Time and Again

Voyager is shaken by a huge shockwave which originated from a nearby planet where a cataclysmic explosion recently wiped out all life. Beaming down, the Away Team discovers that the detonation has actually fractured subspace. While on the planet Paris and Janeway accidentally enter one of the tears in subspace and find themselves transported back in time to the day before the explosion.

While the crew tries to figure out how to find the missing officers Janeway reminds Paris that the Prime Directive prohibits them from warning the residents of the planet about the approaching disaster. Seeking a way back they head for the source of the future explosion, a polaric ion power station. There they inadvertently become caught in a clash between the authorities and a group of protesters who later accuse them of being government infiltraters Janeway realizes this group of protesters are the ones who trigger the explosion when an attempt to sabotage the power station goes wrong. The protesters don't believe her when she tries to warn them.

In the meantime, Kes reveals that her latent Ocampan psychic abilities seem to have been sensitized by the accident. She accompanies the Away Team to the surface to try and sense Janeway and Paris' movements being made in the past.

The protesters force Janeway and Paris to accompany them to the plant, where they shoot their way in. Paris is wounded trying to protect a young boy during the scuffle. Janeway leaves him to follow the protesters, hoping to stop the devastating explosion.

On Kes' recommendation, Chakotay's Away Team goes to the flashpoint of the explosion and uses a polaric beam to "cut through" subspace and find the missing officers. When Janeway sees their polaric beam, she realizes that it wasn't the protesters who caused the accident - it was the Away Team's attempt to rescue them. Janeway uses her phaser to blunt the impact of the beam. At the instant she succeeds in sealing the opening, time is "reset", and the crew finds itself back on Voyager, a few seconds before the shockwave first hit the ship. None the wiser for their experience the crew goes on with their voyage and Kes finds herself strangely relieved that a nearby planet is teeming with life.

Back to Episode List