specified security channels scrambled. Now begin recalibration of gravitic sensors at access panel 379 as indicated. The chief is here, rom. Now, what do you want to say . Alone. Ill only talk if were alone. What is it, rom . Its okay. Ive disconnected odos eavesdropping devices. I havent told anyone anything, just like you said. Youre a good man. Now, why did you call me . I told you we were under very tight time constraints. Captain sisko is really angry. If i didnt know he was pretending. Rom. Dont worry. I can hold out until you say otherwise but there is one thing i have to know. Go ahead. Why are we focusing a chroniton beam at the wormhole . What . Array aimed directly at the wormhole. So i just wanted to know. What are you talking about . The chroniton beam is harmless. To us, but its temporal disruption would kill a wormhole alien instantly. Of course. Why didnt i think of that . She has me so on edge i havent been able to see the forest for the trees. Whos she . I dont have time to explain now. The question is. Everyone has enemies, even the prophets. Thats right. Theyre not just wormhole aliens, theyre. Theyre prophets part of bajoran mythology. Just like the pahwraiths of the fire caves. So. What have those wraiths got to do with the wormhole aliens . Kossmoran. What . Its a bajoran legend. From the verb kosst meaning to be and amoran banished. Leetas been telling me all about bajoran legends. She can go on for hours. She says im a good listener. Im sure you are. Now be good talker. Go on. Well, uh, according to leeta the pahwraiths used to live in the wormhole. They were part of the celestial temple. They were prophets. False prophets. They were cast out of the temple and forbidden to ever return lest they face the wrath of the true prophets. So if these false prophets were to return to the celestial temple. I dont think theyd be welcomed. Unless. She kills all the wormhole aliens first. Rom. Im going to have to leave you in a tough spot. Captain sisko, odo they dont know about any of this, do they . No. No, they dont and i want you to help me keep it that way for a little while longer. I have to stay here and play the idiot . Im afraid so. No matter what odo asks you. Im quarks brother. I know the role. sighs computer, time remaining . odo clears throat sorry to disturb you, chief. Couple of things are still bothering me. Rom couldnt have done all this sabotage alone. There were too many changes for any one person to make. Maybe so. Right now ive got a frequency problem in the cascade feeder. I checked with the repair logs. Match someones movements to the locations where the alterations were made but i couldnt do that. We had a matrix systems failure yesterday. Those files were lost. Sorry. Hmm. Weve had a lot of systems failures recently havent we, chief . Really . I hadnt noticed. Ive been too busy repairing things. Like the surveillance channels in the Holding Cells . You authorized a security override. What was wrong with them . E isolinear chip junction was. Enough, chief. You didnt cover your tracks very well. Why . I didnt have time. I still dont. groans sorry, odo. Chief obrien to keiko obrien. This is keiko. Ive finished, but we have to move quickly. This place is going to be swarming with security. How did you know id want a runabout . I know what youre planning to do but dont worry, i dont give a damn about the celestial temple or your noncorporeal feuds. I just want my wife back. Now, you still need me to pilot you through the wormhole. So lets stop wasting time. Agreed . Thats correct, commander. I want to test some new magnetic constrictors in the runabouts impulse thrusters. Dax very well, chief. Youre cleared for departure but before you go theres one thing id like to ask you. Whats that . Did you enjoy your birthday . Well, it was full of surprises. Good. Those were always my favorites. Hold position here. Computer, initiate modifications obrien 731 and enable remote comlink. Comlink enabled. What the hell . Have us face the temple. The blast will last only a fraction of a second. Theyll be dead before they even see it. Oh you have no idea how many centuries i waited for this. Lets get on with it miles, you have a lot to learn about patience. Proceed. Sisko chief, whats going on out there . Im ordering you to return to the station. Now. screams screaming miles. relieved sighs chief. It was more like having something coiled around inside my head. I could see and hear through it but anytime i tried to do anything. It was like being stuck in sand and squeezed. Yeah. Kind of a cold rage. I dont think it had any intention of leaving either one of us alive. You dont have to talk about it if you dont want to. It feels better to talk about it. Besides, i dont want to forget how hard you fought for me. sighs yawns