[Infinity]

ZERO: Is this shaking normal?
DAL: We're hurtling through a time hole. Nothing's normal.
POG: Could be worse.
MAJ'EL: Inertial dampers are offline.
DAL: What buttons are you pressing?
MAJ'EL: Preparing for a crash landing.
(They crash, observed.)
MAJ'EL: Is everyone all right?
POG: Don't know. Does almost on fire count?
DAL: At least we're in one piece. Sorta.
ZERO: Voyager, come in. Do you read?
MAJ'EL: I suspect we are no longer in range, or even in the same decade.

[Planet surface]

MAJ'EL: What is this place?
DAL: Solum, pr what's left of it? After Starfleet made first contact, it kinda started a civil war. Guess they didn't like visitors.
ZERO: It's why Gwyn is there now. Or rather, 52 years ago.
POG: Er... didn't Janeway say she was trying to save Chakotay after he launched the Protostar?
DAL: Yeah. Why do you ask?
POG: Cause Jankom's looking at it right now.
ZERO: Oh.

[Bridge]

NOUM: Bad news from the sensor readings. They've gone in too early.
JANEWAY: If they interfere with these events that have already occurred, it could spell disaster. I need answers, people. Initiate subspace scan for trace signatures. I want to know what that sphere was and who was in it. Commander, can you get a read on the Infinity?
TYSESS: All communication has been lost.
JANEWAY: Can we mount a rescue?
TYSESS: The Infinity was the only vessel built to withstand the rigors of the wormhole. It would take weeks.
JANEWAY: Then can anyone at least tell me who just stole our only hope of rescuing Chakotay?
ROK: I tried to stop them. It was an accident. Dal couldn't turn it off.
JANEWAY: Mister Tysess, get me some options. Until then, we're at their mercy.

[Planet surface]

(Trying to repair Infinity.)
MAJ'EL: Dal, we need to stay here.
DAL: No, we need to save Chakotay. He saved us, so we do the same.
ZERO: We can't save him until after he launches the Protostar, or there could be substantial consequences.
POG: Yeah, if the Protostar ain't empty when it hurtles through that mess in the sky, then er... she'll take it from here.
MAJ'EL: Then it never goes to Tars Lamora and your girlfriend is never born.
DAL: Oh, right. Temporal mechanics. But after he sends the Protostar through the wormhole, we save him. And she's not my girlfriend.
ZERO: If these readings are accurate, the Protostar will be set to launch in approximately four hours.
MAJ'EL: Set a timer on your tricorders.
(Maj'el takes the comm-badges, then they take off the uniforms.)
DAL: Hey!
MAJ'EL: We are not from this time. Starfleet's temporal displacement policy states that if we're spotted, they cannot know who we are or why we're here.
DAL: You could have asked first.
POG: Er... We got lifesigns. Coming in fast!
DAL: So much for not being spotted.

[Stardate 61860.1 Council chamber]

ASENCIA: We must find the girl. Gwendala may look Vau N'Akat, but she is our enemy. A puppet to foreign masters.
KATHON: That may be, but we have rejected her. What threat does she pose?
ASENCIA: She is out there spreading lies to our people that threaten the safety of our society, our future.
BOROM: Asencia is right. Poisonous rhetoric is taking root. Ilthuran is missing from the observatory.
ILTHURAN: High Council, I've come to request my voice be given, that our messenger's words be heard.
ASENCIA: Iltharun? You betray us?
KATHON: She may use your voice, Stargazer.
GWYN: Elders of Solum, hear me out. I spoke the truth about a peaceful universe. A universe full of worlds I could call my home, but Solum is the home that I choose.
BOROM: You are not from Solum. You do not know our ways. How could we let an outsider determine our future?
ILTHURAN: She is no outsider. I stand with Gwendala because she... she is my daughter.
GWYN: To prove my origins as a true Vau N'Akat, I challenge Asencia to Va'Lu'Rah.
ASENCIA: Ha! This traitor dares evoke the sacred laws of Solum?
KATHON: The Va'Lu'Rah has been a sovereign ritual for our people from the beginning. If we cannot honour our past, we do not deserve a future. We must let the challenge stand.

