Asylum

Original Airdate: 27 Oct 2022

[Underwater shuttle]

(Mer-people with spears are hunting a whale-type, who in turn is chasing an aqua-shuttle.)
DAL: We gotta stick to the Prime Directive. The poachers can't know we're here saving this thing.
GWYN: This thing is an Aquathawn. And one of the last of her kind. If only they knew their ecosystem depended on it, they'd lower their weapons.
DAL: They're getting awfully close.
GWYN: I see them.
POG: Remind Jankom why we agreed to be fish bait.
DAL: Let me put it this way. When we finally roll into Starfleet, would you rather be known as those kids who stole that starship, or the kids who stupidly tried to make up for it? Ahh! Gwyn! We can't go that way! We can't go. We can't go. We can't go!
DIVINER [Gwyn's memory]: It is a weapon.
POG: What's wrong with her?
DAL: Where are you going?
GWYN: Ahh!
(Swallowed by the Aquathawn.)
POG: You know, Jankom swore he'd never be eaten alive. Again.
DAL: Zero, little help!
(The Aquathawn is beamed up by Protostar.)

[Shuttlebay]

ZERO: Ooh, ah!
ROK: Hi, guys. What you doing in there?
POG: Ah!
JANEWAY: They almost broke the Prime Directive.
DAL: We're happy to be back too, Janeway.
JANEWAY: We're approaching safe waters for her relocation.
POG: Oh, boy, something else is about to relocate. Here comes the chum!
ZERO: What happened down there? Was it another one of your visions?
GWYN: I saw my father. It didn't make any sense. He said, "It is a weapon."
ZERO: A weapon? Like me.
GWYN: It wasn't your fault. You saved me.
ZERO: I will not rest until your memories return.
ROK: Guys, guys, guys! She has babies!
JANEWAY: Then let's get momma home.
(The Aquathawn is beamed down to a pod of her own kind.)

DAL [OC]: Captain's Log 61209.5. It's been weeks since leaving Tars Lamora for good. Saving the unwanted from the Diviner is something we'll always remember. Except Gwyn. After catching a reflection of Zero's true form, her memories are still a blur. Since then, we've been racking up good deeds, hoping Starfleet will look past the fact that we kinda stole their ship. And who knows? If they're as great as Janeway makes them out to be, maybe they'll accept a bunch of kids who don't know where they're going, which would be good to know, since we're just now approaching the closest Federation Comm Relay station in hopes they'll take us in.

[Bridge]

GWYN: So that Relay station is part of the Federation.
ROK: Rolling up in a stolen starship. Not the best first impression. Either they like us, or this will get real awkward.
DAL [OC]: Suddenly, that dream of finding a place where we all can be accepted is actually becoming real. Even I'm starting to believe.

[Ready room]

DAL: Ah, it's too tight.
JANEWAY: It's not too tight. You're just not holding still. There, now you look like Starfleet material.
DAL: Ah. They're gonna see right through me.
JANEWAY: Let them. Because that's how you show them who you truly are.
DAL: And if they don't like who I am?
JANEWAY: Sometimes, the hardest thing is to take a leap of faith.
(Dal hugs Janeway.)
JANEWAY: Well, this is a new experience for a hologram.

[Access tube]

DAL: Is everyone ready?
POG: Maybe this was a bad idea?
ZERO: We just have to put our best foot forward. Starfleet, here we come.

[Relay station]

