The Voyager is nearly consumed by a massive rolling ball of energy but curiosity about the rare phenomenon prompts Janeway to launch a probe to investigate and search for a missing 300-year-old U.S. spacecraft trapped inside-a risky maneuver that may cost the lives of the shuttle crew. As Voyager shadows the powerful anomaly known as the Graviton Ellipse, Seven of Nine reluctantly joins a fascinated Paris and Chakotay on the shuttle as they look for the legendary Ares Four, the command module from an early manned mission to Mars. However, once found, the attempt to retrieve the craft and its noble dead pilot proves treacherous, and the small crew must improvise if they are to return at all before the ellipse disappears again into lethal subspace.
