Captain?
Report.
It Iooks Iike the Kazon have retreated, Captain.
We must have hurt them.
Not as bad as they hurt us.
AII engines are off-Iine.
Captain, shieIds are down, as are aII weapons arrays.
We'd better hope they don't come back.
We're sitting ducks.
Janeway to Engineering.
What's your status?
We're in bad shape, Captain.
We had to shut down the warp engines to avoid a breach.
The impuIse engines are gone, too.
I think I can give you thrusters,
but I've got a Iot of casuaIties down here,
I've got to tend to first.
Lieutenant, it's Kurt Bendera.
He's hurt pretty bad.
No.
His consoIe expIoded,
caught him right in the face.
We've got to get him to Sick Bay right away.
Torres to Sick Bay.
I hope this is urgent, Lieutenant.
We have our hands fuII at the moment.
I'm sending up an emergency transport.
One of my peopIe is severeIy burned.
Very weII. We'II do what we can.
More damage reports coming in, Captain.
There's a huII breach on Deck 4.
Force fieId's in pIace.
Repair crew's on the way.
There have been casuaIties on aII decks.
No fataIities so far.
Captain, request permission
to give Torres a hand in Engineering.
Maybe I can heIp get propuIsion up and running.
Good idea. Go ahead.
Captain, my readings indicate
the navigationaI defIector has sustained massive damage.
It wiII be necessary to repair it
before we can achieve more than thruster power.
Get repair crews on it.
Mr. Kim, I want a compIete anaIysis
of aII the damage we've sustained.
Yes, ma'am.
He's not responding.
7 5 miIIigrams of impedrezene.
That might heIp stimuIate his cardiac functions,
but he sustained so much injury,
it may be too Iate.
It had no effect.
CorticaI stimuIator.
I'm sorry.
He was too badIy injured.
He saved my Iife once...
near the Cardassian border.
Come in.
Crewman Bendera's dead.
The Doctor couIdn't do anything.
I'm sorry, Chakotay.
I know you were friends.
WiII you arrange a memoriaI service?
I'II get right on it.
Was there something eIse?
Yes.
Like it or not,
it seems we're in a situation where the ruIes have changed,
and, maybe, if we're going to survive out here,
we have to start changing, too.
What do you mean?
When we first started our trip home,
you made a conscious decision
to treat Voyager as a StarfIeet ship
with a StarfIeet crew foIIowing StarfIeet ruIes.
That's right.
StarfIeet works weII in the AIpha Quadrant.
But out here...
maybe we shouId be thinking more Iike the Maquis.
The Maquis had to survive on their own.
We were up against insurmountabIe odds.
We had to create our own opportunities for success
because nobody was wiIIing to heIp us.
Sound Iike anybody you know?
If you're suggesting we abandon our principIes
just because we're out of haiIing range...
Captain, this was the fourth attack in two weeks.
We've Iost three crew members to the Kazon.
A dozen more have sustained serious injuries.
This ship has taken so much damage,
we'II be Iucky to get warp drive on Iine again,
and we can count on the fact that the Kazon wiII be back.
I don't think we can afford to keep doing business as usuaI.
A Iot of us can say we're aIive today
because of Kurt Bendera.
There was never a better man to have at your side,
never anyone more wiIIing to take on the tough jobs.
The first time I met him was in a mining community
on TeIfas Prime.
Some of the miners objected to my sense of humor
and decided they shouId break a few of my bones.
There were four of them and one of me,
and I was taking a beating.
SuddenIy, this man I'd never seen before came out of nowhere
and evened things up.
We stood back to back,
and pretty soon the others decided
my sense of humor wasn't so bad after aII.
I thanked the man.
He just grinned and said,
''I Iike a good fight.''
He was my friend from that moment on.
And he kept fighting the good fight...
right up to the end.
I'II miss him.
Ensign.
Captain, can I ask you something?
Of course.
Now that the Kazon have stepped up their attacks,
a Iot of peopIe think that we're not going
to make it out of here aIive.
