Cathexis
Stardate: 48734.2
Original Airdate: May 1, 1995
By Chakoteya
The Story
'Captain's Log, Stardate 48734.2. Sometimes it's a good idea
to get away from being a captain for a while. To that end,
I've started participating in a new holonovel. The setting
is ancient England.'
On the holodeck, Kathryn Janeway is dressed in Victorian clothes
and being shown into the drawing room of a stately home by the
housekeeper Mrs Templeton. Kathryn's character, Mrs Davenport,
has been hired by Lord Burleigh to act as governess to his children,
and Mrs Templeton will not brook any challenge to her authority
in the household. His lordship joins them as she is taking tea,
and looking at a portrait of a young woman. He introduces himself
and tells her about his motherless young children, Henry and
Beatrice, then warns Mrs Davenport never to go onto the fourth
floor. The scene is interrupted by Ensign Kim calling to inform
his Captain that long range sensors have detected Tuvok and Chakotay's
shuttle, and that it is badly damaged with many hull breaches.
She orders them beamed to sickbay as soon as they are in range
and leaves nineteenth century England for twenty-fourth century
sickbay.
Her two senior officers are under the care of the EMH and Kes.
They have both apparently received a blast of some kind of energy
discharge to the head. Tuvok has a concussion, but Chakotay is
pronounced brain dead although his body can be kept alive indefinately.
Once awake, Tuvok explains what happened - they had completed
the trade mission with the Ilidarians and were returning to the
rendezvous point when they came upon a dark matter nebula. As
they began to study it, a ship appeared from the nebula and,
without responding to their hails, attacked them. Chakotay was
unconscious immediately, and Tuvok was barely able to activate
the autopilot before passing out himself. The EMH wants to know
anything about the energy discharge, it's modulation or phase
distribution, and Tuvok suggests the sensor logs may have that
information. If the EMH is to have a hope of reviving the Commander,
he needs to know how his bio-neural energy was depleted. A view
of the weapon would also help, so Janeway orders the bridge to
set a course for the scene of the incident, using co-ordinates
supplied by Tuvok.
On the bridge, Tuvok pronounces the shuttles sensor data erased.
Janeway tells him to go over the logs with Torres once she has
finished visiting Sickbay, to see if she can reconstruct any
of the data. Using the long range sensors, Janeway decides that
it is the perfect hiding place, screened from scanning devices
by strong electromagnetic radiation. As she begins to modify
the sensors, Voyager changes course to 121 mark 6, although helmsman
Tom Paris denies issuing the order. The Captain orders helm control
transfered to Ensign Kim's station while Paris runs a full diagnostic
on the conn station.
B'Elanna's visit to Sickbay is to place Chakotay's medicine
wheel by his bed, and perform a healing ritual that he taught
her once. She explains to the EMH that his tribe believes that
when someone is in a coma or near death, it is because his soul
is walking the wheel and has got lost. Stones are placed on the
wheel to point the way home again. The EMH examines the placement
and comments that the location of the Coyote stone would divert
Chakotay's consciousness into a very attractive location which
he might not want to leave, then tells her that the wheel won't
be much help, as there's not enough of his mind left to work
with. B'Elanna places her hand on her former Captain's shoulder
and whispers to him, 'Find your way home, Commander.'
Kes is reading in her quarters, when suddenly she is convinced
that she is not alone. In the mess hall she tries to explain
it to Neelix while he is cooking, who dismisses it as her telepathic
senses tricking her, like an earlier event when she knew Lt Hargrove
had been in sickbay even though he had left hours earlier. Kes
is adamant though, that there was someone with her, although
she could not say who.
On the bridge, the helm is still acting up and now Kim has been
locked out of the controls by an instruction from navigational
control on deck 12 section B7. Tom Paris reenters the bridge
to report that he has checked all the ODN junctions in the network
to no avail. Tuvok gets helm control back and the Captain contacts
Torres to find out who is in navigational control. The Chief
Engineer informs her that Lt Paris was there about five minutes
ago and Janeway demands an explanation from her pilot. Tom denies
doing anything. He passed navigational control on his was back
from the Jefferies tube, but that is all and when Tuvok comments
that both course changes were made from places that he was working
Tom is outraged at the inference. Willing to give him the benefit
of the doubt, Janeway orders Paris to sickbay to have his memory
checked.
The EMH conducts a very sensitive scan of Tom Paris' brain,
while the young man reminices about his old family doctor who
even made housecalls with pots of soup for sick children. Although
there are still tests to run, the EMH sees nothing wrong with
him and Paris suggests to Tuvok that he needs to find another
suspect. Tuvok disagrees. Traces of Paris' DNA, less than twelve
hours old, were found on the console in navigational control.
The Security Chief has all the evidence he needs for a conviction.
