- Rust? - Yes. High levels of ferric oxide.
Corroded iron particles.
Would you mind telling me how iron could rust in space without oxygen?
I wish I could.
Alter our course to follow that trail of rust.
- One quarter impulse. - Aye, Captain.
Captain, I'm picking up traces of complex hydrocarbons in the rust.
Benzene, ethylene, acetylene...
- That sounds like gasoline. - Gasoline?
It's a liquid fuel used centuries ago. They burned it to drive engines.
- How did it get out here? - I'm detecting a small object.
It's the source of the rust and hydrocarbons.
Put it on screen.
Magnify.
Apparently it is a ground vehicle from mid-20th-Century Earth.
- It's a 1936 Ford. - Mr Paris?
That was the manufacturing date. 1936.
Ford was the company that built it.
Antique vehicles are a hobby of mine.
Internal combustion engine, a reciprocating piston cylinder design,
fuel source was a refined petroleum - gasoline.
- So is this an early hover car? - No.
You're a century too early for that.
This is one step ahead of the horse-drawn carriage.
Traces of potassium nitrate, ammonium and methane.
I think you'll find that's manure. Horse manure, if I'm not mistaken.
Judging from the mud on the wheels,
and the alfalfa seedlings stuck in the frame,
I'd say this vehicle belonged to a farmer,
or someone from a rural area.
But the question is, how did it get here?
I doubt there are many 20th-Century farmers here.
There are no signs of wormholes or temporal anomalies in this region.
Let's run a metallurgical analysis.
There's still oil in the crankcase,
water in the radiator.
I wonder if the battery's still charged.
Let's see.
This is before voice command activation
so there should be something in here called a key.
- Key... - What are you doing?
Trying to bring this beauty back to life. Now where are the keys?
Ah-ha. Here they are. OK.
Choke out, clutch in, give her a little gas,
turn the key...
and step on the starter.
Sorry.
Next time, you might give us a little warning, Mr Paris.
Aye, Captain.
I suggest we increase the ventilation before we are asphyxiated.
What's that?
That is an amplitude modulation receiving device - AM radio.
I'm not sure we'll pick up much out here.
Whoa. What was that?
- What is that? - It's not random interference.
I'm running the signal through the ship's database.
It's an ancient Earth distress call known as an SOS.
I've located the source of the SOS.
It's coming from a planet in a star system bearing 310, mark 215.
Mr Paris, lay in a course.
- Why didn't we pick it up earlier? - We don't monitor this frequency.
These messages travel at the speed of light,
too slow for interstellar communications.
- Course laid in, Captain. - Warp six. Engage.
- I'll run a diagnostic check, sir. - Mm.
Bring us out of warp. Full scan, Mr Kim.
The SOS signal was coming from the third planet.
- It's Class-L, oxygen-argon atmosphere. - Lifesigns?
There's a great deal of interference in the upper atmosphere.
- I can't get a clear reading. - Can you pinpoint the distress call?
It's coming from a continent in the northern hemisphere.
We can't transport through this interference.
I might be able to take a shuttlecraft.
That's not wise. The atmosphere is charged with trinimbic turbulence.
A shuttlecraft could not safely navigate the currents.
We could land the ship.
- Is that necessary? - Someone is sending a distress call.
If they're as old as the truck, they're long dead by now.
- It might be automated. - Possibly.
Whatever brought that truck across the galaxy might be down on that planet.
If it brought the truck, it might be able to take us home.
I'd say it's worth a look. Mr Paris, prepare the ship for landing.
Captain, I've never actually landed a starship before.
That's all right, Lieutenant. Neither have I.
Bridge to engineering. We're going to land the ship.
Take the warp core off-line, vent all plasma
and stand by to engage atmospheric thrusters.
Lieutenant Tuvok to all decks. We are preparing to land.
Go to Blue Alert. Report to code blue stations.
I've plotted a descent course. How close do you want to land?
- No closer than two kilometres. - OK.
Atmospheric controls at stand-by. Landing mechanisms on-line.
- Inertial dampers at maximum. - All decks report condition blue.
Put her down, Mr Paris.
- Status? - We're on the glide trajectory.
Altitude, 100 kilometres, speed, 10,000kph.
Trinimbic turbulence. Compensating.
We have an EM discharge in the relays. I'm rerouting the ODN conduit.