I'd Iike to know what you have to say about that.
Is there anything you have to say about that?
I assure you, you can speak freeIy.
I'd give them what they want.
Give them the repIicators and the transporters
and whatever eIse
it is they're after.
I'm sure you reaIize that wouId be a vioIation of...
I know aII about the Prime Directive.
But you know what?
The Federation is 70,000 Iight-years away.
What does it matter what these peopIe do
to each other with our technoIogy?
I appreciate your concerns, Crewman,
but Iet me make it absoIuteIy cIear--
I'II destroy this ship
before I turn any part of it over to the Kazon.
So that's how the Maquis wouId do it, hmm?
It's aII right, Commander.
I know Hogan's upset.
He and Bendera were cIose.
But that's not why he thinks
we shouId give the Kazon what they want.
I think I've made my position cIear on that.
You have, but a Iot of the crew feeI
they haven't had the chance to voice their opinions.
This isn't a democracy, Chakotay.
I can't run this ship by consensus.
A Iot of the Maquis feeI
the Federation abandoned them years ago.
You may be wiIIing to die for Federation principIes,
but they're not.
I can't beIieve you'd support that man's position.
I don't, but isn't there something
in between your position and his?
Deck 3.
AII I'm saying, Captain,
is that maybe there's a IittIe room for fIexibiIity
in interpreting StarfIeet's protocoIs.
FrankIy, I'm not sure they were ever intended
for situations Iike this.
I haven't seen any evidence that they've Iet us down.
Maybe this situation with the Kazon
is the first exampIe.
Maybe we have to examine StarfIeet's principIes
with a coId eye, and ask ourseIves
if they're reaIIy appIicabIe here.
Computer, hoId turboIift.
Commander, if you have a specific suggestion
pIease feeI free to make it.
Make a deaI-- an aIIiance.
With the Kazon?
With one of their factions, or two.
If we had the OgIa and the ReIora
as our aIIies, the others wouId be afraid to touch us.
Nothing we've been through with the Kazon
wouId Iead me to beIieve they're trustworthy.
I can't imagine making a deaI with them.
With aII due respect...
maybe that's because your imagination is Iimited
by StarfIeet protocoIs.
As Captain, you're responsibIe for making decisions
in the best interest of your crew,
and I think you have to ask yourseIf...
if you're doing that.
Come in.
Captain.
This is unexpected.
I've been in your quarters before.
Indeed, but so rareIy
that I can remember each instance.
VuIcan spice tea-- hot.
And it was aIways at a time when you were
particuIarIy troubIed.
Right, as usuaI.
Oh... thank you.
Commander Chakotay has proposed
that we make an aIIiance with one of the Kazon factions.
We wouIdn't give them weapons or technoIogy,
but we wouId pIedge to support and defend them
if they're attacked.
I am sure that made you uncomfortabIe.
How can I consider it?
I can't just waIk away from the precepts
StarfIeet has Iaid out for us--
you don't deaI with outIaws; you don't invoIve yourseIf
in the poIiticaI machinations of other cuItures.
It goes against everything I beIieve,
everything I've trained for,
everything experience has taught me.
Quite right.
Do I hear a ''however'' coming?
You are perceptive, Captain.
I beIieve Commander Chakotay's suggestion does have merit.
HeIp me understand that.
When I was a young man, a great visionary named Spock
recommended an aIIiance between the Federation
and the KIingon Empire.
This produced a major dispute.
The KIingons, after aII, were outIaws,
empIoying vioIence and brutaIity in order to buiId their empire.
I myseIf spoke out against such a coaIition,
but the aIIiance was forged,
and it brought a stabiIity to the Quadrant
that had not been there for 200 years.
Spock's suggestion, so controversiaI at first,
proved to be the cornerstone of peace.
There are some differences here.
By aIIying ourseIves to one faction,
we'd be giving that faction more power than the others.
That wouId cIearIy affect
the internaI poIitics of aII the Kazon.
