*NOW VOYAGER*
The Official Newsletter of the Kate Mulgrew Appreciation Society *
Volume III Number 3


*ALL ABOUT NOW VOYAGER*

	Greetings from the Kate Mulgrew Appreciation Society. KMAS Inc., a
Maryland non-profit corporation, is Kate Mulgrew's official fan club. You
can reach us at P.O. Box 34745, Bethesda, MD 20827-4745, or online at
tigger@cais.cais.com. Current yearly dues are $25 U.S., $32/Canada-Mexico,
$40/Overseas (U.S. bank funds only). Send Self-Addressed Stamped Envelope
for information, or $5 for a sample issue of Now Voyager, or e-mail for the
electronic edition of this bimonthly newsletter. If you would like a copy
of our submission guidelines or our bylaws, send a S.A.S.E. Now Voyager is
on the World Wide Web at http://www.engr.umbc.edu/~mpanti1/mulgrew/. For
print back issue requests, send a S.A.S.E. to Anne Davenport, 6211 E.
Azalea Ave. B, Panama City Beach, FL 32408.
	This is a not-for-profit, amateur publication and is not intended to
infringe upon the copyrights of any media corporation. All material is
copyrighted by the authors except for the trademarks and patents of Viacom,
Inc. No part of this newsletter may be reproduced  or forwarded without
permission, in print or electronically. The opinions expressed herein are
not necessarily those of the editors, KMAS Inc., Kate Mulgrew, or Paramount
Pictures.


*PHOTOS AND ART CREDITS*

1--Illustration © Chris King, 1997.
2, 5, 14, 32--Illustrations © Deborah Rush, 1996 & 1997.
7--Illustration © Emily Friedman, 1997.
9,13--Illustrations © Jennifer Pelland, 1997.
10--Illustration © Holly Triplett, 1996.
12--Illustration © Nancy Molik, 1996.
16-17--Photos © Mike Topf, 1997.
18-19--Photos © Mary Taylor, 1997.
20-21--Photos courtesy Joan Mulgrew.
24-27--Photos courtesy Winrich Kolbe.


*KMAS, INC. BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND STAFF*

Michelle Erica Green, president.
Joan Testin, vice president.
Lauren Baum, treasurer.
Anne Davenport, membership secretary.
Mary Taylor, business secretary.
Paul Anderson, assistant secretary.
Barbe Smith, charity coordinator.
Peter Castillo, legal advisor.
Jeanne Donnelly, corporate advisor.
Jennifer Pelland, electronic listserv owner.
Michael Pantiuk & Cheryl Zenor, web page designers.
Anna Shuford, membership director.
Beth Schuman & Nancy Molik, convention coordinators.


*REVIEWZZZZZZZZ*

CODA

	If only this episode had aired about a year ago--or even six months ago.
At that point, I would have seen it as a real gift, as some indication that
one of the most important character relationships on Voyager wasn't being
neglected or trashed. Now it's like finding a lost, unopened love letter
after the divorce.
	It's hard to concentrate on any but the emotional aspects of "Coda." The
story was serviceable, even inventive, though it recycled many familiar
Star Trek themes. There's still some lingering question about which scenes
were hallucinations and which were not. Obviously each of Janeway's
"deaths" were not real, but at least one resuscitation scene may have been
authentic. When Chakotay, after trying desperately to revive her, took her
all-but-expired body in his arms and sobbed, "Kathryn!" (thus melting the
hearts of even some jaded fans), he may have been doing so in reality. One
could work out a timeline of actual events that includes that scene, and
I'd be inclined to think that was what was intended.
	Broadway stalwart Len Cariou did a fine, chilling job as the alien in
disguise, and reminded me very little of the stifling, distant, patronizing
father in Mosaic, which was all to the good. The least comfortable part of
"Coda" and of some recent episodes have been their references to that
novel. They appear mostly as distracting, incongruous details such as
tennis rackets, and offer nothing much besides a reminder of a version of
Janeway that I can't reconcile in the least with Kate Mulgrew's much more
attractive performance.
	But the important part... It's hard to deny, after seeing it on screen so
clearly, that Chakotay is in love with his captain. He reacts to her death
much more profoundly, and physically, than as a bereaved friend. It's
equally clear that although she doesn't completely reciprocate his
feelings, she sympathizes with them and feels a deep attachment for him.
Why she doesn't reciprocate is the great unsolved mystery of Voyager. I
hear a lot of justifications and preaching about how a woman can't bestow
her affections as freely as a man and I simply don't accept that--still, in
the 24th century? The dramatic and romantic tension between these
characters doesn't betray much forethought. It's gone up, down and sideways
too many times.
	As a fan, I simultaneously groaned and sighed at such clichéd romanticisms
as "Breathe, Kathryn, breathe!" while Chakotay pressed his lips to
Janeway's. It's on a par with the idyllic desert island of "Resolutions."
Obvious, hokey--and a hell of a lot of fun. And the actors really made
something of it. That same edgy romantic tension that keeps me tearing my
hair lent a lot of resonance to Chakotay's actions. He never could embrace
Janeway and let out his feelings before, so he does so in grief instead of
joy. Robert Beltran usually keeps Chakotay on a tight leash, so to see him
weep and rage has  that  much  more impact.   I  was  reminded during this
episode, by nearly every performance, of just how talented Voyager's acting
ensemble is. When they get good material, they do it full justice, and they
can lift mediocrity up into fine entertainment. Just for a moment there,
"Coda" touched a real vein of emotion, and revived a lot of good memories.
I hope it's more than a temporary new lease on life.

--L.R. Bowen

	The first thing I noticed when I watched "Coda" was that Chakotay called
Janeway Kathryn 16 times, 3 of them in front of Tuvok and the doctor, and
that he referred to her as Kathryn Janeway another 3 times...Okay, I'll be
honest, that wasn't the first thing I noticed. It actually took several
viewings to get an accurate count, because even when I was replaying those
scenes, I'd get so caught up in what was happening that I'd lose track. The
last time, I sat with a pencil and a pad in my hands, and that was how I
made the final tally.
	So what was the first thing I noticed? Simply that it worked. It was an
old familiar story, by Trek standards. The purists can and probably will
enumerate the many times in which those dreaded temporal anomalies show up
and people get caught in them, or the ones where nasty aliens pretend to be
someone familiar while invading the minds and hearts of our heroes and
drawing them toward certain doom. Yes, it has been done before--but it
worked. When I considered my inability to count Kathryns, I realized that I
could not prevent my emotions from pulling me into the story.
	Right from the start, seeing Janeway and Chakotay at ease together and
bantering comfortably about the Voyager talent show, I was disarmed. Then
came the sudden descent into peril, and two close friends were shifting
gears seamlessly to become a competent command team again. (If that's not
the perfect illustration of how I envision Janeway and Chakotay's
relationship, I don't know what is-well, maybe I do know.) Next, the
looping, with each loop more emotionally fraught than the last. By the time
Chakotay was clutching Janeway's lifeless body in his arms and imploring
her not to die on him, tears splashing unnoticed off his chin, I neither
knew nor cared that this scenario had been done before, because what set it
apart from any previous episode for me was the emotions of the crew:
Chakotay, completely distraught in one scenario, standing in stony silence
in the next; the doctor, his voice betraying the same tenderness with which
he once addressed Denara Pel; Harry, overwhelmed; Tom, intent on holding
himself together; Neelix, stunned into rare silence; B'Elanna, ennobled by
her grief; Kes, disbelieving, searching desperately for answers; Tuvok,
stoic, but with an expression of shattered loss in his eyes... And beside
them at every moment, Janeway, as vulnerable and afraid as we've ever seen
her, yet never for a moment willing to give in, to stop fighting. These are
the charactersI love, and that's why "Coda" worked so well.
	There's something about an "It's a wonderful life" story; it's fascinating
to see how your own death might affect your colleagues, your loved ones.
It's equally fascinating to imagine that death is nothing more than a
change in consciousness, that the dead can and do coexist with the living,
that they retain an awareness of the world they've left behind. I found it
striking that at first Janeway's intent was to communicate with her crew
and to suggest scientific possibilities to them; that's her usual role, to
lead and to inspire. Later, when she had accepted her own death, she wanted
not to retain her captaincy, but simply to comfort them. Her maternal
concern for the crew has been evident from the beginning, and it's one of
the reasons I love her so much, because she herself is so unafraid to love
them. These visions may have existed nowhere but in her own mind, while in
reality the doctor worked over her nearly lifeless body, but it was
nevertheless a journey of discovery for Kathryn Janeway, and a reminder of
how much these characters mean to me.
	Oh, and that perfect illustration of Janeway and Chakotay's relationship?
The final scene, of course...

--Diane Nichols

	I was ecstatically happy for the hour I watched this episode, but in a
way, I feel as manipulated by "Coda" as Janeway did by the evil alien
impersonating her father. I saw characters I once knew and loved,
miraculously returned to life, telling me to believe in them. Like
"Resistance" and "Resolutions" did last season, "Coda" served as a reminder
not only of how gripping Voyager can be, but how dreadfully dull it is 9
weeks out of 10. An episode like this only shows up how hollow the show is
week after week.
	I have to hand it to Jeri Taylor--even when the script went over the top,
she knew she could count on Kate Mulgrew and Robert Beltran to make it
work. The chemistry between them is so potent that they could be reading
the phone book and the words would seem rife not just with innuendo, but
with affection, humor, warmth. I've been asking all season what happened to
the Janeway and Chakotay of "Resolutions," and there they were--better,
because they were working together. I don't give a crap about temporal
anomalies or evil aliens unless there's a human story making them matter;
this episode was about love and committment, which are usually dirty words
on Trek. The dynamic between Janeway and Chakotay provides enough emotional
involvement to drive this series, but it's squandered to the point that,
when we finally get an episode like this which picks up on "The Cloud" and
"Dreadnought" and "Future's End I," conscious effort is needed to remember
it.
	I don't mean it as criticism when I say that the best plotting in "Coda"
was recycled from TNG--the time loop like the one that kept making the
Enterprise explode for Picard, the scene of attending one's own funeral
like the one for Geordi and Ro. The plot itself is irrelevant when the
characterization works. Mulgrew was marvelous, surprisingly strong and
understated in an episode which could easily have made Janeway look like a
damsel in distress. This seemed like Taylor's apology for "Persistence of
Vision," with Janeway refusing to listen to an evil alien impersonating a
loved one. It also made me feel better about the much-criticized Mosaic,
since she didn't bow down to Daddy's wishes. Beltran was a tad hyperbolic
sobbing over Kathryn, but that hardly mattered; Chakotay is so riddled with
inconsistent feelings that he's hard to recognize from week to week.
	The sad truth is that all these characters are creatures of commercialism,
whose mannerisms change wildly depending on the demands of individual
episodes (this week we get a warm, sensitive B'Elanna admitting that
Janeway changed her life; next week we get the third straight time she'll
have intimate relations while out of her mind). I love Kathryn Janeway, but
she has no soul. She should have told the alien impersonating her father
that; maybe he would have gone away sooner. Soon Janeway will undoubtedly
pick up a phaser rifle again and tell Chakotay to go the hell skiing
without her. I'm expecting this episode to produce an explosion of fan
fiction like "Resolutions" did, so maybe I'll spend the next few Wednesday
nights reading about Janeway and Chakotay on that moonlight boat ride,
instead of watching pon farr and Borg rear their ugly heads.

--Sara Unger

	"Coda" is definitely the best J/C episode we have seen all season, and I
found it absolutely enthralling from start to finish. The acting was first
rate, if slightly melodramatic...but then again, this is the kind of story
that just cries out (pun intended) for a little overkill.
	The initial scene in the shuttle shows the characters I fell in love with
long ago, but who seem to have gotten lost of late. The easy banter between
the two typifies the comfortable relationship one would think they have
fallen into. I mean, come on, these people have been together for 3 years
now. The jokes, easy laughter, comfortable postures--all beautiful touches.

	The only problem I had with this episode was the fact that Janeway didn't
fight enough when Kes was trying to contact her. If it had been me in that
briefing room, I would have dove across the table passing through every
person in there until they all stood up and looked at each other in
amazement. When Kes and Tuvok were doing their mind meld, I wanted Janeway
to scream, pass through them, run around the room, ANYTHING other than
sitting there idly watching!
	For J/Cers, this episode is bound to cause many a viewer (including
myself) to swoon. We have seen so little of their off-duty relationship
since "Resolutions" that it seems to have been all but forgotten. I am
happy that their friendship has grown, but it sure would have been nice to
see it develop over time, instead of having it thrown at us all at once. It
makes perfect sense that they become good friends, if not more. Janeway got
to see first-hand the depth of Chakotay's feelings for her. The death scene
on the planet was played out beautifully. I had a lump in my throat when he
was talking to the ship telling them the captain was dead. The pain, the
tears, that half-numb gaze, all while Janeway looked on--wow! The
euthanasia scene was also a clever twist, expertly played by both actors.
	I can't quite figure out what to make of the final scene in Janeway's
ready room. The rose is an intimate gesture to be sure, and Janeway now
knows without a doubt that his feelings for her are very strong--and very
close to the surface. This is the first acknowledgment we have seen from
her regarding Chakotay. For once, she didn't get right back to business.
Whether or not the invitation for the boat ride was meant to be a date or
just a get together between good friends is inconsequential, really. It was
handled in such a casual manner that it's hard to tell, but a moonlight
boat ride is not the place to remind someone about "parameters." Either
way, it's a good start to a mutual relationship between the two. It's about
bloody time we see Janeway "hanging out" with people and forming some close
relationships. This issue of her emotional needs must be addressed. The
Janeway that I see is a moral, intelligent, and unashamedly compassionate
individual. A person like this couldn't possibly carry the burden of
command without some deeply meaningful relationships to lean on. I, for
one, am heartened by the one we saw in "Coda."

--Beth Schuman

	I had to watch this episode three times before I could bring myself to
write a review, and I wanted to like it, I really did. Whenever I need to
be reminded of who Captain Janeway really is, I return to Season One for a
refresher course. This is where her identity became cemented in my mind,
and it clashes horribly with the canon filtered in from Mosaic during
Season Three. While I can accept toughness, because we've all seen what
Janeway can do with a gun in her hand, I have a hard time swallowing this
"Daddy" business. We are supposed to believe that Janeway was close to her
father as a child, and to accept that she spent months of grief in bed. So,
if all that is true, then how can we explain her extreme lack of emotional
involvement with his ghost? Janeway is anything but distant from her crew,
and we saw what it meant to her when no one stayed behind in "The 37s." We
know the woman has a heart along with a deep well of emotions. But dear old
Dad had absolutely no impact on his 'little bird.'
	"Coda" could have been an extremely good episode if it wasn't marred by
melodramatic performances and recycled storylines. For TNG aficionados,
this must have been painful to watch. Since I entered the Trek universe
during the last few seasons of TNG, I cannot quote you chapter and verse
from the episode bible, but when the words 'time loop' came up, I started
groaning. This entire premise could have been so much more effective if the
episode had gone along without the it. We really would have thought Janeway
was dead until much later when the alien came crawling through the wall. I
think they tipped their hand way too soon on this one. Time loops and
ghosts don't mesh, so it was almost like two episodes were grafted together
to make "Coda." In addition, I was reminded of the alien from "Persistence
of Vision," and that was a nightmare unto itself.
	So what about Janeway? Were we really treated to any major character
development here? Did anyone believe that the J/C relationship had advanced
a notch or two in temperature, or was it all just a dream? As Chakotay told
Seska in "State of Flux," I have a hard time knowing what is real and what
isn't. Most of the scenes were sucked out of Janeway's head, so we saw her
perception of things. While that is interesting, it still doesn't tell us
how Chakotay really feels or whether Torres and Kim mean what they said.
Was Chakotay actually crying over her dead body? Did he really use CPR on
her? Did they joke about dying swans? And why on earth would Janeway be
thinking about time loops when we know she hates them ("Future's End")? I
also wonder about the Vidiians being in her thoughts. After all, this must
have been at the surface of her mind when they crashed, or how else would
the alien have picked up on this? Perhaps she was hoping that the phage
would overtake Tuvok so she didn't have to listen to Vulcan poetry on
Talent Night!
	Much of what I enjoyed here was visual: the expressions on everyone's
faces at the memorial service, the tears falling off of Chakotay's face as
he pronounced the captain dead, and J/C with their arms wrapped around one
another when they resuscitated the captain. Although some of these scenes
were hallucinations, they still felt real to me, and that's what matters.
None of Chakotay's overemoting and gasping for air had any emotional
impact, and I cringed during the various death scenes. They were brutal and
unnecessary. We all know that the doctor has developed compassion and would
never treat Janeway in this fashion. Once again, this would have been far
more chilling and effective if the characterizations rang true. For
example, the  shuttle  scene  was  among  the  best in the episode, because
the captain and first officer were behaving normally. I can excuse the fact
that they shouldn't be together on an away mission because they make such a
great team.
	In fact, seeing them try to work out the time loop problem was the best
part of the entire episode. I love seeing Janeway at her scientific best,
and she was in fine form during this segment. She was even smart enough to
doubt the alien, which probably accounts for the emotional distance I
sensed in her. When she uttered "Daddy," some might say that it showed her
vulnerable side, and I don't disagree with that statement. I just wish we
could have seen a little more of the close father-daughter relationship
we've heard so much about. Maybe Eddie the admiral was miscast, or maybe it
was the lame dialogue they had foisted on them, but this matchup didn't
work. In my opinion, "Coda" did not help Janeway's character. While we saw
a bit more range than they've given us in a long time, there was no real
moral dilemma or character testing situation to develop her further.

--Elizabeth Klisiewicz

	"Coda"! How do I love thee? Let me count the ways...1 talent show, 2
shuttle crashes, 3 temporal loops, 1 rose, 1 bottle of champagne, 19
"Kathryns" (yes, I counted!), lip contact...so it was CPR. The touchy-feely
meter went off the boards with this episode!
	There were so many things I loved about "Coda" that it's hard to know
where to begin. I think my favorite scene in this entire episode had to be
the very first scene in the shuttlecraft. It was fabulous to see the name
'Sacajawea' on the side. For those non history buffs among you, Sacajawea
was the Native American guide--another female leader, by the way--that led
Lewis and Clark in their historic expedition. J: "C'mon, Chakotay, there
must be some talent you have that people would enjoy. Maybe I could stand
with an apple on my head and you could phaser it off." C: "Sounds great."
[insert that wonderful grin here] "If I miss, I get to be captain." THIS is
the J/C I want to see. THIS is the J/C that we've hardly seen since TPTB
seemingly forgot that "Resolutions" ever happened. Wait--I know--the whole
thing was a temporal shift, right? Wrong. It DID happen, and regardless of
how intimate things were or weren't between the Captain and First Officer,
an obvious camaraderie was forged on New Earth. There's now a very relaxed
friendship here, and that terrifies me. Why? Because I know that in next
week's episode, it will be all but forgotten again.
	I have no desire to see the off-duty details of Kathryn & Chakotay's love
life. All I ask is for a little bit of continuity. I don't care that we've
seen countless temporal anomalies, to me a plot is a plot is a plot. It's
the characters I tune in to see week after week. They fascinate me and I
love watching them grow and adjust to whatever the Delta Quadrant hurls
their way. But please, don't cheapen what has happened by stringing us
along and then ripping our hearts out.
	Sorry, I do tend to get a bit possessive, don't I? The fact that Chakotay
called her "Kathryn" in front of other crew members tells me that there is
a secure relationship here and that they are adult enough to separate work
from their private lives. And that's as it should be. All the naysayers
that have insisted a shipboard romance would diminish Janeway's ability to
command are out in left field on this one. I've said it all along...the
captain needs a place to unwind in her off hours and it seems to me she's
found it, as well as someone to do her unwinding with! Computer, load
program "Janeway, Lake George." Oh -- and don't forget the champagne!

