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Eye of the Needle (episode)

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"Eye of the Needle"
VOY, Episode 1x07
Production number: 107
First aired: 20 February 1995
← 6th of 168 produced in VOY →
← 6th of 168 released in VOY →
  {{{nNthReleasedInSeries_Remastered}}}th of 168 released in VOY Remastered  
← 351st of 727 released in all →
Teleplay By
Bill Dial and Jeri Taylor

Story By
Hilary J. Bader

Directed By
Winrich Kolbe
48579.4 (2371/2351)
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Voyager discovers a wormhole that leads back to the Alpha Quadrant.

Contents

[edit] Summary

The "Harry Kim Wormhole" magnified on main viewer

When the crew discovers subspace emissions indicative of a wormhole, they are elated by the possibility of a way home. Unfortunately, the wormhole is discovered to be only thirty centimeters in diameter: too small for USS Voyager to pass through. Captain Janeway speculates that the wormhole is in an advanced state of decay. The crew attempts to send a microprobe through the wormhole, but it gets stuck in an inter spatial eddy inside the wormhole. Initially dismayed, the crew soon realizes that someone on the other side of the wormhole is scanning the probe.

Baxter directs all his questions to Kes

The Doctor is examining Lieutenant Walter Baxter as he quizzes Kes about his possible injuries. Baxter directs all of his comments to Kes, questioning The Doctor's abilities. When Baxter's injuries are healed by The Doctor, he thanks Kes and leaves. Kes asks The Doctor if he noticed how rude Baxter was to him, but he tells her that he is used to being treated like a hypospray. Kes asks The Doctor for more of a learning challenge: she wants to learn more about Human anatomy.

In a senior staff meeting, B'Elanna Torres says that the microprobe will be destroyed in 72 hours. As they brainstorm, Harry Kim has an idea to send a subspace carrier wave using the microprobe as a relay. While reconfiguring the signal generator, Kim talks to Torres about the family he misses at home. He asks her if there's anyone who would miss her, and she tells him that the Maquis are the closest thing to family she has. After reconfiguring the signal generator, they send a series of sub-harmonic pulses. After a few minutes of intense waiting, Tuvok and Tom Paris report that Voyager is receiving a signal coming from the wormhole. It is on the same carrier wave and amplitude, originating in the Alpha Quadrant.

Kes enters the captain's ready room. She tells the Captain that she is unhappy about the way the crew treats The Doctor. Janeway tells Kes that she has actually heard reports of him being brusque, rude, and lacking bedside manner; they are thinking about reprogramming him. Kes argues that he is alive; self aware and communicative with the ability to learn. She leaves Janeway considering her argument.

Encouraged by the success of his test signal, Kim investigates the possibility of voice communication. Janeway sends a basic hail requesting a response. After clearing up the reply, the crew hears a message from a Romulan cargo vessel in the Alpha Quadrant sector 1385. Janeway tells the Romulan that they are a Federation vessel in the Delta Quadrant. The Romulan thinks she is lying because the Delta Quadrant is too far way, insisting them to be a Federation spy vessel in the Alpha Quadrant. He cuts off communication abruptly. Tuvok tells Janeway that there are no shipping lanes in that sector and the Romulan ship is more likely to be a science vessel engaged on a secret mission. Janeway tells Harry to hail him continuously.

Janeway talks to The Doctor about what he wants

Janeway enters sickbay and activates The Doctor. He explains that he was deactivated by Ensign Kyoto in the middle of preparing a culture. Janeway tells The Doctor that he has become a full-fledged member of the crew, and he doesn't have the luxury of being an emergency supplement anymore. Janeway asks if there's anything she can do to help him. He explains the way people treat him and explains that all he wants is a little consideration. Janeway suggests giving him control over his deactivation sequence; he is surprised by the idea. She asks him if there's anything else, and he tells her he'll get back to her.

Kim establishes two-way communication with the Romulan and wakes Captain Janeway. The Romulan is highly suspicious of a Federation starship claiming to be in the Delta Quadrant. The Romulan identifies his ship as the cargo vessel Talvath, but refuses to give his name. He has analyzed their hailing frequency and found that it originates in the Delta Quadrant, but he doesn't see how that is possible. He asks what Voyager's mission is in the Delta Quadrant. Janeway explains that their mission was in the Alpha Quadrant and that they were pulled against their will to their present location, now trying to get home. He still thinks they are Starfleet spies on a surveillance mission. Janeway assures him they are no threat, and requests simply that the Romulan pass on messages from the crew to their families and friends. He replies that it would ease his apprehension if he could see that she is who she says she is, and tells her that he believes he can use a signal amplifier on his ship to establish a video link.

