[exciting music]
♪ ♪
[exciting music]
♪ ♪
[screaming]
- Is this shaking normal?
- We're hurtling through a time hole!
Nothing's normal!
- Could be worse.
- Inertial dampers are offline.
- What buttons are you pressing?
- Preparing for a crash landing.
- [screams]
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
- [groans]
- Is everyone all right?
- Don't know. Does almost on fire count?
- [coughs] At least we're in one piece.
Sorta.
- Voyager, come in.
Do you read?
- I suspect we are no longer in range,
or even in the same decade.
[grunts]
♪ ♪
What is this place?
- Solum, or what's left of it.
After Starfleet made first contact,
it kind of started a civil war.
I guess they didn't like visitors.
- Huh.
- It's why Gwyn is there now.
Or rather, 52 years ago.
- Uh, didn't Janeway say she was
trying to save Chakotay after he launched the "Protostar"?
- Yeah. Why do you ask?
- 'Cause Jankom's looking at it right now.
- Oh. - [groans]
[alarm beeping]
♪ ♪
- Bad news from the sensor readings.
They've gone in too early.
- If they interfere with these events
that have already occurred, it could spell disaster.
I need answers, people.
Initiate subspace scan for trace signatures.
I want to know what that sphere was and who was in it.
Commander, can you get a read on the "Infinity"?
- All communication has been lost.
- Can we mount a rescue?
- The "Infinity" was the only vessel built to withstand
the rigors of the wormhole.
It would take weeks.
- Then can anyone at least tell me
who just stole our only hope of rescuing Chakotay?
- I tried to stop them.
It was an accident.
Dal couldn't turn it off.
- [sighs]
- Mr. Tysess, get me some options.
Until then, we're at their mercy.
- [squeals]
♪ ♪
- Dal, we need to stay here.
- No, we need to save Chakotay.
He saved us, so we do the same.
- We can't save him until after he launches the "Protostar,"
or there could be substantial consequences.
- Yeah, if the "Protostar" ain't empty
when it hurtles through that mess in the sky,
then, uh-- she'll take it from here.
- Then it never goes to Tars Lamora,
and your girlfriend is never born.
- Oh, right, temporal mechanics.
But after he sends the "Protostar"
through the wormhole, we save him.
And she's not my girlfriend.
- Oh, if these readings are accurate,
the "Protostar" will be set to launch
in approximately four hours.
- Set a timer on your tricorders.
- Hey! - We are not from this time.
Starfleet's temporal displacement policy states
that if we're spotted, they cannot know
who we are or why we're here.
- You could have asked first.
- Hm. [device beeping]
- Uh, we got life signs.
Coming in fast!
[engines roaring]
♪ ♪
- So much for not being spotted.
♪ ♪
- We must find the girl.
Gwyndala may look Vau N'Akat, but she is our enemy,
a puppet to foreign masters.
- That may be, but we have rejected her.
What threat does she pose?
- She is out there spreading lies
to our people that threaten the safety
of our society, our future.
- Asencia is right.
Poisonous rhetoric is taking root.
Ilthuran is missing from the observatory.
- High Council, I've come to request my voice be given,
that our messenger's words be heard.
- Ilthuran, you betray us?
- She may use your voice, Stargazer.
♪ ♪
- Elders of Solum, hear me out.
I spoke the truth about a peaceful universe,
a universe full of worlds I could call my home,
but Solum is the home that I choose.
- You are not from Solum.
You do not know our ways.
How could we let an outsider determine our future?
- She is no outsider.
I stand with Gwyndala because she...
♪ ♪
She is my daughter.
- To prove my origins as a true Vau N'Akat,
I challenge Asencia to Va'Lu'Rah.
- Ha, this traitor dares evoke the sacred laws of Solum?
- The Va'Lu'Rah has been a sovereign ritual
for our people from the beginning.
If we cannot honor our past, we do not deserve a future.
We must let the challenge stand.
♪ ♪
- [sighs] Feels just like old times.
- I can't believe they confiscated Jankom's Mitt.
- This does not bode well for us.
- On the contrary, if we're captured,
we won't be able to interfere with the key events
that need to happen.
