Captain's log, stardate 48623.5.
There are 246 elements known to Federation science.
We have just discovered the 247th in the ring system of a Class-D planet.
The element has an unusually large atomic mass - over 550 nucleons.
And it appears to be stable.
A stable transuranic element in a natural environment!
Imagine what we could make!
Probe casings that could go into a sun, reactor shielding.
If we can mine it. Locate the highest concentration of the element.
It's in the asteroids comprising the rings. I'll beam a sample aboard.
Or we could look at this element in its natural environment.
Most of these asteroids support Class-M atmospheres.
Good idea. Commander, you're in charge.
- Mr Kim, would you like to join us? - I wouldn't miss it, Sir.
The highest concentration is about 30 metres directly ahead.
There's a large cavern in there. The readings are...
What the hell is this?
It's organic. Some kind of biopolymer residue.
I wanna see what's ahead.
The readings are higher over here, but I still can't find the source of the...
Commander?
Class-5 humanoid. Appears to be dead.
There are 18 humanoid bodies here. Eleven male, seven female.
They're in various stages of decomposition.
Some have been here for years, others a few days.
One body arrived twelve hours ago.
- From where? - I don't know.
But I'd say we're looking at some kind of burial site.
What about the element?
It's emanating from their bodies.
We think it's a by-product of their decomposition process.
I recommend we leave them in peace.
However, Mr Kim has a different opinion.
With all due respect, I have to disagree.
It's our first contact with this race and we should learn all we can.
It's a unique opportunity.
I understand that chance,
but this race meant for their dead to be left alone and we should respect that.
I'm afraid I agree with Commander Chakotay.
Set your tricorders for passive scans.
The sanctity of these bodies should be respected.
I recommend we make visual observations only. No tricorders.
Very well. Keep me informed. Janeway out.
Your only sensors are your eyes. Concentrate on details.
We'll have to do a thorough report when we get back.
Thanks for letting me voice my opinion to the Captain.
The first time I went on a tomb excavation on Ktaria VII,
I wanted a memento so I picked up a rock from the burial site.
I found out later it wasn't just a rock.
- What was it? - It was a sacred stone.
The Ktarians lay thousands of them in the tomb, each representing a prayer.
I had desecrated that man's grave.
- I've found out all I can with my eyes. - Really?
What have you learned about the culture?
They like to bury their dead on asteroids.
That's about all I can tell. Just some naked dead people.
You're looking but not seeing. Their nakedness says a lot.
This race doesn't believe in dressing the deceased.
And they don't believe any worldly goods can be taken into the afterlife.
What makes you think they believe in an afterlife at all?
Look at the position of the arms and hands.
They're arranged in poses of serenity,
and wrapped in the biopolymer residue we found earlier.
This culture has a lot of ritual associated with disposing of the dead.
That shows some belief in the afterlife.
The Klingons believe in an afterlife, but there's no ritual.
They just dispose of the corpse efficiently.
Good point. But some archaeological digs on the Klingon Homeworld...
Tricorders.
A dimensional distortion is forming. A subspace vacuole.
Chakotay to Voyager. Emergency beam-out.
We can't lock on to your signals. Stand by.
Have everyone stand closer together. I'm centring on your com signal.
Energise!
Transporter room 3, do you have them?
Subspace distortions are interfering with the lock.
I'm attempting to compensate.
OK. I think I've got them.
Chakotay and Torres are aboard.
So is one of the bodies. But there's no sign of Ensign Kim.
Scan the asteroid.
No lifesigns, Captain. I'm broadening the scan.
Nothing. He is nowhere in the entire asteroid field.
Initiate emergency transport procedure 21-Alpha.
I'm already on it. It's no use. His pattern's gone.
The vacuole has disappeared.
My only guess is he was pulled into the vacuole.
This isn't one of the bodies we found in the cavern.
This body might have come out of the vacuole when Kim was taken in.
There are signs of electrical activity in the brain.
She died just a few minutes ago. We might be able to revive her.
If we can, we might get some answers.
We can't interfere with her natural process of death.
What do you suggest we do? Kim's gone.
She's the only one who might be able to tell us what happened.
Beam us directly to sickbay.
