Stardate not given: Ensign Rutherford is shocked to see that Lieutenant Shaxs is alive, yet no one seems to ask any questions. Boimler is looking forward to a visit of the famed Tom Paris to the Cerritos, but his voice command is not accepted anywhere on the ship, and not even the doors open for him after the security protocols have been tightened. The ensign decides to make his way through the ship using Jefferies tubes and other crawlways. He almost gets burnt alive in a static diffuser tube when Tom Paris has the honor to activate the ship's engines. Dr. T'Ana sends Tendi on a mission to get an old family heirloom that is stored on Qualor II. Mariner joins her on the shuttle. On Qualor II, they receive a wooden box and, curious as they are, they have a peek inside. Tendi recognizes the heirloom as a Caitian libido post. The two are so amused that they inadvertently break off the head of the artifact. They travel to Starbase Earhart to have it fixed, but get into trouble with Nausicaans at a dom-jot table. Tendi suggests to fly to an Orion outpost where her cousin could repair the post, for which Mariner has to pose as an Orion. But when her fake green skin color fades, the two are chased by an angry mob and what's left of the post gets smashed. Tendi is ready to tell T'Ana the truth about the accident. Mariner, however, sets a collision course for the Cerritos. The shuttle gets damaged when it hits the shields, providing a cover-up story for why the libido post is broken. T'Ana, however, is not mad abut it at all because all she wanted was the box. In the meantime, Boimler has made it to the bridge, but Paris mistakes the messy ensign for a Kazon and beats him up. Rutherford finally has the courage to ask the resurrected Shaxs what has happened. The answer leaves him frightened.

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