DAL: Whoa.
ROK: Oh.
DAL: Hello? Anybody home?
POG: New refugees reporting for duty.
GWYN: Nice consoles, but where is everyone?
ROK: I thought there'd be more people, or any people.
FREX: Apologies for my tardiness. Typically, when someone from Starfleet pays a visit to little old me, I get a heads up. Don't get many of you all the way out here. Forgive me. I am Lieutenant Junior Grade Barniss Frex, and welcome to CR721, the Federation's furthest comm relay outpost, or what I like to call The Final Frontier. Strange, usually, that's a guaranteed winner for my fellow Starfleet compatriots.
GWYN: There's something we need to say.
FREX: Oh dear, are they sending me somewhere worse? Where am I going this time? Gamma Quadrant? Oh, not Nimbus Three.
DAL: We're not Starfleet.
FREX: Not Starfleet? Then I suppose they just handed you kiddos uniforms and tossed in a free starship.
POG: We actually stole it.
DAL: Er... b-b-borrowed it.
FREX: Hmm, borrowed it.
ZERO: To escape a place where we were held prisoner.
ROK: We did a lot of good deeds.
DAL: We're practically heroes.
GWYN: And we came here to return the ship and ask for asylum.
ROK: We wanna join Starfleet!
FREX: You are throwing quite a bit at me here. But it sounds like you've come to the right place. Starfleet welcomes all kinds. Let's start with getting you checked into our database. If each of you will just walk under our biometric scanner.
ZERO: Biometric scanner?
FREX: Yep. Just need a simple DNA scan for the entrance paperwork.
POG: First! Not the worst.
FREX: Tellarite. Wouldn't wanna argue with you. Your species is one of the Federation founding members.
POG: Oh-ho-ho. Whoa, whoa, wait. Founding members, you say?
DAL: Ah boy, here we go.
POG: You all hear that? Jankom Pog is royalty.
ROK: Oo, oo, oo, me, me, me! Do me, do me!
FREX: Oh, Brikar. I take it you wanna grow up and be a rock star.
ROK: I wanna be a scientist.
FREX: Thank you for sharing. And what type of science is your specialty?
ROK: I don't know. There's more than one?
GWYN: You won't find me in your system.
FREX: I wouldn't be so sure. We have an extensive... unregistered species.
GWYN: Told ya.
FREX: That was fast. I'd rather not do the paperwork, so we'll just list you as none of the above. Next? Well, I'll be a horta's uncle. A Mellanoid slime worm!
ROX: Oh, a slime worm!
ZERO: I am a Medusan. If you were to lay eyes on me...
FREX: Yeah, yeah, we'd all go mad. Too late for me, being cooped up here. And now, hold on, colourful fella. Let me guess. Sakari. No, Talaxian. No, no, yeah, Talaxian.
DAL: Go ahead and guess all you want. Your scanner isn't gonna find anything. If I had a credit for every time someone thought they could tell me...
FREX: Yep, got a hit.
DAL: It knows what I am?
FREX: Strange, never seen this. Oh. Report to Starfleet Command.
DAL: What? What? What does that mean?
FREX: Don't know, if you want answers, you have to report to Starfleet Command, I guess. Sounds mighty important.
GWYN: They know what you are.
DAL: Oh. Starfleet does have the answer.
FREX: Well, it looks like I won't be the only one who needs time to process all this information. While I finish checking you in, please, make use of everything our fully automated comm station has to offer, and enjoy the Final Frontier.
ZERO: Why does he keep saying that?

[Holodeck]

(A bottle flies through space to christen a starship.)
CHAKOTAY: Captain Janeway. Sorry, Vice Admiral. Still getting used to your promotion.
(Hugs)
JANEWAY: Likewise, Captain Chakotay. After everything we went through, you're really going back to the Delta Quadrant?
CHAKOTAY: This time, the Protostar will get me home in a fraction of the time. And I won't be alone. I'll have your hologram there to advise me.
JANEWAY: I told Starfleet that was the only way they'd get me back out there. Be careful, it's still a long way from home.
CHAKOTAY: If I run into any trouble, you'll be the first one I call.
JANEWAY: Freeze programme. Why didn't you call?
TYSESS: Sorry to interrupt.
JANEWAY: What did you find, Commander Tysess?
TYSESS: Ensign Asencia tracked the Protostar's warp signature to a planetoid in the Carina nebula.
JANEWAY: Good news at last. Tell Asencia to set a course. If you're out there, Chakotay, I'll find you.

[Relay station]

ROK: Hey, Murf! Look at this. How many sciences are there?
COMPUTER: There are currently 196 branches of science. Is there one you would like to know more about?
ROK: I've got my work cut out for me.

[Station sickbay]

ZERO: I have confidence this may aid your recovery. It should be a quick and simple procedure.
GWYN: So this might unlock my memories?
ZERO: This sickbay is far superior to ours. It can't hurt. If you are afraid I will hurt you, then...
GWYN: No, I've just been afraid to ask. My father.
ZERO: Ah.
GWYN: No one ever told me what happened to him.
ZERO: All I will say is, he cannot hurt you any more. Gwyn.
GWYN: No. I want to remember.

[Station mess hall]

POG: You know, on planet Earth, they call this cylindrical meat a hot dog. Food fit for a king.
DAL: All this time, Starfleet knows what I am. And I'm going there.
POG: Correction. You're going with me. Ha-ha. Tellarites got sway.

[Relay station]

FREX: Okay, let's uplink and download your ship logs and make sure everything checks out.
DIVINER [OC]: It is a weapon.
(Screens go red, alarms sound.)
FREX: What kind of starship is this?
ROK: I know, Murf. Something's wrong.

[Station mess hall]

(The replicator starts throwing out hot dogs.)
POG: Ah!
DAL: What's gotten into it?
POG: All you can eat!

[Station sickbay]

ZERO: Strange. Systems aren't responding. Rest there. I will return shortly.
(The doors keep opening and closing. Zero is in the corridor. Gwyn's therapy tube fills with water.)
GWYN: Zero!

