Stardate not given: An unmanned experimental probe from Voyager attracts the unwelcome attention of Malon scavengers, who try to hijack it in mid-flight. Hoping to dissuade the Malon, Janeway directs the probe into the hazardous atmosphere of a nearby gas giant. But the Malons aren’t dissuaded from their prize, driving their freighter right into the planet’s atmosphere to their deaths. As Paris prepares an entirely new breed of shuttlecraft – hopefully capable of withstanding the enormous pressures of the atmosphere – a second Malon vessel arrives, its captain ready to avenge the loss of his predecessors. With the engineering challenges inherent in a new shuttle design, Voyager’s crew needs B’Elanna like never before…but B’Elanna is indulging in dangerous pursuits of her own.
written by Kenneth Biller
directed by Cliff Bole
music by David BellGuest Cast: Hamilton Camp (Controller Brelk), Alexander Enberg (Vorik), Daniel Betances (Pilot), Majel Barrett (Computer voice)
Notes: B’Elanna’s orbital skydiving suit is modified from a costume originally created for Star Trek: Generations; at the beginning of that movie, a sequence showing Kirk skydiving from orbit and landing in a field near a waiting Scotty and Chekov, was to be seen, and in fact much of the footage needed was filmed but later dropped.
LogBook entry by Earl Green
