“Living Witness” is episode twenty-three of season four of Star Trek: Voyager.
Captain Janeway is saying that, when diplomacy fails, there is only one alternative. Violence. Force must be applied without apology. It’s the Starfleet way. She’s wearing black gloves and a black undertunic. The alien she’s talking to Daleth, says their philosophies are in agreement. They will help the Vaskans defeat their enemy by intimidating the Kyrians with their technology and capturing their leader, Tedran. In return, the Vaskans know of a way home. A cyclic wormhole five days away that can be stabilised. Janeway agrees to help.
On the bridge, there’s an armed Kazon and a uniformed Neelix amongst others. Kyrian fighters are reported to be approaching and Janeway orders the assault probes to be armed and fired. She hails them as the Warship Voyager and tells them to break off or be destroyed. Chakotay, whose tattoo covers half his face, says they have had no luck tracking Tedran. Janeway wants to flush him out. With biogenic weapons. Daleth doesn’t like that idea; their conflict is with Tedran, not his people. In sickbay, the Doctor has his mind linked, by cable, to the phasor array – which means he isn’t a hologram. He also has eyes like Data. The bioagent is ready to be fired through the phasors. Voyager has turrets.
Now, this is all rather reminiscent of how the Terran Empire used to behave in the Mirror Universe, which would suggest it was a Mirror Universe episode… if it wasn’t for the fact that Deep Space Nine revealed the Terran Empire was destroyed decades ago.
At this point, a simulation is paused. A man says that the Warship Voyager was one of the most powerful vessels of its time, capable of wiping out an entire civilisation in hours. They were lucky; by the time Voyager targeted the Kyrians major cities, Tedran had ordered them evacuated. But this was only the beginning and Janeway’s actions had a lasting effect. Even today, 700 years later. It seems this is a historical simulation, and one that is badly wrong.
It’s being shown in a museum and Voyager is described as having a complement of over 300 soldiers. They are not certain it attacked other worlds, as records are incomplete, but it’s safe to ensure they did. They had Borg drones on their ship, many weapons and species who were captured and made to work as part of the fighting force.
With the simulation resumed, Janeway is instructing a smirking Tuvok to fire again, as there are not enough casualties. Daleth objects and is confined to the brig. Chakotay and Harry are interrogating a Kyrian for the location of Tedran. The Doctor decides to aid with a neural solvent. This works, and they get Tedran’s location. A fortified compound below the surface. Chakotay and Tuvok lead an assault team. There are intruders in engineering, so Seven of Nine, back to being a Borg drone, is activated, along with other drones. The intruders don’t stand a chance. Resistance is futile. Janeway tells Seven she can assimilate the survivors. Tedran and an aide are captured and brought to Voyager. Daleth is brought to witness this interrogation. Tedran refuses to end the conflict and Janeway executes the aide then Tedran himself.
Quarren, who is the Kyrian in the museum, says that by the end 2 million were slaughtered and the Vaskans occupied their world. It has taken centuries to undo the damage caused by Voyager and the struggle for equality is far from over. This simulation, this museum, is a testament to their struggle.
The museum isn’t only visited by Kyrians; there are Vaskans there too. One objects to the portrayal of his people and says the fossils and ‘evidence’ don’t prove anything. He doesn’t know it, but he’s right. Quarren says they have uncovered an artefact, a data storage device, that has been confirmed as coming from Voyager. In the next few days, they will have confirmation in Voyager‘s crews own words. And if the story is different? Quarren says he will change his views accordingly. Clearly, he doesn’t think it will contradict what he knows.
Later, Quarren activates the simulation to use tools to work on the device. He realises that it contains far more data than he expects, more like a program. A hologram. He activates it and the Doctor appears. The Doctor demands to know what he’s doing in engineering and where his mobile emitter is. Quarren says he isn’t an android. Of course he isn’t. Quarren says he’s in a simulation and he’s a hologram. The Doctor knows that. the Doctor sees the module, the EMH backup, and says a Kyrian raiding party must have taken it. Quarren tells the Doctor he’s 700 years in the future. The Doctor doesn’t believe it – until he runs into the museum.
With access to the Doctor, Quarren discovers that their painfully reconstructed version of history doesn’t remotely match what happened in the past. They have got everything wrong. He refuses to believe it, at first, but, realising that they had the Doctor down as an android, starts to admit that they may have made a few mistakes. Needless to say, having your view of history upturned so badly causes a few problems.