Go, go, go. Stay with him. Too close. Come on, come on. Break it up. How many . Three. Good guess. Ive got a good mind to use a needle and thread add a little authenticity to your fun. Be my guest. Youd like that a manly scar above your eye. Chakotay the maquis mauler. Pointless violence. That program shohodnt even be in our database. I was there when prycejones went 2 2rounds with gul tulet. The knockout in the neutral zone. Best match i ever saw. Really . Or did pryceceones drive gul tulets nasal bone up into his brain . chuckling youve got the wrong idea. The idea is simple enough. Do enough damage to your opponent to render him unconscious. Hows the headache . Hairline fracture of the septum. I saw something strange. Ill bet you did. No. Before i got hit. What do you mean . I looked over at boothby. He yelled at me. I turned back. Then the ring got distorted. An hallucination. You probably had some pressure building up no. I was keeping away from him the whole fight. He never touched me. Hmm. A number of the ganglia in your visual cortex are hyperactive. Your opponent wasnt firing on you his glove with an energy weapon, was he . S. Janeway red alert chakotay to the bridge. On m mway. I want you back in here for some tests. Unless you want to be seeing things its changed course again 20,000 kilometers off starboard. Ion storm . Not exactly. Its two light years across emits enough energy for a dozen stars and it wont sit still. Okay. 11,000 kilometers off the port bow. We are too close. Im backing us off. Nothing so massive could move that fast. Full reverse. Maximum shields. Anybody want to tell me where we are . We appear totoe inside the disturbance. Im picking up a lot of raw data subspace flux, graviton waves. Sensors must be confused. The readings are shifting arouou so much i cant make heads or tails of whats out there. Captain, this is seven of nine. Please report to astrometrics at once. Seven the borg have been aware of this phenomenon for many years. Its a zone where the laws of physics are in a state of flux chaotic space. Why didnt sensors warn us in t te . Chaotic space appears randomly and unexpectedly. The borg have observed it throughout the galaxy. Then why hasnt a Federation Starship encocotered anything like this . No doubt some have. Think of all the starfleet vessels that disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Borg vessels are more advanced but only one cube has survivived an encounter with chaotic space. L constants are shifting our sensors cant function. The problem is here. Changes in the gravitational coefficient only for a tim will cause sudden shear forces against our hull. E. How much time . Unknown. Weve got t recalibrate the sensors redesign them if necessary. Otherwise, were flying blind. Lets get to work. faint bell dinging computer begin round one. Computer, did you Say Something . distant cheers cheering gets louder boothby pick em up, son. Its the fight youve been waiting for. distant bell dinging computer begin round one. Tuvok bridge to commander chakotay. Go ahead, tuvok. Please report to the bridge. Graviton wave displacement says were moving at warp six. Subspace sensors show were standing still. We cant be that far from where we entered. Maybe we should just set a course go to impulse and see what happens. What would most likely happen is a collision with an asteroid field or a star. Report. Kim torsional shear has increased by 200 percent. Shields . Tuvok holding. Like i was saying better than just sitting here waiting for our hull to breach. Tutuk perhaps we could drop a series of beacons to help us navigate. Paris now thats an idea. Did you hear something . I heard nothing unusual. Paris i didnt hear anything. Computer begin round one. Paris ill plot a course and well take it slow. What do you think, chakotay . Announcer the challenger. Chakotay dont you hear that . Hear what . Look. Commander . Are you all right . Boothby put on the gloves, son. Im not ready. Commander. Computut begin first round. Bridge to sick bay doctor sings note very good. sings higher note mmhmm. Lets go to 880 hertz. Music lessons . Chakotay pretty soon well be singing duets. Im checking to see if theres been any damage to the auditory nerves nothing so far. His vision checks out as well. Im afraid the source of the trouble may be a little. Deeper. The family curse. What do you mean . A cognitive disorder sensory tremens. The primary symptoms are visual and auditory hallucinationons. My Family Doctor suppressed the gene before i was even born so i never had to go through what the others did like my y andfather. For some reason, the genes been switched on. Im not certain thats why chakotay thought he was getting ready for a prizefight but its a good bet; the holodeck boxing simulation was fresh in his memory. A few