"Captain's Log, Stardate 53896." "B'Elanna Torres has requested permission to take the Delta Flyer and search for dilithium." "Shining Voyager, far from home, far from the gleaming cities of Earth." "Headstrong B'Elanna Torres and young Harry Kim speed away from Voyager on the Delta Flyer in search of their treasures." "I've trimmed the sails, but the sea is rough." "Maybe we should return." "I know what I'm doing." "A wave as high as a mountain struck the Delta Flyer." "Get into the escape pod." "We die together." "No one is going to die." "Go." "Young Harry Kim left her side and B'Elanna Torres was thrown against the rocks the rocks of our very shore." "Which is where l, Kelis the Poet, found her... broken... dying." "She told me her story and now I've told you." "An excellent conceit, that you discovered her yourself." "Thank you." "Well, now that B'Elanna Torres has come to our shore, what will happen?" "Does Captain Janeway come searching for her, or does she give her up for lost?" "Who can say?" "Well, I would hope that you can." "I want to see more of these Voyager Eternals." "Inspiration... can't be forced." "One week." "Or three weeks." "Uh, maybe two." "One week." "The story will continue." "Have you noticed how thin my performers have gotten?" "Let them eat this." "Ladies and gentlemen-- our patron salutes you." "Finally!" "We're doing another Voyager play... as soon as I can write it." "Shall we celebrate, the two of us?" "I have very little time." "Celebrating will have to wait." "Who are you?" "!" "Kelis..." "Kelis, the Poet." "Your servant." "My servant." "All right." "Then let me go." "I... can't." "Why not?" "You'll fly from me... the way inspiration always does." "You're trying to kill me." "I'm releasing the heat from your veins." "What are you talking about?" "You've been in a fever since I found you." "Bleeding is the best way to treat it." "Oh, I can see I'm in good hands." "Something tells me you have your doubts." "There's a medkit over there." "A box." "Made out of metal?" "There's a small cylinder inside." "Bring it here." "Give it to me." "Don't be afraid." "It won't hurt you." "Here." "Pass it over where you cut me." "You're an Eternal." "I suppose such things are to be expected." "What other things do you expect from an Eternal?" "The power to make the ground open up and the sky to fall." "All the strange events sung by the ancient poets." "Fortunately for me, no poet has ever sung about your clan." "I'm the first." "My clan?" "The Eternals on Voyager." ""Shining Voyager, far from home."" "How do you know about that?" "Delta Flyer Log, Stardate 53918." "Harry and I are continuing toward the fourth planet." "Sensors have picked up natural dilithium deposits on nearly every land mass." "Acknowledged." "Has your warp core been damaged?" "Yes." "We're running on thrusters." "Can you track our position?" "How long have I been here?" "Eight days." "I was walking through these mountains." "I saw a light burn across the sky, and I heard a terrible sound." "When I arrived, I found you." "I treated your wounds." "And you tied me to this chair." "When a gift falls from the heavens, only a fool would let her go." "You've already given me one play." "The story told by those voices." "I pieced them together, tried to fill in the gaps." "You made a play out of our logs?" "The Away Mission of B'Elanna Torres." "My patron was impressed." "Well, he has great taste." "Now, take that knife of yours and cut me free." "That... would be unwise." "Why?" "My patron is intrigued by the Voyager Eternals." "He wants another play." "To compose that, I need more... details." "And you expect to get them from me?" "I did save your life." "I need to get back to Voyager." "I need another play." "What exactly do you want to know?" "Everything." "It's not possible." "We "Eternals" have our rules." "We can't just..." "give everything away." "How did you get lost?" "Cut me free and I'll tell you." "You won't leave me?" "Cut me free." "You're the one who's leaving." "Don't come back." "Computer, bring the subspace transmitter on line." "Unable to comply." "Why not?" "lnsufficient power." "Great." "Now there's no power." "Are you hungry?" "I told you not to come back." "You haven't eaten in days." "We have to support each other, we poets." "I'm an Engineer." "I fix things." "From the looks of it, you're not doing so well." "Are you a poet or a critic?" "Tell me about Earth." "I have to sing for my supper, huh?" "We all do in one way or another." "Earth." "It's, uh... an island... a beautiful island, blue and green." "And Voyager?" "A-a great ship?" "In a long line of great ships." "How did Voyager get lost?" "The Caretaker." "An Eternal." "Yes, you could say that." "He... caused a storm, which blew us off course." "Tom Paris." "Are you in love with him?" "Supper is over." "Come with me." "This is where we put all the names and dates when our heads won't hold anymore." "A memory." "Exactly." "Tell me... have you ever seen this before?" "Winter's tears." "Can you get me some?" "This is... dilithium, isn't it?" "What you were looking for." "Where can I find it?" "The only deposit I know of is