Parallax (episode)
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| This article is written from the Real World point of view |
 |
| "Parallax" | ||
|---|---|---|
| VOY, Episode 1x03 Production number: 103 First aired: 23 January 1995 | ||
| ← | 2nd of 168 produced in VOY | → |
| ← | 2nd of 168 released in VOY | → |
| ← | 344th of 726 released in all | → |
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| Teleplay By Brannon Braga Story By Jim Trombetta Directed By Kim Friedman | ||
| 48439.7 (2371) | ||
Investigating an apparent distress call, Voyager becomes trapped inside the event horizon of a quantum singularity.
Contents |
[edit] Summary
In sickbay, Lieutenant Joe Carey is being treated by The Doctor after getting in a conflict over the power grid with B'Elanna Torres. He is extremely furious with Torres, as he reports to Chakotay and Tuvok. The two officers leave sickbay and discuss the situation in the corridor. A difference in opinion occurs when Tuvok wants Torres confined to the brig, while Chakotay prefers to deal with her on his own. Chakotay is able to persuade Tuvok to let him deal with Torres and enters a turbolift alone. While proceeding to Torres' quarters, Chakotay passes Crewman Jarvin and Ensign Seska, who tells Chakotay they support a mutiny if he does. Chakotay replies by threatening "If I ever hear you talk that way again I'll personally throw you in the brig for mutiny!"
Anger overwhelms Torres when Chakotay enters, and she throws a plate at him which misses. He hands her a PADD containing information on Joe Carey's medical status, and Torres mentions her hate for Carey. Chakotay tries to coax Torres into apologizing to Carey and getting to know him, but Torres dismisses his attempts. Chakotay then tells her that he wants her to be the next chief engineer, even though Carey is next in line. He moves to leave her quarters, but Torres asks about what Captain Janeway thinks of the situation. Chakotay leaves her with the words "She hasn't said a word, because I haven't told her yet."
- "Captain's log, stardate 48439.7. As we maintain a course back to the Alpha Quadrant, we're conducting what would normally be routine maintenance to the ship. Routine, that is, if we had access to a starbase."
In the briefing room, the senior staff are discussing the situation of the power and personnel shortage, as Neelix and Kes invite themselves to the meeting. Kes recommends converting cargo bay 2 into a hydroponics lab, to which Janeway agrees. Chakotay and Janeway then discuss the open chief engineer's position, for which Chakotay recommends Torres. Janeway then brings up the topic of medical staff, which leads to Tom Paris becoming a field medic due to taking biochemistry in Starfleet Academy. The staff briefing is interrupted when Voyager shakes; they all proceed to the bridge.
On the bridge, Seska reports that Voyager has encountered a spatial disturbance which is actually a Type-4 quantum singularity. A ship is caught near the event horizon and sends a transmission to Voyager. The message is erratic and cannot be understood. Voyager sends a transmission back, but there's no response. Janeway inquires about a tractor beam, but the subspace interference is too heavy. Chakotay contacts engineering and asks Torres. She recommends to "...remodulate a tractor beam to match the subspace interference." With support from Carey, the project proceeds, but Janeway asks Chakotay to her ready room.
In the ready room, Janeway and Chakotay begin an argument over duty and protocol on Voyager. Janeway was disappointed that Chakotay asked Torres for a solution instead of Carey, yet Chakotay felt Torres would give him a quicker answer. He begins supporting Torres and explains that if she received a senior position, the Maquis officers would become more loyal. Before leaving, he asks Janeway to talk to Torres and get to know her.
Kes enters sickbay to retrieve some nitrogenated soil for her hydroponics lab. The Doctor begins commenting on how he is going to be used for every minor medical problem that's going to occur. Kes notices The Doctor's sensitivity in his behavior, but also notices that he appears shorter. The Doctor performs a diagnostic on his imaging processor and discovers he has decreased in height by 10.4 centimeters. He contacts Harry Kim and asks for assistance, but he's too busy. Before Kes leaves with her soil samples, she inquires if The Doctor has chosen a name, which he has not. She deactivates his program and leaves.
