Scorpion (Star Trek: Voyager)

"Scorpion"
Star Trek: Voyager episode
Episode no.	Season 3 & 4 Episode 26 & 1
Directed by	David Livingston (part I) Winrich Kolbe (part II)
Written by	Brannon Braga Joe Menosky
Featured music	Jay Chattaway
Cinematography by	Marvin V. Rush
Production code	168 & 169
Original air date	May 21, 1997 (1997-05-21) September 3, 1997 (1997-09-03)
Guest actors
John Rhys-Davies - Leonardo da Vinci Erica Lynne Bryan - Young Annika Hansen David Anthony Marshall - Magnus Hansen Nikki Tyler-Flynn - Erin Hansen Tarik Ergin - Lt. Ayala

"Scorpion" is the 26th episode of the third season and the first episode of the fourth season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: Voyager, the 68th and 69th episode overall. It introduces the Borg drone Seven of Nine and Species 8472 to the series.

Set in the 24th century, the series follows the adventures of the Starfleet and Maquis crew of the starship USS Voyager after they were stranded in the Delta Quadrant far from the rest of the Federation. In this episode, the Federation starship Voyager makes a "pact with the devil" (i.e. the Borg) in order to combat a new enemy which poses a serious threat to both.

Plot

The cold open teaser lasts only a few seconds: two Borg cubes appear, and barely have time to broadcast "Resistance is futile" before they are blown to pieces by an unknown energy weapon.

Part 1

When one of Voyager's long range probes stops transmitting, Chief Engineer B'Elanna Torres manages to play its last moments of telemetry which shows the probe being assimilated by a Borg drone, confirming that Voyager is now on the edge of Borg territory. Scans indicate this space consists of thousands of systems, but the crew discovers a narrow passage devoid of Borg activity. Dubbed the "Northwest Passage", it is filled with gravimetric distortions, but as Lt. Tom Paris puts it, "Better to ride the rapids than face the Hive." While the Northwest Passage appears safe, Captain Janeway tells the crew that a confrontation with the Borg may be inevitable and instructs them to prepare for one. While Kes and The Doctor work on an antibody to combat the Borg assimilation nanoprobes, Kes has a vision of dozens of Borg corpses.

Kes' premonition is followed by several more concerning the death of Borg and Voyager's destruction. Before Janeway can react, however, Ensign Harry Kim announces that fifteen Borg cubes are headed their way. The crew prepare for a fight, but the cubes ominously pass them by, as if they were not heading toward Voyager, but fleeing from something. As Janeway and Commander Chakotay discuss the possibility that Voyager will be forced to remain in the Delta Quadrant, Lt. Tuvok informs them that the Borg ships' power signatures have stopped and the armada is dead in space. They follow the cubes' path only to discover that all of the cubes have been destroyed.

There is an alien bioship attached to the hull of one of the remaining cubes. Chakotay, Tuvok, and Kim beam aboard the cube to investigate, where they see the same image Kes described: dozens of Borg corpses piled on top of one another. They see no aliens but can hear roars coming from elsewhere within the cube. As they scan the bioship, Kes has a vision of Harry screaming in pain. B'Elanna beams the away team back with the never before tried "skeletal lock" (locking onto the minerals in the away teams' bones) but not before the alien returns and injures Harry just as Kes predicted. The bioship detaches itself from the Borg cube and fires at Voyager but does not pursue it. Kes can hear the telepathic alien say, "The weak shall perish."

Despite the new threat, Janeway decides Voyager must maintain its original course as the Northwest Passage is only a day away. The Doctor discovers along the way that an infection caused by cells from the alien is consuming Harry's body. He is unable to combat the infection with traditional medicine but thinks he can modify Borg nanoprobes to destroy the alien cells; however, it may be too late for him. Meanwhile, Tuvok and Torres discover that the Borg call the alien Species 8472 and have been defeated by it several times. Upon reaching the Northwest Passage, Voyager is greeted by 133 bioships.

As before, Kes is able to hear the aliens say, "The weak will perish." They are arriving through some kind of quantum singularity (explaining the gravimetric distortions) and intend to destroy everything. Janeway considers the possibilities and comes up with a radical idea: an alliance with the Borg. Her plan is to offer The Doctor's cure to the Borg but withhold it until the Borg escort Voyager through their space. The crew does not question Janeway's judgment, but once the rest are gone, Chakotay admits he thinks what the captain is proposing is too great a risk.

Voyager travels to the nearest Borg star system, where a cube announces that it will assimilate the ship and places a tractor beam on it. Janeway explains the situation and the cube beams her aboard it. She and the Collective's voice are close to coming to an agreement when a quantum singularity appears and ten bioships emerge. Ignoring several Borg cubes, the bioships head straight for a nearby planet. They emit a massive energy burst that obliterates the entire planet, and the cube, with Voyager in tow, narrowly escapes the resulting explosion.

