The crew is facing a shipwide case of cabin fever as the ship plunges into a vast, empty, starless expanse, a shortcut that could take two years to complete. Captain Janeway has retreated into seclusion, and tempers are flaring. But the crew's craving for excitement is more than quenched when a sudden total loss of power is followed by the arrival of seemingly hostile intruders in the darkened corridors of the ship. Another unfamiliar alien vessel arrives to fend off Voyager's attackers, and it seems that the crew has a new ally...until Janeway is asked to help the Malon captain commit genocide in exchange for an quicker trip home.
