SEVEN: Ensign Kim. I require your assistance in Jefferies tube thirty seven alpha.
KIM: Well, can it wait? I just got off duty.
SEVEN: It is urgent.

[Tuvok's quarters]

(Tuvok is woken by the comms.)
CREWWOMAN [OC]: Bridge to Commander Tuvok.
TUVOK: Tuvok here.
CREWWOMAN [OC]: You're needed on the bridge, sir.
TUVOK: On my way.

[Mess hall]

JANEWAY: Computer, lights on.
(Nothing happens.)
JANEWAY: Neelix? Is anybody here?

[Shuttlecraft]

CHAKOTAY [OC]: Voyager to Lieutenant Paris.
PARIS: Paris here.
CHAKOTAY [OC]: How's it going out there, Tom?
PARIS: One more orbit and I should have all the data we need.
CHAKOTAY [OC]: Good work. See you when you get back. Chakotay out.

[Corridor]

(Tuvok is walking along. People are avoiding looking at him.)
TUVOK: Crewman. Ensign.
CREWWOMAN: Sir.
ENSIGN: Hello, sir.

[Jefferies tube]

KIM: It looks to me like you aligned the power couplings perfectly.
SEVEN: I did.
KIM: If you're so sure then why'd you need me to look at them?
SEVEN: I did not.
KIM: Then what's this all about?
SEVEN: I've learned from observing Lieutenants Torres and Paris that humans sometimes require a pretext for being intimate with one another.
KIM: Intimate.
SEVEN: Resistance is futile.
(Seven pushes Kim against the bulkhead and kisses him.)

[Shuttlecraft]

(Something explodes behind Paris' seat.)
PARIS: Paris to Voyager.
CHAKOTAY [OC]: Voyager here.
PARIS: My primary warp manifold just ruptured. I've lost helm control. Auxiliary power is offline. Thruster's won't respond.
CHAKOTAY [OC]: Say again, Tom. Your signal's breaking up.
PARIS: My orbit's decaying. I don't think I can hold it.
CHAKOTAY [OC]: Repeat that, Tom.
PARIS: I need an emergency beam-out!
CHAKOTAY [OC]: Voyager to Lieutenant Paris. Come in.

[Mess hall]

JANEWAY: Neelix?
(Neelix comes out of the galley.)
NEELIX: What can I do for you, Captain?
JANEWAY: Where is everybody?
NEELIX: Didn't you see them when you came in?
JANEWAY: No.
NEELIX: Take a look. Computer, activate lights.
(The lights illuminate a group of cobwebbed corpses sitting at a long table.)

[Bridge]

TUVOK: Lieutenant Commander Tuvok reporting for duty.
(The entire senior staff are there. They turn around and their jaws drop, then they start laughing.)
TUVOK: Is something wrong?
PARIS: I think you forgot something, Tuvok.
(Tuvok looks down at his chocolate brown body.)
TUVOK: It appears that in my haste to report to the bridge, I neglected to put on my uniform.
(Tuvok goes into the turbolift, where he sees an alien with a high crest along its skull and a curved tooth sticking out of its chin.)

[Mess hall]

JANEWAY: What happened to them?
NEELIX: They died.
JANEWAY: Why?
NEELIX: You didn't get them home in time.
(An alien is there, too.
As Paris struggles with the shuttlecraft, an alien appears outside the window.
When Seven stops kissing Kim, he sees an alien and screams, but doesn't wake up, unlike Tuvok and Janeway and Paris.)

[Paris's quarters]

(Paris is putting on his dressing gown when the doorbell chimes.)
PARIS: Hello.
TORRES: Good morning. Sleep well?
PARIS: Not really. What are you doing here?
TORRES: I just thought I'd stop by and ask you why you didn't meet me for breakfast.
PARIS: Breakfast. What time is it?
TORRES: Seven forty.
PARIS: And we were supposed to meet at oh seven hundred.
TORRES: I was there. Right after I got off the night shift. I waited, and I waited, and I called you on the comm.
PARIS: I, er, I didn't hear you. I was having this wild nightmare. I was out like a light. I'm sorry. I'll get dressed right now.
TORRES: You don't have time. You're due on the bridge at oh eight hundred and I've got to get some sleep.
PARIS: I hate this! We never see each other.
TORRES: I'm off Friday night.
PARIS: Great. Let's go skiing. How about Saint Moritz?
TORRES: We went skiing last time.
PARIS: And you loved it. You're getting really good, you know.
TORRES: I just thought maybe we could run a programme where the wind chill factor wasn't thirty below zero. Like Fiji, or Samoa.
PARIS: There's nothing to do there.
TORRES: And you can be warm while you're not doing it.
PARIS: How about a compromise? Er, spring skiing in Chile? Much warmer.
TORRES: A compromise? How about Tahiti?
PARIS: Tahiti. As long as I can go water-skiing, fine.
TORRES: You're on. (they kiss) Now go get dressed, so you'll still have some time to stop for some coffee.
PARIS: I'll see you Friday night.

