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Anything?
Not really.
The polyferranide deposits
are contaminated with astiline.
Commander, there's
something over here
l think you should see.
Pack it up.
We'll find better quality
somewhere down the line.
That line is going
to be cut short
when our nacelles
burn themselves up
if we don't find it soon.
What have you got, Lieutenant?
There have been other visitors
to this moon recently.
What do you think this is?
Some kind of message?
l don't want you
to go wandering off.
l'm not.
l'm just looking at something.
Antonio.
Vay-chit no-op-puse-nee.
Chakotay, kay-nee-post.
Pon-ah-chee nun-pah-hee-no.
Kay-nee-post itchee-oh.
Kep-pon-nee!
He says you're quite a scout.
A kep-pon-nee.
l was just looking at a lizard
when l saw it.
Well, it was your eyes
that saw it.
No one else's did.
That's the important thing.
Come.
l want you to understand this.
lt's a blessing to the land.
An ancient healing symbol.
A CHAH-mooz-ee.
They probably cut this down
for firewood.
The Rubber Tree people?
Well, the closest thing to
the Ancient Rubber Tree people
that we'll ever see.
The people in this tribe
are their descendants.
Just like we are.
But they never left this jungle.
And they rarely intermarry
with other tribes.
And they still use firewood
instead of magnesite fuel
like everyone else.
Chakotay, they've chosen
to live like this for centuries.
That's why we are traveling
on foot
and not using a transporter.
We honor the Sky Spirits
who led our ancestors
to this sacred land.
Sacred land?
Yes.
Huh.
The Sky Spirits must have taken
a wrong turn somewhere.
Maybe it's
a blessing to the land.
For damaging it
with the campfire.
What is your basis
for that conclusion, Commander?
Oh, just
something somebody told me once.
Describe the nature
of your pain.
ln the lower back.
lt's tight.
Choose the word that would
best describe your pain.
Burning, throbbing, piercing,
pinching, biting,
stinging, shooting
Shooting.
lt even goes down my legs.
Hmm.
ls the baby all right?
Hmm? Oh, certainly.
Fine, nothing to worry about.
Well, that makes me feel better.
The position of the baby
is simply putting pressure
on your sciatic nerve.
You may return to your post.
The pain makes it difficult
to sit for any period of time.
lt's really quite uncomfortable.
Elevating your legs when you sit
should provide
all the relief you need.
Perhaps a day of rest, off-duty.
Mm-mm.
Ensign Wildman, according
to your medical history,
this is your first pregnancy,
correct?
Yes.
Well, Ensign, unfortunately,
pregnancy causes
its fair share of discomforts
and you'll have
to learn to live with them.
That's just the way it is.
We'll schedule her
for follow-up in two days.
lf the pain has not subsided
on its own by then,
we'll attempt to decrease
the sensitivity
of the nerve in that region.
Thank you, Doctor.
Call me day or night
if this gets any worse.
Don't you have any compassion
for the way she feels?
Every member of this crew
is an adult.
l will not coddle them.
Compassion can be
your department.
Fortunately, you have
enough for both of us.
You've never been
sick or in pain.
l just wish, once in your life,
you could know what it's like,
how it makes you
feel vulnerable
and a little afraid.
Then you'd understand.
l don't have a life.
l have a program.
l hated every minute of it.
My father had dragged me
all the way from our colony
near the Cardassian border
on this quest of his.
Away from my friends, my home,
and here we were, in the middle
of a brutal Central
American jungle
looking for the descendants
of the Ancient Rubber people.
lt must have been
very important to him.
Believe me, it was.
And he was very disappointed
that l didn't
share his enthusiasm.
He'd been tracking down the
origins of our tribe for years.
The one on the right
is the one l found today.
And now, something you saw
on that trip years ago,
shows up again
on a moon surface
almost 70,000 light-years away.
l don't suppose
you have any theories
that might explain this.
l can give you
an official Rubber Tree
people theory if you like.