Chakotay will escape prison to launch the ship,
and our past selves will find it on Tars Lamora.
- Escape a prison like this?
- Oh, dear.
- Hm?
- [grunts]
- Psst, hey.
♪ ♪
- Clearly, your optimism of our noninterference was misplaced.
- How was I to know it would be this prison cell?
- Uh-oh, they're walking over here.
- Stick to the plan. Don't reveal anything.
Just be quiet. - [grunts]
- Uh, nice tattoo.
- Uh-- - [groans]
- That's the opposite of quiet.
- I was just following my gut. - How'd you get here?
We've seen no one but Vau N'Akat for months.
- Um-- - Oh, uh--
- We're--
- Galactic traders, just minding our business
when they commandeered our ship.
We'll leave you alone.
- [grumbles] Stupid forcefield.
- There's no way out. - Huh?
- We've tried. - Whatever, bird.
- B-b-b-but you haven't given up yet, right?
I mean, you're still gonna--
I don't know-- try to get out today?
Or tomorrow? Sooner than later.
- Are these kids for real? - Thought it might be a trap.
Vau N'Akat are smarter than that.
- [chuckles]
- Your tactics are not very subtle.
- He's supposed to be escaping.
- No, don't even think about it.
- We're all in the same boat.
It's not like we can leave them behind.
Sometimes, you've just got to take a leap of faith.
My name is Captain Chakotay of the USS "Protostar,"
and this is my first officer, Adreek.
Tell me, can you kids keep a secret?
Adreek was able to hide a tricorder before our capture.
- Check out the beak on Adreek.
Oh, bird puns not your thing, huh?
Got it.
Didn't mean to ruffle your feathers.
- So you're going to use that tri-whatever
to disable the forcefield?
- They aren't rigged to do that.
We've been using it to send distress calls
into the anomaly.
Maybe they'll get to Starfleet.
- Staar-fleet?
What's that? - Forget it.
It does not matter. - It does matter.
Those Vau N'Akat put a weapon on our ship
that threatens the entire Federation.
- The Federation is my home, and Starfleet is my family.
If we don't stop this threat--
- Oh, you don't have to explain.
We know.
Uh, your voice paints a vivid picture.
- [grunting] Jankom doesn't get it.
In one hour, that bird needs to be in the air.
The ship, not the guy, obviously.
- And they don't look like they're ready
to bust out of here.
How did the "Protostar" get back last time?
- Uh--
- Oh, perhaps it was us who were always here to help them.
- A curious observation.
It would not be the first instance
of a causal time loop in Starfleet history.
The Bell Riots, the Cochran warp test.
- I don't know what just came out of her mouth,
but if we're the ones who were supposed
to start this jailbreak,
then we got to figure it out fast.
[bell tolling]
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
- Ugh, you're as weak as I remember.
- I'm not the one you're fighting.
- So here begins Va'Lu'Rah.
We remember, when faced with a great barrier,
true Vau N'Akat have the strength to overcome.
Your heirlooms will remain here.
Two shall descend, and the will of your ancestry
shall be tested.
Only one will emerge the victor
and be embraced as one of our own.
♪ ♪
- What is the test?
- That is for you to discover.
♪ ♪
[bell tolling]
♪ ♪
- Your friends can't help you now.
- Huh?
- This place, I can feel it.
It's the source of our heirlooms.
- Ah!
[both grunting]
♪ ♪
- You only delay the inevitable.
[both yell]
- Hm.
[chuckles]
- Hey, kid, easy with that thing.
- Quit squawking. Jankom knows how to wing it.
- If he's the engineer, what are you?
- [laughs] Isn't it obvious?
Captain.
- He is not a captain,
though he does fantasize of becoming one.
- Uh-- [chuckles]
Was that really necessary?
- Vulcans do not lie.
- You know, for a second,
I thought your snarkiness reminded me of Gwyn,
but you are much, much worse.
- Almost got it. - We told you.
You can't disable the forcefield.
- Jankom Pog politely disagrees.
[laughs]
[metal clanging] - Hm?
♪ ♪
- Nice. - This actually worked.
- Ho, ho, ho!
- Huh, I was wrong. He can do it.
- That's the control room.