--Becky Olsen

	Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't this supposed to be a moving, romantic
episode? Hmmm...guess something was lost in the editing process. This
episode struck me as nothing more than (at least) two recycled ST:TNG
plotlines, smashed together by someone who has a thing for Janeway and
Chakotay but can't write anything too blatant or she'll get in trouble with
the highers up. Oh yeah, Jeri Taylor wrote it. That explains a lot.
	The two TNG episodes I'm referring to, of course, are the shows where the
Enterprise is caught in a repeating time loop ("Cause and Effect") and
where Ro and LaForge "die" ("The Next Phase") but in reality are
phase-shifted and invisible to the rest of the crew. The fact that those
episodes were better written and better acted only made "Coda" seem all the
more trite. Did the director tell Mulgrew and Beltran to overdo it? This
was a non-stop melodrama-coaster, from Chakotay yelling "breathe!" as he
administered bad CPR to Janeway (never bend your elbows when performing
CPR!) to Janeway imitating orgasm in every death scene (and there were
plenty). I know some people found this moving, but the only moving I did
was to groan in agony or laugh hysterically. The actor playing Janeway's
father wasn't much better. He looked like he was doing a read-through, not
a final performance. He only got passably good at the end when he started
to act menacing.
	One major problem I had was when they had Janeway, a Midwesterner, call
her father "Daddy." I'm sorry, but that's infantilizing. Midwesterners
don't do that. I didn't think anybody but southern belles did it, but an
email discussion with friends proved that it's more wide-spread than that.
Luckily, my Midwestern friends confirmed that in that part of the country,
"daddy" is a term reserved for the very young. Once again, Janeway has to
be "softened" so she won't offend the anti-woman segment of the audience.
	One scene that was quite noticeably missing was any reaction from Tom.
B'Elanna and Harry got speeches at the memorial service, Kes and Tuvok got
a scene in Tuvok's quarters, and Chakotay got that moment of supreme
overacting over her corpse, but where was Tom's grief? Of all the people on
this ship, he has the most to thank her for, and therefore the most to lose
with her gone. Neelix didn't have a reaction scene either, and that also
struck me as odd. The Doctor...well, him getting to kill her seemed to be a
rather extreme over-dramatization of the current doctor-assisted-suicide
issue, which irked me, but at least he got some screen time to deal with
Janeway's death. Paris and Neelix should have been granted the same
courtesy.
	All right, I will concede that I thought that the idea of the alien
sucking the dead into his matrix so he could eat them was rather creepy.
Interesting concept...but then why didn't Janeway demand to know if all her
other dead crewmates were trapped in his matrix? Janeway's always been very
protective of the well-being of her crew, so why not take a couple of
moments to demand to know if he's taken all her other dead crew off to be
his food? That really bothered me. It seemed painfully out of character for
her, but then again, this entire season has seemed out of character for
Janeway.
	Next week, pon farr meets blood fever...looks yummy, sounds awful. Think
I'll be blind drunk for that one.

--Jennifer Pelland (Siubhan)

	I enjoyed this episode a great deal upon first viewing. The first half
kept me guessing, and I was wrong each time. This is not a usual happening
with Trek, so I was pleased. I am usually fascinated by time warp/loop
plots. I was very happy to see Captain Janeway and Commander Chakotay being
relaxed and comfortable with one another. This is an element that has been
sorely missed since "Resolutions" last season. I hope that this trend
continues, as it makes for much more interesting viewing than the Cold Fish
and Wooden Man routine we've seen between them of late. That, of course, is
no comment on Kate or Robert, but on the writing of the relationship
between Janeway and Chakotay. This is the way they should have been
behaving with one another all along!
	So we have the Captain and the First Officer stranded on a planet again,
only this time it's a hostile planet and the Captain is mortally wounded.
This didn't bother me, either, though I must admit to not being terribly
worried about Janeway's eventual well-being! It wasn't until the
"consciousness" appeared that I started thinking that this was all to
familiar. I don't know why for sure, but it reminded me of "Cathexis," in
which it was Chakotay's consciousness floating around the ship (though his
was invisible). I was actually surprised that Janeway didn't remember this
incident and try and inhabit the body of one of the crew members as
Chakotay had done.
	When Janeway's "father" arrived, all I could think was "Persistence of
Vision." I just could not shake the feeling that the man portraying her
father carried the same feel as the man portraying Paris' father. The other
thing that really bothered me was yet another alien take-over episode. The
initial setup would have worked wonderfully well with Janeway just having
some kind of near death experience, maybe some soul searching that resulted
in character growth. I'm sure there are those who would have found that
angle overdone as well, but at least it would have been an opportunity to
explore Janeway's character more deeply.
	I had a very hard time getting past the PoV feel. As it was, we got
another alien using whatevertactics it could to try and coerce her into
submitting to him. I loved that she didn't! And his message to her about
standing by in loneliness while the people around her and the people she
loved moved on with their lives was definitely one Janeway needed to hear.
I thought the finest part of this episode was the final scene with Janeway
and Chakotay celebrating life together. I choose to take this to mean that
she got the message that she is only wasting precious time by not moving on
in her life, but I suppose the fact of the matter is that it remains to be
seen if that is true or not.
	This was another great Kate episode. Her performance was terrific. I also
thought that this was the best Robert Beltran has looked since "Caretaker,"
too. This is the Chakotay that I had hoped we would see throughout this
series. I just hope that the writers hear that enough so that it sinks in
and they keep it up! Overall I enjoyed this episode, though, I feel
somewhat disappointed in it. Something about the manipulation  by  the
alien  left  me  feeling  manipulated as well. I do not for a minute think
that what was being presented to us were Janeway's inner fears/thoughts
used by the alien. None of the little scenarios used by the alien rang
true, even to Janeway's fears. No wonder the alien was not successful in
convincing her. She's a strong woman, a Star Fleet Captain, and she's not
going to go along because someone says she should. The scenarios used to
try and convince her were almost insulting.

--Siobhan Wolf

	All I can say about this episode is that I LOVED IT!!!!! It had both an
intriguing storyline and tons of wonderful J/C moments. The story about the
alien and the time loops was quite good, used to explore the relationships
Janeway has built over the past two years. We saw Torres and how she had
matured due to the responsibilities Janeway entrusted to her. We see how
everyone is affected and how Janeway is as well. There was sadness all
around both Starfleet and Maquis. I was happy to see that there was no
acrimony between the two groups about who was going to be captain now that
Janeway is dead. Of course, since she was hallucinating, this could all be
wishful thinking on her part and may actually be the furthest thing from
the truth. But I don't think so.
	The usage of the temporal loop was tricky and well-used to keep the viewer
guessing as to what really happened and what Janeway hallucinated. I almost
believed that she had died. And I really liked how both she and Chakotay
immediately realized that they were in some sort of time loop and didn't
keep repeating their mistakes like Picard and his crew did in "Cause and
Effect." That was another reason why I liked the time loop, since they took
a familiar plot device and put a new twist on it. I was surprised when
those two immediately realized what had happened since I was expecting them
to repeat the loop several times before they caught on.
	Now to the good stuff. Being a J/C fan since day one, I am always on the
lookout for scenes where we get indications of the status of their personal
relationship. Last season, we got "Resolutions" and Chakotay's Angry
Warrior Speech which was, in my opinion, a thinly veiled way of telling her
that he loves her. After all, it wasn't exactly your standard Captain/First
Officer talk. And now this season, we had some stuff in "Future's End" and
finally "Coda." First, we had the relaxed conversation in the shuttle about
Talent Night. Then, we had the tortured cry "KATHRYN!" This was followed by
his extreme concern as she lay there unconscious as he was frantically
working to revive her. Of course, when in one iteration of the time loop,
she dies, he holds her lifeless body to his chest and cries out his grief.
Then in the end, she issues an invitation to share a bottle of champagne
and a moonlight sail on Lake George. Call me crazy but this sounds like a
date! Mulgrew's performance in this scene was wonderful and portrayed
Janeway's euphoria at having cheated death beautifully. And let us not
forget the rose! It was lovely but thecolor was all wrong. It should have
been red or some other color fraught with romantic meaning.
	In the final analysis, this was an excellent episode. The story held
together, the plot device used was not a repeat from a previous episode,
and the relationship between Janeway and Chakotay was moved forward from
where it was in"Resolutions."

--Shalini Gupta

BLOOD FEVER

	"Bodice-ripping, crotch-dripping..." Oh, whoops, that was
"sweat-dripping." The Lurid UPN Preview strikes again. But unlike the
previous worst examples, the preview for "Blood Fever" was reasonably
accurate. When I think of what could have been done with the basic theme of
raging pon farr and hot Klingon babes--no, sorry, I can't think of anything
tasteful and interesting in that vein. This episode is notable mostly for
being a set-up for some of the least attractive character moments in the
entire run of Voyager. I don't care to see both Tuvok and the doctor acting
as pimps for crewmembers, and I don't care to see yet another female
crewmember out of her mind and crazy for sex. Poor Tom Paris. His reaction
to B'Elanna's biting and mauling was at least plausible, though he was
given some terrible dialog. "This isn't about the gun, this is about sex.
But that's not going to happen right now." Not even Robbie McNeill could
save that line.
	There were a few good hoots in "Blood Fever," but most of them were
unintentional. And it's ruined Vulcan mating practices for all time as a
serious subject for Star Trek. Oddly, the character damage to Tom and
B'Elanna is redeemable, as both were acting under compulsion or delusion
(nearly mandatory for Voyager) but the peripheral characters suffered the
most, either from not doing much while all this was raging around them, or
by pandering to the general uneasy prurience. Janeway was reduced to a
bemused bystander who can't keep one nutso ensign from disabling the whole
ship, and Chakotay didn't do much better despite handling a tense situation
with the underground aliens. As I mentioned, the pimping was inappropriate
for this kind of show, and even more so for the characters involved.
Probably the worst since "Threshold", though not hitting quite so low a
note.

--L.R. Bowen

	Forget what you know about pon farr. Battles to the death? Return trips to
the homeworld? Not here, sorry. This new generation of Trek writers seems
convinced that TOS canon should be ignored, so they expect viewers to do
the same. Oh, and along with forgetting canon, pretend that you have the IQ
of a chimp. OK? All set? Now you can enjoy the episode.
	"Blood Fever" was a sweaty excursion into the seamy underside of
unrestrained, instinctual behavior. Instead of presenting us with something
we could swallow, like Tuvok accidentally going into pon farr, we get to
watch engineer Vorick do the Vulcan mating dance. TPTB have apparently
phasered all the interesting peripheral characters so they can cast Jeri
Taylor's son. Do the words 'dull as dishwater' mean anything to you? People
like Martha Hackett and Brad Dourif breathed fire into their roles, because
they had interesting characters to work with. Vorick's deep, affected sighs
were almost as bad as Chakotay's 'breathe, dammit's in "Coda." But let's
not spend too much time picking on Alexander Enberg, because he did the
best he could with mediocre material. I am extremely surprised that Lisa
Klink's name appeared on the teleplay; she has always impressed me with her
sensitive, character driven writing. There was some extremely witty
dialogue on the part of the doctor, and a few good lines between Paris and
Torres. This was also Andrew Robinson's directing debut on Voyager, but
there is nothing notable to report. He didn't detract from the story, but
then, there wasn't much story to speak of.
	To be fair, I should also compliment Robert Duncan McNeill and Roxann
Dawson. Roxann was superb in showing off B'Elanna's alter ego, and it makes
a nice bookend to the first season episode "Faces." I also appreciated the
sensitivity that Paris showed towards Torres, and Robbie deserves the
credit for this. I am not entirely happy with the way they have turned
Paris into a white knight, but he is still one of the better written
characters on Voyager.
	Best scenes: Neelix falling down the cliff, Torres breaking Vorick's jaw,
Torres besting Vorick in the fight (too bad she didn't off him), Torres
biting Paris in the face, Torres and Paris on the turbolift, and those
tight, tight gray uniforms. More, I say! Worst scenes: The Doctor and
Vorick on the holodeck discussing an energy construct for a mate, Tuvok
ordering Paris to do B'Elanna, and any scene with Vorick in it. By the way,
how can one person disable all those systems without someone knowing about
it? Phaser him, please!
	Once I checked my brain at the door, I managed to enjoy this. Don't look
too closely at that swiss cheese they call a plot, and you'll be happy you
watched too.

--Elizabeth Klisiewicz

	In "Blood Fever," Tom Paris gets trapped in a cave with an extremely eager
B'Elanna Torres, something the rest of us can only fantasize about.
Although obviously tempted (which can't be all that comfortable in tight
spandex), he resists her advances. There are a number of reasons for doing
so. They need to concentrate on getting out of there and finding the rest
of the away team. They can't be sure the Lichen People aren't watching. It
would also be conceivable for Paris to be concerned that Torres is Klingon
enough to interpret a single act of sex as requiring a lifetime commitment.

	Instead, he phrases his objections in terms of what she'll think of
herself, and him, in the morning. I don't see why she should hate herself
for pursuing the most obvious solution to her problem. Torres and Paris are
mature adults who know and trust each other. Torres is certainly under the
influence of Vorik's "mating bond," something both parties are aware of,
but it's not a case of mind control--she's still herself, and still capable
of rejecting poor Vorik. Her physical need is perfectly real, regardless of
its origins. Paris's response is altogether too reminiscent of the
old-fashioned ideology under which a man can't sleep with a woman he
respects and a woman isn't supposed to show any interest. I think the
doctor was criticizing the wrong person about harboring Victorian
attitudes.
	Paris's assumption that he knows better than Torres what she really wants
is somewhat understandable while she's under alien influence, but it's
jarring in the final turbolift scene. There's a power dynamic in the
Torres/Paris relationship that I'm not very comfortable with. He's seen her
in very revealing situations, particularly in "Faces," but he hasn't
revealed that much of himself. I hope that if the relationship gets closer
he'll be more open with her than he has been to date.
	Aside from the sexual politics, my main problems with the episode are that
Tuvok once again appears grossly incompetent and Chakotay is rather too
willing to disclose information to the Lichen People, about whom he knows
nothing. The pacing is off, too--the ending seems very rushed and the final
fight trivial, especially in contrast to "Amok Time." Nonetheless, the
episode is entertaining to watch and provides a good introduction for the
Borg.

--Jenny Loehlin

	I can't believe this show got a TV-PG rating; naked wrestling would have
been less degrading than this. If the gender roles were reversed--if Tom
were female and B'Elanna were male--I don't think anyone would have had
trouble noticing the gleeful justification of sexual harrassment. Did Tuvok
really order Paris to prong Torres? Were Tuvok really so interested in
preserving Vulcan privacy, seems to me he'd have volunteered to do the job
himself...though it would have been simpler if he just took care of Vorick
in the first place. And Tuvok agreed with Vorick that it would be logical
for Torres to marry him once Vorick forced the meld which set off her pon
farr...do Vulcans also believe that if a man rapes a woman, it is logical
for her to marry him? I've never been a fan of violent Vulcan and Klingon
mating rituals on Trek, but this is a new low.
	This was a big episode for Roxann Dawson, written to show off her Klingon
character--but all it really did was to reduce her to buff babe status. If
they wanted to give her a challenge, they should have kept her in
engineering, dealt with her Klingon side on the job like in "Parallax." Now
I suspect she will always be Tommy the Stud's love interest, the way I was
once afraid they were going to make her Chakotay the Stud's love interest.
There is not going to be a need to take her character seriously. Janeway
will get the role of the chaste, serious, maternal female leader, and
Torres will be the emotional, unpredictable, fiesty sexual woman. I thought
Roxann was overacting, and her heavy breathing got on my nerves, but I
blame the director--every chance he had to film her heaving chest, he did.
	This was even a rotten Janeway episode. Once again, she looked humorless
and uptight when confronted with a situation that demanded compassion and
warmth to ease the tension. Not that I ever believed in the tension, since
I was certain it would have a "This never happened" ending like
"Persistence of Vision," "Fascination," etc.--and sure enough, B'Elanna had
Yar's exact line to Data from "The Naked Now." I saw more chemistry between
Tom and Neelix than between Tom and B'Elanna in this episode. I'd expect
Tom to put out to save the life of anyone on the ship, because he's
basically a good guy and doesn't take sex overly seriously, but I believed
his reluctance all too well. I got the feeling that Tom was just in the
lucky place, and it could easily have been Harry or Chak in Torres'
clutches.
	But I was most upset about the trashing of Vulcan and Klingon culture and
ritual during this episode. They didn't have time for bells and incense
like they did during "Amok Time," and Torres doesn't know the stuff Worf
always recites before having sex, but fifteen seconds of violent combat as
a substitute for a life bond was a major copout. I always thought the point
of pon farr was that it WASN'T just a mindless mating rut. The whole reason
for the bond is that it's mental and spiritual as well as physical. So the
Doc playing Holopimp was ludicrous--at least it didn't work!--but the idea
that either Torres or Vorick could snap out of their lustful ways by
slapping someone around was grotesque. Sex equals violence, and when you
take the mating drive away from its Vulcan spiritual significance, it
translates just as mindless need to get laid.
	I guess Torres is every boy's dream girl, who needs it so bad that she'll
do it anywhere with anyone. She's already done so many men in fantasy on
the show that I have a hard time believing she can be faithful to Tom even
if he can be faithful to her. If these characters need diseases and mind
control in order to make love, they also need therapy. I'm surprised the
Doc hasn't noticed.

--Sara Unger

	The preview for "Blood Fever" certainly didn't lie--this was as close to
an episode of "Melrose Place" as I hope we'll ever get. I'm not saying that
I don't like the idea of a Paris/Torres relationship, but this concept
totally takes me aback. The very idea of 'we must have sex or I'll die' is
so far from the views and motives of TOS that it makes me cringe. Yes, I
know that the Vulcan mating cycle was introduced back in the first series,
but there are huge differences between "Amok Time" and "Blood Fever."
	First off, "Amok Time"'s story concept was much better. With his life on
the line, Spock must return home to mate. After the plot for this episode
was revealed, it was carried out logically ('scuse the pun) and in a way
that kept the audience interested. Fans care about Spock; they don't know
for sure what's going to happen to him, and therefore they wonder as they
watch. One of the remarkable qualities about Gene Roddenberry was that he
had the ability to bring out the magic in writing that compelled fans to
question 'the heavy topics' through the interaction of characters they
loved.
	Now for "Blood Fever." Since Vorick is 70,000 light years from home, he
obviously can't return...unless he flies at warp ten, turns into a
salamander, kidnaps B'Elanna, and mates with her. [Slap! Sorry, I had to
suggest the idea!] B'Elanna's his obvious choice for a mate; he's been
giving her signs almost since we first met him. However, B'Elanna suddenly
having pon farr simply because of contact with Vorick--well, that's where
the episode failed IMO. It's a lousy excuse for the P/T action. As for
those ugly gargoyle-like people and the B-plot in general, the writers
could've done without it. They really didn't have a purpose; take them out
and you still have the basic concept of the story!
	This episode did have some strong points. The first one is the fighting
scene. It is the best way for Vorick and B'Elanna to end this 'chemical
imbalance.' And besides, the fight was pretty darn good! We haven't seen
good ol' dirty combat like that for quite some time. What a great fix!
Next, kudos to the actors and actresses, especially Roxann Dawson and
Robbie McNeil. They did a superb job of delivering their lines, and deserve
great praise for their work in this one.

--Charlynn Kate Smith

	It happens to almost everyone, the urge to mate. Whether it's for
expressing love, giving and receiving pleasure, procreation, or just
indulging in a little lust is up to the individuals involved. In the world
of Star Trek, it's a physiological occurrence for alien species as well.
Pon farr is especially interesting because of its highly emotional effect
on people who take great pride in their unemotional approach to life. This
would have been a good opportunity to explore the more domestic side of
Voyager's predicament--life is going to go on whether they're halfway
across the galaxy or not, and that's going to have consequences for
everyone which could lead to tragedy if they don't take care of their
needs. Unfortunately, TPTB chose to give us a more base view of things.
	It's hard to say, based on this episode, whether pon farr is just
something embarrassing or whether it's an important part of Vulcan ritual
and tradition. I sort of got the impression it was both. The previews
indicated a more tawdry story than what I think we got. They were in a
unique situation with B'Elanna having been affected, but I was surprised at
how casually Vorick and Tuvok were able to discuss the pon farr with
others. It was Tuvok's reluctance to discuss the situation with the doctor
that made me realize just how private it's supposed to be. That discomfort
disappeared suddenly enough once he reached B'Elanna on the planet, where
he proceeded to talk about it in front of her--and Chakotay and Paris. But
he could barely deal with the doctor earlier? I can only imagine how
B'Elanna felt being told, in front of her boss and co-worker, that she'd
been infected with an insatiable urge to have sex and that she'd die if she
didn't "get help." I know I was embarrassed, especially when Tuvok
practically ordered Tom to go...you know.
	I'm not quite sure what to make of the Doctor's holodeck solution to
Vorick's situation, other than to be disgusted at the suggestion that it's
healthy to relieve one's physical needs with a computer construct. The way
I understood it, Vulcans need to make a mental connection with their mates
during pon farr--how was he supposed to mind meld with a hologram?
Obviously there's ritual involved, or Vorick wouldn't have declared his
intent to mate with B'Elanna and battle his opponent...so where was it? The
ritual, I mean. Oh--maybe it was that mating brawl, the one that ended so
conveniently when Torres KO'd Vorick, thus ending the blood fever. If
relieving pon farr was as simple as meditation or giving into anger or
passion or the need to do something physically strenuous, why not have
Vorick wrestle a holocharacter and let Torres dig herself and Paris out of
the rockfall? Rather than focusing on the mental impact of the crew's
involuntary exile or the intricacies of Vulcan physiology and ritual, this
episode turned into exactly what the previews promised: a sweaty,
cloth-ripping, heavy-breathing, neck-biting, sexual cliche that exploited
Klingon and Vulcan sexual response and made both look like something from a
side show.
	Story aside, I thought there was some terrific acting in there. Roxann
Dawson for one. She did a fabulous job giving us a glimpse into the battle
going on within Torres and her monumental efforts to control it. I hope
that some day Torres can experience love without it being forced upon her
by an outside influence. Robert Duncan McNeill for another. I believed in
his struggle as well Tom Paris he can be incredibly sweet and compassionate
when he wants to be and I've grown to really like him. The doctor's catalog
of mating practices was amusing in a sick sort of way and I loved the look
Janeway gave him. That scene was just begging for another crack about
mating behavior (as in Elogium) but all we got was Cold Janeway who didn't
seem to care that two of her crew were suffering. Nice to see some friendly
aliens for a change.
	There is a bright side to all this--we learned a couple lessons this week.
Doctors, remember that it's NEVER safe to release a patient with even a
trace of hormonal imbalance. And everyone, if an emotional Vulcan ever
tries to hit on you, run away. Very fast.

