'Author, Author' Synopsis

Using the Voyager deflector dish, the ship is able to create a direct link back to Starfleet, allowing for instaneous communication. The crew is overjoyed by this, as every member in the crew is allowed 3 minutes to speak to someone back home. Some of the relatives we'll get to see include Irene Hansen, one of the surviving relatives of Seven of Nine, John and Mary Kim, the parents of Harry, John Torres, B'Elanna's human father, and Admiral Paris.

The conversation between Harry Kim and his parents was described as "hilarious", with his parents asking why Kim hasn't yet been promoted beyond the rank of ensign, something they are certainly not alone in. Determined to do something about it, his mother even offers to write a letter to "that lovely Captain Janeway" to attempt to get her to promote her son. Less humourous will be the conversation between Torres and her estranged father, who says he is sorry for everything he did to her and would like to get to know her again.

The real focus of the episode, however, is what the Holodoc does with the new connection between Voyager and the Federation - he uses it to send his new holonovel to a publisher. The Doc wrote the interactive holonovel partly to draw attention to the difficult fate of holograms, and he did so by having the novel set aboard the 'Starship Vortex', with the reader playing the role of an oppressed holographic doctor. This oppression is symbolised by the Doctor's holo-emitter, which in the holonovel is turned into a huge bulky backpack.

The Vortex is a thinly disguised version of Voyager, with all characters on the ship being played by the same actors as the original characters. They are all exaggerated versions of their own selves, but share the fact that most of them are rather unpleasant individuals and treat the Holodoc very badly.

The sole friend the Doctor has aboard the Vortex is 3 of 8, still with implants, though on different places. The main villain of the piece seems to be Mariselles, a cheating womanizer with a moustache and much darker hair, and his wife, Torat. She isn't half-Klingon but rather half-Ktarian, like Naomi Wildman. While lacking the Klingon physique, however, she more than makes up for that with her temperament.

The captain of the Vortex is Captain Jenkins, a trigger-happy psychopathic dictator, while her first officer is Katainy, a Bajoran with a ponytail and still a tattoo, though also in a different place. Other crewmembers include the human Tulvak and the Trill Kymball, a hypochondriac who "is very interesting to see".

During the episode, most of the regular Voyager crewmembers get their turn playing the Doctor's holonovel, and not surprisingly, they are not amused. Torres in particular almost equals her counterpart's temperament when she catches Mariselles red-handed as he is cheating on his wife.

The crew try to convince the Holodoc that he can't allow this holonovel to be published, but he doesn't seem to care about their feelings, instead thinking he has an important message to tell the world. It is only when Paris sets up a little demonstration to pay back the Holodoc that he sees he was wrong in writing the novel, and he contacts the publisher, Broht, to attempt to have the novel altered.

It is then that it turns out the Holodoc's true oppressors are not on Voyager, but rather on Earth, as he learns that Broht has already published the book and refuses to change anything. The Doctor tells him to recall every copy of the book as the unauthorised release is violating his rights, but Broht responds that he is a hologram, and so doesn't have any rights.

The matter goes into arbitration, with the doctor arguing that as an artist, he should also be considered an individual under Federation law, and thereby hoping to have his rights protected.