[Mess hall]

NEELIX: Morning, Tom. What'll it be? Scrambled? Sunny side up? Over easy?
PARIS: Just a cup of coffee.
NEELIX: Are you sure? Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, you know.
PARIS: Neelix.
NEELIX: Right.
(Neelix pours the drink. Paris tastes it. It is awful.)
PARIS: Neelix, did you have a rough night or something?
NEELIX: Why do you ask?
PARIS: Because you just poured me a steaming cup of cooking oil.
NEELIX: Actually I did have a little trouble sleeping last night. Nightmares.
PARIS: Oh. Me too.
NEELIX: Must have been those three full moons we passed yesterday. Well, a few sips of my coffee should clear the fuzz out of your brain.
PARIS: Maybe you should pour yourself a cup while you're at it.

[Bridge]

JANEWAY: We seem to be a little short-handed today.
CHAKOTAY: Tom and Harry are both late. I was going to give them another five minutes but I'll call them now if you'd like.
JANEWAY: That's all right. I'm a little late myself, aren't I.
CHAKOTAY: I wasn't going to mention it. Burning the midnight oil?
JANEWAY: Actually, I went to bed early for a change, but I had a nightmare and I could not get back to sleep.
CHAKOTAY: I had a bad dream last night, too.
JANEWAY: You tell me yours and I'll tell you mine.
PARIS: Sorry I'm late, Captain.
JANEWAY: Well?
CHAKOTAY: I was in the forest with my father. We were hunting deer, which was odd because that was something I always refused to do. We cornered the animal. I looked to my father to see if he was going to kill it but he wasn't my father anymore. He was a vicious looking alien.
JANEWAY: There was an alien in my dream, too. And it wasn't from any race I've seen before. He had sharp ridges on his forehead and on the front of his neck.
CHAKOTAY: That's what mine looked like.
PARIS: I don't mean to be eavesdropping but, I had a nightmare last night too, and I'm pretty sure I saw the same guy.
JANEWAY: Tuvok, by any chance did you have a bad dream last night?
TUVOK: I did have a somewhat unsettling dream, yes. It involved a alien with ridges on his face and neck.
JANEWAY: I'd say this sounds like more than a coincidence. Let's get the rest of the senior staff together and come up with some answers. Which reminds me, where's Harry?
CHAKOTAY: Bridge to Ensign Kim.
JANEWAY: Computer, locate Ensign Kim.
COMPUTER: Ensign Kim is in his quarters.
JANEWAY: Tuvok.

[Turbolift]

JANEWAY: Deck six. I've got a hunch Harry's dreaming about our new alien friend.
TUVOK: That would be consistent with the experience the rest of us have had.
JANEWAY: Tell me more about your dream. Where exactly did you see the alien?
TUVOK: As a matter of fact it was here in the turbolift.
JANEWAY: What happened?
TUVOK: The alien simply stared at me as if scrutinising my appearance.
JANEWAY: That's what happened in my dream. What did you do?
TUVOK: I returned to my quarters.
JANEWAY: Did the alien follow you?
TUVOK: He did.
JANEWAY: And then?
TUVOK: He watched me.
JANEWAY: Doing what?
TUVOK: Getting dressed.
JANEWAY: Getting dressed?
TUVOK: Yes.
JANEWAY: I don't suppose I should ask why you were undressed.
TUVOK: I would prefer that you didn't.

[Outside Kim's quarters]

JANEWAY: Harry? Harry!
TUVOK: Computer, open door one zero five dash two. Security clearance Tuvok zeta nine.

[Kim's quarters]

(Kim is in bed, not moving.)
JANEWAY: Harry? Harry, wake up!

[Sickbay]

(Kim is not the only sound sleeper on board.)
JANEWAY: Are they comatose?
EMH: Not exactly. They all appear to be in a hyper REM state. I've tried every conventional method of waking them, from drugs to direct cortical stimulation, but nothing works.
JANEWAY: Do you have any idea what's causing this?
EMH: Scans haven't detected any viral or bacterial agents. No cranial trauma, no neural disorders. They're simply asleep.
JANEWAY: I'd say it's a pretty good bet that this is somehow related to the alien from our dreams.
EMH: Any progress in identifying him?
JANEWAY: Not yet, but I've got everyone working on it. In the meantime, what's your recommendation?.
EMH: Large doses of animazine.
JANEWAY: I thought you said drugs weren't working.
EMH: Not for them. For everybody else. Until I can determine what's happening, I'd suggest the rest of you avoid going to sleep.

