“Basics, Part II” is episode one of season three of Star Trek: Voyager.
In the season two finale, “Basics, Part I”, Seska’s actions were a trick and Voyager was captured by the Kazon-Nistrim, the crew marooned on a planet. Tom might have got away in a shuttlecraft, Suder was still on the ship and so was the Doctor. Seska knows about the Doctor, of course, but the question is if she knows what he’s truly capable of.
On the planet where they were marooned, Chakotay, Neelix and Captain Janeway are leading three teams. The captain has found what she considers to be the most defensible location so far. Hogan, who is with Neelix, calls him over to look at a cave that he says looks almost as if it has been constructed. Hogan suggests that perhaps the inhabitants are cave dwellers. Neelix thinks the humanoid bones outside are a ‘Keep Out’ sign. He tells Hogan to collect the bones for use as tool and weapons. Hogan isn’t happy but starts, then Neelix gets called away and something inside the cave goes after Hogan.
Tom is on the shuttle, which is damaged but not destroyed. A Kazon patrol vessel starts shooting at him and Tom is more annoyed than worried, saying he doesn’t have time for this. He quickly destroys the patrol vessel.
All that has been found of Hogan are the remnants of his uniform. It turns out that the cave with the humanoid bones outside had something nasty inside it. Hardly a surprise. The captain wants his death to be the last for a long time. The tunnels are off limits and she wants weapons; Tuvok is working on some. Next is food and water. Chakotay can rig Hogan’s uniform into a solar still but no plants with nutritional value have yet been found. Well, as the captain points out, there are always bugs.
Seska takes her son to sickbay and ‘activates’ the Doctor – he was already active. Of course he remembers her. No, he isn’t bothered about a change in command; to a hologram, one humanoid is pretty much the same as another. He has a slight capacity for lying – bedside manner demands it – is his response to her query, but not bald-faced calculated deceit. The Doctor could learn, if Seska wants. On examining Seska’s baby, he tells her he isn’t Chakotay’s son; he is part Kazon. Seska is sure that Maje Culluh will be pleased. She doesn’t appear to be.
With Seska gone, the Doctor is trying to work out what to do. He isn’t a counterinsurgent. He could learn guerrilla warfare, but that would take time. He asks the computer for the crew compliment, which includes a Betazoid. Suder. The Doctor contacts Suder and asks if he can get to sickbay, then deletes Suder’s com badge from the system.
B’Elanna and Harry have found edibles and Chakotay is failing to make fire. He was never any good at this. The captain thinks it must be the wood. Then Chakotay says he could do with kindling, and has an idea. Hair. That works. There is a humanoid watching them and Neelix heads out to get more rocks for the fire. When he doesn’t return, Kes also wanders off into the night looking for him, only to be captured.
Tom is talking to Commander Paxim, a Talaxian, who says that the Nistrim are telling everyone they took Voyager. Tom wants Paxim’s help; the latter says his vessels are no match for Voyager. Tom knows every vulnerability and blind spot of Voyager, and has a plan. Paxim agrees, reluctantly, and will meet him in an hour. That should give Tom enough time to come up with some sort of plan.
Suder arrives at sickbay, and doesn’t seem to be concentrating. Not because he sees this as a chance to escape confinement, but because helping will mean he will have to kill again. He’s worked so hard to control his violent feelings. The Doctor tells him that Tuvok would say that at times violence is required. Suder agrees that there is a logical use for violence – for everyone else.
Chakotay, looking for Kes and Neelix, has found signs of a struggle and tracks leading away. He’s better at tracking than at starting fires. Tuvok has constructed weapons, including a bow. Chakotay has no familiarity with bows. The bow is for Tuvok. Neelix and Kes are in a circle of aliens, who appear to be arguing over them. Chakotay arrives and says he wants them back. The leader of the aliens wants to swap one of his people for Kes. Not an acceptable bargain.
Fleeing from the aliens sends the rescuers underground, where something nasty lurks. Suder, having the skills of counterinsurgency, as a former Maquis, that the Doctor lacks, is causing trouble for the Nistrim. Seska, at least, is suspicious. Suder himself is uncomfortable, as he has to become a person again that he no longer wanted to be. The planet that the rest of the crew are on has problems; it turns out somewhere with extensive vulcanicity is not exactly safe. And Tom needs to successfully take Voyager back.