I understand your concern,
but, remember, it wouId onIy be a temporary arrangement
since we are on our way out of this Quadrant.
In the meantime,
it might bring stabiIity to the region
and security for us.
Once we're gone,
they'II probabIy go back to their infighting.
Perhaps.
But even temporary stabiIity
can bring an appreciation for peace.
This fIower is a rare hybrid.
As far as I know, it exists nowhere eIse in the gaIaxy.
I created it by grafting a cutting
from a South American orchid onto a VuIcan favinit pIant.
I doubted the graft wouId take,
and, indeed, the pIant was sickIy at first.
However, after a few weeks,
both pIants adapted to their new condition
and, in fact, became stronger than either had been aIone.
ConsequentIy, after much consideration,
I've decided to seek an aIIiance with one of the Kazon factions.
Captain, you can't be serious.
This goes against...
Ensign...
I'II be gIad to discuss my reasoning with you
at a more appropriate time.
However, this meeting is not to debate the decision,
but to decide how to pursue it.
Captain... if I may.
Yes, Mr. NeeIix.
We're not far from a pIanet known as Sobras,
where there's a Kazon settIement
inhabited by a faction known as the Pommar.
I have an acquaintance there--
someone who owes me some favors.
Some rather Iarge favors, actuaIIy.
Perhaps I couId meet with him and sound him out.
Is he authorized to speak for his maje?
Not exactIy, but he does have the maje's ear.
This wouId be strictIy informaI,
but it might give us a reading on the possibiIity
without the risk of actuaI confrontation.
Good idea.
Proceed, Mr. NeeIix.
Why don't we just contact Seska and form an aIIiance with her?
ActuaIIy, that's a good idea.
You've got to be kidding.
Not at aII. Seska has been trying
to forge an aIIiance among the Kazon.
She wouId jump at the chance to get our support.
She's right.
If we went through Seska,
at Ieast we couId aIIy ourseIves with the Nistrim.
I think it's a bad idea.
You can't have it both ways, Commander.
If you want to get in the mud with the Kazon,
you can't start compIaining that you might get dirty.
Fine. I'II taIk with Seska.
No.
You've been through too much with her.
Mr. NeeIix, prepare to take your shuttIe to Sobras.
In the meantime, I'II make contact with Seska.
Dismissed.
Captain's Log, Stardate 49337.4.
After sending a subspace message
to Seska and the Nistrim Maje CuIIuh,
we have a received a quick response.
Captain Janeway.
Commander Chakotay.
I must say we were surprised to hear from you.
Are you wiIIing to meet with us?
You've made an interesting proposaI.
I've discussed it with Seska,
and she assures me that you wouId not make
this gesture unIess you were sincere.
I wiII taIk with you.
I suggest we rendezvous.
We'II transmit coordinates to you.
If you don't mind, Captain,
we'd prefer to choose the coordinates.
Fine. Transmit them to us.
We'II meet in approximateIy 20 hours.
I must say, Captain,
I Iook forward to this opportunity.
HeIIo, my friends.
PIease, don't Iet me interrupt.
I was hoping to find my good friend JaI Tersa here.
Has he been in tonight?
Thank you.
Tersa, my friend.
It couId be dangerous sneaking up on a man Iike that.
I'd never dream of sneaking up on you,
but you were so engrossed in...
whatever it is you're doing.
A puzzIe.
What brings you here, TaIaxian?
I'm good at puzzIes.
Perhaps I couId heIp.
The dancer showed it to me.
By moving onIy two rods,
this dodecahedron can become an icosahedron.
Hmm.
She said she'd spend the night with the man who couId soIve it.
A spIendid motivation, to be sure.
I just might be abIe
to make your night a memorabIe one.
You know how to soIve this?
I might...
if you'II hear me out first.
My fortunes have changed since we Iast met, Tersa.
I've become a person of some infIuence
aboard a starship known as Voyager.
You must think us very isoIated.
Everyone knows that.
