Due to their disappointment with the Sikarians, Voyager's team of writer-producers ultimately discarded their initial plans to make those aliens recurring antagonists.
David R. George III and Eric A. Stillwell's original story involved the crew of Voyager encountering the race that had dispatched Gary Seven in Assignment: Earth (1968). That race had boasted transporter technology that could transport individuals over thousands of light-years.
This episode's writing was nominated for a Sci-Fi Universe Award.
According to the stardates, the events of the 24th century portion of Star Trek: Generations (1994) take place shortly before this episode and conclude just before the next one, State of Flux (1995).
The spatial trajector matrix prop was used previously on The Dauphin (1989) as Wesley Crusher's superconductor magnet, shown when Wesley encounters Salia for the first time.