-Sky Spirits.
-Sky Spirits?
lt's an ancient myth.
Sky Spirits from above
created the first Rubber people
in their own image,
and led the way to a sacred land
where the Rubber people
would live for eternity.
You obviously don't
put a great deal of faith
in this explanation.
How much faith do you put
in Adam and Eve?
Hasn't science proved
that all humans developed
from a single
evolutionary process?
That's what l was always taught.
On the other hand,
none of my teachers
ever spent much time
in the Delta Quadrant.
B'Elanna tells me we picked up
a warp signature
heading away from the moon.
Think we should follow it?
l don't know that it's fair
for me
to put my own personal curiosity
ahead of the ship's priorities.
We still haven't found
the polyferranide
we need to seal the warp coils.
lf these people have warp
technology, they might be able
to help us.
Besides
we are in the business
of exploring, aren't we?
My father would put on
his expedition hat
and shout, ''Let's go!''
l guess that's
good enough for me.
Showing no life signs.
Mr.
Paris, are you certain
the warp signature ended here?
Positive, Captain.
Harry, check your sensors.
That look like some kind
of power source to you?
That is an unusually
high EM reading
for a natural occurrence.
Could be some kind
of cloaking technology.
Mr.
Kim, transmit a continuous
message on all frequencies
identifying who we are,
where we're from
and make it clear
our intentions are peaceful.
Torres to Bridge.
Go ahead.
We're in luck, Captain.
My readings are showing
high concentrations
of polyferranide about ten
kilometers below the surface.
Acknowledged.
We'll send out an away team
to continue the survey.
Report to Transporter Room 3.
On my way.
Commander,
if we meet any resistance
abort the mission.
l have no intention
of disturbing an alien race
that would rather be left alone.
Understood.
On the other hand,
if we can make contact, our goal
is to get permission to begin
excavation as soon as possible.
Tuvok, you're with me.
Mr.
Neelix, please report
to Transporter Room 3
for an away mission.
l'll meet you there, Commander.
We may be out of luck.
Problem?
l'm not sure
we can transport down.
Every time we try
to lock on to a transport sight,
a storm begins.
Storm?
We've tried seven different
sites and as soon as we lock on,
an electrical storm forms
right above the location.
When we change sites,
a new storm forms
and the old one dissipates.
Might the transporter
beam itself
be causing an electrostatic
charge in the atmosphere?
That's as good a guess as any.
l can't explain it.
We just can't transport.
Fine, we'll take a shuttle.
Once again, the storm
seems to have formed
as a direct result
of our interaction
with the atmosphere.
The meteorological
conditions changed radically
when we began
our entry sequence.
Shields are holding.
lt takes more
than a little thunderstorm
to bother one of your mighty
Starfleet ships, huh?
Nothing we can't handle.
Relax, Neelix.
That's why they call it
a rain forest.
Why do your Sky Spirits
choose a place where it rains
all the time?
And it's hot
and there are so many bugs?
lt's said the Sky Spirits
honored the land above all else.
Maybe it's because this land
yields so many
different kinds of life.
Maybe they wanted us
to become friends
with everything in nature.
lncluding the bugs.
Sorry, Sky Spirits.
l will never make friends
with bugs.
Maybe that's why
they keep biting you.
You're miserable.
lt was a mistake to bring you.
l'm sorry.
l'm sorry l can't be
what you want me to be.
From the day you came
out of your mother
upside down
l knew the spirits had
chosen you to be a contrary.
No one chooses for me.
l choose my own way.
And if that makes me a contrary,
l'll have to live with it.
lf you have no spirits
to guide you,
l fear you will lose your way.
Altitude: 5,000 meters.
Decreasing speed to 720 kph.
Entering terminal
approach phase.
Visibility still zero.
Switching
to enhanced terrain scanning.
Touchdown sight scanned.
Continuing descent.
Computer, activate the emergency
medical holographic program.
