(Chakotay and Torres are out of uniform.)
CHAKOTAY: Whatever she wants us for, it better be good. Bridge. I had you right where I wanted you.
TORRES: What are you talking about? I was ahead, nineteen seven.
CHAKOTAY: I was just lulling you into a false sense of security.
TORRES: Sure you were.
CHAKOTAY: I'll win the next couple of points, then you'll start to tense up.
TORRES: I do not tense up.
CHAKOTAY: Easy, B'Elanna. It's only hoverball.

[Bridge]

CHAKOTAY: You wanted to see us, Captain?
JANEWAY: Yes, Commander. We've picked up an intriguing transmission.
TUVOK: I have a source on the signal.
JANEWAY: A ship?
TUVOK: Negative. It appears to be a beacon of some kind.
CHAKOTAY: A beacon?
TUVOK: We are being hailed by someone using a Federation signal.
TORRES: How could someone be transmitting a Federation signal from the Delta quadrant?
PARIS: Maybe Starfleet found a way to get a probe here. Maybe they're looking for us.
JANEWAY: I'd like to believe that too, but let's not jump to conclusions.
CHAKOTAY: See if you can authenticate the signal.
TUVOK: The carrier wave frequency does correspond to standard Starfleet security codes.
JANEWAY: As of when?
TUVOK: According to the encryption key, this particular code was not scheduled for implementation until stardate 48423.
KIM: That's a month after we left Deep Space Nine. They must be looking for us.
JANEWAY: Your optimism may be premature, Mister Kim.
KIM: Sorry, Captain.
JANEWAY: But it's also infectious. Mister Paris, lay in a course for the beacon.
PARIS: Yes, ma'am.
(Later, at a purple nebula.)
PARIS: We're approaching the beacon's coordinates, Captain.
KIM: It's drifted inside an ionised hydrogen cloud. The cloud's interfering with our sensor readings.
JANEWAY: Can you get any information from the beacon?
KIM: I'm afraid not. Should I beam it aboard?
CHAKOTAY: I'd advise against bringing it on board before we've gotten a look at it, even if it is emitting a Federation signal.
JANEWAY: Agreed. And I don't want to fly blindly into a hydrogen cloud, either. Mister Tuvok, tractor the probe into sensor range.
TUVOK: Aye, Captain. Targeting scanners locked. Initiating tractor beam.
(Boom!)
JANEWAY: Report.
TUVOK: We are taking fire from inside the cloud.
JANEWAY: Source?
TUVOK: Unknown.
JANEWAY: Battle stations.
TUVOK: A Kazon raider is closing at one five eight mark nine.
JANEWAY: Hail them, Mister Kim.
KIM: They're not responding, Captain.
JANEWAY: Warp three, Mister Paris. Get us out of here.
PARIS: Aye. (Boom!) Warp engines are offline, Captain.
JANEWAY: Initiate evasive pattern omega three. Mister Tuvok, return fire.
TUVOK: Aye, Captain.
KIM: Kazon ship is in pursuit.
TUVOK: An opening is forming in the starboard shields, seventy two centimetres in diameter.
JANEWAY: See if you can close it, Commander. Try rotating the shield harmonics.
TUVOK: They are continuously matching their weapons frequency to our shield frequency.
JANEWAY: How the hell can they do that?
CHAKOTAY: I don't know.
TUVOK: The diameter of the opening has widened to approximately two metres.
CHAKOTAY: Set the shield harmonics to rotate continuously.
TUVOK: Aye, Commander. Diameter of the opening is now approximately four metres.
CHAKOTAY: It's as if they know our access codes.
TUVOK: Captain, I am picking up a smaller vessel emerging from the hydrogen cloud. It is heading directly toward the opening in our shields.
JANEWAY: All hands, brace for impact.
(The little vessel zooms straight for the place the bigger ship is shooting at. Big bang!)
COMPUTER: Warning. Hull breach on deck four, Cargo bay two.
TUVOK: Structural integrity is at fifty percent and dropping. The hull is starting to buckle.
JANEWAY: We are losing life support on deck four.
TUVOK: I am trying to initiate an emergency containment field. However, the collision has caused a power failure on deck four.
KIM: Rerouting power to compensate.
TUVOK: Containment field activated.
COMPUTER: Warning. Intruder alert in Cargo Bay two.
JANEWAY: Mister Tuvok.
TUVOK: Tuvok to Security. Meet me outside Cargo Bay two.
SECURITY [OC]: Aye, sir.

[Cargo bay]

(Three Kazon get out of the shuttle.)
TUVOK: Drop your weapons.
(One Kazon gets shot, the other two blast out of the cargo bay into Voyager.)