--Meredith Antonelli

UNITY

	I suppose it was inevitable that sooner or later TPTB would give Chakotay
a Babe of the Week in the hope of convincing us that he actually has
balls--I still don't believe it, but I guess he must have a penis or he
wouldn't have been thinking with it instead of with his brain. I'm
surprised the writers settled for Barbie of Borg, who's so similar to what
we've seen before--a cross between Kathryn and Seska--but it makes a
certain amount of sense, given the one-dimensionality of Chakotay's
interests; falling all over any long-haired alpha female around is one of
his trademarks. Despite her femme-fatale use of sexuality, I really liked
Riley. She's smart, she's survived adversity, she's a natural leader, a
science officer, devoted to her people, aggressive, resourceful,
sympathetic, and she knows how to have a good time. Reminded me of Janeway
on a good day. In fact, like Chakotay, for a moment I liked Riley better.
	And that's what I hated about "Unity." Not just that Chakotay forsakes his
only consistent character point--his professional and personal devotion to
Janeway--for a younger version of The True Meaning of Peace, but because it
made sense that he would. "Unity" makes Voyager look rotten. The ship's
been in space for years now, but, Chakotay's claim notwithstanding, we
don't have any real sense that it's a community. I can see where a
collective would be attractive to someone who's been stuck on Janeway's
crew, where the captain holes up painting and practicing tennis in her
ready room instead of making friends, where the junior officers are only
now getting around to socializing--largely because of alien holodeck
manipulation and sex diseases. Voyager's got the most depressing crew I've
ever seen, and Janeway's the worst--plus, as captain, she's the cause. We
should have seen episodes by now showing Janeway so happy and so skilled at
her job that we wouldn't stop to wonder whether that was enough to fulfill
her. Instead, we've gotten several episodes where she mooned over Mark, a
few shows where she had dilemmas about her role as captain, a couple where
she challenged her scientific principles. I have no idea what this woman
stands for, not even what makes her happy. I look at her marching around
with her big phaser rifle, giving inconsistent orders, denying herself
friends and lovers, sighing to Q that she'd like to have a child, and I
think, this is supposed to be a role model for women?
	If the goal of this season was to turn Janeway into a gun-toting automaton
and stop J/C speculation by convincing viewers that she's undeserving of
Chakotay's devotion because she can't reciprocate it--well, it worked. And
if the goal of "Unity" was to convince viewers that Chakotay's a rebel
without a clue who'll roll over and turn blue for any woman who can say
"That's an order, Commander"--well, it worked! I believe that this Janeway
and Chakotay have no romantic future together. Unfortunately, I'm also
convinced that they're a shallow, unhappy, incompetent command team.

--Sara Unger

	Voyager's new and improved third season makes it very difficult to review
the show without breaking into mad laughter or throwing something at the
screen. Besides violating classic Trek canon, they also seem bent on
trashing all the characters and making them into stiff, stupid and
unlikable remnants of their former selves. Luckily, Janeway and Torres
seemed to escape from Ken Biller's misogynistic meanderings during this
outing. Instead, 'Elvis' Chakotay went off on one of his boneheaded jaunts
with his gelled hair, testosterone, and stupid cells jacked up to their
very highest level. "Unity" fell into the classic hurt/comfort ravine that
is revered by fanfic writers and reviled by those who call themselves
professionals.
	My overall feeling was that I liked this episode, except for one very
important thing: the Riley/Chakotay connection. What's a viewer to think?
If there had been some kind of resolution between Janeway and Chakotay,
then I would have no qualms about giving "Unity" a complete thumb's up. I
also want to point out that it would have worked just fine if we hadn't
just viewed Chakotay clutching a very dead Janeway to his breast only two
weeks ago in "Coda." His overly dramatic heaving and crying in that episode
led the viewer to think that something was still simmering between them, at
least from Janeway's point of view. It also didn't help when they went off
on their "moonlight sail" on the holodeck.
	So, Chakotay appears to be a totally fickle cad, incapable of thinking for
himself and drawn like a magnet to the nearest Janeway clone. After getting
burned by Seska, you think he would be slow to trust another woman. But he
goes to this planet, and voila, he wakes up and seems instantly drawn to
Riley. Later, in one of the episode's truly awful scenes, we get to see
Chakotay kiss his own hand. This is just another example of a dysfunctional
Trek relationship. If Chakotay was drawn to Riley, why didn't he just kiss
her for real? On the other hand, while I was viewing this scene, I couldn't
help but think of those ads about safe sex where they say that you not only
sleep with your current partner, but everyone else they've been with too.
Not only was he with Riley, but he was humping the minds of the rest of the
collective as well--talk about a gang bang.
	Based on the fact that we know the Borg messed with his mind, there is the
distinct possibility that they did something to him while he was sleeping
to make him act like such a jerk. If Biller and company had incorporated
this idea, it would have been far more insidious and logical then the end
result we got. Also, why didn't the Doctor insist on examining Chakotay as
soon as he arrived back on Voyager with Riley? Are we supposed to believe
that he accepted the word of some former Borg, the Federation's deadliest
enemy, that Chakotay is completely healed? I know, I know, this is one of
those dinky little plot holes that I'm supposed to forget about because it
would completely blow the rest of the story out of the water. OK, never
mind then.
	The two guest stars were excellent, and I could not help but be drawn to
Riley Frazier and her Romulan friend. The framework of the planet also
provided an interesting backdrop. Although we learned some new information
about the Borg, it's still hard to determine whether any link remains
between these Borg and their counterparts floating about in First Contact.
	Beltran and Mulgrew were well utilized throughout the episode, even if
Chakotay looked like he was about to say "Doh" by the end. I especially
liked the visuals we got in the briefing room scene between J/C and Riley.
Chakotay never took his eyes off of Riley for a moment, and his obsession
with his new inamorata was duly noted by Janeway. The camera work was
delicate, and I liked the way Janeway's eyes flicked between the two of
them during their dialogue, as well as her subtle comment about Chakotay's
newfound connection to the collective. Chakotay had his back to her during
most of the scene, including the part where he looked out at the star
field. This bit was very Janeway, and was actually a nice role reversal for
them.
	The camera work was quite good. McNeill likes to use extreme closeups,
especially during times of emotional tension. The very last scene in
Sickbay also had a very interesting camera shot that reminded me of the one
in "Sacred Ground" with Janeway. We are a distance away and the camera
slowly moves towards the characters. Technobabble is swirling about
Chakotay's head with abandon as they discuss his link, and he looks
confused and lost. The expression on his face is priceless--he looks like a
little boy who screwed up and never seems to learn his lesson. This is the
second time he was fooled by a woman, and he really should know better.
Besides covering their duplicity, it is also entirely possible that the
Borg plumbed the rather shallow depths of Chak's psyche and quickly figured
out what made him tick. By using Riley as bait, they were able to
manipulate Chakotay into betraying his crew.
	This is a very interesting idea, and one which would have pushed this
episode into the realm of greatness. It also makes me wonder if there is
still something buried inside Chakotay that can be activated by some future
encounter with the Borg. Too bad he wasn't able to turn things around and
find out a few things about their technology while they were joined. Just
goes to show what happens when you're ruled by your hormones. I'm willing
to bet that Janeway would have figured out a thing or two. I also liked how
they paired Torres and Chakotay on the shuttle towards the end. Torres is
someone Chakotay is extremely close to, and he even managed to betray her,
one of his oldest friends. To me, this says that he was being manipulated,
and it makes his connection to Riley seem a little less odious.
	"Unity" was provocative, decently written and well directed. It certainly
is not in the upper echelon of Borg episodes like "Best of Both Worlds,"
but it's far better than the tripe we've been treated to lately on Voyager.
Besides, the musical score was wonderful.

--Elizabeth Klisiewicz

	Frankly, if I were a redshirt and somebody ordered me to land a
shuttlecraft on an alien planet in response to a distress signal, I would
seriously consider mutiny. They don't seem to cover the real hazards in
Starfleet survival training.
	The episode improves considerably after the clichéd beginning. The Borg
are the Borg, not some interchangeable menace of the week. We learn about
some of the positive aspects of being assimilated, and see a type of
situation in which constructing a collective mind might seem like a good
idea. Perhaps we're seeing history repeat itself. Will the initial
cooperative continue to dominate the new collective, creating a kinder,
gentler Borg? The ending is appropriately ambiguous--Voyager is not going
to stick around to find out.
	Chakotay's involvement with Riley Frasier is problematic. There's an
effort to establish common ground between them, but the chemistry just
doesn't work. Chakotay ordinarily seems fairly reserved, private; it
doesn't seem plausible that he'd agree to what is in effect group sex on
such short acquaintance. It's been established that he's not as suspicious
as one would expect someone of his background to be, but there are quite a
few red flags here. Her initial story is rather farfetched and lacking
details. If she was in stasis, how does she know how long ago it was? Soon
it becomes clear that she is attracted to him and thus has a motive for
trying to keep him on the planet. Why doesn't he ask more questions? As a
former member of the Maquis, one wouldn't really expect him to trust her
just because she's Starfleet, especially since she doesn't have
identification and doesn't indicate her rank or, initially, the name of her
ship.
	Janeway and Chakotay interact well, on the whole. There's a lot of mutual
respect and understanding. She's supportive of him; he feels free to
express his views but accepts her authority. If she feels jealousy, she's
not going to reveal it too plainly--appropriate, though not necessarily in
character, because she's generally pretty open about her feelings. The one
scene where she's slinking around his shoulders is awkward, though--it
emphasizes the difference in their heights too much, and the physical
closeness doesn't fit with the conversation they're having.

--Jennifer Loehlin

	Sweeps month can get pretty peculiar. I'd just washed my brain out with
soap after "Blood Fever" and was prepared to dislike "Unity." And then I
sat down to one of the best Voyager episodes ever. A happy surprise, and
almost more so for being a surprise. A colony of ex-Borg, trying to build a
new life-and partly succeeding. But still the call of the collective mind,
the warmth and comfort of subsumation in the huge mass of life and
consciousness. The true salient characteristic of the Borg isn't their
cybernetic implants-it's their unity. This tied in beautifully with First
Contact which had a strong minor theme of Picard's lifelong, unbreakable
tie to the Borg. "I hear them calling me..." he said at one point, and it's
not at all clear that Chakotay won't find that siren voice in his dreams
again. The machine parts can be surgically removed, but that hardly matters
in the end. The ex-Borg found the memory of the mental tie too strong. The
woman Chakotay grew so close to may become another Borg Queen, founding and
maintaining her own collective race.
	Was Chakotay foolish or loose to become intimate with Riley? I don't think
so. This wasn't casual sex. He was powerfully moved by an incredible
emotional experience, and had become one with her in spirit already, as
well as with the other members of the group. It wasn't love on her
part--more like strong attraction and need, coupled with the mind link, and
it wasn't love on his, though he felt very close to her, though the
immediate circumstances were artificial. Frankly, if any one of the group
had expressed an attraction to him at that point, when he could feel it
directly, he might have been tempted. He's much more open and vulnerable
than his captain, and more willing to trust people. He's run into trouble
before through his lack of suspicion, as he pointed out himself. But
Janeway knows that's one of his virtues as well as a liability. In some
ways, he's innocent. That others take advantage of that quality doesn't
mean his conduct is reprehensible. He was in character, and sympathetically
so, although his judgment didn't prove infallible.
	And the ex-Borg never registered as evil. They truly didn't realize how
profoundly they longed for the collective mind. When they used Chakotay as
a focus for their connection, they got in deeper than they intended. He
couldn't pick up on malicious intent when there was none. They were pawns
almost as much as he was, still bound to a way of life they thought they
despised. This story was real tragedy, with a sad inevitability to the
outcome. Only one fatal flaw in their character, the addiction to the
mental link, and with all their other advantages, they couldn't overcome
it. Riley was an admirable woman, but she was willing, even eager, to throw
away her individuality in order to gain harmony with others.
	Janeway came across better than she has for months. Her decisions and
reactions every step of the way made utter sense, and her ethical
consideration for those of the ex-Borg not participating in the decision to
reactivate the mental link was just right. She made her opposition clear
but not stiff, and in her presence, Chakotay seemed to realize the terrible
danger of the proposed course. Although still under the spell to some
extent, which Janeway sensed, he could pull far enough away from Riley to
come to the same conclusion as the captain. He wasn't helpless, even with
the voice calling to him. Only when the group grew desperate in forcing him
to do their will was he overcome, and then he gave in to something he
wanted and feared at the same time. The last scene in Sickbay, with
everyone discussing his brain chemistry and prognosis while he sat silently
on a bed with his feet dangling was a lovely visual description of his
feelings. Janeway, with her exquisite sensitivity, dismissed them all to
speak to him alone. This is the connection that really matters to him in
the end, one he could never cast off. Their relationship can survive a lot,
and has. The bond came across reasonably well this time, even with
Chakotay's "unfaithfulness" to a tie that's mostly on his side anyway, but
if it ever truly breaks down, that's the last time I'll watch Voyager.

--L.R. Bowen

DARKLING

	February sweeps are here, and the networks are attempting to bombard us
with their best programming in hopes that we'll boost their ratings. All I
have to say is, if this is the best that Paramount has to offer us, then
Voyager is in real trouble.
	"Darkling" is a coming of age story for both Kes and the Doctor. In Kes's
case, she has shed her mate along with her childish garments and has
graduated to skintight jumpsuits and handsome aliens of the week. The
changes are superficial, because Kes is acting even more childish than she
did as a one year old. It might be true that her affairs are no one else's
business, but when she insists on acting like a willful teenager, it's no
wonder that all her shipboard parents become overprotective. In the
Doctor's case, he is spreading his wings a bit and is trying new
personalities on for size.
	While this is an interesting concept, it's not enough to sustain an
episode for an entire hour. I did like the continuity from Fair Trade, as
the Voyager crew continues to explore the Nechrid Expanse and seeks
navigational aid from any willing alien race along the way. And, I also
liked the mention of an asteroid belt, because that is what we're supposed
to see next week in "Rise." Finally, I adored Kathryn Janeway here, even if
she has been relegated to the role of Kes's mother.
	If not for the acting talents of Picardo and Lien, "Darkling"'s writers
would flunk their exam in Screenwriting 101. They've also chosen to revisit
the Skintight Wardrobe Room which I'd hoped was locked for all eternity.
Gratuitous violence, sex and skimpy costumes might be palatable if there
was even the semblance of a good story here, but "Darkling" proves that
Menosky, Braga and the rest of the writing staff are running out of
creative steam.

--Elizabeth Klisiewicz

	I liked this episode from the alien's tall tale at the beginning to the
doctor's renewed Hippocratic Oath at the end. The two stories were well
balanced and interesting--Kes growing up and wanting to explore her world
and the Doctor's personality "enhancements." I'd heard it was coming but I
was surprised at how abruptly the breakup between Kes and Neelix was
handled. There should have been an entire scene about it instead of that
throw-away line.
	It was important to the story because it set up everything Kes
did--wanting to experience more of life, asking how much more there was,
staying up late and leaving work until the last minute, indulging in a
little crush with an alien--it sounded just like what humans go through
except we don't tend to fall for aliens unless they're on television or in
the movies. Her new outfits are...interesting, but I don't care for what
amounts to bodystockings.
	I loved the scene between Janeway and Kes in the ready room. I love the
little tidbits we discover about the characters in scenes like
this--Janeway used to procrastinate, she sees herself at a crossroads (I
hope we learn more about this), she's willing to help Kes ask the right
questions but isn't going to hold her back. I love this Janeway. And I
really like this Kes too. Janeway gave her the respect she deserved while
the doctor made her sound like a wayward teenage girl sneaking around,
kissing boys when her parents' backs were turned.
	I saw it as a lingering part of his experiments with personality
subroutines and evidence that something was going wrong. Everyone's got a
dark side. It's an important part of each of us, as long as we don't let it
take over our lives. But what if it could? Would it consume us like it used
to with Suder or like it did with the doctor? Would we even be aware that
it's taking us over or would we be oblivious until it's too late? Suder
knew, but he was trying to overcome it. The doctor was going for
self-improvement but he never had a chance to realize how badly it had
backfired. He attempted murder and then mutilated the holocharacters--that
empty torso and Byron's bulging forehead were awful, but they showed how
twisted the doctor had become. Bob Picardo gave another excellent
performance, taking us slowly through the changes going on in the doctor's
programming as the subroutines interacted in ways he'd never expected. Just
enough here and there to clue us in that something was wrong until he shut
down and his counterpart took over. His facial expressions were eerie.
	Torres didn't come across nearly as stand-offish as she sometimes does. In
fact, I think everyone did a good job. Even Chakotay, who makes a good
personal leaning post. It was very nice to see Sue Henley too! The aliens
were interesting people and I wouldn't mind seeing more of them. People who
travel for the joy of exploration--sounds a little like another group of
people we know.

--Meredith Antonelli

	This seems to be the month when all the actors are finally sinking to the
rotten level of the material they're given to work with. We had Kate
Mulgrew and Robert Beltran having histrionics in "Coda," Roxann Dawson and
Robbie McNeill making fools of themselves in "Blood Fever," and here even
the usually reliable Bob Picardo demonstrates that he's just as capable of
giving an over-the-top, not-even-funny performance. I might have liked his
glee as a bad guy better if this had not been one of the most tasteless
scripts ever--I can't say THE most tasteless, not after "Blood Fever"s
justifications for misogyny, but that scene with Torres paralyzed in
sickbay certainly came close.
	To be fair, this was a superlative Janeway episode--in fact she was the
only character I liked at all. The tenor of her negotiations with the
aliens was superb, as we realized she was just humoring the guy who was
exaggerating to her, and I enjoyed her informed curiosity about Kes' new
boyfriend. The ready room scene with her and Kes was just lovely, as are
almost all Janeway-Kes scenes; this one was less mother-daughterish than
those in "Elogium" and "Tuvix," and made me really feel for Janeway at the
prospect that she might lose one of her very few friends. Janeway is
apparently the only person on the ship who doesn't feel so proprietary
about Kes that she has to act like a patriarch. Thank god she's in command.
	As for the men in this episode, one came off worse than the next. Neelix
was absent, which was not his fault since we never got to witness his
breakup with Kes--are the producers really so chicken about emotional
intimacy that they can't even show it ending? Tuvok was damned offensive
lecturing her like Daddy Dearest, and the Doc...well, even his good side
was only interested in her as someone in need of his guidance and
possessiveness. His nasty side was absolutely awful; if I were Torres I
wouldn't go to Sickbay again if my life depended on it. They're doing an
interesting job turning her from a very strong woman into the kind of woman
who'll scream about a Borg and get stuck in the role of potential rape
victim. She jerks back and forth between anger and absurd vulnerability,
not the real kind of growth I hoped her relationship with Paris would make
possible. I forgot. This is Trek. Love is violence, and emotion is
darkness.

