Ensign Kaplan and Chakotay are returning in a shuttle from a mission to scout an area of space known as the Nekrit Expanse. The local conditions are presenting some navigational challenges for them. When they eventually pick up a Federation signal, they are surprised to discover that it is not coming from Voyager, but from a nearby planet with a settlement of over 80,000 humanoids. Whoever is calling them knows they're from the Federation, and they're requesting their help.
They leave a message buoy behind for Voyager and follow the signal, but their first impression of the planet's inhabitants isn't encouraging. Several robed aliens open fire on them soon after they land. A second group arrives to drive them off, but not soon enough to stop Chakotay from being knocked out by an energy weapon.
When he comes to, he finds a human woman watching over him. She introduces herself as Riley Frazier, the one who sent the distress signal. She also tells Chakotay that Ensign Kaplan didn't make it, and that his shuttle has been stripped down to the bulkheads by the scavengers who attacked him.
Chakotay is obviously curious how Riley found herself on this distant planet, which is populated by a wide variety of aliens, some familiar and some not. She says they all have the same story: they were attacked in space and abducted by an unknown species who put them into stasis and dropped them here, alone, for no apparent reason. Some of these unwilling transplants live peacefully together, while others, as Kaplan found out the hard way, do not. Chakotay is eager to help them repair their damaged communications array so he can contact Voyager, but Riley insists that he rest out of concern for the neural damage he suffered during the firefight.
Meanwhile, Voyager has encountered a derelict Borg cube. It's not clear what misadventure deactivated the drones aboard, but Janeway sees it as an opportunity to learn more about their technology.
Despite his host's seemingly pure intentions, Chakotay's locked room makes him feel more like a prisoner than a guest. He manages to hack the door open and into a courtyard filled with makeshift structures. Nothing seems particularly suspicious, until he comes across a group of locals, including Riley, and sees that they wear a number of Borg implants.
Riley is quick to admit that her original story wasn't entirely true. It was the Borg who abducted and assimilated the planet's populace, and it was only after their cube was hit by an electrokinetic storm five years past that they were severed from the collective and regained their individuality. They settled on this planet, but before long the cultural differences between the widely disparate species created hostilities that persist to this day.
But Riley insists that she was honest about the Cooperative's desire to create a peaceful, lasting community. As an example, she introduces her friend Orum, a Romulan who has long since abandoned his mistrust of humans. They didn't send the distress signal to be rescued, but to enlist Voyager's help in protecting themselves from their attackers.
Unfortunately, Chakotay is still struggling from his earlier injury, which Orum believes will ultimately be fatal if left untreated. With their limited resources, there is only one treatment they can offer. The Borg collective, Orum explains, can transfer neural energy between drones as a means of repairing injury. As they all still have their neural processors from when they were assimilated, they could temporarily join themselves with Chakotay to heal him. Chakotay is understandably resistant to this idea, despite their assurances that it would be completely non-invasive, but his deteriorating condition eventually compels him to reconsider.
They begin the procedure. The eerie voice of the collective that we all know so well fills Chakotay's thoughts, but their comforting words are a stark contrast to the Borg's usual rote imperatives.
Chakotay once again wakes up with Riley watching over him, this time feeling much better, and not just physically. The thoughts and memories he shared with them, combined with the residual link, has radically changed his perspective of the Cooperative. Through the link, he also learned their real plan for solving their little civil war.
Voyager has arrived at the planet by now, having found the message buoy left behind by Kaplan. Janeway listens to Riley's request, which is for them to temporarily reactivate the derelict Borg cube's neuroelectric field generator long enough to establish a collective link, similar to the one Chakotay joined, but permanently and for the entire population. For all the trauma they caused, the Borg's hive mind at least precluded the sort of conflict they now suffer.
Janeway doesn't doubt their motives, particularly with Chakotay advocating for them, but there are a lot of consequences to consider. Well-intentioned or not, there's no way to know what might become of this new collective, not to mention the ethics of imposing such a decision on thousands of individuals. And more pragmatically, fiddling with Borg technology is always a gamble. A drone they attempted to autopsy en route to the planet spontaneously reactivated, and if one of them can do that, so could the 1,100 others still on the cube. In the end, Janeway is forced to refuse, offering only supplies as consolation. Disappointed, the Cooperative nevertheless accepts her decision gracefully.
