After Voyager receives a distress signal from an alien missile, Ensign Kim, Torres and The Doctor determine that it's a complex, damaged weapon with artificial intelligence and sentient consciousness. But when they beam this mysterious device aboard, it interlinks with The Doctor's program and through him, insists the U.S.S. Voyager enable it to fulfill its mission of mass destruction.

The U.S.S. Voyager finds another Federation starship lost in the Delta Quadrant, and helps it stave off an attack by creatures from another spatial realm. Captain Janeway now has a kindred spirit in its commander, Captain John Ransom, and helps him salvage his war-torn vessel so they can journey home together. She later learns that Captain Ransom has seriously violated the Starfleet oath.