hello, brother. You look horrible. Im telling you, rom working the night shift is driving you to an early grave. I wasnt working. What do you mean you werent working . Im not on the night shift. I knew it. Obrien fired you. No, brother. In appreciation of my work to the day shift. He says i have a promising future in engineering. Why do you look so tired . I was celebrating. With who . My crewmates. I think they like me. Do they . Especially litana. Shes always finding excuses to talk to me. Well, rom. Im glad things are going so well for you. No, youre not but thanks anyway, brother. I guess youll be wanting the chiefs special again . Actually, no. Ive discovered bacon doesnt agree with me. What a surprise. Instead ill have a short stack of pancakes dripping with butter, a side of sausage and. Pineapple. Pineapple . Thats the breakfast of choice on the day shift. sighs [captioning sponsored by the u. S. Department of education and paramount television the devore ships are assuming a tactical formation. Bridge to transporter room status . All set here, captain. Pattern cohesion looks stable. Cargo bay one, report. The bay is clear. Theyre powering weapons. Why do they bother . They know we wont resist. Protocol, mr. Paris. Gaharay vessel, prepare to be inspected. Crew members are instructed to step away from their stations. We know the drill. Side arms and scanning equipment are to be set aside. Deviation from this or any other inspection protocols will not be tolerated. All hands, this is the captain. Prepare to be boarded by devore inspection teams. Give them your full cooperation. Lets get this over with. mahlers symphony number one playing devore inspector captain janeway, report to your ready room. Good morning, captain. I took the liberty of playing this music throughout your ship. I thought it might help your crew relax. Sometimes these inspections can be stressful. How thoughtful. Me coffee. Black, as usual . Black. Prax here still refuses to try it but then, hes a man of few pleasures. Captain [captioning sponsored by paramount television those cell cultures are extremely fragile. Please. Youve been routing power through your transporter system. Why . Its a routine diagnostic. Weve been having trouble with our imaging scanners. The problem is in the primary energizing coils. Focus your efforts there. Thanks for the tip. Contaminated antimatter. A bionetic implant . An interlink node. It permits communication with other borg drones. You are not a telepath. No. Remarkable. How old is this . About 600 years. My grandfather gave it to me when i was a child. It seems you have a longstanding obsession with exploration, captain. I, on the other hand, have much more in common ancient soldier. Hes from earths classical period. It produced some of our greatest artists as well. Your culture has many contradictions. Violence and beauty, science and faith. All somehow mingled harmoniously. Like the counterpoint of this music. Mahler symphony number one. Am i correct . Youre getting to know my database better than i do. Ive had time to review it since our last encounter. Im just trying to get to know you, captain. Theres no reason for us to be adversaries. I could be your friend and right now, you could certainly use one. Really . Why is that . Your predicament. I dont expect its be easy. Thousands of lightyears from home navigating by strange stars trespassing in other peoples space ignoring their laws. Were just trying to get back to earth. Through the devore imperium . He effort. We dont exactly embrace outsiders. Gaharay. It means strangers. Which brings me to a matter that could threaten our friendship. Ive examined your crew manifest from our last inspection. Commander tuvok, ensign vorik vulcans. Ensigns suder and jurot betazoids. All telepaths. For a very simple reason. Theyre dead. Tuvok, vorik and jurot died in a shuttle crash about two months ago. Suder was killed in a conflict with a species called the kazon. Thats fortunate. For you, i mean. If id known you were harboring telepaths i would have had to arrest you for breaking our cardinal protocol. They were valued members of my crew, inspector not criminals. Perhaps. Captain. Do you trust me . Not for a second. Exactly. And why should you . Trust has to be earned. Its gradual and yet its the foundation of every relationship professional and personal. Its also a concept alien to the telepathic races. Why take someone at their word when you can simply read their mind . door opens weve completed our inspection. However, their sensor logs indicate they deviated from their assigned course on two occasions. In both cases, to avoid ion storms. Imperative 32, codicil 626 all gaharay vehicles that deviate from prescribed flight vectors will be impounded, their crews detained and