The subspace tractor beam has been completed and is used. The beam is able to penetrate the singularity's event horizon, but the new power relays installed begin to fail. Voyager is jolted and begins to be pulled into the singularity. Full reverse is engaged, but the tractor beam cannot be disabled causing massive hull stress. Janeway orders the impulse engines disengaged and Voyager begins moving forward again. She then orders the tractor beam disengaged, at which Carey cuts the power feed manually. The tractor beam is disengaged. In need of help, Janeway mentions "...we are going to need some help. Lay in course for the Ilidaria system, full impulse. Have Neelix report to the bridge. It looks like we're going to follow his suggestion after all."
Voyager has found another type-4 quantum singularity with all the same properties as the one earlier. Reports indicate that Voyager is in the same position as before, and that it is the same quantum singularity. Voyager is turned around and warp is engaged. At twelve million kilometers from the singularity, it appears in front of them again. All departments are ordered to submit reports and a staff meeting is planned; both Carey and Torres will be present. Carey submits the news of the briefing to Torres, but tells her that he speaks for Engineering, which prompts Seska to note, "You should've broken more than his nose."
In the corridor, Tuvok and Kim discuss the singularity situation. Kim changes the subject and inquires about the conflict in Engineering, noting that he heard Starfleet and Maquis were at each other's throats. Kim all of a sudden collapses and Tuvok helps him up. He helps escort Kim to sickbay.
It is 1500 hours and the staff briefing is occurring. The Doctor reports that 27 other crewmembers were encountering the symptoms he mentioned earlier (Kim is one of these). He has no idea what's going on and cannot provide a treatment. The shrinking is still occurring; at this point he has lost 67 centimeters of height. The staff moves onto the subject of the singularity, for which no progress has been made. However, using the problem with The Doctor's imaging system, Torres is able to determine that she could use a localized dampening field around the external sensors to contact the other ship. Janeway agrees with this idea and dismisses the staff to begin work.
The deflector dish is modified and the dampening field is deployed. They receive the transmission from the ship again. It is cleared up – it is the same message Janeway transmitted earlier. The ship is the Voyager. Torres has an explanation for this, so the staff returns to the briefing room. Torres uses a reflection in water as an example of the current situation, except that what the Voyager's crew is viewing is a time-delayed image. They estimate it would take nine hours until Voyager was destroyed by the singularity, so Torres recommends that they find a 'crack' to escape. Remembering back to when they first entered, Janeway and Torres think that Voyager made a hole in the singularity when they first entered, but they would need to find it. Finishing each other's sentences, "warp particles" is the idea developed by Torres and Janeway; it would make the crack visible and Voyager could fly out. The crew return to the bridge to implement the new plan.
The deflector dish is deactivated and warp particles are routed to the deflector. The particles are deployed and Paris locates an irregularity in the event horizon. The hole is too small, so they would have to expand it. Torres recommends to use a dekyon beam to expand the hole. Voyager is too far to emit the beam, so a shuttlecraft has to be used. With their understanding of the 'finer points' of temporal mechanics, Janeway and Torres both board the shuttle and leave Voyager.
On the shuttlecraft, the dekyon beam is prepared. Torres decides to use this moment to apologize about her earlier behavior and also noted that she left the Academy because she felt she couldn't make it in Starfleet. Janeway noted that Professor Chapman thought Torres was a promising cadet and would support her re-entry. Torres, in reality, thought Chapman hated her but Janeway notes that some Professors like students who challenge their assumptions. The shuttle arrives and the dekyon beam is charged. They get close enough and fire the beam, and the hole begins to grow larger. The hole reaches a 65% increase in growth as the shuttle starts to lose power. They turn around and return to find two Voyagers. Guessing, Janeway chooses the starboard Voyager while Torres chooses port. Janeway notes to Torres that the port one is moving towards the rift, which the real Voyager did twenty minutes prior. They land in the starboard ship's shuttlebay, discovering it is indeed the real one.
Voyager begins to move towards the rift, which is slowly closing. The rift length reaches 110 meters, which is too small. Janeway orders full power to the impulse engines as they approach the rift. Shields fail and the port impulse engines lose power. Despite the problems, Voyager is able to punch its way out and clears the singularity.
