Displaced
Stardate: 50912.4
Original Airdate: May 14, 1997
By Christina Luckings
The Story
It is 11:32h, and Paris has been collecting on the bet he won
in Distant Origin, but Torres isn't too happy with a Klingon
martial arts program. While they are arguing in the corridor,
a stranger pops into view in front of them and asks, 'Where
am I?' They take him off to sickbay, where the EMH raises
the heat and lowers the light levels to make their visitor more
comfortable. The Nyrian, Dammar, tries to explain what he experienced,
and describe where his colony is, to the Captain and Tuvok. When
the EMH mentions that Kes has not turned up for her duty shift,
Janeway asks the computer to find her, and is told that she is
not on Voyager. She left at 11:32.
Torres and Kim are examining the sensor records in engineering,
and discussing whether or not she is hostile, when they detect
elevated levels of polaron particles. Then Harry disappears,
and another Nyrian appears on the bridge. Exchanges continue
despite trying to strengthen the shields, and eventually sickbay
is getting full. Twenty two swaps later, the remaining senior
staff discuss the various possibilities. Captain Janeway has
a gut feeling that something is wrong, as there are exactly 9
minutes 20 second gaps between each exchange, so she orders the
Nyrians confined to the Cargo Bays under guard.
'Captain's log, stardate 50912.4. It's been twelve hours
since these mysterious exchanges began. We still haven't discovered
their cause. I've already lost over half my crew.'
Chakotay reports the cargo bays full, and asks Captain Janeway
for permission to begin converting the shuttle bays. In engineering
Torres tells them that a Nyrian called Rislan has suggested that
Voyager has snagged a wormhole. The Captain contacts Neelix and
begins to tell him to find this scientist, then vanishes. Chakotay
continues to issue her last order.
With only 40 crew left, young Miss Lang is now head of Security
on the bridge, reporting to Chakotay. He orders unused areas
of the ship shut down, and security measures put in place to
stop unauthorised tampering as the crew's numbers continue
to decrease. Down in engineering, Rislan is trying to persuade
Torres not to run a particular type of scan, but she does anyway,
and discovers that the phenomenon is not a wormhole, but a form
of teleporter. Rislan shoots the security guard and arranges
for her to be moved to the head of the queue. She vanishes.
Torres finds herself in a light, bright place with the rest
of her missing crewmates. There are a group of compounds in the
area and Tuvok is scouting the surroundings for more information.
On Voyager, there are only 12 crew left when Chakotay discovers
the Nyrians have left the cargo bays. Immediately, he orders
his people to secure all strategic areas, but the bridge is overwhelmed
after a short fire-fight. Chakotay is with Larsen when he deduces
that the Nyrians must have got into Voyager's database
some time before in order to plan the takeover so well. Then
there is only he and Gennaro left, so the two set out to sabotage
as many systems as possible. If the Nyrians want Voyager, they're
going to have to work for it.
On the bridge, Dammar reliever a report from Rislan that the
navigational controls are not working. He orders the saboteurs
found, but meanwhile, the warp core is disabled and engineering
is flooded by brilliant light, driving the Nyrians out. Back
in the cargo bay, Chakotay enters commands that will disrupt
all computer functions, then tries to contact Gennaro, only to
learn that he has been alone for seven minutes 20 seconds. He
dashes to sickbay, activates the EMH, and downloads his program
into the mobile emitter. As the Nyrian security team breaks in,
he palms the emitter, surrenders, and vanishes.
Tuvok reports that the crew are in ten compounds scattered over
four hectares, with impassable barriers on all sides. Now that
everyone is present, a Nyrian tells them to get used to the place
because this is their home now, then leaves just before another
alien appears through a glitch in the scenery. The explains that
his name is Jarlath, and he lives in the environment next door.
It took him nine years to find the portal and learn how to get
through it. Janeway offers to trade food for the information.
That evening, Torres is adjusting the EMH's optical sensors
so that he can become a tricorder searching for portals. Paris
is sent down to get an update on progress, and the pair end up
arguing again, while the EMH makes comments about defence mechanisms
until Torres mutes him. Upstairs in the building, Neelix is delivering
scavenged parts to Tuvok and Chakotay, who are improvising weapons.
The Vulcan's unexpected talent has impressed the first
officer. Next morning, the EMH is trying to claim that he is
tired of scanning, when he finally locates a second portal. Janeway,
Tuvok, Torres, Paris and Jarlath go through to find themselves
in a control area, not another habitat.
They split into two groups, and while Tom, B'Elanna and
Jarlath find entrances to more habitats, the Captain and Tuvok
locate computer consoles which show them that there are 94 habitats
on this space station. Then an alarm goes off. Jarlath is caught
and sent back to his habitat as Tuvok monitors the procedure.
Guards chase Paris and B'Elanna who decide that an arctic
environment is their best chance for a safe haven. With the makeshift
phaser losing power, the pair manage to avoid capture before
Torres begins to succumb to hypothermia. Janeway works out how
to use the Nyrian teleporter as Voyager is repaired and comes
to help put down the rebellion. She swaps Tom and B'Elanna
out to the Federation habitat and Dammar and Rislan into the
arctic Argala one. Then she goes in herself to offer her ultimatum – free
everyone in the space station and have a nice warm, dark habitat
of your own, or stay here and freeze as your comrades are teleported
in to join you. They take the first option.
Captain's log, stardate 50929.6. The Nyrians have surrendered
Voyager, and my crew is safely back on board. The former prisoners
on the habitat vessel have contacted their native worlds, and
are waiting to be taken home.
Torres sits next to Paris on the resort holo-program, and the
two agree that it is nice to feel warm again.
Review:
Finally, Lisa Klink does us proud with a Paris/Torres relationship
development episode set against the intellectual challenge of
the Nyrian dilemma. I was so pleased to see that it was Chakotay
who got to be last in the queue, pretty much sabotage the ship
and be quick enough on his feet to get from the Cargo Bay to
Sickbay in about a minute! The other good concept was that the
Nyrians prefer a different environment to the crew – dark
and warm as opposed to cool and bright.
Which was a kind of metaphor for the Tom and B'Elanna
situation too, as the couple move from a cool, antagonistic relationship
to a warmer, friendlier one. Now, if he can just be a little
less brash, and she a little more accepting of her bloodline,
things should trot along nicely. Just like the episode really.
No lags, no boring interludes, just a good pace of plot development
all the way through. Apart from the usual technobabble grievance
of how quickly the heroes can work out how to use a completely
alien computer system, there was no big leap or deux-ex-machina
for the resolution, just strategy and determination from the
Captain.
This is the third strong story in four episodes. As we move
to the end of the season, things are boding very well.
Grade: 9/10
Cast:
Kate Mulgrew as Kathryn Janeway
Robert Beltran as Chakotay
Roxann Dawson as B'Elanna Torres
Robert Duncan McNeill as Tom Paris
Ethan Phillips as Neelix
Robert Picardo as The Doctor
Tim Russ as Tuvok
Garrett Wang as Harry Kim
Jennifer Lien as Kes
Guest Cast:
James Noah as Rislan
Mark L. Taylor as Jarlath
Kenneth Tigar as Dammar
Nancy Youngblut as Taleen
Creative Staff:
Director: Allan Kroeker
Written By: Lisa
Klink
