Chapter 6

"There was no way we could have avoided being seen. He was right there watching us as we beamed down." B'Elanna explained from her seat at the Observation Room table. The entire senior staff was present as well as Neelix, the Doctor and Seven.

The Doctor spoke first. "Captain, that probe was down there for almost an hour leaking plasma gas. That whole area is toxic by now and that young man has been exposed. We don't know how long he was near it before we came. Anyone who walks through there runs the risk of severe contamination. We need to beam him up immediately."

B'Elanna shook her head. "We can't. Not until we can fix this problem with the scannners."

"I don't understand." The Doctor continued, looking annoyed. "You and Mr. Paris beamed down and back just fine."

The engineer huffed in frustration at the physician's ignorance. "They had a lock on us, the computer already knew where we were. To find this guy we need to scan for lifesigns. Which we can't do without the scanners."

"Sorry I mentioned it." He said, rolling his eyes heavenward at the Engineer's testy tone.

The Captain listened to the exchange with growing concern. Voyager had already caused enough trouble and she certainly didn't want a death on their hands. "How long will it take to repair the scanners?"

"It's pretty involved. There's some physical damage and the subroutines that actually control the procedure are a jumbled mess. And on top of that it seems that the interference from the wormhole is affecting them too. Which means I'll have to do some reconfiguring as well. It's going to take two maybe three hours."

The Doctor's jaw dropped. The estimate was clearly unacceptable. "He could be dead by then. At the very least suffering acute symptoms."

Tom spoke up from his seat, looking worried, confused and excited all at the same time. "He'll tell the others and bring them all up there. In fact they're probably there now."

"What others?" Chakotay asked.

"The other castaways."

Janeway frowned. "Tom, you obviously know something about this that we don't. Enlighten us, will you?"

He shook his head a bit. "I know this is going to sound completely crazy and I don't know if I believe it myself. But I know what I saw. Captain, there are seven people down there. They've been shipwrecked."

B'Elanna scowled at him. "Oh, come on, Tom. How could you possibly know that? And we didn't see seven people, only the one guy."

"I've seen him before.

"Where?"

"On a nineteen sixties TV show!"

Chakotay looked confused. "What's a TV show?"

Neelix spoke up before Tom had a chance to. "It's a form of non interactive entertainment. Kes and I had a chance to watch some when we were dealing with that time ship. It can be quite diverting."

"It sound like a highly inefficient use of time." Seven remarked

Janeway still looked puzzled. "So they are actors of some sort?"

"No. That's the thing! That show was filmed mostly in LA. And I looked it up, according to historical charts that island shouldn't even be there!" Tom thrust a finger towards the slice of swirling blue and white could be seen out the window.

B'Elanna wrinkled her nose, pulling her lip up into a disgusted sneer. "So you're saying that these fictitious characters have suddenly come to life?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying!"

"Come on, Tom. That's a little far fetched, don't you think?"

"I know it sounds crazy. But…Here, I'll show you." He marched over to the wall and punched something on the shiny black control panel. "Computer, bring up file ParisGI, Goodbye Island. Play."

The monitor on the wall alit with picture of a harbor as a bright sea chanty began to play. "Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale…"

"It's monochromatic." Harry observed. "Like Captain Proton."

"Just the first season." Tom said. "The next two seasons were in color."

"Sprightly little tune." The Doctor waved a finger with the music.

"The mate was a mighty sailin' man…"

"See?" Tom said to B'Elanna as he pointed at the screen.

Her eyes widened in recognition. "That's definitely him. Same hat and everything."

"Five passengers set sail that day for a three hour tour, three hour tour."

Neelix jumped as a thunderclap echoed through the room and a bolt of lightning flashed across the screen. "Uh, oh. Looks like they're in trouble."

"The weather started getting rough, the tiny ship was tossed. If not for the courage of the fearless crew-"

"Computer, pause playback." At Tom's word the screen stopped, leaving the little boat frozen atop a massive, churning wave.

"What did you stop it for?" Neelix asked, staring at the screen in concern. "What happens next?"

Tom gave the alien a momentary glance but directed his words to the Captain. "Anyway, like I said. If Gilligan's down there that means the rest are too."

Janeway nodded thoughtfully. "Just what we need." She said wryly.

"Hold on." B'Elanna said, raising both hands and fixing Tom with a dubious look. "I admit the resemblance is uncanny. But that doesn't mean that this little fantasy is real."