Part 2

Voyager remains on red alert after Janeway, in exchange for safe passage through space, reaches an agreement with the Borg Collective to help them fight Species 8472, a race appearing more malevolent than even the Borg. The Cube, with Voyager still locked in its tractor beam, alters course towards the Alpha Quadrant as part of the deal. Although Chakotay strongly objects to the unpredictable collaboration, Janeway has Tuvok transport to the Borg cube. When a drone attempts to temporarily assimilate Janeway by connecting a neural transceiver to her, the alarmed Captain convinces them to instead choose a representative to communicate verbally with her. Soon a human female Borg, designated "Seven of Nine", emerges to speak for the Collective. Janeway and "Seven" (as Janeway chooses to call her) debate the use of weaponry, Janeway suggests photon torpedoes, but the Borg demand the use of a single large weapon. Suddenly a bioship appears and starts firing on Voyager. The Borg cube is hit as well, injuring Janeway. To prevent the destruction of Voyager, the Borg cube sacrifices itself and rams the bioship.

At the last moment Seven, Janeway, Tuvok, and several drones were transported to Voyager to continue their work. Janeway has been severely injured and the Doctor prepares to sedate her to protect her higher brain functions. Seven demands they continue to prepare the weapon. Janeway makes Chakotay promise to make the alliance with the Borg work, and to get the crew home. However, Chakotay believes that the Borg won't honor their agreement. Seven, informed by the collective of the death of over four million drones in a massive loss in the middle of Borg space, now demands that Voyager reverse course and head for the central part of Borg space.

Chakotay refuses and gives new terms to Seven, namely that the Borg will be dropped off on an M-class planet on Voyager's journey with the weapon, and that a Borg ship could pick them up. Seven refuses, saying the Borg will lose the war by that time. However, Chakotay is not willing to listen to her and threatens to decompress the entire cargo bay at the first sign of resistance. Unsure of himself, Chakotay returns to the captain, who is still comatose. He finds it difficult to compel himself to work with such a total nemesis.

Meanwhile, Seven starts opening the panels in the cargo bay Jefferies tube, accessing the navigational deflector. Harry alerts Chakotay, who demands Seven desist. Ignoring him, Seven opens a rift that begins pulling Voyager in. Chakotay, true to his word, decompresses the cargo bay. All drones except for Seven are blown into space. Tom tries reversing course, but Voyager is pulled through the rift.

B'Elanna identifies the surrounding space as not space at all, but an organic fluid. Sensors read no planets, stars or any other phenomena. Seven orders Chakotay to meet her in the cargo bay. She informs him that Voyager must now face Species 8472 alone. Chakotay learns that the Borg began the war with Species 8472 rather than the other way round. They have been alerted to Voyager's presence and now are only three hours away. Chakotay, still angered by her actions, receives another message to report to sick bay.

Janeway, up and about for the first time in days, is angry when Chakotay enters. After the Doctor is deactivated, she begins to demand to know why Chakotay did what he did. He tries to relate to her that he felt the Borg were changing the agreement, but she disagrees with his actions. The two reach an impasse, one that threatens everyone. However, Janeway offers to work together even though they might be of different opinions.

Later, Seven is escorted to the bridge. Janeway is back in command and informs Seven that Chakotay is confined to the brig, a situation that Seven prefers. She agrees to work with Seven to upgrade Voyager's systems with Borg technology and then sets the crew to create the weapons needed and upgrade the ship within the allotted time. When the bioships arrive, Voyager is ready for them. The first warhead used seems to have little effect, but after a short delay, all the attacking ships are destroyed.

Seven takes Voyager back to normal space once more, but upon reentering, they find a swarm of bioships converging on them. This time, Janeway orders a high-yield warhead and all of the bioships are damaged or destroyed. The rest of the ships flee, and Seven is informed that the Borg have prevailed. Suddenly, Seven attacks Tom and starts assimilating the bridge controls. Janeway orders Chakotay to start operation "Scorpion". Chakotay, by use of a temporary neural link, confuses Seven just long enough for B'Elanna to short out the console, disabling Seven, severing her neural link and knocking her unconscious.

Hours later, the crew has resumed course, and all seems well, but Janeway is still troubled. Seven, still with her Borg implants, is seen unconscious in sickbay, her Borg components still active.

Reception

The review in Entertainment Weekly praised Kate Mulgrew's performance in the first part of "Scorpion", saying that the "quietly desperate" character "adds a vitally important emotional core to the ensuing star wars". Furthermore, it added that being a female starship captain added a sense of unique "loneliness" to the character amongst the Star Trek series as the crew wasn't "male-bonded".

External links

• "Scorpion, Part I" at IMDb
• "Scorpion, Part II" at IMDb
• "Scorpion, Part I" at TV.com
• "Scorpion, Part II" at TV.com
• "Scorpion, Part I" at Memory Alpha (a Star Trek wiki)
• "Scorpion, Part II" at Memory Alpha (a Star Trek wiki)
• "Scorpion, Part I" at StarTrek.com
• "Scorpion, Part II" at StarTrek.com