Another EM discharge. We're all right, though.
20 kilometres to the landing site. We should be able to see it.
Extend landing struts. Prepare to release inertial dampers.
Adjust them to match the planet's gravity.
- Struts down and locked. - Standing by environmental controls.
Here we go.
Disengaging engines, securing thruster exhaust.
- We're down. - Not bad. For a beginner.
- Nice day. - I've locked onto the distress signal.
It's 1.5 kilometres on a bearing of 246.
Wait. There's a high concentration of trianium particles.
Bearing 225, a little over a kilometre away. It looks like a power source.
Chakotay, your team investigates the power source.
Tuvok, Kim, you're with me.
My God.
The metal is an aluminium alloy. It appears to be an ancient aircraft.
The SOS call is coming from inside.
The AM transmitter is sending out an automated SOS.
What about the power source? I doubt the battery has run for 400 years.
I don't recognise the power signature.
Hold on. I've found what looks like an alien fusion-based generator.
- It's hooked up to the AM transmitter. - Chakotay to Janeway.
- Go ahead. - We've located the trianium.
It's some sort of mine shaft.
I'd like to bring out another security detachment.
Good idea. I'll join you. Janeway out.
Analyse the alien generator.
Then see what you can find out about this SOS call.
I'm picking up something directly ahead.
Some kind of power signature. Fusion based.
This looks like a cryostasis chamber.
- How many bodies are there? - Eight.
And the equipment is still functioning.
He's human.
And I'd say he's from the same era as the vehicle we found.
His lifesign readings are minimal, but he's alive.
According to these readings, there are five other cryostasis chambers nearby.
No lifesigns in any of them.
This appears to be the only one with people inside.
There's another male over here.
This one's a female.
She's wearing some sort of leather jacket.
And a pair of gold wings.
Wait. There's a name tag here.
I think it's "A."...
E-A-R-H-A-R-T...
Earhart.
A..
Earhart.
Amelia Earhart!
- Who's Amelia Earhart? - One of the first female pilots in history.
She became quite famous for flying across the Atlantic Ocean.
In 1937, she attempted to fly around the world.
According to the records of the time,
on July 2nd, 1937, Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan,
took off from New Guinea and were headed east, around the equator.
But somewhere in the South Seas, they vanished.
Their disappearance became a celebrated 20th-Century mystery.
- Why didn't they think she crashed? - That was a common theory.
However, numerous searches failed to produce the wreckage of an aircraft.
People speculated. Some thought she'd been captured by the Japanese.
Others thought she and Noonan went on some sort of romantic adventure.
Of course, the most ridiculed notion was
that she'd been abducted by aliens.
It looks like that's what happened.
All eight people in that stasis chamber were taken from Earth and brought here.
But why? And where are the aliens who did this?
Scans show no alien lifesigns.
Continue the scans. They may not be here now, but they might return.
For now we'll have to get some answers.
Have you tapped into the cryo-chamber's computer?
Not yet. We are having difficulty decoding the operating system.
To find out what happened, we could wake those people up and ask them.
I've had the same thought myself.
Is that wise? We don't know how they'll react
when they wake up in an alien world in the 24th Century.
True. But we can't just leave them in stasis for another 400 years.
If we learn how they got here, we might be able to use that method to get home.
We'll just have to be very careful how we handle this.
I suggest that only humans be present.
Agreed. Mr Kim, I want a complete analysis of those cryostasis tubes.
- Find a way to deactivate them safely. - Aye, Captain.
Commander, apprise the Doctor of our situation.
Tell him to instruct Kes in the procedure for reviving someone from cryostasis.
She can be made to look human easily enough.
In the meantime, let's all brush up on ancient Earth.
We're about to meet a bit of our history.
We're ready, Captain.
All the cryo-tubes are linked by a common power source.
So we'll revive everyone simultaneously.
Proceed.
The power is off-line. Deactivate locking mechanisms.
- This one's armed with a weapon. - Disarm him, just to be safe.
- This must be very strange for you. - Who are you? What is this?
- I demand you release me! - Please listen. I'll try to explain.
- You are all speaking Japanese. - No, you are speaking English.
It's because of a device we have. A universal translator.
It allows us to talk to each other.
- Who are you? - Let us go home.
- We won't tell anybody. - The hell we won't.
I'll tell the world what you've done.
Do you know who you've kidnapped? Amelia Earhart.