"I know what I saw." Tom said firmly. The more he thought about it the more sure he became. But how could he prove it? A thought suddenly came to him. "I'm sure of this Captain." He said, then addressed the air. "Computer, is there any historical records of the island where the probe crashed? Maps, photos, anything?"

"Negative."

Tom glanced around the room, making sure everyone had heard the computer's answer. "Computer, play file: ParisGI Man With A Net. Triple speed through time index…um…486.7."

The computer complied and images green jungle and yellow sand flashed across the screen with characters moving comically at unnatural speed. The pilot watched the screen intently until it showed what he wanted. "Freeze frame!"

The picture now showed a still image of a portly man in a khaki pith helmet and glasses, fully absorbed in studying a large map. "Computer, enlarge grid 4:2 and superimpose over an image of the island below us."

The computer complied, taking the map on the screen and placing it directly over an image of the small landmass where the probe had crashed. There was a unified intake of breath. The shapes were exactly the same—roughly circular with a small inlet and lagoon on one side.

"I'm convinced." Janeway raised a hand in surrender and there were nods of bewildered agreement around the table.

"But how is this possible?" Harry asked, looking thoroughly confused. "Even in time travel things that never existed don't just pop up like that."

"It's not as unprecedented as it may sound." Chakotay reasoned, gesturing with his laced fingers. "There have been several encounters with alternate realities before. Some of them well documented."

"Like Kirk's mirror universe, you mean!" The Ensign said eagerly.

Tom was becoming more excited by the minute. "We already know the wormhole has a temporal deviation, maybe it shifts dimensions too!"

Seven's mechanical implant raised slightly. "An intriguing hypothesis. There was a slight anomaly in stellar readings. I thought it was sensor error. But it could be indicative of a dimensional shift."

"So." Janeway managed to look both annoyed and fascinated at the same time. Annoyed at the complication but fascinated by this new scientific discovery. "It appears we have an even more interesting dilemma than we thought." She turned to her pilot. "Tom, how long are these… 'shows'?"

"A little less than half an hour. Why?"

"I think we ought to finish the one we started. It might give us some insight into who we're dealing with. Especially if we're going to have to bring them to Voyager to treat them."

"Captain. I don't have time to sit here and watch this." B'Elanna protested, throwing a hand toward the screen. "I have work to do."

"You have a capable staff." Janeway said. "I think they can do without you for a short time."

"If Tom's right there could be useful information here." Chakotay added.

The engineer blew out a loud breath and crossed her arms, clearly announcing that she thought it was a waste of time.

Tom nodded eagerly, returned to his seat and, again addressed the computer, asking it to continue where it had left off. Instantly the image of the tiny ship braving the storm returned, as did the musical introduction.

Less than a half hour later the closing credits finished scrolling down the screen and the monitor went black.

"Interesting." The Doctor looked slightly amused, but clearly unimpressed. "But it's hardly Shakespeare."

Tom grinned knowingly. "They can do Shakespeare."

"I thought it had a gripping plot." Neelix said. "And the characters were quite entertaining. I feel sorry for them, though. Being stranded like that."

B'Elanna stared at the now-empty screen, arms crossed. "That is the stupidest thing I have ever seen. It's mindless."

"Oh, come on B'Elanna. It's one of the greatest sitcoms of all time! Headhunters, volcanoes, typhoons. Great stuff!"

Harry shrugged. "I thought it was kinda funny."

Seven's forehead puckered in a tiny frown. "Seven individuals, lost with little hope of rescue encounter life-threatening situations: I fail to see the humor in this scenario. It seems rather barbaric to find amusement in others misfortune."

"Not to mention the plot and events are highly illogical." Tuvok added from the back. "A coat of glue, no matter how ineffective would not cause a ship to…"

Janeway sat forward in her chair, pushing her thoughts on the show aside. "I didn't have us watch this to discuss quality entertainment. We're losing sight of the issues."

The conversation quieted as attention turned to the captain.

"One of which is where the Prime Directive fits in here."

Chakotay's dark eyebrows creased in thought. "If this is an entirely different dimension than our own is the Prime Directive even applicable?"

"I don't see why it should be." Harry said. "Anything that we do wouldn't affect our timeline."

