When Captain Janeway enjoys a holonovel, and much needed rest and
relaxation, the Holodeck malfunctions in between, causing the characters to disappear. It is
found that a bioneural gel pack, important for maintaining the ship's systems, have failed on
Deck Six. Janeway orders Tuvok to investigate.
When Tuvok enters Deck Six, he finds a corridor
access-port open. When he tries to enter, a crewman exits warning him to keep away. The crewman
appears to be a Maquis crewmember named Dalby. When Tuvok reminds Dalby that he violated
Starfleet protocol by causing a shipwide malfunction, the crewman insubordinately dismisses the
Vulcan and walks away. Tuvok is baffled by the crewman's bizarre behavior.
------
Tuvok reports the incident to Captain Janeway, who is startled by
the sudden malfunction of the bioneural gel packs, as they have had to rely on them for the
majority of the ship's system. They also have only forty-nine in reserves, and once they run
out, that's it. Commander Chakotay suggests reverting back to the traditional isolinear
circuitary for safety measures, but it could take time. Lieutenant Tuvok also raises the concern
over Crewman Dalby to Captain Janeway, who suggests providing several Maquis crewmembers with
practical Starfleet protocol, teaching them in fact. She elects Tuvok to be their lecturer, as
he has prior Starfleet Academy teaching.
Tuvok soon assembles four Maquis crewmembers,
including Dalby, into the Cargo-Bay to dress down their so-called difficulty with Starfleet
protocol. Tuvok begins to inform them that have been selected specifically for this program
because they have failed to follow correct Starfleet procedures. Ensign Chell, a Bolian member
of the crew, interrupt the officer by informing him why he was chosen for this particular
program. Tuvok informs him that many crewmembers found Chell's manner disruptive and interuptive
just as his interruption of the Vulcan officer proves evident. While the Bolian tries
desperately to console his position on the ship, the Vulcan have him run forty laps around the
Bay. It soon increments to fifty when he further interrupts. As Chell begins his punishment,
Dalby informs the Vulcan that he doesn't care about his instructions and will continue to
function as the way they are. And if they are thrown in the Brig, then so be it. The group soon
leaves the Cargo-Bay including Chell, leaving the Vulcan to himself.
In the Mess Hall, the crew discusses their
predicament. They believe they should continue to do things their way. Soon, Commander Chakotay
enters to have a cup of coffee, and sits down next to the group to get a run down of the group.
Dalby informs him that they would rather do the Maquis way than the so-called Starfleet way.
Ensign Henley protests the way the Vulcan treated them today, having Chell run the lap and
dressing down Ensign Geron, when he failed to listen to the Lieutenant. After listening to their
sad story, Chakotay gets up and punches Dalby in the jaw. He then explains that's the Maquis
way, getting beaten up. He then orders them that they will report to Lt. Tuvok until they finish
their program. He then sits Dalby back down, leaving the crew shocked and dazed.
------
The next day, the four Maquis crewmembers report to Lt. Tuvok as
ordered in the Cargo-Bay. Tuvok soon hands them a course curriculum via the Padd, and soon
inspects their dress codes. He starts off with Henley, whose headband does not meet the
requirements of the dress code. Then he spots a jewelry within Chell's uniform and orders him to
remove. Geron knows what his mistake is and takes off the Bajoran earrings. Without further ado,
Tuvok dismisses the cadets, and orders them to Engineering at nineteen-hundred hours.
In Engineering, Dalby believes that he is being
treated unfairly and is convinced that he can complete this ridiculous test. B'Elanna thinks
otherwise and she believes that he is worried because he may fail the test. Soon, another gel
pack fails and B'Elanna orders Dalby to take the gel pack to Sickbay for the Doctor's opinion.
At nineteen-hundred hours, the Maquis crew gather
in Engineering just as ordered, and head for the Jefferies Tube. Tuvok informs them that they
will use the Jefferies Tube to get to Deck Six, and start a ten-kilometer run afterwards. The
group crawls through over forty-two Jefferies Tube, and finally end up on Deck Six where they
begin there ten-kilometer run.
In Sickbay, the infected bioneural gel pack is in
good hands with the Doctor. The Doctor tries to be funny when he decides to put the patient's
confidentiality use in good practice, however, B'Elanna is not amused. Soon, The Doctor informs
her that the gel pack has been infected by some kind of a virus and it doesn't affect the
human's.
