Author’s Note:

Star Trek: Voyager, and all the characters, etc. of course belong to Paramount Pictures.

This is written in screenplay format – most everything should be self-explanatory, but just in case…each scene begins with an “INT” – denoting a scene that takes place somewhere indoors/inside, or “EXT”, meaning a scene that takes place outside (or in the case of this script, in space)

STAR TREK: VOYAGER

Episode STV 725/726

“Endgame”

(part 2/part 3 – “Interesting Times”)

by James DiBenedetto

July, 2001

fade in:

announcer (vo)

Previously on Star Trek: Voyager…

scenes from part one flash by:

A Borg Cube attacks Voyager, causing severe damage.

Tom looks at an empty baby’s crib in his & B’Elanna’s quarters and breaks down.

Another Borg Cube attacks; explosions on the Bridge; Harry Kim is thrown across the Bridge.

Voyager’s at an alien spacedock being worked on.

Janeway and Seven in Engineering…

janeway

Could it get us home?

seven

Yes, Captain. If our theory is correct, it will take us directly to Earth.

Voyager fights half a dozen Borg Cubes all at once.

Voyager, savagely damaged and on fire, enters a Transwarp conduit.

Voyager exits the conduit in Earth orbit, followed immediately by two Cubes.

The Starship Enterprise crashes into a Borg Cube and then explodes with a blinding flash…

captain picard (vo)

All hands abandon ship!

Tuvok’s speaks to Janeway, who’s laying in a hospital bed…

tuvok

52 percent of the Earth’s population was destroyed in the attack…

And the screen goes to black…

announcer (vo)

and now, the unforgettable two hour series finale of Star Trek: Voyager…

Teaser

ext space – earth orbit

We see Voyager docked at the Earth Station McKinley spacedock, where it’s currently under repair. Far below, the Earth rotates slowly, and we can see the terrible damage done in the recent Borg attack. There are huge areas of land scorched black, and most of central Europe is now a giant crater. We also see black clouds of debris in the weather patterns.

janeway (vo)

Captain’s log. It’s been almost five weeks since Voyager returned to Earth…five weeks since we brought the Borg back with us. Most of my crew didn’t make it back…and in a way, I think they’re the lucky ones, because they don’t have to look down at the Earth and see the devastation that we’re responsible for…

We focus in on a shuttlecraft that’s heading away from the spacedock and towards another orbiting space station off in the distance.

int shuttlecraft

A grim-faced Janeway is alone in the pilot seat.

janeway (vo)

…I’m reminded of that responsibility every waking minute…and right now most of all. I have to visit the few remaining members of my crew who are still recovering from their injuries…and I have to tell them exactly what happened.

int starfleet orbital annnex – medical center

The Medical Center is huge, a fully equipped hospital. We can see that there are at least three dozen private areas walled off by force fields.

Janeway walks into the Center, takes note of the fact that every bed and every private area is occupied, and shakes her head. We can see it on her face: it’s all her fault, none of these people would be here if it weren’t for her mistakes.

She makes her way to one particular private area. The force field comes down, and we see that the occupant of the hospital bed here is Samantha Wildman.

samantha wildman

Captain! Nobody would tell me anything…I started thinking the worst…but you’re fine, than God…tell me…they won’t let me see Naomi, where is she?

Janeway looked depressed before, but that’s nothing…we can literally see her heart break as Samantha asks about her daughter. Janeway opens her mouth to speak, but there aren’t any words.

samantha wildman

(starting to cry)

No…oh, no…she’s not…please tell me she’s not…

All Janeway can do is shake her head. Samantha completely breaks down. There’s nothing Janeway can say, no words that will comfort her officer.

Finally, after a minute or so, Samantha looks Janeway in the eye.

samantha wildman

How?

janeway

It was…I don’t know, Samantha. I wish I could tell you something, anything…but I can’t. I understand if you hate me…

samantha wildman

(weakly)

I don’t hate you…

janeway

You should. I hate myself for bringing this on all of us. And I know I always will…

End Teaser

Act One

ext san francisco – starfleet headquarters

We’re outside Starfleet HQ. We can see that San Francisco was not spared from the wrath of the Borg – there are many wrecked buildings off in the distance. The actual Starfleet grounds survived more or less intact, however.

int starfleet headquarters – briefing room

In one of the many briefing rooms scattered through Starfleet HQ, Janeway, Tuvok, Barclay and a couple of other Starfleet engineers (Smith and Jones) are looking at a holographic display.

barclay

We were very surprised…Lieutenant Smith here discovered that the computer core survived mostly intact.

smith

Yes, Captain. We downloaded all the information…whoever was operating your sensors did a really good job keeping them collecting data all through your trip through the wormhole.

janeway

That would be Mr. Tuvok.

tuvok

Thank you, Lieutenant.

jones

We’ve been analyzing that data for the past two weeks, and there’s some amazing things in there. You’ve probably advanced the state of the art on transwarp technology by a hundred years.

