“Once Upon a Time” is episode five of season five of Star Trek: Voyager.
Naomi Wildman is in the woods and she comes across a pool. She throws a rock in and the pool goes ‘Ouch!’ She tells it to wake up. The pool wants her to come back later. Naomi thinks it’s scared of the tree monster. The water forms into a person and says it isn’t. Naomi says they have a mission. The water person, Flotter, has already prepared a trap. An alarm that will scare the tree monster, then drive them towards a trap where they will be catapulted into the pond and sink like a log. Logs float. Details.
The tree monster, Trevis, appears and says that’s a terrible plan. He doesn’t recognise Naomi’s element. Where does she live? In space. Nobody lives in space. Flotter says she does, on the starship Voyager. Trevis wants to visit. Naomi needs to ask her mother; he’s very polite for a monster. Trevis isn’t a monster; his bark is worse than his bite. Flotter accuses Trevis of stealing his water and the two start arguing, until Naomi intervenes and explains how both need each other. Then Neelix contacts the holodeck and tells Naomi it’s time for bed.
In her quarters, Naomi speaks to her mother who is away on the Delta Flyer. The transmission is poor and Ensign Wildman says the mission may take a few more days. She would like to speak to Neelix. She tells him that they ran into an ion storm and took a real beating. They are making repairs but another storm is on the way. Then the signal is lost. Tom and Tuvok are on the Delta Flyer as well and the storm hits.
Their mayday is played to the rest of the senior staff. The shuttle is in poor condition, life support is failing and they’re looking for an emergency landing site. Nothing since. Harry has tracked the coordinates of the distress call. B’Elanna says another ion storm, a level 5, is blocking their path. The captain says they’ve been through worse. Neelix asks about Naomi. Chakotay replies that someone should tell her why her mother isn’t back. Neelix suggests not; he doesn’t want to alarm her unnecessarily. Captain Janeway will let Neelix take the lead; it’s his mission to keep Naomi occupied.
Neelix and Naomi are in the mess hall. She thinks it’s time she carried her weight. On the bridge. Would she get to fly the ship? Seven of Nine enters; Naomi tells Neelix not to move. It’s the Borg lady. Neelix says she has a name; Naomi knows her complete one. But don’t look; she’ll assimilate you into her Collective. Harry wants a word with Neelix about some emergency medkits and Seven, whilst Neelix is away, asks Naomi if the chair is occupied. Yes or no would suffice. Naomi says someone is sitting there and explains. Afterwards, Naomi wants another Flotter story but Neelix tells her the Doctor is expecting her. Naomi doesn’t like sickbay. And the Doctor talks too much.
The Delta Flyer is looking for the planetoid they know is nearby. Ensign Wildman detects it. Class M, but Tom doesn’t like the sound of the surface. He wants to land the shuttle, not bury it. They land, fairly badly, and Tuvok says the ensign needs immediate medical assistance. A bit of a problem; they are 3kms beneath the surface. Tom tries reassuring her; she says he’s a great nurse but a lousy liar. It seems she has a punctured kidney and is bleeding internally. They can’t contact Voyager, nor can they leave the shuttle.
Voyager finds the planetoid and where the Delta Flyer hit it. It was either vapourised on impact or buried beneath the surface. No lifesigns. They will need to head down and look personally.
The Doctor is teaching Naomi when she asks about her mother. She was supposed to call. Naomi is asking if she can call her when Neelix arrives; the Doctor looks pleased as Neelix has spared him an awkward conversation. Naomi asks if Neelix had a favourite holodeck program as a child. No; they didn’t have them. They had a real forest, and he and his sisters would make her own stories. Naomi asks about Neelix’s family. Does he miss his sisters? Very much.
Neelix is fretting over Naomi. He didn’t explain to her that he hasn’t seen his sisters in a long time because they are dead. Neelix wants to shield Naomi from a potentially bad truth; that has the potential to backfire. It seems he is empathising with her situation very closely, so much so that he yells at the captain.
Ensign Wildman is herself fretting about Naomi. Tuvok reassures her on her parenting skills.