[Bridge]

PARIS: It's no use. We're not going anywhere with that shuttle sticking out of our side. It's totally destabilising our warp field.
CHAKOTAY: Mister Kim, did you reroute power to Transporter room two?
KIM: No, sir.
CHAKOTAY: Bridge to Tuvok.

[Cargo bay]

TUVOK: Tuvok here.
CHAKOTAY [OC]: There may be intruders in Transporter Room two.
TUVOK: I'm on my way.

[Transporter room]

(The remaining two Kazon take a module from a wall panel then beam out just as Tuvok enters.)
TUVOK: Tuvok to Bridge.
JANEWAY [OC]: Go ahead.
TUVOK: The Kazon have beamed away, Captain, and they've taken one of our transporter modules with them.

[Bridge]

JANEWAY: Can you lock onto the module and beam it back?
TUVOK [OC]: Not at the moment. As soon as the Kazon dematerialised

[Transporter room]

TUVOK: We lost all transporter power.

[Bridge]

JANEWAY: Mister Chakotay, lock a tractor beam onto their ship. They're not leaving with that module.
CHAKOTAY: Aye, Captain.
KIM: The Kazon are powering their warp engines, Captain.
JANEWAY: Make it fast, Commander.
CHAKOTAY: Engaging tractor beam. I've got them, Captain.
KIM: The Kazon ship is hailing us.
JANEWAY: Suddenly they want to talk. On screen.
CULLUH [on viewscreen]: Captain Janeway, First Maje Culluh of the Kazon-Nistrim.
JANEWAY: I remember you, Culluh. That transporter module you just stole was specifically designed for our ship. You'll never be able to integrate it into your systems.
CULLUH [on viewscreen]: I've had some help updating our technology since we last met.
(Culluh gestures, and a Cardassian woman steps into view.)
JANEWAY: Seska.
SESKA [on viewscreen]: That's right, Captain. As you can see, I'm in the process of restoring my Cardassian physiology. Hello, Chakotay.
CHAKOTAY: I should have known you were involved.
SESKA [on viewscreen]: Yes, you should have. Just like I knew you'd try to stop us with a tractor beam. You've always been so predictable.
KIM: Captain, their deflector shields are creative a feedback loop. It's neutralising the tractor emitter.
CHAKOTAY: Attempting to compensate.
SESKA [on viewscreen]: Goodbye, Chakotay. Lovely to see you again.
KIM: It's too late. They've gone to warp.

[Cargo bay]

(Torres climbs out of the Kazon shuttle.)
TORRES: They modified the bow to puncture our hull.
NEELIX: I've never seen the Kazon do anything like this before.
TUVOK: Until now, the Kazon have never had an advisor with Cardassian, Maquis and Starfleet tactical experience.
KIM: The question is, how do we dislodge it without losing structural integrity? With power down, our containment fields are already extremely unstable.
TORRES: We'll have to reroute additional power to the containment field and tow their shuttle out with one of our own. Then we can repair the breach. The shields and the warp drive will have to wait.
JANEWAY: Warp drive isn't going to do us much good with this knife stuck in our belly. Get it out fast. We don't want the Kazon to put too much distance between us.
NEELIX: Forgive me, Captain, but are you sure going after the Nistrim is the wisest course of action after what they've already done to us?
JANEWAY: Let me make something very clear. The Nistrim are in possession of Federation technology. That is an unacceptable situation.
NEELIX: Even though all they've stolen is a small computer component?
JANEWAY: That small component has the potential to cause vast problems in this quadrant. You're our resident expert on the Kazon. What do you think the other sects will do when they realise the Nistrim have transporter capabilities?
NEELIX: They'll try to get it for themselves any way they can. You're right. It could alter the balance of power among the sects.
JANEWAY: Exactly. And it is our duty to do everything we can, no matter how dangerous, to stop that from happening.
NEELIX: You can count on me, Captain.
CHAKOTAY: From the look of these sensor readings, Seska wants us to come after her.
JANEWAY: Commander.
CHAKOTAY: I think Seska's leading us into another trap. She masterminded a precision raid that made us look like first year Academy students, but she left a warp trail for us to follow. After such a flawless performance, why would she suddenly made that kind of mistake?
JANEWAY: You think she wants more than the transporter. Are you suggesting we don't follow her?
CHAKOTAY: No, I agree with everything you said about preventing the spread of our technology. But conventional tactics aren't going to work with Seska. We'll need to come at her with a few surprises of our own.
JANEWAY: I'm open to suggestions.
TUVOK: Perhaps Commander Chakotay could use his intimate knowledge of Seska to manipulate her in much the same way she manipulated us.