[Corridor]

ZERO: Gwyn. Computer, open door.
COMPUTER: Access denied.
ZERO: Oh, everyone to Sickbay!

[Another corridor]

ROK: Where is Sickbay?

[Station sickbay]

(Gwyn is drowning.)
DIVINER [OC]: It is a weapon.
(Rok forces the door. Dal tries to phaser the cylinder.)
DAL: Hang on! It's taking too long!
(Finally she can break free.)
GWYN: Ah!
ZERO: Breathe, breathe.

[Bridge]

JANEWAY: Captain, CR721 is going haywire. What's happening in there?

[Relay station]

DAL: Other than this place trying to kill us, no clue!

[Bridge]

JANEWAY: Get back to the ship now!

[Relay station]

FREX: What did you do to my station? I trusted you.
POG: You think we did this?
FREX: Oh, everything was fine until you arrived.
(The access tube is withdrawn as the station turns its weapons on Protostar, which moves out of range.)
ALL: Our ship! Ahh! Oh, no.
GWYN: Janeway, beam us out of here.
JANEWAY [OC]: Negative, transport emitter's been damaged. Transporter is offline.

[Bridge]

JANEWAY: The weapons on the station are turning against it. Listen to me carefully.

[Relay station]

JANEWAY [OC]: Find the closest escape pod and get out of there.
FREX: Tactical retreat!
(Frex gets to the pod first.)
ROK: Wait! You can't leave us here.
FREX: Sorry. No room for saboteurs.
POG: He took the only escape pod!
GWYN: There's no way off.
ROK: There must be a way.
POG: Oh, boy.
DAL: Sometimes, the hardest thing is to take a leap of faith.
ZERO: You want us to jump? I do not think that option is logically sound.
DAL: In outer space, there is no sound.
ZERO: Your rebuttal is correct but nonsense. Janeway, get the Shuttlebay open. We're coming to you.
POG: Wait. What?
(All in spacesuits.)
ROK: We're jumping?
POG: Oh, don't worry. If we miss the ship, we won't die. We'll just float forever in the infinity of space until we run out of air.
ROK: We get it!
ZERO: Then we must not miss our mark.
DAL: Here we go. Ah! This is it.

[Station hull]

POG: Nope, push the button. Let's go back down and come up with a new plan.
DAL: Okay, it's a lot further than I thought. We jump from there. Keep an eye on the Protostar.
POG: Don't look back, kid.
DAL: There she is.
POG: Oh, boy.
DAL: Rok, what do we do now?
ROK: Me? You're the captain!
DAL: You're our science officer. So... science it!
ROK: Well, the Protostar's orbiting at a different velocity than the station, and there's no resistance in space, so whatever vector we jump to, we hit the Protostar.
POG: Or we float in space forever.
ZERO: The math needs to be precise.
ROK: But... but there's so many variables!
GWYN: We'll follow your lead, Rok.
ROK: Then we jump in ten... wait! What if I misjudged the distance?
ZERO: Eight.
ROK: What if I got the velocity wrong?
ZERO: Six, five, four, three, two, one, now!
(They jump as the station explodes. Shockwaves push them.)

[Space]

POG: Gonna make it. Gonna make it... ROK: Too fast, too fast!
DAL: Ahh!
(And go sailing past Protostar, which then activates a tractor beam.)
DAL: Yes! Yes!
ROK: We did it. We did it!
ZERO: Oh, it's a relief.
ROK: We did it.
POG: Whoo!

[Bridge]

JANEWAY: Easier than catching a space whale.

[Space]

ROK: The math needed to be precise.
DAL: You got us close enough.
ROK: Maybe orbital mechanics isn't my thing.
GWYN: I've never seen anything like it.
JANEWAY [OC]: What would cause a Federation station to tear itself apart?
DIVINER [OC]: It is a weapon. Well, Starfleet will welcome its return with open arms, and it will tear itself apart from within.
ZERO: Gwyn? Gwyn. Gwyn. Gwyn, look at me. What is it?
GWYN: I remember everything.

[Tars Lamora]

JANEWAY: What was the Protostar doing here?
NOUM: I'm detecting a lifeform. Signature is very faint.
ASENCIA: Probably why we didn't detect it from above.
JANEWAY: Chakotay.
NOUM: Gravity's spotty. This place saw a battle.
(Janeway finds a broken comm-badge.)
TYSESS: Admiral.
NOUM: He's in some kind of stasis.
ASENCIA: Who is it?
JANEWAY: Whoever he is, he's alive, and hopefully, he'll have answers.
(It's the Diviner.)

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