Chakotay's shuttle ride back to Voyager is bittersweet. B'Elanna offers to take his mind off things with some exercise back on the ship, but Chakotay's attention wavers as he starts to hear the Cooperative in his mind. After a moment of confusion, he takes out his phaser, stuns B'Elanna, and commandeers the shuttle.
The Cooperative is using their link with Chakotay to call for help from the planet, where they are besieged by the raiders. They give him directions to reactivate the field generator on the Borg cube. Tuvok leads a security team to stop him. After a brief exchange of phasers, they stun Chatokay, but he manages to activate the generator with his last moment of strength.
Reactivated drones flood the halls as the cube comes to life. The security team evacuates everyone back to the ship, where the crew is preparing for the impending battle, but only moments later, the cube self-destructs. Voyager, mercifully undamaged, receives a transmission from the planet.
The Doctor confirms that they were speaking the truth about freeing Chakotay from their link. He feels betrayed by the Cooperative, no longer convinced of their sincerity as he was before. Janeway is somewhat more understanding, given their situation, though both agree that there is much room for uncertainty over how this new society will turn out.
This episode has the following tropes:
- Almost Lethal Weapons: A Gold-shirt was hit in the shoulder by a small pistol and instantly died, proving the weapons weren't on stun. Chakotay took a blast from a large rifle directly to his center mass... and woke up with a headache. It did do some nerve damage however that unless treated could eventually kill him, but the fact it didn't kill him outright is rather ridiculous.
- Brainwash Residue: Turns out even after the physical implants have been removed, Chakotay is still vulnerable.
- Call-Back: Riley was a science officer on the USS Roosevelt, assimilated at the Battle of Wolf 359.
- Captain Crash: Chakotay loses another shuttle. In fairness, he didn't crash it this time; it just got scavenged for parts after it was on the ground.
- The Chains of Commanding: Chakotay says that if it were up to him, he'd help Riley. But if he were The Captain, he'd have to consider other issues.
- Chekhov's Gun: The events of this episode affect Chakotay's attitude toward the Borg in "Scorpion", leading to conflict with Captain Janeway.
- Continuity Snarl: One of the most notable in the franchise to this point. Riley and the other former drones are mostly Alpha-quadrant species, and she specifically says she was on one of the ships involved in the battle at Wolf 359, meaning the Borg assimilated some of the crews. But that cube was destroyed before it ever had a chance to get back to the Delta quadrant. The writers try to handwave that here by implying the Borg sent their 'spoils' back on a seperate vessel, though this would seem to fly in the face of the Collective's (at that time) certain belief there was nothing the Federation could do to stop them; ergo, they would have had no reason to do so.
- Deus Sex Machina: Riley and the other former drones link with Chakotay in a small Hive Mind to help cure him. Afterwards while still feeling its effects, he has sex with Riley.
- Distinction Without a Difference:Torres: I'm not being apprehensive, Tuvok, I'm just nervous as hell.
- Distress Call: The Away Team picks up a Federation homing beacon which they at first think is Voyager giving them a return signal. When they land to investigate, they're attacked.
- Fascinating Eyebrow: The Doctor while he examines the Borg corpse.
- Face-Revealing Turn: A different take in that we see the back of Riley's head with its cyborg implants, then she turns to reveal her face.
- Fatal Attractor: And he'd finally gotten over that whole Seska business too.
- Fire-Breathing Weapon: The aliens attacking Chakotay are driven off by some sort of backpack plasma-flamethrower.
- Foreshadowing: Before discovering the Borg cube was immobilized by an electrokinetic storm (whatever that is) B'Elanna speculates that the Borg might have come across a more powerful enemy. She also warns about what might happen if all the Borg corpses get reactivated, which ends up happening.
- Ghost Ship: The derelict Borg cube, lampshaded by B'Elanna.
- Godzilla Threshold:
- For Chakotay, going through with the neural link is this, in that it's the only way to save his life.
- Morally dubious though it was for the Cooperative to coerce Chakotay into activating the neuroelectric generator, their only alternative was to take their chances with the mob of murderous marauders beating down their door.
