Synopsis:
When Paris and Janeway are sent back in time, they must
decide whether to violate the Prime Directive by warning
residents of a planet facing annihilation.
During the night shift, as Paris presses Kim to join him on a
double date, the ship is shaken by a huge shockwave.
Investigating its origins, the crew finds a nearby planet where
a cataclysmic explosion recently wiped out all life. Beaming
down, the Away Team discovers that the detonation has actually
fractured subspace. But before they can react to this dangerous
revelation, Paris and Janeway find themselves transported back
in time to the day before the explosion.
While the crew tries to figure out how to retrieve the
missing officers, Janeway orders Paris not to warn the residents
of the planet about the approaching disaster, since that would
violate the Federation's Prime Directive. Seeking their own way
back to Voyager, the pair head for a polaric ion power station,
the site of the future explosion. There, they inadvertently
become caught up in a clash between the authorities and a group
of protesters who later accuse them of being government
infiltrators. Disbelieving Janeway's claim that they are about
to trigger a major accident, they continue to move forward with
their plan to sabotage the power station.
In the meantime, a troubled Kes reveals that her latent
Ocampan psychic abilities seem to have been sensitized by the
accident. She accompanies the Away Team as they attempt to track
Janeway and Chakotay's movements being made in the past.
The protesters force Janeway and Paris to accompany them to
the plant, where they shoot their way in. Paris is wounded
during the scuffle, but Janeway leaves him to follow the
protesters, hoping to stop the devastating explosion.
On Kes' recommendation, Chakotay's crew goes to the
flashpoint of the blast and uses a polaric beam to "cut
through" subspace and find the missing crewmembers. When
Janeway sees their polaric beam, she realizes that it wasn't the
protesters who caused the accident -- it was the Away Team's
attempt to rescue her! Janeway uses her phaser to blunt the
impact of the beam. At the instant she succeeds in sealing the
opening, time is "reset," and the crew finds itself
back on Voyager, a few seconds before the shockwave first hit
the ship. None the wiser for their experience, Paris urges Kim
to join him on a double date, and Kes finds herself strangely
relieved that a nearby planet is teeming with life.
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Cast:
Kate Mulgrew as Kathryn Janeway™
Robert Beltran as Chakotay™
Roxann Biggs-Dawson as B'Elanna Torres™
Robert Duncan McNeill as Tom Paris™
Jennifer Lien as Kes™
Ethan Phillips as Neelix™
Robert Picardo as The Doctor
Tim Russ as Tuvok™
Garrett Wang as Harry Kim™
Guest Cast:
Brady Bluhm as Latika
Ryan McDonald as Shopkeeper
Joel Polis as Terla
Jerry Spicer as Guard
Nicholas Surovy as Makull
Steve Vaught as Officer
Creative staff:
Director: Les Landau
Story By: David Kemper
Teleplay By: David Kemper and Michael Piller
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