--Sara Unger

RISE

	I know people are going to disagree with me on this one, but "Rise" was
one of the better entries during February sweeps. How could it not be, when
all we have to compare it to are episodes like "Blood Fever" or "Darkling"?
I didn't even let the sight of Brannon Braga's name make me flinch, or the
fact that it focused on two of my least favorite characters--Neelix and
Tuvok. Because, quite frankly, it contained some nice character work, and
it's about time.
	Tim Russ was excellent, and there were times when I wanted to smack him
one for his condescending attitude, but let's face it--he's Vulcan, and
this is the way that Vulcans act. I don't know if anyone noticed that
Neelix appeared in a rather tight jumpsuit this week, but it was a far cry
from his usual outlandish garb. I can't say that the sight of Ethan
Phillips as Neelix does anything for me, but I'm glad to see that they're
balancing the scales a little bit. Neelix was actually pretty likable, and
I appreciated the fact that he came through for Tuvok and befriended the
young woman. The plot was as thin as the ionosphere they were shooting for,
but it didn't matter, because the actors carried this one through to the
end.
	I also wanted to mention that ending Kes and Neelix's relationship was a
good move, because there was never anything there to begin with.     I
should also point out that just about everyone has managed to find a
romantic interest this season--except for our dear Captain Janeway. There
have been many essays on this subject, but I still think that isolating
herself from everyone is a BIG mistake. Jeri Taylor had a golden
opportunity to do something different, and she blew it. She should never
have thrown "Resolutions" at us if she didn't intend to follow through with
it. Surely they could have resolved something on screen, or done something
on the loneliness of command. Anyway, this viewer is disappointed in the
writers, but I guess I never expected anything anyway.
	In summary, while Neelix doesn't play well as the hero type, it was still
nice to see him cast in something other than an idiotic light. His
interactions with Tim Russ were well done and believable, and I think they
managed to take a few steps forward in their character development. Decent
work.

--Elizabeth Klisiewicz

	So, this is the conclusion of February sweeps. Thank the animal guides,
it's over! "Rise" certainly wasn't the worst episode, but it just doesn't
seem worthy of a sweeps month. It was quite predictable, had a minimum
amount of action that barely kept my interest, and--most
importantly--lacked a moral.
	First the ranting. Why exactly was this episode written? The writers must
be running out of gas. Paramount executives, give TPTB some vacationing
time so they can clear their minds of cliché and mediocre storylines. The
closest thing I can find to a moral is from the interaction between Neelix
and Tuvok. Is the point about staying true to who you are and always giving
your best? Haven't we heard that before.
	Now, here's why I did like "Rise" to some degree: character interaction.
Neelix and Tuvok are like The Odd Couple of Voyager. I don't think they
have any more than a couple things in common ("Tuvix" notwithstanding).
It's about time someone else tells Tuvok the truth about himself more
explicitly than Chakotay did in "Twisted." I'm not much of a Tuvok fan, so
I smiled the entire time Neelix told him off. The closing scene was also
humorous, proving Tuvok wrong. And I'm all smiles for the fact that Neelix
wasn't portrayed as a fool in this episode. The poor guy has managed to do
some clumsy act nine episodes out of ten. I'm glad that he's finally had
his chance to prove himself and succeed.

--Charlynn Kate Smith

	This episode is a good example of why I think Trek should be about
relationships first and action second. Voyager blasting asteroids into bits
to save a planet's population is okay but on Trek, we already know the
outcome of most crises. It's how the characters work together to solve
problems that makes it so unique and appealing. And it's always interesting
when opposites like Tuvok and Neelix are involved.
	I knew it was too good to be true when Neelix said he knew about tethers
but I got excited that maybe he being honest this time. He hasn't shown a
real aptitude for anything other than bending the rules and blowing the
truth out of proportion since he came aboard Voyager so it wasn't
surprising that he had no actual experience with the technology; I was just
surprised that he was able to do as much with it as he did. How'dhe learn
all that from working with models? And if he could figure it out, why
couldn't Tuvok? Everyone else on Voyager seems to have interchangeable
jobs.
	Neelix had a good point when he reminded Tuvok that it was imporant to
help keep spirits up and he did well handling the aliens' anxiety over
their situation. But Tuvok was right. Morale was secondary to getting them
out of there safely and if Neelix hadn't spent so much time talking, they
might have had the third oxygen tank working and the other repairs
completed. He misrepresented his abilities and endangered everyone on that
away mission. As a Starfleet trainee, Neelix should be subject to the
standards of behavior expected of any Starfleet cadet. Tuvok didn't give
the Maquis in Learning Curve as much leeway as he gave Neelix in this
episode, and they hadn't volunteered for anything.
	I liked seeing them clash. In a way, both of them were correct--Neelix was
being his usual overly ebullient self and Tuvok was being very Vulcan. And
never the twain shall meet, it seems. Neelix has always shown a remarkable
lack of respect for Vulcan ways. He might do well to give Tuvok a little
slack, but it would be wrong to assume that the emotional approach to life
that humans and Talaxians and Ocampans and other aliens share is superior
to the stoicism and logic that Vulcans use. Perhaps it gives us insight
that Vulcans don't share, but as an emotional species, we'll never know
otherwise. Maybe Tuvok needs to bend a little too, especially if he's going
to work effectively with emotional beings but a dangerous away mission
isn't the place to start. Unless you're dealing with a stubborn Talaxian
who's giving you no other choice. I have a feeling those two could end up
being a very good team.
	I loved Janeway in this--she looked like she was enjoying her job for once
and I was cheering her on when she called "battle stations." I just wish
there had been more of her and less of the aliens. They left a lot to be
desired. With the exception of the woman, they looked like people who were
uncomfortable in front of a camera and were more of a distraction than
anything, especially on the bridge. Overall though, I enjoyed the episode.
Neelix's enthusiasm is refreshing among a group of people who sometimes
seem to forget that it's okay to laugh, and he was right about looking on
the roof, and he saved Tuvok's life, but I think he deserved something a
lot more strict than a commendation.

--Meredith Antonelli


*THE FUNNY PAGES*

[Diane Nichols delivered the following to us...]

DEAR NOW VOYAGER,

	It has come to my attention that certain episodes of my life and that of
Commander Chakotay have been bandied about rather freely in the recent
past, and that members of your organization have been among the biggest
bandiers. I would like to take a moment to refute the allegations made by
some of your more vocal members. Let me start by saying that I had NO idea
Chakotay was the type to kiss and tell. Even when we assimilated him, it
was not immediately apparent that this might be the case--all I got from
him, to be honest, was that he talks to some wolf and to his dead father,
and, frankly, I wasn't worried much about what either of them might have to
say about me. HE was a bit worried about Dad, but my feeling is that the
man is dead and it's time Chakotay figured that out and got on with his
life.
	Now, as to the idea that I took him away from Captain Janeway. After a
thorough exploration of his inner psyche, I can assure you that aside from
several naughty dreams--I particularly liked the one where they get naked
on the bridge while the disapproving Vulcan and various other interested
crew members watch--there has been absolutely nothing going on between
Chakotay and Janeway, unless you count one bathtub, one back rub, and one
episode of cowering under a table during a plasma storm. It's not that he
wouldn't LIKE for something to happen there. He's depressingly devoted to
her, and seems to feel a certain smug satisfaction in the idea of remaining
at her side helping to make her burdens lighter until such time as she
wakes up and notices that she's in a partnership with one helluva hunk. He
spends way too much time remembering silly offhand remarks she's made to
him about mating behavior, if you ask me. But aside from all that, there
really was no question that he was being unfaithful to Janeway, so those of
you who like to call me an alien space babe should just get over it. For
one thing, I'm not even an alien, I'm from Texas, for cryin' out loud! And,
Borg Babe doesn't cut it, either, since of course I Am Not A Borg. In the
interests of scientific accuracy, perhaps you all could refer to me as a
formerly Borg, now human Babe. I don't mind being called a Babe. In Texas,
that's a compliment.
	As to The Incident itself, I make no apologies for it. I'd been on that
planet for what seemed like eons with a bunch of wonderful former Borg who,
dearly though I love them all, just do not get me excited in any personal
way. When I was presented with a human male in the prime of life who not
only has all his own limbs but also happens to be what my granny would have
called "one fine lookin' galoot"--well, can you blame me for wanting to
play cowboys and Indians with him? I didn't think so. Heck, if he hadn't
already had that nasty injury, I'd have been sorely tempted to bonk him
over the head with something myself, just so I could suggest linking with
him!
	And that link. Well, I know you're all curious about it. Way TOO curious,
to my way of thinking. Lots of you want to know if the whole darn
cooperative--ummm--took part in the festivities. The answer to that is "of
course not"! We are a highly enlightened group, and having all been Borg
before, we recognize that there are certain things which are best done
privately. We would NEVER eavesdrop on each other in that way. Besides, I
told them all to butt out because I saw him first! I think Orem was
disappointed, but he'll get over it.
	Last, and far from least, I understand that Chakotay has been implying to
anyone who will listen that maybe my principles will fall sway to the heady
delight of being linked with my little group of Klingons, Romulans and
other miscellaneous species, and that we will become less interested in
living in peace and harmony and more interested in conquering the Delta
Quadrant, if not the entire universe. Now, I'm THRILLED to think that he
finds me capable of such a feat, but I feel sure it's just his guilty
conscience and his dreary devotion to that captain of his that makes him
believe that. I can assure him, and all of you Now Voyagers, that I have no
designs whatsoever on the Delta Quadrant--too many Kazon--and I don't want
Voyager either. I was a Science Officer, remember, not on a command track
at all.
	Thank you for your time. I am enclosing a check to join Kate Mulgrew's fan
club. I adore your newsletter, especially the fanfic.

		Yours sincerely,
		(Dr.) Riley Frasier


TOP 10 WAYS JERI TAYLOR REJECTED KILLING JANEWAY IN "CODA"
by Susan Johnson

10. Strangled by her own ponytail.
9.	Tripped over her high heels while carrying oversized phaser rifle;
tragic accidental misfire.
8.	Talent Night I: Put an apple on her head for Chakotay to shoot off; he
aimed straight for her temple.
7. Talent Night II: Got Neelix to dance the pas de deux from Swan Lake with
her; he dropped her, and she broke her neck.
6.	Victim of her own self-destruct order.
5.	Seska killed her in a fit of jealousy over Chakotay.
4.	Torres killed her in a fit of jealousy over Chakotay.
3.	Paris killed her in a fit of jealousy over Chakotay.
2.	Revenge of the Salamander Babies.
1.	Too much sex and champagne following CPR.


TOP 10 CHAKOTAY TALENT NIGHT PERFORMANCES
by Susan Johnson

10. Carving rocks.
9.	Carving headboards.
8.	Wrecking shuttles.
7.	Reciting the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution, Shatner-style.
6.	Fondling the tresses of any long-haired women around.
5.	Playing the stooge in Tuvok's latest spy plot.
4.	Marlon Brando impersonations--SESKAAAAAAAAAAAA!
3.	Modeling loincloths.
2.	Making up ancient legends to impress women.
1.	Showing off the rest of his tattoos.


A VOYAGER ALPHABET
by Sheena Ainsbury

A is for Alpha Quadrant where Voyager is from
B is for B'Elanna, the half-Klingon
C is for Chakotay, whom I'd like to tame...
D is for the Doctor, who can't find a name.
E is for Engineering where they have all the fun, but
F for frustrated when they can't get it done!
G is for Grief when they count up the cost,
H as in Harry, whose bound to get lost!
I is for Isolation, yet more to come
J is for Janeway, Kathryn to some.
K is for Kes, some think she's sweet,
L for Leola Root which Neelix loves to eat!
M for Maquis, a large part of the crew,
N is for Neelix, morale officer, too.
O for Ocampa, an alien race,
P is for Paris, the man not the place...
Q is for Q the omnipotent beings
R for RED ALERT, they've spotted Vidiians!
S is for Sickbay where the Doctor resides,
T is for Tuvok, his emotions he hides.
U is for Us - the fans on this trip
on V as in Voyager, our favourite ship.
W is the Wormhole they desperately seek,
X is for xenophobes, aliens make them freak!
Y is for YES, we want more J/C
Z we're in dreamland, where with them we'll be...


*KATEWATCH*

CREATION
11 JANUARY 1997, PORTLAND, OR

	Kate Mulgrew appeared at the Portland airport Holiday Inn on Saturday,
January 11, 1997. Now Voyagers on the scene included Beth Shuman, Dottie
Ronhovde, Judy Stapler and me. The convention itself was a typical Creation
con in terms of programming, with music videos, auction, contests, news,
previews and the like, but the organization left much to be desired.
Despite the operational difficulties, the convention was a success because
of Kate. As always, Kate was generous, open, charming and very funny. She
came onstage to a standing ovation from the huge crowd. When Kate could
speak over the din, she started by talking about how beautiful Portland is,
but then admitted that she'd only seen it from the air. Portland from the
air, though, is spectacular, with gorgeous mountains and scenery. Kate
talked about how although she is doing a lot of traveling, because of her
work schedule, she is in and out of places without having a chance to see
much of them and said that when Voyager is done, she wants to travel. She's
going to be on a plane to Istanbul.
	After that introduction, Kate talked for quite some time, 15-20 minutes
without taking questions. She repeated some comments made at earlier
conventions with some changes and embellishments, remarking on her fellow
cast members and how much she loves them. Kate talked about what it was
like working long hours late at night being the only woman on the bridge
with a bunch of men. The impression is that adult men after midnight are
not altogether different from the little boys they once were. She spoke of
spitballs and constant attempts to make her lose control. I can't remember
the exact phrasing she used, but I do recall wetting one's pants being
mentioned. She also did a hysterical pantomime of the mooning the boys do;
unfortunately, those of us with cameras didn't react fast enough, although
I suppose Kate would not be precisely thrilled to have photos of her
engaging in that particular maneuver. We nearly fell out of our chairs
laughing.
	Mentioning her co-workers individually, she noted that they are all
wonderful people and wonderful to work with. Roxann Dawson she considers to
be brilliant, Tim Russ, of course, is a "dead man." Kate spent some time
telling about the feud with Tim, including Tim's predilection for appearing
naked on the set. She told of a time when she had lines to say to Tuvok
when Tim was not required to be on camera. Tim was not dressed, and Kate
simply could not speak her dialogue to Tuvok while Tim was standing there
informally. So she insisted that he get in uniform, but did not want him to
go back to his trailer because they would have been there longer. She
wanted the uniform brought to Tim on the set; he could change in the
turbolift. So he did, but took forever, and she demanded to know what was
taking so long. The delay had something to do with having to put the boots
on before the uniform and Tim's failure to put the uniform on over the
boots.
	Jennifer Lien is a bibliophile, always with her nose in a book. She reads
a lot of classics. Kate said that she would like the opportunity to get to
know Jennifer better. Robert Beltran she described (after using such words
as divine and attractive) as a very good man, a very spiritual man. Robbie
McNeill is fun and always trying to crack her up, and Garrett Wang is
always making faces. She has a lot of respect for all her fellow cast
members, but my impression is that the one she perhaps holds in the highest
esteem in terms of acting skills and preparedness is Bob Picardo.
	Talking about Voyager and its situation, Kate noted that even though the
crew is not happy to be far from home, they are Starfleet and they are
explorers, and they find joy in discovering what is out in the Delta
Quadrant. Kate also discussed the hair issue (which I think she really is
quite tired of), her Catholic background, her two boys (also noting in
connection with the behavior of the boys on the set that she really does
understand boys of all ages), her passion for the role, and the
relationship of Captain Janeway with Commander Chakotay. Kate does not seem
to have become any more enamored of J/C as the series develops; she sees
the relationship developing as a passionate friendship, very intimate, very
spiritual, but without sex. Kate made the "Red Alert! Commander to the
ready room" joke she has made before, and it's always funny.
	More seriously, Kate talked about the issue of Captain Janeway and
sexuality and mentioned the loneliness of command issue, but with a new
twist. She drew everyone's attention to the rather large numbers of girls
and young women in the audience and pointed out that Captain Janeway is a
role model to these girls, and she wants to provide an example of a
dedicated officer to these young women. The unspoken assumption is that so
many girls get sidetracked from their goals, and Captain Janeway should
provide a model of dedication, professionalism and morality to these girls.
If Janeway were to start sleeping around the way that Kirk did, it would be
hard for her to provide a good example. There is no doubt that Kate Mulgrew
and Captain Kathryn do provide a very positive role model for girls and
young women. There were many, many teenage and college women in that
audience, and several told Kate that they were going into one or another
branch of the sciences partly because of Captain Janeway. Kate seemed to
have a strong rapport with these young women and takes them and their goals
very seriously, and my own view is that girls need role models like Captain
Janeway. I don't think that it is impossible for Captain Janeway to have a
committed relationship and still be a role model to young women, but alien
of the week relationships would play havoc with the credibility of the
character.
	After speaking for a time, Kate asked the audience for questions.
Unfortunately, Creation had set up only one microphone, and that was
located on the far edge of the stage from our seats on the side. Thus, for
most of the rest of her appearance, Kate stayed on that side of the stage,
usually facing in the direction of the person asking the question. She made
a real effort to walk around the stage a bit, but with the mike located as
it was, the situation was less than optimal.
	Someone asked if she did her own stunts, and Kate replied that she tries
to do as many of them as possible. She seemed rather proud that she is in
good shape (as she should be), and said that in "Macrocosm," she did all
but the roll-over-the-table stunt in the mess hall. She tried, but that was
a hard one and was very dangerous.
	Somehow the discussion turned to reproduction. A fan asked if Captain
Janeway would have a baby, and another audience member shouted out that
she'd had three of them with Mr. Paris. Kate disputed that those offspring
were babies but said that she thought that eventually, the show would have
to deal with Captain Janeway and reproduction because that is what the
demographic requires. Many in the audience expressed an opinion otherwise,
and Kate pointed out that the groans and moans and denials were coming from
the women, but that the male audience wanted to see stories of this sort.
She explained that the audience is something like 75% male (although I have
seen figures that put the audience at about 50-50) and that stories have to
be done to appeal to that demographic. She was asked whether we’d see more
of Ensign Wildman's baby, and she said yes, but explained that shooting
with babies was very difficult and expensive because they are allowed on
camera under the lights for only a few seconds. Kate did mention that she'd
like to do an episode where Janeway has to take care of Ensign Wildman's
baby and becomes attached to her and has difficulty in giving her back to
her mother.
	An audience member wanted to know what it was like working with John De
Lancie, and as always, Kate talked about how she and John are very close
friends. She loved working on "The Q and the Grey," but she wanted to know
how well the Civil War setting worked for us. The audience seemed mostly
favorable, but Kate mentioned that the Civil War was a controversial
technique. I do not recall exactly how the question came up, but Kate not
only said that Janeway didn't have sex with Q, and that it would never
happen. Speaking of things that will never happen, in response to a
question about when we would see Captain Janeway in a swimsuit on the
holodeck, Kate said a very emphatic "NEVER."
	Someone asked if Voyager would encounter the Borg, and she said that they
already had, not realizing that we haven't seen that episode yet. She did
not give any real spoilers but did note that these Borg are different and
that the story is very interesting. Overall, Kate was extremely careful to
avoid spoilers about upcoming episodes. Kate mentioned that she really
loves the makeup for the show and thinks very highly of Michael Westmore
and his ability to come up with new aliens. She loves being in makeup and
watching the aliens being created. An audience member asked Kate which
episodes she felt best showed who Captain Janeway is, and she said
"Resistance" because it shows Janeway's humanity, and "Death Wish" and
"Tuvix" because they show the tough choices Janeway is forced to make.
	Several fans asked questions that were a bit on the obnoxious side, but
Kate very charmingly deflected such questions. She was also very kind in
dealing with a fan presentation that became very long and drawn out. It's
too bad that Creation's security did not prevent the incident from
occurring, but I have a lot of respect for the way Kate handled it. Every
so often, Kate would say hello to someone in the audience, looking straight
at them. I was blown away when she said hello in my direction, not
realizing that she was talking to me, having recognized me from being in
the front row at three conventions and from Chicago, until Beth said,
"Isn't she looking at you?" I had somehow become distracted, so you can how
dumb I felt. Later, as we passed through the autograph line, Kate asked if
I'd heard her say hello to me. I am not certain of what I said except yes,
I had, and thanks. I immediately had a paranoid fit that she would think I
was a little on the less than swift side. When Kate was on stage and looked
over at me, I just couldn't believe that she'd been talking to me and
thought she was talking to someone behind me, so I didn't want to make a
fool of myself and wave or say anything. But Kate was very gracious to us,
and as Creation shoved Beth and me out of the room where Kate was
autographing, Kate called after us, "Thank you for coming, ladies," and we
thanked her for being there. I hope we didn't sound too dumb; we were so in
awe that Kate recognized us that finding words that didn't sound too
fannish was hard. I won't ever forget how sweet and kind and gracious Kate
was. Now that she recognizes me, though, I will always have to be on my
best behavior at conventions where Kate appears!
	My respect for Kate Mulgrew increases at each appearance, but not so my res
pect for Creation. The stage and dealers' room were in separate buildings,
and on the first day, the people running the convention were not clear as
to the location of the dealers' room. There seemed to be long lines through
most of the day. The venue is quite large, and most of the seats were
filled. Convention security seemed to be non-existent, which was a real
problem when Kate was on stage. Crowds of rude and rowdy young people
congregated on either side of the stage and kept shouting out questions and
comments to Kate while she was on stage. One young woman in particular was
a real problem on the side of the stage near our seats, but there were
noisy audience members on the other side of the stage. These people mobbed
Kate when she left the stage, something I have never seen happen at a
convention. Although there was a man who appeared to be acting as
bodyguard, even he seemed at a loss concerning how to handle the people who
would not let Kate leave the room.
	Another problem involved the autograph session. Holders of Golden Circle
tickets also were given numbered autograph tickets, and I at least was
under the impression that we would be called to the autograph session in
some sort of rational order. To the contrary, following a long and
unexplained wait after Kate finished her talk, we were called to line up en
masse, with no organization, a basic mob scene. Fortunately, things went
smoothly after that, although Creation suddenly seemed to find their
security people, who pushed us through the room where Kate was signing as
fast as we (and she) could move. I later discovered the reason for the
delay; Creation had Kate sign a stack of photos before we were allowed in.
It is simply too bad that they did not tell us what was going on or
approximately how long the wait would be. Once we were able to see Kate
again for a brief moment, the wait became inconsequential. Yet not even the
emcee knew what was going on.

