“Extreme Risk” is episode three of season five of Star Trek: Voyager.
B’Elanna is in a shuttle and it looks like she’s doing an orbital skydive, even though the computer tells her that there’s an extreme risk of injury, when Chakotay contacts her. She’s actually in the holodeck. She heads to see Chakotay, meeting Seven of Nine on the way. Seven didn’t know that protective gear was required for this mission. B’Elanna explains what she was doing. Seven finds it a curious form of recreation. The probe is ready to launch, but there’s a problem with the telemetry link. B’Elanna claims she isn’t doing so well and tells Seven to handle it without her. Seven finds B’Elanna putting her in charge to be unexpected. B’Elanna also says the Doctor doesn’t need to know she’s ill.
Voyager‘s probe, however, is tractored by a Malon freighter. Harry informs the captain and she attempts to contact the freighter. There’s no response and the probe is two hours away. Tuvok suggests a method for disrupting the tractor beam, which works. The probe can’t outrun the freighter and it’s suggested they hide it in a gas giant. Tuvok is concerned that the atmospheric pressure will crush the probe. Not if the Borg shielding does its job. The Malon follow the probe into the gas giant, and get destroyed.
The probe, however, gets stuck and isn’t responding to commands. It’s still intact and can be repaired. B’Elanna arrives late to the meeting of the senior staff. They can’t transport the probe out and Tom suggests they fly in and grab it. Tuvok thinks perhaps Tom was not paying attention when the Malon freighter imploded.
Tom suggests they go in a new shuttlecraft. In the previous episode, “Drone”, Seven of Nine had suggested building one. Class 2 shuttles don’t cut it; they’ve needed something bigger and better since they got here. Chakotay says they don’t have the time to design and build a ship from scratch. Tom knew he would say that. He’s done the design bit himself. Behold, the Delta Flyer. Seven of Nine considers the design elements to be adequate. Harry is now interested. It should be able to withstand the atmosphere, because the probe did. Captain Janeway is impressed. How quickly can they build it? Inside a week, working around the clock. Harry and Seven are in. B’Elanna is, but less enthusiastically.
Tom, Harry, Seven, B’Elanna and Tuvok are on the holodeck; Tuvok is nixing Tom’s attempt to add decorative items to the hull. Seven says there’s a problem with structural integrity and B’Elanna’s design is flawed and suggests and alternative. B’Elanna says the alternative sounds fine to her, and heads out to work on something. Which is a rather out of character reaction.
Tom is in his quarters when B’Elanna arrives with what she was working on. He wants to know what’s going on with her. Nothing. Tom doesn’t believe that as she’s acting out of character. They talked about the possibility of working together, using their skills, and now they are doing it, B’Elanna is not enthusiastic. B’Elanna heads back to the holodeck to fight Cardassians with the safety protocols off.
At the gas giant is another Malon freighter. This one wants to talk, but only to accuse Voyager of destroying the other freighter and killing nine people – even though the Malon were responsible for their own destruction. They are taking the probe in recompense, and they’re expert at salvaging things. Janeway suggests they leave orbit and, if they see anything else bearing Voyager‘s insignia, head in the other direction. The Malon aren’t interested. Captain Janeway wonder why people involved in toxic waste disposal are so eager to get the probe. Chakotay suggests the multispatial technology will allow them to find new places to dump their garbage.
B’Elanna returns to her quarters, injured, and takes out some medical equipment she had hidden to heal herself. Then heads to the mess hall; she wanted to catch up with Neelix. Neelix gives her a straight line to insult his cooking, but she doesn’t take it up. He seems concerned.
The Malon are building their own craft to head into the gas giant’s atmosphere, and they’re further ahead than Voyager. Which turns it into a race. B’Elanna is clearly not herself, and it turns out she’s been having problems for some time. If not stopped, she might kill herself by accident.