On a routine supply stop, Paris and Neelix meet Arturis, an alien with a gift for translation. As Arturis hitches a brief ride aboard Voyager, Janeway decides to let Arturis try to decipher the encrypted message Starfleet sent through the Hirogen communications array several months earlier. Arturis makes quick work of the message, revealing a set of coordinates and a slightly garbled message from Admiral Hayes of Starfleet, detailing a new hope for Voyager's crew to return home. But it is only when a wary Janeway tries deciphering the message on her own, while trying to convince Seven of Nine to return to the Alpha Quadrant with the crew, that the origins of the mysterious Starfleet experimental ship Dauntless are uncovered. This new ship, left unmanned for Voyager's crew to use, is not on a mission of mercy, but a mission of vengeance.