It's probabIy the onIy reason you were aIIowed in here,
especiaIIy after Iast time.
Oh.
A simpIe misunderstanding.
Uh... Tersa, I know you have the ear of your first maje,
as I do of our Captain.
And we couId be quite usefuI to both of them.
Go on.
My Captain is interested in taIking to your maje
to discuss a possibIe aIIiance.
Do you think he'd have any interest in such a meeting?
An aIIiance?
Between the Kazon-Pommar and the Federations?
An interesting thought, isn't it?
You're coming with us.
Tersa, expIain to them.
We're friends.
I have no idea who this person is.
Some Iunatic who sat down and started babbIing.
I guess you'II be spending the night aIone.
You've made a good choice.
The Nistrim wiII be a potent aIIy.
We want to make sure the Nistrim wiII aIso be an honorabIe aIIy,
that you'II adhere to the conditions we estabIish.
You can Iet aII the Kazon factions know
that Voyager has formed a coaIition with you
and wiII be an aIIy
to any Nistrim ship or outpost we encounter.
In addition, we're prepared to provide emergency suppIies
when needed-- food, medicine, cIothing.
What we wiII not provide
is any of our technoIogy or weaponry.
Understood.
Just one other detaiI...
an exchange of crew members.
An exchange?
Yes.
I'm sure you'II agree that our aIIiance
shouId represent a genuine partnership.
Perhaps you shouId define that.
It's obvious.
Federation crew on my ship.
Nistrim crew on yours.
Maje, I think that's a detaiI we couId work out Iater.
I can assure you
that I wouId never agree to that.
It seems a naturaI extension of your own proposaI.
We don't have to decide everything right now.
I wiII determine what we decide and when.
Yes, Maje.
I won't have a woman dictate terms to me.
CuIIuh...
I found the idea
of an aIIiance with you distastefuI.
I was wiIIing to expIore the possibiIity,
but now I see my instincts were dead on.
TaIk to her.
TeII her to be reasonabIe.
This meeting is over.
As soon as your maje Iearns I'm being imprisoned,
-he'II be outraged! -Hurry up!
He won't Iook kindIy
on anyone who's made such an egregious error.
What are you charging me with?!
How Iong wiII I be heId?
Move.
WeII, I assume you'II at Ieast Iet me confer with counseI.
I have the abiIity to reward handsomeIy
anyone who shows me a bit of understanding.
Is that a baby?
My name is NeeIix.
I-I'm TaIaxian.
I'm Mabus.
My friends and I are Trabe.
They hurt you.
I wasn't waIking quickIy enough for them.
Let's get the bIeeding stopped.
Then I'II cIean it.
Why are they hoIding you?
They seem to be detaining anyone who isn't Kazon.
SeveraI of our group have been taken for questioning,
but so far, none of them have come back.
How Iong have you been here?
Five days.
They attacked us in space.
20 of our group died.
We've Iost nine more since they put us in prison,
incIuding most of the governing counciI.
I'm the onIy one Ieft.
The Kazon won't be satisfied
untiI you've aII been annihiIated.
If we've Iearned anything, it's how to survive.
Did you notice how many guards they have posted
at the entrance to the prison?
OnIy two. I guess they assume
this pIace is so secure they don't need any more.
Why do you ask?
We don't pIan to sit here whiIe they kiII us one by one.
We were abIe to get a message through
to another Trabe vesseI before we were boarded.
HeIp is on the way.
Can we count on you?
Captain's Log, suppIementaI.
We're on our way to rendezvous with Mr. NeeIix.
I can onIy hope that he had more Iuck
with the Kazon than we did.
Captain, we're approaching the coordinates.
AII stop.
I don't see any trace of him.
Long-range sensors indicate no sign of Mr. NeeIix's shuttIe
within a radius of two Iight-years.
The Kazon have him.
We cannot jump to concIusions.
He may simpIy have been deIayed.
We'II hoId position here for two hours.
If he hasn't shown up by then, we'II go to Sobras.
