Hunters after recieving a message from starfleet that is badly grabled. The some of the crew is happy that starfleet is thinking of them. Some have hopes of a rescue, others like ensign kim is happy that thier parent & friends know thier alive. They in hopes that going to the nearest relay will help retrieve more of the message. They travel at high warp to the relay. On the way they come across a disable ship with a alien body aboard they do audtopsy. Which shows that the alien has been deboned. The captain orders that the alien body be returned to his ship. She states that maybe the aliens will be able to retrieve the body. They come into visual sensor range of a relay. The plan is that if they get close enough they can get the message right from with in the relay where it wouldn't be as badly distorted. Seven & The captain are in astrometrics where 7 is working on retrieving the message. Seven see a block of the message and proceeds to download it the captain reads it aloud. The message sounds a bit like a letter from home to a member of the crew. The captain comments that this is hardly the kind of message we would expect from starfleet. She is moved when she realizes they are in fact letters from home. She appoints Nealix as a postman. Seven tells the captain that there is something else mixed into the message. On that is encripted and contains text & maps. Neelix, delivers letters to the bridge the first to recieve one is Chakotay. Kim, ask is there anymore? Neelix says now I'm sorry not at this time. But you will know as soon as there is one for you. Neelix than goes to deliver a letter to the vulcan, He is busy with something. Neelix is told to put the letter on the desk. Neelix decides to tell the vulcan of what he glanced & read while delivering the letter. It contains news of family, and how he is now a grandfather, and the grand daughter is name To'May. The captain also recieves a letter, she gets a dear Janeway letter. It saddens her. Chakotay tells Lt Torres how he got a letter from thier former leader. How it tells how the Marque was wiped out by the Dominon & the Cardassins. Torres is very outraged, she swears that she will make them pay, She swears she will! ! ! Kim and tom are in cafiteria, and Kim is excited that he heard there are 30 more letters and he antispates one will be for him. Tom is playing with his food, commenting on it joking about it. Neelix comes in and says I have some more letter, and calls out 3 or more names. When he gets to the end He appoligizes if you didn't get one, But seven is still working on it, I'm sure more will be on there way. Kim says, Neelix I heard you had more letters. Neelix more letters? I heard there was 30 more letters downloaded. Neelix says no, Don't pay any attention to rumors, then leaves. Kim says right, and he realizes that he's right, sits. Tom asks kim aren't you going to eat your lunch? Kim says no, I'm not hungry. Tom tells him, you shouldn't get your hopes up harry. No hopes no dissapointments. Seven reports how the message getting harder to retrieve. The captain says due to these gravimetric pulse we can't risk bringing the ship in any closer. Seven suggests a shuttle. The captain says very well then tuvok will acompany you. Seven says why? Don't you trust me? The captain says it's not my custom to send a away team of one. Kim goes to astrometrics to see if he has gotten a letter. Lt. Torres teases him that he came to see Seven. Kim denys this, He tells her that there is nothing between them. Torres tells him I know that, it's purely a one way thing. You might as well go around with a big sign that says I'm in love. Kim ask do you think there will be a letter for everyone? Torres I'm sure that starfleet contacted everyone's friends and families that they could. Kim I hope so. Torres, harry you will get one, please be patient. Seven & tuvok are in the shuttle. Seven questions Tuvok, if it is true that vulcan are incapable of lieing. Tuvok, we are capable of lieing. If it is pruden or nessisary. I my self have never found it to be so. Less under orders from a superior officer to do so. Seven than asks is it the captain custom to send more than one on a mission? Tuvok says it not only her custom but recomended starfleet protocol. They arrive close enough to stablelize the message and prevent futher degration of it, by stablizing something on the relay station. Tuvok, then asks seven, is it important to you what the captain thinks of you? Seven replies, I have found it's important to every member of the crew what she thinks of them. Next the shuttle gets hit by something. They are over powered and tractored beamed towards the other ship. Torres, calls tom on the bridge, she requests for tom to come down astrometrics. She tells him of a letter he got from admiral Owen. Tom says, that would be Admiral Owen Paris, that's my father. I can see everyone getting so raped up in these letters from home and I for one don't want any part of it. Because what I have here on voyager is much better than anything I ever had back there. Torres, says sorry if I can't empathize with you. But