Barclay taps a few controls, and the display changes.

barclay

You see here…It’s interesting, there are some definite similarities between the data you collected in the wormhole, and some of the more…uh…far out possibilities that the Pathfinder Project was looking into.

janeway

No doubt your ideas, Mr. Barclay?

barclay

Uh…yes, Captain.

janeway

I thought so.

barclay

The other thing that was really interesting is that your data matches up really closely with the data that the Enterprise picked up when we…uh…followed the Borg into the past…uh, do you remember, the last time they attacked Earth?

Janeway’s eyes light up at the mention of time travel.

janeway

I’m not familiar with all the details of that incident…perhaps you could tell us a little more about it?

barclay

I probably shouldn’t have said anything…it’s…uh…very classified. Extremely classified.

janeway

I understand. But if it’s relevant to our mission…to the current situation…you know that the Borg could return at any time, don’t you? Anything we can do to prepare for them…

barclay

Well, uh…

janeway

Maybe this isn’t the best time…

(looking at Smith and Jones)

…But we can talk more about it later…we need to go back onto Voyager and check on the repairs later today…you should join me, Mr. Barclay.

Barclay knows he’s beaten; he just nods his head in surrender.

int voyager – janeway’s quarters

Janeway and Barclay are alone in her quarters. The repairs have obviously progressed pretty far since the repair crews have managed to find the time to fix the Captain’s rooms.

Janeway sits on her couch, while Barclay paces nervously.

janeway

So you were going to tell me all about your incident with the Borg.

barclay

There really isn’t that much to tell, Captain. Honestly.

janeway

Well, tell me what there is to tell, then.

barclay

The Borg sent just one Cube to attack Earth. Captain Picard ordered us in to fight them, and we blew up the Cube, but before they were destroyed, they ejected another ship…it went back in time, back to Zefram Cochrane’s first warp flight.

janeway

How did you follow them?

barclay

We just went right in their temporal wake…and the next thing we knew, there we were. Anyway, the Borg tried to kill Cochrane and destroy his warp ship, but we stopped them…and we…Commander Riker and Geordi and Deanna and myself had to help him repair his ship and fly it…and Captain Picard had to get the Borg off the Enterprise…some of them beamed onboard, and the Captain fought them off.

janeway

And how did you get back to the proper time?

barclay

Well, some of the Borg technology was still on the Enterprise…the Borg were trying to assimilate us from the inside out…and we used that…it was really interesting…and I helped analyze it once we got back to Starfleet Headquarters…

janeway

Where is it now? Where did they put the Borg technology?

barclay

I…uh…

janeway

Where?

barclay

The high…uh, the high security research center…sub-level nineteen!

Janeway’s smiling like the cat who ate the canary.

janeway

Janeway to Tuvok…

tuvok (vo)

Yes, Captain?

janeway

Mr. Tuvok, will Voyager be spaceworthy in twenty-four hours? I’ve got a plan, but I think we’re going to have to act very quickly to make it happen…

tuvok

I do not know, Captain. I will have an answer for you shortly…

int voyager – bridge

Janeway and Tuvok are alone on the Bridge.

janeway

So?

tuvok

Voyager will not be fully repaired, but it will certainly be spaceworthy by your deadline.

janeway

How about the weapons?

tuvok

Phasers are fully repaired, and a full complement of quantum torpedoes has been loaded onboard already.

janeway

Of course…Starfleet is worried about another Borg attack…they would make sure the weapons are ready to go right away, even if nothing else is.

tuvok

They are justified in their concern. I received a Security briefing earlier today. There are several Borg…nests is the term used in the briefing…

janeway

I wouldn’t argue with that.

tuvok

I would agree. These Borg infestations are resisting Starfleet’s attempts to remove them. There are fears that these infestations will grow, and we will be forced to fight a full scale war on Earth itself.

janeway

That makes our plan even more imperative, then. First thing, I’ll need you to get into the high-security research center at Starfleet Headquarters. If anyone can crack the security codes, it’s you…

ext space – earth orbit

The Starfleet Orbital Annex floats high above Earth.

int starfleet orbital annex – medical center

Janeway is back to visit Samantha Wildman again. She walks into Samantha’s private area.

samantha wildman

Captain?

janeway

Samantha, I know this is a very difficult time for you…but I have a request…

Samantha looks up, doesn’t say anything.

janeway

We’re going to have a memorial service onboard Voyager tomorrow night at 2300 hours…and I’ve got something else to discuss with the crew…it’s very important…

samantha wildman

How many?

janeway

How many…oh…counting us? Nineteen.

samantha wildman

Oh my God…

janeway

I don’t want to say anything more now…but tomorrow night…we should have a lot to talk about…

ext space – earth orbit

A shuttlecraft undocks from the Starfleet Orbital Annex and heads towards the McKinley Station spacedocks.

int shuttlecraft

Again Janeway sits alone in a shuttlecraft.

janeway

Tuvok, what’s the word?

tuvok (vo)

Success, Captain.

janeway

Good work! We’ll meet in three hours?

tuvok (vo)

I shall be there, Captain.

ext space – earth orbit

At the McKinley Station spacedock, Voyager is swarmed over by repair crews.

int voyager – janeway’s quarters

Janeway, Tuvok and Barclay are all here.

janeway

Mr. Barclay, would you please take a look at the present that Tuvok brought us?

