Star Trek Voyager: Scorpion
Episode 3.26 “Scorpion”
Stardate 50984.3
In a holoprogram of DaVinci’s workshop, Kathryn seeks inspiration from an outside source, someone who can challenge her mind, and a place to do her own work, painting and sculpting. She finally convinces DaVinci to accept her as a pupil when she tells him she will help him design a flying machine. She obviously needs inspiration and an escape from being captain. When Chakotay calls her to engineering, she is reluctant. Even before she knows that they are entering Borg space, she is tired.
Voyager has been sending out probes, which is how they know that they are entering Borg territory. They find a corridor that they call the Northwest Passage, where there is no Borg activity. KJ to senior staff: “I have faith in each and every one of you.”
The Doc and Kes work on an “assimilation antibody” to slow the assimilation process. As Kes looks at the Borg body they have been examining, she sees a vision of dead Borg. She continues to see visions of dead Borg and the destruction of Voyager.
Subspace turbulence prevents Voyager from creating a stable warp field. They see 15 Borg cubes. Chakotay: “My god.” But the Borg pass them by, scanning them with a polaron beam and then moving on.
This is when Janeway starts to go crazy with work, I think. She retreats to her ready room to try to find an answer. Chakotay asks her to join him for dinner - “According to my calculations, neither of us has eaten since last night.” She declines and is cold to him, but then opens up to him a little when he gets terse and is about to go. Chakotay smiles when KJ reads Amasov and Picard’s logs. He tells her she sounds just like Amasov and Picard. Then she starts to relax, talking to Chakotay like a friend. He tells her Ensign Hickman does a passable impression of her. She gets a little more lighthearted and opens up a bit. KJ: “At what point is the risk too great? At what point do we come about and retreat to friendly territory? Would the crew accept living out the rest of their lives in the Delta Quadrant? I keep looking to all these captains, my comrades in arms, but the truth is, I’m alone.” C: “If that moment comes, we’ll face it together, and we’ll make the right decision. You’re not alone, Kathryn.” KJ: “Three years ago I didn’t even know your name. Today I can’t imagine a day without you.” She touches his chest and then they are called to the bridge to witness the destroyed Borg vessels.
As they try to figure out what happened to the Borg, KJ & C are still very much on the same page, finishing each others’ thoughts. Janeway pulls Chakotay aside and speaks to him quietly, only in Tuvok’s hearing range, asks him to take an away team to the cube to investigate the ship which is “impervious” to their technology. She assures Chakotay that they’ll pull them out at the first sign of trouble. She looks at C as he leaves, obviously concerned for his safety. Bioelectric interference from Species 8472 prevents the transporter from working.
B’Elanna invents the “skeletal lock”, a new type of transporter lock that works better in interference. Harry is attacked by 8472 just as they are beamed out. Kes tells Janeway she could hear the thoughts of the species and tells her that it’s not the Borg they should be worried about, it’s them. Their motto is: “The weak will perish.”
KJ goes to sickbay to see Kim, who is being consumed by the alien cells. KJ is having a hard time with this. The Doc experiments with modified nanoprobes to eradicate the infection.
Species 8472 is the species’ Borg designation. The 8472 bioships come from a quantum singularity in the “Northwest Passage.” Kes is able to hear the 8472 and feels their hatred. She says it’s an invasion and they intend on destroying everything. KJ calls Chakotay into her ready room. KJ: “That moment we spoke about, it’s here.” They agree that they can’t use the Northwest Passage, and discuss whether they should face the Borg in their space or turn around a find a nice planet in the DQ. C argues that they’d be turning around but not giving up. He says, “We may find another way home.” She gives him a look of disbelief and says she’s not ready to walk onto that bridge and tell the crew they’re quitting… “I can’t do it, not yet. There must be another alternative.” He approaches her, “Kathryn…” and tells her to get some rest, that they can tell the crew in the morning if they have to.
KJ goes to DaVinci’s workshop. JANEWAY: “There’s a path before me. The only way home. And on either side, mortal enemies bent on destroying each other. If I attempt to pass through them I’ll be destroyed as well. But if I turn around, that would end all hope of ever getting home. And no matter how much I try to focus my mind, I can’t see an alternative.” DA VINCI: “When one’s imagination cannot provide an answer, one must seek a greater imagination. There are times when even I find myself kneeling in prayer. I must deliver a bronzetto to the Monks at Santa Croce. Come with me, Catarina, hey? We will awake the Abbot, visit the chapel, and appeal to God.” JANEWAY: “Somehow I don’t think that’s going to work for me. But there is an alternative I haven’t considered. What if I made an appeal to the Devil?”
