Ares lVto Kumagawa.
How was the sunrise from down there?
Beautiful.
There was a little green mixed in today.
lt was really quite spectacular.
Sorry l missed it.
Next time, Lieutenant.
Any luck drilling through that lava plain?
Roger that.
We broke through the iron oxide barrier,
and we're down to eight meters.
We should have some samples
by the end of the day if all goes well.
On to more important matters.
Received an uplink from Houston.
The Yankees won game five of the World Series.
You owe me 20 bucks.
Eh, it's not over yet.
There's still game six.
We're not the only ones making history today.
Bokai just broke DiMaggio's record.
l don't believe it.
lf you ask me,
Houston's been manipulating the stats.
They do have a few too many Kings fans at Mission Control.
Well, how else do you explain
Bokai beating out the Yankee Clipper?
Commander, we lost you for a second there.
The ride got a little bumpy.
Stand by.
l'm picking up some turbulence.
At your altitude?
Checking LlDAR.
What the hell...?
John, what's going on?
There's an object closing on my position--
azimuth 121.6.
Whatever it is, it's huge.
lt's over 1,000 meters across.
How could something that big appear out of nowhere?
l don't know, but l'm getting out of its way.
Firing thrusters.
lt's probably just a solar flare.
Let's hope so.
lt's no solar flare.
Come in.
Come in.
Chakotay to the Bridge.
This is Transporter Room 2.
l'm trying to reach the Bridge.
Your com signal was routed here, sir.
Can you patch me through?
Uh, pardon me? Who is this?
Patch you through where?
Patch you through where... where?
Neelix?
Commander?
Double check on the fuel generators.
Control seven, return to base...
Maintenance Team 49...
Culhane to Nozawa, what's keeping you?
Computer, locate Naomi...
We're meeting in the Briefing Room.
l can't get through to Engineering.
l'm scheduled for Holodeck 2.
Culhane to Nozawa...
l see you're making some changes to the computer core.
l have enhanced the command sequencers
with Borg algorithms.
Well, your enhancements are wreaking havoc
with our secondary systems.
lnsignificant malfunctions.
l will correct them.
l don't recall authorizing any modifications.
The computer core is inefficient.
lt needed to be improved.
l appreciate your initiative, but that's not up to you.
l've explained the value of these enhancements
on several occasions,
but Lieutenant Torres chose to ignore me.
l thought a demonstration would be more persuasive.
Well, l doubt this one's going to change her mind.
Clearly Voyager is not yet ready
for assimilation.
A joke.
The Doctor suggested
that l diffuse tense situations with humor.
Good idea.
Now, how about getting these systems back up again
so l can get back to my book?
We're experiencing a shipwide power drain.
This is unrelated to my modifications.
Senior officers to the Bridge.
lt's 2:00 in the morning, Ensign.
This better be more than a little turbulence.
You won't be disappointed.
We've got level-9 gravimetric distortions
closing on our position.
They are emanating from subspace.
On screen.
Shields.
lt's heading right toward us.
Evasive maneuvers.
Captain?
Say good morning to 30 million terajoules
of subspace energy.
This thing is following us.
l can't outrun it at impulse.
Go to warp.
lt's disrupting our warp field.
lf it any gets closer, the gravimetric stresses
are going to rip the plating off our hull.
Captain, l recognize this phenomenon.
lts Borg designation is Spatial Anomaly 521.
lt's attracted to objects that emit electromagnetic energy.
We have to cut power and reverse our shield polarity.
Do it.
That was close.
l recognize this anomaly, too.
lt's called a graviton ellipse.
According to the Federation database,
it travels through subspace,
emerging occasionally without warning.
Ellipses have only been observed a handful of times.
Ares lV.
Commander?
One of the early Mars missions.
The command module and its pilot were engulfed
by a similar phenomenon back in 2032.
l remember reading about that.
Two astronauts were stranded on the surface for weeks
before a rescue ship arrived.
No one's gotten this close to a graviton ellipse
and lived to tell about it.
This could be a remarkable opportunity.
Go to Yellow Alert.
Keep our power output at minimum levels.
Match its course and speed, but maintain a safe distance.
