- Commander Chakotay: There's a story I heard as a child, a parable, and I never forgot it: A scorpion was walking along the bank of a river, wondering how to get to the other side. Suddenly he saw a fox. He asked the fox to take him on his back across the river. The fox said, "No. If I do that, you'll sting me, and I'll drown." The scorpion assured him, "If I did that, we'd both drown." So the fox thought about it, finally agreed. So the scorpion climbed up on his back, and the fox began to swim, but halfway across the river, the scorpion stung him. As the poison filled his veins, the fox turned to the scorpion and said, "Why did you do that? Now you'll drown too." "I couldn't help it," said the scorpion. "It's my nature."
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: [analyzing Species 8472's physiology] They have an extraordinary immune response. Anything that penetrates the cell membrane - chemical, biological, technological - it's all instantly destroyed. That's why the Borg can't assimilate them.
- The Doctor: Resistance, in this case, is far from futile.
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: This day was inevitable. We all knew it, and we've all tried to prepare ourselves for the challenge ahead, but at what point is the risk too great? At what point do we come about and retreat to friendly territory? Could the crew accept living out the rest of their lives in the Delta Quadrant? I keep looking to all these captains, my comrades in arms, but the truth is... I'm alone.
- Commander Chakotay: If that moment comes, we'll face it together, and we'll make the right decision. You're not alone, Kathryn.
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: [smiles] Three years ago I didn't even know your name. Today I can't imagine a day without you.
- Leonardo da Vinci: What do you see?
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: A wall... with candlelight reflecting on it. Why? What do you see?
- Leonardo da Vinci: A flock of starlings, the leaves of an oak, a horse's tail, a thief... with a noose around his neck. Eh... and a wall, with the candlelight reflecting on it.
- Leonardo da Vinci: When one's imagination can't provide an answer, one must seek out a greater imagination. There are times when even I find myself kneeling in prayer.
- [while Janeway is reading the log entries of Picard and Amasov, Chakotay smiles]
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: What's so funny?
- Commander Chakotay: Eh, nothing.
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: You're smiling; obviously I've said something amusing.
- Commander Chakotay: You sounded just like Amasov.
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: What?
- Commander Chakotay: Just now, while you were reading his log, you were using his inflections.
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: I did not.
- Commander Chakotay: Yes, you were, and before that, you were doing a pretty good Picard.
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: Was I?
- Commander Chakotay: It's nothing to be ashamed about, echoing the greats. Ensign Hickman in Astrophysics does a passable Janeway.
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: [ironic] If we manage to survive the next few days, I'm gonna have a little chat with Ensign Hickman. Imitating the Captain, huh? Surely that violates some kind of Starfleet protocol.
- [Janeway suggests giving the Borg information about Species 8472 in exchange for safe passage through Borg space]
- Lieutenant Tuvok: What makes you think the Borg won't attempt to take the information by assimilating Voyager and its crew?
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: Because that won't get them anywhere. Doctor, you're the only one on board with full knowledge of the nanoprobe modifications. I want you to transfer all of that research into your holomatrix.
- The Doctor: Certainly.
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: You're my guarantee. If the Borg threaten us in any way, we'll simply erase your program.
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: [to B'Elanna] A Skeletal Lock, huh? We'll have to add that one to the transporter manual.
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: There's a path before me - the only way home - and on either side, mortal enemies bent on destroying each other. If I attempt to pass through them, I'll be destroyed as well, but if I turn around, that would end all hope of ever getting home. And no matter how much I try to focus my mind, I can't see an alternative.
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: [reading from different logs about the Borg] In the words of Jean-Luc Picard: "In their collective state, the Borg are utterly without mercy, driven by one will alone - the will to conquer. They are beyond redemption, beyond reason."
- [Chakotay has reservations about Janeway's plan]
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: Do you trust me, Chakotay?
- Commander Chakotay: That isn't the issue.
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: Oh, but it is. Only yesterday you were saying that we'd face this together, that you'd be at my side.
- Commander Chakotay: I still have to tell you what I believe. I'm no good to you if I don't do that.
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: I appreciate your insights, but the time for debate is over. I've made my decision. Now... do I have your support?