relocated. Prax, its clear the captain didnt intend to break protocol. I expect we can overlook these infractions. Sir . Yes, sir. Captain, im a reasonable man and youve been cooperative, but consider this a reminder. You have a long trip through devore space and good friends can be an asset. The devore vessels are out of range. Bridge to Transporter Team youre clear. Cargo bay one to ensign kim pattern enhancers are in place. Initiating rematerialization sequence. Harry, im routing maximum power to the transporters. Kim got it. N angstroms. Energizing. erratic transporter beam ensign kim, the confinement beam is unstable. Were trying to correct it now. Whats the problem . Were unable to consolidate their patterns. Theyve been in suspension too long. Harry, increase power to the imaging scanners. Aye, captain. transporter beam stabilizing nice work, harry. All our guests are present and accounted for. Captain. Theyre gone. For now. Hey, man you okay . Yeah, just a little shook up. This car. For a second, i thought it could be sues. Same make, model, same color, same year even. Ing did happen to one of us . What would our family do . Dont you have Life Insurance . Nowe keep putting it off. Just not sure we can afford it. Well, i make the same as you, and i have a policy you know, just something to help cover expenses. Is it legit . Its from massmutual. Yeah, ive heard of them theyve been around a long time. 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Ll now to learn more about guaranteed acceptance Life Insurance. Call this number. Theres no obligation. Captains log, supplemental after weeks of playing hideandseek with the devore inspectors our goal is near a transport vessel that will take our passengers each time we do this, i feel as thought ive left a few molecules behind in your cargo bay. Ill have someone scan the room if itll make you feel better. Kir, we received an encoded message from the transport vessel. Theyve changed the rendezvous point again. Im afraid so. Did they send the new coordinates . Were still waiting for them. Captain, we may have another problem. I just treated tuvok and two of the refugees for acute cellular degradation. Ive repaired most of the damage but unfortunately, the effect is cumulative. Meaning . Uspension some of us may not survive. Chakotay bridge to captain janeway. Were receiving another transmission. Acknowledged. Seven the new coordinates are here within a mutaraclass nebula 2. 36 lightyears from our current position. Its definitely out of the way less chance of being discovered but itll take two more days to get there. Two days that increases the chances that well run into another inspection. Given the frequency of patrols in that area just what the doctor didnt order. Tuvok, seven, i want you to lay in a course thatll attract as little attention as possible. Well avoid their colonies, space stations Tourist Attractions if they have any. The ogre of fires castle hovered over the forest like a great, black spaceship, turning day into night. Now, flotter and trevis knew they had to find a way to keep the ogre from burning the forest down but his castle, it was higher than the tallest tree. Until they discovered. A door. A door, right. A mysterious door, right in the middle of a. Clearing. You know, its. Its not nice to read peoples thoughts when theyre telling a story. Im sorry. Its all right. door opening why dont you all go play by yourselves for a while . Oh, fine, more or less. They dont understand what all the fuss is about but theyre telepaths, captain. If the parents are concerned or fearful the children feel it, too. You did the right thing. If we hadnt taken them off that freighter theyd be in a Detention Center by now. Well, were going to make sure that doesnt happen. Is the kitchen still open or are you just serving stories . For you, its always open. M detecting a vessel 300,000 kilometers and closing. The signature is devore. Red alert. Shields up. Bridge to captain. More company, commander . Looks like it. Get our visitors to the cargo bay. Stand by for transporter suspension. Aye, captain. Neelix. Right away. Come on, now. Were going to go see your parents. Lets go. Report. If this is another inspection its certainly a different approach. Were being hailed. Open a channel. Captain. Inspector. Its urgent that we speak. You know the way to my ready room. Its all right, ensign. Inspections because you outgunned me, but i dont see warships nearby. I have no intention of cooperating. Im not here to search voyager. Then what do you want, inspector . Call me kashyk, please. I never liked that title. In fact, ive left it behind. Did somebody offer you a promotion, or are you just having a bad day . Im defecting, and i need your help. Me . Before i end up in a Detention Center