--Mary Taylor

	Kate snuck out into the audience during the pre-show video. Creation
showed their wonderful "Sloop John B." Voyager video, which always brings
the house down. But once the crowd realized Kate was RIGHT THERE, they all
started screaming, so the video was halted and she was brought on stage.
	Kate started with an interesting monologue in which she recapped each
season so far. The first year was nerve-wracking, in her opinion. She says
she felt under great scrutiny and was nervous at first. She put in 85 hours
a week that season. She cracked everybody up when she said that it was a
good thing she didn't come into the world of Trek with any preconceived
notions, because if she had been deeply familiar with the whole phenomenon,
she would have "taken to liquor." Kate said, "All I remember the first
season is, "Will I survive, God?" I have tried to be a good Roman Catholic.
I prayed a lot, but I worked my...as you can see, there is very little
left." At this point she showed us her behind.
	In describing the second season, she said it dealt with defining Janeway,
and addressing her sexuality. "The dynamics have changed tremendously.
What's good for the goose ain't necessarily what's good for the gander.
Quite aside from the fact that I am still of childbearing years, I do not
believe it is appropriate for this captain to be gratifying her needs in
this manner. We have a different viewership now. In a way, I am responsible
for your watching what this captain is doing. I can't be jumping around
planets making love to strange aliens." Kate is very aware of the impact
that Janeway is having on young women, and she takes it very seriously.
Their impressions and perceptions seem to be utmost in her mind. She
reiterated her negative feelings on the J/C issue and stated that she would
like a very profound, intense, and complex relationship which transcends
sex. She said this has to be handled delicately, and will most likely be
done by mystery rather than fact, but that the audience must be appeased.
	Season Three so far is trying to figure out where Voyager is. Kate feels
that being in the Delta Quadrant is a very difficult thing the writers have
to contend with. She also feels the captain can only act within certain
parameters, but does want the other characters to start forming
relationships. It's time we saw some friendships. Perhaps they should spend
more time in the mess hall and make meals a regular thing--besides, Kate
thinks it's about time we saw Janeway eat something. Kate reiterated how
blessed she feels to portray a leader who "never drops her knickers, who
never begs, who never has to say she's sorry."
	She mentioned her great love for the other actors on the show. She really
seems to admire Roxann's deep spiritual life, her intellect, and her
talent, and referred to her as a true Renaissance woman. Bob Picardo is the
resident genius, and she loves his character of The Doctor because he is
"Everyman and yet he is not human, so he is deeply forgiven for any of his
flaws." Great stuff.
	One of the funniest parts of Kate's speech was when she feigned
complaining about the bad men on the Bridge. She feels she should be made a
saint for putting up with them as they become more and more naughty. "They
wait for my nice big close-up at 2:00 in the morning. You have no idea what
they're doing behind that camera. You innocent viewers think, 'Aren't they
lovely? They're standing there on the Bridge together fighting the good
fight." No, they're throwing spitballs at me; they are mooning me!" She had
the audience cracking up as she acted out the various antics of her fellow
actors. Kate also says that she gets concerned, just like a captain would,
that some of her crew don't get the good stories that they need,
particularly Roxann and Robert Beltran.
	She was asked what it was like being on Rosie O'Donnell's show, and said
Rosie was quite gracious and outrageous. However, she did say that her son
was mortified when the camera swung around to him! She was asked which
episodes show the best possible Janeway. She responded that she loves it
when Janeway is in a moral dilemma. She likes tough choices and epic
topics, hence her choices, "Death Wish," "Resistance," and "Tuvix.". One of
the stranger comments made to Kate was by one individual who lived way out
in the boonies, who said something like seeing Kate was better than looking
at a goat. Kate cracked up and admitted that she took that as a very high
compliment. Kate handled fewer questions in Portland than I have seen her
take before, but her speech at the beginning was very nice. I really
enjoyed hearing her unsolicited opinions on a wide range of subjects. It
was wonderful to hear her feelings on the first two seasons in retrospect.
Portland was a little--how shall I put it--different. It was a little
unorganized, perhaps a little unruly, but it was a heck of a lot of fun.
Perhaps it was just that laid-back vibe that fostered the more humorous
side of Kate to emerge. She was very funny, wickedly so at times, as she
engaged in playful banter with members of the audience. I loved it, and
just hope that Kate enjoyed it as much as we all did.

--Beth Schuman

INFINITE VISIONS
1 MARCH 1997, ORLANDO, FL

	This was my first real convention.  The guests included David Prowse
(Darth Vader), Richard Hatch of Battlestar Galactica, and first Terry
Farrell and then Nana Visitor of DS9. But both women cancelled, so Robert
Duncan McNeill took their place. I met so many members of Now Voyager and
Robbie's fan club. I was able to spend time with him while he was signing
autographs. I met a boy who told me that he had sent a homemade model of
Voyager to Kate, and I met Becky Olsen from Now Voyager and Pam Buickel
from RanDoM Flight. The best part, though, was the Q and A. Since there
were only a handful of us at the con, he paid close attention to the
questions.
	Someone asked about Tom Paris marrying Janeway. "Kate's fan club is here,
and I don't think that they would like it if she was to have a relationship
with Tom Paris--although I would, but my wife wouldn't let me," he joked.
He did mention his own fan club, but said that, no matter were they go,
Kate's fan club is the loudest. I was blushing when he said that. Someone
asked him whether he would have a relationship with B'Elanna; he said that
next season they would have more involment with each other, but he kept
looking at the few of us Now Voyager people when the subject of Janeway's
love life came up--he said he won't be directing that show when the time
comes! He talked about directing "Unity" and said he had wondered whether
Chakotay should have done more with Riley, but the producers said no,
Janeway's fans would be too mad.
	A kid asked him where were the bathrooms on the ship? Robbie said, "Well,
we'll have to do a show with me in the bathroom." He did say that they had
just finished for the season, and the cliffhanger was the crew asking for
the Borg's help. In one show, Martha Hackett will return. I think Robbie
was surprised to know that the people in the autograph line knew more than
he did. He said that he'll have to contact us for information on the show.
He did say that Kate will be involved with the crew more, and that each of
them will have a relationship. And there will be more alien races. He asked
us which was our favorite show. I said "Macrocosm," but then everyone said
the one he directed, which was "Sacred Ground."
	We made Robbie blush when a girl asked him if was into Star Trek as a kid
and he said he was a big fan of Lost in Space. He was speechless when June
Lockhart, who was at the convention, came up on stage and gave him a hug.
As this was my real first convention, I was pleased to say that I have meet
people from all over Florida and the nation in Orlando.

--Monique Harrell


*ONCE IN LOVE WITH JANEWAY*

KATE'S BABY PICTURES
Courtesy Her Mother

SOME GUSHY KATE QUOTES FROM AOL
Reproduced With Permission

	Why do I like this actress so much? Because ever since I can remember
watching TV she has portrayed strong, independent characters. Because you
can look at her on screen and see an actress who takes her job seriously.
Because when I had the opportunity to see her in person, I found her to be
a warm, caring, funny and considerate person-never condescending to the
overzealous fans who asked her stupid or terribly personal questions.
	I love her on Voyager because I am a female officer and I strive to run my
unit with the efficiency and passion that the character she portrays runs
her ship.  For that reason alone, she is my idol, the other reasons are
just extra.

--Annmarie (Anriebear)

	I think Kate has had one kind of impact or another on all of us, whether
it is her compelling presence that gives us so much enjoyment, or the
character she portrays who gives us such a wonderful role model, or the
person she is that inspires us to be whatever it is we want to be. I have
had the privilege of seeing her on two or three talk shows and on each, she
has been charming, witty, and unfailingly gracious. So many times when
stars are seen in their off-screen personas, they display traits that
disillusion and subsequently detract from a character they play on the
screen. I'm glad to say that so far, Kate has only made me admire her more.

	Ahhh, there's the word I've been looking for: "compelling." That's what
Kate is. That's why you can't see anyone else in a scene she's in. That's
why your eyes are drawn to her on the bridge, in the Ready Room, in
Sickbay, in Engineering, in the corridor--wherever she is.

--Sally (ILuvKate)

	Okay.  I might as well get this out. WARNING: This is verrry verrry sappy,
so don't read if you don't like stuff like that. Pooh, FEEL FREE to put
this in
Now Voyager.
	Kate Mulgrew changed my life...literally. About a year ago, I was in a
major deep funk.  I had no friends, bad grades, no life. Then in early
March, I watched my first Voyager episode. It was love at first sight. I
was totally amazed! Here was this woman, strong and competent, yet still so
feminine. And although I didn't know it right then, I subconciously vowed
to be just be JUST LIKE her. The positiveness I felt in Voyager eventually
spilled over to other areas of my life.  Now I am an A honor roll student,
have lots andlots of friends, and I am generally happy.

--Andrea (Sugarcool)


*KATHRYN  JANEWAY,  FEMINIST  HEROINE*

HELP, I'M IN LOVE WITH A HOLOGRAM
by Michelle Erica Green

	It is with great embarrassment and chagrin that I admit that lately,
Voyager has been making me cry. God, I hate when television does that to
me--it's not like Star Trek is King Lear or Romeo and Juliet. If anything,
it's more like the time I cried when Dusty said goodbye to Sue Ellen on
Dallas--hey, I was only thirteen. But you're probably saying, "Gack!", and
I agree. Why do I let TV do this to me?
	In particular, why do I let a show like Voyager get to me? My favorite
episodes are either hackneyed space opera or cheap melodrama. When I'm
thinking clearly, I can state unequivocally that "Coda" was hyperbolic
cliché--recycling plots from three TNG episodes, using preposterous devices
to wrench emotions from the audience. I mean, CPR as a excuse to get
Janeway and Chakotay liplocked? Showing the captain dying, over and over,
so we'd realize how much we love her? Giving Torres and Kim speeches to hit
us over the head with it? Give me a break!
	So why did Robert Beltran sobbing, "Kathryn! You can't die!" get to me? I
think I was ironically moved by the tear-jerking itself, a big change from
the action-adventure sex-and-violence we've been getting on Voyager lately.
"Coda" might have been transparent scenery-chewing, but it was also a
serious response by an executive producer to something she knew a segment
of the audience had been begging for--a segment which usually gets ignored,
since the network and most of the production staff has no use for it.
"Coda" was an episode for women and over-30s...people who think powerful
emotions and committed relationships have a place in a science fiction
show, who think that the relationships and emotions are in fact what make
the show interesting. I was moved by Chakotay, but I was also moved by Jeri
Taylor. I would like to apologize to her, because lately it's become
apparent just what she's up against if she wants Janeway to have any
integrity in the face of network narrow-mindedness. I have not always been
kind to Taylor on these pages, because I didn't think she was creating the
kind of character I'd hoped to see Janeway become. I don't need a Janeway
who's perfect, but I wanted a heroine, someone strong and smart and
consistent--something which is rare for any TV show. Even if Taylor could
envision a woman of the future unfettered by the prejudices of the present,
I doubt she could get such a character on prime time.
	In particular, I am ashamed of the way I attacked Janeway's holonovel. I
still hate it--can't stand the suggestion that a starship captain prefers
emotional interaction with fake men to real people--but maybe that was all
hitting a little close to home. We watch these episodes, we know these
characters aren't real. What the heck are we doing getting emotionally
involved with them? That's almost as pathetic as falling in love with a
hologram!
	Part of what makes me upset is disgust with myself for believing in these
characters, forgetting that they're as insubstantial as the cardboard
standup versions of them for sale at conventions--commercial concerns. I
cried over "Unity" too--the furious kind of tears you shed when you feel
utterly betrayed and you blame yourself for not seeing it coming. It's one
thing to be manipulated by one's own feelings for a character, quite
another to be jerked around by a network. The only thing that really
surprises me about "Unity" is that they didn't do it before. I don't mean
running into the Borg--that was inevitable, since Trek always recycles
successful marketing devices. I mean I'm surprised they didn't give
Chakotay a space babe. Every other man on the crew has gotten one, even
Tuvok, and given that they've had Chakotay mooning over Good Girl Janeway,
they needed Bad Girl Riley to point out all the reasons that frigidity is
more admirable than mature sexuality. They created him as a unique
man--introspective, spiritual, in touch with his feelings, not in the least
a stereotypical action dude. Of course they couldn't keep him that way; as
one of Voyager's writers put it, a man like that is "castrated" in the
science fiction universe. Especially if he serves under a woman. So they
fixed him. Made him over into a Kirk-Riker without the strength or
charisma.
	Why should I care if they demolished a TV character? I guess William
Shatner was right--I should get a life, me and all the people who've been
writing to and about the show in anger lately, demanding to know how the
writers could put in mindless action and sex in place of the characters we
love, placing ratings above any sense of artistry. Nonetheless, I'm going
to try to explain: the feelings I'm talking about--my feelings for Janeway
and Chakotay, and Kirk and Kira and the rest of them--are real feelings.
I'd like to pretend that it's the community of fans and not the characters
themselves who matter to me, but that's only partly true. While sharing
fandom definitely plays a large role in our enjoyment of it, and makes it
more interactive, we love fictional characters. Not because we don't have
lives, but because they offer us something. In the case of Janeway, for
some of us it was her strength, for some, her career success. For some it
was probably the way she negtiates in a nightgown. It's the same reason
people have been reading biographies and going to the theater for
centuries. We need icons, people to look up to. Who can blame us for
wanting to take Voyager seriously?
	Falling for a fictional construct isn't really all that different from
having a crush on a live person, except that it's even more one-sided. It's
only slightly less reality-based than pining after a sports star, a writer,
or the head of your company, and in many ways it's safer and more
rewarding. This is embarrassing and a little scary to admit...but you know
what I'm talking about or you wouldn't be reading this newsletter. Even the
people who are here for love of Kate Mulgrew, who wouldn't care about
Voyager if she weren't on it, are admiring a character rather than
interacting with a person. That's difficult to admit too--maybe especially
for me. While the person we see briefly at an event is much closer to The
Real Kate than any character she plays on television, that's a performance,
too. Improvised instead of scripted, but hardly an open book. Sure, Trek
actors talk about their own work and their own kids, but we're still seeing
personas, some carefully selected anecdotes and publicity plugs. Maybe Kate
Mulgrew is closer to Earth than Kathryn Janeway, but a lot of what we're
seeing is still what we project onto her. What we want her to be. It must
be a terrible responsibility for her to try to live up to that, just as it
must be a terrible responsibility for Jeri Taylor to try to write a Janeway
who lives up to the conflicting and contradictory demands put on her.
	I keep Voyager episodes I want to save forever on high-quality tapes, and
mediocre ones on cheap tapes ("Threshold," for instance, is on a Price Club
generic, while "The Cloud" is on a deluxe Maxell hi-fi). I have "Twisted"
on a good tape, and recently it occurred to me to wonder why, since it
seems to be universally reviled as a Really Bad Episode. I rewatched it,
and realized that I had saved it for one line, spoken by Chakotay--the old
Chakotay, the real Chakotay. He said, "I've always believed that what you
gain in love is greater than what you risk." That could be a fan's motto,
banal as it is.


"YOU LIKE THAT SHOW?"
by L.R. Bowen

	Yes, damn it, we do, and sometimes it's hard to explain why, even to
ourselves. That snide comment comes from all sides, even committed
Trekkies, and it's gained justification in recent months that could make us
hang our heads in shame. Many of us have defected, or divorced ourselves,
to judge from our complaints and the plunging ratings. We Voyager fans are
a mixed lot; some are old Trekkers who watched Kirk and Spock and never
really left. Many started with Picard and went on to Sisko. Some discovered
Janeway and a whole universe with her. We had such hopes, once. We were
still in the flush of new love. It had to wear off sometime.
	Not that the show itself isn't to blame for the criticisms. Many of them
are unfortunately just. We've fallen in love with an entity who has plenty
of problems and character deficiencies. It's easy to love someone who never
gets into trouble and never gets drunk and breaks up the furniture, and
never gets pissy and juvenile and insulting. But it's also easy to take a
stable, reliable entity for granted. We can't take Voyager for granted. We
never know what it's going to pull next. We've gotten to a state of
wariness, of mistrust, of calling ourselves idiots for having fallen so
hard in the first place. What did we ever see in it besides the reflection
of our own fond fantasies, we wonder? We tried to help mold it as it grew,
as much as we could with letters and reviews and even tirades. We thought
we saw potential.
	And it was there, though it's been largely squandered. All the best
opportunities for character growth and connection, whether through conflict
or through shared happiness, have been frittered away. What happened to the
Starfleet/Maquis conflict, which at first seemed to be the core of the
show? What happened to the conspicuously tattered nobility of Tom Paris?
What happened to the fiery (as opposed to randy) Klingon side of B'Elanna
Torres? What happened to the electrically edgy relationship between
Chakotay and Paris? What happened to the Kathryn Janeway who could make
friendly jokes on the bridge, touch and hug her crewmembers without a trace
of self-consciousness, tell off Chakotay with panache and then admit he had
been right without losing a gram of her authority?
	They still exist, in a way, through the medium of fan fiction. We take
those parts of the canon that we liked the best, the parts that seemed
right from the beginning and then slipped away, and we build on them and
amplify them to remind ourselves that they existed at all. But that doesn't
last. Sooner or later, we realize that the people we're writing about
aren't behaving the way we would like them to behave. No matter how vivid,
fan fiction isn't canon. Only the broadcast show is. It's in full-impact
color and motion and audio, and it's the only common ground all fans have.
So we have to go back to it, eventually. We have to deal with all the
wasted opportunities and idiocies and perversions of the vision, and try to
make them right. We have to find context for them, since the show's failed
to do so. Who can explain why Janeway has never responded to Chakotay's
obvious attraction to her? Write a story. Maybe the prospect frightens her
because she's loved and lost before. Maybe she's afraid Tuvok and Tom would
be jealous. Maybe she likes B'Elanna better. Anything, so long as it makes
sense of something that feels like a gaping omission.
	Did anyone ask us to take this show so much to heart? Judging from their
reactions to "rabid fans", most of the producers, writers and actors of
Voyager don't really know what our fussing is about. It's only TV, they
say. Don't get upset about it; don't worry about the constant Yet Another
Trek Inconsistencies, don't worry if a beloved character starts acting like
an evil changeling of herself. It's only a show. It exists to sell cars and
pizza and launch new networks. So they say, and from their point of view,
that's absolutely correct. American television production is not about art
or ethics or theology/cosmology or genuine emotion. It's a huge business of
copyright and cross-marketing. We're supposed to consume it and find it
mildly agreeable and buy the ancillary product lines, but true passion is
embarrassing and inconvenient. We are not supposed to care about it more
than the creators do; we are not supposed to make it part of our souls.
Well, sorry.
	We do care. We let something undefinable get under our skins, and it might
be there for life. Who can say what it is? The occasional flash of
brilliance in the writing? The almost uniformly wonderful acting ensemble?
The fact that a group of literate, intelligent, caring people are fans
right along with us and understand that elusive fascination? Love is blind,
and in this case, possibly brain-dead. But let Chakotay toil with hands and
medkit and sheer desperate grief to bring it back to life, and we can feel
it revive. Maybe just a thready pulse, but enough.