[Planet surface]

DAL: It feels just like old times.
POG: I can't believe they confiscated Jankom's Mitt.
MAJ'EL: This does not bode well for us.
ZERO: On the contrary, if we're captured we won't be able to interfere with the key events that need to happen. Chakotay will escape prison to launch the ship, and our past selves will find it on Tars Lamora.
DAL: Escape a prison like this?
ZERO: Oh dear.
(They are put in a forcefield chamber with Chakotay and Adreek-Hu.)
ADREEK-HU: Hmm? Psst. Hey.
(He wakes Chakotay.)
MAJ'EL: Clearly, your optimism of our non-interference was misplaced.
ZERO: How was I to know it would be this prison cell?
POG: Uh-oh. They're walking over here.
DAL: Stick to the plan. Don't reveal anything. Just be quiet. Er... nice... tattoo.
POG: That's the opposite of quiet.
DAL: I was just following my gut.
CHAKOTAY: How'd you get here? We've seen no one but Vau N'Akat for months.
ZERO: Er, we're galactic traders, just minding our business when they commandeered our ship. We'll leave you alone.
POG: Stupid forcefield.
ADREEK-HU: There's no way out. We've tried.
POG: Whatever, bird.
DAL: But... you haven't given up yet, right? I mean, you're still gonna, heh, I don't know, try to get out today? Or tomorrow? Sooner than later.
CHAKOTAY: Are these kids for real?
ADREEK-HU: Thought it might be a trap, but Vau N'Akat are smarter than that.
MAJ'EL: Your tactics are not very subtle.
DAL: He's supposed to be escaping.
ADREEK-HU: No, don't even think about it.
CHAKOTAY: We're all in the same boat. It's not like we can leave them behind. Sometimes you just gotta take a leap of faith. My name is Captain Chakotay of the USS Protostar, and this is my first officer, Adreek. Tell me, can you kids keep a secret? Adreek was able to hide a tricorder before our capture.
POG: Check out the beak on Adreek. Oh, bird pun's not your thing, huh? Got it. Didn't mean to ruffle your feathers.
DAL: So you're gonna use that tri-whatever to disable the forcefield?
CHAKOTAY: They aren't rigged to do that. We've been using it to send distress calls into the anomaly. Maybe they'll get to Starfleet.
ZERO: Starfleet? What's that?
MAJ'EL: Forget it. It does not matter.
ADREEK-HU: It does matter. Those Vau N'Akat put a weapon on our ship that threatens the entire Federation.
CHAKOTAY: The Federation is my home, and Starfleet is my family. If we don't stop this threat...
DAL: Oh, you don't have to explain. We know. Your voice paints a vivid picture.
POG: Jankom doesn't get it. In one hour, that bird needs to be in the air. The ship, not the guy, obviously.
DAL: And they don't look like they're ready to bust out of here. How did the Protostar get back last time?
ZERO: Oh, perhaps it was us who were always here to help them.
MAJ'EL: A curious observation. It would not be the first instance of a causal time loop in Starfleet history. The Bell Riots, the Cochrane Warp Test...
DAL: I don't know what just came out of her mouth, but if we're the ones who are supposed to start this jailbreak, then we gotta figure it out fast.

[Arena]

ASENCIA: Urgh, you're as weak as I remember.
ILTHURAN: I'm not the one you're fighting.
KATHON: So here begins Va'Lu'Rah. We remember when faced with a great barrier, true Vau N'Akat have the strength to overcome. Your heirlooms will remain here. Two shall descend, and the will of your ancestry shall be tested. Only one will emerge the victor, and be embraced as one of our own.
GWYN: What is the test?
BOROM: That is for you to discover.
(The platform descends.)
ASENCIA: Your friends can't help you now.
GWYN: This place... I can feel it. It's the source of our heirlooms.
(Asencia creates a weapon and attacks. Gwyn creates a shield which gets broken. Asencia throws her weapon, Gwen transforms it into one of her own. The platform is still going down.)
ASENCIA: You only delay the inevitable.
(The platform arrives at the bottom.)

[Cell]

(Pog is looking at the tricorder.)
ADREEK-HU: Hey, kid, easy with that thing.
POG: Quit squawking. Jankom knows how to wing it.
CHAKOTAY: If he's the engineer, what are you?
DAL: Isn't it obvious? Captain.
MAJ'EL: He is not a captain, though he does fantasise of becoming one.
DAL: Er... was that really necessary?
MAJ'EL: Vulcans do not lie.
DAL: You know, for a second, I thought your snarkiness reminded me of Gwyn, but you are much, much worse.
POG: Almost got it.
ADREEK-HU: We told you. You can't disable the forcefield.
POG: Jankom Pog politely disagrees.
(He activates his Mitt outside the cell.)
DAL: Nice.
MAJ'EL: This actually worked.
ADREEK-HU: Huh, I was wrong. You can do it.
CHAKOTAY: That's the control room. The red panel disables the forcefield.
(The Mitt encounters a metal scorpion robot that attacks it.)
DAL: No, go left.
MAJ'EL: Go right.
DAL: Left. Fire. Left.
(The Mitt uses its flamethrower, then gets to the panel. The forcefield comes down.)
DAL: Yes.
CHAKOTAY: Nice work, kid. Let's get out of here.
POG: Now Jankom gets to take you apart.
(The scorpion robot is in pieces.)
ZERO: Watch out!
(The guard tries to choose a target, then falls to the ground.)
CHAKOTAY: I didn't realise galactic raiders knew how to Vulcan nerve pinch.
DAL: Vulcan what? That was more of a hand chop. Ha! Everybody does that. Let me get this straight. We only need to get them to the Protostar so they can launch it?
ZERO: Isn't this exciting? Who'd have thought it was always us who helped them send the ship back to Tars Lamora? We should give ourselves a pat on the back. There's a certain assurance knowing what possibly will happen already did happen.
MAJ'EL: Assurance or not, this is not over.
POG: Time to fly the coop. Again, sorry.
CHAKOTAY: You gotta admit, that one was pretty good. Let's move.

