“11:59” is episode twenty-three of season five of Star Trek: Voyager.
Neelix joins Captain Janeway on the way to the bridge, asking her about the Great Wall of China. It seems Neelix already knows a lot about it. In the captain’s ready room, he explains that he and Tom have been swapping knowledge. The captain asks what he knows about the Millennium Gate. The model for the first colony on Mars. Her ancestor, Shannon O’Donnell, built it. She was one of the first woman astronauts. Though she was involved in the space programme at the time, she was also something of an entrepreneur and was asked to join the project by the governor of Indiana. The way Janeway’s Aunt Martha tells it, Shannon was flown in a private aircraft.
Cut to said ancestor, who looks rather like Janeway, driving in something that is definitely not a private jet. It’s a car, and she’s dictating to a cassette recorder. She thinks she’s in Indiana. Then her car starts cutting out and sees a sign for the Millennium Gate.
Shannon arrives in the town of Portage Creek and asks a pedestrian about gas, food and lodging. There’s none here. Shannon shouts at the man and hits the car in front. It seems she lacks insurance and the money to pay for the damage. The other driver heads off and Shannon’s car now won’t start.
Shannon enters a bookshop and asks if she can wait inside out of the cold. Her car broke down and she’s waiting for the tow truck. The owner and his son agree. Shannon comments that the whole town seems to have shut down. It has, bar this. The shop has some ‘Save Our Downtown’ flyers. The son is Jason; the father Henry. Henry Janeway. Henry is opposed to the construction of the Millennium Gate, but all of his neighbours have been talked into selling. Only Henry stands in the way. Shannon says she could help, if Henry’s willing to hire her. They could email everyone locally. Henry isn’t hiring. Shannon starts to leave, then says she just needs enough to fix her car. She kind of needs a job right now. Henry agrees.
In a bar, Henry explains that everyone was offered 20% over normal price. But everyone has to sell, and he hasn’t. He isn’t that popular. Henry asks what Shannon is going to do this New Year’s Eve. The same as last. She’s heading to Florida where a cousin can help. Shannon avoids answering as to whether she lost her job.
The next day, Gerald Moss, the spokesperson for the Millennium Gate is being interviewed on television. Henry is there and he mentions his objections. Moss states that they do have an alternative site. Henry thinks he just needs to stay firm until the end of New Year’s Eve. That will be where the title comes from. Later, he dines with Shannon. Both appear to be making suggestions to each other.
The captain heads to astrometrics to ask for Seven of Nine’s help in tracking down information on Shannon. Much of the information from that era is lost or damaged. No, it isn’t relevant to the mission. It’s relevant to the captain. Shannon inspired her as a girl and she wouldn’t have become a Starfleet captain if it wasn’t for her ancestor.
Neelix and Tom arrive in the mess hall; Neelix is reciting the Wonders of the Ancient World. He can’t remember the last. Nor can Tom, for that matter. Seven can. She explains to Neelix she’s researching the captain’s ancestor and, at Janeway’s suggestion, her own ancestry. Neelix offers to help. Seven hasn’t found anything. Neelix suggests non-Federation databases. And finds a photo. They explain to the captain it came from a Ferengi database; about 11 years ago a Ferengi researched the origins of space travel in the Federation. To sell.
People’s family history is discussed. However, judging by what is depicted of Shannon, Captain Janeway’s knowledge of her is wrong. It seems she didn’t make the cut for the space programme – Moss was working for NASA at the time and recognised her; he offers her a job if Henry agrees to sell. Shannon also didn’t build the Millennium Gate herself.
As regards to the ongoing plot or story, this episode is not relevant at all. Most of it takes place at the tail end of 2000 – and doesn’t seem to fit at all with what is supposed to be happening in the Star Trek universe at that time. Admittedly, even by the 90s, established canon was falling afoul of reality.