on the hunting grounds of my patron." "He'd execute me for trespassing, and you, well, he'd love to capture an Eternal." "M-maybe I'm more powerful than he is." "Perhaps, but, if he caught you, he'd force you to fight against his enemies." "They're constantly at each other's throats, bickering over territory, raiding each other's land, starting wars whenever they can be guaranteed of good weather and we suffer the consequences." "You don't want to get involved with them." "Which is why you're going to get the dilithium." "I told you, I'd be executed if I'm caught." "The dilithium... or I don't say another word about..." ""shining Voyager, far from home."" "Did you...?" "Don't get caught." "Well?" "Beautiful." "I've got an idea for your next play." "I've been visited by inspiration herself." "How does this sound?" "The Rescue of B'Elanna Torres-- right here, in one week." "One week?" "!" "Let's get to work." "Dismissed." "That's it?" "Mr. Paris, try to stay calm." "No, that's not going to happen." "Isn't there anything else we can do?" "Not until something shows up on sensors." "I'll take a shuttle out myself." "I'll run a planet-by-planet search." "An inefficient plan." "And too dangerous." "You could be hit by the same spatial eddies that sent the Flyer off course." "We need to concentrate our efforts from here, Tom." "All right?" "Dismissed." "Steady-armed Paris, bound by a sleep that brings no rest..." "The door opens and the shadow of a woman falls on the helmsman." "His eyes open..." "Seven of Nine, did you find B'Elanna Torres?" "I'm sorry to disappoint you." "Closer." "Closer." "Unpleasant news, delivered by the most pleasing of messengers." "No, no, no, no." "Seven of Nine is a Borg," "the scourge of the Eternals." "l..." "You're portraying her like a shy bride on her wedding night." "Once more." "Seven of Nine, did you find B'Elanna Torres?" "I am sorry to disappoint you." "I can't blame my performers." "These Eternals on Voyager are difficult to understand." "Will you stop walking around?" "You're going to break something." "This Tuvok, for example." "He's not like anybody I've ever met." "No emotions?" "How's that possible?" "It just is." "It worked?" "It worked." "Okay." "Computer, bring subspace transmitter on line." "What happened?" "!" "I don't know." "The transmitter must have been weakened in the crash." "It couldn't take the energy surge." "These Vulcans..." "Enough!" "What kind of metallurgic technology do you people have?" "Alloys..." "which ones can you make?" "Steel?" "Bronze?" "Bronze." "Bronze, all right." "I need a plate of metal this big, as thin as it can be-- three parts tin to five parts bronze, one side coated with gold." "Gold is expensive;" "I can't afford it." "Then you're going into debt." "Then tell me about the Vulcans." "Get me the plate, and then I'll tell you." "Everyone's asleep." "I'll do it in the morning." "The Vulcans?" "Maybe I've miscounted, but... I don't think you've slept in ten days?" "Your count is accurate." "Don't you think you should go to bed?" "As a Vulcan, I can function without sleep for more than two weeks." "But there's a point of diminishing returns when your mind starts to play tricks on you." "My mind, Mr. Neelix, does not play tricks." "The ship is lonely without them, isn't it?" "If you would allow me to continue my sensor analysis, I might be able to locate them." "If there's anything else you need... a stronger tea, perhaps." "When a friend is lost, the mind is split in half, divided between memory of the past and fear of the future." "Harry Kim, Ensign." "Only a boy when fate took you from the arms of blue-green Earth." "B'Elanna Torres, half-Klingon, half-human." "I am honored to call you..." "What are you doing?" "is that a tear?" "Yes." "Logical Tuvok doesn't cry." "That's why they call him logical." "Everybody cries." "The land of Vulcan has no laughter, and it has no tears." "It is a very quiet place-- calm, just like Tuvok." "I can't believe that." "You don't have to;" "just don't cry." "The audience won't believe it either." "They'll either think Tuvok is an unfeeling monster or that I am a bad performer." "They'll realize that beneath your unfeeling exterior is a heart that's breaking, silently and in more pain than any of us can possibly understand, because that's what it is to be Vulcan." "Try it again." "Kelis!" "What's wrong?" "Our patron has been insulted by his enemy to the north." "The armories are opened." "Has a battlefield been chosen?" "Not yet." "Then we have a chance." "I need your help." "I've given you enough help." "Where's that piece of metal?" "Not bad." "My patron's been angered by the leader of a neighboring state." "He'll want to take revenge." "It could lead to war." "We Eternals aren't supposed to take sides." "I'm not asking you to fight." "I need a way to change his mind." "I don't have that kind of magical power." "Yes, you do." "I believe the right kind of play can turn the mind from violent thoughts." "The perfect play might even stop a war." "I can't fix the transmitter with this." "It has too many impurities." "It'll never carry a plasma charge." "If the fighting starts, scouting