Aye, Captain.
l suggest we launch a probe.
See if we can find out what makes this thing tick.
Well, make it fast.
There's no telling when our visitor
is going to burrow back into subspace.
l'm receiving telemetry from the probe.
lt appears to have entered a stable core
within the anomaly,
where gravimetric forces are negligible.
The eye of the storm.
An apt metaphor.
Computer, run a multispectral analysis
of the anomaly's core.
Analysis in progress.
The Borg developed shields
to get through the gravimetric currents.
They intended to dissipate the anomaly from within.
Perhaps we should continue their efforts.
lt would be shortsighted to destroy it.
We should study the phenomenon.
l didn't realize
you shared this crew's penchant for exploration.
l am a Starfleet officer.
When the risks outweigh the potential gain,
exploration is illogical.
We can't predict what we might find here, Seven.
One must allow for the unexpected discovery.
Core analysis complete.
There are more than 2.8 billion compounds in the core.
Fascinating.
The computer has isolated
several synthetic alloys native to Sector 001.
Titanium and polymer composites.
These materials date back to the 21st century.
They were used in the construction
of Earth's early spacecraft.
Commander Chakotay mentioned a space capsule
that was consumed by a graviton ellipse.
These alloys are consistent with the hull of that capsule.
An unexpected discovery, indeed.
She was 46 meters, 92 metric tons,
powered by a third-generation ion drive,
and equipped with a transpectral imager.
Ares lVwas piloted by Lieutenant John Kelly.
His ground team, astronauts Rose Kumagawa
and Andrei Novakovich,
were close to completing their survey mission
when Kelly reported an object closing on his position.
Then he and the command module
disappeared off NASA's LlDAR scopes.
And into the history books.
That incident almost derailed the Mars program.
Mankind's first encounter with a spatial anomaly.
Seven, you said the Borg were working
on a way to get inside a graviton ellipse.
Shield enhancements.
Well, maybe we could apply
the same enhancements to the Flyer.
Captain, do you intend to try to find the command module?
Or what's left of it.
By my calculations, we have less than 16 hours
before the anomaly goes back into subspace.
Then we have to work quickly.
Harry, B'Elanna, help Seven modify the Flyer's shields.
Tom, review the database from the Ares lVmission.
lt might tell us something about this anomaly
we've missed.
We're going to need a mission leader.
l volunteer.
l thought you might.
Let's do it.
Something on your mind, Seven?
The anomaly is as dangerous and unpredictable now
as it was 300 years ago.
Well, the Delta Flyer is a little more advanced
than the Ares lVwas.
We'll be taking every precaution.
That may not be enough.
l appreciate your concern, but this is my call.
Searching for the command module seems
more sentimental than scientific.
Well, l can't argue with that.
lf scientific knowledge was all we were after,
then the Federation would have built
a fleet of probes, not starships.
Exploration is about seeing things with your own eyes.
ln this case, we're exploring the past.
How will retrieving this artifact
enhance your appreciation of history?
By making us part of it, in the same way
that excavating the obelisks of ancient Vulcan,
or finding the Shroud of Kahless
made those explorers part of their history.
Here's the crux of it.
As a Borg, you didn't study the past; you ingested it.
You never really developed
an appreciation for humanity's history.
Maybe this is an opportunity
for you to do some exploring of your own.
Are you ordering me to join this mission?
Let's just say l'm encouraging you to volunteer.
lt's no solar flare.
Wow.
John, can you describe it?
lt... it's at least 1,000 meters wide.
Bright.
Your transmission's breaking up.
lt's generating an electromagnetic radiation
interfering with primary systems.
l can't get away from it.
Activating the transpectral imager.
l'll record as much data as l can.
lt's right on top of me!
l'll transmit as much as l ca...
That's all she wrote.
NASA received Kelly's last telemetry
at 0922 hours, October 19, 2032.
l thought l was the Mars buff.
You seem to know more about the Ares lV
than l do.
The Mars missions paved the way for the exploration of space.
Kelly was one of my childhood heroes.
Yeah, mine, too.
That's dedication.
The man's life's about to end,
but he won't stop taking readings.
Makes you wonder if those old-timers
were made of sterner stuff than we are.
