Stardate: unknown
Captain’s log. Kim and Paris trying and failing to guess Tuvok’s age is interrupted by sensors picking up a whole mess of ships. Tuvok goes to red alert, but as they approach they realize that it’s a junkyard. A gentleman named Abaddon has a whole bunch of stuff to sell.
Chakotay and Neelix greet Abaddon, who provides an inventory of his items for sale. Seven, Paris, and Kim are going over Abaddon’s list in astrometrics when a clapped-out old shuttle catches Paris’ pilot’s eye. Later, when Neelix, Paris, and Kim are providing Chakotay with a wish list, Neelix includes, at Paris’ urging, the shuttle, which has a neurogenic interface that allows the controls to react to the pilot’s thoughts. Chakotay is skeptical, but Paris promises to only work on restoring the ship in his off hours (with help from Kim, a caveat that surprises Kim), and besides, Abaddon is only asking for three used power cells and Paris’ jukebox. Chakotay agrees to let Paris have
Stardate: 52081.2
Captain’s log. Paris and Kim are acting out a Captain Proton adventure on the holodeck, which is interrupted by the EMH, who declares that they’ve gone over their allotted time, which leads to a fight between Paris and the doctor for time, and then a power surge on the holodeck.
This is but one of several ways by which the crew’s sinking morale is manifesting. They’ve been going through an empty region of space that the crew has taken to calling “the void” for two months, and it will take another two years to get through it. There are no star systems within 2500 light-years, and a large concentration of theta radiation means they can’t even see distant stars. The viewscreen just provides a black screen.