Please state the nature
of the medical emergency.
l thought we changed
your program
so you wouldn't have
to say that anymore.
We did.
But l became so uncomfortable
trying to find new ways
to ''break the ice,'' as it were,
that l restored it.
Let's just say it works for me.
Doctor?
Ah, you noticed.
Are holograms
supposed to sneeze?
Generally, no.
But l have accepted
your challenge.
l programmed myself
with the symptoms
of the 29-hour Levodian flu.
Thus l will gain the experience
that you suggest
would be beneficial
to the performance of my duties.
Holographic tissue paper
for the holographic runny nose.
Don't offer them to patients.
Mmm, interesting sensation,
blowing one's nose.
lt's my first time.
l think this is
very brave of you.
Nothing of the sort.
l intend it to be
an educational experience.
l'm sure you'll learn a lot.
l meant for the crew.
l'm tired of the whiny,
cranky attitudes
we see around here.
l intend to serve as an example
of how one's life and duties
do not have to be disrupted
by simple illness.
Doc?
l don't feel so good.
Neither do l,
and you don't hear me
complaining.
We are not making any progress
locating the source
of that unusual power reading,
Commander.
Then l guess we'll have
to search for these people
the old-fashioned way--
with our eyes and ears.
ls something bothering you,
Commander?
No, it just reminds me
of another jungle
that l visited once.
The Central American rain forest
on Earth.
lt's the only other place
in the universe
that l've ever seen this flower.
lt appears to be
a rare variety of Cypriprdium
of the Asiatic genus
PaphiopediIum.
l never knew you had
such horticultural
expertise, Mr.
Vulcan.
ln fact, l am--
or, more accurately, l was--
a breeder of prize
Vulcan orchids.
Then we have something
in common--
l breed orchids, too!
Don't they make
the most exquisite salad?
A touch of Baldoxic vinegar--
pure heaven.
l hereby designate
the two of you
the team's botanical surveyors.
Collect a sample
of that flower.
B'Elanna?
lt's just what we've
been looking for.
Almost pure polyferranide.
But there's a problem
with crust reactivity.
lf we can't solve it
before excavation,
we might contaminate
the entire yield.
Have Ensign Kim run an
analysis from the ship.
We should be able to
l'll be damned.
What?
lt almost looks like a hawk,
doesn't it?
Listen to him, Chakotay.
What does he say to you?
He says, ''You are home.
''
Huh?
l'm leaving the tribe, Father.
What?
l got to know a lot
of the Starfleet officers
patrolling
the Cardassian border.
l asked Captain Sulu
if he would sponsor me
at Starfleet Academy.
And he would do such a thing
without even
discussing it with me?
l told him l had your approval.
Ah!
l kept him as far away
from you as l could.
l take it you've been
accepted by the Academy.
Well, you've never
fully embraced
the traditions of our tribe,
l know that.
And you've always been curious
about other societies.
And that is why l allowed you
to read about them.
Because l believe that ignorance
is our greatest enemy.
But to leave the tribe
Our tribe lives in the past.
A past of fantasy and myth.
That past is a part of you,
no matter how hard
you try to reject it.
Other tribes have learned
to accept the 24th century.
Why can't ours?
lt is not the place
of a 15-year-old boy
to question the choices
of his tribe.
l know.
That's why l have to leave.
You will never belong
to that other life.
And if you leave, you will
never belong to this one.
You'll be caught between worlds.
l ask for your blessing,
Father.
Oon-day.
Oon-day, KoIopak.
Botanical surveyor number one
to Commander Chakotay.
Go ahead, Neelix.
You won't believe what l found.
l think it's
Neelix, what the?
The bird, the bird!
My eye!
Away team to Voyager.
Go ahead, Commander.
Emergency beam-out.
Get Neelix to Sick Bay.
Acknowledged.
Commander.
You're very lucky this bird
didn't *** your eye
right out of the socket.
We have no spare
Talaxian eyeballs.
ls something
the matter with him?
