Stardate 54014.4: After extensive searching and numerous interruptions, contact is finally made with relatives of the former Borg youngsters who have been traveling aboard Voyager. Icheb decides to stay aboard the ship and help Voyager’s crew return to Earth. Seven of Nine insists that Icheb’s reaction to the children’s departure is overemotional, but even as she says that, he notices that she is crying. Seven blames it on a malfunctioning Borg implant, which is confirmed when she visits the Doctor. She asks him to keep her condition confidential, but when she loses consciousness in the mess hall, the secret is out. The Doctor’s diagnosis is now much more grim: the central cortical node that regulates all of her body’s autonomic functions is failing, signing a death warrant for Seven. Janeway decides to scout through Borg wreckage to retrieve a cortical node from a dead drone, but the risky mission – and a close call with other scavengers – bears only a node that is of no use. As Seven gives up hope – and the Doctor and Janeway run out of ideas – Icheb proposes an ambitious alternative…one which the Doctor believes will sacrifice the young man’s life to save that of his teacher.
teleplay by Carleton Eastlake and Robert Doherty
story by Andrè Bormanis
directed by David Livingston
music by David BellGuest Cast: Manu Intiraymi (Icheb), Debbie Grattan (Wysanti Female), Marley McClean (Mezoti), Kurt Wetherill (Azan), Cody Wetherill (Rebi), Michael McFall (Salvage Alien #1)
LogBook entry by Earl Green