Drone (Voyager episode)

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Star Trek: VOY episode
"Drone"
The Doctor's mobile emitter is fused with Borg nanoprobes in the transporter
Episode no.	96
Prod. code	196
Airdate	October 21, 1998
Writer(s)	Brannon Braga Joe Menosky Bryan Fuller Harry Doc Kloor
Director	Les Landau
Guest star(s)	J. Paul Boehmer as One Todd Babcock as Mulcahey
Year	2375
Stardate	?
Episode chronology
Previous	"Night"
Next	"Extreme Risk"

Drone is an episode of Star Trek: Voyager, the second episode of the fifth season.

1 Plot summary
2 Notes
3 Trivia
4 External links

[edit] Plot summary

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

During an attempt to beam back to the starship Voyager, a brief transporter malfunction occurs. All members of the away team successfully return to the ship, but the mobile emitter used by The Doctor is damaged, apparently affected by Seven of Nine's nanoprobes. The mobile emitter is secured in one of Voyager's science labs for further study. Later that night Borg assimilation tubules spring from the emitter and begin to assimilate the lab console.

The next morning, Ensign Mulcahey, a member of the crew, goes to the science lab to examine the emitter. When he enters the lab, he is attacked by more assimilation tubules. They do not assimilate him, but they do take a tissue sample from his body. The next morning, Voyager crewmembers discover the unconscious Mulcahey and the lab console, which has transformed into a Borg maturation chamber with a fetal Borg drone inside, which has grown from Mulcahey's DNA. Seven of Nine observes that Borg technology is made to adapt to any technology it encounters, and deduces that it is fulfilling its imperative to reproduce and assimilate — by creating a new drone. The Doctor is concerned about getting his mobile emitter back, and demands that engineer B'Elanna Torres get to work on it immediately, but there is little she can do at this stage because the emitter is thoroughly integrated into the drone's brain. The new Borg continues to age at a rapid rate, soon reaching the equivalent age of six Earth years.

Captain Janeway considers, and rejects, the idea of 'pulling the plug' and killing the growing drone. She has considered the possible security risks to the ship, but believes that the possible scientific value to be gained from studying the drone is more important. In any case, Voyager's force fields are able to dampen the Borg signals so the collective cannot locate the drone. Soon the drone is an adult, and emerges from its maturation chamber. It quickly locates Seven of Nine and demands that she provide it with its instructions and identity — concepts which Seven is unable to provide, as she does not know how to relate to the new drone. However, Janeway realizes that Seven is the closest thing to an expert on the Borg that they have, and orders her to educate the drone in the ways of humanity as Seven herself was once instructed. Seven reluctantly complies.

The drone, which takes the name One, is provided with data nodes which feed massive amounts of information into it. One is fascinated with the endless onslaught of data, and demands more. While examining One, the crew discovers that since One was created partly from the Doctor's mobile emitter, a piece of 29th century technology, One is essentially a 29th century drone, 500 years more advanced than any other Borg in existence. One's increased strength, speed, weapons and defensive capabilities would make the Borg collective virtually unstoppable if it were to assimilate him. Janeway realizes that One will eventually seek out the collective, and that he has the right to know where he comes from.

Meanwhile, One quickly realizes the true nature of the Borg: a deadly threat unlike any the Voyager crew have encountered. He grows closer to the crew and begins to sympathize with them. When One unwittingly sends a signal to the Borg (due to his adaptability — new circuit pathways spontaneously formed and sent their own signal without One's knowledge), the collective sends a ship to assimilate him. One attempts to enhance Voyager's shields and weapons so they can defend themselves, but he realizes he must transport to the Borg ship and destroy it from within — which he does, by steering the Borg vessel into a nebula where it is immediately destroyed.

One, however, survives, due to his advanced shielding which protected him from the explosion. His biological components, however, are badly injured, requiring immediate surgery, which One refuses to allow. Since the Borg will never stop looking for him, he is a danger to the crew as long as he is alive. "I was a mistake...I was never meant to be." A visibly distressed Seven begs One to allow the Doctor to treat him, but One tells her that she will adapt to his absence. One dies on the operating table, leaving Seven greatly saddened by his passing.

[edit] Notes

Longtime Star Trek actor J. Paul Boehmer starred in this episode as One the drone. He had previously appeared in "The Killing Game".

[edit] Trivia

During the scene in the cargo bay when the crew wakes One from his regeneration cycle, one of the unnamed security guards in the background can clearly be seen chewing gum.