"Well, they want to get home." Neelix piped up. He didn't really understand all this time-travel-dimensions business but he knew what should be done. "Maybe once we treat them we could just beam them back to a more populated area. Or at least some place where someone would find them."

"No." B'Elanna sat up a little straighter as everyone turned their attention on her. "This may be an alternate dimension but it's still connected to ours."

"Through this program." Tuvok clarified, motioning to the now blank screen.

"Exactly."

"Anything we do to these…" Janeway groped a moment for the right word. "…characters would also affect the actors to some degree—the actors in our dimension."

Tom was nodding his head. "We can't rescue them. If they get rescued the show would end early and—"

Seven chose that moment to finish his sentence for him. "And that would alter the actor's lives."

Tom had not been finished with his statement and jumped in as the reformed Borg took a breath and she gave him a look that could have blasted through deutronium. He ignored it. "Not only would it affect the actor's lives but the filming crew, the directors, the stunt men, not to mention millions of viewers. Captain, some very important inventors in our history became scientists in the first place from watching this show."

The captain nodded. "You've made you're point. Okay, so sending them back to civilization is out. But clearly we can't leave them in an area so contaminated, and we know that one of these people have already been exposed."

"Once the scanners are fixed we can beam up whoever is in need of medical attention."

Janeway sighed. "I would really like to avoid transporting anyone up here."

"We could send someone down to treat them." Harry perked up, but quickly slumped as the complications hit him. "But again we'd need the scanners to find them."

The Doctor shook his head. "In the kind of condition they're going to be in by the time those scanners are repaired…" He shot a glance at B'Elanna. "They will need the extended facilities of sickbay anyway."

The captain nodded. "Alright, so as soon as the repairs are completed we'll beam them up."

"What are we going to do after that?" Harry asked. "I mean we can't just treat them and send them back. It's still radioactive down there."

Janeway let out a heavy sigh. This was getting more complicated by the minute. "How long will it take to clear the island of radiation?"

"We could use that stock of mytophoric bacteria we picked up on Celic 2." The Doctor suggested. "It should completely absorb any radiation in about two days."

"That's not good enough."

"I'm sorry, Captain." He said with a shrug. "But bacteria works on it's own schedule."

"Alright." Janeway conceded. "But I want other options in case that wormhole starts to close. Find another island so if we have to we can get rid of them in a hurry."

Harry nodded. "Aye."

"Doctor, get that bacteria ready as soon as you can and have it beamed down to the crash site."

"Yes, Captain."

"Dismissed." Janeway stood and watched her crew file out. Chakotay was the last to leave and he turned to her, pausing in the doorway.

"You coming?"

She nodded vaguely. "I'll be out in a minute."

He gave her a curious look but said no more as he headed to the bridge.

Janeway sighed as the door closed behind him, relieved to be alone. She stared at the darkened screen on the wall for a long moment. "Computer, replay beginning and ending credits from 'Gilligan's Island'."

There was only the briefest pause before the screen once again alit with the Honolulu harbor and the cheery song began to play. The words hit home.

Sit right back and you'll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful trip…The weather started getting rough, the tiny ship was tossed. The words echoed in Janeway's ears and as she watched the little boat fighting the storm her mind went back to that distortion wave that had thrown Voyager so far from home, tossing the giant starship just like the little boat. If not for the courage of the fearless crew… Voyager's crew had fought admirably not just during the distortion wave but through so many obstacles they faced over the years. The ship set ground on the shore of this uncharted… 'Uncharted' hadn't she frequently used the same words to describe the vast Delta Quadrant in where they had been marooned? Now this is the tale of our castaways. They're here for a long long time. Castaways, that was exactly what they were, and, oh, how long these six years have been! It's an uphill climb. The first mate and the Skipper too will do their very best to make the others comfortable… She and Chakotay had indeed fought to keep their crew safe from the dangers that seemed to face them at every turn. …not a single luxury. Like Robinson Crusoe it's primitive as can be. Primitive conditions. Voyager had so far managed to navigate the wilds of the Delta Quadrant but she always seemed to be foraging with no real comforts. They managed to scrape up supplies and what couldn't be found had to be patched together. It was like listening to their own story and it sent a cold shiver up her spine.

The last few notes concluded the song and the screen went black. Janeway blinked, the sudden silence having brought her back to the moment. She stood, took a deep breath and straightened her uniform before walking out the door feeling quite uneasy.