Smoke.

Superman :

If I don't stop that machine over The Indian Ocean, the gravity field will continue to expand. 

Lois :

If that thing is making Earth more like Krypton, won't you be weaker around it? 

Superman :

Maybe. I'm not about to let that 

stop me from trying. 

You might want to step back a little bit. 

Maybe a little bit more.

PARIS: 

Who could do this to The Borg? 


(They cruise through the debris field.) 


JANEWAY: 

Someone more powerful than The Borg? 

It's hard to imagine. 


KIM: 

But they did it. Fifteen Cubes! 

We might've just found our ticket through Borg space. An Ally. 


CHAKOTAY: 

Let's not jump to conclusions.

Scan the vicinity for other vessels. 


TUVOK: 

There are none. 


KIM: 

Hold on. I'm picking up 

some sort of bio-readings. 

They're coming from the outer hull 

of one of the Borg ships. 


JANEWAY: 

Let's see it. Magnify, Mister Kim. 


KIM: 

It's definitely organic, but our sensors can't penetrate its surface. 


JANEWAY: 

Send a standard greeting. 


TUVOK: 

No response. 


CHAKOTAY: 

This could be a space-dwelling organism or a biological weapon. 


JANEWAY: 

I'd like to know what kind of weapon 

could destroy the Borg. 

Can we beam it away from the ship? 


KIM: 

I can't get a lock on it. 


CHAKOTAY: 

Tractor beam? 


TUVOK: 

No effect. 


KIM: 

Whatever that thing is, it's 

impervious to our technology. 


JANEWAY: 

Tuvok, are you reading 

an atmosphere in the Cube? 


TUVOK: 

Affirmative. 


JANEWAY: 

Commander Chakotay, I want you to take an away team inside. 

Try to get a short range scan of the biomass. 


TUVOK: 

There are still Borg lifesigns, 

but they're unstable. 


JANEWAY: 

We'll keep an open comlink and an active Transporter lock. 

We'll pull you out of there at the first sign of trouble. 


CHAKOTAY: 

Tuvok, Harry, you're with me.

[Borg Cube]

(The metal creaks, and sparks fly. The away team are armed with phaser rifles.) 


CHAKOTAY: 

This way. 
(A pair of Borg are trying to make repairs.) 


TUVOK: 

Lower your phasers. 

If we don't appear threatening, 

they should ignore us. 


KIM: 

Looks like they're a little preoccupied. 


CHAKOTAY: 

The alien bio-readings are getting stronger. We're close. 


KIM: 

Commander. 


(Kim has found Kes' pile of Borg.) 


TUVOK: 

Curious. 


CHAKOTAY: 

That's not the word I had in mind. 


TUVOK: 

Those bodies are reminiscent 

of one of the premonitions 

Kes described. 


KIM: 

Didn't Kes say we were 

all going to die? 


CHAKOTAY: 

Let's keep moving. 


(They reach their goal.) 


CHAKOTAY: 

It looks like the bio-mass dissolved right through The Borg hull. 


TUVOK: 

This Borg is attempting 

to assimilate it. 


KIM: 

Doesn't look like he's 

having much luck. 


CHAKOTAY: 

There's a chamber beyond this opening. Forty meters wide, high concentrations of antimatter particles. It looks like a warp propulsion system of some kind. 


KIM: 

It's A Ship? 


TUVOK: 

Starfleet has encountered species 

that use organic-based vessels. 

The Breen, for example. 


CHAKOTAY: 

There doesn't seem to be 

anybody on board. 

Chakotay to Voyager. 


JANEWAY [OC]: 

Go ahead, Commander. 


CHAKOTAY: 

Captain, we've found 

an entrance to the biomass. 

We think it may be 

a ship of some kind. 

Permission to go inside.

 
JANEWAY [OC]: 

Granted. 


CHAKOTAY: 

Harry, that's a Borg distribution node. 

See if you can download their tactical database. 

It might contain a record of what happened here. 


KIM: 

Aye, sir. 


CHAKOTAY: 

Tuvok.

[Alien Bioship]

(Lots of curves in stark contrast to the Borg angles.) 


CHAKOTAY: 

They seem to be organic conduits. 

They're carrying electrodynamic fluid. 


TUVOK: 

Maybe an energy source. 


CHAKOTAY: 

Maybe. This looks like a binary matrix, 

but it's laced with neuropeptides. 

Could be their version 

of a computer core. 


(Kim hears some clanging sounds and goes to investigate, then returns to his work.) 


TUVOK: 

This damage was caused 

by a Borg disrupter beam. 

The wall appears to 

be regenerating itself. 

Commander! 


(Tuvok discovers a Borg being absorbed by the wall. Kim finishes the download, then a Borg walks past him. More clanging for Kim to investigate. On Voyager, Kes has a vision of Kim screaming.)

[Sickbay]

(Kes drops the tray she is carrying.) 


EMH: 

Kes? 


KES: 

Harry's in danger. 