[Kazon briefing room]

CULLUH: It can move people great distances in the blink of an eye, Haron. But this transporter is only the beginning.
HARON: Go on, I'm listening.
CULLUH: There is a ship filled with new technology. Devices that can make food, water, even weapons appear out of thin air. A computer system which uses neural tissue that can react twice as fast as ours.
HARON: Very interesting, Culluh, but what does all this have to do with me?
CULLUH: That ship is on its way here. Help us and we can divide the spoils.

[Engineering]

TORRES: The module Seska stole contains a quantum resonance oscillator. So, we modify this coil scanner to detect the oscillator, then we get close enough to beam it back.
CHAKOTAY: I'm betting Seska's figured out a way to shield the module from our transporters. We might have to destroy it instead.
TORRES: How do we do that?
CHAKOTAY: We borrow a trick from Seska's book. Remember how we disabled the computer core on the Cardassian frigate orbiting Bajor?
TORRES: Seska modified an anti-proton beam to penetrate its shields and hull.
CHAKOTAY: Exactly.
TORRES: But if I remember correctly, the beam was only effective from an extremely close range. How do we get near enough to the Nistrim ship?
CHAKOTAY: One thing at a time.
TORRES: You're taking this all very personally, aren't you?
CHAKOTAY: Why shouldn't I?
TORRES: You're not responsible for what happened.
CHAKOTAY: Oh no? I let her join the Maquis. I took her into my confidence. I even got intimately involved with her.
TORRES: So you have lousy taste in women. Look, Chakotay, she fooled us all. She was my best friend. Or at least, that's what I thought.
CHAKOTAY: Well, I for one, am through being manipulated by her.
TORRES: Are you sure? Because she's affecting you. That's just where she wants you. Don't tense up.
CHAKOTAY: So now I'm getting advice about controlling my emotions from you.

[Kazon briefing room]

HARON: Our sects have been blood enemies for generations, and yet now you ask for my help to defeat this Voyager. Why not simply do it yourselves? I'll tell you why. Because the Nistrim are weak and the Relora are strong. Your grandfather's time has passed, Culluh. You've presided over the demise of your own sect, whittled away your strength
CULLUH: Enough! You may have ships and soldiers, but I have the technology.
HARON: And I congratulate you on the daring and cunning of your raid. Now, why don't you give me this transporter technology, assuming it's authentic, and let the Relora do what we do best? When we have defeated the Voyager, we will not forget the Nistrim's assistance.
CULLUH: You think I'm a fool? I won't hand this technology over to you.
HARON: Then perhaps we will have to take it.
(The two Majes point weapons at each other.)
SESKA: Why don't we let the Maje go back to his ship while we consider his offer.
HARON: Listen to your woman, Culluh.

[Bridge]

PARIS: Picking up a gap in the Nistrim's warp trail, Captain.
JANEWAY: All stop. Let's take a look.
KIM: Captain, I've got some floating debris at bearing three one nine mark four.
JANEWAY: On screen. What is it?
KIM: I'm not sure yet.
JANEWAY: Magnify.
(Two Kazon bodies.)

[Sickbay]

EMH: I'm detecting a residual transporter signature. There is no doubt that this man and his unfortunate companion were beamed into space.
KES: And according to these readings, they were alive at the time, Captain.
JANEWAY: It looks like Seska's already adapted the transporter module into the Kazon's systems and started experimenting with it.
EMH: Her early trials appear to have been less than successful.
NEELIX: I'm not so sure these men died by accident, Captain. You see this green band he's wearing? It means he was the First Maje of the Kazon-Relora.
JANEWAY: Relora?
NEELIX: Sworn enemies of the Nistrim. It's conceivable that Seska and Culluh used the transporter to execute these men.

Captain's log, stardate 49208.5. I have convened a meeting of the senior staff to determine how we can get close enough to the Nistrim ship to deploy the anti-proton beam.

[Briefing room]

JANEWAY: Where's Chakotay?
TORRES: He was in Engineering helping me modify the coil scanner. He said he'd be right up.
JANEWAY: Janeway to Chakotay. Computer, locate Commander Chakotay.
COMPUTER: Commander Chakotay is not aboard the ship.

[Shuttlecraft]

(Chakotay plugs the coil scanner into the shuttlecraft sensors.)
CHAKOTAY: Computer, when will we intercept the Kazon vessel?
COMPUTER: Approximately thirty minutes.