Tuvok hands a complex-looking piece of technology – Borg technology – to Barclay.

barclay

That’s…that’s…that’s the Borg temporal module!

tuvok

Indeed.

janeway

Mr. Barclay, I’ve given this matter a lot of thought…and I’ve come to a decision about what we…myself, and I hope Mr. Tuvok…

tuvok

You have my full support, Captain.

janeway

Thank you. I didn’t want to presume. And besides us, I hope to have at least some of my crew’s help as well. But we’ll need your help, too.

barclay

Me…uh…my help?

janeway

Yes. You’ve already done so much for us…with Pathfinder, with the communications setup you designed, you have no idea how much that meant to us…and it’s very unfair of me to ask more of you…but I have no choice. If this is going to work, we need you.

Barclay things about it, just for a moment…

barclay

I’m…uh…I’ll do it, Captain. What do you need me to do?

And on Barclay’s agreement, we cut to commercial…

Act Two

ext space – earth orbit

Voyager is in the space dock at Earth Station McKinley, along with several other starships. We can recognize the USS Defiant as one of them. As before, we can see the horrible damage to the Earth from the Borg attack.

int voyager – bridge

The Bridge is let only by the emergency lights, and by a candle that Janeway holds in her hands. All the survivors of Voyager are here: besides Janeway, we see Tuvok, Samantha Wildman, Vorik, and fifteen other crew (including one of the infamous Delaney sisters).

janeway

I asked all of you here for two reasons. First, to remember and to honor our shipmates who were lost on our journey home. They were our friends, they were our family, and they gave their lives without hesitation in service to their ship and their fellow officers.

There’s silence for a moment. Janeway looks around at the remnants of her crew.

janeway

We also remember all the other lives lost in our homecoming.

More than a couple of crew have tears in their eyes at this.

janeway

Thatt’s the second reason. It was our actions – my actions – that caused those lives to be lost. I intend to change that.

samantha wildman

Change what?

janeway

Change everything.

There are a lot of confused expressions at this.

vorik

Captain, do you intend to attempt time travel?

janeway

Precisely, Mr. Vorik. We will take Voyager back to the point where everything started to go wrong…that first Borg transwarp hub…the nebula.

tuvok

The data we collected while passing through the transwarp conduit was the key to this entire operation. We combined that information with data collected during a Borg attack on Earth five years ago, and also with research from the Pathfinder Project.

janeway

If everything goes as planned, we’ll open a Borg transwarp conduit…from this end, and ride it back to the original Borg hub in the Delta Quadrant.

samantha wildman

How will we go back in time?

tuvok

Besides data from the Borg attack on Earth, Starfleet recovered several pieces of Borg technology. That is what will allow us to make the journey back in time.

samantha wildman

So the last four years won’t happen at all?

tuvok

They will of course happen, Lieutenant. However, if our operation is successful, the events of those four years will occur in a very different manner.

delaney

Even if that works…we’ll be coming out into a nebula full of Borg ships. How will we get past them?

janeway

Well, the answer to that should be arriving any minute…I don’t know if any of you noticed, but the Defiant is only two docks down from us.

tuvok

As it was classified, you may not be aware that the Defiant is equipped with…

Tuvok is interrupted by the shimmer of the transporter effect, which resolves itself into Reg Barclay, holding a complex piece of equipment with both hands.

barclay

One cloaking device, as requested, Captain!

At this point, smiles start to break out among the crew…this scheme might actually work.

janeway

Mr. Barclay, please take that down to Engineering and get it installed.

barclay

Right away, Captain.

Barclay heads for the turbolift, and disappears inside.

samantha wildman

I hate to keep asking these questions, but is Voyager ready for this?

janeway

They’ve done a lot of work in the past few weeks. She’s not a hundred percent repaired, but you all know what a tough ship Voyager is. She’ll make it.

tuvok

Our primary task will be reactivating the warp core. Voyager is currently operating on external power. I estimate that with the personnel available to us, we will be able to complete that task within five hours.

janeway

The repair crews come back at 0600…that gives us six and a half hours to get the cloaking device installed, get the warp core on-line, and make any other repairs that are absolutely essential.

tuvok

Once we bring the core on-line, we will only have a few minutes to act before Starfleet Security comes aboard.

janeway

Exactly. We’ll have to work quickly, and it’s not going to be easy.

(beat)

I have to do this. The rest of you don’t. I hope you’ll help me, but I know it’s a difficult choice I’m asking you to make…and I know that if it doesn’t work, anyone who joins me will end up court-martialled if we’re lucky, and more likely dead. I won’t think any less of anyone who can’t do this…

Everyone stares at Janeway. No one says a word, no one takes a step towards the turbolifts. Finally, Samantha Wildman speaks up.

samantha wildman

We’re wasting time here!

janeway

Thank you. Thank you all. Now Samantha’s right…let’s get to work.

