When Kes spends free time with a smitten Tom Paris, Neelix is overcome with jealousy and instigates a messy fight with the Lieutenant. In the aftermath, the Captain sends the sparring pair on a shuttle mission to an M-Class planet to replenish food supplies. When their craft encounters an interference pattern, they crash on the planet. Seeking cover from trigemic vapors, Paris and Neelix seal themselves inside a cave and then discover they have company there — an embryonic pod which hatches an alien baby, a repro-humanoid being. They must work together to sustain the newborn — and preserve each other's lives when its angry mother approaches.