“Unity” is episode seventeen of season three of Star Trek: Voyager.
Chakotay is returning to Voyager on a shuttle with Ensign Kaplan after a scouting mission in the Nekrit Expanse. Kaplan says that their nav readings are being scrambled and she can’t say where they are. Chakotay asks if they’re lost. It depends on what he means by lost. As in not knowing where they are lost. Yes, they are lost. They are going to navigate the old-fashioned way with optical scanners. Unfortunately, they’ve just passed the same asteroid field they passed two hours ago. As well as being lost, they are going in circles.
Then they are contacted by a Federation hailing beacon. It’s coming from a planet’s surface. There are about 80,000 humanoid lifesigns, rudimentary structures and technology but no energy signatures large enough for Voyager. Another hail comes in; it’s weak, not sent by Voyager but the sender knows that that are a Federation ship. Which is odd, to say the least. Who would know they were Federation out here? They land in what looks like a warzone and some people approach. Chakotay introduces them and says they are responding to the distress call. The people open fire. During the fight, both Kaplan and Chakotay are hit until their attackers are driven off by some others. Chakotay is taken away by those who rescued them.
When Chakotay comes around, a woman is waiting for him to wake. Riley Frazier; she’s human. Her people didn’t attack and she’s the one who sent the distress call. Kaplan didn’t make it. The shuttle isn’t there any longer either; Chakotay’s attackers pulled it apart. Both would like to know how the other got so far away from home; Frazier is surprised to see a Federation ship. According to her, 7-8 years ago she was a science officer on a Federation ship when they were attacked by aliens. They must have been put into stasis, because the next thing she knows is waking up here. There are three other humans, all from her crew, plus Romulans, Klingons, Cardassians and many more. There must have been a colony on the planet at some time and everyone appears to have been grabbed and dumped. Dozens of different races, brought against their will, many suspicious of others and with limited resources. It quickly turned to anarchy. She, and several hundred others, have formed a cooperative. The com array has been destroyed and will take days to fix. Chakotay has suffered serious neural trauma.
On Voyager, Tom is complaining that there is nothing interesting. Captain Janeway can find him something interesting to do if he wants. On second thought, navigating the expanse is challenging. Tuvok has found something else; an unidentified ship at long range that appears to have stopped in their current flight path. There’s no response to their hails, then the ship enters visual range. A Borg cube. Probably wish they hadn’t hailed them now. After finding a dead Borg drone at the end of the previous episode, “Blood Fever”, Voyager knew they were entering Borg space.
However, the cube looks dead and Tuvok and Harry confirm nothing seems operational and there are no life signs. Luring people in by playing dead is not a typical Borg tactic. A full scan reveals no active energy or lifesigns. The Borg are known to return for their technology, so more Borg could be on their way. Which is why Captain Janeway wants them to board. A chance to find out more about the Borg to hopefully use against them in the future.
Chakotay is talking to Frazier, telling her how long it will take to return home. Frazier suggests they could settle down, just as she and the others have. They want to stay. It’s become home and she feels a deep connection to the others she’s never felt before. She guesses it’s because of what they went through. They would like some supplies, though. She’s going to work on the com array; Chakotay needs to rest.
A trip to the Borg ship brings back information and a dead Borg drone. It seems all activity on the ship ceased 5 years ago, and there are about a thousand corpses. The body is going to be autopsied. It’s possible the ship’s link to the Collective was severed, so the Borg don’t know about the ship. As to what caused the shutdown, it could be a natural disaster. Or, B’Elanna suggests, the Borg could have been defeated by a more powerful enemy. A worrying thought, if said enemy isn’t friendly.
On the planet, Chakotay gets out of the bunker where he is being treated. He sees various people, many of whom seem to be missing body parts. He also sees someone with cybernetic additions to their arm working on the back of the head of another, where more cybernetic implants are. The one being worked on is Frazier. She, and all the others, are all former Borg drones. However, they are acting as individuals, not like drones.
Chakotay’s condition is getting worse and, thanks to the amount of hardware inside a Borg drone, dead may be a relative term. Which is a concern for Voyager when they are next to a cube containing a thousand dead Borg.