[Arena pit]

ASENCIA: You thought you were strong enough to save us from our fate? Ha!
GWYN: You're terrified of a future that hasn't happened, Asencia.
ASENCIA: As long as the outsiders come to Solum, we are destined for civil war. So now I'll ensure that the right side wins.
GWYN: Our people will embrace the greater universe, but not if you poison them with fear.
ASENCIA: I will enjoy watching you perish, just as I did your father.
(Asencia summons up lots of javelins, Gwyn directs them into the wall to make a ladder.)
GWYN: I don't need to fight you to save Solum, only leave you behind.

[By the Protostar]

DAL: Hello again, old friend.
CHAKOTAY: There's too many. We'll have to wait until it clears.
ZERO: Wait? We're running out of time.
ADREEK-HU: You have a better idea?
DAL: We'll go. We'll distract them and you two get to the ship.
CHAKOTAY: That's awfully generous for a pack of galactic raiders.
DAL: You said it yourself. That ship can never reach the Federation. And I'm sure there's others out there like us that'll be grateful we lent a hand. I'd like to think in another time, we could have been friends.
CHAKOTAY: If you ever make it out to the Alpha Quadrant, we could use some heroes like you in Starfleet.
MAJ'EL: They have to go. Now.
CHAKOTAY: Where did you get that tricor...
DAL: She said go. Now!
(The group take some hoverbikes and hassle the Drednoks.)
DAL: Hey, rust buckets! Over here! Look how distracting I am!
POG: You call that a distraction? Check this out.
(Zero uses a laser, then Dal, but it gets shot out of his hand.)
DAL: I think we got their attention. Let's go.
MAJ'EL: Split up and meet back at the Infinity.
CHAKOTAY: Unconventional, but effective.

[Planet surface]

POG: Nailed it!
ZERO: Yes! We lost them.
MAJ'EL: Did we do it?
(Pog snatches the binoculars.)
DAL: Really?
(Sees Adreek-Hu get injured.)
POG: Bird guy!
DAL: He'll be okay. That happened before. Okay, they're at the Protostar. All they have to do is launch it.
POG: And then we swoop in and save them.
ZERO: Everything is playing out as it should.
DAL: Oh, no. That wasn't there before. Who left the disruptor?
(The one Dal dropped is now being used by Chakotay to fend off their attackers as he gets Adreek-Hu to Protostar.)
DAL: Oh no. They're getting onto the ship!
POG: What? On the ship? They aren't supposed to be on it when it launches.
DAL: It's just a small change, right? It can't be that bad, can it?
MAJ'EL: Bad? More like catastrophic.
ZERO: Due to the wormhole's instability, it was sheer chance the Protostar found its way to Tars Lamora, but now that it's piloted... iy, yi.

[Protostar]

CHAKOTAY: Computer, disable autopilot and remodulate temporal shielding.
COMPUTER: Affirmative.
CHAKOTAY: Adreek, set a course out of here.

[Planet surface]

DAL: What have we done?
POG: Oh, what's that angry beeping?

[Infinity]

ZERO: What is it?
MAJ'EL: Chroniton emissions are spiking wildly. Tachyon irregularities unlike anything I've seen.
ZERO: Er...
DAL: And that means?
MAJ'EL: The timeline has been disrupted. Wherever the Protostar went, it did not go to Tars Lamora.
DAL: Gwyn.

[Arena pit]

(Gwyn and Asencia are still trying to climb out of the pit. Gwyn starts fading in and out.)
GWYN: What... what's happening?
ASENCIA: You shouldn't have passed up a chance to kill your enemy. I don't make such mistakes.
(Asencia fires more lances at Gwyn, who is now mostly non-corporeal and falls.)
ASENCIA: Huh?
(Gwyn is caught by heirloom particles.)

[Arena]

KATHON: Attention. Someone's surfacing.
ILTHURAN: Oh, no.

[Arena pit]

(The roof closes.)
GWYN: No! Please!

[Arena]

KATHON: Behold the victor, Asencia. A proven and true Vau N'Akat to lead us unto our greatest future.