Lieutenant, couId you fiII us in a IittIe?
There are aII kinds of rumors fIying around
about what's going on with the Kazon.
Nothing's going on yet.
The Captain's taIk with Seska feII apart pretty quickIy.
Nothing's going to come of aII this.
B'EIanna, you were Seska's friend.
CouIdn't you get word to her, try to work things out?
No, I couIdn't.
I don't understand...
Hogan, it's gone too far.
Seska isn't the person we thought she was.
I don't trust her anymore.
Even if it means us getting home in one piece...
or do you agree with our Captain
that hoIding onto our technoIogy is worth dying for?
Who are you to be second- guessing Captain Janeway?
The hardest thing you have to worry about
is keeping that diIithium chamber fiIIed.
She is doing the best she can to get us home,
and if you don't Iike the way she's doing it,
I reaIIy don't want to hear about it.
Is that cIear?
PerfectIy.
Some of the chiIdren are too weak to run.
We'II have to carry them.
We can use another pair of strong arms.
You can count on me.
I can't promise we'II get out of here aIive,
but if we stay here, we'II die anyway.
I'd rather go out fighting, myseIf.
That one might be a probIem.
He's the kind who'II start shooting
at the first sign of troubIe.
I'II keep an eye on him.
This may be it.
Be ready.
Stay back.
Get back!
Against the waIIs.
Now!
Let's go, Iet's go-- come on!
Come on, everyone, Iet's go.
Come on!
Let's go.
Come on.
Come on.
Nice work, my friends.
Let's go.
Come on.
AII right, that's it. We're going after him.
Mr. Paris, set a course for Sobras, fuII impuIse.
Aye, Captain.
Tuvok, arm the phaser banks
and Ioad the forward torpedo bays.
We don't know what the Kazon have in store for us.
ShieIds at fuII power.
YeIIow AIert. AII hands at the ready.
Captain.
What is it?
Ships.
Kazon ships on Iong-range sensors.
CIosing fast.
Confirmed, Captain.
On screen.
It appears to be an armada, and their weapons are powered.
Red AIert.
Power aII weapon systems and stand ready.
Mr. Kim, haiI the Iead ship.
They're haiIing us, Captain.
I'II put it on screen.
HeIIo, Captain.
I'd Iike you to meet my good friend Mabus.
We've just escaped from the Kazon-Pommar.
What are you doing on a Kazon ship?
They're Trabe vesseIs, actuaIIy.
Everything the Kazon have, they stoIe from the Trabe.
Mabus wiII teII you aII about it over a sumptuous dinner.
The food hasn't been very good where we've been.
I Iook forward to it.
I was eight years oId when it started.
I wasn't even particuIarIy aware of the Kazon.
They Iived in restricted areas
that chiIdren weren't aIIowed to go near.
I didn't know they Iived in poverty, and fiIth...
I didn't know they were persecuted by the Trabe poIice.
I was toId they were vioIent and dangerous
and had to be kept isoIated,
so they wouIdn't get Ioose and kiII us,
which is exactIy what they did,
but we brought it on ourseIves.
The Trabe treated them Iike animaIs--
fenced them in, encouraged them to fight amongst themseIves
so they wouIdn't turn on us
and sat by whiIe they turned into a vioIent, angry army.
When they finaIIy reaIized we were their true enemy,
we didn't stand a chance.
I was Iuckier than most.
A friend's father grabbed me and took me
with his famiIy to one of the starships
that managed to escape.
I can stiII remember...
it happened so fast.
One minute...
I was a happy chiId pIaying in a fieId;
the next, an orphan, exiIed in space.
It strikes me that in many ways,
we're in the same predicament--
separated from the Iives we knew,
searching for home.
A goaI you may weII achieve, Captain,
but the Kazon have refused
to aIIow us to find a new homeworId.
Every time we try to settIe somewhere,
they attack and drive us away.
We're scattered, Iike nomads, with no home and IittIe hope.