[Corridor]

JANEWAY: What I want to know, Mister Tuvok, is how he was able to get a shuttlecraft off this ship without either of us knowing about it.
TUVOK: Apparently he was able to override the lockout command.
JANEWAY: I guess Seska's not the only one who knows how to compromise our security systems.
TUVOK: I assure you, Captain, it will not happen again.
JANEWAY: See that it doesn't. Did Chakotay leave any clue about what he's up to?

[Engineering]

TUVOK: I have accessed his personal logs, but there is no reference to his leaving Voyager.
JANEWAY: I guess he was in too big a hurry to leave a note.
TORRES: The coil scanner was right here. He must've taken it with him.
JANEWAY: Then I guess it's pretty clear he's going after Seska.
TORRES: Looks like that.
JANEWAY: You were working with him, Lieutenant. Did he say anything to you?
TORRES: Just that he thought he felt responsible for Seska and was determined to stop her. But I never thought he would try to do this alone.
JANEWAY: How big a head start does he have?
TUVOK: Approximately three hours.
JANEWAY: Janeway to conn.
PARIS [OC]: Paris here, Captain.
JANEWAY: Lay in a pursuit course for Commander Chakotay's shuttlecraft. Maximum impulse.
PARIS [OC]: Acknowledged.
JANEWAY: And Mister Tuvok, I want a complete review of all security protocols on this ship by twenty two hundred hours.
TUVOK: Aye, Captain.

[Kazon bridge]

CULLUH: You said the Relora would join us. I should never have listened to you.
SESKA: I was wrong. I'm sorry.
CULLUH: Kazon sects do not help one another.
SESKA: Don't be so sure about that. What did you do to the two men who refused your offer?
CULLUH: I killed them.
SESKA: Yes. And by doing that, you sent a message. The Kazon-Nistrim are powerful again. First Maje Jal Culluh has technology that no other sect possesses. Join with him, or suffer the consequences.
CULLUH: Maybe the mistake was to approach the Relora. They're already strong. But the transporter may be enough to convince the Hobii to join me. And perhaps the Mostral.
SESKA: Yes. And with a few more ships, you can defeat Voyager. And when you have the rest of their technology, the other sects will have no choice but to fall into line. That's why I sent a subspace message to the Mostral, the Hobii and the Oglamar.
CULLUH: You did what?
SESKA: I told them about the transporter, asked them to help us take Voyager.
CULLUH: You have gone too far.
SESKA: I sent the messages in your name.
CULLUH: I am the leader of this sect. You are only a woman.
SESKA: I'm sorry, Culluh.
CULLUH: You'll address me as Maje.
SESKA: Yes. Maje. Please, forgive me.
CULLUH: So, how did the other sects respond to my request?
SESKA: They're on their way to join us.
CULLUH: I could do what no one has done since Jal Sankur united the sects to overthrow the Trabe.
SESKA: Yes, Maje.
CULLUH: I could have hundreds of ships and thousands of soldiers under my command.
SESKA: Yes, Maje.
CULLUH: I could be the most powerful Kazon in the quadrant.
SESKA: Yes, Maje.

[Ready room]

JANEWAY: Come in.
TORRES: Do you have a minute, Captain? It's about Chakotay.
JANEWAY: That's not exactly my favourite subject right now, Lieutenant.
TORRES: Well, I thought that maybe I could explain
JANEWAY: Explain what? Why my First Officer publicly defied my authority by commandeering a shuttle without permission?
TORRES: I know it was never his intention to defy you. He respects your authority.
JANEWAY: But?
TORRES: But he's a very proud man. And he's been embarrassed by Seska.
JANEWAY: What Seska did, she did to all of us. Frankly, I find it more than a little self-indulgent of Chakotay to assume this is all about him.
TORRES: He never said it to me directly but, I think he was in love with her. And then he found out that everything he knew about her was a lie. You said that he publicly defied your authority. Can you imagine what it must have been like for someone as private as Chakotay to be publicly humiliated by someone he loved? And then, as if that weren't enough, she came back to taunt him in front of the entire Bridge crew.
JANEWAY: I'm sure it was very painful for him. But what you're saying is, he's got a personal score to settle.
TORRES: That's only part of it. I know Chakotay. This is his way of taking responsibility. In his mind, he's trying to protect the rest of us from a dangerous situation which he created.
JANEWAY: Maybe. But that doesn't give him the privilege of ignoring this ship's chain of command.
TORRES: I know that. It's just that Chakotay would never tell you any of this himself.
JANEWAY: And, assuming we get him back in one piece, you want to make sure I take his personal feelings into account before I decide how to discipline him.
TORRES: I know that you're well within your rights to throw him into the brig, but, well
JANEWAY: Chakotay is lucky to have such a good friend. I'll tell you what. Why don't we deal with getting him back in one piece first? We can worry about the discipline later.
TORRES: Thank you.

