“Coda” is episode fifteen of season three of Star Trek: Voyager.
Neelix approaches the captain as she is heading for the shuttle bay; he wants to talk about last night. The captain thinks it went extremely well. Neelix would like to hold it once a month and he thought Captain Janeway was especially good. Neelix has just one request; can she keep Tuvok busy on the bridge that evening?
On the shuttle, Chakotay tells Captain Janeway that he thought Harry’s clarinet solo was okay but he could have done without Tuvok’s reading of Vulcan poetry. The highlight, though, was the captain’s performance of the Dying Swan. A ballet dance she apparently learned when very young. It was talent night and next time Janeway would like Chakotay to participate. He must have some talent people would enjoy. Perhaps he could phaser an apple off the captain’s head.
The shuttle is approaching a planet when they start encountering atmospheric turbulence, even though it was clear a moment ago. There’s an ion storm and their attempt to back off and try another planet fail when the shuttle gets zapped. Hydrazine gas is leaking and Chakotay tries the emergency anti grav thrusters.
The shuttle lands heavily and, when Chakotay recovers, he sees the captain on the floor. She’s not responding, even when he gets a med kit. The computer warns him that the hydrazine is approaching dangerous levels, so Chakotay pulls the captain out of the shuttle to try and revive her outside. He does manage.
Janeway starts making a homing signal as Chakotay goes back to the shuttle for supplies. However, he notices phaser burns on the hull; he thinks they were shot down. Janeway disables the homing signal in case whoever shot at them finds them. Chakotay analyses the marks and says they are Vidiian in nature, even though they thought they had moved out of Vidiian space. Vidiians start to surround them and, despite and attempt to hide, Chakotay is shot and a Vidiian chokes the captain. Which is odd.
And, we’re back in the shuttle. Might be one of those episodes. Both the captain and Chakotay realise they have been there before. They may be caught in a repeating time loop. There’s no evidence of temporal anomalies or Vidiians, and Voyager is out of range. Then a Vidiian warship appears and destroys the shuttle. And they’re back again.
Chakotay suggests retracing their path, but this time two Vidiians appear. Voyager is hailed and Tuvok responds; they fill him in on the time loop. The shuttle emits a tachyon burst and both Vidiians vanish.
Back on Voyager, Janeway mentions the time loop but no-one, not even Chakotay, remembers it. According to him, they managed to escape the Vidiians. Janeway says she needs to see the Doctor. The Doctor does not have good news. She has the Phage, which must have mutated. That could explain the hallucinations. The Doctor is going to quarantine Janeway and gives her a sedative to help her sleep. When she wakes, 40 hours later, she’s showing signs of the Phage. The Doctor says that he can’t find a cure and there is no hope. The best thing for everyone, given what the disease will do to the captain and the crew in the process of dying, is euthanasia. And he doses the captain with a neurotoxin. Now, that’s odd behaviour for the Doctor. What about stasis?
Once again, Janeway is back in the shuttle. There’s some sort of glowing thing they are being drawn into. Janeway sees Chakotay trying to revive her after the crash, just as he did the first time. This time, though, he isn’t successful. Janeway is present, but no-one else can see her. It appears she’s dead. That’s what she’s told anyway, by someone she knows who is also dead. Not quite your typical time loop episode.