I'm her navigator. This is going to be headline news.
- You people are in trouble. - Fred. Let her talk.
This is going to sound hard to believe. Even preposterous.
We think you were abducted from Earth in the 1930s,
and brought millions of miles through space to the other side of the galaxy.
You were put into a kind of deep sleep for a very long time.
It's not the 1930s any more.
The year is 2371. Over 400 years from the time you were abducted.
You must think we are awfully gullible.
What's the last thing you remember before waking up here?
We were over the Pacific, running low on gas.
We were looking for an atoll to set down. We tried to send out an SOS and...
suddenly there was this huge light in back of us.
And the plane, it stopped dead.
And then it started moving backward, toward the light.
I must have blacked out. And I woke up here just now.
That's the way it was with me. I was in my truck, heading into town,
when this big light come down from the sky, just about blinded me.
Next thing I know, the whole truck is lifted up off the ground.
I believe what happened was that you were abducted by aliens.
If we can find out how they got you here, we might all be able to get back to Earth.
- I want some real answers. Now. - I am telling the truth.
Come on down here and get those funny-looking guns of theirs.
You. Get over there with the others.
- What is this? - A medical device.
I'm trying to make sure that everyone is all right.
Now. How do we get out of here?
Chakotay to away team.
I'm picking up energy displacements on the surface.
It may be alien humanoids.
They're using a deflection system to trick our sensors.
- You'd better get up here. - Who's that?
That's Commander Chakotay. On our ship.
Commander, huh? OK. Now hear this, Commander.
There's a gun pointed at the lady's head.
Call Washington and tell them we're holding your people prisoner
until I personally talk to J. Edgar Hoover.
- You've got one hour. - Captain?
It seems we're being held hostage, Commander.
- Pay attention to what the man says. - I understand. Chakotay out.
All security personnel report to the cargo bay.
- The compass isn't working. - I know this is hard to believe.
Once no one believed that a woman could fly across the Atlantic.
Now people are able to travel between the stars.
The galaxy is full of many different species.
For instance, this young woman isn't human.
She's an Ocampa.
I've been all over the world
and seen people do all kinds of things to their bodies.
That doesn't mean Martians have invaded Earth.
It was the other way around. Mars was colonised by Earth in 2103.
That's enough. Go and sit down and keep quiet.
The interference has affected the transporter's scanners.
We'll have to go on foot.
We will deploy throughout the caves, sealing off any exit.
Let's go.
Now is probably not the best time for that.
Just a little pick-me-up.
He's had a few nips from that flask.
We could probably rush him. Get the gun.
Let me talk to Earhart first. She seems reasonable.
Maybe I can get through to her.
Miss Earhart?
I want you to know you've always been an inspiration to me.
Because of you, generations of women have become pilots.
Generations?
- What's your name? - Kathryn Janeway.
I heard the commander call you "Captain".
- What exactly do you captain? - The Federation starship Voyager.
Starship? That's supposed to mean it flies through space?
- That's right. - That's only possible in books.
Maybe if you saw it you'd think otherwise.
Saw it? Where is it?
On the surface. We're actually about 100 metres underground now.
If you'd come with me to see Voyager, you'd know what I'm saying is true.
And risk a trap? You could have reinforcements.
We have no interest in harming you. We took you out of stasis to help you.
Put yourself in my shoes, Captain.
If you were me, would you believe your story?
Maybe not. Let me tell you what happened after you disappeared.
No trace of you or your plane was ever found, in spite of a massive search.
There was a lot of speculation.
People thought it was financed by the government,
and may have been gathering information about the Japanese.
- Where did you hear that? - It's somewhat common knowledge.
You see, Japan attacked Pearl Harbour in 1941,
drawing the United States into a massive world war.
In retrospect, your journey was seen in a different light,
perhaps as an intelligence mission
devised by a government concerned about war.
- No one was supposed to know that. - Not in 1937.
Now it's part of history.
I got an idea.
Why don't we stick them in these things? Put them to sleep like we were.
No fuss, no trouble.
Mr Noonan, that will accomplish nothing. Please. Let us take you to our ship.
You'll see that what we've told you is true.
Show me how to operate this.
Last time I looked, you were working for me.
We should listen to these people. They just may be telling the truth.
What's the harm in seeing if they do have this starship?
Beats being cooped up in here trying to figure out what happened.