[Briefing room]

(The e-fit of their suspect is in progress.)
PARIS: I'd say his ridges were a little more pronounced.
TORRES: Computer, increase facial ridge height by four centimetres.
PARIS: That's closer.
CHAKOTAY: I think his eyes were wider apart.
TORRES: Computer, increase the space between the eyes by three centimetres. Increase skin colour and texture.
JANEWAY: That's him.
CHAKOTAY: Has anybody seen this species before? While you were awake, I mean. Seven?
SEVEN: He doesn't resemble any species assimilated by the Borg.
PARIS: So is he just a figment of our imagination?
TORRES: If he is, we've all been imagining the exact same thing.
TUVOK: One possible explanation is that he's attempting to make telepathic contact.
JANEWAY: He's doing more than making contact. We've got six crewmembers who can't wake up. For all we know it's some sort of attack.
SEVEN: From where? Astrometric scans haven't revealed any ships in this vicinity, or planets capable of sustaining humanoid life.
PARIS: So where do we look?
CHAKOTAY: In our dreams. That's the only place any of us have seen him, right? So if we want to communicate with him, find out what he wants, we'll have to do it on his terms.
TUVOK: How do you propose we do that?
CHAKOTAY: Lucid dreaming.
TORRES: What's that?
CHAKOTAY: It's a technique which allows you to take control of your dream.
PARIS: That happened to me once. I dreamt I was falling and suddenly I realised that I was dreaming, and I could fly, land, do whatever I wanted. I was in complete control of the dream.
CHAKOTAY: What happened to you by accident is something some people can do by design. I've been able to have a lucid dream by using the same technology I use for a vision quest. I may be able to use it to communicate with this alien.
JANEWAY: Maybe so, but how do we know you'd be able to wake up again?
CHAKOTAY: It's kind of like self-hypnosis. Before I go to sleep, I choose a visual cue, something to let me know I'm dreaming. Earth's moon, say. Once I see it, I can wake myself by tapping the back of my hand three times.
TUVOK: Perhaps you are capable of doing this under normal circumstances, but these were hardly conventional dreams we experienced.
CHAKOTAY: I don't see any other way of finding out what our friend here is after, or how we can wake up Harry and the others. Besides, we can't stay awake forever.
JANEWAY: You'll do this in Sickbay, under the Doctor's supervision. The rest of you keep scanning the region. Analyse this ship from stem to stern. Wherever he is, find him.

[Sickbay]

EMH: Normally I consider a good night's sleep an important part of any health regimen, but in this case, I can't recommend it.
CHAKOTAY: I respect your medical opinion, Doctor, but at this point we're out of options.
(The EMH puts a blinkie on Chakotay's forehead.)
EMH: This will regulate your hypothalamus, but in all probability I won't be able to wake you. You'll be on your own.
CHAKOTAY: I understand.
JANEWAY: Ready? Pleasant dreams.
(Chakotay activates his akoonah.)
CHAKOTAY: Ah-koo-chee-moya. Far from the sacred places of my grandfathers, far from the bones of my people, I seek to sleep, to meet the one who has visited us in our dreams.
(Chakotay finds himself walking along a corridor carrying a spear with a stone tip. A deer crosses in front of him and runs into the mess hall. Chakotay follows, spear ready to throw.)

[Mess hall]

(Earth's moon is visible through the windows. The other doors open to reveal the deer, which then morphs into the alien. He knocks the spear from Chakotay's hand and gets his hands round his throat. Chakotay manages to push him off and pin his arms.)
CHAKOTAY: I know this is a dream. My dream. I'm in control.
DREAM ALIEN: You're mistaken.
CHAKOTAY: Am I?
DREAM ALIEN: This is more than a dream. It's my reality. And you're no different than the others.
CHAKOTAY: The others?
DREAM ALIEN: The waking species. For centuries, you've come and found us in a state that you call sleep and tried to destroy us. But not anymore. Now we are in control. One by one, you will fall asleep and enter our reality, where it is you who will be destroyed.
CHAKOTAY: We didn't attack you. We didn't even know you existed until we started seeing you in our dreams. Tell me how I can wake my crew and I promise we'll leave.
DREAM ALIEN: As long as you're asleep, you're no threat to us.
CHAKOTAY: I can wake myself anytime I want. And if I do, I'm going to start looking for you in the waking world. Find where you're sleeping. You wouldn't want that.
DREAM ALIEN: Leave our space. Once you're beyond it, your people will awaken.
CHAKOTAY: Just tell me how far we need to go.
DREAM ALIEN: There's a six planet system less than a parsec away. It marks the nearest border of our space.
CHAKOTAY: We can be past it in one day.
DREAM ALIEN: Then wake yourself, and pray you never dream of us again.
(Chakotay taps the back of his hand three times.)