The Doctor gave himself
the Levodian flu
to see what it's like.
ls he contagious?
lt's a holographic simulation,
not an actual virus.
There's no need for concern.
You may sit up.
Touchy, isn't he?
He isn't feeling well.
l don't require any compassion,
thank you very much.
l have been experiencing these
symptoms for nearly 20 hours,
and l am in complete command
of my faculties.
You may both leave now.
Mr.
Kim believes
if we bombard the crust
with antithoron radiation,
we can decontaminate it
before excavation begins.
Then all we need to do
is locate these people
and get their permission.
Any progress?
Everything we've found here
suggests the people
who live in this village
left recently and in a hurry.
Do you believe our arrival
frightened them?
We can't discount that.
You'd think
with warp technology,
they would have encountered
other alien life before now.
You'd think
with warp technology, they
wouldn't be living like this.
Captain, have you had
any unusual readings
that might explain the images of
a strange face l've been seeing?
lmages?
Very odd.
Like the flash of a memory.
But it's someone l've never met.
Nothing unusual has shown up
on the ship's sensors.
Tuvok hasn't detected
any telepathic activity, either.
lf you want to call it a day,
Commander
No.
l think we'll press on
for a while.
lf there are any other problems,
l'll let you know.
Chakotay out.
The dwellings are constructed
with an alloy polymer matrix
we've never encountered before,
Commander.
They're out there.
Our tricorders
may not tell us so,
but they're out there.
Lay down your weapons.
Commander?
Disarm-- l want them to see
that we don't pose
any threat to them.
May l remind the Commander
that Starfleet protocol demands
that away teams remain armed
and ready to defend themselves
until contact is
l know all about
Starfleet protocol, Lieutenant.
As we have not yet established
the inhabitants' intentions,
it would not be
a logical course of action.
The logical course
isn't always the right course.
Lay down your weapons
in plain sight.
Those are my orders.
Would you at least permit me
to advise the Captain
to move the ship
into a stronger
tactical position?
Negative.
We'll show no force of any kind.
For the record, l must take
exception to these orders.
Noted.
They have reason to be scared.
Who can blame them?
Their history, our history,
is filled with conquerors
who brought slavery
and disease and death.
Maybe we should
just leave them alone.
Oh-chip way-***-ee
teem-mock-uh an-tope-ah-nee.
Hi-yeta-koo-nay-pas.
Cha-kan-a hi-mee.
Cha-kan-a hi-mee.
Duh su kan-nuh-da.
Binda kana.
Binda kana.
Father.
Kah-yo-tay.
Hay-noh.
CHAH-mooz-ee.
Teem-ma-ka-ha.
l have no explanation,
Commander!
There is no storm activity
indicated.
All right, let's get back
to the shuttle.
Hey! Wait!
We will never make it!
Where's Chakotay?!
Away team to Voyager.
Emergency beam-out.
He was right behind us.
l don't understand
what could have happened to him.
Was he wearing the combadge
the last time you saw him?
Just before the storm,
he was using it
to speak with you, Captain.
Mr.
Paris, what are the current
surface conditions
near the shuttle?
Surface conditions are
back to normal, Captain.
Winds two knots, but
l can't find any sign
of their shuttle.
lt's not where they landed it.
And it isn't airborne?
No, ma'am.
l'll lead the away team back.
Mr.
Tuvok, Lieutenant,
you're with me.
Mr.
Paris, you have
Captain Janeway,
this is the Doctor.
Please turn to your emergency
medical holographic channel.
What is it, Doctor?
Something terrible has happened.
My program
Doctor, l think you're carrying
this experiment of yours
a little too far.
One hour too far, to be precise.
l very specifically programmed
a 29-hour Levodian flu.
And it has now been 30 hours.
Doctor, l'm sorry, but we have
more pressing matters
You can't leave me like this.
l need help, now!
Get me somebody
who can tweak the computer
and make me feel better,
immediately.
