Back to Icheb. Seven tells him they've found his parents. He's nonplussed and in fact doesn't even remember them.

Voyager approaches the planet, which is located disturbingly close to a Borg transwarp conduit.

"Parents are irrelevant," the sullen teen retorts. After all, the Doctor himself never had any; besides, Icheb has Seven and an entire support group.

Also, he's the equivalent of years older than when he was captured, having grown up fast in a Borg maturation chamber.

Seven walks in. They've arrived at the planet.

Later, Janeway and Seven bring the parents to Voyager. Seven is confrontational, peppering the hapless pair with questions about how they will meet the boy's medical and educational needs. Janeway tells her to leave.

Alone with the couple, Janeway asks them to stay aboard Voyager for a while, become reacquainted with their son in an environment familiar to him. They slowly nod in agreement.

Janeway rebukes Seven for her attitude, arguing that remaining on board is really not an option for Icheb. Seven says she's worried her young charge will be assimilated again.

Moreover, Seven complains, the boy's parents are irresponsible -- a detail that worries her, especially when her own careless parents make such a disturbing memento.

The other Borglets pepper Icheb -- even more taciturn than usual -- with questions about his prospective departure. Seven comes and tells him to have dinner with his parents. He doesn’t want to, but she explains his attendance is not optional.

Neelix, watching from afar, observes how good it is to see a family reunited. Seven nods curtly, then leaves.

Later, Icheb gets a tour of the settlement from his father, who attempts to reassure him by explaining how it might seem like a cow town now, but all that will change.

True, their spacefaring capabilities are limited, but with early-adapting space enthusiasts like Icheb, vital user traffic will accelerate. Moreover, the man notes significantly, Brunali biotech is cutting-edge.

Seven beams in and reluctantly agrees to let the teen stay on the planet overnight. She loans him a portable regeneration unit for maintenance of his Borg functions.

Back on Voyager, the father thanks her for all she's done. She asks how Icheb was captured by the Borg. He says the youngster went to see some new agricultural biotech in the field, just as the Borg came by to assimilate the planet's high-tech horticultural expertise.

"If only I'd kept a closer eye on him," he laments before changing the subject to her parents. Seven is discomfited, but she shakes off the distress to remind him to make sure Icheb gets enough regeneration time. The ambitious youngster hates to waste time, and can be stubborn.

On Voyager, Icheb tells Seven he's decided to stay with his folks. Her response is terse but accepting.

Icheb, carrying the parting gift of a telescope, beams down. That night, in the regeneration alcoves, the young girl Mezoti has trouble sleeping. She misses her friend, and is worried he might be assimilated again. Seven tries to reassure her, noting the Borg have little reason to attack the backward planet.

But what if Icheb's on a ship like last time, the girl asks. Seven corrects her, saying the boy was on the surface, but Mezoti is insistent.

Moreover, Borg data indicate that Icheb was alone on a spaceship when he was taken, and that the timing of this event doesn't correspond with the father's story.

Seven informs Janeway of the discrepancy. Janeway wants to let it go, but relents when Seven insists on not being as irresponsible as her own parents. Voyager will turn back toward the Brunali planet.

Back on the planet, Icheb's parents argue. "Couldn't we wait a few days?" the father asks, but the mother, her earlier sweetness notably absent, responds that "It's what he was born for. His return was a gift. We can’t waste it."

Icheb enters, happy to have won some games with local youngsters. His mother say he's very important to the two of them -- but "what you don't know is why." At her command, the father holds Icheb while she jabs the startled youth with a device, rendering him unconscious.

"Prepare the launch," she says, imperiously.

Voyager enters orbit, gets the parents on screen. There is tension as the folks decline to answer questions or put them in touch with Icheb. Voyager scans for his body signs -- and finds he's on a spaceship near the Borg conduit. He's "bait to attract the Borg," says Seven, angrily.

"If we don’t stop the Borg, the Brunali will have no future," the mother hisses.

As it turns out, a Borg ship will soon emerge from the conduit, attracted by the lure of the Brunali vessel that appears more technically advanced than it is. The father tells Janeway that if Voyager is nearby, it will be destroyed. But Janeway determines to transport the youth back to Voyager.

The Borg ship emerges. It is a sphere, a vessel on a higher order of status than the common cube by Borg standards. It grabs both Voyager and Icheb's ship in a tractor beam. "You will be assimilated," the familiar voice intones.

But there's hope. Seven transports photon torpedoes onto the Brunali vessel, which explode just as it enters the sphere. Meanwhile, Voyager beams Icheb away, and, with no time to spare, the Federation ship goes to warp to escape the explosion's shock wave.

Sick bay. The boy is recovering and will be fine, the Doctor says -- at least, he'll be fine, physically.

"He was bred to kill Borg," Janeway breathes. She advises Seven to be maternal with him.

Soon, Icheb is in a room analyzing the feat of genetic engineering that made him what he is. Maybe he does have an aptitude for biotech, as his father suggested.

Seven says that if he wants to fight the Borg, he can do so, but in his own way. But he can also continue his studies if he wants. It's his decision.