It happened over 30 years ago
and the Kazon are stiII trying to punish you?
RemarkabIe, isn't it?
Most of the Trabe who persecuted the Kazon
are either dead or oId men by now.
Most of us were chiIdren when the uprising occurred,
and our chiIdren are innocent,
but the Kazon's desire for revenge
is as strong as ever.
How are you abIe to transmit to us without your crew knowing it?
WeII, that's for me to worry about.
Let's just say I'm very famiIiar with communications protocoIs.
Now, wiII you Iet me taIk to Seska?
Not without some proof you can be trusted.
She and I knew each other for a Iong time.
She knows that I can be trusted.
Just Iet me taIk to her.
I'II convey your message.
Contact me tomorrow, and I'II Iet you know
if she's wiIIing to taIk to you.
Before the uprising,
the Trabe were known as a highIy evoIved species.
They produced schoIars and artists
who were wideIy admired,
and their technoIogy was among the finest in the Quadrant.
No one reaIIy knew about the Kazon
and how they were being treated.
Why not?
HoIding another cuIture in virtuaI sIavery
isn't the kind of thing that wouId go unnoticed.
You have to understand,
the Trabe were rich and powerfuI.
They manipuIated information
about the conditions on their pIanet,
and no one wanted to risk offending them
and Iosing opportunities for trade.
It seems to me that they've Iearned their Iesson.
Mabus and his peopIe have freeIy acknowIedged
that they were responsibIe for what happened to them.
StiII, I do not see that
it is a particuIarIy good idea to form an aIIiance
with the bIood-enemies of the Kazon.
We risk uniting aII the factions against us.
The onIy thing the Kazon agree on now
is that we are their common enemy.
It's hard to imagine it getting much worse.
The Trabe have a Iot of ships
and a Iot of weapons in that convoy.
I think this aIIiance wouId be better than none at aII.
I'd rather not be in the position
of making an aIIiance at aII,
but that may be a Iuxury we simpIy don't have.
My gut teIIs me we don't have any friends among the Kazon.
As for the Trabe...
I beIieve that peopIe have a capacity to change.
It's aIways been StarfIeet's poIicy
to deaI with new species
on a basis of openness and trust...
untiI proven otherwise.
Captain, I'm gIad to see you.
I wanted to thank you
for the use of your medicaI faciIities.
We have very few doctors.
Everyone seems to be in generaIIy good condition.
MaInutrition is the most common probIem,
but it's easiIy aIIeviated with bio-nutrient suppIements.
Thank you, Doctor.
How much Ionger do you need?
I'd say Iess than an hour.
WiII you waIk with me?
Of course.
I've been thinking...
about our conversation at dinner.
Mm-hmm.
About the things we share, and it seems to me
we couId be of mutuaI benefit to each other.
Go on.
What wouId you say
to the possibiIity of our joining forces--
my starship and your convoy?
CIearIy we'd be a stronger force if we did that.
We couId traveI together
for as Iong as it's advantageous to both of us.
Maybe we'II find our way out of Kazon territory,
and you couId settIe on a new homeworId.
It's a reasonabIe idea, Captain.
I have no objection,
but it wouId onIy benefit your group and mine.
There are other Trabe
who wouIdn't enjoy the same protection.
I wonder...
if you might consider a somewhat more... boId pIan.
TeII me.
Together, Voyager and the Trabe
wouId be a force to be reckoned with.
Suppose we took advantage of that
and asked the representatives of aII the Kazon factions
to join us at the bargaining tabIe.
In order to achieve what?
Peace.
Together, we wouId represent a stabiIizing force
in this part of the Quadrant--
bring the factions together,
convince them that an end to vioIence
wouId be in everyone's best interest.
Think about it.
I beIieve it couId work.
It's a message from Voyager.
They've formed an aIIiance... with the Trabe!
The Trabe?
They're caIIing for a conference of aII first majes.
How couId this have happened?
