Although not authorized by Janeway, Seven activates the controls, awakening the alien husband. After learning he's been asleep for more than five years, he asks for his wife, but the other biopod is broken, containing only a desiccated corpse.
Neelix is a bit perturbed
Back aboard Voyager, the alien, whose name is Gaul, explains that an alliance of the Tiree and others attacked his people, the Vodwar, out of envy.
He asks the Federation crew to revive his comrades, a battalion of Vodwar who remain in biopods beneath the surface. He expresses disappointment that his wife showed so little courage before entering her biopod.
Gaul also demonstrates some familiarity with the Borg and the Talaxians, Neelix's people. Neelix is a bit perturbed. In the old Talaxian language, the word "Vodwar" meant "foolish" or "reckless." Who are these aliens?
A bomb falls nearby. The Tiree -- still in orbit with a growing number of ships -- are attacking.
Gaul gives the Voyager crew some codes for an ancient Vodwar military satellite, which begins to fend off the immediate attack. Moreover, he offers to show the crew the secret Vodwar corridors through the debris scattered through this area of space if they revive his comrades.
Janeway agrees: "Let's wake up your battalion." Chakotay, looking out over a chamber filled with biopods, is disturbingly reminded of the ancient Greek myth of "dragon's teeth" -- once a dragon has been slain, its scattered teeth may live on to fight again.
Hundreds of Vodwar soon revive, joining Voyager crew members in planning how to circumvent the orbiting Tiree fleet.
The Vodwar begin readying their numerous small ships for action, all the while looking at possible planetary systems where they can settle, now that their home world is a radioactive ruin. Eager to have a constructive task so unlike her previous work with the Borg, Seven is happy to help.
Talaxians and children
Neelix finds the young Voyager orphan Naomi Wildman moping in her room. She doesn't want to play with the Vodwar children, who had, it emerges, made cruel jokes about Neelix and his Talaxian background.
Janeway engages in a tense negotiation with Gaul, who has taken on the mantle of Vodwar leader. He wants Voyager to arm his ships with photon torpedos. She refuses, and he, needing her help to get off the planet, seems to concede the point.
Among themselves, however, the Vodwar are actually planning to take over Voyager. A Vodwar named Gedrin is reluctant -- he's been serving as liaison to Voyager and wants to continue cooperation -- but Gaul bullies him into acceptance.
Neelix researches Talaxian folklore, then gets Seven to check her databases. Together, they piece together a history of the Vodwar that reveals them to be tricky, militaristic invaders who were finally defeated by a defensive alliance.
Janeway, informed of this, calls Gedrin to her ready room and asks for a "history lesson." He says that "both versions of our history are true" -- the Vodwar were aggressors, but also merchants and scientists. In any case, there are only 600 of them left now and so they are no longer a threat to the Delta Quadrant.
Janeway worries that they may still be a threat to Voyager, so she returns to the bridge and demands that Gaul deactivate the particle cannons on all but a token handful of the Vodwar ships. Gaul angrily refuses and breaks off the communication. Soon the Vodwar fleet is launched -- not to attack the Tiree, but against Voyager.
The enemy of Janeway's enemy
The Federation vessel lifts off, firing a "full spread" of phasers at dozens of Vodwar ships.
Meanwhile, Janeway manages to open a secure communications channel to the Tiree ships orbiting above. Although the pie-faced alien at first refuses to negotiate, he becomes visibly upset to learn that his species' ancient enemy, the Vodwar, are back in business.
Janeway and the Tiree hastily strike a new alliance. Voyager tries to transmit Vodwar coordinates to the Tiree but suffers technical problems. Luckily, Gedrin chooses this moment to betray his superiors and steps forward to help.
"Not all of my people are living in the past, Captain," he explains.
Gedrin and Tuvok beam to a Vodwar command station. Gedrin knocks out the attendant and begins transmitting coordinates to the Tiree. As other Vodwar forces join the attack, Tuvok beams back to Voyager, but Gedrin remains behind to complete the task.
Voyager has trouble increasing its altitude, so Janeway takes a risk and sucks some particles from the atmosphere directly into the plasma manifold. This allows the starship to warp away while the Vodwar and Tiree continue their fight.
Two days later, Seven reports to Janeway that she had detected 59 Vodwar ships escaping into one of the debris corridors.
The penitent ex-Borg confesses an error in judgement in having initiated the Vodwar revival. But, she says, at least the Vodwar's technological obsolescence will render their aggressiveness "irrelevant."
But Janeway has her doubts. Noting the Vodwar's resourcefulness, she says: "I don't think we've seen the last of them."
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