[Sickbay]

EMH: Congratulations, Commander. You're awake.
JANEWAY: Chakotay?
CHAKOTAY: I'm fine.
JANEWAY: The alien, did you see him? And?
CHAKOTAY: Well, it was certainly one of the most interesting away missions I've ever been on. I'll tell you about it on the way to the bridge.

[Bridge]

JANEWAY: Tuvok, scan for a six planet system. It should be less than a parsec from here.
TUVOK: I have it, Captain, at coordinates one three nine mark four two.
JANEWAY: Tom, lay in a course.
PARIS: Aye, Captain. Course laid it. Do you mind if I ask where we're heading?
CHAKOTAY: Past the alien's territory. Once we're clear of it, Harry and the others should wake up.
PARIS: And the rest of us can finally get some sleep.
JANEWAY: One step at a time, Tom.
CHAKOTAY: From what the alien told me it sounds like they have corporeal form but they communicate through their dreams. For them, it's as real as the waking world.
JANEWAY: Extraordinary.
CHAKOTAY: It reminds me of the Australian aborigines. They believed the dream world was no more or less real than the waking world. In fact, their creation mythology says their ancestors actually dreamed the universe into existence.
JANEWAY: That's mythology. This seems to be fact.
CHAKOTAY: I wonder, do they ever wake up? How did they evolve this way?
JANEWAY: We may never know. Sometimes first contact is last contact.
(Later -)
PARIS: We're approaching the border of the alien's space.
JANEWAY: Commander Tuvok, inform the Doctor.
TUVOK: Aye, Captain.

[Sickbay]

EMH: Wake up Ensign.
KIM: What's going on?
EMH: You were napping.
KIM: In Sickbay?
EMH: We had to move you here when we couldn't wake you.
KIM: How long?
EMH: Seventeen hours. I take it you experienced nightmares like the rest of the crew?
KIM: Oh, I had nightmares all right.
EMH: Tell me about them.
KIM: Well, I was in the corridor
(Seven enters.)
SEVEN: Captain Janeway asked me to bring you the results of our Astrometric scans. She thought they might be helpful in determining the precise cause of the crew's somnolence.
EMH: Thank you.
SEVEN: Ensign Kim, now that you're awake I require your assistance in Jefferies tube twenty one beta. Is something wrong?
KIM: No. I, er, I'm still feeling a little groggy.
SEVEN: Then I'll wait until you are fully recovered.
EMH: Now then, Ensign, you were telling me about your nightmare.
KIM: You know what, Doc, I'm famished. Haven't eaten in at least seventeen hours, right?
EMH: Very well. Go eat, get some clothes on, and report back in an hour.
KIM: I'll see you later. You too, Seven.

[Mess hall]

NEELIX: And the next thing I knew, I was being boiled alive in a pot of my own leola root stew.
TORRES: Talk about a nightmare.
NEELIX: It was perfectly seasoned.
(Kim enters.)
TORRES: Well, if it isn't Sleeping Beauty.
KIM: I do look well-rested, don't I?
NEELIX: Is everyone awake now?
KIM: The Doc checked us all out, He says we're fine.
TORRES: Have a seat. We were just trading dream stories.
NEELIX: Tell us yours.
KIM: Oh, it was nothing very interesting. Just the usual, you know.
TORRES: Who was she, Harry?
KIM: The woman of my dreams. What I'd like to know is what Tuvok dreamt about.
NEELIX: Yes, Commander, tell us. What do Vulcan's dream?
KIM: Aren't you supposed to have horrible nightmares?
TORRES: I wonder what a Vulcan nightmare would be like.
NEELIX: Alone, exiled on a planet where the only form of communication is laughter.
TORRES: Oh, come on, Tuvok.
TUVOK: I won't dignify this inquisition with a response.
(Whumph!)
JANEWAY [OC]: Red alert. All hands to battle stations.