- Going in Circles: Chakotay and Kaplan realise they've been flying in circles in the Space Clouds.
- Half-Truth: Loads of this from Riley.Riley: We have a deep connection to one another that I've never felt before. Not even with members of my own family.
- Hearing Voices: And it's not a good sign here either.
- Horrible Judge of Character: Lampshaded by Chakotay at the end. Because he shared his mind with Riley and the others, he assumed they didn't have any hidden agendas. And they didn't...at the time.Janeway: You know, Chakotay, that's a part of who you are. Given everything you believe in, I don't see how you could have behaved differently.
Chakotay: But I couldn't have been more wrong about them, could I? - A House Divided: Stuck on a planet with limited resources, the former drones remembered their old antagonisms and started fighting.
- In Harm's Way: Despite the risk Janeway doesn't hesitate to send over an Away Team to the Borg cube to gather intelligence, knowing the next cube they encounter might be a lot more active.
- In the Hood: It hides the implants.
- I Surrender, Suckers: Chakotay raises a hand in apparent surrender, then shoots Tuvok with the phaser held in his other hand.
- It's a Long Story: Chakotay regarding how Voyager got in the Delta Quadrant.
- Mauve Shirt: Ensign Kaplan played a role in Future's End, but is killed in this episode before the first commercial break. The writers posthumously gave her a first name four seasons later.
- Never Trust a Trailer: The episode promo
warned that "Terror is about to get a wake-up call" and suggested the episode was about Voyager encountering a derelict Borg ship that wasn't as empty as they thought, leading to a desperate attempt to keep the ship from being assimilated. Neither the planet nor the ex-drones appear. - No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Chakotay helps the New Collective repair their communications array. They use the boosted signal to take control of Chakotay.
- No Sense of Personal Space: Janeway circles Chakotay closely while asking his opinion about Riley's proposal.
- Nothing Exciting Ever Happens Here / Tempting Fate: Tom is complaining about how boring the Nekrit Expanse is roughly two minutes before Voyager runs into a Borg Cube.
- Not Quite Dead: Turns out the drones can reactivate.
- Oh, Crap!: As many as expected in a Borg-centric episode:
- Everyone on the Voyager bridge when they see the ship in their path is a Borg cube.
- Riley's reaction to Chakotay seeing her implants; and Chakotay himself seeing the implants.
- Everyone in Sickbay when the Borg corpse suddenly reactivates.
- Everyone on Voyager when the Borg cube powers up.
- Peek-a-Boo Corpse: Tuvok is searching through some power conduits when a Borg corpse drops out.
- Please Keep Your Hat On: Turns out Riley is using a wig to hide her bare head with its cybernetic implants.
- Scavenger World: There's 80,000 people warring over what few resources they've been able to salvage from the derelict cube.
- Sliding Down The Slippery Slope: Given that they didn't hesitate to Mind Control him for their own purposes, Chakotay wonders how long it will be before the New Co-operative is no different from the old Borg Collective.
- Sympathy for the Devil: The episode shows what is so seductive about Borg assimilation — the ability to understand others completely, without conflict.
- Tap on the Head: Chakotay nearly dies from the neural damage after being shot by a BFG, and the injury only gets worse.
- Teleportation Rescue: The Away Team teleports out Just in Time as a Borg drone swipes at them.
- Transplanted Humans: Riley poses as this at first.
- Utopia Justifies the Means: Riley wants to end the conflict on her world by reestablishing their Hive Mind. When Janeway refuses, they take control of Chakotay and force him to do it.
- Wham Line: B'Elanna and Chakotay's shuttle is on its way back to Voyager, the two of them having a pleasant conversation about hoverball, when...Cooperative: (in Chakotay's head) Chakotay, can you hear us?
- Wham Shot: The Borg Cube just before the commercial break.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: The New Cooperative have not appeared in canon again since this episode, so the full implications of reactivating their link has yet to be explored.
- With All Due Respect:Riley: When we were linked we had no ethnic conflict. There was no crime, no hunger, no health problems. We lived as one harmonious family.Janeway: With all due respect, Doctor Frazier, you were one harmonious family bent on the violent assimilation of innocent cultures.
