After Voyager is severely attacked by Kazon and one of its crewmen killed, Chakotay appeals to Janeway to start thinking more like the Maquis. Janeway knows she must strengthen Voyager's position in the quadrant and, although it's a difficult decision and is against her beliefs and training, she agrees to take steps toward a strategic alliance with leaders of several Kazon factions. When they come together for a conference, its eminently clear that there are no rules in this region of space. Unbeknownst to Voyager, there is a traitor in their midst. Seeking an intermediary to begin talks with the Kazon, Neelix shuttles to Sobras, a planet with a Kazon settlement. There, he makes contact with an acquaintance -- Jal Tersa of Kazon-Pommar. Meanwhile Janeway's initial meeting with Culluh and Seska is unsuccessful but Neelix is able to befriend Mabus, a governor of the Trabe, an exiled sect and bitter enemies of the Kazon. Thinking that the Trabe have compatible goals of peaceful co-existence, Janeway forms an alliance with them -- with deadly results.