Death is the end of this life.
But it is also the beginning of a new journey.
Ptera will now thrive in the Next Emanation.
This is both her sacred duty and her great privilege.
As she begins her transition,
we promise to carry memories of her so that when we enter the...
Help! Get me out of here!
She's alive! Deactivate the cenotaph! Quickly!
Let me out!
Here it is.
Thanks.
A lot of memories in this.
We're so proud of you, Hatil. This is such a generous, selfless act.
It's my last gift for you and the children.
And it's one we will always cherish.
- But I'm still gonna miss you. - I know.
I'll miss you too.
But I'll see you in the Next Emanation when you're ready to join me.
Give my love to your father.
Tell him that the garili trees he planted have bloomed for three years straight.
I will.
Goodbye.
Lie down. It's going to be all right.
We won't harm you.
- Who is that? - We're not sure yet.
We think he came from the Next Emanation.
The Next Emanation?
- You mean he's come back? - Come back from where?
The thanatologist will be here any moment.
There should be no further discussion about this until he arrives.
How did you get here?
I'm not sure.
I just sort of woke up inside one of those pods.
I was conducting an investigation on an asteroid. We found some dead bodies.
Then there was some kind of subspace phenomenon.
What do you mean, you saw dead people there?
I'm Dr Neria, the chief thanatologist of this facility.
Ensign Harry Kim of the Federation starship Voyager.
I see. What race are you from?
We call ourselves human.
We come from Earth, in a distant part of the galaxy.
He said he saw dead people on an asteroid.
- Dead? - Look, can you tell me where I am?
- Doctor, what does this mean? - Rest, Hatil.
There's no need for concern.
May I speak to you privately, Ensign Harry?
Just Harry is fine.
We are the Vhnori and this is our Homeworld.
We were investigating an asteroid in the rings around your planet.
There are no rings around our world.
So the subspace vacuole must have transported me somewhere else.
Do you have any star charts I could see?
I'd like to know where I am now, in relation to where I was.
Where you are now is in the world of the living.
Where you came from was another dimension.
- Another dimension? - Yes.
You returned from the Next Emanation. The afterlife.
- How were you able to revive her? - It's a simple process.
She died of a cancer on the brain. I removed it, replicated new tissue,
and used the Starfleet postmortem resuscitation technique.
Why was she covered with this biopolymer?
She wasn't covered with it. It's a by-product of her tissues.
As her tissues decayed, the cell membranes broke down
into a biopolymer resin which was then excreted by her epidermal layer.
It's a natural decomposition process for this species.
So the other biopolymer fibres...
Were probably the result of other bodies that had left a membrane.
In essence, Commander, you were strolling through dead bodies.
- Can you wake her? - Yes. Kes, 2 cc's of netinaline.
Hello.
This must be very confusing, but you're all right.
My name is Kathryn Janeway.
I'm Ptera. Where's my brother?
Your brother? I'm afraid he's not here.
But he should be here. They should all be here.
Ptera, we were able to remove the tumour from your brain.
You'll be fine. We revived you because...
This is the Next Emanation? This is the afterlife?
No. No, it's not. You're on a starship.
This can't be right. My brother's supposed to be here.
- Let me explain. - No.
Get away from me. This isn't right. This can't be right!
There was a woman in here before I arrived?
Her name was Ptera. She was dying of a tumourous lesion to her midbrain.
Dying. So she wasn't dead yet?
No. She didn't die until the cenotaph was activated.
It terminates a life just before the appearance of a spectral rupture.
And then it allows their body to be taken to the Next Emanation.
- Spectral rupture? - I can show you.
This looks like a subspace vacuole. Does the cenotaph create ruptures?
No. They're natural occurrences.
The complex was built here because a spectral rupture occurs here.
Forgive my curiosity, Harry,
but you are the first person ever to come back from the afterlife.
I have quite a few questions. You said that you saw dead bodies?
That's right. There were seven females, eleven males.
Some had been there for years, others a few days.
Are you saying that when we die we go to some asteroid and decompose?
That's what it looked liked to us.
These bodies. Did you perform bioscans on them?
Was there any specific medical data that you remember?
Doctor, maybe I should just stop right there.
