“Critical Care” is episode five of season seven of Star Trek: Voyager.
A starship approaches another ship hovering above a city that looks rather polluted. The second seems to be a hospital and the ship’s pilot, Gar, is identified and allowed to pass. He greets someone called Chellick; he has something to offer him. Something special, and not substandard tech. Gar opens a box, revealing the Doctor’s mobile emitter, and activates it.
The Doctor is demanding to know where he is as Gar is selling Chellick on his specs. The Doctor demands to be returned to Voyager immediately; Gar is a thief. Gar claims he traded warp grade dilithium for the Doctor. Chellick doesn’t think the Doctor seems to be working. The Doctor refuses to cooperate, even though Gar threatens him. However, when trauma victors are brought in, the Doctor is unable to stand and watch.
On Voyager, Harry and Tom are heading to sickbay after a hockey match in the holodeck. The Doctor is activated and Tom is coming up with excuses, but they realise that he isn’t acting normally.
B’Elanna tells the captain that the mobile emitter is a replicated fake. Tom says the program is one of the Doctor’s old training files. Captain Janeway wants to know how Gar managed to avoid every security protocol. Neelix explains that Gar spent the night in sickbay; he claimed he had food poisoning. And the Doctor likely answered every question Gar had. It seems the training file was activated just after Gar left. After the meeting, Neelix says it’s his fault. Gar kept complaining how bland the food was and Neelix kept adding exotic spices. Gar might really have been sick. The captain tells Neelix that his cooking didn’t make Gar a thief. And men like Gar have no trouble finding opportunities of this type.
The Doctor is still treating patients and wants another doctor, Voje, to establish a com link to Voyager to get more supplies. He also speaks to a young patient, Tebbis, who seems quite knowledgeable. Voje tells the Doctor is one of a dozen with a systemic disease and what the treatment is. And Tebbis hasn’t had it. Because his TC isn’t high enough. Chellick arrives and says he has acquired the Doctor’s program., The Doctor is to follow him to Level Blue where his services are required.
The Doctor assumes Level Blue is critical care. It’s not. It’s a lot nicer than Level Red. Patients with a higher TC – treatment coefficient – are treated here. The Allocator – the computer – determines the TC and that determines the level of care. It’s a formula based on profession, skills, accomplishment, and its relevance to medical care is that those who are calculated as being more important to society get better care. Resources are limited and Chellick was contracted to do this. Dr Dysek, the chief of medicine, says that Chellick’s people are known for their administrative skills across the sector. Before, they were a dying people, from eco disasters and famine.
Voyager has tracked Gar’s warp trail. It ends in a device emitting a false signature. Tuvok suggests another way. Gar traded them high grade iridium. It has a brief half-life and Gar’s ship is slow. It probably came from somewhere within 3 lightyears. A scan reveals an asteroid that looks like a mining colony. They head there and hail the colony. The one who responds wants his iridium back. Gar is a thief; he stole 20 kilos of ore. The captain says they had a similar experience; maybe they can help. They can return the iridium, but they only have half. Perhaps they can get the rest back. She’s told where Gar was previously.
The Doctor is trying to get Dysek to contact Voyager. He also sees a patient being given the cure for Tebbis’s disease. It prevents arterial aging, too. Daily injections increase life expectancy; all Level Blue patients get them. Because their lives are more valuable. The Doctor returns to Level Red and tries to alter Tebbis’s TC by adding lies to his data. However, the Allocator will only add verifiable skills. The Doctor turns to more underhand means to try and help those on Level Red that have been written off as less valuable to society. Meanwhile, Voyager is following the trail of Gar’s, well, victims, as Captain Janeway becomes more and more exasperated.