myself. Now, why would i risk the safety of my crew by harboring a defector . Because of what im about to tell you. If you continue on your present course youll be intercepted by a squadron of my warships. Voyager will be seized, your crew imprisoned or worse. The nebula is a trap, captain youve inspected my ship three times. You know we arent smuggling telepaths or anyone else. What i know is that you have 12 refugees aboard right now that you rescued them from a freighter three weeks ago and that youve been concealing them in cargo bay one, using your transporters. I could have exposed them at any time but i wanted them to escape as much as you do. I can still protect them its only a matter of time before they find it. You have no choice, captain. This is our rendezvous point inside this nebula. Unfortunately, the transport vessel were supposed to meet is no longer there. One of a dozen positioned throughout the nebula all invisible to our sensors until kashyk showed me how to compensate for their refractive shielding. Your soldiers intercepted the transport ship . Over a week ago. We were the ones who changed the rendezvous coordinates. Two vessels carrying refugees have already been seized. Voyager would have been next. All right, inspector you helped us avoid this ambush. What now . Well have to get your passengers to the wormhole on our own. These are the schedules and routes of our patrols along with tactical data on our shield and weapons configurations enough to ensure that you avoid another inspection. How long before youre missed . Well, i took two weeks leave. Enough time, i hope, to find the wormhole and get the passengers safely through it and myself, as well. Your data is useful but it doesnt guarantee our success. No. For that, youll need my guidance and some luck. Ill have to take this up with the brenari. Ill let you know what they decide. Ill have to insist you remain under guard. No hard feelings. No hard feelings. Its unusual. But not unheard of. There have been sympathizers before. Kashyk may be telling the truth. You should read his thoughts. Devore soldiers undergo years of mental training to prevent that. He might be telling the truth but he also might be using us to find the wormhole. So what do we do, throw him in the brig . No. We take him up on his offer to help see how it plays out. But i want round theclock security. We need to watch his every movement. That leaves us with our next question how do we find the wormhole . Ive given it some thought. Theres a scientist named torat. Hes from a nearby system. Hes rumored to know more about the wormhole than anyone. He might help us. For a price. They power their ships a price . Perhaps we can replicate it. On its composition. See what you can do. In the meantime well set a course for torats planet try to track him down. Nervous . sighs lets just say. Im not used to other people deciding my fate. Until today, you were part of a government responsible for persecuting thousands of innocent people. Why the sudden change of heart . Theres nothing sudden about it. Ive been looking for a way to escape for years. Voyager was the perfect opportunity. How so . Well, what are you suggesting. I ask a brenari vessel for assistance . Theyd throw me out an airlock. Ive read your database. I know all about starfleet philosophy unless you left those ideals behind in the alpha quadrant. I certainly dont grant asylum to every person i meet especially ones who ransack my ship and terrorize my crew. Youre asking me to believe youre someone else. And. Thats a leap of faith im not ready to make. Youre turning me away. No. No. Im going to give you safe passage to the wormhole. In return for your help in getting us there but im also imposing some restrictions. Youll have your own quarters but limited access to voyagers systems and your whereabouts will be monitored at all times. Im used to being surrounded by armed guards. Consider them a reminder that voyager is my ship. I dont think anyone could doubt that. Ns log, supplemental. Its taken us nearly two days but weve managed to locate torat the man whos supposedly an expert on wormholes. Unfortunately, he seems reluctant to share his expertise. Hes trying to evade us. Hail him again. Mr. Torat doesnt seem too trusting. Maybe hes been through one inspection too many. No response. Tap into his computer; override the lockout. Do it. Go away this is captain Kathryn Janeway of the Federation Starship voyager. We have no hostile intent. Then why are you pursuing me . Wed just like to ask. Federations. Imperiums. Why do you people feel such a need to align yourselves with monolithic organizations . Id be glad to discuss that and any other philosophical issue you care to raise if you would just slow down and talk. Sorry. Cant do that. Im late for