Everyone heads for the turbolifts now, to begin their tasks.

ext space – earth orbit

Voyager still hangs serenely in the spacedock; from outside, there’s no sign of the activity inside the ship

int voyager – main engineering

Fully half the remaining crew are down here working. Most of them, including Tuvok, are trying to restart the warp core, while Vorik is working on the Chameleon Device, still mounted near the core; and Barclay is laboring over the cloaking device.

As Barclay installs the device, he does something that’s obviously not right, because he - and half of Main Engineering, in a 30-foot sphere centered around the cloaking device – suddenly shimmers into invisibility.

tuvok

Mr. Barclay. If the warp core is invisible, we will not be able to continue our repairs on it. Would you please rectify that immediately?

barclay (vo)

Sorry…I’m trying to adjust the…uh…focal radius of the…uh…uh…Device. I’ve got to make it larger to account for…uh…Voyager’s size…the Defiant is a lot smaller…it’s very tricky, I’ve never worked on one of these…there…got it!

Engineering, and Barclay, fade back into view.

tuvok

Thank you, Mr. Barclay. If you would, please endeavor not to do…whatever you did…again.

barclay

I’ll try…

And Barclay disappears again, but this time it’s just him and an area about three feet around him that vanishes.

barclay

I know…I know…I’ll fix it…

int voyager – torpedo bay

Samantha Wildman is working with Lieutenant Delaney on modifying the torpedoes. They’ve got one open right now, and they’re carefully doing something to the warhead.

delaney

You’re sure it’s not armed, right?

samantha wildman

That’s what the computer says. If it’s wrong, we’ll never know it.

delaney

True enough. Here, five grams of processed duranium, right behind the warhead.

Delaney very slowly puts a packet of duranium into the warhead.

samantha wildman

You’ve got it. Let’s close it up and get on the next one…

delaney

One down, twenty three to go…

int voyager – bridge

Janeway is alone, sitting in the center seat and looking down at the ravaged Earth.

janeway (vo)

Captain’s Log. I’ve set my crew on a course that violates everything I’ve been taught, every rule and directive and order I’ve sworn to obey. It wasn’t ever supposed to come to this, where making things right means doing things that I know in my bones are wrong…

Janeway gets out of the big chair and paces around the bridge, winally ending up right in front of the viewscreen. As it happens, right at this moment Europe is passing by on the screen, and we see the black, ugly crater where most of France and Germany used to be.

janeway (vo)

…But I can hear the voices of all those people killed by the Borg, calling out to me. And even if it means leading my crew to their deaths…or even a fate worse than death, we have to try. There really isn’t any choice at all.

int voyager – main engineering

The crew are working feverishly, as the deadline is fast approaching. Barclay seems to have gotten the cloaking device set up properly, because he’s now assisting Tuvok with the warp core.

janeway (vo)

Tuvok, I need a status report.

tuvok

We have nearly completed all our repairs. I estimate that we will require fifteen more minutes.

janeway (vo)

I’m glad to hear it. It’s 0520 hours now, we’re cutting it pretty close.

barclay

We’ll be ready!

janeway (vo)

I commend your enthusiasm, Mr. Barclay. I’ll leave you to it. Bridge out.

Barclay stops working for a moment, stares around with a pensive look.

barclay

You know, it’s ironic, Mr. Tuvok.

tuvok

What is ironic, Lieutenant?

barclay

Well, I’ve spent the last three years on the Pathfinder Project working on a way to get you home from the Delta Quadrant, and here I am using our research to send you back there instead.

tuvok

That would appear to fit the definition of irony. May I recommend that you return to the task at hand, however, so that we actually can return to the Delta Quadrant.

int voyager – bridge

Janeway’s still alone on the Bridge. She’s pacing, trying – and failing – to hold her impatience in check.

janeway

Engineering, how is it coming down there?

tuvok (vo)

We are making the final adjustments…now, Captain. The warp core can be reactivated in your command.

janeway

Excellent. Tuvok, get up here, and bring Mr. Vorik and anyone else who can be spared to the Bridge.

samantha wildman (vo)

Captain, this is Lieutenant Wildman. We’ve completed the torpedo modifications.

janeway

All of them?

samantha wildman (vo)

All twenty four. And we have enough duranium left over for the other Voyager as well.

janeway

Good work. I’d like you to stay down there, just in case we need to fight our way past the Borg.

tuvok (vo)

Captain, I apologize for the interruption, but we seem to have a problem.

janeway

What kind of problem?

tuvok (vo)

It is Mr. Barclay. As you ordered, I told him to go to the transporter room and beam back to Starfleet Headquarters, but he is refusing to leave.

barclay (vo)

(shouting)

You need me, Captain! You need an engineer, and I know this ship better than…well, almost anyone.

janeway

No! I won’t risk your life on this mission!

barclay (vo)

Captain, just for doing what I’ve already done, they’ll court-martial me. I want to join you, and you know you need me. Think about it, Captain.

tuvok (vo)

Although it does not please me to admit it, his argument is logical.

janeway

Very well, welcome aboard, Mr. Barclay. Stay in Engineering and monitor things from there.

barclay (vo)

Yes, sir!

ext space – earth orbit

Voyager sits peacefully in spacedock.

janeway (vo)

Mr. Barclay, you may start up the warp core.