In engineering, Chakotay notifies Torres that she has earned the position of chief engineer. Her first duty is to bring the warp drive online by 1300 hours. She orders some officers to work, but they don't respond until she says "Please". Torres confronts Carey and asks for his help in becoming the new chief engineer. He gladly accepts, stating that she will never get anything but his best, and they both shake their hands. Meanwhile, Janeway is observing Torres and the staff as Chakotay joins her. Two crewmembers have already filed complaints on Torres' promotion, but Janeway now respects Torres.
However, one problem is still occurring. Tom Paris enters sickbay to find a very tiny Doctor standing on his chair.
"I'm sorry, lieutenant; but whatever it is, you're going to have to take care of it yourself."
"Oh, it's all right, it's just a scratch really. You know, I like you better this way."
[edit] Memorable Quotes
"I didn't even come close to hitting him that hard."
"So on the one side, I'm facing a Vulcan who wants court martial you. And on the other, I'm facing all the Maquis who are ready to seize this ship over this. You've turned this into one lousy day for me, Torres!"
- - B'Elanna Torres and Chakotay
"These are the Maquis and sometimes in the Maquis you have to push people out of your way to get things done."
- - Chakotay
"Wait a minute, wait. Wait a minute. Let me get this straight. We were cruising along at warp seven. Then, we picked up a distress call and moved in to investigate. But now, you're saying that the other ship is actually just a reflection of us and that the distress call is actually just the Captain's opening hail. But we picked up the distress call before she sent the hail. How could we have been seeing a reflection of something we hadn't even done yet? Am I making any sense here?"
"No, but that's OK."
- - Tom Paris and Kathryn Janeway
"She's the best engineer I've ever known. She could teach at the Academy! You're right, Captain, I do consider these to be my people because nobody else on this ship will look out for them like I will. And I'm telling you: you're going to have to give them more authority if you want their loyalty."
"Theirs or yours, Commander?"
- - Chakotay and Kathryn Janeway
"I have no intention of being your token Maquis officer!"
- - Chakotay
[edit] Background Information
- Originally, B'Elanna Torres was to be promoted to chief engineer in "Caretaker". Time constraints prevented this and the idea was transfered to this episode.
- Tuvok is shown wearing lieutenant commander pips. He doesn't assume the rank, though, until much later in the series.
- Tom Paris is also seen wearing full lieutenant rank pips, but he doesn't even reach that grade throughout the entire Voyager series. This was eventually corrected in "Cathexis".
- Seska appears for the first time in this episode. She wears a blue uniform from the science department, but in later episodes she will appear in a yellow operations uniform.
- Still finding their footing in the series, Tom Paris exclaims "It's the Voyager" instead of "It's Voyager" (without the definitive article).
[edit] Video and DVD releases
- UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 1.2, catalogue number VHR 4002, 10 July 1995.
- As part of the VOY Season 1 DVD collection.
[edit] Links and References
[edit] Main Cast
- Kate Mulgrew as Captain Kathryn Janeway
- Robert Beltran as Commander Chakotay
- Roxann Biggs-Dawson as B'Elanna Torres
- Jennifer Lien as Kes
- Robert Duncan McNeill as Lieutenant Tom Paris
- Ethan Phillips as Neelix
- Robert Picardo as The Doctor
- Tim Russ as Lieutenant Tuvok
- Garrett Wang as Ensign Harry Kim
[edit] Guest Stars
[edit] Co-Stars
- Justin Williams as Jarvin
- Tarik Ergin as Ayala (uncredited)
[edit] References
47, assault; astrogation; astrogation plotter, Ayala, biochemistry, black hole, cargo bay, chief engineer, chief medical officer, Deep Space 9, dekyon, distress call, Emergency Medical Hologram, ethmoid fossa, event horizon, Feragoit goulash, field medic; gravimetric flux density; holodeck, Holodeck reactor; Hippocrates, hydroponics, Ilidaria, Keloda, Maquis; medical practitioner; nitrogen, nitrogenated soil, pejuta, quantum singularity, Starfleet General Orders and Regulations, subspace tractor beam, transporter chief, type-8 shuttlecraft, Val Jean, Voyager, USS
[edit] External links
| Previous episode: "Caretaker" | Star Trek: Voyager Season 1 | Next episode: "Time and Again" |
