- [Iko takes The Doctor hostage]
- The Doctor: I'm a hologram. I can't be harmed.
- [Tuvok shoots his phaser through The Doctor and stuns Iko]
- The Doctor: I think you proved my point.
- The Doctor: [to Seven] Thirty more seconds and I could've resolved the situation peacefully; instead, you and... Tuvok the Kid had to take matters into your own hands.
- Iko: You're not afraid of me.
- Seven of Nine: There's no reason to fear someone in your condition.
- Iko: You were never afraid of me, not even when I tried to kill you. It's nice to look into someone's eyes and... not see fear.
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: How do you justify beating a defenseless man?
- Warden Yediq: Violence is the only thing he understands.
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: You seem to have a pretty good grasp of it yourself.
- [last lines]
- [Iko has been sent to his death according to Nygean law]
- Seven of Nine: It's unfair.
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: I think so, too, Seven, but we have to try not to judge their system.
- Seven of Nine: That's not what I meant. Iko was executed for taking a single life. As a drone, I took thousands, but I was never punished.
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: You lost twenty years of your life to the Borg. I'd say that's punishment enough.
- Warden Yediq: What's this?
- Neelix: Dinner. Since you can't bring the prisoners to the mess hall, I brought the mess hall to them.
- Warden Yediq: What is it?
- Neelix: Talaxian spice stew, served over leola rice pilaf. It's an old family recipe.
- Warden Yediq: Take it back.
- Neelix: [sniffs at the food] Too spicy?
- [Iko is threatening Seven with a scalpel]
- Warden Yediq: This man is my prisoner.
- The Doctor: If that were true, he wouldn't be holding my friend hostage.
- Iko: When I was a child, I'd... lie under the stars for hours. I'd stare at them until I could see the shapes.
- Seven of Nine: Shapes?
- Iko: Faces and animals made out of stars
- Seven of Nine: You're referring to constellations.
- Iko: I named them. There was Paedos the Warrior and... Gezid the Beast. No matter how hard he tried, Paedos could never catch Gezid.
- The Doctor: It doesn't feel right.
- Seven of Nine: You may experience unusual sensations while your matrix realigns.
- The Doctor: I was referring to the arrangement the captain's made with the Nygeans. No matter how terrible the crimes these men committed, it seems wrong to hand them over to be executed. This is a Federation starship, not the Barge of the Dead.
- Seven of Nine: Would you have preferred the captain release them?
- The Doctor: Of course not. They're dangerous men.
- Seven of Nine: Executing them ensures they'll never pose a threat to anyone again.
- The Doctor: So would life sentences - the operative word being life.
- Seven of Nine: Confining them for life requires significant resources. The Nygeans may not think it worthwhile.
- The Doctor: What about rehabilitation? Given the chance, some of these men might become productive members of society one day.
- Seven of Nine: Their victims won't have the same opportunity.
- The Doctor: Quite frankly, I'm surprised you're not troubled by such a... barbaric system.
- Seven of Nine: I'm simply being objective. You often encourage me to see both sides of an argument.
- The Doctor: Well... this is one occasion when my programing won't allow me to be objective. Killing is wrong, no matter who's doing it.
- Joleg: After you're convicted, the family of the victim sentences you.
- Neelix: Well, shouldn't you be sentenced by someone less partial, like a judge?
- Joleg: Vekto valek k'vadim. It's ancient Nygean; it means 'favor the victims.' What if... I stole your game board? What right would a judge have to assign a value to your loss? To him, it's just a game board, but to you it might be a priceless family possession. And what if I murdered your child?
- Neelix: I think I get your point.
- Neelix: Did you know the Nygians govern a sector of space occupied by several different humanoid species?
- Tom Paris: If we say "yes," will you feed us?
- Neelix: One of those species is the Benkarans. They occupy just 10% of Nygean space but take up nearly 80% of the space in Nygean prisons.
- Tom Paris: Maybe they commit more crimes.
- Neelix: Not according to Joleg, one of the prisoners.
- B'Elanna Torres: You think he was given a harsher sentence because of his species?
- Neelix: According to this, Benkarans are ten times more likely to be executed for their crimes than Nygeans.
- B'Elanna Torres: Where'd you get that?
- Neelix: I contacted the Nygean government. Told them I was interested in a cultural exchange. Among other things, they let me access data on their criminal justice system. It all supports what Joleg told me.
- Tom Paris: Neelix...
- Neelix: I know what you're thinking.
- Tom Paris: That you're the softest touch in the Delta Quadrant.
- Neelix: These are the transcripts from Joleg's trial. He was convicted on circumstantial evidence.
- Tom Paris: Let me guess. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
- Neelix: Apparently.
- Tom Paris: Neelix, when I was in the Federation penal colony, everybody had a story. I never put much stock in them. Neither should you.
- Neelix: How many of those people were sentenced to die?
- Tom Paris: D'ya have to be a criminal to get something to eat around here?
- Neelix: Sorry. Dinner will be ready in fifteen minutes.
- B'Elanna Torres: You said that fifteen minutes ago.
- Iko: Death is what I deserve. You say I've changed, but I look at these hands every day and I see them squeezing that man's throat, and I hear the sounds he made. I'm disgusting.
- Iko: Boche and Ledara.
- Warden Yediq: What did you say?
- Iko: Your children.
- Warden Yediq: How did you know that?
- Iko: Are you sure they're safe?
- Seven of Nine: It seems inefficient to save the life of someone who's about to be executed.
- The Doctor: If the Nygeans insist on killing him, there isn't much I can do about it, but I won't let them do it on Voyager.