*THE KATE MULGREW FILM FESTIVAL COLUMN*

DEMOLITION DAY
by Kathy Altom

	Argh. The world through the eyes--make that the fantasies--of
thirteen-year-old boys. Where's my virtual age machine? I need to lose some
years. One of the boys is being harassed by a principal for blowing up the
restroom. All right, set that dial. Thirty years ago my father gave me a
chemistry set and proceeded to lock up over half the chemicals so I could
safely play with it alone. A challenge! ... Now he's screaming at me about
how I could have been hurt. Like I'm so stupid that I didn't go hide behind
the metal filing cabinet since I was TRYING to blow up the lab. I think
I've got it, back to the movie, but not without a good book to read at the
same time.
	The foolish FBI agents--after all, they are adults--killed all of the
terrorists who planted a homemade nuclear bomb in Los Angeles. Three boys
find the bomb but fail to notice that its timer is running. They won't give
up their shot at power by just notifying the authorities that they found a
bomb when instead they can blackmail the city into closing school.
	Oh, finally, there's Kate. She's the mother of one of the boys. Oops,
she's off to the beauty parlor while her son plots to blackmail the U.S.
government into doing something worthwhile, if only he can think of
anything worthwhile. Now the FBI's at Kate's house. Her son is wanted by
the FBI. She's playing an adolescent boy's idea of an hysterical mother.
It's a terrible role, but Kate's a master. I wonder what her kids think of
this role? (Let's not forget that actors have to work in order to get work,
not to mention eat.)
	Finally, the chase scene, it must be almost over. The FBI can't catch
three boys on bicycles. In the end, the boys save the day, in spite of the
bungling adults, and all is forgiven because now they're heroes. So, they
seize their opportunity to be world- class jerks as well. Who puts up money
to make this sort of garbage?


FATAL FRIENDSHIP
by Nancy Molik

	Yet again, Lifetime managed to dig up a television movie starring our
Kate. I turned it on preparing for the same thing that I've been seeing
recently in those movies, i.e. Kate playing the cold, snobby wife or
ex-wife of the main character. The first scene she was in reminded me very
much of the opening scene of Danielle Steele's Daddy, and I was sure that
it was just a matter of time before her character, Sue Bradley, either left
her husband Mike, played by Kevin Dobson, or killed him. Soon, though, it
became apparent that her supporting role in the movie was exactly that: a
wife concerned about the welfare of her husband, her family, and their best
friends.
	 The premise: two best friends and their families have a typical
white-picket-fence relationship. The two grew up together, were on the ball
team together in school, and now they go on vacation together and spend
weekends together, families and all. Things are fine until a series of
murders leads Mike to suspect that best friend Hank, played wonderfully by
Gerald McRaney, is working more than just 9 to 5. And then the fun begins.
It's made obvious from early on that Hank IS the one responsible for the
deaths; but the reasons, which were only a partial surprise, aren't given
until the very end.
	It was a nice change of roles for Kate from what I've seen; she plays
the-woman-next-door very convincingly. Her scenes with Dobson are warm and
passionate without being over the top, and her scenes with Hank and his
wife, played by TNG regular Patti Yasutake, are effective in their
simplicity. In this movie, we get no glitz, very little glamour, but quite
a bit of heart, and it's easy to believe that these people might just live
across the street. It suits Kate very well, and so while the ending was
depressing, I came away satisfied knowing that Kate can play roles other
than just the Ice Queen that she's played quite often in the past in TV
movies and can play them expertly.


*THE PEOPLE PAGE*

WINRICH KOLBE
By Beth Schuman

The director of "Caretaker," "Resistance," "Remember," and several other
Voyager episodes, as well as many TNG and DS9 shows, including the highly
acclaimed TNG finale "All Good Things...," Rick Kolbe is currently working
on Millennium among other projects. Beth talked to him last month on the
phone, after meeting him at a couple of conventions which he attended with
Kate.

NV: How did you get interested in directing and what do you like most about
it as a career?

RK: What intrigues me about it? Power!  No, actually, I like
storytelling. The visual storytelling that a director goes through, in
addition to the emotional storytelling, is much more rewarding than writing
a story. Writing, to me, is an exercise in futility. I don't have the
patience. Whereas if I have a good script, I can dive into it, totally
immerse myself into it, and then tell the story on the screen. That, to me,
is fantastic. That's a rush. There's also disappointments in there, because
you might not be able to ever get your head into a story because it's a
shitty story. But if you have a good story and you really can immerse
yourself, and I basically go under, the world is gone to me, that is a very
gratifying experience.

I studied architecture before I came to Los Angeles. But when I came to Los
Angeles, I just couldn't see myself doing architecture. So I switched over
to film and graduated from UCLA in 1971. I got into Universal as a
production assistant, and later on as an associate producer. I did the long
form for McCloud, Six Million Dollar Man, Quincy, and then in '77, I
directed my first episode of Hardy Boys. After I finished Battlestar
Galactica in 1978, I left Universal and started directing full time.

NV: You have said that you don't consider yourself an action director, per
se. You're more interested in the character-driven stories?

RK: Yeah, character or maybe suspense. I really don't particularly care for
people hitting each other over the head with various devices of their own
or others. I don't like car chases, although I love to watch them. But they
somehow scare me. A good action movie I am always willing to see. But I
prefer a movie like Point Blank, for instance, or The Usual Suspects, for a
more recent film. That, to me, is something I am really very much
interested in. The human predicament under stress.

NV: Speaking of character stories, what about "Resistance"?

RK: "Resistance" was wonderful because it touches something that is very
close to me, which is bigotry and, in a way, genocide. That was something I
could get my mind into just from the subject matter. It also didn't hurt
that we had a damn good script, and it didn't hurt at all that we had two
wonderful actors. Neither one of whose name I really can remember. One of
them was, uh, Katharine Hepburn, no, what was her name? Kate Mulgrew, oh
yes, and Joel Grey. The two of them really had a field day in that, and I
think it shows on the screen.

NV: It's interesting that that type of episode was directed by a German.

RK: I think, as a German, we have a unique historical responsibility to
make sure that something of that nature never, ever happens again. It
becomes the beacon if we do it right. To do that episode was really
catharsis for me.

NV: What is your work cycle like? How often do you work? Do you have a lot
of down time?

RK: Well, it takes a while to recuperate from an episode. I try to do 8-9
episodes a season. I have reduced my commitment to Voyager considerably. I
did one episode last season; it's possible I might do one episode this
coming season. I believe I've done too many.

NV: Why do you feel that?

RK: Well, first of all, I have a career, and at some point in time Voyager
is over. If you get buried too much in this town into one project, people
will not remember you anymore. So, I decided two years ago, in January of
'95, together with my new agent, that we would now spread myself out. First
of all, I'm not feeling too fulfilled in episodic [TV]. There's a lot of
stuff that you think you can do quite well, and you're booked for it
because you never really know about a particular script until you have it
in your hand. By that time, you're prepping. So you don't have a choice to
say beforehand, "Give me the script. Let me look at it. Oh my God, it's
awful, or it's wonderful." So you start with whatever they throw at you.
Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad.  My goal right now is to spread
myself out and to re-introduce myself to other studios who have totally
forgotten me because I was basically an employee of Paramount for such a
long time.

I also want to spread myself out creatively as well. I am very much
involved in Millennium at this point in time. That is something that I like
to do. Those stories are consistently quite well written. Very demanding,
very challenging, but also very fulfilling. My goal is to eventually get
out of episodic and do MOW's and maybe even features. Whether I will work
or not, I don't know. I might as well try.

NV: Does the darkness on Millennium ever bother you? The violence?

RK: No, not really because it is in context. It is not gratuitous. There is
a philosophy behind it.There is a story behind it. It is dark, yes, and I'm
not sure whether I want to do more than four episodes a season. I need to
get out of that. I feel sympathy for the crew who have to work on it on a
daily basis. We recently finished an episode shortly before Christmas in
which a burned body of a young woman was autopsied. The puppet, the doll,
the body, was so life-like, or dead-like, if you will, that one of our
actresses really had a hard time getting with it. I know that I was walking
around trying to take the camera as far away as possible. It was so
realistic.

But on the other hand, that's what violence results in. There's nothing
that tells the audience if I pull a gun, the other guy goes down, and I
know he's an actor. He's going to fall down, and we don't see anything. The
spectre of violence in me has been curified in television.

NV: The impact of it is lost ...

RK: Exactly. It becomes an abstract thing. Obviously, it can work. It's not
so much, in my opinion, to reduce the depiction of violence but the
frequency of violence. That is the problem. I think once you show what
violence does, you show what a bullet does, the audience cringes and says,
"My God, I didn't know that would happen." I think it's an education; it's
a learning process. But probably also a turn-off. We're kind of caught
between a rock and a hard place.

NV: How is it working for Chris Carter as opposed to the whole slew of
writers and producers you get for Star Trek?

RK: Well, you get the same slew. I think you have more of a slew with Chris
Carter. But you also get Chris Carter, who is a writer, whereas Rick Berman
is not a writer; he is an executive producer. So things are different, and
you deal with somebody below. I'm not trying to say that the hierarchy is
better at Millennium than at Voyager, but it's slightly differently
structured. I have more freedom in a way on Star Trek: Voyager because I
think I kind of set a certain tone for myself. This is not necessarily
always what Rick Berman liked. We still argue about some of my shooting
style. It sometimes drives him up the wall. On the other hand, we both
recognize that I'm not Rick Berman and he's not Rick Kolbe. We have found
over the years that we work quite well together. On a personal level, I
think I am closer to him than I am to a lot of other producers I have
worked with. He was actually the one who told me, "Don't get bogged down in
Voyager. Spread out. You can do it." He encouraged me and has been very
helpful in providing me with good references whenever they were needed.

I sometimes in a moment of anger and disappointment say Star Trek is
fossilized. Especially when there is a bad story coming up. But it is
institutionalized almost. The style really hasn't changed that much. I tried
to change it for Voyager, but was only partially successful, as far as
photography is concerned. I wanted it to be darker, but that was not what
Rick and his people had in mind. So, you know, that is the way things
develop.

NV: I think a lot of people thought Voyager would, from the premise,
involve the two crews coming together and have some friction there. That
never really came to pass.

RK: No, and I had long discussions about it during the pilot. I said,
There's got to be more suspicion. There's got to be more, "What are we
going to do if we get back [to the Alpha Quadrant]? Are they just going to
let it drop?" There should be hesitation. But that is part of the original
message--you don't want to have conflict on the bridge. I tried to get
conflict and at least disappointment, anger, and frustration on the bridge
during TNG. I was not very successful because it wasn't in the writing. The
writing obviously came out of the concept, and the concept was one of
optimism --that we all work together.

It got changed a little bit for Deep Space Nine. Deep Space Nine was
darker. I guess everybody figured we have one dark show on there, so we
don't want to have another one. So Voyager got again into this kind of...I
would at times would say "fluffy optimism." I guess especially with a
woman; with a female captain, that was exaggerated to a degree that, to me,
I wish they would just try to figure out what they really want up in there
as far as the captain is concerned. And write for it, show some balls. To
me, it isn't there. I think part of the problem is maybe that the writers
are burned out.

NV: These are some of the same writers that have been writing since TNG.

RK: How many times do you want to tell the same story? It almost seems to
me, just throw everybody out and start brand new. But that's a risk. I
would say that part of the failure, Voyager is doing quite well in the
ratings but I think it could do much better, is because it just retreads
old territory. I don't think the writers have yet found a tack on Captain
Janeway.

NV: Perhaps they have too many male writers.

RK: Well, they have a female co-executive producer. But who says that women
find tacks on women? There have been a lot of women's roles which never
really were realized even though they were written by women. Let's face it;
women grow up in the same society that men grow up in. If you don't get an
understanding of what you want to be as a woman, then you can't write about
it either. It's hard. They've been playing around with all kinds of little
adjustments, but ultimately it seems to me nobody really knows what to do
with her.

NV: One week we see her with big guns-a-blazing, and the next she is all
soft and warm. It's not consistent, and that's frustrating for the viewers.

RK: Even more so for the actress because she really would like to get out
of this system that it is a hardware show and that acting is really only
secondary. But she needs to have the playing field in order to do that. If
they put her into a tee shirt and give her a big gun, then fine. Good Lord,
we've seen that 10,000 times. It doesn't do anything. People want to know
characters, see characters, listen to characters, get involved with
characters and the stories that the characters are in. And if that isn't
there, then the best performance won't help it.

NV: Do you get to see the episodes you do?

RK: No. First of all, I'm busy. Second of all, I never find out when they
air. I mean I could make an effort, but I don't. And thirdly--I bought a
laser disc a couple days ago. I was buying some laser discs because that is
my exposure to movies. I go through those and buy the ones that I really
like. I saw a whole collection of Star Trek: The Next Generation. I also
saw my last episode, the finale. I looked at it, and I didn't care for it
too much. Except for the last third of it I think I felt better. I don't
know what it was. That last third, to me, was more where I am right now.
Obviously we all grow, and I am certainly not finished growing. But it
seems to me that it was too 'television' at the beginning. That may be part
of the reason why I don't like to watch my own shows. Because there is
always what I had in mind and what I was able to do for a variety of
reasons, whether it's logistics or own limitations. It's disappointing.

NV: Kind of "of the moment" and to watch it later causes you to think about
what could have been...

RK: Yeah, I think, "God, if you would have moved the camera just an inch
over there." Or if you had asked that particular person to do it again, and
not print that one. So I guess we all go through that.

NV: Do you spend a lot of time with the actors ahead of time?

RK: No. We rehearse before we shoot. [The actors come in] with their lines
hopefully in their head. The bridge scenes usually you let the actors do
whatever they want to do. I try to get as much movement as possible in
there so they don't get static. It's tech-talk mainly, so the actors know
that character quite well. It's when the guest actor comes in. We did
extensive rehearsals with Joel Grey and Kate when we did ["Resistance"].
Because Joel is a film actor, he gets a lot more time. They shoot a page or
two a day, and we ran through seven or eight a day. But that is fun because
it really forces me to deal with the character, which sometimes I have a
tendency to overlook and go for the visual.

NV: Do you have any input into the choreography for the scenes, or do you
let the actors determine the action?

RK: Well, I'm known as Mr. Well-let's-see-what-happens. I have an idea of
what I want to do. I know ahead of time what the scene is about and what
the objectives are, what level of involvement I want from the characters. I
also know the previous scene and how it ends, and how I want to start this
scene and end it in order to transition to the next scene. I try to let the
actors work it out unless they just stand there. I hate it when people
stand there. And it happens quite frequently in episodic television,
because it's the quickest way to light a scene. I'm not known for shooting
the most efficient way. I have driven a lot of D.P.'s and producers up the
wall because I like to get a certain flow into it, and let the actors and
the story and characters decide the flow. And that takes time, but I think
I get a better result with that because the actors feel more comfortable in
doing a scene. And that's part of my job--to make the actors feel as
comfortable as possible.

NV: Remember the scene in "Resistance" with Joel Grey, when he dies at the
end? There are a lot of close-ups there, so that was a whole bunch of
different shots, a lot of takes?

RK: Yeah, now that was a difficult scene because we don't want it to be
maudlin. But I also had talked to Kate about it, and I said, "We need to
have emotion in there. This cannot be the captain who just stands around
stoically. If Patrick Stewart would stand around stoically, that's
fine...that's Jean-Luc Picard. But you are not Jean-Luc Picard. You are
Janeway, so show me what Janeway would do. And let's push it." And so we
did a lot of close-ups in there because I really wanted to explode on the
screen with that and make it a very, very personal moment between the two
of them.

NV: Who decides on the lighting for these scenes? There are some scenes
where Janeway can be lit all soft and warm, and then the next scene she'll
be lit harshly. I'm sure it depends on what the scene is about...

RK: It depends on the script and also on the director of photography. But
I'm involved in that one as well. I have very precise visual ideas and
quite frequently I will talk to the D.P. and say, "This is what I want to
do in this particular show." Being totally aware of the fact that there has
to be a continuity in the show, I cannot suddenly go in and shoot
everything in the style of NYPD Blue. But I can do a scene that way.
Sometimes it's accepted, and sometimes it isn't accepted. I have re-shot
scenes where I did something that they didn't like, but then I like to push
the envelope, at least to a degree. I mean, I'm not an experimental
director, by any means, I'mnot Ken Russell. But I want to get a more
filmic look into an episode. Part of the reason I am being hired that
frequently is because I don't shoot television. I shoot, I look, at
features. I don't think I've looked at television in quite a while. So that
look is different, the composition is different. It's a little more daring
in film and to me it's more challenging. I can get something different in
there without offending everybody.

NV: What are the most difficult types of episodes for you to direct?

RK: Action. I don't really like to do them. They scare the hell out of me,
and I get anxiety attacks the night before. Because you never know what is
happening and plus, my mind just isn't there. I don't see any connection
between myself and what is happening over there. Usually I hope I get good
stunt coordinators and then I can say, "Now this is what I would roughly
like to see. Work it out, and call me when you're ready and I'll take the
cameras and put 'em in there."

NV: Do you ever wish you had more extras?

RK: Oh yeah, always. For some odd reason, unit managers have the feeling if
they're over budget, get rid of the extras. I had that in "Remember."
Because we had that big scene in there where the father talks to all the
people in the village, right? My standing joke was, "You'd better start
shooting fast because if we push for another day, I'm not going to have
anybody in there." It was just...it got less and less extras. The
unfortunate thing is, by that time, they had built this wonderful, big set
which I couldn't shoot because I didn't have the extras! So that was kind
of a waste of money, in my opinion.

NV: Of all the Voyager episodes you've directed, which one would you say is
the one you're most proud of?

RK: Oh, that's interesting. (Goes through each episode.) I don't really
know. I obviously liked the pilot, but overall, probably "Resistance." I
have an arrow in here--two shows that I did that season. One is
"Resistance," one is Space Above and Beyond: "Who Monitors The Birds," That
was a show that ran for 42 minutes without a word being said. That was a
challenging affair. So, I have two arrows, and one is "Resistance," one is
"Who Monitors the Birds."

NV: What about general Trek that you've done. Are there any episodes that
stand out?

RK: Obviously the final episode of TNG stands out. But that is kind of
marred by some emotional turmoil that permeated the set, and included
myself in it. But it was a rather well done episode. Although as I said, I
saw it last night and felt kind of bored  which was disappointing.
There was an episode I did with Patrick where he was captured by Nagillum,
I guess was the guy's name. They wanted to test whether humans are really
loyal and can persevere under adversity. That was a rather interesting
episode. "Allegiance," that's it. That was a fascinating story.

NV: What's the difference between directing Star Trek and other types of
shows like Millennium or Lois and Clark?

RK: With Millennium, there is more of a mood in there. That is very
important and that's something that Chris Carter is known for. And so he
develops a stable of directors and writers and works with them because he
then can trust these guys. It's not a show that takes any director. You've
got to have a certain style, a certain feeling, and it's got to match his.
It's very subjective filming where again, Voyager is more objective because
the camera basically stays outside and that's in the writing, that's in the
whole concept of the show. I like to get into it. I like to explore the
emotional psychology of the camera. I want to see how far I can push it so
it becomes a participant.

Last night we saw Breaking the Waves. Now there you have a very subjective
camera. And then you look at another movie like Jerry Maguire or even The
English Patient and it becomes more objective. So that intrigues me about a
show like Millennium.  I can get in there and really put part of myself
into the story. That's the challenge there.

NV: Who are some of the other directors that you admire?

RK: Corey Allen, I have always admired Corey Allen. He did the pilot for
The Next Generation. He was an actor, and became a very good director. I
like Scorsese. I like Renoir. There are so many. Orson Welles.

NV: What is it about these people that attracts you?

RK: I think they stage quite well. They know the whole gamut of how to tell
a story on the screen. I think there are a lot of movies that come up there
which are great stories, a hell of a good movie, but as far as telling the
story visually, there's nothing there--or not enough. Because usually, most
of the time, they are writers and you can see they are struggling. You look
at a Scorsese movie and there's a style in it. I am reading David Lean's
biography right now. There's a style in there. Now, you can say that if you
have too much style in there the movie becomes cold and almost stylistical,
which is true. Lean can be accused of that. If you see a movie like
Breaking the Waves, you go into a totally different direction. But there's
a style in that one as well. There is a reason the movie was shot that way.
Shine is another perfect example. As a matter of fact I think I'm going to
vote for Shine for the DGA Awards, because to me that is a movie that is a
movie. It's not just recording of images to convey words and ideas to an
audience. But to really suck you in, you become part of the play. I like to
go for directors who can do that. I want a point of view.

