The Chute

Accused of a deadly bombing on the Akritirian homeworld, Paris and Kim are sent to a grim prison where food arrives through a chute and every inmate is fitted with a “clamp”, an implant that steadily drives them towards aggression and madness. Kim and a fellow prisoner force open the chute, only to discover that the prison is a vast space station with nowhere to escape to. As the clamp takes hold, Paris grows unstable and wrecks their escape device, and Kim must struggle to keep control of himself and protect his friend. Meanwhile Janeway learns the real bombers are Piri and Vel, but Ambassador Liria refuses to release her officers. Janeway trades the bombers for information about the station and its weaknesses, and leads a rescue through the chute, using Neelix's ship as cover. Back aboard, a shaken Kim reflects on what he did inside, and Paris suggests spending replicator rations on the meals they dreamed of.