You think we have it easy?
Are you kidding?
Warp drive, shields, transporters--
we're traveling in the lap of luxury.
Kelly and Kumagawa, Armstrong and Glenn--
they were the real pioneers.
Am l interrupting?
We're just admiring someone, a fellow explorer.
Hero worship-- the glorification
of an individual's accomplishments.
l guess you didn't have many role models growing up.
ln the collective,
personal accomplishments are irrelevant.
The shield modifications to the Delta Flyer are complete.
We're ready for launch.
We?
You'll need someone familiar
with Borg technology to monitor the shields.
l'm volunteering.
Well, you don't sound too happy about it.
l'm not, but this mission can benefit from my expertise.
ln that case...
welcome aboard.
l'm preparing an inoculant
to counter the effects of gravimetric radiation.
Of course, if you were a hologram,
you'd simply adjust your mobile emitter.
That's what l did on Arakis Prime,
one of my first away missions.
l don't recall that.
This was before you came aboard.
Such an enchanting planet--
crystalline glaciers...
magnesium vapor atmosphere.
l had to stop my metallurgical scans
just to admire the sheer beauty of it--
to... ''smell the roses,'' to coin a phrase.
An inefficient use of your time.
Hmm. Perhaps.
We're all finished here,
except for one thing.
Would you mind recording some images
when you're inside the ellipse,
for those of us not lucky enough to make the trip?
You envy my participation on this mission.
There isn't a crewman aboard who doesn't.
Why?
l can only tell you how l felt that morning
when l materialized on Arakis Prime.
l left my footprints in the magnesite dust,
and thought, ''One small step for a hologram,
one giant leap for mankind.''
To coin a phrase.
Well, l know the sentiment isn't exactly original,
but the fact is l was exhilarated.
Chakotay to Seven of Nine.
Report to Shuttle Bay 2.
Good luck.
We're approaching the perimeter
in five, four...
three, two,
one.
We're within 2,000 kilometers.
Gravimetric interference is increasing.
lt's nothing compared to what they're going through.
They're really getting knocked around in there.
The shields have weakened, but they're still holding.
Harry, keep your finger on that tractor beam
in case we have to pull them out.
They're approaching the anomaly's core.
We've lost sensor contact.
Harry.
The com link is still active.
The gravimetric shear is increasing.
l'm reading diminished turbulence directly ahead.
Full thrusters, Tom.
Punch us through.
Chakotay to Voyager.
We're in.
l wish you could see this, Captain.
lt's incredible.
We're all ears.
lt's very calm, no gravimetric distortions.
The EM activity is creating a natural luminescence.
Tom called it ''mood lighting.''
Hey, B'Elanna, it's the perfect romantic getaway.
l'll take your word for it.
We've detected asteroid fragments, pieces of vessels,
matter from every Quadrant of the galaxy.
Next time l lose something, l'll know where to look.
lnstead of a graviton ellipse,
we should call it the ''Kitchen Sink Anomaly.''
The chemical interactions have even created
a primitive atmosphere.
Nothing you'd want to breathe, of course.
What do you make of it, Seven?
Well, l suppose it's intriguing.
Some of the matter appears to be extra-dimensional in origin.
Sounds like this anomaly's gotten around.
Any sign of the Ares command module?
We're picking up traces of the hull,
but our sensor readings are being refracted
by all the debris in here.
That was a gravimetric surge,
caused by the anomaly altering its course
by .006 degrees.
We just had a big jolt out here.
We didn't feel a thing.
By our estimate, you have five hours, 36 minutes
before the anomaly returns to subspace.
You better get a move on.
Understood.
l'm having difficulty
isolating the debris from the command module.
l'll lay in a search pattern.
lt may take a couple of hours to cover an area this large.
Seven and l can use the time to take some samples.
Get a better idea of where this anomaly's been.
We should focus on achieving our objective
and returning to Voyager.
We're not here just to find the module.
We've got an opportunity to...
To explore.
l am familiar with our mission.
ln that case, let's get started.
The fossilized microbes in this ore
appear to have had metallic membranes.
We've speculated about the possibility
of metallic life-forms, but we've never discovered one.