NV: Who have been some of your favorite actors to work with?

RK: Joel Grey is great. Lance Henriksen. Kate, no doubt about it. I like to
work with Carroll O'Connor. He was not easy, but he has the same quirky
attitude that I have. He's kind of weird at times. Interesting storyteller,
but also rather stubborn and ornery. But then, hey, they're not being hired
to be nice to you, they're being hired to give you a point of view, some
acting.

NV: I know you've attended a couple of conventions with Kate. How do you
feel about that whole experience?

RK: It's an interesting experience, but I'm torn. For me they are kind of
weird because I don't think I've ever been in so many cities without
knowing anything about that city. You go in there under the cover of
darkness and you leave under the cover of darkness, so to speak. And you
sit in weird rooms without windows and you hear squeaking noise
amplification devices, and then afterwards, I wait for Kate, and sometimes
it entails to be with all the people who are waiting in line. And it's kind
of...you look at these people and say, "What is it?" I mean, these people
live Star Trek. And I haven't quite figured out the phenomenon yet. [It]
intrigues me.

NV:  I know for myself, it's the chance to see the actors because
there are so few shows that you would actually get to do that.

RK: It's kind of like, what is the difference between that and Lourdes. You
know, the French pilgrimage. What is it? Are we missing the king? And I'm
sure there's some of that--we need heroes and that's the only heroes that
we get these days, since there's no mythology short of Paul Bunyon, I
believe, that is American. So I think there is that preoccupation and the
hero-worship. We've got to have somebody to adore, and in our case, it's
the actor. So we have our own spectacles, and this is one of them.

NV: Do you ever feel uncomfortable being there?

RK: I have only appeared once, I believe, because somebody asked a question
about transporter beams. And Kate decided that she didn't know a damn thing
about it, and she called me up. Other than that, I have basically been
waiting for her because she wanted me to be there. It's kind of a lonely
affair. You sit in a hotel and wait and wait and wait until they call you
up. And so this way at least she had companionship, and that was the only
reason why I went up there. I really never participated in the event. I
think I've been invited a couple of times, but it never really intrigued me
to that degree. And so I always said no. The only reason I went there was
because of accompanying Kate.

NV: I imagine with the schedule that you two have, it must be hard anyway because all these conventions fall on the weekend. Sometimes that's your only time together anyway.

RK: Exactly. Especially for Kate it's hard because there are the children.
The weekend is usually the time that she can have a few more hours with
them. And so that's the basic reason why she has not appeared more times
than she has. It's not out of disrespect. She's a mother; and a very, very
convinced mother. It's really amazing to see her. She will bring the
children to school if there's half a chance that she can make it to the
studio. And she will pick them up, and she will be with them, I mean
it's... She will have vacation with the children where I will not
participate because it is just between the three of them. So she's a very,
very committed mother.


*BOOKS  AND  COLLECTIBLES*

VOYAGER #9: INVASION: THE FINAL FURY
By Dafydd Ab Hugh

 	The Invasion series is an interesting idea: telling parts of a story at
widely separated points in space-time is a challenge, and any attempt at
Trek continuity is to be welcomed. I can't say I'm a big fan of the Furies
themselves, though. I don't like the von Danikenesque suggestion that
Terran myths have real, extraterrestrial origins--and the myths in question
do not have the power attributed to them. The Voyager novel is reasonably
exciting, nonetheless. The author has put effort into making the science
and technology plausible; he's not 100% successful, but good enough so I
don't feel like saying "Hey, wait a minute!" and dragging out my college
physics book. He also does fairly well in the category of General Trek
Knowledge. Voyager knowledge, on the other hand, is often lacking. The
holodecks and replicators use the same power grid? The captain's quarters
open directly onto the bridge? Tuvok calls Janeway "sir"? Chakotay calls
B'Elanna "Mr. Torres"? The captain's name is spelled "Katherine"?
	Most of the characters, not surprisingly, are out of character. Chakotay
is spewing tribal culture right and left. Torres is not only having a major
attack of insecurity, she's letting it show. Janeway is kind of like she
was in "Persistence of Vision," only with worse lines. Indeed, a lot of the
dialog just sounds wrong. The author makes an effort to get inside the
characters' heads, but it seems like he's doing it based on two or three
episodes and the Writers' Guide.
	Moving on to the usual Trek-novel annoyance categories: This book is not
bad in the typo department. There are a few big continuity glitches, but
nothing that affects major plot developments. There is a lot of '90s slang,
some of it already fairly dated. I didn't notice any lapses from the metric
system. Overall, this is a readable but frequently annoying book. It's the
weakest of the Invasion series and, among the Voyager novels, it ranks
somewhere in the bottom half.

--Jennifer Loehlin


VOYAGER #10: BLESS THE BEASTS
By Karen Haber

	In Bless the Beasts, Voyager's crew finds themselves entangled in the
affairs of the planet Sardalia, where the natives suffer from a mysterious
plague that only the blood of a local animal, the darra, can alleviate. But
the darra may be intelligent. Reviewing this book, I feel vaguely like
Leonard Pynth-Garnell introducing another episode of "Bad Voyager Fiction."
The work certainly qualifies, for it's bad (as Leonard would say, "Very bad
indeed") on many fronts.
	The most critical of these is characterization, much of which reads as if
the author was working from a writer's guide rather than from the TV
characters. The broad outlines might be right, but the behavior isn't. A
Klingon whose plan was rejected by the first officer might go behind his
back to appeal to the captain, and a Klingon who'd retrieved a piece of
stolen equipment after a fierce fight might hold it over her head and let
out a war cry--but would B'Elanna Torres do either? Though Janeway likes
dogs, would she really leave a diplomatic event where she's trying to get
to the bottom of things to chase somebody's doglike pet?  While the Doctor
may be brusque, has he ever blown off Kes unless something was wrong with
his program?
	The plot largely proceeds by fits of illogic.  Dealing with a culture
whose technology level is much lower than Voyager's, Janeway lets a member
of the local engineer's guild visit her engine room.  For no apparent
reason, Paris and Kim's captors abandon ship and conveniently allow them to
have the vessel to themselves.  The supposedly clever Borizus falls for
Tuvok's simplistic bit of misdirection.  Chakotay (we all remember what a
noted scientist he is!) uses biological data from a bit of Paris' scar
tissue to scan for him on the planet's surface, when the fact that Paris
and Kim are the only humans on Sardalia doesn't make it possible to locate
them.
	 The chronology is muddled.  When does this novel take place?  In one
chapter, B'Elanna thinks about her attraction to Chakotay, which she
discovered in season two's "Persistence of Vision," when Voyager had been
out eight or nine months. However, character relationships are as awkward
as if the book were set much earlier.  And in a later chapter, Janeway
thinks of her dog (the pregnant one from "Caretaker") and how its puppies
should be nearly weaned.  I'm no dog person, but I don't think puppies
nurse six or seven months!
	 The novel has one interesting facet, decently played for most of the
book: the conflict between the needs of the chronically ill Sardalians and
the rights of the darra. Disappointingly, this is resolved not by reason
nor by any of the affected parties, but by the high-tech intervention of
Voyager, in a transparent evasion of the Prime Directive. I don't object to
our heroes helping the plague-ridden planet, but I'd like to have seen
Haber make a better case for obeying the Prime Directive than, "Duh, it's
the rule."  One could be made.
	There you have it, gentle reader:  all the pieces of yet another work of
"Bad Voyager Fiction."  I'm Leonard Pynth-Garnell, your host, hoping you
will join us again for another episode of....Actually, I hope the next one
isn't quite so perfect a candidate!

--Brenda Shaffer-Shiring

	Karen Haber's entry in the Voyager series is neither the best or worst of
the novels--it is merely trite. A visit to an intriguing new alien world
quickly degenerates into a politically correct tale about creatures called
the Darra who are protected by the alien equivalent of Greenpeace. In fact,
Haber seemed to lift this entire premise from Joan Vinge's classic The Snow
Queen. In that novel, sea creatures called mers were harvested to
artificially prolong the lives of rich, spoiled technocrats. In this novel,
the darra are slaughtered to extract an enzyme which fights off a type of
plague.
	I'm not sure how long these novels moulder before Pocket Books finally
releases them, but after smelling the stench from this one, I'd say it's
been awhile. If you move back in the Voyager timeline to that awful episode
"Persistence of Vision," you get an idea of what you're dealing with here.
Haber seems to have extracted the worst possible elements of that episode
and sprinkled them throughout the pages of this novel. How else can you
explain B'Elanna's sudden desire to have Chakotay smile at her for
something other than doing 'a good job'? And did you really want to hear
about Lord Burleigh again? Finally, did you know that we've been
misspelling Seska's name all along? It's 'Seskia'--now say it three times
and tap your heels together.
	Besides the poor copyediting, Haber has a tendency to bring out the worst
in every character. The coffee jokes were funny for about five minutes, but
Haber prolongs Janeway's quest to the point of physical pain. In addition,
both Janeway and Torres remain in shrew mode until the end. They aren't the
only victims: Chakotay is his usual 'steady' self--does the man have a
pulse?--Tuvok quotes from the Prime Directive at the drop of a hat while
the crew flagrantly violates it anyway, Tom's rebelliousness and sense of
humor are considerably more pointed than usual, and Harry is stuck in his
greenhorn rut. The story and setting might have been interesting if Haber
knew these characters, but her cluelessness is obvious. Unfortunately, this
weighs down the novel and there are simply not any bright moments.
	I often wonder why the books mention the Prime Directive so prominently.
There are supposed to be strict rules about interfering with pre-warp
societies, yet folks continue to pile up violations. Why would Janeway
allow an alien on her ship unsupervised by a security officer? I know she's
trying to make a deal with the Sardalians, but it still seems stupid. And
why are her crew running around on the planet disobeying orders? The only
violation of the sacred P.D. I bought was the medical treatment for the
gray plague, but Haber set this up with a neon arrow saying, "This way,
Doc."
	After the "Flashback" novel, this is a real disappointment. Since
Voyager's third season seems to be on an upswing, I hope they start paying
closer attention to their novels as well.

--Elizabeth Klisiewicz


VOYAGER #11: THE GARDEN
by Melissa Scott

	Cast your mind back to the time when we first met Captain Janeway and
company, because "The Garden" takes place right after the Caretaker swept
Voyager into the Delta Quadrant. Not only that, but all the characters are
stuck in that time too. Harry acts like a cringing tenderfoot, and Tom
Paris is sullen and rather dumb. He even seems to be afraid of Chakotay,
and this doesn't strike me as the Tom I know. Everyone is also tired of his
reputation as a womanizer, when we know that he can't seem to win with any
of the women he's chased.
	Strange turns of phrase also mar this book, which can probably be chalked
up to bad editing. It's too bad, because Melissa Scott has created an
evocative and imaginative backdrop for this tale--certainly one of the
better additions to the Voyager series. She's done a decent job with the
rest of the Voyager characters, particularly Torres, who has suffered much
in the novels, and her peripheral characters are at least interesting.
While I wondered what Thilo Revek's function was on this planet, and his
backstory was a bit too convenient, it's certainly not out of the ordinary
for the Star Trek universe. Recommended except for the nitpicks mentioned
above.

--Elizabeth Klisiewicz


DELTA QUADRANT IV
Published by Orion Press

	Delta Quadrant IV is a Voyager fan fiction zine produced by Orion Press.
This installment contains 8 mostly great stories--tales which are far more
interesting and better conceived than most of the hard copy coming out of
Pocket Books. Unfortunately, DQ IV's editor is no more effective than the
editors at Pocket Books, and it's a good thing that most of these writers
are highly literate, because they save the day. To be fair, I should
mention that this editor is a volunteer, and isn't paid for her efforts
like so-called professional editors. This editor also brags about her new
scanner, but she apparently hasn't learned how to use it yet. There are
some highly talented artists on these pages, but some of their efforts were
ruined by poor scans. For example, I've seen Laura Bowen's original work on
her web page, and what I see here lacks the depth and contrast of her
beautiful sketches. So, from an artwork standpoint, this zine is
disappointing. I'm happy to say that the stories don't suffer the same
fate.
	Things open up with "Burdens of Command" by Ruth Ann Jones. She's always
had a deft hand with Tom Paris's character, and this story is no exception.
An accident cripples the senior command staff, and it's up to Tom, Harry
and B'Elanna to save the day. Tom is in command, and we are treated to his
inner thoughts as he comes up with a solution to a giant space station
holding Voyager in thrall. We get to see that the cocky pilot is rather
insecure, but he manages to overcome his fears and help out the crew.
	Next up is Pat Hammer's delicious story "Finding the Balance," which first
appeared in Now Voyager. I had forgotten how much I loved this exploration
of Kathryn Janeway's spiritual side as well as her friendship with
Chakotay. Spirit guides seem to have been left behind in Season One, and I
appreciated this chance to revisit this aspect of Janeway's life. Pat's
lush, sensual descriptions of the planet made me feel like I was right
there as Janeway searched for her fetish. This season's "Sacred Ground"
attempted to explore similar territory, but failed to elicit the same
response in me that this story did.
	"Faces of Justice" returns us to the Vidiian Sodality and a trial
involving the alien responsible for Lt. Durst's death. Harry Kim is chosen
to defend the alien against a hostile panel of his peers, and even with
Holodoc's help, he doesn't do a very good job of presenting his case.
Despite his ineptitude, the captain ends up letting the aliens go in hopes
that they have learned their lesson. William B. F. Vodrey provides us with
an intriguing study of this alien culture that was mostly ignored and
replaced with tired Kazon sects in the series. Showing the alien's point of
view and the difficulty that Janeway has in presiding over the case with
her Federation rules makes for a neat story. I hope to see a lot more from
this writer.
	Author BEKi makes a return visit with her study of Maquis/Starfleet
conflict called "Breakdown." A Bajoran woman fails to report to duty and
her absence is not reported by her superior officer. Due to his negligence,
the woman nearly dies. An unexpected friend reaches out and saves her life,
and everyone involved, both Starfleet and Maquis, learns a harsh lesson
about the values of respecting life in all its forms. Since the show
quickly jumped past crew conflicts and mistakenly turned the Voyager crew
into one big happy family, I was glad to see this analysis. Good work from
an old favorite of mine.
	Since this is mostly a stellar collection of work, Judith Medina's "More
Than Who I Am" is little more than a temporary miasma. Its premise is
supposed to plumb the depths of Lon Suder's soul, but it ends up being a
jumble of scenes about B'Elanna's past sex life with both Chakotay and
Suder, Suder's inexplicable lust for Kes, and Suder's desire to destroy
himself. The transition between scenes is jerky and the characters are
awkwardly drawn. This is a story that might have been saved by a careful
copy editor, but she apparently was nowhere in sight during this  exercise.

	Now Voyager member Brenda Shaffer-Shiring's "The End of the Beginning"
explores the aftermath of the "Investigations" episode. TPTB apparently
forgot about the crappy way that Janeway treated Chakotay, leaving him out
of the loop entirely and making him look weak and foolish to the entire
crew. I love the way she flashed back to the "Caretaker" episode and
stepped us through Janeway's thought processes as she made up her mind to
make Chakotay her first officer. Trust and all that the word entails are
the highlights of this yarn, and the finale makes a fine cap for a great
story.
	In "Basic Resolutions," Jordan Trevor writes about a situation where
Chakotay is critically injured and it's up to Janeway to assist in
rehabilitation. Chakotay's memories are gone, and he's no more
intellectually advanced than a child just out of toilet training. Only
Janeway's stubbornness and tenacity help Chakotay recover, and it's a true
test of the friendship they developed on New Earth. This is the kind of
thing I'd kill to see on television, but I know I'll be forever
disappointed. Thank god for fan fiction authors who always manage to fill
in the gaps for people like me.
	"Dust" is both a brilliant and atmospherically dense story by Now Voyager
member Anne Davenport. Her descriptions of Janeway's incarceration were so
vivid that I felt like I was the one crawling and coughing instead of the
captain. She is rescued by Harry and Chakotay, and the scenes where
Chakotay cares for his captain are deeply moving. I only wish that Jeri
Taylor could read this story so she'd know how to fix what went wrong
between Janeway and Chakotay.
	All in all, this is a wonderful collection by some highly talented and
imaginative writers and artists. If TPTB took notice of some of the work
being done in the fan fiction realm, then they might go a long way towards
restoring this viewer's faith in the Trek universe.

--Elizabeth Klisiewicz


*RELEASE DATES*

COMICS:
Star Trek Voyager            #6 (Marvel)                     2/05/97
Star Trek Voyager            #7 (Marvel)                     3/05/97
Star Trek Voyager            #8 (Marvel)                     4/09/97

BOOKS:
------
VOY #13 "The Black Shore" by Greg Cox, 4/97
VOY pbk "Day of Honor #3: Her Klingon Soul" Friedman, 7/97
VOY pbk "Mosaic" by Jeri Taylor, 9/97
VOY #14 "Echoes" by Smith/Rusch/Hoffmann, 11/97
VOY hc  "Pathways" by Jeri Taylor, 7/98


*COPYRIGHT VIOLATION CORNER*

[Paramount owns everything but the weird parts, which they wouldn't want
anyway. This is for Deborah, who promised to illustrate the story upon
hearing the premise. The mediocre characterization of the animal guide is
based on "The Cloud" and bears little resemblance to actual Native American
traditions.]