Romulan captain communicating with Voyager

Kim and Paris get the communications frequency locked in, but they still have a problem with the phase variance in the subspace signal. Kim compensates and the Romulan appears on screen. He remarks he's never seen a ship like Voyager before. She tells him that it's new but not classified. He replies that he has been on a mission for over a year and hasn't gotten the latest intelligence. He tells Janeway that his government is debating whether to relay Voyager's messages. She points out that the wormhole will soon collapse, but he tells her that it is not his place to tell the Senate what to do. Janeway asks the Romulan about his family and he reveals that he has a newborn daughter that he has never seen. She appeals to his feelings of missing his family and convinces him to urge his government to grant Voyager's request to relay their messages to their family and friends home. Janeway tells Chakotay to have the crew prepare their messages within the hour in case he is successful. Suddenly, Torres runs onto the bridge. She excitedly tells the captain the phase amplitude of the visual link is within a few megahertz of meeting transporter protocols. It might be possible to use the probe as a transmitter to transport the entire crew back to the Alpha Quadrant.

Kes enters sickbay with her Human anatomy work complete. A disbelieving Doctor quizzes her on the material and finds that she has memorized it well. She tells him that she would like to go to medical school if the crew gets home. The Doctor replies that she could already have the equivalent of a medical degree if she continues at the pace she is at. She realizes that he hasn't heard about Torres' plan, and tells him about it. He responds that he will not be joining the crew because he is integrated into the sickbay systems. Saddened, she kisses him on the cheek and thanks him. Before she leaves, he asks her to do him a favor and make sure he is turned off before they leave.

With a successful transport, R'Mor holds the test cylinder

Janeway tells the Romulan captain about their transporter theory and he is impressed by their advanced technology. He agrees to let them transport a test cylinder to his ship. Kim and Torres begin the transport, but still encounter a problem with the phase variance. They are able to compensate, and the transport is successful. Janeway next suggests sending one of her crew to the Romulan ship to test a Human transport. The Romulan declines, stating that the Romulan government would never allow it. He instead offers to transport himself to Voyager and back, promising to arrange for a troop ship for Voyager's crew if transport is successful.

Janeway and Tuvok join Kim and Torres in the transporter room to greet the Romulan. Though it is a difficult transport, he successfully materializes on Voyager. As Janeway suggests that the crew prepare to leave Voyager once and for all, Tuvok stops her and asks the Romulan for the year. The Romulan seems skeptical, but answers that by Federation calendars, the year is 2351. Everyone is taken aback at this new discovery as Tuvok finally concludes that the phase variance they have been experiencing is due to the wormhole being a rift not only in space, but also in time: they have beamed the Romulan from 2351 to 2371.

In the conference room, it is made clear that if Voyager's crew transports through the wormhole, they will travel twenty years into the past. Kim suggests that it is better than spending seventy years traveling home, but Janeway knows that it would affect the timeline. The Romulan suggests that in twenty years, he could tell Starfleet not to launch the mission which sent them there. Chakotay responds that they have already made such a big impact on the Delta Quadrant, that people and events would be drastically affected. With no other options, Captain Janeway is left with her original request: she asks the Romulan to transmit their personal messages to Starfleet, in twenty years. He agrees and suggests that, when they get back to the Alpha Quadrant, he would welcome a visit from them. He introduces himself as Telek R'Mor of the Romulan Astrophysical Academy. Janeway assures him that he will hear from them.

Janeway's reaction just before she is told by Tuvok that the crew's messages may not have reached home

Later, R'Mor prepares to return to his ship, Tuvok gives him the chip with the crew's messages, and Janeway thanks him for his help. Torres transports him back to his ship and relieved Janeway prepares to inform the crew that their messages will be delivered. Before she can, Tuvok stops her to deliver the bad news: he looked R'Mor up in the database and discovered that the Romulan scientist died in 2367, four years before Voyager left the Alpha Quadrant. Janeway is deeply disappointed but Torres speculates that perhaps he left a will telling someone else to deliver the messages, or that maybe he gave the chip to the Romulan government. Unfortunately, there's no way to know. Captain Janeway is quiet throughout, realizing that all efforts have been in vain, but knows the only thing they can do now is to keep trying to find a new way home.