[Shuttlecraft]

CHAKOTAY: Computer, when will we enter the Kazon vessel scanner range?
COMPUTER: Approximately six minutes.
CHAKOTAY: Reduce power to maneuvering thrusters, and life support to five percent. Cut all power to other systems.

[Kazon bridge]

SESKA: The Mostral should be here in less than twenty hours. The Hobii in fifteen.
CULLUH: Come look at this. Intermittent EM readings?
SESKA: I don't think so.

[Shuttlecraft]

(Chakotay has glided up to the Kazon hull.)
CHAKOTAY: Computer, initiate continuous scans for the transporter oscillator.
COMPUTER: Initiating scans.

[Kazon bridge]

SESKA: Those aren't normal fluctuations. They're energy spikes from manoeuvring thrusters. Probably a shuttle running shadow manoeuvres. He knows our scanners can't pinpoint energy readings that low.
CULLUH: Who?
SESKA: Maybe we can resonate a coherent polaron pulse off his hull. Get a lock on him that way. Initiate a continuous stream of pulses from the lateral deflectors.
KAZON CREWMAN: Maje?

[Shuttlecraft]

CHAKOTAY: Come on, Seska. Where did you hide that module?
(Flashes of green light fill the shuttlecraft.)

[Kazon bridge]

SESKA: There you are. Open a channel.
CULLUH: To whom?
SESKA: Just transmit on wideband subspace. He'll hear me.

[Shuttlecraft]

CHAKOTAY: Come on, find it!
SESKA [OC]: Hello Chakotay. Very clever manoeuvring, but I'm not about to let you ruin all my hard work.

[Kazon bridge]

SESKA: Deploy a spread of photonic charges centred on coordinates one two four by two one seven. Twenty percent nominal yield.
CULLUH: That won't be enough.
SESKA: We want that shuttle intact.

[Shuttlecraft]

CHAKOTAY: Gotcha! (boom) Computer, power the anti-proton generator.
COMPUTER: Generator ready.
CHAKOTAY: Target a concentrated beam to these coordinates.
COMPUTER: Beam targeted.
CHAKOTAY: Initiate.
COMPUTER: The generator is offline.
CHAKOTAY: Great. Computer, launch the automated message beacon.
COMPUTER: Beacon launched.
CHAKOTAY: Now take the inertial dampers offline.

[Kazon bridge]

SESKA: He's lost control of the shuttle. We have him.
CULLUH: Lock the towing emitter onto his vessel and bring him into the main hangar.

[Shuttlecraft]

(Three Kazon enter the shuttlecraft.)
CULLUH [OC]: Culluh calling Seska.
SESKA: This is Seska.
CULLUH [OC]: He's not here.
SESKA: He must've transported aboard. (to Kazon) Find him!
CHAKOTAY: I'm right here.
(Chakotay phasers the transporter unit, then uses his comm. badge.)
CHAKOTAY: Activate the message beacon. Lovely to see you again.
(He surrenders his phaser to Seska.)

[Bridge]

TUVOK: Captain, I'm detecting a Federation beacon at bearing zero five seven mark seven two.
KIM: This one's definitely ours, Starfleet issue.
JANEWAY: All stop.
TUVOK: The beacon is transmitting an automated message. It is from Commander Chakotay.
JANEWAY: On screen.
CHAKOTAY [on viewscreen]: To Voyager. If this signal has been activated, it means that I have destroyed the Nistrim's transporter capabilities. Captain, I apologise for acting without authorisation, but I ask you not to put the ship or crew in further jeopardy by attempting to rescue me. It's unlikely that I'm still alive. Chakotay to Voyager. If this signal has been activated

[Kazon ship]

