While I long regarded this episode as an abomination (and to an extent, still do), I recognize that much of it is actually all right. It's only the ludicrous ending that kills it. First, it proposes the notion that humans are predetermined to evolve into salamanders, regardless of the environment they find themselves in; evolution is open-ended by its nature. Second, the fact that two crew became salamanders, had babies, and were turned back like nothing happened. Third, the fact that their small and defenseless offspring were just abandoned on a random planet. And finally, the simple fact that if the trip was survivable, the crew could have simply flown home on the W10 shuttle and been de-salamanderized after the fact. All of this... garbage happens in the show's final moments. Ergo, it is a perfect choice for this type of alteration.
Most of the episode proceeds as written, right up to the point where they are starting to anti-proton Tom in engineering.
JONAS: "Transfer underway."
[Paris is securely confined in the device, and will remain so]
KES: "Doctor, the mutated DNA is starting to deteriorate. It's working."
EMH: "Another two seconds."
Paris shudders as more radiation passes through him.
In sickbay, an alarm sounds.
KES (urgently): "Doctor, something's wrong... the DNA mutation is starting to accelerate."
EMH: "That's odd... try a three-second burst."
TORRES: "Point zero eight seven AMU's now."
JONAS: "Underway."
Paris is hit again. He lets out a bellow of pain.
EMH: "That's strange... each burst of antiprotons slows the mutation down, but then it compensates."
A whole lot of technobabble occurs in the ensuing minutes, and how much there is depends on time available. The doctor increases the burst time and intensity, with the appropriate tension as the bursts approach and pass the levels that are considered safe. Paris's vitals flatline at least once as the doses approach lethal levels, but cortical stimulators bring him back. The EMH tries a tricyclical thoron field in conjunction with the antiproton bursts, and finally the rate of mutation decelerates, then stops. With Tom no longer in imminent danger, the EMH now begins the slow process of reversing the mutations.
Later... ext. view of Voyager
EMH (voice): "Medical log. After a long and painstaking process, I have managed to remove the last of the mutated DNA from Lieutenent Paris's system. However, he will need several days of close observation. While I don't look forward to having Tom Paris in my sickbay for another week, patient safety must come first."
The EMH is carefully scanning a still-sleeping Tom with a medical tricorder. Janeway, who never became a slug, is standing by his side.
EMH: "I've reviewed the data I received from analysis of the lieutenant's... condition. It seems that he was far luckier than any of us realized."
JANEWAY: "How so, Doctor?"
EMH: "Based on my analysis, anyone who had a similar experience would almost certainly perish, even with prompt antiproton therapy. Mr. Paris had an unusual resistance to the conditions aboard the shuttlecraft, coded into his genome, and that is why he lived. I have concluded that any human who uses Mr. Paris's warp-ten shuttle even for one flight would have, at most, a seven percent chance of survival. The chances are similar for the other species that make up the crew."
JANEWAY: "So... if I had had Mr. Kim make the flight, the way I originally planned..."
EMH: "There is a 93 percent chance that we would be preparing for his memorial service right now."
JANEWAY: "I see."
EMH: "Statistically, if we were to make the attempt on a larger scale... eight to ten of the crew would survive the journey. And that's assuming that the people on Earth had the means to promptly administer antiproton radiation to all of them." (a beat) "I'm sorry, captain."
The doctor withdraws quietly as Tom opens his eyes, then sits up with a groan.
JANEWAY: "Are you all right, Tom?"
PARIS: "I think so... I'm still a little shaky, though."
JANEWAY: "After what you've gone through, that's to be expected."
PARIS: "Yeah, good point."
JANEWAY: "You may be interested to know I'm putting you in for a commendation. Regardless of the outcome, you did make the first transwarp flight."
PARIS: "Thank you, Captain."
JANEWAY: "Is there something wrong, Lieutenant?"
PARIS: "I don't know. I guess this whole experience has left me feeling a little overwhelmed. Flying at warp ten, almost mutating into a new life form, nearly dying..."
JANEWAY: "You've broken more than one record, that's for sure."
[The episode concludes as written.]
Most of the episode proceeds as written, right up to the point where they are starting to anti-proton Tom in engineering.
JONAS: "Transfer underway."
[Paris is securely confined in the device, and will remain so]
KES: "Doctor, the mutated DNA is starting to deteriorate. It's working."
EMH: "Another two seconds."
Paris shudders as more radiation passes through him.
In sickbay, an alarm sounds.
KES (urgently): "Doctor, something's wrong... the DNA mutation is starting to accelerate."
EMH: "That's odd... try a three-second burst."
TORRES: "Point zero eight seven AMU's now."
JONAS: "Underway."
Paris is hit again. He lets out a bellow of pain.
EMH: "That's strange... each burst of antiprotons slows the mutation down, but then it compensates."
A whole lot of technobabble occurs in the ensuing minutes, and how much there is depends on time available. The doctor increases the burst time and intensity, with the appropriate tension as the bursts approach and pass the levels that are considered safe. Paris's vitals flatline at least once as the doses approach lethal levels, but cortical stimulators bring him back. The EMH tries a tricyclical thoron field in conjunction with the antiproton bursts, and finally the rate of mutation decelerates, then stops. With Tom no longer in imminent danger, the EMH now begins the slow process of reversing the mutations.
Later... ext. view of Voyager
EMH (voice): "Medical log. After a long and painstaking process, I have managed to remove the last of the mutated DNA from Lieutenent Paris's system. However, he will need several days of close observation. While I don't look forward to having Tom Paris in my sickbay for another week, patient safety must come first."
The EMH is carefully scanning a still-sleeping Tom with a medical tricorder. Janeway, who never became a slug, is standing by his side.
EMH: "I've reviewed the data I received from analysis of the lieutenant's... condition. It seems that he was far luckier than any of us realized."
JANEWAY: "How so, Doctor?"
EMH: "Based on my analysis, anyone who had a similar experience would almost certainly perish, even with prompt antiproton therapy. Mr. Paris had an unusual resistance to the conditions aboard the shuttlecraft, coded into his genome, and that is why he lived. I have concluded that any human who uses Mr. Paris's warp-ten shuttle even for one flight would have, at most, a seven percent chance of survival. The chances are similar for the other species that make up the crew."
JANEWAY: "So... if I had had Mr. Kim make the flight, the way I originally planned..."
EMH: "There is a 93 percent chance that we would be preparing for his memorial service right now."
JANEWAY: "I see."
EMH: "Statistically, if we were to make the attempt on a larger scale... eight to ten of the crew would survive the journey. And that's assuming that the people on Earth had the means to promptly administer antiproton radiation to all of them." (a beat) "I'm sorry, captain."
The doctor withdraws quietly as Tom opens his eyes, then sits up with a groan.
JANEWAY: "Are you all right, Tom?"
PARIS: "I think so... I'm still a little shaky, though."
JANEWAY: "After what you've gone through, that's to be expected."
PARIS: "Yeah, good point."
JANEWAY: "You may be interested to know I'm putting you in for a commendation. Regardless of the outcome, you did make the first transwarp flight."
PARIS: "Thank you, Captain."
JANEWAY: "Is there something wrong, Lieutenant?"
PARIS: "I don't know. I guess this whole experience has left me feeling a little overwhelmed. Flying at warp ten, almost mutating into a new life form, nearly dying..."
JANEWAY: "You've broken more than one record, that's for sure."
[The episode concludes as written.]