Voyager begins to light up – first the warp nacelles begin to glow, then windows all across the ship blink on, and finally Voyager’s running lights activate one at a time.

int voyager – bridge

Janeway’s in the center seat, with Tuvok at tactical, Vorik at science, Lieutenant Delaney at the helm, and three other crew at various stations.

tuvok

We have full power, Captain.

janeway

Miss Delaney, please clear all moorings and take us out, one quarter impulse.

We hear Voyager’s engines hum to life…

ext space – earth orbit

Voyager is moving, first disengaging from the spacedock, and then slowly powering away from the repair station, as we cut to commercial.

End Act Two

Act Three

ext space – earth orbit

Voyager is moving away from Earth Station McKinley. In the far background, we can see two Excelsior-class ships heading towards Voyager.

int voyager – bridge

Everyone’s working very intently. On the viewscreen, we see empty space ahead.

tuvok

I’m picking up heavy traffic on the Starfleet emergency channel. Two ships are being scrambled to intercept us.

janeway

Onscreen.

The viewscreen changes to show the two Excelsior-class ships pursuing Voyager, slowly closing the distance.

janeway

One half impulse, Miss Delaney. Let’s keep ahead of them.

vorik

We are receiving a direct transmission on the emergency channel.

janeway

Let’s hear it.

mckinley sttion control (vo)

This is Traffic Control at Earth Station McKinley to the unauthorized persons aboard USS Voyager. You are ordered to stand to and prepare to be boarded immediately.

janeway

I think not.

(looks at the viewscreen; the two ships are still gaining)

Increase speed to three quarters impulse.

ext space – earth orbit

Voyager is moving at a good speed now, but the pursuing ships are keeping pace with it.

int voyager – main engineering

Barclay and two other crew are hard at work on a device we haven’t seen before – a bit of Borg technology that’s been hooked up to the main engines, and which is intermittently emitting an unnerving green glow.

barclay

Engineering to the Bridge!

janeway (vo)

What is it, Mr. Barclay? We’re a little busy up here at the moment.

barclay

We’ve finished the calculations, and we’re just getting the Borg termporal unit on-line. We’re going to have to be in the exact spot that you came out of the wormhole for this to work properly!

janeway (vo)

Understood, Mr. Barclay.

tuvok (vo)

We will be at the designated location in exactly two minutes.

janeway (vo)

Will you be ready?

barclay

Yes, sir!

ext space – earth orbit

The two pursuit ships are definitely closing on Voyager.

int voyager – bridge

Tension all around; everyone’s trying not to think about what will happen if the two pursuing ships catch them – either surrender, failure and court-martial, or possibly firing on their fellow Starfleet officers.

vorik

We’re being hailed again.

captain shelby (vo)

This is Captain Elizabeth Shelby onboard the USS Decker. Captain Janeway, stand down immediately.

janeway

I can’t do that, Captain.

captain shelby (vo)

You’re asking for a court-martial here. Don’t throw your career away.

janeway

That’s the least of my concerns, Captain. I wish I could explain it to you, but I don’t have the time.

captain shelby (vo)

Captain, I don’t want to open fire on you, but you are leaving me no choice. You have ten seconds to stand down!

janeway

Channel off!

(beat)

Tuvok, how long now?

tuvok

Fifty seconds.

Janeway doesn’t look happy at that.

janeway

Full impulse power!

ext space – earth orbit

The two Excelsior-class ships are easily within firing range now.

int voyager – main engineering

The Borg device is now glowing more consistently, lighting up the Engineering section with a disturbing glow.

janeway (vo)

Mr. Barclay! We’ll be at the wormhole point in twenty five seconds! Are you ready?

Barclay makes a final adjustment to the Borg device.

barclay

Yes! We’re bringing it to full power now!

ext space – earth orbit

There’s a flash of intensely bright green light from Voyager’s secondary hull. The two pursuing ships continue to close the distance with them; they can’t miss if they begin shooting now.

int voyager – bridge

There’s a little bit of shaking and rattling as the Borg technology comes online.

tuvok

The two pursuing ships are charging weapons. They’ve locked on to us.

janeway

How long now?

tuvok

Five seconds…four…

ext space – earth orbit

The pursuing ships are almost close enough for a tractor beam now.

tuvok (vo)

Three…

int voyager – main engineering

Barclay is still working on the Borg device, bathed in eerie green light.

tuvok (vo)

Two…

ext space – earth orbit

We can see that on both pursuit ships, the phaser emitters on their saucers are beginning to glow.

tuvok (vo)

One…

int voyager – bridge

Thee two pursuit ships loom large on the viewscreen.

tuvok

Mark!

janeway

Now, Mr. Barclay!

ext space – earth orbit

Suddenly, Voyager is completely surrounded by a flash of light, and then, just like that, the starship is gone, headed into the wormhole. Not even a second after their escape, phasers blast out from the pursuing ships into the space where Voyager had been.

ext space – inside the wormhole

Voyager is cruising through the Borg wormhole, bouncing through – it looks like a very rough ride.

int voyager – bridge

Inside the ship, the ride looks even rougher. Everyone – except for Janeway – is being tossed around the Bridge as though they were rag dolls. Janeway grimly holds on to her seat for dear life.

janeway

Status!