parties will start moving through these mountains." "You'll be discovered." "But my play... it could stop it from happening." "You have to help me." "There's nothing I can do." "Then come with me." "I'll show you what I've done so far." "It's our only chance." "She's a fellow poet from across the eastern sea, an expert on the Voyager Eternals." "She's devoted her life to them." "She's here to help." "The Rescue of B'Elanna Torres." "We begin with Harry Kim, reaching Voyager in the escape pod." "He tells Captain Janeway that B'Elanna Torres is lost." "We continue to the point where they discover a piece of the Delta Flyer." "After that... lt's simple." "They search for B'Elanna Torres." "B'Elanna Torres is found..." "Or not found." "Or not found." "The end." "Sounds pretty straightforward to me." "That's exactly the problem." "Where is the mistaken identity?" "The discovery?" "The sudden reversal?" "Mistaken identity-- a character who is someone else." "Discovery-- the moment when that identity is revealed." "Reversal-- a situation that turns from good to bad in a blink of an eye." "Find the truth of your story, and you won't need all those tricks." "I don't know how things are done across the Eastern Sea, but here, poets have become lazy." "They rely on manipulation to move their audience." "It wasn't always that way." "Welcome." "Thank you." "The truth of my story." "It's an old-fashioned idea." "Today audiences want excitement... passion." "Let me show you what I've done with Captain Janeway and Commander Chakotay." "Let's make a good impression on our visitor." "Chakotay, why must I be denied what every other female officer on this ship can have?" "Captain?" "The privilege... of your touch." "Come in." "If that was good news, you'd be smiling." "I was just contacted by an alien transport vessel." "They picked up the Delta Flyer's distress call." "The primary controls are off-line." "I've ordered Harry to eject." "I still have thrusters." "I'm setting a course for an L-Class planet." "I'll try to maintain contact." "They couldn't get a fix on her position." "That was ten days ago." "B'Elanna ordered Harry into an escape pod." "What's the longest he could survive?" "Less than ten days." "An L-Class planet." "I've already narrowed the search parameters." "If B'Elanna made it there, it's possible Harry did, too." "Good night, Commander." "Captain." "We'll have a final rehearsal in the morning." "The last Tuvok scene doesn't make sense to me, and we still don't have an ending." "I've got the rest of the night to work on it." "Maybe you can get some sleep." "What did you think?" "Captain Janeway kissing Commander Chakotay?" "Tom Paris kissing Seven of Nine?" "I don't see the point." "Anger is like fire." "Love can be the rain that extinguishes it." "My patron is filled with hatred for his rival." "So our play should be filled with love." "You can't change somebody's way of life with a few lines of dialogue." "Yes, you can." "It's been done before." "Do you know what this place used to be... a hundred years ago?" "A temple." "And this was the altar stone." "Every year a victim would be sacrificed on it in honor of winter, and then one year-- nobody remembers exactly when or why-- a play took the place of the ritual, and no one had to die here again." "Why can't my play take the place of a war?" "Well, you're going to have to do a lot better than Harry Kim kissing the Delaney sisters." "Why?" "Because... when you think that you are surrounded by enemies, when you're up against the Borg, or... or Species 8472, the last thing on your mind is romance." "You're an Eternal." "You have to help me." "I'm sorry, Kelis." "The Borg... tell me more about them." "They are soldiers, part of a vast army." "They all think the same thoughts and they travel on ships that look like hives." "Like insect colonies." "They even have a queen." "That sounds terrifying." "Captain Janeway hasn't been able to destroy them." "She is a Starfleet officer, trained to avoid violence whenever possible." "She would make peace with the Borg, if she could." "This is what I need... an enemy, someone to stand in the way of Voyager finding B'Elanna Torres. lt..." "Captain Janeway, driven by vengeance must seek out the Queen of the Borg." "The audience thinks she plans to destroy them all, but..." "Go on." "The sudden reversal!" "Eh, Captain Janeway, holding her spear at the queen's throat, throws her weapon aside, and she argues passionately to put an end to their conflict... in words no one will fail to understand." "including your patron?" "That's much better than all that kissing." "Stay and help me." "I still need an ending." "You'll figure something out." "B'Elanna Torres dies tragically." "You wouldn't dare." "I followed you here expecting to find a love nest." "It's quite a nest." "You're no poet from across the sea." "You're an Eternal." "Maybe even B'Elanna Torres herself." "Don't be ridiculous." "Mm." "You know all he thinks about is you?" "We're collaborators, that's all." "If you come to the performance tomorrow night, I'll expose you to the Autarch." "Just leave us alone." "You fix your ship and