I just got news that allot of my friends are dead. I was in my corders crying for a hour. Then I accepted it, and it's time to move on. Tom says That's just awful. I'm sorry here I am going on about something that don't even matter anymore. Torres says I'm sorry too, it oviously does. They hold and console each other. They part and Torres tells them I'll let you know when I get the whole letter. The capatain is looking at a display panel. Chakotay comes in and tells her that seven and tuvok must have done it, Torres says she downloading the letters much more easily now. The capatain tells him that I've been learning some very interesting things about that relay station It puts out as much energy as a star puts out in a year every minute.Chakotay says what I find more interesting that someone 100,000 years ago was harnessing quatum singlarities. The captain says I'm having coffee want a cup? Chakotay no thanks, you got a letter you never said anything about it. Who was it from? The captain It was from mark, he told me about the litter of puppies my dog had, How he held out longer than most that I was still alive. And how he ment someone and got married to someone he works with 4 months ago... Chakotay how do you feel about that? I knew he would go on with his life,but there was such a finallity about that letter. Kim calls the captain to the bridge, He tells them how he picked up the shuttle on sensors but there is no one aboard. We see tuvok tied up, and he is just waking He calls out to seven. He wakes her. In comes a hunter alien, who questions them about why do you vialate and use our relays? He complains how they wasn't very good prey and how the hunt wasn't statified. One of the hunters says pitiful Relics, the other points out that they are the first of thier kind, I will be envied. The other ship will be in range in 1 hour, the hunter orders goto stocking mode. Seven & Tuvok was question if the others of thier kind would put up more resistance & fight? Seven says yes, the ship is heavily armed and will. Kim detects a hunter ship (rogenn). The capatian orders them hailed. She offers to trade something for her crew members. He refuses. The Hunter scans Seven, and comments on how she has a long intestin, How it will make a fine trophy. Seven says what possible use will it be to you? The hunter replys that it will make him envied by men and prosued by women... He then says him first pointing to tuvok. He plans to gut him like the alien possibly. Back on board Voyager, The captain plans to use the gravitation ampify the gravity pull of the relay by weaking the containment feild of the relay station. Then beam their crewmen aboard. Torres reports that the thoron field you sent to weakin the containment feild clapsed the buffer and I got all of the message I'm going to get. The captain then orders to hail the enemy ships. She tells them agree to retreat and I will restore the containment field. They fire on voyager, this attack further claps the containment field of the relay, to the point the singalarity is exposed, it begins to pull every thing in. Encluding the ship with the crewmen. Captain orders Kim to beam them aboard. Kim warns that with them being pulled into the singalarity/the black whole that it very risky. The captain says we will just have to risk it. He manages it barely. Just as they barely manage to escape the black whole. The captain says resume course I'll be in astrometrics. Torres tells her how the distruction of that station disable the whole network of relays & she didn't get much more of the message, Just a few more personal letters that if she don't mind she will diliever now. Tuvok reports to the captain in her ready room and she says I would be very interested in what you learned about the aliens? Tuvok says very little. I find them to lack any moral center. The captain asks do you know why the relay network was so important to them? Tovuk, no I assume they used it very much for communications as we did. The captain, they won't be using it for that any more.Tuvok I expect they won't be pleased about that, and that won't be the last we see of them. Chakotay comes in he is offered a cup of coffee which he accepts and he says 2 sugars and she says 2? He says you drink way to much of that stuff. She replys its the finest organic subspension ever devised, it got me thru the worst of times, the fights with the borg etc...Chakotay gives the report on the condition of the ship. He asks how are you doing? She replys i'm fine. He says you say that if you got all your arms and legs torn off. She says I supose I would. What I'm worried about is the crew. Chakotay says Neelix has planed a inprompt due party. She says leave it to neelix to come up with the exactly the right idea. Chakotays says look at all we been thru the borg, etc, and we just got another alien mad at us who will be coming hunting us. Next Neelix hails them and tell that they are missing from the party... Janeway says we're coming.. THE END. Next week Prey. The Rogen hunters track and nearly capture a alien. But voyager tries to help it return home.