Very well.
Mr.
Kim is on his way.
Try to relax, Doctor.
l'll see to that, Captain.
l'm going to need you
with me, Kes.
Prepare a medkit
and bring it with you
to Transporter Room 3.
Commander Chakotay
is still on the surface
and may be injured.
Janeway out.
Oh, l don't understand it.
l l ran
a computer diagnostic
and it said
that my program was fine.
Just rest, Doctor.
Here's a cool,
holographic towel
for your forehead.
Oh, thank you.
Thank you so much.
Please
don't go yet.
l have to.
The Captain
l feel like l'm fading,
just fading away.
You don't know what that means
to a hologram.
What seems to be the problem?
My simulated virus is leading me
to a simulated death.
lt's nothing to worry about.
l just added a couple of hours
to his computer program.
He'll be fine
in about 45 minutes.
Knowing when it would end
didn't exactly make it
a fair test, did it, Doctor?
Oh, she is far more devious
than l ever suspected.
No shuttle.
Well, at least
they got out okay.
You have nothing
to fear from me.
Talk to me.
Let me see you.
Is-to ko-hee-nis.
No!
Thank you.
You have nothing
to fear from me.
Talk to me.
Let me see you.
l don't understand it.
lt's the same thing
that happened
the first time
we tried to go down.
A storm develops wherever
we try to lock on.
Why would we have the ability
to beam people up,
but not to beam them down?
l believe
we have seen enough
to discern a pattern, Captain.
The logical conclusion is
that someone is controlling
the elements of nature
to ward us off.
The transporter anomaly is
evidence of this conclusion.
We are allowed
to leave the planet,
but not to approach.
lf that's true, l'd be happy
to respect their wishes,
but, unfortunately,
l have a missing crewman
to get back first.
Janeway to Paris.
Yes, Captain.
Mr.
Paris, we're going to land
Voyager on the surface.
Take us into the atmosphere.
Acknowledged.
Beginning entry sequence.
l'm reading electrical storms
forming all around us.
Adjusting flight path.
The barometric pressure
is continuing to fall.
We're looking
at monsoon conditions out there.
Mr.
Paris, the shuttle crew
didn't report
turbulence this severe
during their landing.
l'm doing the best l can,
Captain.
l'm showing gale force
winds out there.
lt is conceivable
that the aliens
have been able
to intensify their response
now that they are familiar
with our capabilities.
Red Alert!
lnertial dampers are off-line.
We seem to be caught
in some kind of vortex.
l can't maintain altitude.
Captain, it's a cyclone.
Altitude 20,000 meters
and falling.
l can't get us out
of this thing, Captain.
Bridge to Torres.
We need more power
from the engines.
l've got them running 20 percent
over rated maximum, Captain.
lt's not enough.
Could we go to low warp
under these conditions?
The ship might make it
without inertial dampers,
but we'd all just be stains
on the back wall.
l can try to augment the engines
with power from the auxiliary
fusion reactors,
but it's going to take
at least 20 minutes.
How much time do we have,
Mr.
Paris?
Altitude at 18,000 meters
and falling.
At this rate, we're looking
at about ten minutes.
lf you can hear me, speak to me.
Dosh-du-pah kee-ne?
Swasge-muh kee-say-yo-pah?
Swas-ti-ma-hay.
Kee-say-yo-pah.
Pah-kee-ne?
Sas-ga no-yo-du no-kay-dah?
l'm sorry.
l don't know the ancient
language of my people.
l can't understand.
Po-kud-zee yo-atah.
Pon-tez-butz-su.
A CHAH-mooz-ee.
CHAH-mooz-ee.
Swasge-muh kee-say.
Yo-pah no-kay-dah?
CHAH-mooz-ee.
Altitude 6,000 meters.
Warning.
Approach vector
is too steep.
Discontinue landing sequence.
Would somebody
turn that off, please?
Engineering, report.
We need that extra power,
B'Elanna.
