Voyager gives a ride to prisoners who face execution.
Voyager rescues the crew and prisoners of a Nygean prison ship as it breaks apart, and agrees to carry them to their destination, where many of the prisoners will be executed. One of them, Iko, is a violent killer, but after a beating by a guard, the Doctor treats him with Borg nanoprobes that repair a brain defect, and he begins to feel remorse for the first time. Seven of Nine, who did harm as a drone, finds herself sympathising with him.
Iko asks the family of his victim to spare him, but they refuse. Meanwhile, Neelix befriends Joleg, a prisoner who says his people, the Benkarans, are unfairly targeted by Nygean justice, but Joleg uses Neelix to send a message that lets his allies attack the ship, and the escape attempt fails. Iko is handed over for execution. The seventh-season episode is a story about capital punishment, justice and whether redemption matters if it cannot change a sentence.