Stardate: 50614.2 While in a shuttlecraft, Commander Chakotay and Ensign Kaplan receive a Federation distress signal. However, being in the Nekrit Expanse, pinpointing the signal is difficult enough, let alone trying to communicate with the person on the other end. The two manage to find the planet where the signal originated from, but are attacked when they land their shuttlecraft on the surface.

In another part of the Expanse, Voyager’s sensors pick up a ship directly ahead of them. With sensors limited in range, it turns out Voyager and the unidentified ship are only a few thousand kilometers apart. Moving into visual range, the crew gazes out upon a Borg cube adrift in space.