How about it? Anyone want to come along?
I wouldn't mind taking a look.
- Anyone else? - You're not leaving me behind.
Kes and I will stay with the others.
It'll take ten minutes to get to the surface. Stay close to us.
Mr Kim.
- What is it? - I am reading energy displacements.
Possibly alien lifesigns. 200 metres ahead.
- They may be up there. - Take cover!
This way.
- What's all that racket? - Take cover!
I told you it was a trick!
Fred!
- Janeway to Chakotay. - I'm here. We're pinned down.
I can see you from here. Lay down phaser fire.
I'm going to circle around, come at them from the rear.
Right.
- Chakotay to Voyager. - Torres here.
- Can you help us? - I don't think so.
The targeting scanners are still useless. I can't risk laying down weapons fire.
- Keep trying to get them on-line. - Aye, Commander.
Hold your fire. Drop your weapons.
Turn around slowly.
- You're not Briori. - No. I'm human.
Human?
We're human.
You're working for the Briori.
I will answer questions but we must care for our wounded.
- Can we agree to end this? - Yes.
I'm Kathryn Janeway of the Federation starship Voyager.
John Evansville. This is my colleague, Karyn Berlin.
Severe trauma to the thoracic cavity, lacerated carotid artery.
- He won't make it. - Don't be so sure.
Vascular regenerator.
Hm. He's not responding to the treatment.
The alcohol level in his blood is so high it's inhibiting the repair.
Attempting to compensate.
Told you your drinking would kill you.
She's right, Doc. Just let me die in peace.
There's just one thing I want to say to you first...
even though it's 400 years late.
Amelia, I love you.
Fred. You never said anything.
You're married. Or you were.
I guess he's dead now.
I just wanted you to know before I met my maker.
There. That should do it.
- Do what? - You're healed.
- I'm not going to die? - Aside from a hangover, you'll be fine.
Amelia, you er... you've got to forget what I just told you.
- Promise me. - Fred, I already have.
You've taken the Thirty-Sevens. Why?
- I don't understand. - You went into the shrine.
You stole the Thirty-Sevens from the sacred altars
and you disturbed the radio signal that we have been so careful to preserve.
He's talking about Earhart and the others.
Tell me more about the Thirty-Sevens. Are you one of them?
I'm one of their descendents.
The Thirty-Sevens were brought here 15 generations ago, by the Briori.
- Who are the Briori? - An alien race.
They abducted over 300 people from Earth in the year 1937,
brought them over here, turned them into slaves.
But the slaves revolted. Killed the Briori, took their weapons and technology,
and survived.
And now there are over 100,000 of us.
The Briori never came back.
Now you answer me. Why did you steal the remaining Thirty-Sevens?
We didn't steal them. We simply revived them.
- Revived them? They're dead. - No.
They were simply in a state of what we call cryostasis.
That's a form of sleep that appears very much like death.
- Do you mean they're alive? - Yes.
My people regard the Thirty-Sevens as monuments to our ancestors.
Nobody has even entered their shine for generations.
We were hoping to find the ship that brought your ancestors here.
Possibly use it to get back to Earth a little faster.
I'm sorry. The Briori ship was destroyed in the slave revolt.
There's nothing left.
Captain, I'm sorry to hear about your long journey home.
But you should know that life on this planet is good.
We live in three beautiful cities only 50 miles from here.
- I'd like to see your cities. - I'd like to show them to you.
- How fast? - Warp 9.9.
In your terms, that's about four billion miles a second.
- Think I could take her out for a spin? - Weller...
Mr Evansville has offered to take us on a tour.
He's extended the invitation to the entire crew.
And the Thirty-Sevens, of course.
You're a Thirty-Seven?
I guess you could call me that.
It would be an honour to show you our cities.
Captain's log, stardate 48975.1.
Evansville was right when he said they have a lot to be proud of here.
It was an amazing experience, but it's left me a little disturbed.
Come in.
- Here's the damage report. - Thank you.
Is something wrong?
You've seemed distracted since we came back from the cities.
- Weren't you impressed? - A little too impressed.
- What do you mean? - There's a thriving culture here.
Of human beings.
Walking around those cities was almost like being back on Earth.
It was a little eerie. It reminded me of home, too.
Evansville has offered to let any of our crew stay.
What will you do about that?
