Voyager is trapped in a pocket of space where ships prey on each other.
Voyager is pulled into the Void, a starless region with no matter, where ships trapped there survive by raiding each other, and its supplies are soon stolen. Janeway refuses to join the raiders, among them a General Valen, and instead sets out to form an alliance of ships that will share resources and work together to escape. The crew also take in an injured alien who communicates through music and whom the Doctor calls Fantome.
The alliance grows, though some members break its rules and test Janeway's principles. Fantome's people, who have been hunted by the other ships, join forces with the alliance, and when Valen and his allies attack, they help disable his fleet. Using combined shields, the alliance ships open a path out together. The seventh-season episode is a story about cooperation over self-interest, and Janeway compares the alliance to being part of the Federation again, a reminder of the ideals that have guided her crew.