(Chakotay is dragged into a small room and has his hands fastened behind his back. He has a nasty cut on his forehead.)
SESKA: You can go.
CHAKOTAY: I see the Nistrim take orders from you now.
SESKA: Let's just say I'm in a position of some influence. Which is fortunate for you. Culluh wanted to execute you immediately, but I convinced him that you'd be a valuable prisoner, and that I should be the one to interrogate you.
CHAKOTAY: Lucky me.
SESKA: Would you like a drink? The Kazon word for this is enemy's blood. It's not exactly fine cognac, but I've developed a taste for it. Try some.
CHAKOTAY: No, thanks.
SESKA: You know, I've got to hand it to you. I thought all these months answering to Janeway would have made you soft, but all you needed was a little slap in the face to get that Maquis heart of yours beating again. Here's to old times.
CHAKOTAY: I have no interest in reminiscing with you. I destroyed the transporter module. The game's over.
SESKA: What do I need with a single transporter module when I've got your shuttle and all its technology sitting in our hangar?
CHAKOTAY: I think you'll find that technology useless. I wiped the computer core before I transported.
SESKA: I should have anticipated that.
CHAKOTAY: So if you're going to have me killed, just do it.
SESKA: You're still the noble one, aren't you? Ready to die for your shipmates. You know, Chakotay, I may not have the transporter anymore, but I've got something better. You. Maybe that's all I really wanted. I've missed you.
CHAKOTAY: You can't possibly believe that you and I could still
SESKA: Don't flatter yourself. It was never that good. You might have been an interesting diversion now and then, but I've always been less interested in you than in the information you could provide me with. First you gave me your Maquis secrets, and now I want Voyager's command codes.
CHAKOTAY: If you think I'm going to give you those codes, you don't know me as well as you think you do.
SESKA: Maybe not. But for old time's sake, I'll let you in on a little secret. There are half a dozen ships from other Kazon sects on the way here right now. They're joining us to help take Voyager.
CHAKOTAY: Why are you telling me this?
SESKA: I'm not a monster. I still care about Torres and some of the others. I don't want to see anybody get hurt. I never did.
CHAKOTAY: I'm touched.
SESKA: These Kazon aren't as reasonable as you and I. I'm going to have to use all of my influence to make sure they don't kill you all. But you've got to give me something to work with.
CHAKOTAY: Voyager's not coming. I left them explicit instructions not to follow me, so you can stop worrying about people getting hurt.
SESKA: They'll come. They'd never leave their First Officer in the hands of the Kazon. You may not give me the command codes, but when Culluh gets through with you, you'll wish you had.

[Briefing room]

TUVOK: The message appears to be authentic, Captain.
TORRES: We've got to go get him.
TUVOK: Commander Chakotay has expressly requested that we not attempt to do so.
TORRES: We don't have to honour that request. Captain?
TUVOK: If a rescue attempt forces us to engage the Kazon, there is always a possibility that more of our technology will fall into their hands.
KIM [OC]: Kim to the Captain. I'm picking up several vessels converging on the Nistrim's location.
JANEWAY: My gut tells me we should go after Chakotay. But my better judgment tells me we should honour his request.
TORRES: I would never want you to ignore your judgment, Captain, but let me ask you this. In your judgment, how would the loss of our First Officer affect this crew? What would it do to the morale on this ship? Maybe this is an instance when your gut is giving you better advice.
JANEWAY: Janeway to conn.
PARIS [OC]: Paris here.
JANEWAY: Resume a course for Chakotay's shuttle.
PARIS [OC]: Aye, Captain.

[Kazon ship]

(Culluh is slapping Chakotay around.)
CULLUH: I'm losing patience, Federation.
SESKA: Just tell him what he needs to know.
CHAKOTAY: She's quite a woman, isn't she? Does she rub your shoulders and tell you you're the most exciting man she's ever known? That's what she used to do for me. What's a matter? Didn't she tell you about us?
CULLUH: Stop playing games and give me the command codes.
CHAKOTAY: Flattery, devotion, sex. I always thought she had a lot to offer a man.
CULLUH: You talk too much, Federation, but you're not telling me what I need to know.
CHAKOTAY: You're wrong, Culluh. I'm telling you exactly what you need to know. She's using you.
CULLUH: I'm the one who's using her.
CHAKOTAY: You've done an even better job on him than you did on me.
CULLUH: You talk to me, not to her.
CHAKOTAY: Then what's she doing here? Watching you work? She used to like to watch me work, too.
CULLUH: I don't believe a word you're saying, so you can stop trying to distract me now and start answering questions.
CHAKOTAY: You know one thing I especially liked? The little mole on her stomach. I guess you've seen it.
CULLUH: I'm through wasting my strength on you.
(A Kazon injects Chakotay.)
CULLUH: Now, give me the command codes.
CHAKOTAY: I'll give you something better.
CULLUH: What?
CHAKOTAY: First hand information.
CULLUH: Go ahead.
CHAKOTAY: When Seska's through with you, she's going to kill you.
SESKA: He's delirious. He doesn't know what he's saying. Give him some time.
CULLUH: I'll be back in one hour. For his sake, he better be more cooperative.
(The two Kazon leave. Seska swaps the hypo for a much larger needle.)
SESKA: Very clever ploy, Chakotay. But you know I'm not a killer. If I were, you'd have been dead a long time ago.
(Seska extracts material from Chakotay's cervical spine.)