Tuvok struggles to reach his station.

tuvok

We are in the wormhole! We should reach the terminal point at the Borg hub in eighty seconds!

int voyager – main engineering

Things are, if anything, even rougher down in Engineering – Barclay is hanging on to the control panel he’s working on, but all around him, crew are flying around, thrown by the shocks of the wormhole passage.

ext space – inside the wormhole

Voyager continues to fly through the wormhole; off in the distance, we can see a point of light – the exit at the Borg transwarp hub.

int voyager – bridge

tuvok

Fifteen seconds to wormhole exit!

janeway

Mr. Barclay, are you absolutely sure the cloaking device is ready?

barclay (vo)

Yes, Captain!

janeway

Activate it the moment we exit the wormhole!

ext space – inside the wormhole

The exit point of the wormhole is very close now. Voyager comes up on it rapidly, and as the ship reaches it, the exit blossoms open in a blinding flash of light.

int voyager – main engineering

Barclay is standing over the cloaking device. Behind him, the Borg temporal unit explodes in a blinding flash.

ext space – inside the borg nebula

And now we’re in the Borg Nebula, home of the transwarp hub. We see the massive Borg Unicomplex and dozens of Cubes, Spheres and other assorted Borg ships off in the distance, and the huge network of transwarp conduits in the foreground.

One of the conduits opens up, and out comes Voyager. Just as the starship flies out of the wormhole, it shimmers into cloak.

int voyager – bridge

Suddenly there’s no more shaking, no more rattling. Everyone takes a mental inventory to mke sure all their parts are still there and in working order.

janeway

Tuvok, report.

tuvok

We have emerged in the Borg transwarp hub just as planned. Without an outside temporal reference, I am unable to determine if we have arrived at the correct time.

janeway

We’ll find out soon enough. What about the cloaking device?

tuvok

It appears to be operating properly.

janeway

Miss Delaney, take us out of the nebula, three quarters impulse. Once we’re out, set a course for 221 Mark 95. If we’ve come back to the right time, our former selves should be waiting for us.

barclay (vo)

Engineering to the Bridge. Captain, have we arrived?

janeway

We have indeed, Mr. Barclay.

barclay (vo)

And the time? Did we make it all the way back?

janeway

We’re wondering the same thing up here.

barclay (vo)

I hope so, Captain, because that Borg…gadget…blew itself into about a trillion pieces, so we’re stuck at whatever time we’re in…

int borg queen’s lair

Now we’re in the control chamber of the Borg Queen. There are several drones going about their assigned tasks. As they do, we see the process of assembling the Borg Queen begin – the legs, arms and torso are put together, and then the head and spinal column descend from above and lock into the rest of her body.

The Queen makes her way to a set of display monitors, stares at them. She watches as one of her transwarp conduits opens up, apparently without anything emerging from it.

borg queen

Augment and repeat.

Now we see the conduit opening again, and again we see no ships.

borg queen

Repeat at one-twentieth speed.

And now we see it again, this time frame-by-frame, and this time, we do see Voyager, just for a couple of frames before it cloaks.

borg queeen

Repeat and analyze.

And we see it a fourth time, and this time the picture freezes on the image of Voyager just in the instant before it cloaks, and on that image we cut to commercial…

Act Four

int future voyager – bridge

On the viewscreen, we see that the ship is passing through the nebula, past Borg Cubes, and then out of the nebula into empty space.

future tuvok

We are clear of the nebula, Captain. The Borg are not pursuing us.

future janeway

Did they detect us?

future tuvok

I do not believe so.

future janeway

This is the Captain. We’ve arrived. We will be making contact with…well, with ourselves in just a few minutes. I realize this is all going to be a little bit strange, but I know we’re all up to the job.

future tuvok

I believe you will have the most difficult job of all, Captain. Have you given any thought to how you will go about convincing your counterpart to go along with your plan? She can be quite…strong-willed…at times.

future janeway

Very diplomatically put, Mr. Tuvok. I think I’ll just tell her the truth. She is me, after all. She’ll see the necessity of this.

future tuvok

And if she does not?

future janeway

She will.

future tuvok

Did I mention that you can be quite strong=willed at times, Captain?

future janeway

I believe you might have, Mr. Tuvok. I believe you might…

ext space – outside the borg nebula

The original Voyager cruises slowly towards the nebula.

int voyager – bridge

Janeway stares out at the nebula displayed on the viewscreen.

janeway

Any progress?

harry

I still can’t isolate any individual readings. There are too many disturbances too close together, they all bleed into each other.

janeway

Keep at it, Mr. Kim. Let me know the moment you have anything.