Maybe this is a decision that the captain has to make for the entire ship.
You'll have a problem if a lot of people want to stay.
But I can't take a vote whenever there's a decision to make.
And yet... we're a long way from Starfleet.
And a lot of the rules and regulations I've learned to uphold seem distant as well.
Am I the only one who's so intent on getting home? Is it just me?
Am I leading the crew on a forlorn mission with no real hope of success?
You're not alone. I want to get home, too.
And not a day goes by when I don't hear someone mention Earth.
The people here have built a new Earth. We could stay.
Help them build a human civilisation in the Delta Quadrant.
Isn't that an exciting prospect? Shouldn't we be grateful for the opportunity?
It is a tempting prospect.
But when I compare it to seeing the sun rise over the Arizona desert,
or swimming in the Gulf of Mexico on a summer's day,
there's just no comparison.
I wanna go home.
We have 152 men and women on this ship.
What happens if half of them decide to stay on the planet?
Could we operate Voyager with 75 crew members?
I don't think we could operate the ship with fewer than 100.
If too many of the crew choose to stay behind, we could all be stranded here.
Tell all hands to prepare for an announcement at 1400 hours.
They deserve to choose for themselves.
Aye, Captain.
Here we are. My research on 20th-Century Earth is thin
but I've done what I can.
Pot roast, green beans and something called "Jell-O".
- You know how to make Jell-O? - I even put in fruit cocktail.
You don't say.
I don't know about you but I've decided.
There is land here that goes begging. I could have a big farm, like I've dreamed.
And for you, rice with a little fish.
I even replicated some ginger for seasoning.
Very nice. Thank you.
Life here looks a lot better than what we left on Earth.
It's paradise by comparison.
And there are many Japanese here. I could be very happy.
We all could. Right?
I'm just not sure.
Mr Neelix, have you made your decision?
Yes, indeed. I'm staying right here with Captain Janeway.
She'd be lost without me. She's come to depend on me a great deal.
Do you think many of the crew will stay here?
I don't think so. At least not many. That is, there's a good chance.
But now that you ask, I don't know.
- You'd stay here on the planet? - I didn't say I was going to.
But I could understand why people would want to.
The people here remind me of home. I haven't felt like that since I left Earth.
But you're Starfleet. You've always wanted a life in space.
I know. But my whole life on a starship,
day after day, with no end in sight.
- That's not what I had in mind. - You're not the first I've heard say this.
A lot of people are thinking about staying.
What about you? Don't you have some of those feelings?
I'd be lying if I said I didn't.
I was told I'd find you here. Am I intruding?
Not at all. Please join me.
I wanted you to know that the group you brought out of stasis...
we've all decided to stay here on the planet.
I understand.
I must admit, the thought of travelling through space,
maybe even learning to fly this ship, was very appealing to me.
And I'd looked forward to getting to know you.
I suspect we have a lot in common.
At first I didn't know what to do.
We talked about it for quite some time
and finally I realised that people here on this planet are part of us.
We're their ancestors, in a way.
It made us feel close to them.
The remarkable thing about the humans here
is that they evolved very much like the people on Earth.
Tens of thousands of light years apart,
both civilisations created a world they could be proud of,
one where war and poverty simply don't exist.
I can't blame you for wanting to be part of it,
any more than I can blame my crew if they do.
- When will you find out? - In half an hour.
Anyone who wants to stay behind is to report to the cargo bay at 1500 hours.
- I expect Jarvin will stay on the planet. - Why Jarvin?
He's more uncomfortable about being on a Starfleet ship than most Maquis,
and he's gotten involved with a young woman.
I think they'd like to settle down.
- The person I expect to see is Baxter. - Walter Baxter?
He's a risk taker.
I can see him wanting the challenge of building a new life.
I'd hate to lose Baxter. He's a good man.
I'd hate to lose Jarvin.
I don't want to lose anyone.
We've all been through so much together. It just wouldn't seem right.
But I couldn't blame anyone.
Anyone. For staying behind.
I'm not sure I want to go in.
No matter what happens, we'll make it.
Remember that.
Captain on the bridge.
All stations, prepare for departure.
Condition blue. Anti-grav thrusters on-line.
Thrusters enabled.
Inertial dampers to flight configuration. Impulse drive to stand-by.
Yes, ma'am.
All stations report ready, Captain.
Then let's do it. Take us up.