[Bridge]

TUVOK: I have located the Nistrim vessel on long-range sensors. Distance, point four light years. However, they are not alone. There are now at least six other Kazon ships in the immediate vicinity.
JANEWAY: I didn't think Culluh had that many ships.
NEELIX: They must belong to enemy sects.
TUVOK: That may be so, but the ships have not powered their weapons systems.
JANEWAY: What do you make of it, Neelix?
NEELIX: It's certainly unusual for rival Kazon sects to congregate peacefully.
JANEWAY: Is it possible the Nistrim have formed an alliance with other sects?
NEELIX: I've never known the Kazon to do anything like that before.
TUVOK: If the Nistrim have added six ships to their force, it would be tactically unwise to engage them.
JANEWAY: Then we'll just have to find a way of getting Chakotay out of there without picking a fight.
TORRES: We can transport him out.
TUVOK: We would have to slow down once within transporter range, giving the Kazon ample time to open fire.
TORRES: Not necessarily. We could beam him out at warp speed without even slowing down. The Kazon would never be able to catch us.
KIM: That's difficult enough when both ships are travelling at warp. The Kazon ship's not even moving.
TORRES: I can compensate for that.
JANEWAY: How?
TORRES: By synchronising the transporter's annular confinement beam to the warp core frequency.
KIM: Maybe, but at a relative speed of two billion kilometers per second, it's pretty tough to get a lock on somebody.
TUVOK: Ensign Kim is correct. We would risk scrambling his transporter signal and killing him. It would be a direct violation of Starfleet's safety protocols.
TORRES: Do you have a better idea? Trust me, Captain. I can do it.
JANEWAY: How can you be so sure?
TORRES: Because I've done it before. When you're a Maquis, you don't always have the luxury of following protocols.

[Kazon briefing room]

CULLUH: Ah, Jal Surat of the Mostral. May I present Jal Loran of the Hobii, and Jal Valek of the Oglamar.
SURAT: We've met before, in battle.
CULLUH: Please, Jal Surat, sit down. Today is the day Kazon children will remember for generations. Today is the day we put aside our differences and join forces to defeat Voyager. Today is the day that marks the end of the supremacy of the Relora and the Ogla, because after today, we will have the Federation technology. And the other sects will run when they see us.
SURAT: That's a fine speech, Culluh, but what makes you think Voyager won't use this technology to defeat us?
CULLUH: Because I have Voyager's command codes.
SURAT: I have heard what you did to the Relora Maje and his companion. Very impressive. But before I make an enemy of these Federations, I want proof that you have their command codes.
CULLUH: May I present Commander Chakotay, Voyager's First Officer.

[Bridge]

PARIS: Sixty seconds to transporter range, Captain.
JANEWAY: Bridge to Torres. Have you located Chakotay?

[Transporter room]

TORRES: I'm reading Kazon life signs but still no Chakotay.

[Bridge]

TUVOK: Captain, I must remind you that we have no direct evidence the Commander is still alive or if he is, that he is still aboard that ship.
JANEWAY: I'm not conceding that yet. Can you give me anything, B'Elanna?

[Transporter room]

TORRES: I'm picking up some kind of localised dampening field. It's blocking our targeting scanners.

[Bridge]

JANEWAY: Maybe Seska's found a way to hide Chakotay from us.

[Transporter room]

TORRES: You may be right. I've got reinitialise the targeting scanners to much the relative phase of the dampening field. I've found him, Captain.

[Bridge]

TORRES [OC]: He's still alive.
JANEWAY: Can you get him out of there?
TORRES [OC]: The dampening field is disrupting

[Transporter room]

TORRES: Our transporter signal. I can't get a lock on him.

[Bridge]

JANEWAY: Red alert. Mister Paris, take us out of warp.

[Kazon briefing room]

(The Kazon ship also goes to red alert.)
SESKA: It's Voyager.
SURAT: Well, Culluh, what are you waiting for? Use the command codes to disable them.
CULLUH: Bridge, this is First Maje Culluh. Lock weapons onto the Federation ship and fire.

[Bridge]

JANEWAY: Mister Paris, evasive pattern Delta four. Mister Tuvok, return fire.
TUVOK: Firing phasers.
JANEWAY: Bridge to Torres. Can you transport Chakotay?

[Transporter room]

TORRES: I'm matching the pattern buffer frequency to the Kazon dampening field.
JANEWAY [OC]: Make it fast.
TORRES: I've got a lock. Initiating transport.