- Commander Chakotay: You're the Captain; I'm the First Officer. I'll follow your orders, but that doesn't change my belief that we're making a fatal mistake.
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: [dejected] Then I guess I am alone after all. Dismissed.
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: B'Elanna, it's clear from the Borg database that they know practically nothing about Species 8472.
- Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres: That's right. The Borg gain knowledge through assimilation. What they can't assimilate, they can't understand.
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: But we don't assimilate, we investigate, and in this case that's given us an edge.
- [first lines]
- The Borg: We are the Borg. Existence as you know it is over. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Resistance is f...
- [Borg cubes are hit by plasma weapons and blasted to pieces]
- [Kim has been infected with a consuming disease]
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: Fight it, Harry. That's an order.
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: We'll do everything in our power to avoid a direct confrontation, but if and when we do engage the Borg, I'm confident that we'll be ready. I have faith in each and every one of you. Let's do it!
- The Borg: State your demands.
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: I want safe passage through your space. Once my ship is beyond Borg territory, I'll give you our research.
- The Borg: Unacceptable. Our space is vast. Your passage would require too much time. We need the technology now.
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: If I give it to you now, you'll assimilate us.
- The Borg: Species 8472 must be stopped. Our survival is your survival. Give us the technology.
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: No. Safe passage first or no deal.
- The Borg: State your proposal.
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: Let's work together, combine our resources. Even if we do give you the technology now, you're still going to need time to develop it. By working together, we can create a weapon more quickly.
- Leonardo da Vinci: There are times, Katarina, when I find myself transfixed by a shadow on the wall, or the splashing of water against a stone. I stare at it, the hours pass, the world around me drops away, replaced by worlds being created and destroyed by my imagination. A way to focus the mind.
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: But there is an alternative I hadn't considered. What if I made an appeal... to the Devil?
- [coming upon the remains of fifteen Borg ships]
- Chakotay: Life signs?
- Ensign Harry Kim: A few but they're erratic.
- Lieutenant Tuvok: Captain, I am detecting two residual weapons signatures in the debris. One is Borg. The other is of unknown origin.
- Lieutenant Tom Paris: Who could do this to the Borg?
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: It looks like he's being transformed in some way.
- The Doctor: Not exactly. The alien cells are consuming his body from the inside out. In essence, Mr. Kim is being eaten alive.
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: This looks like a flying machine.
- Leonardo da Vinci: I thought that because my imagination took flight so easily, my body could do the same. I was wrong.
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: It's this flapping approach. You've designed your machine to mimic the way a bat or a sparrow flies.
- Leonardo da Vinci: Yes, yes. So?
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: So what if you based it on the hawk instead?
- Leonardo da Vinci: The hawk, a creature that glides through the air.
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: Esatto.
- The Doctor: I hope to unleash an army of modified Borg nanoprobes into his bloodstream designed to target and eradicate the infection. As you know, I've been analyzing the nanoprobes. They're efficient little assimilators. One can't help but admire the workmanship. But they're no match for the alien cells. So I successfully dissected a nanoprobe and managed to access its recoding mechanism. I reprogrammed the probe to emit the same electrochemical signatures as the alien cells. That way, the probe can do it's work without being detected.
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: The Northwest Passage.
- Chakotay: It's clear of Borg activity for a very good reason.
- Tuvok: I'm detecting 133 bioships. More are approaching.
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: From where?
- Tuvok: They seem to be coming from a quantum singularity.
- The Doctor: These are alien cells. Each one contains more than a hundred times the DNA of a human cell. It's the most densely coded life form I've ever seen.
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: Maybe helping to assimilate them isn't such a bad idea.
- Chakotay: I don't think you really believe that. I think you're struggling to justify your plan because your desire to get this crew home is blinding you to other options.
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: We've discovered something they need.
- Neelix: But the Borg aren't exactly known for their diplomacy. How can we expect them to cooperate with us?
- Commander Chakotay: We should get out of harm's way. Let them fight it out. In the meantime, there's still plenty of Delta Quadrant left to explore. We may find another way home.
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: Or we may find something else. Six months, a year down the road, after Species 8472 gets through with the Borg, we could find ourselves right back in the line of fire. And we'll have missed the window of opportunity that exists right here, right now.