You're excited by this discovery.
This piece of rock
is billions of years older than Earth...
from a time when the galaxy was still forming.
Here.
Commander.
Take it.
You're holding a piece of history...
maybe even the beginnings of life itself.
Unlikely.
lt's more likely than you think.
This anomaly is as old
as anything we've ever encountered.
l could spend a lifetime
studying the things it's collected.
And leave Voyager without a First Officer?
They'd manage.
Paleontology was always my first love.
lt's the reason l joined Starfleet.
Why didn't you pursue it?
My sense of responsibility got in the way--
first the Maquis, then Voyager.
What l wanted always seemed to take a backseat.
Do you remember what you wanted to be
before you were assimilated?
l was assimilated when l was a child.
l knew l wanted to be a paleontologist when l was six.
A ballerina.
Maybe it's not too late.
lt was a juvenile fantasy.
Those are the ones that stick with you.
Heads up, folks.
l think we're getting close.
l've isolated the module.
Bearing 39 mark 15.
There.
lt appears to be intact.
l'm reading hull breaches and corrosion,
but all things considered, it's pretty well preserved.
We weren't expecting to find a fragment this big.
We can't just stow it in the aft section.
We'll use a tractor beam to tow it back to Voyager.
Captain, the anomaly just made
another course change-- .003 degrees.
That's the third one in an hour.
Something has to be attracting it.
There's nothing on the sensors.
l think it enjoys being unpredictable.
We know it has a taste for electromagnetic energy.
So what could generate an EM field large enough
to get its attention but still not show up on sensors?
An energy burst from a pulsar, a neutrino cloud.
Dark matter.
Realign the sensor array to scan for EM fluctuations.
l've got a spatial disturbance...
three million kilometers away.
lt's a dark-matter asteroid.
Bingo.
The anomaly's heading right for it.
Time to impact?
Four minutes. Captain,
we can't predict how the impact will affect the anomaly.
But it's a safe bet it won't be a gentle nudge.
Janeway to Delta Flyer.
We've got a problem.
The anomaly's on a collision course
with a dark-matter asteroid.
We've located the Mars orbiter.
We're adapting a tractor beam.
Give us a minute.
You don't have it; get out of there.
Captain...
Now.
ls the tractor beam ready?
Just about, sir.
Lock onto the module and take us out.
We don't have time.
l gave you an order.
Commander.
We're not leaving without that module.
Tom!
Captain, both the anomaly
and the asteroid are accelerating.
They're attracting each other like a pair of magnets.
At this rate, it'll impact in...
56 seconds.
Chakotay, you've got less than a minute.
Acknowledged.
The module is slowing us down.
Maintain tractor lock.
How long until we clear the anomaly?
At our current speed, 40 seconds.
We can do it.
30 seconds to impact. They're still not clear.
Chakotay, status.
We're on our way.
20 seconds.
Gravimetric distortions are increasing.
The Flyer.
l've lost the signal.
How badly is he damaged?
He's got a severe concussion and internal injuries.
We need to get him back to Voyager.
That may not be possible.
Communications, shields and propulsion
are still off-line.
Well, he's stable for now.
l'll give you a hand.
We can repair the shields,
but the engines are unsalvageable.
lt can't be that bad.
lt's worse.
The anomaly is showing signs of returning to subspace.
We have less than two hours.
He's regaining consciousness.
Easy.
Easy. Lie still.
lt feels like l went ten rounds with an Andorian.
More like 20.
You were hit with a plasma discharge.
The gravimetric surge from the asteroid
caught us at the edge of the anomaly, tossed us back inside.
The command module?
lt's adrift, 300 meters off our port bow.
Then we can still salvage it.
Not so fast.
We can't get engines or shields back on line,
not to mention a tractor beam.
We'll be lucky to get out of this
in one piece.
l can help.
You're in worse shape than this ship.
You want to help?
Lie in the bed-- doctor's orders.
Another gravimetric surge.
l'll see if l can reinforce the structural integrity field.
You might try drawing power from auxiliary life support.
The system was damaged as well.
What about the secondary relays?
They're off-line.
That doesn't leave us many choices.
Try rerouting the phaser couplings.