EMH: 

What are you 
—

KES: 

Get them out of there. 


EMH: 

Sickbay to Janeway.

[Alien Bioship]

KIM [OC]: 

Commander!

[Borg Cube]

KIM: 

There's someone in here with us 

and it's not The Borg. 

I can't localise it but it's 

within twenty metres. 


TUVOK: 

Perhaps The Pilot has returned. 


JANEWAY [OC]: 

Voyager to away team. 


CHAKOTAY: 

Go ahead.

[Bridge]

JANEWAY: 

Stand by for transport. 

We're getting you out of there. 


CHAKOTAY [OC]: 

Good idea. 


JANEWAY: 

Energise. 


TORRES: 

I can't get a lock on them. 


JANEWAY: 

What's the problem? 


TORRES: 

It looks like bioelectric interference 

from whatever's coming 

toward them.

[Borg Cube]

CHAKOTAY: 

It's within seven metres. 

Let's get out of here!

[Bridge]

JANEWAY: 

Narrow the confinement beam. 


TORRES: 

No effect. I'm going to try a skeletal lock. 


JANEWAY: 

What? 


TORRES: 

I think I can get a clean lock 

on the minerals in their bone tissue. 

I just came up with it, 

but I think it might work.

[Borg Cube]

CHAKOTAY: 

The lifeform's five metres 

away and closing. 


KIM: 

From where? 


(The alien appears. It is bipedal, but walks like a bird, leaning forward. It turns and slashes Kim with its claws. He screams as they are beamed out.)

[Bridge]

TORRES: 

I've got them. 


JANEWAY: 

A skeletal lock, huh? 

We'll have to add that one 

to the Transporter manual. 


PARIS: 

Captain, the bioship is powering up, 

like it's charging some kind of weapon. 


(Kes is given a view of the alien. She stumbles back into Janeway's arms.) 


JANEWAY: 

Mister Paris, get us out of here. 

Maximum warp. 


(They start to move away, then get hit by an energy weapons. The ship tumbles out of control before Paris manages to crawl back to the helm and initiate warp.) 


PARIS: 

The alien ship is not pursuing. 


JANEWAY: 

Kes? 


KES: 

I could hear its thoughts. 

The Pilot of the bioship was trying to 

communicate with me. 

They're a telepathic species. 

I've been aware of them 

for some time now. 

The premonitions. 

Captain, it's not The Borg that 

we should be worried about, 

it's Them. 


JANEWAY: 

What did it say to you? 


KES: 

It said, “The Weak Will Perish.”

Captain's log, stardate 50984.3. 

It's been twelve hours since our confrontation with the alien lifeform. 

There's no sign that we're being pursued and we've had no further encounters with the Borg. 

I've decided to hold our course. 

The Northwest Passage is only one day away, 

and I won't allow fear to undermine this crew's sense of purpose, 

even if that fear is justified.

[Sickbay]

(Kim is being absorbed, just like the Borg on the bioship.) 


EMH: 

The infection is spreading. 

What began with a few stray cells 

contaminating the chest wound 

is now infusing every system 

in his body. 


JANEWAY: 

It looks like he's being transformed in some way. 


EMH: 

Not exactly. 

The alien cells are consuming 

his body from the inside out. 

In essence, Mister Kim 

is being eaten alive. 


JANEWAY: 

He's still conscious, Doctor. 


EMH: 

I tried giving him a sedative, 

but it was rejected immediately. 

In fact, every treatment I've tried has been neutralised within seconds. 

These are alien cells. 

Each one contains more than a hundred times the DNA 

of a human cell. 

It's the most densely coded lifeform 

I've ever seen. Even I would need 

years to decipher it. 


JANEWAY: 

They have an extraordinary immune response. Anything that penetrates the cell membrane, chemical, biological, technological, it's all instantly destroyed. That's why the Borg can't assimilate them. 


EMH: 

Resistance in this case 

is far from futile. 

Nevertheless, I believe Borg technology holds the key to saving Mister Kim. 


JANEWAY: 

How so? 


EMH: 

I hope to unleash an army of modified Borg nanoprobes into his bloodstream, designed to target and eradicate the infection. 

As you know, I've been analysing the nanoprobes. 

They're efficient little assimilators, one can't help but admire the workmanship. 

But they're no match for the alien cells. 

So I successfully dissected a nanoprobe and managed to access its re-coding mechanism. 

I reprogrammed the probe to emit the same electrochemical signatures as the alien cells. 

That way, the probe can do its work without being detected. Observe. 

The alien cells are completely oblivious to probe until it's too late. 

Unfortunately, I've only 

created a few prototypes. 

I'll need several days to modify enough nanoprobes 

to cure Ensign Kim. 


JANEWAY: 

Does Harry have several days? 


EMH: 

I wish I knew. 


JANEWAY: 

Fight it, Harry. 

That's an order.

[Engineering]

TORRES: 

We've analysed the Borg's tactical database. 

They refer to these new aliens 

as Species-8472.