Janeway suggests an alliance with the Borg on the basis that they can give the Borg the Doc’s modified nanoprobes in exchange for safe passage. Janeway says that all the information about the nanoprobes will be locked in the Doc’s holomatrix, and if necessary they will delete his program. She has completely talked herself into this plan, even to the point of how much it is in the Borg’s “self interest.” I think this is the first time we see her come up with something like this, without consulting anyone, and be completely unwilling to listen to any dissenting opinion. No one dares voice one, except Chakotay, who waits until everyone else has left. He tells her that it’s “too great a risk,” and tells her the parable of the scorpion and the fox. KJ assures C that she understands the risk. She says the Borg are vulnerable and they can take advantage of that. C doesn’t trust that the Borg will keep up their end of the bargain. She says they won’t give the Borg the technology until they’re safe, and they need the courage to see this through to the end. CHAKOTAY: “There are other kinds of courage. Like the courage to accept that there are some situations beyond your control. Not every problem has an immediate solution.” JANEWAY: “You’re suggesting we turn around.“ CHAKOTAY: “Yes. We should get out of harm’s way. Let them fight it out. In the meantime, there’s still plenty of Delta Quadrant left to explore. We may find another way home.” JANEWAY: “Or we may find something else. Six months, a year down the road, after Species 8472 gets through with the Borg, we could find ourselves back in the line of fire, and we’ll have missed the window of opportunity that exists right here, right now.” CHAKOTAY: “How much is our safety worth?” JANEWAY: “What do you mean?” CHAKOTAY: “We’d be giving an advantage to a race guilty of murdering billions. We’d be helping the Borg assimilate yet another species just to get ourselves back home. It’s wrong!” JANEWAY: “Tell that to Harry Kim. He’s barely alive thanks to that species. Maybe helping to assimilate them isn’t such a bad idea. We could be doing the Delta Quadrant a favor.” CHAKOTAY: “I don’t think you really believe that. I think you’re struggling to justify your plan, because your desire to get this crew home is blinding you to other options. I know you, Kathryn. Sometimes you don’t know when to step back.”
JANEWAY: “Do you trust me, Chakotay?” CHAKOTAY: “That isn’t the issue.” JANEWAY: “Oh, but it is. Only yesterday you were saying that we’d face this together, that you’d be at my side.” CHAKOTAY: “I still have to tell you what I believe. I’m no good to you if I don’t do that.” JANEWAY: “I appreciate your insights, but the time for debate is over. I’ve made my decision. Now, do I have your support?” CHAKOTAY: “You’re the Captain. I’m the First Officer. I’ll follow your orders. That doesn’t change my belief that we’re making a fatal mistake.” JANEWAY: “Then I guess I’m alone, after all. Dismissed.”
KJ is transported over to the Borg ship and asked to state her demands. The Borg want the technology now, but she says safe passage first or no deal. She suggests that they work together to create a weapon and asks them to escort Voyager through their space. 8472 destroy a nearby planet and attack the cube while KJ is still on it. Chakotay orders Voyager to get a lock on her.
Chakotay must feel so frustrated, because Janeway made up her mind about the alliance without consulting him or anyone. She’s not even willing to hear what he has to say, and then she says that because he doesn’t agree with her, she’s “alone,” which must really hurt him because he has sacrificed so much to be by her side. What if she had gone to Chakotay with this idea the night before and talked to him about it before presenting it to the senior staff, before she had really made a decision? Instead, she talks to a hologram who knows nothing about her or her situation, and uses that as a justification in her own mind. This is where she starts to close herself off to the people and ideas around her. It’s also the first time we see her be truly blinded to what is right (the point C brings up about helping the Borg) by the suffering of someone she cares about (Harry Kim)/her sense of responsibility to her crew. What if they had decided to turn around?
Original Airdate: May 21, 1997
Notable First Appearances: Leonardo DaVinci hologram, Species 8472
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