“Basics, Part I” is episode twenty-six of season two of Star Trek: Voyager and the season finale.
Suder, the crewman who was confined to his quarters for murder in “Meld”, is showing Tuvok something. A plant; an entirely new species of orchid. Suder wants to name the orchid after Tuvok. Tuvok believes that is an honour that Suder should reserve for himself. However, according to Suder, it is due to Tuvok. Tuvok thinks that he may have gained Tuvok’s love for floriculture from the meld but he embraced it on his own, showing a unique talent. Suder replies that, prior to this, he thought his only talent was for killing. This is his way of saying thank you. Suder also wants to do something from the ship. He thinks he can use his genetic engineering techniques to make the hydroponics bay more productive. Tuvok promises to discuss this with the captain.
Voyager is hailed on subspace frequencies, by an unmanned buoy. It’s a Kazon signal, and it’s from Seska. She tells Chakotay that Culluh is going to take their son; he saw the baby and realised it wasn’t his. And apparently does so during the transmission.
Chakotay isn’t sure what to think. Captain Janeway tells him that Seska knows him, and knows how he would react. If he chooses to help, he will not do it alone. Which Seska would know too. Could it be a trap? Yes, it could. The baby did look part Cardassian and part human, so it might be true. The captain won’t resume course immediately; she will give Chakotay time to think. It has to be his decision, but if he chooses to go after his son, they will stand by him.
Chakotay uses his medicine bag to speak to the spirit of his father, asking him for advice. He explains the situation, how his son was born without his consent – which also needs explaining. Kolopak tells Chakotay about one of their ancestors, and how he and others were accepted by their tribe, despite being the children of rape. Seska’s child is Chakotay’s son, however it came to be, and one of their tribe. Well, looks like Chakotay has an answer.
The senior staff discuss how to do the matter. Neelix reports that a Talaxian mining colony is willing to help if they run into trouble, but that will only be whilst they are in com range. They need to anticipate a trap. Harry has a way of using the deflector array to create decoy images. The Doctor also has a suggestion; holographic illusions of friendly ships. To B’Elanna’s response that they can’t even figure out how to project the Doctor in the briefing room, let alone ships into space, the Doctor says that his program is far more sophisticated. The illusion of a 3D object has been done by magicians for centuries. To Tom’s response about using mirrors, the Doctor replies that yes, that’s precisely how. This will be a massive power drain and won’t fool the Kazon for long.
A damaged Kazon shuttle is encountered, and there’s an adult Kazon male onboard in critical condition. He’s beamed directly to sickbay and Chakotay recognises him as Tierna, one of Seska’s aides. Tierna tells him that Seska is dead. She thought she could manipulate the Maje, but was wrong. They had just launched the buoy when they came for her. Her throat was cut. Tierna’s execution was ordered, but he bribed a guard and escape, only for his shuttle to be crippled and him left to die. Chakotay’s son will be raised as a servant.
The Doctor says Tierna will be on his feet in a day or two; one thing odd is an abnormal increase in red blood cells. He can’t check to see if Tierna is telling the truth, because he lacks baseline data for species in the quadrant. However, if they had arrived an hour later, Tierna would be dead. B’Elanna and Harry confirm that the damage to the shuttle seems genuine, as does Tierna’s story. Which is either true or a really complex and thorough scam. Chakotay still seems inclined to believe the latter.
Tierna tells the staff the path they need to follow, and passes a test Neelix gave him to see if he would tell the truth. He also tells them the codes for the Nistrim defence net. Tierna warns them that there are Kazon factions loyal to no-one in the region they are travelling through.
These factions do attack, and none of the do significant damage. However, every attack is aiming at the starboard ventral. Which is odd. The Doctor is still trying to understand Tierna’s red blood cell count and Chakotay still doesn’t trust him. Tierna still has too much pride in the Nistrim for his liking. Also, odd. Another attack hits the same place and the secondary command processors have now taken so much damage that they need two days to rebuild. Reversing course starts causing problems.
Captain Janeway does meet with Suder, but he gets a bit anxious when she doesn’t immediately grant his request. Which leads to questions about whether or not it is genuine, or whether it’s simply part of his original personality. Tierna’s red blood cell count will, of course, be relevant. The Doctor gets a bit anxious about the execution of his own suggestion.
Naturally, the story continues in season three and “Basics, Part II”.