3. Drive

Tom Paris and Harry Kim are out taking the new Delta Flyer, rebuilt after the destruction of the first, for a spin through an asteroid field when they are challenged to a drag race by a pilot named Irina in another craft. As they race, they detect a gas leak on board her shuttle. They beam her to safety and bring her craft back to Voyager for repairs.

Irina tells them that she's training with her craft for an important race. Interested, Paris and Kim persuade Captain Janeway to let them enter the Delta Flyer into the race. Janeway agrees because the race is a milestone of peace between four warring cultures who have finally come together to end their strife.

B'Elanna Torres is disappointed that Paris will be racing; she had put serious effort into planning some time off for the two to spend together, and in his excitement over the race, Tom forgets about their plans. He apologizes to her and she claims it is no problem but is inwardly depressed. She even begins to have doubts about their relationship. She confides in Neelix, who convinces her to be patient with Tom, since she really does love him. Seven of Nine suggests that B'Elanna take up some of Tom's hobbies and interests so that they might spend more time together. That thought gives B'Elanna an idea.

On the day of the race, Tom is surprised to find that B'Elanna has taken Harry's place as his co-pilot. She promises to do her best to help the Flyer to victory. As the race nears its end something goes wrong in one of the other shuttles. It's Irina's ship. Her co-pilot has been injured in a console explosion when their shield generators overloaded in an act of sabotage. The rest of the race is cancelled for the day and as Harry helps Irina with her shuttle, she invites him to be her new co-pilot.

Seeing romance sparking between Harry and Irina, B'Elanna has more feelings of doubt about Tom's dedication to their relationship. As the race starts up again, she tries to put her pensive feelings aside and concentrate on winning, but she is not able to hide her distress. She and Tom begin to argue and he insists she tell him what is wrong. Frustrated, he stops the Flyer right in the middle of the race and declares they will not move until they resolve their problem.

At the same time, Harry barely avoids being injured when his console explodes. This being the second time the co-pilot controls have been sabotaged, Harry realises that Irina is responsible. She pulls a weapon on him but he gets it away from her and holds her safely at bay. Irina is bent on sabotaging the peace agreement between the four cultures involved in the race, and she has turned her own ship into a terrorist bomb. To make things worse, she has planted a bomb on board the Delta Flyer as well. Still holding her at phaser-point, Harry sends Tom a message to inform him of the danger.

Tom and B'Elanna receive the message just as he makes his devotion to her a bit clearer by proposing marriage. They speed the Flyer into a nearby nebula and eject the sabotaged warp core where it explodes a safe distance from the racers and spectators. The Flyer is badly damaged but intact, and Tom asks B'Elanna for her answer. Irina is taken into custody.

Voyager's crew are invited to the post-race celebrations, allowing the newlywed Tom and B'Elanna to leave in the Delta Flyer for their honeymoon.