We explored that option while you were unconscious.
Then maybe you can bring me up-to-date.
There's no time.
l suggest you recuperate.
We have the situation under control.
lt doesn't look that way from here.
l'm still in command of this mission.
l want to know what's going on.
Very well.
We were ordered by the Captain to leave this anomaly,
but you chose to disobey that command.
As a result of your obsession with the module,
we are now trapped along with it.
ln all probability, we won't survive without...
Point taken.
Now, why don't you continue without the attitude?
An inventory of the damaged systems.
Read it for yourself.
l made a mistake.
l put the mission at risk.
You put our lives at risk.
Well, if we don't make it out...
someone's bound to come looking for us
in a few hundred years.
Diffusing a tense situation with humor... remember?
Voyager to Delta Flyer.
They're using a probe as a transmission relay.
Voyager to Chakotay, please respond.
We can't detect you.
Captain, we can hear you.
l'm matching their frequency.
Voyager, this is the Delta Flyer. Respond.
Are you all right?
What's your status?
We've sustained heavy damage, Captain, but we're alive.
lt's good to hear your voice.
We could install the same shielding
on a class-2 shuttle, and take it in.
lt took us hours to make the modifications
to the Flyer.
We've only got 82 minutes
before this thing disappears into subspace.
lt may be possible to modify a tractor beam
to cut through the gravimetric interference.
You'll never be able to get it all the way to the core.
Start working on it anyway.
You said all the energy conduits are fused?
Correct.
We can't get power to any of the primary systems.
lf the replicators were working,
we could whip up a new plasma manifold
and be on our way.
What if l could get you an old manifold?
Excuse me?
The command module may be three centuries old,
but the power distribution system
isn't that different from the Flyer's.
Right here.
This control panel in the main cockpit--
it was called an ion distributor.
With a few tweaks, it could be modified to channel warp plasma.
Even if it were possible, we'd have to obtain the object
before we can adapt it.
Do you have
enough power to beam one of you to the module?
Yes, ma'am. l'll go.
Not so fast, Tom.
lf another gravimetric surge hits,
we'll need you at the helm.
Seven?
Are you encouraging me to volunteer again, Captain?
You read my mind.
Come on.
Just a little closer.
That's it for thrusters,
but l got us within transporter range. Ready?
Stand by.
lronic. You're doing what l've always dreamt of.
Remember, when you set foot in that module,
you'll be stepping into history.
History is irrelevant.
lrrelevant?
Do me a favor.
When you're over there,
download whatever you can from their database
and also, take a minute to look around...
so you can tell us what it was like.
There may not be time...
but l'll try.
Good luck.
What's it like in there?
Dark.
The ambient temperature is minus 260 degrees.
There appear to be fractures in the aft bulkheads.
ls the cockpit intact?
Yes.
l've brought the main computer on line.
l've lost contact with the team on the surface,
and l can't get a fix on my position.
What was that?
There's an active data file.
lt appears to contain log entries.
Can you play them for us?
l believe so.
Consider it my last request.
...and l can't get a fix on my position,
but l'm alive, and the CM seems to be intact.
l'm inside this whatever it is.
Could you hear that, Chakotay?
lt's amazing.
Everyone assumed he was killed instantly.
...what l've gotten myself into.
lt's very calm, like l'm in the eye of a hurricane.
lt's a little spooky.
The way l figure it,
if there's a way in, there's got to be a way out.
l'm going to fire up the transpectral imager
before l initiate another engine burn...
...collect as much data as l can.
Jeannie, l may not be bringing you back a Mars rock,
but l promise you,
l'm going to do everything l can to get home.
Ares lV Mission Record, October 23.
l'm starting to feel like Jonah.
How long was he in the belly of that whale? Three days?
l got him beat by a day or two already.
The EM interference
is disrupting communications and LlDAR,
and l can't see the stars,
so there's no way l can get a fix on my position.
lf this thing's moving as fast as it was when it pulled me in,
l could be a long way from Mars by now.
The imager's been working overtime
cataloguing all the matter in here,
but a lot of it defies analysis.
l think we're going to need
to make room on the periodic table.
Where the hell am l?