misfiring neurons did the rest. This chaotic space weve entered e gene . Possibly. The only way to make certain would be to get the ship out of here. In the meantime, the commander will have to stay in sick bay. Tuvok tells me youveveot a mean left jab. chuckling nevevespar with a vulcan. How are you doing . sighs my grandfafaer started seeing things nobody else could see. Hearing what nobody else could hear. He refused treatment. A couple of hyposprays a day, thats all he would have needed. But he was stubborn. He said his spirit was in pain. But that the wound. Must be honored. chuckles crazy old man. Ready, captain. Janeway to seven. Bring the grid back online. Stand by. Kim weve got sensors. Im scanning to 100,000 kilometers. 700,000. Sensors are stable to one million kilometers. We wont be able to scan further. Id fields, sinkholes. Good enough for me. Set a course dead ahead one quarter impulse. Sensor status . Continuing to function. Still nothing ahead. Good. Lets increase our speed. Mr. Paris, go to half impulse. Wait. Its a ship. Warp capable. Its adrift, and the outer hull is damaged. No lifesigns. Lets take a closer look. Computer, lets see that again. Man why wont you answer . Cant you see im. Having a few problems . Did you give up on me for being so late . Not my fault. We got lost in here. Why do the stars make such a noise . Let me sleep. Stars should keep quiet. Thth try to talk to me. I dont understand them. I dont want to talk to them. According to the vessels medical records the captain and one of his engineers started hallucinating after they entered this space. The physician on board never found a way to treat them. How long were they stranded here . Almost a year. Eventually, their systems were compromised. They d dd of exposure. Kim the sensors on that ship are more advanced than ours and they couldnt find a way out. Lets hold our position till weve got a better idea of what were up against. It loooo like thats what they did. Started sounding just like chakotay. I cant believe thats a coincidence. Why hasnt anyone else been affected . Thats a question i cant answer. Not yet. Request permission to beam their captains body on board. Id like to perform an autopsy. Granted. Pull the Sensor Technology off that ship. Use it to enhance ours. Were going to need all the help we can get. I made a deep scan the optic and auditory neurons have been partially stripped of their normal protein insulation. The result auditory and visual hallucinations. The same symptoms as chakotay but a different cause. Exactly. In this case the gene responsible for producing protein insulation was shututown. There might be something in chaotic space that reacts with d d alters it. But why it targeted him specifically and now you i cant say. I can control the hallucinations using a neural suppressant, but, unless i can find a way to deactivate that gene of yours. I need to go on a vision quest. Captain . Thats not the best idea right now. A vision quest taps directly into your frontal cortex. It could agitate your mind. Or help me control it. Permission granted. Very well. It will help me keep track of your vital signs. Ahkoocheemoya. I am far from the Sacred Places of my grandfathers. I am far from the bones of my people but perhaps there is a powerful being who will embrace me and give me the answers i seek. Grandfather, what are you doing herer i, uh. Seem to be. Lolo. Just a little lost. You didnt take your medicine this morning. Whicicmedicine are you talking about . There are many medicines. Oh, that one. Where are you going . My spirit doesnt want that medicine. I dont care what your spirit wants. Youre going to take it. I dont think so. Come with me back to the house. Now why would i want to do that . Its better where im going. It. Its more interesting. Where are you going . To the place where my spirit lives. Grandfather where are you . Begin round one. The aliens. They were there, watching me. Inside your vision quest . Ying to tell me something. What was it . I dont know. Are they with you now . Can you hear them . Yes. Let them speak to you. No theyll make me g gcrazy. Youre not going crazy. Theyre doing this for a reason. Youve gototo trust them. Stop fighting. Open your mind. Let go. Listen. At the 18th dimensional gradient. Yager entered through. A trimetric fracture. Trimetric fracture . We must escape, or well l destroyed. How do we escape . Weve got to alter our warp field. In what way . Rentrillic trajectory. Rentrillic . It doesnt make any sense. Im scared im losing my mind try to focus. Its too much i cant its too much chakotay hi mom. Just checking back to see how youre doing. Ill be alright. But it was a shock. I never saw it coming. I know. I cant believe they would let you go, after 20 years. Sink in. I realize ive got decisions to