“Worst Case Scenario” is episode twenty-five of season three of Star Trek: Voyager.
B’Elanna is in a corridor when she is joined by Chakotay. He asks where she’s heading and, when she says the bridge, asks if he minds if he walks with her. He mentions Tuvok and imagine spending 70 years with him. A lot of the crew agrees, both Maquis and Starfleet. Chakotay says that a lot of the crew are not happy with their chief of security and Captain Janeway isn’t winning any popularity contests either. Chakotay is interested in B’Elanna’s opinion. She’s a good officer and he likes her and wouldn’t want to see her get hurt. B’Elanna halts the turbolift and asks what he’s saying. There are going to be some changes. All the Maquis and 25 of the Starfleet crew are going to mutiny. When the shooting starts, which side will B’Elanna be on?
On the bridge, Captain Janeway, oddly wearing an older hairstyle, tells Chakotay that Voyager is all his. She’s leaving on a shuttle with Tom. Chakotay suggests taking Tuvok, just in case, but Tuvok says that Chakotay is still adjusting to his duties as first officer and needs his help more. The captain agrees.
After the captain leaves, Chakotay orders Harry to shut down the transporters and run diagnostics. He also speaks to B’Elanna – but calls her ‘ensign’ even though she’s a lieutenant, and she is wearing ensign’s pips. Two people arrive on the bridge with what Chakotay say is a duty roster but, when the captain’s shuttle goes into warp, Chakotay announces to the crew to do it. Tuvok is shot, Harry manages to call for a red alert but B’Elanna shoots him. Then Jonas – who died in “Investigations”; something is clearly up – calls asking for help on Deck 2.
Chakotay and B’Elanna head to help and then Seska – who died in “Basics, Part II” appears to help them, as a Bajoran not a Cardassian. In the mess hall, Neelix quickly changes sides. Kes, who is in her quarters, is also sporting her old hairstyle. Chakotay announces that all the senior staff, expect for Janeway and Tom, who will arrive at the rendezvous to find no Voyager, will be put off the ship. He gives a ‘Join me’ speech to the rest of the Starfleet crew about how they will get back by any means necessary and Starfleet principles will not stand in their way.
Then Tom asks what’s going on and B’Elanna instructs the computer to freeze the program. The oddities are because she’s in the holodeck. It seems she lost track of time and missed a lunch date with Tom. B’Elanna explains that she found the program in routine purge of the database. A holonovel, one where the Maquis stage a mutiny. She says it’s compelling and believable, because it’s all about them. Tom asks who wrote it. That’s a mystery. Their ID has been kept secret; encrypted. In the story, B’Elanna was playing a Starfleet security officer who is approached by the Maquis who want to take over the ship. It’s pretty inflammatory and Tom suggests they should tell the captain. B’Elanna agrees they probably should. Tom says they first need to find out how the story ends. So that they can give a proper report. B’Elanna agrees with that too. Tom wants it reset; B’Elanna protests she was getting to the good part. Tom tells her half the fun of a holonovel is having someone to talk it over with.
This time it’s Tom that Chakotay approaches. Only Tom raises the subject of mutiny first. Except, when the mutiny starts, he tries warning Tuvok. In the brig, Tom complains to Tuvok that waiting around is boring. Then he and everyone but Harry and Tuvok are taken to cargo bay 1. Chakotay gives his ‘Join me’ speech again, and Tom immediately changes sides again.
Recapping this in the mess hall to B’Elanna, Tom says that Chakotay trusted him so little given how many times he changed sides that he was assigned to menial tasks. B’Elanna tells him that it’s more fun to go along with the mutiny. Then Neelix approaches; he, too, knows about the holonovel. B’Elanna insists she didn’t tell him. Neelix heard about it from the Doctor. B’Elanna may have let it slip during her weekly diagnostics of the Doctor. Who else knows? Neelix’s lips are sealed. Then Harry asks about it; he heard from yet another crewmember.
The crew is getting rather into the holonovel, but who wrote it is proving to be a mystery. Until they finally come forward, when the matter of the holonovel is raised by Janeway. It wasn’t written by anyone who might have been expected to write it nor was it written for the reasons thought. Mostly, the episode is rather more light-hearted but, unfortunately, someone else has tampered with the holonovel program which causes problems.