Voyager is travelling through Devore space, where
telepathy is
illegal. The crew had encountered a small group of telepaths, and has offered them transport to a
wormhole that will allow them to escape the sector. As
Voyager continues, they are continually stopped by Devore ships, led by inspector Kashyk, demanding to inspect the ship for telepaths. Kashyk, who is fascinated by human culture, takes a very forward approach, taking control of the ship and playing
Mahler's
first symphony to 'relax the crew'. To hide the refugees, along with their three telepathic crew members, the crew stores their patterns in a
transport buffer during the period of inspection, but this is found to ultimately have cumulative deleterious effects on the refugees.
Voyager is surprised when Kashyk arrives in a private ship, and claims to be interested in defecting and helping
Voyager transport the refugees to safety. Captain
Janeway is highly suspicious of Kashyk's actual motives, but allows him to help with the Brenari's approval. The Brenari point the crew towards Torat, a scientist that has studied the random appearance of the wormhole. Janeway and Kashyk work together to convince him to share the data; he tells them the wormhole appearances are random and gives them the last 4 locations of the wormhole and tell them to figure out where it will appear again. Janeway and Kashyk work together to try to identify the pattern, coming closer together as they make the discovery. As they work out this problem, they bond, sharing a playful yet intimate discussion. When asked why he defected, Kashyk talks about a young girl he found on an inspection and explains, “I sent her to a relocation centre with the others, knowing full well what would happen to her" indicating deep regret. As they continue deep in Devore space,
Voyager passes by a large
sensor array that they are unable to avoid. With their presence in the sector known, Kashyk prepares to leave the ship to meet with the incoming inspection ships to take over the inspection to ensure their success, kissing Janeway goodbye and wishing her luck. Soon, the Devore inspectors arrive, and Kashyk takes on his former forward demeanor. He sends his inspectors out of earshot, upon which Janeway reveals the location of the wormhole. Kashyk reveals himself as a counter-agent for the Devore, and takes command of the ship. However, upon reaching the wormhole locations, he realises the sensor readings had been tricked. Janeway had never really trusted him, and gave him false coordinates. When they try to rematerialise the refugees, all they find are vegetables; the refugees are on their way to the real wormhole. But if he had stayed true to her, Janeway would have really taken him with them through the wormhole. The Devore do not reach the refugees in time to stop them. Kashyk and his inspectors, unwilling to have such a failure on their records, are forced to leave the ship alone and unreported—it seems that Kashyk has accepted defeat gracefully. ==Reception==