This is what we call a "first contact” situation,
and we're careful about how much we tell alien cultures we've just met.
I would like to start a complete bioanalysis. Just follow Dr Renora.
Bioanalysis? Look, all I want to do is get back to my ship.
- I can use this spectral rupture... - You're not going anywhere.
You are our first glimpse into what lies beyond death.
We are not going to let this opportunity pass us by.
We've analysed the ring system.
There are over 200,000 alien bodies on various asteroids in the rings.
A subspace vacuole appears every two hours, deposits a body and disappears.
Try to probe the vacuoles with high-resolution subspace scans.
- See if you can find Mr Kim. - Sickbay to Captain Janeway.
Our guest is conscious and is calmer this time.
I'm on my way. You have the bridge.
That's all I know. I'm sorry. I can't tell you anything more.
You've told me a lot. Now I know what might have happened to Mr Kim.
Is there anything I can do for you?
- I'd like some answers. - About what?
About what happens to my people when we die.
We're not sure exactly.
But we think the vacuoles deposit the bodies on the asteroids.
- Then what? - I'm not sure what you mean.
We're supposed to evolve into a higher level of consciousness,
to gain a greater understanding.
All of our questions are meant to be answered.
Ptera, I know this must be frightening for you.
You've been through a very traumatic experience.
But please try to understand.
Just because I don't have the answers doesn't mean there aren't any.
My brother... I always thought I'd see him again.
I had so many things to tell him about his children, the people he left behind.
But he isn't here, is he? He's...
What am I supposed to do now? Spend the rest of my life on this starship?
Ptera, I'll do everything in my power to figure out just how you got here.
And as soon as I know anything, I will tell you, all right?
All right.
Maybe we should get out of sickbay, clear your mind, get something to eat.
- Are you hungry? - Yes. I could use something to eat.
- What was that? - Janeway to bridge. Report.
A dimensional distortion is forming. It looks like a subspace vacuum.
B'Elanna, what's going on?
I've pinpointed the location. It's right here in engineering. Stand by.
Hatil, what are you saying?
I'm just not sure I'm ready, that's all.
- I don't understand. - Neither do 1.
It's just that I'm starting to wonder what really happens when we die.
If I'm really going on to a higher level of consciousness?
The alien. What has he been telling you?
All he's done is made me think about something we've taken for granted.
Now that I've thought about it, I'm not so eager to go through with it any more.
Hatil, we know nothing about him, or why he's come here,
or why he's spreading lies.
You can't throw away a lifetime of belief because of him.
It doesn't make any sense.
I don't know what to think any more.
I'm scared, Loria.
It's going to be all right. Think about your father. He's waiting for you.
I'll see you at the transference ritual.
I don't know who you are or where you come from,
but you stay away from my husband.
I'm sorry. I didn't mean to...
Harry, you have to forgive my wife.
She's having trouble understanding my concerns.
That's why I'm here. I'm getting ready to die.
Forgive me for asking again
but can you tell me anything about what I might find in the Next Emanation?
Everyone's asking me that, and I keep giving the same answer. I don't know.
But you do come from the afterlife?
I come from a different reality,
maybe another dimension, maybe your afterlife.
Countless billions of people there are born, live and die, just like you.
But you did see my people there. You said they were dead.
Yes, but... Look, for all I know, your thanatologists are right,
and I just saw the corporeal remains of your people,
and you do go on to a higher consciousness.
But it's...
It's also possible that there is no higher existence for us,
that when we die we simply cease to exist.
I really can't say.
I don't know what happens to your people after they die,
or what happens to my people.
Don't you have thanatologists, people who study death?
Sort of.
There have certainly been medical experts, philosophers, theologians,
who have debated what happens after death.
But no one has an answer yet.
My people think of death as just another stage of our existence.
There are some people who are even eager to die.
If they feel depressed or lonely in this life, they move on to the next one.
Is that why you're here? Because you're not happy with your life?
Ever since the accident...
...life hasn't been easy.
But this is more my family's idea than it is mine.
- Your family? - I'm a burden to them right now.
It takes time and resources to care for me and I can't give much back.
So there was a family meeting and it was agreed
that I should move on to the Next Emanation.