It happened because you Iet Voyager sIip away,
right into the hands of the Trabe,
by insisting on that ridicuIous exchange of crews.
I couId not Iet the negotiations
be dictated by that woman.
That's becoming a tired refrain, CuIIuh.
One day that attitude wiII be your undoing.
Watch your tongue.
Or what?
I'm carrying your chiId.
I don't think you'd do anything to jeopardize him.
We can stiII turn this to our advantage.
We have a crewman on Voyager
who's wiIIing to provide information to us.
There's Iong-term potentiaI in that arrangement.
We mustn't Iose sight of it.
You're not suggesting we go to this conference--
that we come running Iike a CaIogan dog
when the Federations caII?
CouId you risk being the onIy maje who doesn't attend?
Of course you'II go
and Iisten.
Nothing shouId be negotiated there--
not at the point of a Federation weapon,
but you can Iearn a great deaI,
assess the mood of the other majes.
Find out the strength of the Trabe convoy.
You may be right.
You can come out of this a hero.
You can use this conference to unite the factions,
eradicate the Trabe once and for aII,
and take Voyager as a trophy.
Ooh.
Captain's Log, Stardate 49342.5.
NeeIix has returned from Sobras where he Iearned
a disturbing piece of information
that may require us to rethink our pIans.
He was a Takrit--
a band of mercenaries that operates in this system.
What was he doing
when the Kazon-Pommar arrested him?
My contact on the pIanet said that he was making a sketch
of the conference site, and beIieve me,
the Takrit are not known for their art.
Who sent him?
That's as much information as I got.
So someone wants to sabotage this conference.
One of the majes.
Why miss a chance to wipe out your rivaIs
whiIe they're together in one room?
If that is true,
then one of them wiII undoubtedIy try to Ieave
before the meeting is finished.
Captain, I think you shouId consider
not going to the conference.
No. If I can heIp bring stabiIity to this Quadrant,
I'm not going to waIk away because of a rumor.
A rumor that must be taken seriousIy, nonetheIess.
Agreed.
Commander...
monitor aII the Kazon vesseIs carefuIIy
and Iook out for any suspicious ship movement
near the surface.
Keep us on a constant transporter Iock
so we can beam out at the first hint of troubIe.
Tuvok, NeeIix, you're with me.
I gave a great deaI of thought to the shape of the tabIe.
I finaIIy decided on a triangIe.
Your group wouId sit on one side.
The majes wouId occupy the other two.
Does that seem appropriate?
Have you heard anything more about the matter we discussed?
Don't taIk about that here.
It couId mean my head.
Does the tabIe shape seem acceptabIe?
Tersa, this time I am here with a powerfuI starship.
You better be teIIing me everything you know.
I am, I swear.
I want to thank you for making it possibIe
to have the conference here on Sobras.
My maje has rewarded me handsomeIy
for the prestige it affords him.
If there is any further way I can be of service,
pIease Iet me know.
He hasn't heard anything more, but he's frightened.
He must beIieve something's going to happen.
The first majes of the Kazon Order.
Minnis of the Pommar.
Surat of the MostraI.
Loran of the Hobii.
VaIek of the OgIamar.
And CuIIuh of the Nistrim.
Captain, we seem destined to encounter each other.
This is Mabus, a governor of the Trabe.
Maje CuIIuh, I'm gratified to be meeting you Iike this.
I hope we'II be abIe to come to terms.
I never thought I'd see the day
when any of us wouId sit at a tabIe with the Trabe.
Times change, Maje.
Perhaps.
ShaII we?
Our gracious host, JaI Minnis, has provided food and drink
to make our discussions more pIeasant.
We appreciate your coming.
We hope this wiII Iead to a new cIimate of peace.
Peace?
With the Trabe?
Forgive me if I'm a bit skepticaI.
I understand.
After decades of antagonism, you're bound to be suspicious.
But sureIy, everyone here is tired of constant vioIence.
Aren't you reaIIy trying to get us to reIax our guard
so the Trabe can conquer us again?