[Bridge]

JANEWAY: Do you have him, B'Elanna?

[Transporter room]

TORRES: I had him for a second, but they've remodulated the dampening field.
JANEWAY [OC]: Can you compensate?
TORRES: I'm trying, but I need more time.

[Bridge]

JANEWAY: We'll try to hold them off, but we don't have long. Mister Tuvok, phasers to maximum. Let's give them a little distraction.

[Kazon briefing room]

SURAT: Why are you allowing them to continue firing?
CULLUH: It's taking longer than I thought to interface with their systems. You must order your ships to provide cover.
SURAT: I hope you know what you're doing.

[Bridge]

TUVOK: The other Kazon vessels have opened fire.
JANEWAY: Mister Paris, evasive pattern omega two.
PARIS: Aye, Captain.
JANEWAY: Bridge to Torres. You're going to have to hurry it up down there.

[Transporter room]

JANEWAY [OC]: We can't hold them off much longer.
TORRES: I'm doing the best I can.

[Kazon briefing room]

SURAT: We're losing patience, Culluh.
CULLUH: Where are you going?
SESKA: To the bridge. I might have better luck interfacing with Voyager's systems from there.
CULLUH: I'll go with you.
SURAT: You'll stay right here.

[Bridge]

TUVOK: Aft shields down to twenty three percent, Captain.
JANEWAY: Bridge to Torres. Can you transport Chakotay out or not?

[Transporter room]

TORRES: They've put the dampening field on some kind of randomly fluctuating modulation. It'll take me at least an hour to match the phase variances.

[Bridge]

TUVOK: Shields to sixteen percent. Captain, we must retreat.
JANEWAY: Lieutenant, just how localised is that dampening field?
TORRES [OC]: A little more than

[Transporter room]

TORRES: Two metres in diameter. Just enough to isolate Chakotay. Why?

[Bridge]

JANEWAY: I think I've got an idea.

[Kazon briefing room]

SURAT: I don't think you ever had those command codes. I think you're a liar!
CULLUH: What does it matter? If we work together, we don't need the command codes to beat them.
SURAT: You're right. We can beat them. But we're going to do it without you. We're taking your ship.
(All the occupants of the room are beamed out, except for Chakotay.)

[Transporter room]

TUVOK: Please stay where you are. You will find that our transporters have rendered your weapons useless.
SURAT: I will make you very sorry for this, Culluh.
TUVOK: Here are the terms, gentlemen. The safe return of our First Officer and shuttlecraft in exchange for your freedom. I presume you will find that an acceptable arrangement.

Captain's log, stardate 49211.5. Now that Commander Chakotay has made a full recovery, I'm faced with the difficult task of responding to his failure to follow procedure.

[Ready room]

JANEWAY: Just tell me one thing. What were you thinking?
CHAKOTAY: About keeping our technology out of Kazon hands. I thought if I did it on my own, I could keep the rest of the crew out of danger.
JANEWAY: That may be a very noble sentiment, but it wasn't your decision to make. Oh, Chakotay. We've spent the last ten months together on this ship. I thought we had an understanding. Why did you choose to ignore procedure?
CHAKOTAY: Seska was my problem, a problem I felt it was my duty to solve.
JANEWAY: So you had a personal score to settle.
CHAKOTAY: I thought I was doing the right thing.
JANEWAY: Really? Tell me this. How do you expect me to keep order when the First Officer takes it upon himself to run off like some cowboy because he decides it's a good idea? What you did was commendable. The way you did it was not. You set a terrible example. And on a personal level, you've made my job more difficult.
CHAKOTAY: If that's so, I regret it.
JANEWAY: I'm putting you on report, in case that means anything anymore.
CHAKOTAY: It means something to me, Captain. It means I've let you down, and for that I'm truly sorry.
TUVOK [OC]: Bridge to Ready room.
JANEWAY: Go ahead, Mister Tuvok.
TUVOK [OC]: I think you and Commander Chakotay should come in here.
JANEWAY: On our way.

[Bridge]

TUVOK: I have located an automated message beacon, Captain.
JANEWAY: Another one?
TUVOK: It is a message to Commander Chakotay from Seska.
JANEWAY: Would you like Mister Kim to put it through to your office?
CHAKOTAY: No. I think I've spent enough time alone with Seska.
JANEWAY: Very well. Put it on screen.
SESKA: Hello, Chakotay. Congratulations on your victory. I look forward to our next meeting. Oh, and there's something you should know. While you were unconscious, I took the liberty of extracting a sample of your DNA. I impregnated myself with it. So, I guess more congratulations are in order. You're going to be a father.