- You look appalled. - It's not my place to judge your culture.
But from my perspective, it's a little chilling to hear that.
Even though the family did it out of love,
and everyone was happy for me,
and they said they'd see me when they got to the Next Emanation...
I have to admit there was a little voice inside of me that is terrified of dying.
And since I've been talking to you,
that little voice has started to get louder.
Another vacuole is forming. Tuvok, Remodulate the shield harmonics.
It's no use. The vacuole is still forming.
Take the body to the ship's morgue.
This is odd. Three bodies have appeared on Voyager so far,
and each one of them has released some kind of neural energy.
In every case, the energy has passed through the hull and out into the rings.
The frequency is identical to the ambient radiation in the asteroid field.
The vacuoles are disrupting the warp core. We'll lose antimatter containment.
The vacuoles have all formed within 20 metres of the warp core.
Janeway to bridge. Lay in a course.
I want to get at least a half a light year away. Warp 7.
Paris to Janeway. We're out of warp, 0.6 light years from the ring system.
- Any other vacuoles forming? - No.
The magnetic interlocks have stabilised.
Work on a way to protect the warp core from these vacuoles.
Sometimes I just stare out at the stars for hours.
I never get tired of looking at them.
We were told we would see beautiful sights in the Next Emanation -
colours, lights -
and that we would see them with a new understanding.
But now... What happened to the others?
My brother, my father and everyone before them?
People die every day on my world. Do they all end up as lifeless corpses?
When people die on my world, we bury them,
and we believe that their comra is released into the afterlife.
Their comra?
Our soul, our spirit, the essence of our beings.
Maybe something similar happens to you.
But you don't understand. We don't believe in any kind of spirit.
When we die, we're supposed to reappear as physical beings.
That's the point of sending people through the spectral ruptures.
We're supposed to travel on to the Next Emanation as ourselves,
and be reunited with our families.
But none of that is true, is it?
None of the people I love are here.
I'm alone.
I don't belong here. I can't live like this.
Please, can't you send me home?
There is only one person on this ship who could answer that question.
We're doing everything we can to get you home.
Our missing officer might be able to tell us enough to...
Captain, maybe there is a way to send Ptera home and find Ensign Kim.
- Explain. - What if we recreated the accident?
If Harry was pulled through the vacuole,
we could reproduce those circumstances and send Ptera home.
We could send Ptera through the transponder
and lock on to Kim with the transporter beam.
So I can get home?
Ptera, there's no guarantee this is going to work.
I understand,
but I've been dead once and I'm prepared to die again.
So if there's a chance I can get home, I'm willing to take the risk.
Prepare a subspace transponder and teach Ptera how to use it.
Captain's log, supplemental.
We're preparing to send Ptera back to her dimension.
Lieutenant Torres can protect the warp core against the vacuoles,
but she is uncertain how long her measures will be effective.
You understand the instructions for Mr Kim if you find him.
We've got one forming ten metres below us, deck 13.
Will your dampening field protect the warp core?
The field is fluctuating slightly, but holding.
Engineering to transporter room 3. There's a vacuole forming on deck 13.
Magnetic interlocks are stable.
I see the vacuole. Locking on.
Good luck, Ptera.
I have a transporter lock. Energising.
Matching her pattern to the subspace distortions... Wait.
I can't get her pattern through.
- Abort the procedure. Pull her back. - I'm losing her pattern.
Shunt emergency power into buffer tank 4.
That's it. I've got the pattern.
- She's dead. - Can we revive her?
How long until we have to leave?
- We're safe for two hours. - We have two hours to find Mr Kim.
Perform another subspace scan. This time extend the scan radius to ten AU.
I'm on my way to engineering.
Ensign, beam her onto one of the asteroids.
That's where she was meant to be.
I hope you find your afterlife, Ptera.
Why?
We want to scan your microcellular structures
and examine your neurochemistry. This facility isn't equipped for that.
The complex at Paffran has everything we need.
If my ship is still searching for me, they won't stay there forever.
- I have to get back. - We don't know how you got here.
Maybe I can work out how to get back. Let me look at a cenotaph.
There's no time. Word about you has spread very quickly,
in the scientific world and the community.