Tom is staring intently at the viewscreen. We don’t see anything, but obviously he does, because he almost jumps out of his seat.

tom

What the…?

janeway

Mr. Paris, do you have a problem?

tom

I could have sworn I saw something, just for a second.

tuvok

Perhaps you could be more specific, Lieutenant.

tom

Right there in the center of the nebula, I saw…I don’t know, it was like something passed in front of that part, it was there and then it was back to normal.

janeway

Harry, did the sensors detect anything?

harry

No, Captain.

janeway

No disrespect intended, Mr. Paris, but it’s possible that you are somewhat distracted at the moment. If you’d like to be relieved, I think we all understand.

tom

No, Captain. I’d rather stay on duty until it’s time. But I know I saw something there…

int future voyager – bridge

The original Voyager looms large on the viewscreen. Everyone’s tense.

future janeway

Distance?

future tuvok

Two thousand kilometers.

future janeway

Close enough. Deactivate the cloaking device.

ext space – outside the borg nebula

Not far from original Voyager, future Voyager shimmers into view.

int voyager – bridge

Alarms go off and chaos reigns on the bridge at future Voyager’s appearance.

janeway

Mr. Paris, you have my apologies. Red alert!

harry

It looks like…

tuvok

The ship is broadcasting a Starfleet ID signal. Specifically, our ID signal. According to their transponder, that ship is the USS Voyager.

There are shocked looks all around the bridge at this news.

harry

We’re being hailed!

janeway

Onscreen.

Future Janeway and the bridge of her Voyager come to life on the viewscreen.

tom

That’s impossible!

future janeway

I appreciate the strangeness of our situation, Mr. Paris, but it’s certainly not impossible.

janeway

Who are you?

future janeway

Are you really going to make me say it?

(beat)

Oh, fine. I’m Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Federation starship Voyager.

janeway

That’s quite a coincidence.

future janeway

Not at all, Captain. We’re here for a very good reason. I have one question for you, Captain…has B’Elanna given birth yet?

tom

No, and how do you…

future janeway

Thank God. We did make it back in time. I can explain everything, Captain. Go ahead and scan us to prove that we are who we say we are, and then please beam me aboard. We need to talk face to face, and soon.

ext space – outside the borg nebula

The two Voyagers are now floating next to each other, keeping their distance from the nebula.

janeway (vo)

Captain’s log. We have encountered another starship claiming to be the Voyager, complete with its own Kathryn Janeway. We’ve scanned them down to the last atom…

int voyager – transporter room

Janeway and Tuvok are here, as well as two security officers, both with phasers in their hands.

janeway (vo)

…and as far as we can tell, it really is the Voyager. I’ve agreed to allow my counterpart to come aboard to discuss our situation in person.

Tuvok’s at the transporter controls.

tuvok

Energizing.

Three people sparkle into existence on the transporter pad – Future Janeway, Future Tuvok and Future Barclay.

janeway

Welcome aboard, Captain.

Tuvok aims a tricorder at the new arrivals.

tuvok

As far as I can tell, they are who they appear to be, Captain.

future janeway

Of course we are, Tuvok. Who else would we be? Captain, we need to talk privately.

janeway

Not privately. All of you will talk with myself and Tuvok. If you really are another version of me, you’ll appreciate my concerns.

future janeway

Fair enough. The briefing room on deck one?

janeway

You read my mind, Captain.

int voyager – briefing room

Janeway, Tuvok, and Future Janeway, Future Tuvok and Future Barclay are seated at the briefing table.

janeway

You wanted to meet, Captain. So you can start by telling me who you are and what the hell you’re doing here.

future janeway

You won’t like it.

tuvok

Like or dislike has no bearing on facts, Captain.

future Janeway

I know better than to argue logic with you. The fact is, we’ve come back in time. A little more than four years. We’re here to…well, we’re here to save you, actually.

janeway

Save us?

future janeway

Save you from a mistake that will ultimately result in the deaths of most of your crew, not to mention about ten thousand of your fellow Starfleet officers, and something around four billion people on Earth.

Janeway is shocked.

janeway

You have proof of this?

Future Janeway tosses her a PADD. Janeway quickly skims the information presented there.

future janeway

I wish there were a better way to tell you, but we really don’t have the time.

janeway

(very shaky)

What do you…what will we…?

future janeway

Simple. We’re going to get you home now, and all the events of the last four years…the next four for you…will never have happened.

tuvok

Captain, that would be a gross violation of the Temporal Prime Directive.

janeway

You’ve already violated it…just by coming here and telling us all this, you’ve changed your past. If you’re really me, you know I would never do…

future janeway

I know that just our presence here violates the Temporal Prime Directive, Captain. I’m perfectly comfortable with that. At least if this all works, there might be someone left alive at Starfleet Command to prosecute me for it.

tuvok

This argument serves no purpose. We still do not know for certain that you are telling the truth.

janeway

Tuvok, do you have any suggestions?

tuvok

If they consent, I will mind-meld with your counterpart and Mr. Barclay.

janeway

Not yourself?

future tuvok

The limited examples of such mind-melds indicate that it would be unwise at best.

tuvok

I agree. The most likely result is that both of us would sustain mental illness.

janeway

Very well. Captain, Mr.Barclay, will you consent to the mind-meld?

