“There's a story I heard as a child, a parable, and I never forgot it --
A Scorpion was walking along the bank of a river, wondering how to get to the other side.
Suddenly he saw A Fox.
He asked The Fox to take him on his back across The River. The Fox said, “No. If I do that you'll sting me, and I'll drown.”
The Scorpion assured him, “If I did that, we'd both drown.”
So The Fox thought about it and finally agreed. So The Scorpion climbed up on his back, and The Fox began to swim.
But halfway across The River, The Scorpion stung him. As The Poison filled his veins, The Fox turned to The Scorpion and said “WHY did you DO that? Now you'll drown too.”
“I couldn't help it,” said The Scorpion. “It's My Nature.”
CHAKOTAY:
I'm going to end This Alliance Here and Now.
We're going to drop The Borg off
on the next uninhabited planet,
give them the nanoprobes
and take our chances alone.
They can wait for a Borg ship to pick
Them up and finish The Weapon.
I'm in command now and I have to do what I think is best for This Crew.
Tom, I want you to scan for the nearest uninhabited planet and set a course.
PARIS:
Aye, sir.
TUVOK:
I must caution you, Commander.
The Borg may not go quietly.
CHAKOTAY:
We'll see. Bring that female drone
to the Ready room. Dismissed.
[Ready room]
CHAKOTAY:
Once we've beamed you to the surface,
we'll send down the nanoprobes
and all our research.
SEVEN:
Unacceptable.
We don't have time for
—
CHAKOTAY:
This isn't open for discussion.
I'm not turning This Ship around.
You're getting What You Wanted.
I suggest we part ways amicably.
SEVEN:
There is another option.
We could assimilate your vessel.
CHAKOTAY:
If a single drone steps one millimetre out of that Cargo Bay,
I'll decompress the entire deck.
You won't pose much of A Threat floating in Space.
SEVEN:
When Your Captain first approached Us,
We suspected that an agreement
with humans would prove
impossible to maintain.
You are erratic, conflicted, disorganised.
Every decision is debated, every action questioned.
Every individual entitled to
their own small opinion.
You lack harmony, cohesion, greatness.
It will be your undoing.
CHAKOTAY:
Escort our guest back to the Cargo Bay.
[Sickbay]
(Chakotay briefs his comatose Captain.)
CHAKOTAY:
Well, I've made My Decision.
If it were only a matter of going against the orders of my superior officer.
You're more than just my Captain.
You're my friend.
I hope you'll understand.
[Cargo Bay Two]
BORG [OC]:
Species 8472 has penetrated Matrix zero one zero, grid nineteen.
Eight planets destroyed.
Three hundred twelve vessels disabled.
Four million, six hundred twenty one Borg eliminated.
We must seize control of the Alpha Quadrant vessel,
and take it into the alien realm.
SEVEN:
We understand.
(Seven enters a Jefferies tube.)
[Bridge]
PARIS:
Class H moon.
Oxygen-argon atmosphere.
CHAKOTAY:
It'll do. Take us out of warp
and enter orbit.
PARIS:
Aye, sir.
CHAKOTAY:
Tuvok. Stand by to transport the Borg directly from the Cargo Bay.
After they're on the surface, have security run a sweep of
—
KIM:
I'm reading power fluctuations in the deflector array.
CHAKOTAY:
Cause?
KIM:
It looks like The Borg
have accessed deflector control.
They're trying to realign the emitters.
CHAKOTAY:
Shut them out.
KIM: They've bypassed security protocols.
(A green beam is emitted from the deflector dish.)
TORRES:
We're emitting a resonant graviton beam.
It's creating another singularity.
CHAKOTAY:
Reverse course.
PARIS:
We're fighting intense gravimetric distortion.
I can't break free.
CHAKOTAY:
Bridge to Cargo Bay Two :
Stop what you're doing,
or I'll depressurise that deck and blow you out into Space.
This is your final warning.
Do it!
(Borg drones are expelled from Voyager. Seven manages to hang on in the Jefferies tube.)
TUVOK:
Decompression cycle complete.
KIM:
I still don't have deflector control.
TUVOK:
Commander, A Single Borg
has Survived.
PARIS:
We're being pulled in!
CHAKOTAY: Report.
TUVOK: We appear to have crossed an interdimensional rift.
PARIS:
We've definitely left Our Galaxy.
No stars, no planets.
CHAKOTAY:
Let's see.
(The viewscreen shows a murky brown green expanse.)
TORRES:
I'm re-calibrating sensors.
The entire region is filled with some kind of organic fluid.
This isn't Space. It's matter.
SEVEN :
Commander Chakotay.
We have entered
The Domain of Species 8472.
Report to the Cargo Bay.
CHAKOTAY:
Paris, repressurise Cargo Bay two. Tuvok.
[Cargo Bay Two]
SEVEN:
Our entry into fluidic space has created a compression wave.
They know We're Here.
A fleet of bioships is already converging on our position.
Time to intercept, three hours,
seventeen minutes.
CHAKOTAY:
You've been here before.
How else could you know about fluidic space?
SEVEN:
We must prepare This Ship for The Altercation.
We will construct a complement
of biomolecular warheads.
CHAKOTAY:
Why? Why were you here?
You started This War, didn't you?
What's the matter, Our Galaxy
wasn't big enough for you?
You had to conquer new territory?
But this race fought back.
A species as malevolent as your own.
SEVEN:
Species 8472 was more resistant than we anticipated.
Their technology is biogenically engineered.
It is Superior to that of
all species we have previously encountered.
TUVOK:
Which is precisely what you wanted.
SEVEN:
They are The Apex
of Biological Evolution.
Their assimilation would have greatly added to
Our Own Perfection.
TUVOK:
So instead of assimilating these aliens you opened a door for them to our galaxy.
SEVEN:
There is only one course of action.
Destroy Them first.
My subspace link to The Collective
has been weakened by
the interdimensional rift.
We cannot signal for help.
We are alone.
We must construct a compliment of biomolecular warheads and modify your weapons to launch them.
CHAKOTAY:
I've got a better idea.
Why don't you open that rift again
and take us back?
SEVEN:
If I did that, you will
no longer cooperate.