[Bridge]

PARIS: They're coming around for another pass.
JANEWAY: Auxiliary power to the shields. Return fire.
CHAKOTAY: No damage to the alien ship. Our phasers can't penetrate their shields.
JANEWAY: Arm photon torpedoes. We seem to have a knack for provoking strangers these days.
TUVOK: Shields are offline.
JANEWAY: Fire.
(The power goes down.)
CHAKOTAY: I've lost power to the torpedo launchers.
JANEWAY: What's happening?
TUVOK: Power's being drained from all systems.
KIM: We're being hailed.
JANEWAY: On screen.
DREAM ALIEN [on viewscreen]: Captain. Ensign Kim. Commander Chakotay. I'm glad to see you all up and about.
JANEWAY: Janeway to Engineering. We need auxiliary power to the engines now.
DREAM ALIEN [on viewscreen]: I think you'll find that impossible.
JANEWAY: B'Elanna? Report.
TORRES [OC]: There's a localised

[Engineering]

TORRES: Dampening field around the ship, Captain.

[Bridge]

TORRES [OC]: I can't give you engines, weapons, shields.
CHAKOTAY: Everything you told me was a lie. This was all an elaborate trap to get Voyager here.
DREAM ALIEN [on viewscreen]: It appears you're learning more about my people after all. Prepare to surrender your ship.
TUVOK: Captain. Three more alien vessels are approaching. They are powering weapons.
JANEWAY: You've gone to so much trouble to commandeer this ship, I don't think you're going to destroy it.
DREAM ALIEN [on viewscreen]: I won't need to.
(A troop of aliens appear on the bridge. Tuvok's phaser does not work.)
JANEWAY: Janeway to the crew. We're under attack. Implement defence procedure omega.
DREAM ALIEN: It's no use. We've taken every deck. The ship is ours.

[Cargo Bay two]

(The bridge crew are escorted in.)
CREWWOMAN: Captain?
CHAKOTAY: All the time I thought I was negotiating, they were just setting us up to fly right into their web.
JANEWAY: You couldn't have known it was a trick.
KIM: I don't understand. They exist in dreams and reality.
TUVOK: Apparently, entering our dreams was their way to learn about us. Perhaps to probe our weaknesses.
PARIS: Not to mention lure us into an ambush.
CHAKOTAY: We need to retake the ship.
JANEWAY: That means getting out of this cargo bay.
TORRES: I checked the Jefferies tubes. They're sealed.
JANEWAY: Maybe we can open them manually.
CHAKOTAY: That's not going to be easy. They've got people everywhere.
TUVOK: We'll have to create a diversion.
JANEWAY: Any ideas?
SEVEN: I have one, Captain.
(Seven grabs Kim and throws him to the deck.)
KIM: What the hell are you doing?
SEVEN: Creating a diversion. (loud) Ensign Kim, it is your fault we have been captured.
(She pulls him to his feet and slaps him.)
SEVEN: (sotto) I suggest you fight back.
(Others try to pull them apart, half-heartedly.)
JANEWAY: Tom, try to get into a Jefferies tube. You two work on the power grid. I'll deal with this.
DREAM ALIEN: Stop, stop.
JANEWAY: What's going on here? These are my people, I'll handle them. Ensign, that's enough. Move. (Chakotay and Torres open a panel and start work. Then Chakotay sees the Moon in the screen.)
TORRES: What's wrong?
CHAKOTAY: I'm still asleep.
TORRES: What are you talking about.
(Aliens grab Chakotay's arms.)
TORRES: Chakotay!
(He manages the three taps.)

[Sickbay]

EMH: Commander Chakotay, you're awake.
CHAKOTAY: Am I? Are you sure?
EMH: Of course you are.
(Chakotay goes to the consoles.)
EMH: What are you looking for?
CHAKOTAY: The Moon.
EMH: What?
CHAKOTAY: I don't see it.
(He taps the back of his hand.)
JANEWAY: Where's the captain?
EMH: Asleep, along with the rest of the crew.
CHAKOTAY: All of them?
EMH: Except me. No rest for the never weary.
CHAKOTAY: What happened?
EMH: As soon as you entered your lucid dream, they all began falling asleep one by one. I've been trying every method I can think of to revive them, but nothing works. It's been thirty nine hours.
CHAKOTAY: I've been asleep for almost two days?
EMH: If I can't wake them soon, I'm going to have to start feeding them intravenously.
CHAKOTAY: They let me think I was awake but I was still dreaming.
EMH: You weren't the only one. Look at this.
CHAKOTAY: What is it?
EMH: A neurogenic field created by heightened electrical activity in the brain. It's been occurring in all the sleeping crew members. And that's not all. This is Ensign Kim's brain wave pattern, indicating that he's dreaming in a hyper REM state. This is Crewman Foster's pattern.
CHAKOTAY: They're identical.
EMH: Lieutenant Torres, Captain Janeway, Commander Tuvok. I don't know what it means.
CHAKOTAY: I think I do. Not only are they dreaming, they're all having the same dream. It wasn't just my dream, it was a communal dream.
EMH: Everyone's REM patterns are identical. They're experiencing the same images, each from his or her own point of view.
CHAKOTAY: Yes. I saw the rest of the crew, interacted with them. We were all working together to fight off an alien attack.
EMH: Which wasn't real.
CHAKOTAY: Oh, we're under attack all right.
EMH: Commander?
CHAKOTAY: Maybe this is the way these aliens fight their enemies. They exist somewhere in our reality as physical beings, but they must be asleep, unable to defend themselves against what they call waking species. We'll never defeat them in their dream reality, but if we can find them, find where they're sleeping, we'll have the advantage.
EMH: But we've been scanning for lifeforms since this started and we haven't found anything.
CHAKOTAY: Maybe we've been looking in the wrong place. I'm betting a species that spends its time sleeping isn't going to be hanging around where conventional scans can locate them.
EMH: So how do we find them?
CHAKOTAY: This neurogenic field you mentioned. Anyone in a hyper REM state would be producing one.
EMH: In theory, yes. So if we scan for other neurogenic fields it might lead us to the sleeping aliens.
CHAKOTAY: If you need me, I'll be on the bridge.

