“Distant Origin” is episode twenty-three of season three of Star Trek: Voyager.
The episode opens on a world that looks familiar. Inside a cave, an alien picks up a damaged Starfleet uniform. He then finds some bones and another alien asks if it’s a genetic match. The first says yes. Gather the debris and taken them back to the ship. Is it proof? If it is, it’s the most important discovery in Voth history. The remains have a human skull; they are those of Hogan and the planet is the one he died on in “Basics, Part II”.
The two aliens are looking at the remains on their ship. They appear, to them, to be those of a technologically advanced species, but with a smaller cranial capacity than their own. If they had a sense of smell, it was rudimentary. The lead alien, Gegen, believes the dead humanoid was warm blooded – but that doesn’t weaken their case. The number of genetic markers they share show they are related. Though the aliens wonder what an endotherm is doing in this part of space.
Gegen’s assistant wonders if the dead humanoid was part of a mission, a ship with crewmates. The uniform shows the use of replicator technology and the markings suggest it’s possibly a military uniform. Such a social infrastructure would suggest a ship. Gegen speaks to the skull, but gets no response. The ship and the people on it could be key to finding out where their race came from. They must find them and contact them. Gegen believes they need a fleet of ships and his assistant, Veer, says that the humanoid’s vessel; could eb thousands of lightyears away. Gegen sets a course to the city ship where they will present their friend and let him do the talking.
Minister Odala, when presented with the evidence, does not seem that happy. The Distant Origin Theory says that the Voth rose elsewhere. Doctrine says that, millions of years ago, the Voth were the first intelligent beings to evolve in this part of space. That assumption underlies everything they hold dear. Gegen believes the Voth evolved on a faraway planet and travelled from it millions of years ago. Their true history has been lost. The species he has found is not seen anywhere else in known space, but is related to the Voth. Gegen wants to find the long-lost world of the Distant Origin Theory, and by finding a living member of this kind, they will be able to do that. The minster suggests Gegen, who bought the information on Hogan’s remains, was a victim of a hoax. He disagrees. The minster says she will consider Gegen’s request. She does not sound impressed.
Veer thinks it went well. Gegen does not. Gegen’s own daughter is concerned and she, it seems, also doesn’t believe. She’s more worried about what will happen to her father. Perhaps rightly so; Veer returns to Gegen and says they need to leave now. The ministry has seized Gegen’s research and Gegen’s allies are too scared to back him. Gegen tells Veer he must stay and not put himself at risk, but Veer will not. Gegen has also discovered the name of the vessel in a microscopic identification code. Voyager. Not a big reveal.
Gegen is narrating how they found a trader on a space station on the border of the Nekrit Expanse, the one seen in “Fair Trade”, who gave them more information. The Voyager’s crew claimed to be from the other side of the galaxy. They also got saw a comm badge, a tricorder and a cannister of warp plasma. That will allow them to scan for a matching signature. Gegen is sending the message to his daughter and Veer hopes Gegen sent his regards as well. Gegen knows Veer is interested in his daughter and tells him that traditionally his family marries another, and Veer should know his place – but traditions are meant to be broken.
They have detected Voyager, 90 lightyears away, with 148 lifesigns on board, travelling at warp 6.2. Gegen has their ship put into spatial displacement so it will not be detected and they come out of transwarp. They plan to beam aboard and collect information; if the Voyager‘s crew prove to be nonviolent, they will reveal themselves.
The ship’s entire database is downloaded in seconds at most. They come across Tom and B’Elanna arguing, and state it is courting behaviour. Because it is. On the bridge, they deice the ship is a matriarchy, as the female is in command. Then Harry detects their cloaking field. Tuvok uses a level 10 containment field to stop them beaming away, though they get to the mess hall. The Voths’ cloaking shield is disrupted and Veer fires something at Chakotay before being stunned. Gegen manages to beam off with Chakotay.
Bar a bit of a misunderstanding, Gegen proves to be helpful, once things are explained. Veer, however, seems to go into hibernation. This would all be a friendly episode – if it wasn’t for the fact that Minister Odala really doesn’t want Gegen’s theory to be true and goes to lengths to disprove it. The city ship is well named.