Power levels have dropped another 15 percent
since my last systems check.
l... l think l just saw another spacecraft.
Either that...
or all this dehydrated food has gone to my head.
l got it.
The hull's made of some kind of alloy.
l can't make heads or tails of it.
l shouldn't have been so dismissive.
l remember giving Kumagawa a hard time
when she claimed she saw a UFO over the Gulf.
l told her it was a meteor
or another piece of Muir.
l guess l owe you an apology, Rose.
Ares lV Mission Record, October 25.
This has been a nice place to visit,
but l'm ready to come home.
l've prepped the ion drive,
channeled all the power from the thruster reserves
into the main tank.
l have enough fuel for one last engine burn.
Wish me luck.
lgnition sequence.
Five, four, three, two...
l'm losing pitch control.
Gyros aren't responding.
Power failure.
l've got to abort.
l'm not going to make it!
All systems go.
Watch me, Dad.
l'm flying.
Bad landing.
Call the MedEvac team.
Paris to Seven. Status?
l've located the device, but it's fused to the hull.
Stand by.
Make it quick.
We've got less than 15 minutes.
Understood.
All systems go.
Watch me, Dad. l'm flying.
Bad landing.
Call the MedEvac team.
John Kelly's first flight...
not exactly A-okay.
Remember that, Dad?
l jumped off the roof
with a parachute made out of blankets.
l guess l didn't calculate the aerodynamics.
Of course...
l was only six.
l guess this is John Kelly's last flight.
This time l can't blame it on pilot error.
This time... no regrets.
What l've seen... proves...
we were right to come out here.
We're not alone.
l know that now.
The module's losing power.
l'm taking life support off-line.
Rerouting whatever's left to the imager.
Keep it running... as long as possible.
Mission control...
Dad...
whoever finds this...
do me a favor.
Take all the data l've collected...
put it to good use.
l hope you don't look at this as a failure.
l don't.
Actually...
l do have one regret.
l never found out...
who won the World Series.
l'm tired.
l can't...
Paris to Seven.
How's it going over there?
l have the distributor.
l'm downloading Lieutenant Kelly's database.
Hurry, we're running out of time.
Lock onto my bio-signature and my combadge.
Seven?
Energize.
Delta Flyer, report.
We're trying to integrate the distributor.
Stand by, Captain.
How long do they have?
Four minutes.
Try bypassing the power couplings.
No effect.
Resequence the ion modulators; see if that does it.
Power conversion in progress.
We have propulsion, shields.
The plasma flow is still fluctuating.
Stay on top of it.
Paris to Voyager.
Go ahead.
Open the Shuttle Bay doors; we're coming home.
Acknowledged.
Laying in an escape trajectory.
The ellipse is returning to subspace.
The Flyer.
They're approaching the perimeter...
2,000 meters... 1,800.
The anomaly's submerging.
Are we in tractor range?
Not yet.
Take us closer.
Captain?
Do it.
They are still out of reach.
Another 300 meters.
Closer.
We'll be pulled right in with them.
Just a few more meters.
We're too close!
l've got a lock.
Reverse thrusters, full impulse.
Captain's Log, Stardate 53301.2.
The away team collected
over 60 teraquads of data on the anomaly.
Before we begin to analyze them,
we've decided to pay our respects
to an old colleague.
Space...
literally, it means ''nothing''...
a vacuum between stars and planets.
But by the same token, it means everything.
lt's what connects all our worlds--
Vulcan, Qo'noS,
Talax, Earth.
Centuries ago,
mankind sent its first wave of explorers into that void.
Astronauts like Mr. Kelly.
They paved the way for the first colonies,
the first starships.
For those of us who've made space our home,
We commend the spirit and the bravery
of Lieutenant John Mark Kelly
as we commit his body...
to space.
He will not be forgotten.
Captain...
l did not know this individual.
Had l encountered him while l was a Borg,
l would have found his technology
unworthy of assimilation...
but we are more alike than one might think.
ln a sense, his desire to explore
was not unlike a quest for perfection.
His contribution helped secure humanity's future,
and in some ways, my own.
The Yankees...
in six games.
All hands, attention.
Honor guard.