While B'Elanna tries to solve the problem of the
gel packs, Tuvok and his gang of motley crew begin their ten-kilometer run. The crew finds it
difficult in this environment, which Tuvok says, is the result of a ten percent increase in
normal gravity. Since both Ensign Chell and Geron failed in the exercise, they are told to
complete their ten-kilometer again and informs the crew to reconvene at oh-six-hundred hours.
------
Soon, B'Elanna and Ensign Harry Kim go over the transporter logs to
see if they determine what infected the bioneural gel packs. The transporters usually screenout
harmful biohazard during transit, however, B'Elanna thinks that this infection could not be
detected by the biofilter. As they are about to leave, they find crewman Chell depolarizing the
transporter pad using a microresonator. When B'Elanna suggests using a magneton scanner to speed
up the process, the Bolian curtly informs the Lieutenant that it was Tuvok himself who suggested
he use the small, demeaning equipment. The two soon leave the Bolian back to work.
Soon, the Maquis crew gather in the Holodeck to
begin their Bridge simulation. Tuvok informs them that on the Bridge, the crew is the Captain's
eyes and ears of the whole operation. They soon begin the simulation, with Dalby in command. The
simulation is a simple convoy mission, however, a ship in distress lures them somewhere else,
and a Romulan Warship intercepts the ship jamming all frequencies. Acting upon Maquis instinct,
Dalby immediately opens fires and they are soon attacked. Witnessing their unfateful event,
Tuvok pauses the simulation to get the crew to acknowledge their mistakes. However, the crew
does not realize their mistakes and Dalby instinctively inform the Vulcan that perhaps they are
indeed not Starfleet material. They are soon dismissed.
------
Bothered by Dalby's manner, Tuvok sits solemnly in the Mess Hall.
Neelix senses the Vulcan's distress and comes to his aid. The Vulcan does not understand why the
Maquis crew finds it so difficult to follow his time-honored training tradition of the Acadmey.
Neelix soon introduces Tuvok to a very peculiar flower, and demonstrates that some stems are
rigid when broken. Neelix believes that the Vulcan is rigid and offers a suggests befriending
some Maquis crew. As they are near the kitchen, Tuvok can smell something insulting to his nose.
Neelix informs the Vulcan that it is cheese, and Tuvok suggests that chesse need to be
cultivated correctly and soon looks up at the air-duct. They have found the source of the
infection.
B'Elanna and her Engineering team scan the chesse
and bingo, the cheese is the source of the infection for the bacteria. She has the chesse sample
taken to Sickbay for further study. Neelix feels responsible for their predicament, and to his
consolation, B'Elanna thanks Neelix for discovering the source of the infection.
Heeding the advice of a fellow Talaxian, Mr. Tuvok
tries to get to know Dalby more, by engaging in small talk and over a game of pool. Whilst
talking and playing, Tuvok learns a lot of background information to Mr. Dalby, who witnessed
his girlfriend raped and her smashed by the Cardassian, the reason he joined the Maquis.
Although the conversation is going well, Dalby becomes hostile again and believes that Mr. Tuvok
is studying his social techniques, walking out on him saying that he doesn't want to know him.
Soon, the gel pack start malfunctioning rapidly,
compromising the life-support systems and trapping Tuvok and his men inside a Cargo-Bay.
------
On the Bridge, Janeway contacts the Doctor in Sickbay to see if he
has made any progress on finding a cure to the infectous gel packs. The Doctor informs her that
no known technique is working but reassures her that he will do whatever it takes to amend the
damaged gel pack. Soon, it is Kes who determines that the infection may not be a bacteria but a
virus. Excited the Doctor contacts the Captain and informs her of their findings.
The Doctor soon informs Janeway that they can fix
the problem by raising the temperature throughout the ship to give the bacteria a fever so to
speak. Soon, B'Elanna informs the Captain that they can generate enough heat by using warp
nacelles while maintaining the ship at a steady level. Janeway orders the procedure to proceed,
and with enough temperature, drives the virus out of the gel packs.
While the virus is being driven out, it leaves a
control panel in the Cargo-Bay to explode and to let toxic gas into the room. Crewman Geron is
knocked unconscious while he was trying to get the doors open. Tuvok orders the others to
retreat through the open Jefferies Tube hatch. Although Dalby protests, he cannot free himself
from the Vulcan's strong grip, and he must evacuate with the others. Tuvok soon goes after
Geron, but whilst coming down, he too suffers smoke inhalation and collapses on the floor. The
other group soon pry the doors open and retrieve their fallen comrades with a newfound
appreciation for Tuvok, according to Dalby, who broke Starfleet protocol by going after
Geron.