make. Like how to replace the Life Insurance i had through work. Life insurance . Id think youd have other priorities. My priority is making sure you dont get stucucwith a lot expenses if something happens to me. Mom, theres no reason to think anything is going to happen. A couple of days ago, there was no reason to think id lose my job. No one likes to thinkkaboo be ready for it. Youre right. Ly, i found a massmutual policy thats affordable let me show you. If youre age 50 to 75, theres an easy, affordable way to get life i iurance. Its called guaranteed acceptance Life Insurance, fromomassmutual. It can help cover final expenses, such as funeral costs, medical bills, and other debts. Rates can start at less than 10 a month, and you can choose how and when to make e yments. Policies range from 2,000 to 25,000, it provides a lifetime of coverage. Your payments are guaranteed to never increase, and your coverage never decreases. And massmutual pays the money quickly to your beneficiaries. With guaranteed acceptance Life Insurance, there are never any medical exams or health questions. You cannot be e rned down. And, its from massmutual, a company thats been putting policy owners first for more than 160 years. With financial strength ratings among the highest anteed acceptance Life Insurance. Call First Contact . Rentrillic trajectory. Unfortunately, they never got around to explaining what that meant. Could be some sort of alien geometry fe for him to try to make contact again . Medically speaking, yes. The problem is convincing the commander of that. I realale youre frightened. But youre our only hope out of this place. You think this could risk your sanity . But your sanity wont do you any good i need you to keep trying, chakotay. Wiwi you keep trying . Keep me posted. Are you ready to continue . Try to focus on the alien voices. Tell me what theyre saying. I cant hear them. Are you sure . Listen carefully. Maybe we can return you to a more receptive frame of mind. Think back to when you first heard them in the vision quest. Where were you . Their boxing ring. Was anyone else there . Yes. My opponent. Kid chaos. Describe him. Tuvok. Move into position. Thompson and sharr, target the midsection. Ensign macalister you and i will aim for the head. Sers to kill. Not exactly the marquis of queensberry rules, now, is it . Set to kill . Thats not even starfleet. Put down the weapons, son. Tactical advice from an academy groundskeeper . We fire at your command, sir. Give that order and youll be out for the count the whole lot of you. Lower your weapons. Commander. Om vegas mars and orion three. The odds are running 33 1 that hell outpoint you 11 1 that youll be kayoed by the fifth. Subspace radio is calling it the disaster in the delta. Theres still time to scratch the card. Ill call the doctor; well get you out on a medical. Boothby hes trying to hornswoggle us. Doublecheck those calculations. Let me see that padd. No. Fine. Dont want to trust your friends . Youre on your own. Neelix im filing a grievance with the delta quadrant boxing commission this bout came out of nowhere theres some scheduling mixup. You havent had time to train; youre not ready if you fight now youll be destroyed i cant fight now. Im not ready for this. Come on i follow your example, learn from you look up to you. I dont want to lose that. Youll find another role model. Youll be okay. Youre my first officer. Your duty is to this crew. If something happens to me youve got to get voyager home. Tuvok can take command. Youre being selfish, chakotay. Im doing this for you. For all of you a delusion dementia puglistica. Youre punchdrunk, commander. A hard shot to the head and neck collapses the carotid artery and cuts the flow of blood to the brain. Rebral tissu the hook the head and neck twist laterally the head snaps back, rupturing tissue in the cerebellum and upper spinal cord yes sighs and the result. Of all this poetry i imotion . Neuralgic dysfunction chronic traumatic encephalopathy loss of balance and coordination loss of memory. Starting to sound. Familiar . Neelix chakotays fine. He just needs a little conditioning, thats all. He needs to listen to his doctor and not to his fantasies. Step into that arena and youll become what you most fear. What a a you talking about . Oh, he knows what i mean. Dont you, chakotay . Hmm . Whats wrong . Victory. Defeat, knockout t. K. O. Its all beside the point. A crazy old man. Hmm . chuckling its your fate, your destiny. Theres no escape. You just got to do your best. You cant let yourself get into your fears. Im not afraid. Neelix who said you were . panting im sorry please come back. They got away. Grandfather. Where did you go . Some people were shouting at me. They were going for a walk oh. Its hard to follow them. Oh, god, they go to