Stardate 50126.4: With the crew excited at the prospect of a new source of sirillium, Voyager approaches a Class 17 nebula gaseous anomaly, but at the sight of it on the viewscreen Tuvok experiences a flashback to what is apparently a traumatic experience in his youth. Yet it is not an episode from Tuvok’s past and the Doctor has no explanation, except for the observation that Tuvok’s neural synapses break down each time the “memory” returns. When Tuvok begins to express concern over finding cloaked Klingon ships “this close to Klingon space,” he decides to regress using the technique of the Vulcan mind meld, asking Janeway to be his guide and counselor. She joins in his memory as an outside observer to objectify the experience. Yet he does not return to the memory in question but to a memory of his first deep-space assignment, 80 years previously aboard the Excelsior. It is here that the source of the mystery lies, but they are fighting time as Tuvok’s neural synapses continue to degrade and Janeway suddenly becomes a participant in Tuvok’s memory and not just an observer.
teleplay by Brannon Braga
story by Juliann Medina
directed by David Livingston
music by David BellGuest Cast: George Takei (Captain Hikaru Sulu), Grace Lee Whitney (Commander Janice Rand), Jeremy Roberts (Ensign Dmitri Valtane), Boris Krutonog (Helmsman Lojur), Michael Ansara (Kang)
Notes: This episode was Voyager’s salute to the 30th anniversary of the original Star Trek’s broadcast premiere. The events aboard the U.S.S. Excelsior in this episode take place during the Enterprise-A’s attempt to rescue Kirk and McCoy in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. However, that doesn’t explain why, if Ensign Valtane is killed during this episode’s battle with Kang’s Klingon cruiser, he is seen alive and well at the end of Star Trek VI when the Excelsior crew salutes Kirk and his officers on the Enterprise’s viewscreen…
LogBook entry by Paul Campbell with notes by Earl Green