a very important conference this is a waste of time. Disable his ship. Thats what we call overkill, inspector. Ensign, can we transport at this range . Absolutely. Energizing. Welcome aboard. Janeway 20 centiliters of mercurium isochromate no impurities and this is just a sample. Weve synthesized enough to power your ship for a year. It doesnt matter. I never heard of this. Wormhole youre looking for or these socalled refugees. Well, theyve heard of you. Well, no doubt. My research is famous. Think of all the stars you could research once youve infused your propulsion system with this. Theres no point in bribing me. What do you mean by that . I doubt youd know a wormhole from a dark matter inversion. Professor. Kashyk is another expert ive retained to help us with this matter. Im afraid hes not as impressed with your work as i am. In fact, he discouraged me from seeking you out. Professor kashyk . Never heard of you. Not surprising considering you toil in scientific obscurity. scoffing not worth the sensors they were recorded on. Oh. Theres no need to insult the man. Just because he doesnt know how to find an interspatial flexure. Interspatial flexure . Why didnt you say so in the first place . He said wormhole a laymans term that. That covers any number of phenomena. I am familiar with a certain anomaly that could be categorized as an interspatial flexure. Actually, a better question would be where is it now . Its really quite interesting. The aperture of the phenomenon which i prefer to call an intermittent cyclical vortex is unfixed. It manifests infrequently for only brief periods of time and in varying locations. spits sharply sighs i can give you the last four locations. Ished a scientist as you claim to be. Think. Im thinking. Think harder. Four wormhole appearances less than 20 lightyears apart theres no pattern. Did you apply a fractal coefficient . Didnt work. Neutrino flux parameters . Mmhmm. Statistical algorithms . Every one i could find. This wormhole defies analysis. Maybe torat was right were just out of our league. Think harder. How do you predict. A random occurrence . You follow your instincts. symphonic music playing captain . Counterpoint. Its in all great music. Parallel melodies playing against one another. Weve been looking at the obvious frequency, location, timing but each of those parameters could have a counterpoint in subspace. It might reveal our pattern. Computer, run a subspatial transkinetic analysis on the wormhole data. Analysis in progress. Thisll take a minute. symphonic music continues im going to miss this. Coffee of yours. Well, i will give you the recipe. Thank you. You dont sound too happy about leaving. The brenari arent about to embrace a former inspector. Anxiety doesnt become you, inspector. Try to relax a little. I suppose you liked me better in uniform. I havent decided whether i like you at all. We call them the kolyan kolyar infinite spirals. Beautiful. As a boy, i spent years s the last time ill ever see them. We have something similar back on earth the aurora borealis. Which you, too, may never see again. I suppose were both refugees, in a way. Im still counting on getting this ship home. Are you sure youll be welcome when you do . I came across Something Else in your database the prime directive. The federations cardinal protocol. It seems well, lets just say i usually go with my instincts. And sort it out later at the board of inquiry. Those admirals and i were on a firstname basis, you know. Ah. Youre risking a lot, too. Why . Three months ago my teams were inspecting a plasmarefining vessel. We found a family of telepaths very young. Shed been inside it for days, barely able to breathe. When i lifted her out and set her down on the deck. She thanked me. I sent her to a Relocation Center with the others knowing full well what would happen to her. After that, i could think of nothing else and when i couldnt stand it any longer. Youre my deliverance, captain. Analysis complete. It worked. It looks like itll appear in about three days. Less than eight lightyears from here. The tehara system. Is that a problem . Theres an automated sensor array between here and tehara. Can we go around it . L have to find a way to avoid detection. sighing lets do it in the morning. Weve done enough for tonight. Are you saying goodbye . Therell be other spirals. Theyve just never looked quite so. Beautiful before. Could be the company im keeping. Or the polarization axis of the windows. That must be it. laughs softly how often does this array emit a scanning pulse . Every 40 seconds. Range . Ten lightyears. The pulse is designed to track warp fields and impulse signatures. If we lower our power output to beneath its detection threshold. We could drift past undetected. Its worth a try. Well, good night