[Bridge]

(Everyone else is sleeping at their stations.)
EMH: Time for a little energy boost, Commander. We don't want you drifting back to sleep. Sorry about the mess, but this is what happens when my repeated requests for a larger Sickbay fall on deaf ears. What is it?
CHAKOTAY: Scanners have detected a neurogenic field emanating from beneath the surface of a planet less than a light year from here. Excuse me, Tom, but I've got to change our course.

[Cargo Bay two]

(Sitting by the Borg alcoves, whispering.)
NEELIX: Still dreaming? How is that possible?
TORRES: I don't know, but that's what Chakotay said right before he vanished.
JANEWAY: That doesn't make any sense. He was wide awake, right here with us.
TORRES: He said something about still being asleep and then he started tapping the back of his hand like he said he would to wake up from his lucid dream. And then he disappeared. The question is, where did he go?
KIM: The aliens must have transported him somewhere.
TUVOK: Or perhaps he did wake up.
TORRES: Tuvok?
TUVOK: It's possible he was dreaming all of this.
JANEWAY: Wait a minute. If Chakotay was dreaming and he woke up, what are we doing here?
TUVOK: Perhaps we're dreaming as well.
TORRES: Now I'm lost.
NEELIX: You're not the only one.
TUVOK: Consider then, that we all experienced nightmares about an alien whose people apparently live out their lives in a dream state. Perhaps we're in that state at this very moment.
KIM: That's ridiculous. We're not asleep.
JANEWAY: Wait.
TUVOK: When you dream, you're rarely aware that you're sleeping.
JANEWAY: I can understand how we can mistake dreaming for reality, but that doesn't explain how we're all interacting with one another.
NEELIX: Maybe we're not.
TORRES: Not what?
NEELIX: Interacting with one another. Maybe this is all one person's dream, for example mine, and none of you are really here.
TORRES: Trust me, Neelix. I wish I weren't, but I'm here.
SEVEN: Collective unconsciousness.
JANEWAY: Seven, come here.
SEVEN: The Borg share a collective consciousness. These aliens may have somehow inducted a state of collective unconsciousness.
TORRES: You mean we're all sharing the same dream?
TUVOK: It is possible.
JANEWAY: This is all fascinating speculation, but unless we have proof to the contrary we have to treat this like an invasion.
PARIS: I managed to open a Jefferies tube hatch.
JANEWAY: Good work. Neelix, Seven, Kim, do what you can to distract the guards. We're going to find a way to retake the ship.

[Engineering]

JANEWAY: Looks like a complete power drain.
TORRES: Their dampening field has shut down the warp core.
TUVOK: Which begs the question of what they intend to do with an unpowered ship.
JANEWAY: Tuvok, grab some phaser rifles from the weapons locker. Something tells me that when we try to disable the dampening field, we're going to get the aliens attention.
TORRES: It looks like they're using harmonic inversion technology. If I can isolate the containment frequency, I may be able to get main power back online.
(The warp core powers up.)
JANEWAY: That was easy.
COMPUTER: Warning. Warp core breach in sixty seconds.
JANEWAY: Maybe a little too easy.
TORRES: I don't understand.
JANEWAY: Can you eject the core?
TORRES: I'm trying. It's not working.
COMPUTER: Warp core breach in fifty seconds.
TORRES: We've got to get out of here. I'm trying to put a containment field around Engineering.
COMPUTER: Warp core breach in forty seconds.
TORRES: Got it! Let's move!
JANEWAY: I don't understand why you couldn't eject the core.
COMPUTER: Warp core breach in thirty seconds.
JANEWAY: Something's not right.
TUVOK: Captain, we must hurry.
JANEWAY: I'm going back in there.
TORRES: You'll be killed!
JANEWAY: I think I'm on to something. You two go!
TUVOK: Captain!
JANEWAY: That's an order!
COMPUTER: Warp core breach in ten seconds. Nine. Eight. Seven.