Once again, Lieutenant Baxter is in sickbay. He has pulled his hamstring while working out. He still directs all of his comments to Kes. With new found confidence, The Doctor tells Baxter that if he has something to say, then he should direct it to him. In addition, if he has another workout-related injury, The Doctor will notify his superior officer. Baxter is surprised and replies "yes sir." Before leaving, he thanks the doctor. The Doctor gives Kes a list of things he wants added to sickbay to be delivered to Janeway. In addition, The Doctor makes his first personal request: a name.

[edit] Log Entries

  • "Captain’s log, stardate 48579.4. The crew has been scanning constantly for anomalies that might help us shorten our journey home. Ensign Kim has reported an exciting discovery – a subspace disturbance which may be a wormhole."
  • "Captain’s log, supplemental. Encouraged by his success in transmitting a signal to the Alpha Quadrant, Mr. Kim is investigating the possibility of establishing a voice link with whoever is at the other end of the wormhole."

[edit] Memorable Quotes

"There is of course a 75% chance the wormhole will not lead to the Alpha Quadrant."
"Very true. But you could also say there's a one in four chance it will. Those aren't bad odds."

- Tuvok and Janeway


"If I had to get treatment for something serious, if I needed surgery for instance, would he be performing it?"
"Of course and quite expertly, too."
"I don't know. I'd have to think twice about that."
"Fine, and if you're lucky, you wouldn't die on the table while you were making up your mind."

- Walter Baxter and The Doctor


"May I suggest, if this works, we petition the Federation Astronomical Committee to officially designate this 'the Harry Kim wormhole.'"

- Tom Paris, after Kim discovers a wormhole


"I guess it's a little too small for us to fly through."

- Tom Paris, remarking on the wormhole, whose aperture is only thirty centimeters in diameter


"Just our luck. We raise one ship from the Alpha Quadrant and it has to be Romulan."

- B'Elanna Torres


"I would like... a name."

- The Doctor

[edit] Background Information

  • Ethan Phillips (Neelix) does not appear in this episode, though Neelix is mentioned.
  • This is the first of three appearances by the Romulans in Voyager episodes.
  • Until Enterprise, this episode marked one of the few instances in any Star Trek series where the Gregorian year is explicitly identified, in this case 2371.
  • R'Mor's native time, 2351, places him in a time before the TNG episode "The Neutral Zone", which is set in 2364. In that episode, it is claimed that the Federation had not had contact with the Romulans in almost 54 years (though this has occasionally been overlooked in other subsequent plots). This would put R'Mor about 40 years into a period of non-communication with the Federation, which might explain the Romulans' reluctance to grant Voyager's request, or alternatively, might make R'Mor's willingness to transmit the crew's messages and arrange a transport an oversight of that TNG plot point.
  • In this episode, the Voyager crew gives letters to a Romulan that cannot be given to their intended recipients. In TNG: "The Defector", a Romulan gives the USS Enterprise-D crew a letter that also cannot be given to its intended recipient.
  • As Starfleet did not learn of Voyager's circumstances until season 4's "Message in a Bottle", it is clear that they never did receive the crew's letters. Torres surmises at the end of the episode that, in spite of R'Mor's death prior to 2371, he may have passed Voyager's chip onto the Romulan Government. In the season 7 episode "Inside Man", Reginald Barclay comments that the Romulans "have always been interested in Voyager" - which may or may not be as a result of having studied the chip after R'Mor's passing.
  • The events of this episode represent the first time (aside from the series premiere) that the Voyager crew has a possibility of returning home.
  • This episode marks the first appearance of Vaughn Armstrong on Voyager.
  • This episode is a bottle show.

[edit] Video and DVD releases

[edit] Links and references

[edit] Main cast

[edit] Guest stars

[edit] Uncredited co-stars

[edit] References

Alpha Quadrant; anatomy; Arethian flu; covariant isolator; epicondylitis; Federation Astronomical Committee; Hargrove; Harry Kim wormhole; incus; Kyoto; malleus; medical degree; medical school; microprobe; micro-wormhole; Miral; Mollie; physiology; Romulans; Romulan Astrophysical Academy; Romulan Senate; Romulan science vessel; Romulan troop ship; Sector 1385; signal amplifier; signal booster; spinach juice; stapes; subspace field mechanics; Talvath; temporal displacement; temporal shift; test cylinder; Torres, John; transporter; vegetable bouillon; verteron; Voyager, USS; wormhole


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