The medical scans continue.
Tuvok now tells the Captain that he has found the ion trail
of the hosile vessel leading into the dark matter nebula. It
is an erratic trail on the display and Janeway assumes that it
is because the planetoids in the nebula may be generating dangerous
gravitational effects. Tuvok recommends following the exact flight
path and Janeway is just giving the order when Ensign Kim reports
that the warp core is shutting down.
Captain Janeway bursts into engineering and demands to know
why Lt Torres has initiated an emergency warp core shutdown,
crashed the main computer and locked out the bridge. B'Elanna
does not know what her Captain is talking about, but it is too
late to stop it. It will take two hours to regenerate the dilithium
matrix, and everyone is baffled by what is happening on board
the ship.
The EMH informs the Captain, Tuvok and his putative patients,
Tom Paris and B'Elanna Torres, of the latest test results. According
to his memory engrams, Tom's mind was taken over by another one
at the precise moments of the course changes. Torres has the
same disruption at the time when she shut down warp power. The
only possible conclusion is that an unknown alien entity took
control of their minds to prevent Voyager returning to the dark
matter nebula. Tuvok orders an intruder alert and as a safety
precaution, and Janeway transfers the command codes to the EMH.
The alien has only affected people so far, not computer systems
directly, so if any senior staff are believed to be under the
influence of the alien, the EMH would be able to countermand
their orders. Out in the corridor, Kes tells Janeway and Tuvok
that she also believes there is another presence on the ship,
but she cannot tell where. Tuvok offers to mind meld with Kes
in order to help her focus her abilities and perhaps locate it.
Kes agrees and the pair walk off together.
Kim and Durst are working to seal off the critical areas of
the ship, but as Durst points out, if the alien is non-corporeal,
it can probably move through bulkheads anyway. At the turbolift,
the doors open to reveal Tuvok and Kes, both unconscious.
'Captain's log, supplemental. It appears that Mr. Tuvok and
Kes were both hit by an unidentified energy discharge. Tuvok
was not badly hurt, but Kes is in a coma.'
The remaining senior officers are in the briefing room discussing
ways of finding the alien. The discharge that hit Tuvok and Kes
was not detected by the internal sensors and they need something
more sensitive. Paris suggests a magneton scanner, and Torres
believes a flash-scan of the entire ship at once might illuminate
the energy. She asks Harry Kim for his opinion but when he doesn't
reply immediately, everyone leaps to their feet, worried. He
explains that his preoccupation was because his mind had wandered
to an old study he had once read about scanners, and they accept
that he wasn't occupied by the alien at that time. Janeway is
concerned at their reaction to Harry's preoccupation, and worries
that paranoia will break out soon.
The paranoia has already started. Neelix is suspicious of Ensign
Parsons because he didn't have his usual drink today. The EMH
is scathing of Neelix's fears. He reassures him that Kes has
no permanent injury and that he will be told when she is awake
again. Neelix leaves and Tuvok arrives to reconfigure the sensor
relays. The EMH tells him that Kes' injuries are unlike Chakotays.
Her bio-neural energy is intact and she has bruises on her neck
and shoulders, around the trapezius nerve bundle and damaging
the nerve fibres themselves.
The Captain is in her ready room when Tuvok comes to inform
her that they will be ready to initiate the magneton scan in
about two hours, and that it will cause dizziness in everyone
for several seconds, including himself. He also tells her of
the EMH's discovery that Kes was physically assaulted. Janeway
suggests that Tuvok should undergo a scan to see if he was inhabited
by the alien at that moment, and tries to contact sickbay. When
there is no reply, she orders the computer to activate the EMH.
The machine tells her that the EMH programme has been disabled
by an unknown person. Janeway discovers that the initialisation
routine has been locked out and encrypted, and realises that
this means the command codes have been returned to her. Deciding
that the alien cannot inhabit two minds at the same time, she
divides her codes between herself and Tuvok, and they go to the
bridge to inform the rest of the senior staff. While she is explaining
the situation she stops and then suddenly hits Tuvok. Tuvok orders
her to be stunned as the alien has taken her over but various
other crew members try to protect her before she is rendered
unconcious.
Tom Paris treats the Captain in sickbay, and Harry Kim tells
her that he has to get through at least six levels on encryption
to get the EMH back. It might take up to three hours. Designating
Paris as the temporary medic, Janeway answers Torres request
to go to engineering and sends Harry back to the bridge.
Torres has been examining the shuttle sensor logs, and has found
something disturbing. They were delibately erased after an energy
discharge from the nebula itself hit the shuttle. There was no
other ship, and Tuvok must have been lying about the attack.
Perhaps he was under the alien's influence? With just twenty
minutes before they can do the magneton flash-scan, they arrive
at the dark matter nebula.