[Corridor]

COMPUTER: Six. Five. Four. Three. Two. One.
(Boom! The doors to main Engineering open.)
JANEWAY: Either I've become impervious to antimatter explosions, or we're still dreaming.
TORRES: A warp core explosion should have destroyed the ship.
JANEWAY: If I were awake, or if any of this were real, which it obviously isn't. Things just weren't adding up. Chakotay's disappearance. The warp core failing to eject. And as Chakotay said, lucid dreaming is about taking control, so I took a chance.
TUVOK: Surely there must have been a less extreme method of testing your assumptions. As Captain, you shouldn't be taking chances with your life.
JANEWAY: I'm touched by your concern, Tuvok.
TORRES: Now that we know this is a dream, what do we do?
TUVOK: I suggest we find a way to regain consciousness.

[Bridge]

(The EMH and Janeway enter.)
CHAKOTAY: Captain, how did you wake yourself?
JANEWAY: The same way you did.
CHAKOTAY: The others?
JANEWAY: They should all be starting to wake up.
EMH: Rise and shine, Mister Paris.
CHAKOTAY: We need to get as far away from that planet as possible.
JANEWAY: Agreed.
CHAKOTAY: I'll make the necessary course correction.
JANEWAY: What is it?
(The Moon is big on the viewscreen.)
CHAKOTAY: This isn't real.
JANEWAY: Of course it is.
(Chakotay taps the back of his hand.)
JANEWAY: See?
CHAKOTAY: No.
JANEWAY: Doctor?
EMH: He's paranoid, disoriented. I suspect much of the crew will suffer similar symptoms when they awake. Try to relax, Commander. I'm going to sedate you.
CHAKOTAY: No. I need to wake, not sleep!
EMH: I'm here to help you.
CHAKOTAY: No!
(The EMH injects Chakotay.)
EMH: It's all right, Commander. You're awake again.
(The planet is on the viewscreen.)
CHAKOTAY: What happened?
EMH: You dozed off.
CHAKOTAY: I couldn't wake myself like I did before.
EMH: Our proximity to the neurogenic field is making it more difficult to stay conscious.
CHAKOTAY: I need to get down there and find a way to neutralise it.
EMH: Not so fast. This is a highly potent animazine derivative. If you feel yourself falling asleep again, you must use it. And Commander, I suggest we keep an open comm. line. I may need to provide you with a verbal splash of cold water every now and then.

[Corridor]

(Janeway tries tapping the back of her hand.)
JANEWAY: It's not working.
TUVOK: It's safe to assume that Chakotay and the Doctor are making every effort to wake us from our sleep.
JANEWAY: We have to let the rest of the crew know what's happening. That as long as they know they're in a dream, they can't be harmed.
TUVOK: And if the aliens try to stop us?
JANEWAY: Then we turn this dream world of theirs into a nightmare.
(Janeway takes Tuvok's phaser rifle.)

[Cavern]

CHAKOTAY: Okay, Doctor, I'm in.
EMH [OC]: Acknowledged, Commander.
(Chakotay follows the tricorder signal around a corner to where an alien is lying on a slab. To where thousands of aliens are lying on slabs.)

[Corridor]

(Two aliens have weapons drawn.)
JANEWAY: Stand aside.
(A third alien appears.)
DREAM ALIEN: Your weapons are useless against us.
JANEWAY: You're not fooling anyone. We know this is a dream.
DREAM ALIEN: You're confused.
JANEWAY: Actually, I'm finally seeing things clearly.
DREAM ALIEN: Shoot them.
(The first two aliens fire. No effect.)
JANEWAY: Now, stand aside.

[Cargo Bay two]

JANEWAY: All of you, listen closely. What we have to do is stay in control of the dream. If we can do that, the aliens shouldn't be able to hurt us.
DREAM ALIEN: You sound very sure of yourself, Captain.
JANEWAY: Why shouldn't I be?
DREAM ALIEN: Have you thought about what's happening to your bodies in the waking world? How long do you think they'll survive without nourishment, without physical activity? Your bodies are withering away as we speak. You can't stop it.
JANEWAY: Don't be so sure.

