The mood on the bridge is somber. Chakotay is in command, others are at their posts as usual. After a moment, Kim informs Chakotay it is 0930 hours. Chakotay rises, and the others follow him wordlessly into the turbolift. Many of the crew are quietly gathering in the Officer's Mess, with only Paris and Janeway conspicously missing. Chakotay and Tuvok stand before the crowd, and as Chakotay is about to speak, he notices someone is missing. He asks Tuvok about Paris, and Tuvok leaves to go get him. In the corridor, Tuvok presses the panel outside Paris' door, but there is no response. Tuvok enters and finds Paris sound asleep, perhaps even drunk. Tuvok wakes Paris and tells him to hurry up -- "You are late for Captain Janeway's memorial service," Tuvok says grimly. At the memorial service, we find out that Janeway was killed on a planet Voyager was recently visiting. She was killed in an explosion as several of the crew watched, including Tuvok, Kim and Paris. After the service, the crew tries to put the pieces back together, talking about Janeway and what she meant to them. It is especially hard for Kim and Paris, who thought perhaps there was something they could or should have done to prevent her death. As they reluctantly begin to make their reports, however, each one comes across some small bit of information that doesn't quite fit what they saw... DNA scans reveal only 13 sets of DNA when 14 were supposed to have died... some trace EM particles are present that can't be explained... perhaps Paris or Kim had a tricorder running at the time and recorded a split second of data that doesn't make sense... and as the investigation of this incongrous information continues, they come to realize that there is no trace of Janeway whatsoever at the explosion site... and perhaps Janeway wasn't really killed in that explosion... So, what really happened just before the explosion? The crew returns to the planet to investigate further, but runs into opposition from the government. The investigation was already conducted, they say, and we are positive of the results. They ignore the crew's new information and ask them to leave. This is, of course, very suspicious in light of the new data. Now the crew must work around what appears to be a government cover-up, and risk being caught, arrested and possibly executed for remaining on the planet. Working undercover, they put their small bits of data together to find that Janeway was transported out of the building at the last second and is indeed alive. And, in the end, they expose the cover-up and rescue Janeway...
Braga's comments: Though he liked the concept of a mystery and an investigation, he said this type of episode wouldn't really work, since no one would believe for an instant that Janeway was really dead.