“Bliss” is episode fourteen of season five of Star Trek: Voyager.
An alien craft with a single occupant is flying at some sort of thing in space, being hit by what looks like lightning whilst firing back.
Captain Janeway arrives on the bridge. A wormhole has been discovered and it apparently leads to Sector 001. Earth. Though it looks like a wormhole, it has massive bioplasmic activity that suggests a lifeform. The captain finds a direct route home just where they need it a little convenient and orders a probe be launched.
The Delta Flyer is returning from a mission. According to Seven of Nine’s log, they were unable to find a new source of deuterium but the mission had educational value for at least one of the crew. That being Naomi Wildman; since “Infinite Regress”, Seven has, for want of a better word, become close to her. Naomi is complaining that they didn’t get to do anything on her first away mission. Seven corrects her; Naomi familiarised herself with the Delta Flyer. Naomi would have liked to have done things, so Tom offers her the helm. To familiarise herself with the vessel.
Back on Voyager, Tom offers to take an asleep Naomi back to her mother and explain why she’s two hours late if Seven starts on the survey. Seven agrees and arrives at astrometrics to find the captain, Chakotay, Harry and Tuvok there, examining the data from the wormhole. Seven thinks the chance of finding a wormhole to Earth is infinitesimal. She’s told the probe is already receiving faint signals from the other side; they think they’re from Starfleet. Seven is sure that long range scans should have detected the wormhole days ago. Tuvok suggests she mad an oversight.
After checking the sensors, Seven heads to the captain’s ready room. The wormhole’s neutrino levels are extremely erratic. True, but Starfleet has told them there is nothing to worry about. Chakotay enters; the captain has another letter. This one is from Mark. His engagement fell through. Chakotay has been offered a pardon and a full professorship. Seven finds this disturbing; everything is a bit too good to be true.
Seven heads to the cargo bay and requests access to the captain’s logs. Access is restricted. Seven unrestricts them. The logs show the captain going from stating the wormhole is an elaborate deception to believing it will take them home and ordering a course set. On the way out, Neelix chases after her. Seven has a letter from her aunt back on Earth. Neelix is going to be made an ambassador. In the mess hall, Seven speaks to Tom. He, too, has got unbelievably good news.
Seven’s next stop is sickbay where she activates the Doctor. She mentions the wormhole; he had not heard about it. Seven thinks that is not surprising; the crew is ignoring obvious signs of deception. Chakotay summons Seven to the bridge as the Doctor says he will call in some crew for routine exams to look for physiological changes. On the bridge, they are getting the first view of Earth.
In astrometrics, Seven checks the wormhole again. She finds what looks to be a vessel, even though the computer says no vessel has been detected, and opens a channel. The alien from the beginning tells Seven to turn around. They are being deceived by something that knows what they want. Then the transmission ends as power goes down. Tuvok arrives; captain’s orders that power be diverted to the navigational array for the transit. Seven explains the transmission. The computer has no record of it. Seven asks if Tuvok is looking forward to seeing his wife and family. He is. Is his desire stronger than he might expect? Because something is compromising Tuvok’s logic. Otherwise he’d be willing to listen to Seven’s concerns. Tuvok restricts her access to the astrometrics lab.
Back in her cargo bay, Seven hears a noise. It’s Naomi. She’s hiding from, well, everyone. They’re all acting strange and talking about Earth as it’s the greatest place ever. Voyager is Naomi’s home. When they get back to Earth, she’ll leave her ship, her friends. She and Naomi are the only ones who are unaffected. Seven doesn’t know why,
She heads back to sickbay only to find the Doctor has been taken offline. Starfleet orders. Then Seven encounters an armed Chakotay and two armed security officers. The wormhole is passing through a region of subspace monitored by the Borg. Seven might attract unwanted attention. Her implants need deactivating by putting her in stasis. Starfleet’s orders. Resistance is futile. Seven does not go into stasis as they plan. The entire ship is behaving in an almost disturbingly cheerful way. Somehow, Seven needs to stop them from making what may be a terminal mistake.