Stardate not given: A survey mission comes to an unexpected end when a shuttle carrying Chakotay and Seven encounters a powerful energy barrier surrounding a primitive world. The shuttle is nearly destroyed, and Chakotay suffers major injuries on impact. Worse, the barrier prevents any contact with Voyager, so help isn’t on the way. Seven and Chakotay discover that the inhabitants of this world are not only intelligent, but imitative – after first seeing Chakotay, they tattoo themselves in a fashion similar to the first officer’s facial ornamentation. But the primitives’ behavior extends beyond the superficial. Chakotay and Seven worry that they may begin to understand, even duplicate, the technology of Voyager’s shuttle. Seven sets about on a more determined effort to lower the barrier preventing Voyager from finding them. When she succeeds, only to find that someone else has been waiting for the barrier to come down so they can land, it appears that the tainting of the planet’s indigenous people has only just begun.
teleplay by James Kahn
story by Kenneth Biller & James Kahn
directed by Terry Windell
music by Dennis McCarthyGuest Cast: Paul Sandman (Healer), Autumn Reeser (Girl), Robert Curtis Brown (Ambassador), Neil Vipond (Kleg), Ivar Brogger (Barus)
LogBook entry by Earl Green