There are many people who are very nervous about what you represent.
Some see you as a threat to their beliefs.
We need to take you to a more secure location.
It's for your own protection.
- Wait! - I'm sorry, Harry.
It's out of my control.
- What are you doing? - Preparing for the transference ritual.
This is a ceremonial shroud that's been in my family for five generations.
You wrap yourself in your own death shroud?
It's something we look forward to, actually.
I remember when my father used this shroud, his father before him.
The difference is when my father put this on
there was no doubt in his mind about where he was going.
Can't you just back out? Say you've changed your mind.
I have thought of just walking out and disappearing.
My friends in the Cararian Mountains would let me stay with them.
But my family would worry about me. They'd wonder what was happening,
if I was all right, if I were hurt.
No. Everyone's expecting a transference ritual, and they'll get one.
What if you did disappear into the mountains,
but your family thought you were dead?
They're here for a transference ritual, right?
- Do you know what you're suggesting? - It's perfect.
Those cenotaphs send you back to my dimension, which is where I want to go.
Voyager's probably still near the asteroid.
As soon as I appear, they'll pick up my signal and beam me aboard.
And you, you can just disappear.
Your family will think you're dead,
and you can live out your life in the mountains.
Harry, if you go into that cenotaph
and go through with the ritual, you'll die.
If Voyager can beam me aboard quickly enough,
our doctor should be able to revive me.
Medicine's pretty advanced in our culture.
People have been dead for hours and still been brought back to life.
- But it's not certain. - No, it's not.
But I think this is my only chance to get home.
The shroud must be wrapped properly. I'll show you how, but we have to hurry.
I'm scheduled for transference in less than an hour.
A pleasant trip, Hatil.
Say hello to Varel and Toyan.
I'll see you there in a few years.
We're joined here today to bid farewell to our dear friend Hatil Garan.
We salute not only his life,
but the manner in which he has chosen to end it.
He makes a noble sacrifice today that his family may have a better tomorrow.
We send him on to the Next Emanation
with the full knowledge that the life there is better than the one here,
that he will no longer be hampered by his infirmity
and that he will come to understand the cosmos
in a way that he could never have imagined.
Goodbye, Hatil. I love you.
Another vacuole. Deck 15.
The body of an alien female.
Chakotay to transporter room 3. Transport the body to an asteroid.
Status on the warp core.
The dampening field's down to 21%. The interlocks won't hold much longer.
I recommend leaving, Captain.
Very well. Mr Paris, bring us about. Prepare to resume our...
I'm picking up a vacuole forming on deck 12.
- It deposited a human body. - Human?
But it's dead.
Janeway to Seska. Beam the body on deck 12 directly to sickbay.
2 cc's cordrazine.
Relax, Mr Kim. Everything's fine. You're alive.
- Mind if I join you? - No, not at all. Please.
Thank you.
So how are you feeling?
Better. I'll be ready for duty tomorrow.
- You're off duty for the next two days. - Captain, I'm fine.
It's not your capabilities.
I just want to give you a chance to reflect on what's happened.
This may not make much sense to you now, a young man,
but one of the things you'll learn as you get a little older is that...
you wish you had more time in your youth
to really absorb all the things that happen to you.
It goes by so fast.
It's so easy to become jaded,
to treat the extraordinary like just another day at the office.
But sometimes there are experiences which transcend all that.
You've just had one, and I want you to live with it for a little while.
Write about it, if you feel like it. Paint.
Express yourself in some fashion.
- The bridge will be there in two days. - Thank you, Captain.
I have been a little preoccupied with the experience.
All those people think they know what happens after death.
They look forward to it. They're prepared for it.
But the truth is, none of it's real.
They don't have an afterlife. They just decay inside those asteroids.
I wouldn't be so sure of that.
That neural energy their bodies release,
it becomes part of the electromagnetic field surrounding the planet.
The energy is unusually dynamic.
There's variation in pattern complexity, quantum density.
Are you saying you think they do have an afterlife?
That the energy field is where they exist at a higher level of consciousness?
I'm not certain.
But I am certain about this:
What we don't know about death is far, far greater than what we do know.
See you in two days, Ensign.
Thank you, Captain.