The red panel disables the forcefield.
♪ ♪
- No. - No, go left.
- Go right. - Left, no, left.
[laughs] Yes!
- Nice work, kid. Let's get out of here.
- Now Jankom gets to take you apart.
[laughing]
- Ah! - Watch out!
- Oh, dear. - Ah!
- [groans]
- I didn't realize galactic raiders knew
how to Vulcan nerve pinch.
- Vulcan what? - That was more of a hand chop.
Ha!
Everybody does that.
Let me get this straight.
We only need to get them to the "Protostar"
so they can launch it?
- Isn't this exciting.
Who'd have thought it was always us who helped them send
the ship back to Tars Lamora?
We should give ourselves a pat on the back.
There's a certain assurance knowing what possibly will
happen already did happen.
Ah!
- Assurance or not, this is not over.
- Time to fly the coop.
Uh, again, sorry.
- You got to admit that one was pretty good.
Let's move.
[both grunting]
♪ ♪
- You thought you were strong enough
to save us from our fate?
Ha!
- You're terrified of a future
that hasn't happened, Asencia.
- As long as the outsiders come to Solum,
we are destined for civil war,
so now I'll ensure that the right side wins.
♪ ♪
- Our people will embrace the greater universe,
but not if you poison them with fear.
- I will enjoy watching you perish,
just as I did your father.
- I don't need to fight you to save Solum,
only leave you behind.
[grunting]
♪ ♪
[tense music]
- Hello again, old friend.
- There's too many.
We'll have to wait until it clears.
- Wait? We're running out of time.
- You have a better idea?
♪ ♪
- We'll go.
We'll distract them, and you two get to the ship.
- That's awfully generous for a pack of galactic raiders.
- You said it yourself.
That ship can never reach the Federation,
and I'm sure there's others out there like us
that will be grateful we lent a hand.
I'd like to think, in another time,
we could have been friends.
- If you ever make it out to the Alpha Quadrant,
we could use some heroes like you in Starfleet.
- They have to go now.
- Where did you get that tricord--
- She said go.
Now!
♪ ♪
Hey, rust buckets!
Over here! Look how distracting I am!
- [laughing] You call that a distraction?
Check this out.
- Ya-pow, hee-hee, ya-pow!
♪ ♪
- Ah!
I think we got their attention. Let's go.
- Split up and meet back at the "Infinity."
- Unconventional but effective.
[alarm beeping]
♪ ♪
- [laughing] Yeah, nailed it.
- Yes, we lost them!
- Did we do it?
- Ugh, really?
- [gasps]
- Bird guy! - He'll be OK.
That happened before. OK, they're at the "Protostar."
All they have to do is launch it.
- And then we swoop in and save them.
- Everything is playing out as it should.
- [gasps] Oh, no.
That wasn't there before.
Who left the disruptor?
Oh.
Ah! They're getting onto the ship.
- What? On the ship?
They aren't supposed to be on it when it launches.
- It's just a small change, right?
It can't be that bad, can it?
- Bad? More like catastrophic.
- Due to the wormhole's instability,
it was sheer chance the "Protostar"
found its way to Tars Lamora, but now that it's piloted--
ay-yi.
- Computer, disable autopilot
and remodulate temporal shielding.
- Affirmative.
- Adreek, set a course out of here.
[engine roaring]
- [groans]
♪ ♪
- What have we done? [alarm beeping]
- Ah! What's that angry beeping?
- What is it?
- Chroniton emissions are spiking wildly.
Tachyon irregularities unlike anything I've seen.
- Um-- - And that means?
- The timeline has been disrupted.
Wherever the "Protostar" went, it did not go to Tars Lamora.
- Gwyn!
♪ ♪
- [grunting]
[screams]
♪ ♪
What's happening?
- You shouldn't have passed up a chance to kill your enemy.
I don't make such mistakes.
- [screams]
- Huh?
- Attention.
Someone's surfacing.
- [panting]
- Oh, no.
- [chuckles]
- [whimpering]
No, please!
♪ ♪
- Behold the victor, Asencia.
A proven and true Vau N'Akat
to lead us unto our greatest future.
♪ ♪
[exciting music]
♪ ♪