go." "Please." "Friend of yours?" "Harry?" "Give me a hand." "Here." "Oh, how?" "I ran into some turbulence in the escape pod, decided to turn around and follow your ion trail, landed about 200 kilometers from here." "You walked?" "At night." "I tracked your position with a tricorder and tried to stay hidden during the day." "Uh, I've got some emergency rations left, a phaser, and the escape pod's transmitter, which I didn't have enough power left to run, but..." "Harry Kim saves the day." "Just the ending I was looking for." "Huh?" "The final moment." "The last scene." "More important than anything that's gone before." "But what is it?" "Where is she?" "Your collaborator's probably halfway across the Eastern Sea by now." "She'll be here." "You said we'd have an ending by mid-morning." "We won't have time to learn it." "It'll come to me." "Don't worry." "Want to give it a try?" "Why not?" "The 38th time might be the charm." "It's working!" "The subspace transmitter is on line." "Why don't you do the honors?" "Voyager... this is the Delta Flyer." "Our patron has arrived." "He's not in a very good mood." "He will be." "Not if this is any indication." "Yes." "Kelis, this is no way to end a play." "It doesn't make sense." "It'll have to." "Go, go." "Who are the enemies of Voyager?" "The Borg..." "Species 8472..." "You know where the ridge ends just below the peak?" "Run there as fast as you can." "You'll find a vessel wrecked against the rocks." "Go inside and give this to our friend." "Don't be frightened." "Go." "Tuvok." "Tuvok." "As you were." "Bridge to Chakotay." "Go ahead." "Request permission to be relieved." "Understood." "I'll be right there." "We're picking up a subspace transmission" "Starfleet frequency." "It's a little rough." "Hang on." "...Delta Flyer." "Harry and I are all right." "We're on an L-Class planet." "Propulsion is down..." "Origin?" "5.2 light-years." "F-type star." "Looks like the fourth planet." "Lay in a course... maximum warp." "Seven of Nine." "Captain." "The Delta Flyer has been found... in pieces on a rocky shore." "And B'Elanna Torres?" "No sign of her." "Seven of Nine, you are my eyes and my ears." "If anyone can find her, it is you." "Her eyes and her ears... and the viper in her nest." "I, Seven of Nine, have no intention of finding B'Elanna Torres." "I, Seven of Nine, am Queen of the Borg." "Surprised?" "No one will be more surprised than Janeway when I take my revenge on Voyager." "Say nothing or you, too, will be assimilated." "Captain... I will comply." "My enemies are everywhere... without and within." "Seven of Nine is Queen of the Borg." "Surprised?" "So was I." "Tell her nothing, or I will lose my advantage... and my ship as well." "Are you okay?" "Yes." "We're fine." "Good to hear it." "We'll see you soon." "Don't be afraid." "What is it?" ""Without inspiration..." "B'Elanna Torres will perish."" "He's threatening to kill off B'Elanna." "As the climax to his play." "Let him." "That means... that he still can't figure out the ending." "Uh, who cares?" "!" "I do." "You're serious." "Harry have you ever inspired anybody?" "That's kind of a strange question." "Well, it's been a strange couple of weeks." "He needs me, or he's the one who's going to die on that stage." "What are you talking about?" "The transporter is on line." "Tell the Captain I'll be a little late." "B'Elanna...?" "Wait for my signal." "My death is irrelevant." "You will never see the gleaming cities of Earth." "You will be assimilated." "And if I let you live?" "Also irrelevant." "You don't believe that." "The battle is over." "Go home." "How foolish of you to let me go... free to attack you again." "And again and again, until all your drones and all my crew are destroyed-- until everything we value is gone and there is nothing left... but our hatred." "This final scene will ruin everything that we've done out there." "We'll have to improvise." "It's too late." "No, it's not." "I knew you'd come." "And I told you not to." "Wait!" "Let's go." "Finally, Voyager has reached our shores." "And not a moment too soon." "Kelis the Poet must say good-bye as B'Elanna Torres returns to the Eternals in a dazzling blaze of light." "On a faraway, snow-covered peak..." "No!" "Right here, before your eyes." "Wait." "She's not from across the Eastern Sea." "She's an Eternal." "I'm telling you she's B'Elanna Torres." "The real B'Elanna Torres!" "I saw her ship!" "The lead actress, in a fit of jealousy brands her rival an Eternal." "Our patron rises to his feet to stop the play." "Nicely done." "I almost believed you." "Continue." "Stay." "Voyager needs me." "So do I." "No, you don't." "You have all that you need right here." "I'll be inspired every time I think of you." "One to beam to ascend... to the heavens." "And so ends" "The Rescue of B'Elanna Torres, half-Klingon, B'Elanna Torres, half-human," "B'Elanna Torres, Chief Engineer." "These stories will continue... for as long as we have the breath to tell them and as long as our patrons... remain wise and compassionate." "And Voyager will continue on her journey to the gleaming cities of Earth... where peace reigns... and hatred has no home."