[Cavern]

(Chakotay has found a device.)
CHAKOTAY: It's some kind of transmitter. It looks like they use it to amplify the

[Doctor's office]

CHAKOTAY [OC]: Neurogenic field.
EMH: Can you turn it off?

[Cavern]

CHAKOTAY: I tried knocking it out with my phaser, but there's some kind of forcefield.

[Doctor's office]

EMH: Commander?

[Cavern]

CHAKOTAY: Sorry, I'm having trouble concentrating.

[Doctor's office]

EMH: Time for your medicine.

[Cavern]

CHAKOTAY: Doctor. This animazine, it's pretty powerful.

[Doctor's office]

EMH: Yes. And I suggest you take it immediately.

[Cavern]

CHAKOTAY: These aliens, they look pretty frail.

[Doctor's office]

EMH: That's fascinating, Commander. Now please, inject yourself.

[Cavern]

CHAKOTAY: They probably wouldn't have the same tolerance for stimulants that we do.
EMH [OC]: What are you getting at?
CHAKOTAY: The animazine might be capable of waking up one of these aliens.

[Doctor's office]

EMH: Commander, I'd be happy to discuss comparative pharmacology with you after you administer your injection.

[Cavern]

CHAKOTAY: Actually, I think I'm going to give it to one of my sleepy friends here.

[Doctor's office]

EMH: What would that accomplish?
CHAKOTAY [OC]: If I can wake him up

[Cavern]

CHAKOTAY: I might be able to get him to deactivate this generator.
EMH [OC]: There's not enough

[Doctor's Office]

EMH: Animazine for two doses. If you fall asleep again, there's no way I can revive you.

[Cavern]

CHAKOTAY: Doctor, I want you to go to the bridge.

[Doctor's office]

EMH: Commander!
CHAKOTAY [OC]: I'm giving you an order!

[Cavern]

CHAKOTAY: Go to the bridge and target my comm. signal with a photon torpedo.

[Doctor's office]

EMH: You're delirious. You're asking me to incinerate you.

[Cavern]

CHAKOTAY: Not just me. These aliens and their transmitter, too. But only if you don't hear from me 

[Doctor's office]

CHAKOTAY [OC]: In five minutes. Understood?
EMH: Commander.

[Cavern]

CHAKOTAY: Understood?

[Doctor's office]

EMH: Aye, sir.

[Cavern]

(Chakotay injects the nearest alien, and the one nearest to Tuvok in the cargo bay vanishes.)
CHAKOTAY: Tell me how to deactivate this transmitter, or I start shooting.

[Cargo Bay two]

DREAM ALIEN: What happened?
JANEWAY: Looks like he woke up.

[Cavern]

CHAKOTAY: I'll give you five seconds. Four, three, two
(Chakotay falls asleep.)

[Cargo Bay two]

(Chakotay appears.)
JANEWAY: Chakotay.
DREAM ALIEN: Who's going to help you now, Captain?
CHAKOTAY: I found the cavern and your people. I'm there right now in the waking world. And it's all going to be destroyed in less than two minutes, unless you deactivate that transmitter.
DREAM ALIEN: If you are there, you'll be killed, too. I think you're lying.
CHAKOTAY: Oh, believe me, if I don't contact my ship you and I are both going to die in our sleep.

Chief Medical Officer's log, Stardate 51471.3. With the neurogenic field neutralised I've been successful in reviving the entire crew. Unfortunately, the experience has produced a troubling side effect for many of them. Acute insomnia.

[Mess hall]

(Chakotay gets out of bed and goes for a walk.)
CHAKOTAY: Computer, lights on.
(Neelix pops up from behind the counter.)
NEELIX: Sorry, Commander. I didn't mean to frighten you.
CHAKOTAY: You're not starting breakfast this early, are you?
NEELIX: Just rearranging the supply cabinets. I couldn't sleep.
CHAKOTAY: Neither could I.
NEELIX: How about a soothing cup of tea?
CHAKOTAY: Sounds good.
NEELIX: I know it's silly, but every time I'm about to doze off, I'm terrified that I won't be able to wake again.
(Paris and Kim enter.)
CHAKOTAY: You too?
PARIS: We just finished a little late night hoverball on the holodeck.
KIM: Three games in a row. We were hoping it would wear us out.
NEELIX: You know, I could learn to enjoy these late night get-togethers.
PARIS: Speak for yourself. I would kill for a good night's sleep.
(Tuvok enters, yawning.)
CHAKOTAY: Neelix, I think it's time for breakfast.