They both nod, and Tuvok rises, walks over to Future Janeway, places his hand on her face.

tuvok

My mind to your mind…my thoughts to your thoughts…

The meld goes on for a little while, until Tuvok breaks it. He then repeats the process with future Barclay. Finally:

tuvok

They are telling the truth.

janeway

Wonderful. Now what?

future janeway

Now we discuss how we’re going to get past the Borg and through their transwarp conduits.

janeway

Borg?

future tuvok

That nebula contains a Borg transwarp hub. In our timeline, we were attacked by several Borg vessels as we passed by.

future janeway

That’s where everything began to go wrong. We spent the next four years trying to find something that would work against the Borg…tactics, technologies, anything. We traded with every species we cane across that had any useful technology…and with everything we’ve learned, I think we can get past them here and now.

future barclay

And if we arrange things just right we can…uh…totally destroy the Borg hub on the way out.

future tuvok

Our plan is to eject our warp core and detonate it after your Voyager has entered the transwarp conduit. The shockwave of the explosion should propel our ship into the conduit before the entire hub is destroyed.

janeway

This is…it’s all just a big cheat.

future janeway

A cheat? No, Captain. What I’m doing is making things right.

future barclay

If you saw the damage on Earth…

janeway

It’s so easy to say that. You can justify anything…

future janeway

I don’t need to justify myself, Captain. But I will tell you this…my crew…we paid for all that knowledge and that technology with our blood. I watched them die, Captain…Chakotay, Seven, Tom, B’Elanna, their child, Harry, the Doctor, Naomi, Icheb, and almost everyone else on Voyager…they paid for everything we learned, and they paid for it a hundred times over, and I’ll be damned if I let their sacrifices be in vain!

future tuvok

Captain, it is not merely the crew of Voyager. We are all Starfleet officers, and we accepted the risks that accompany such a career. The people of Earth who were killed as a result of our choices and actions accepted no such risk. Would you condemn them as well?

janeway

You’re asking me to make an impossible choice.

future janeway

No, I’m asking you to make the only possible choice.

End Act Four

Act Five

int voyager – astrometrics lab

Seven is here, running yet more scans on Future Voyager. Naomi Wildman enters the room.

seven

Naomi Wildman. I am extremely busy.

naomi

I know, everybody is. But are they really from the future?

seven

We believe so, yes.

naomi

Isn’t that against all the Starfleet rules?

seven

Yes, Naomi. But one of the most important lessons of being human is knowing when to…the phrase the Captain uses is “to bend the rules.”

naomi

So how do you know?

seven

I am still learning that. But I believe that the rules are most often bent when matters of friends and family and loyalty are concerned…

int voyager – briefing room

The whole command crew is seated at the big briefing table.

janeway

So that’s her plan. Opinions?

tom

Let’s get started!

harry

I don’t know…is this even possible? We’ll be changing the future…

tom

So?

harry

We’ll be changing their future. If this all works, they won’t exist to come back and help us get home. Right?

That’s a puzzler; everyone has to stop and think about it for a minute.

seven

Temporal mechanics are very complex, Ensign. And the theories that address our situation are conflicted on what the actual result will be.

the doctor

There’s also the Temporal Prime Directive. We’d be violating that quite severely.

tom

They’ve already violated it! The damage is done, and we can’t undo it, so why are we even talking about it? Let’s take this chance and get home already!

janeway

We all want to get home, Tom. But the Prime Directive is our most important law. We can’t just cast it to the winds for the sake of our convenience.

tom

The Borg did. When they attacked Earth four years ago. What’s good for the goose…

janeway

That’s a dangerous road to take. But there’s also the question of a temporal paradox. Even if we do go along with this plan, there’s no way of knowing what sort of mess we might make.

B’Elanna

I agree with Tom. According to the other Captain Janeway, the device they used to get here was Borg technology, the same thing they used to go into Earth’s pas. How is it wrong to use their own technology against them? If it saves the lives of our crew…

the doctor

What do you mean by that?

Janeway looks uncomfortable; she’s clearly torn about whether or not to tell then what her future self told her. She bites her tongue and lets B’Elanna talk.

b’elanna

We did a detailed scan of the other Voyager. It was in one hell of a fight before it got here. Against the Borg. The weapon signatures are unmistakable. And they lost that fight.

harry

Are you sure about that?

b’elanna

When we scanned them, we only picked up eighteen life-signs. Take your pick…either that’s all their Janeway brought because it’s the smallest crew she could get away with, or that’s all that was left after their battle. Who knows how many of us died over there? If we can prevent that…

harry

I think I have to agree.

tuvok

Logically, Lieutenant Paris was correct earlier. The Temporal Prime Directive has already been violated. Their very presence here has altered our present and their past. And for us, the future is not set…we create it by our choices. We commit no violation by making one make one choice over another. I choose to accept their plan.

janeway

This needs to be unanimous. Doctor?

the doctor

If we can prevent the deaths of most of the crew…I agree.

janeway

Chakotay?

chakotay

I agree.

janeway

Seven?

seven

I must also agree with the Lieutenant’s analysis. Although it is self-serving, he is correct.