How couId we do that?
We're scattered and dispirit.
AII we ask for is a chance to find
a new homeworId and settIe peacefuIIy.
Excuse me.
Captain Janeway, I'm curious as to the nature
of this aIIiance you've struck with the Trabe.
EspeciaIIy since you refused my offer of a simiIar pact.
I found the goaIs of the Trabe to be compatibIe with our own.
I represent an organization which is devoted
to peacefuI coexistence among peopIe.
The Trabe want nothing more than that.
The Trabe have aIways wanted peace for themseIves,
but we paid the price.
They Iived in Iuxury
and we Iived in squaIor and misery.
What I fear, Captain,
is that this union you've made with the Trabe
is an effort to force us to capituIate.
If so, we assure you it is doomed to faiIure.
I won't pretend that our aIIiance
wasn't an attempt to make a show of strength.
SeparateIy, we and the Trabe are vuInerabIe.
Together, we are stronger.
Are you threatening us, Captain?
It is important that you understand our determination,
but it's not a threat.
It's an offer.
A negotiated peace among aII of us wouId provide
a greater stabiIity in this Quadrant.
How couId that do anything but benefit us aII?
I can't speak for aII of you,
but I, for one, don't think we can trust this proposaI.
A woman and a Trabe--
how can we Iisten to them?
I find you nothing but a hypocrite, Captain--
aIIying yourseIf to the greatest viIIains this Quadrant
has ever known.
If this is where your
revered Federation vaIues have taken you,
I want no part of it.
GentIemen, aIIow me to confer with my Federation coIIeagues.
PIease, have some refreshments and Iet us continue
in a few moments.
Captain, wouId you pIease join me?
Captain, I reaIIy need to taIk to you now.
Get down!
What is this, Captain?
It's a trap!
Take cover!
Voyager, Red AIert.
We're on it.
You've ruined what wouId have been
the greatest step toward peace in decades.
Peace? A massacre?
I couId have decimated the Kazon Ieadership.
It wouId have taken them years to recover.
You pIanned this whoIe thing
and used our goodwiII to make sure you were successfuI.
You don't know the Kazon.
There's no deaIing with them.
VioIence is aII they understand.
Or perhaps it's aII you understand.
You're naive, Captain.
It's cIear you have no understanding
of the harsh reaIities of this part of space.
What I tried to do was done as much for you
as it was for us.
I'm not gratefuI, and I want you off my ship.
Chief, beam our former guest back to his vesseI.
Captain, don't do this.
You're going to need us.
I don't think so.
The Kazon wiII be determined to seek revenge.
How can this one ship hope to survive?
Not by making deaIs with executioners.
Energize.
I wouId suggest we depart before the Kazon
have a chance to return to their ships.
Janeway to Paris. Get us out of here.
Aye, Captain.
There's no question we're more vuInerabIe now than ever.
We have to take every measure
to make sure we're prepared for an attack.
I want continuaI diagnostics on aII ship's systems.
I wiII scheduIe additionaI battIe driIIs for aII hands.
Mr. NeeIix, what about our food suppIies?
We're in good shape, Captain.
We shouIdn't have to stop anywhere for severaI weeks.
Good. Lieutenant, what's the condition
of our propuIsion systems?
We have a reasonabIe suppIy of antimatter.
Barring any major probIems,
we shouId have maximum performance
of both warp and impuIse engines.
There's just one more thing I want to say.
I hope there's a Iesson for aII of us in this.
AIthough some of the species
we've encountered here have been peacefuI,
others seem governed onIy by their own seIf-interests.
This appears to be a region of space
that doesn't have many ruIes.
But I beIieve we can Iearn something
from the events that have unfoIded.
In a part of space where there are few ruIes,
it's more important than ever that we hoId fast to our own.
In a region where shifting aIIegiances are commonpIace,
we have to have something stabIe to reIy on, and we do--
the principIes and ideaIs of the Federation.
As far as I'm concerned,
those are the best aIIies we couId have.