Ten minutes.
l just need ten minutes!
Do you understand my words now?
Yes.
Explain the face marking.
l wear it to honor my father.
He wore it
to honor his ancestors.
Ancestors
You are human?
Yes.
Are there others
on your world with this mark?
Yes.
Not many, but some.
We were taught all of them
had been annihilated.
We were taught
your world had been ravaged
by those with no respect
for life or land.
There was a time
when that was true.
But no longer.
He claims to be a descendent
of the lnheritors.
lnheritors?
The ones
our ancestors chose to honor.
l'm surprised you have no memory
of the lnheritors.
One of our gifts
was the memory.
lf you are a descendent,
you should remember.
l'm not sure l understand.
Perhaps it has
been lost over time.
on our first visit
to your world,
we met a small group
of nomadic hunters.
They had no spoken language,
no culture, except the use
of fire and stone weapons,
but they did have
a respect for the land
and for other living creatures
that impressed us deeply.
We decided
to give them an inheritance--
a genetic bonding--
so they might thrive
and protect your world.
On subsequent visits,
we found that our genetic gift
brought about a spirit
of curiosity and adventure.
lt impelled them to migrate
away from the cold climate
to a new, unpeopled land.
lt took them almost
a thousand generations
to cross your planet.
Hundreds of thousands of them
flourished in their new land.
Their civilization
had a profound influence
on others of your species.
But then new people came
with weapons
and disease.
The lnheritors who survived
scattered.
Many sought refuge
in other societies.
when we returned,
we found no sign
of their existence.
My people called you
the Sky Spirits.
Why have you been hiding from us
since we landed here?
When we heard your message,
who you were, observed
you probing our land,
we believed you were a threat.
We thought you
would annihilate us
as you had the lnheritors.
Our message was supposed to
communicate peaceful intentions.
We were taught that is the way
human conquerors
often introduce themselves.
As l said
we've tried to change our ways
since the last time
you stopped by.
Altitude: 2,000 meters.
Stand by, Bridge.
We're initiating
the transfer now.
l'm showing an eight percent
boost in the engines.
That's all?
The fusion reactors
are nearly drained.
Fighting the storm is taking
every reserve we have.
Altitude: 1,000 meters.
lmpact in 20 seconds.
B'Elanna.
lmpact in 15 seconds.
l'm sorry, Captain,
that's all we've got.
lmpact in ten seconds.
Report.
We're free.
Gaining altitude.
Dampers back on line.
The storms have
completely dissipated.
There's not a cloud in the sky.
Stand down Red Alert.
Anybody have an explanation?
lt appears the inhabitants
of this planet
have decided to make contact,
Captain.
The cloaking device
has been turned off,
and we are showing
an alien population.
l have located the shuttle.
lt may be possible
to locate Commander Chakotay
without landing.
Establish a search pattern,
Mr.
Paris.
Yes, Captain.
Begin scanning
for human life signs.
As soon as you find Chakotay,
we'll send down an away team.
My ship will be coming
for me soon.
l'm sorry we cannot permit you
to extract all the materials
you need.
You were generous
to offer as much as you did.
You have a long journey ahead.
lt took us
more than two generations
to reach your world.
l wish l could see
my father's face right now.
Does he still live?
No.
He died fighting enemies
who would have
taken our home colony.
Our tribe moved there
a few hundred years ago.
So he honored the land
just as his ancestors did.
Yes.
Yes, he did.
We weren't on very good terms
when he died.
Once he was gone, l didn't know
how to reconcile
our differences,
how to heal our old wounds.
l returned to my colony,
and continued the fight
in his name.
l took the mark that he wore
to honor his ancestors.
l spoke to him
in my vision quests,
but he never answered.
Until now.
CHAH-mooz-ee.
Commander.
Put those away.
Listen to him, Chakotay.
Do you hear
what he says to you?
Yes, Father.
l hear him.
l finally hear him.
Four to beam up, Voyager.