On the bridge, Captain Janeway asks Tuvok to locate the ion
train of his alien ship, and he does so. Tom Paris reports that
he has finished the EMH's analysis of Kes's injury and believes
it was caused by a Vulcan neck pinch. Tuvok denies any memory
of the event, but Janeway wonders why the alien has possessed
him three times so far. Then she turns her attention to the ion
trail he has found. According to the readings, it is a ship without
engines and she orders Harry Kim to reverse course. Tuvok immediately
accuses his Captain of being occupied by the alien mind again,
as all along it has been trying to stop them entering the nebula.
Harry refuses the order, and Tuvok draws a phaser and informs
them that it is on wide beam dispersal and set to kill. Taking
over the controls and holding the crew at gunpoint, Tuvok ensures
that Voyager enters the nebula.
Once inside, Harry's sensors pick up energy life forms coming
towards them. Tuvok tells them that they are the Komar and this
is where they live. Suddenly Durst reports that the warp core
has been ejected. Down in engineering, Torres is failing to explain
her actions. Tom and Harry are confused, unless there are two
aliens, how could it be controlling Tuvok and Torres at the same
time. Then Janeway gets an inspiration. Torres isn't senior enough
to eject the warp core on her own, so she asks the computer who
authorised it. Back comes the surprising answer - Commander Chakotay.
With his neural energy displaced, he has been going from person
to person to try and stop Voyager going into the nebula. Tuvok
gets the thrusters working and takes the ship deeper into the
nebula. He informs them that they will provide his people with
sustainance for many years. As Tuvok is distracted by a sudden
Komar attack, Janeway ducks under the bridge rail and triggers
the magneton flash-scan. Tuvok is disoriented by the bright light,
Paris disarms him and the alien leaves Tuvok and the ship. Back
at the helm, Tom Paris tries to reverse along Tuvok's course
but he is not sure that they are going the right way. Kim attempts
to reconstruct the navigational logs but Tuvok had been deleting
them as he went along.
Neelix is in sickbay, standing by the medicine wheel. He contacts
the bridge to tell them that he thinks he has just been taken
over and rearranged the stones. They put an image of it on the
main screen and try to work out what Chakotay is telling them.
Paris realises that it is a map, with the stones representing
the three planetoids in the nebula. They plot a course and clear
the nebula just as the aliens begin to get through the hull.
Once in normal space, they are left alone.
'Captain's log, Stardate 48735.9. We have returned to the coordinates
where we ejected the warp core and have successfully retrieved
it. Now we're hoping the doctor will be able to successfully
reintegrate Commander Chakotay's consciousness.'
In Sickbay, Kes is awake again, and Chakotay's body and mind
have been reunited by the EMH who explains it as involving 'three
neural transceivers, two cortical stimulators and 50 gigaquads
of computer memory. I would be happy to take you through the
process, but it would take at least ten hours to explain it all
to you. Needless to say, it was a remarkable procedure. I would
consider writing a paper about it if there were a convenient
forum in which to publish it.' The Commander gives a brief discription
of his out of body experience and apologises to Tuvok for knocking
him around. Captain Janeway welcomes him back, although he feels
like he never left.
Analysis
It seems that brain death is no longer a fatal condition in
the twenty-fourth century. Or perhaps that was just an unfortunate
choice of phrase from the author of this screenplay, Mr Braga.
Leaving aside the mechanics of being disembodied and reunited
again, this is one of those stories that reads better than
it views. On screen you are given fuzzy shots of 'something
invisible' travelling around the ship, unseen by the crew.
Necessary clues as to what is going on, no doubt, but it
does
detract a little from the final revelation.
Janeway's choice of gothic romantic fiction for her recreation
seems a little surprising at first sight, but not so much on
reflection. If Harry can imagine himself as Beowulf, why not
Kathryn as a Victorian governess?
As Trek 'alien possession' mystery stories go, this one is not
bad in itself, although Mr Braga has done better in his Next
Generation scripts. But the medico-technobabble doesn't really
work for this reviewer, and in the end, not even the sight of
Chakotay's naked shoulders can drag this one up above average.
Grade: 5/10 (C)
Cast:
Kate Mulgrew as Kathryn Janeway
Robert Beltran as Chakotay
Roxanne Biggs-Dawson as B'Elanna Torres
Jennifer Lien as Kes
Robert Duncan McNeill as Tom Paris
Ethan Phillips as Neelix
Robert Picardo as The Doctor
Tim Russ as Tuvok
Garrett Wang as Harry Kim
Guest Cast:
Brian Markinson as Durst
Michael Cumpsty as Lord Burleigh
Carolyn Seymour as Mrs. Templeton
Creative Staff:
Director: Kim Friedman
Teleplay By: Brannon Braga
Story By: Brannon Braga & Joe Menosky