strangegelaces. Im supposed to be watching you. Were going to get in trouble if we dont go back home. Be a good boy and go. We understand. You have to come with me. They say you can come with us. Theres nobody else here. Ike we are. Im not im not like you. Its not so bad. When you get used to it, theyre not so bad. Theyre just a lot of talk. Sometimes i wish they were more quiet. Come home. No. Im too tired. This is a nice place. A nice place to call home. Hmm. Computer begin round one. Did you hear that . No. Yes, you did. Theres a lot of them this time. Tell them to go away go away theyve got other ideas. I have to go home. Wait. Theyre coming for you. They almost scrubbed the bout. Im afraid. I know you are. Youd be a liar if you said anything else. But ive always been afraid. I know that, too. The champion kid chaos. Thats it all over the fights been canceled on medical grounds chuckling put em down. Lets go. At theherena next door have fun hes coming out of it. You stopped the fight. You were stuck in the vision quest. Ive got to go back. Youre going nowhere but sick bay. Let me go. Calm down. Its over for you. Let me get in the ring chakotay. 200,000 kilometers. Launch another beacon. Beacon launched. Kim im reading a shift of. 003 ininhe graviton shear. Status . Tuvok shields holding. Intain course and heading, mr. Paris. Kim sensors are functioning. Our course is still clear. Captain, i recommend we go to three quarters impulse. Increasing power to the engines could affect chaotic space. There are too many unknowns. At this speed, we should see daylight in about two months. The longer were in chaotic space, the longer were exposed to these unknowns. His logic is undeniable, captain. We should increase our speed. Finally. Gic . Take a look at this. Its the first beacon we launched o. Weve been going in circles . To be precise, one largrgcircle. Hold our position. All stop. Report. There is a pattern. Order to chaos . Observe. An isolinear frequency. Some kind of signal . We havent located the source. It may be natural a star or quasar that has managed to survive in chaotic space. But it could be a transmission. Possibly. Have you tried the standard language decryptions . All of them with no success. Supply lately. Impossible. Captain . And to think. That kept me from getting an a. It was the only question i i ssed in exogenetics my senior year. The nucleotide resonance frequency. That signal wawadesigned to activate dna. Me . Theyre the ones who scheduled the fight. Theyre promoting it. Theyre putting up the purse. His sensory cortex is hyperactive. Hes still hallucinating. Its not an hallucination not a vision quest its a prizefight mr. Chakotay, do you know me . Do you know where you are . I know you, captain but you stopped the fight. You ruined my career nobody will put me on the card after this its better for you to rest until we can figure out why this is happening. They want to contact me. Who does . The people who live here. Him. Wait a minute. You believe somebody lives here, in chaotic space . And theyre trying to communicate with you . Yes i saw him tell me about him. What does he look like . Hes got a couple of kilos on me a few centimeters in height but i can take him, captain i just have to s sy off the ropes. The holodeck boxing simulation is still strong in his memory. Obviously, its the primary source of imagery for his hallucinationsns. Aliens who exist on some perceptual wavelength that our senses cant detect and the only way for them to communicate chakotays bad gene gave them the opportunity. What are you proposing . Remember the derelict ship . Two of their crewmembers claimed they were seeing things. Was somebody trying to communicate with them . Was somebody trying to warn them, help them . Or trying to destroy them just as theyre trying to destroy us. Why go through all the trouble . Were trapped here anyway. Let me back in the ring even if this is some kind of alien communication it could harm him permanently. Tuvok bridge to captain janeway. Go ahead, tuvok. Graviton shear has increased again. Hull pressure is rising. Im on my way. Captain. Report some kind of spatial sinkhole full thrusters status . We managed to sidestep that one but graviton shear has increased by another 310 . Janeway to sickbay. Its now or never. Understood, captain. Ive got to get in there. Theyre about to ring the bell. Im going to subject you to a field that will enhance the nucleotide bonds. The gene should become fully activated. Do you understand . Of here. Ill try. Boothby good idea. Keep him waiting. Let him sweat it out. Announcer in this corner, representing the alpha quadrant, earth and humanity the challenger, chakotay cheering Everybody Loves an underdog. Announcer in this corner champion of the delta quadrant kid chaos cheering looks like hes