AFTERLIFE
by Em Wycedee

	She'd been thinking about going to talk to him for several days before
steeling herself to buzz his door one evening after dinner. She'd pretended
that she didn't have time, but the real problem was that she consciously
had to make the time, when she was certain that he didn't have a game of
hoverball scheduled with B'Elanna and he wasn't on the holodeck. It seemed
very calculated. Chakotay had been quieter than usual since his experience
with the former Borg--a combination of guilt and, she suspected, regret at
how easily they'd manipulated him. She told herself she felt uncomfortable
adding the burden of her disquiet to his own, but was finally forced to
admit that she was avoiding her first officer because she was afraid of
upsetting the dangerous balance they'd been negotiating ever since New
Earth.
	Sometimes she was furious with him for having so obviously fallen in love
with her, and making it so complicated for them to be friends and
colleagues. Other days, her knowledge of his feelings was the only thing
that kept her from crying herself to sleep. She wondered uneasily what she
owed him for that. She didn't want to mislead Chakotay about her
intentions, but she also didn't want him to think that she didn't care
about him--deeply. The simple truth was that she needed a friend. At this
point, it seemed easier to open the can of worms by telling him so than to
continue to hold him at a distance.
	"Captain," he said with surprise in his voice when he let her in, though
she was certain he had asked the computer who was at the door before
opening it.
	"Kathryn," she corrected him. "May I come in, Chakotay?"
	He nodded and waved her through, his eyes flickering warmly, though his
expression was concerned. "I take it you're not here on ship's business,
Kathryn?"
	"No, I'm not," she agreed. "Except inasmuch as my own mental state
concerns ship's business."
	"Are you worried about something?"
	"Other than the usual, you mean?" He nodded sympathetically; they'd been
over and over the supply problems, with no miraculous solutions in sight.
It wasn't easy for her to confess personal concerns, but she couldn't
afford to let them become debilitating. She knew he was watching her fidget
with her hands, and opted for the direct approach. "I've been having
trouble sleeping. Ever since the shuttle crash when that alien almost
killed me."
	He sat down on his couch beside her and leaned forward to study the
circles she could feel under her eyes. "Have you asked the Doctor about
it?"
	"He did a quick check, but I don't think it's anything biochemical," she
sighed. "What the alien made me experience has been making me think about
things, and I'm feeling...empty."
	"You mean lonely?"
	"That, too. But it doesn't just have to do with other people--it has to do
with me. How I see myself. I'm not sure what I believe anymore about this
life. Or my place in this universe."
	"You're hurting in spirit," he guessed, and she smiled gratefully.
	"I'm a little uncomfortable with the whole idea. And with coming to you
about it--I know it's been a long time since you introduced me to your
people's customs. You must think my interest was very shallow." He opened
his mouth to contradict her, and she held up her hand to ask him to let her
finish. "I haven't been very fair to you. I know I've been quick to take
the scientific approach to problems, and discount possible effects that are
outside my own intellectual beliefs." She paused, itching to pace the room,
then forced herself to be still, looking directly at her first officer.
"And...I guess I haven't always been a very good friend, either."
	He blinked and looked quickly away, and her gut wrenched. She said his
name, apologetically, waiting for him to meet her eyes. He was silent for a
moment, opening and closing his mouth as he thought about what to say; he
took her fingers and squeezed them before clearing his throat.
	"You've been a very good friend, and a very good commanding officer, and I
know it isn't easy for you to separate those roles." She kept his hand in
hers and managed a smile for him, though the contact reminded her of that
night on New Earth when he first told her of his feelings; it gave her the
shivers. "I'll help you in whatever way I can."
	She took a deep breath and blurted out, "I want to talk to my animal guide."
	His lips twitched, holding back amusement. "You don't need me to contact
your animal guide. You don't even need the akunah."
	"I assumed as much. But I still want you there, like before."
	He squeezed her hand again, and his eyes crinkled as he smiled, obviously
moved by her request. Again she felt guilty for not coming to him sooner,
asking for and offering the friendship which he accepted gladly. He had
never pressured her for anything more; she made a mental note that she was
going to have to think about why she kept making the romantic potential
between them an issue when he was content to let it be.
	Shaking herself, she forced her mind back to the topic at hand. "I don't
have much experience with trances, and the last time I entered one, to save
Kes' life in that Nikani portal, I discovered that I have all sorts of
expectations I don't know how to work around. I'd feel better if you were
in the room--for the ship, and for me."
	"All right." He let go of her and crossed the room to get his medicine
bundle while she slid off the couch onto the floor, her back against the
cushions. "Want some tea first?" he asked as he passed by the replicator.
	"No, thanks."
	"Mind if I get some?"
	"Of course not." She folded her arms over her knees, willing herself to
relax. Chakotay brought the tea and the bundle and sat beside her, his hip
touching hers. The black feather, the stone--this one appeared to have new
markings. When lifted her hand to place it on the akunah, she was afflicted
with deja vu--from that first encounter in her ready room, but also a sense
that this wasn't the last time they would sit together like this.
	"I should have done this a long time ago," she admitted in a whisper. "But
I was afraid."
	"Was your animal guide large and toothy?" He was teasing, but his eyes
were sad. "At least you didn't try to kill it."
	"Did B'Elanna really do that?"
	"She certainly did. I was surprised--resistant people sometimes can't even
find their animal guides on their first attempt. B'Elanna met hers right
away, but then got so angry that I thought it must be an overly
affectionate poodle or something...I shouldn't laugh. It was a difficult
situation for both of us. What scared you last time?" he asked abruptly.
	"Nothing from the vision. It was like you said--peaceful, and comforting."
She tried to remember exactly how she had felt that day: intrigued when he
had first told her on the bridge about his people's traditions, startled by
his eagerness when he bounded into her ready room with his medicine bundle.
It had been a little uncomfortable when he led her to the low table and
took her hand to give her the equivalent of a psychoactive drug. And then
blissful...floating away with the sound of his voice to that place of peace
and joy, aware of him even when she couldn't see him. She'd felt guilty
when Torres interrupted, not just for neglecting her duty, but because the
intimacy with her first officer had been unsettling; she explained herself
rather gruffly to B'Elanna before she stopped to think that Chakotay might
be offended at her casually discussing what they'd been doing.
	She'd sent Kim to him later to talk about animal guides. But after that
evening playing pool with the junior officers, which proved relaxing in a
different way--it was the first time she could remember flirting directly
with Chakotay and being aware of doing so--she'd put the experience out of
her mind. He did not offer again, and she had been uneasy about asking.
	No longer. She gritted her teeth to tell him the truth: "I was afraid of
getting close to you like this."
	He met her gaze, unsmiling. "Kathryn, I would never use my traditions to
take advantage of you in any way. Not personally, not professionally, not
even to challenge your beliefs."
	"I know. I never thought you would. It was me I was worried about." His
eyes widened, and then he nodded once. "Can we start?" she asked, to move
past the moment.
	"If you're ready." He smiled reassuringly and lowered her hand onto the
akunah. "Akoocheemoya, we are far from the sacred places of our
ancestors..."

	She was back on the beach watching the sun set even before he finished
speaking the sacred words, feeling the breeze against her face. She'd
thought about taking him here, the night she invited him to go sailing with
her after he'd saved her life, but it was so personal, so much a part of
her--she'd known what it would mean to bring him to this place, even on a
holodeck. She'd never even come here with Mark. Lake George had been safer.
	She looked around for the little lizard, but it wasn't immediately
evident, so she sat back and watched the sky for a few minutes. Sunsets on
New Earth had looked almost like this. In fact, the scene had changed from
the last time she entered this idealized landscape: several elements from
New Earth had crept into the fauna.
	It was painful for her to admit how much she missed that planet. The
entire time she had been there, she had tried to repress how pleasurable it
was to live under an open sky, exploring geology and botany instead of the
cosmos. She'd told herself she didn't want to think too much about Voyager
because it would make her homesick, but the truth had been that she didn't
want to admit how happy she was--working with the soil, eating fresh fruit,
lying in a bathtub under the stars, knowing that Chakotay was inside the
shelter, waiting for her. If he'd thanked her for showing him the true
meaning of peace, then she owed him for this, her own inner sanctum.
	A movement in the corner of her eye made her jump. The gecko was perched
on a log, watching her.
	"I'm sorry it took me so long to come back. Many things have happened."
She heard herself speaking aloud, and wondered with some hesitation whether
Chakotay was listening; he had been able to hear her questions to him the
last time while she was in the trance state. No matter if he overheard now;
she trusted him with whatever she had come here to learn. But she felt
rather tentative about direct communication with a reptile. The little
lizard cocked its head at her, looking as if it expected her to feed it.
She burst out laughing at the thought, realizing with some embarrassment
that she couldn't offer anything to her animal guide: she didn't think it
would want to be petted.
	"Why do you watch over my life, anyway?" she asked. "Did you choose me, or
did I choose you, somehow?" It stopped to regard its own tail for a moment,
then nudged her hand. "I guess you chose me," she concluded. She watched it
creep to the edge of the log and settle, waiting for her to speak again.
	"I wanted to talk to you because I'm afraid of dying," she burst out. The
lizard opened its mouth and bobbed its head, and she realized with chagrin
that it was laughing at her. Maybe it didn't believe in the finality of
death, and thought her terribly silly to be concerned about such a thing.
"Well, of course, it's not that simple. I'm willing to give my life for my
ship," she amended."But I've been having nightmares about my father--the
alien who pretended he was my father. I think about my crew going on
without me, or not able to go on. I'm afraid of dying without having
finished living this life."
	*What will you do about that?*
	The question startled her; she wasn't sure whether it had actually come
from her own mind or from the creature. "I was hoping you could tell me.
Can't you...give me guidance?"
	The lizard rolled its eyes up as if it were bored. She wished she'd asked
Chakotay more about the role of the animal guide--how much it was at
liberty to say to her. This wasn't much like talking to a ship's counselor.
"Can't you at least help me ask the right questions? Or point me to someone
who can?" Wandering lazily to the edge of the log, the creature lifted its
head as if waiting, looking into the late sun. She followed its line of
sight down the beach, but didn't see anything--or anyone--approaching.
	"Am I supposed to notice something?"
	Infuriatingly, the creature darted under the log, out of her sight.
Despite the tranquility of the warm wind, she felt herself growing
frustrated. If only there were some way to bring Chakotay here with her. Or
someone else who could answer her questions...
	She heard a sound behind her on the beach, and turned. Face to face
with--herself.
	Not herself, she realized almost immediately. There was a difference,
shocking in its clarity, though she recognized the woman facing her despite
the lack of mirror reversal. This was her other self--the one who had come
onto her ship from the duplicate Voyager, the one who had died when that
Voyager exploded, taking a Vidiian ship with it. She wore her old
hairstyle, but it was primarily instinct rather than evidence which told
her that this was the woman who had exhorted her from the viewscreen to get
her ship home. Herself until their lives diverged.
	There must be hundreds such selves, she realized. Different timelines,
different universes. A Kathryn who had never gotten lost in the Delta
Quadrant, and had gone home after her three-week mission, with her Maquis
captives or without. A Kathryn who'd ended up a on Chakotay's ship, rather
than the reverse. A Kathryn who'd chosen not to save the Ocampa, who'd gone
home following the incident with the Caretaker, and found that she couldn't
go back to her old life--to Starfleet and Mark. A Kathryn who never
returned from Old Earth, who'd gotten stuck in the 20th century along with
her crew.
	In another universe, this duplicate Kathryn would have lived, and she
herself would have died. Victim of the Vidiians, or of her own
self-destruct order. Two of the ship, two of her, from the other side. She
felt the same oddness as during that earlier incident talking to her double
in engineering...the sense that, while she could predict this woman's
actions and answers, she wasn't certain she knew her.
	Am I always so serious? she wondered, looking at her companion's unsmiling
face, framed by the bun she'd given up wearing. The face of a scientist,
the face of a starship captain. Not necessarily the face of a friend. She'd
had the same thought the last time they'd met--not a lack of trust, but a
recognition of her own stubbornness and blind spots, a combination of fear
and an unwillingness to examine too closely. This time she was determined
to get closer.
	"Kathryn?" she asked the other, awkwardly, and was surprised at her own
smile on someone else's face. Her breath caught. The expression transformed
her, lighting her eyes, taking years away from her features. *I have to
remember to smile more often.*
	"I wasn't sure I'd ever see you again," the other Kathryn was saying.
"You're always so--scientific, and this is a spiritual plane we meet on."
	"*I'm* always so scientific?" she demanded. "Not *we*'re always so scientific?"
	"I've been different since I died," the other raised an eyebrow
mysteriously, and they both grinned.
	"I'm glad to see you." She felt foolish saying the words to herself. "I
had questions..."
	"I know. And there are things you can confide in me that you don't think you can tell anyone else."
	"You say that as if it's criticism," she heard defensiveness in her voice.
	"Not criticism. I see from a different perspective now." The other moved
differently too. Despite the uniform she wore, there was no trace of
Starfleet demeanor; the other seemed completely relaxed, arms dangling free
at her sides. Wherever she had come from, she seemed happy.
	"Then...there is an afterlife?"
	"Do you really doubt it? We told Harry Kim that what we don't know about
death is far greater than what we do know." Her double was smiling again.
"I didn't realize how much I believed that until I died. You believe it
too, but you've been hurt, so you're not letting yourself trust."
	"Then you know about what happened to me? With the alien who pretended to
be our father?"
	The other sighed in momentary frustration. "I don't know what you felt,
no. I don't share your experiences from the moment we separated any more
than you shared my death. Why don't you tell me about it?"
	They walked along the beach as she talked, describing the events as they
had unfolded: the shuttle crash, Chakotay saving her, the Vidiians, the
time loop. The shuttle exploding, the Doctor's treachery, the finality of
her death seen from a distance, her father, her funeral. Letting Kes walk
through her, not being able to contact Tuvok. Reaching out to a crew which
was already letting her go, not wanting to believe that they could go on
without her--not willing to let them. Chakotay holding her in his arms,
crying. Vanquishing the alien. Going on the boat ride.
	"You had a busy day," her double said dryly. "But I'm not sure how that
last figures into the problem."
	"'Midnight sail' is what I said to him." Her twin raised an eyebrow.
"Well, he did save my life. And, um, he gave me a flower."
	Up shot the other brow, half her mouth curling to the side. "I see." She
was alarmed to note that her face did a lousy job of hiding when  she  was
amused. She wondered for a moment if her other self might envy her the life
she'd lost, but her face was peaceful; wherever she existed now, it
apparently fulfilled her. Recognizing the need to put her own false
postmortem experiences into context, she began to describe her life from
the moment when it had diverged from the other Kathryn's. It was easiest to
work backwards, to the common point of experience.  The abortive trip to
Earth's past . . . the loss of the ship temporarily to the Kazon...Seska,
the baby...New Earth. The bathtub, the monkey, the river, the storm, the
night after the storm. Then the communicator signal, putting on the
uniforms, coming back to the ship.
	The other Kathryn listened silently for the most part, nodding
understanding. Finally she asked, "Why didn't you talk to him about what
happened to you?"
	"To Chakotay? How could I? I don't even know how much of what I witnessed
during the hallucinations was real. Not his reaction, not even my own
response. How am I supposed to ask him whether I really saw him crying over
me?"
	"He'd answer you." Her companion shook her head slowly. "No matter what
the details were, do you have any doubt of his feelings?"
	No, she almost said, before realizing that that wasn't completely
true--and that that was part of the problem. "Of course. Aren't there
always doubts?" She felt herself becoming flushed, angry at her other self
and at Chakotay. "He's never said anything that couldn't be
misinterpreted," she said carefully. "I think he does it deliberately, he
doesn't say--the big words. Maybe he doesn't feel things as deeply..."
	"...as you obviously want to believe that he does, or that alien wouldn't
have given you the hallucinations you had," the counterpart Kathryn
finished easily. "I know. I thought the same things, until I died."
	That refrain was getting a little tiresome. "Was it different afterwards?
Were you in some place where you knew everything, and all secrets were
revealed?"
	"No." The other smiled, embarrassed. "I set the auto-destruct for five
minutes. The bridge was mostly empty, everyone was fighting the Vidiians.
We had time to kill. He told me."
	She didn't know why that should shock her, but the words sent a thrill
through her body, anticipation and something akin to jealousy. Aloud she
said, "It was disturbing, to learn that, of anything I might have been
thinking about when I died, I wanted to see him mourn me--the alien
wouldn't have shown me that, otherwise, would he? I didn't even think about
Mother, or Mark." Whirling, she stopped walking and put her arm on her
double's. "What were you thinking about, when you died?"
	Her other self turned away from her, shaking her head the way she
sometimes did to make herself stop thinking an embarrassing or painful
thought. She realized that she could actually feel her arm on the other
woman's--not just the pressure of the skin under her fingers, but the grip
of someone else's hand on her own arm. She jerked away.
	"Is that where he got it from? I was picking up your thoughts, from when
you died? And you're projecting your physical feelings onto me now?"
	"I'm not projecting anything, Kathryn. I don't have the same kind of
corporeal sensation that you do. But there are resonances between us. That
physical feeling's one of them. What I was thinking when I died might be
another."
	Not at all pleased at the thought that her own emotions could be
manipulated by some other Kathryn in some other universe, she demanded,
"Then tell me what happened."
	"When I gave the self-destruct order, there were things that had to be
done to distract me for the first minute--systems shutdowns to make sure
the Vidiians wouldn't be able to override, that kind of work. I was
thinking about Tom and B'Elanna--how they must have died--and Harry running
through the corridors to get to your ship. I was nervous. Wondering whether
we would feel anything before we dematerialized, and if it would hurt--I
guess everyone thinks about that. I tried not to think too much about
anything other than the fact that the Vidiians weren't going to get us, and
they weren't going to get you, either."
	The other Kathryn took a deep breath. "Those were the first two minutes.
Then--I panicked, for a few seconds. I didn't want to die. I wasn't even
sure it mattered if the bridge crew heard me cry at that point--we were all
going to be dead in a few more seconds, did it matter if I wasn't acting
like the captain at the end? He must have sensed something, because he
turned right then, when I was about to fall apart. He said my name. He'd
never done that before."
	She nodded. Until she'd told Chakotay to call her Kathryn on that first
day of their exile, he had never called her anything but Captain. There had
been times when she thought he might--when she ordered him to let the ship
blow up with her aboard, when they'd entered the cargo bay together to see
which of their crew had elected to stay with the 37s--but he never had. She
tried to imagine what it would have been like, at the last moment of her
life.
	Her counterpart was shaking her head, eyes closed, continuing. "Well, it
did distract me from worrying about dying. I knew what he was trying to
tell me--what he was going to tell me, if I let him. And, I realized that,
since I knew what he was going to say, I'd known before how he felt. I
couldn't help thinking, what if our lives weren't going to end in less than
two minutes--if he'd said something straightforward to me while we still
had a chance. Probably I was only letting myself think about it because he
and I were both going to die. But at that moment, I stopped and let myself
think how I felt about him. And I knew I'd known that before, too."
	They were both silent, walking, for several beats. The sky was changing
colors, the sun beginning to sink below the horizon. She was achingly
uncomfortable with this confession out of her own mouth. "But you can't be
sure--you might have been feeling what you were feeling because you were
going to die, not in spite of it."
	"Oh, I know that," the other readily agreed. "I wondered, before the
Vidiians came onto the bridge, what I would tell you, if I could talk to
you once more. Whether I would tell you not to let yourself and him slip
past one another--or whether that was one thing I shouldn't tell you, since
you still had your life to live."
	She stopped to pick up a stone, rubbed the markings on its face.
Indelible. It reminded her of Chakotay's stone, the one in the medicine
bundle. Abruptly she remembered the stone she'd seen earlier, briefly, when
he took out the akunah--the new one. A stone from the river. It was all too
easy to guess which river it had come from. The one they'd never gotten to
explore, on the boat ride they hadn't taken.
	"I guess you decided what to tell me, if you're telling me this now."
	"No, Kathryn. You decided." She saw her own smile again on her
counterpart's face. "This is your vision, not mine. Given that there are
infinite universes, there must be a reason that you picked me of all
Kathryn Janeways to converse with."
	"I didn't pick you. I asked my animal guide..."
	"...whether anyone could answer your questions. Why do you think you found me?"
	"Because you know what it's like to die," she realized. "And--you know
what it's like to die with Chakotay." She hesitated. "But there have been
other complications between us since he saved me from that alien."
	"Since you saved yourself," she was corrected. "Like what?"
	"Well, for one thing, there was another woman..."
	She stopped. That wasn't what she had intended to say. She meant to tell
her other self about the Borg collective, her realization of how much
Chakotay needed to belong to someone, someplace--how that had scared her,
that weakness. Standing in Sickbay, hearing herself talk in the same
condescending voice she used to comfort distraught ensigns--"Helping
others, Chakotay, that's part of who you are"--not certain she believed the
altruism. She'd been dispassionate reading his report on Riley (and he'd
spared no detail), seeing a man not himself, injured and under the
influence of alien mind control, not unlike herself possessed by the
Bothans. She had not condemned him--not for sharing physical pleasure with
a woman who could insinuate her own desires directly into his mind. Her
anger had stemmed from his muddled loyalties to the ship. Even if he was
directly under the control of the Borg neurotransmitter when he stood in
the conference room, pleading for Riley, avoiding her own eyes, he had not
been able to put Voyager's interests first. That was what she blamed him
for, not for a fling with a woman who in the end had not hesitated to use
him for her own purposes, no matter how much that might have hurt him...
	The other Kathryn had stopped and was watching her from the corner of her
eye, waiting. Arms crossed defensively over her chest. "It wasn't what that
sounded like," she amended. "It's not like he went looking for someone
else--though there's no reason why he shouldn't have, I've never given him
any indication that I want him to wait. I wanted him to get past it. So we
could be friends at least."
	"Aren't you friends?"
	"It's so hard, worrying that I'm hurting him--I didn't want him to feel
this way, I wish I could treat this like any other crew crush. I need him
too much for this as my first officer."
	"But you're the one who's been keeping your distance from him."
	"I know that." Stricken, she felt tears spring to her eyes. "I don't know
why I'm taking this personally at all."
	"Yes, you do. What are you going to do about it?"
	She had no answer. The obvious choice--to admit how the whole incident had
shaken her--was fraught with danger, for the ship as well as for both of
them. If he'd balked at an order to let her go down with the ship months
ago...
	"He's not going to be objective about your life whether you're his lover
or just his commanding officer," her other self went on, reading her mind.
"His feelings aren't the real problem, are they?"
	Of course they weren't. The real problem was how she felt about him. Not
just him, either--B'Elanna, Tuvok, Tom, Kes--all of them. She didn't think
she could bear to lose another crewmember. The ground rushed up to her--no,
she was collapsing in the grass, burying her face in her hands. Too much
responsibility to bear.
	"Then tell me that they all live after they die, and they find peace, same
as you. All these lives--the best I can do isn't going to save them--"
	"We're scientists, remember? You're supposed to seek the truth." So
strange and so painful to hear her own voice, the condescending tone she
used with recalcitrant crewmembers, directed at herself. To see her flaws
undistorted by the mirror, the features reversed, as if they were somehow
confronting her. She looked up into her own face, blurred by her tears, and
almost envied her dead self the knowledge she could not yet reach, the
certainty that what waited was not the terror held out by that alien
pretending to be their father, but the place Chakotay believed in, where he
had met his own father and changed the course of his own destiny. Her
double looked at her with a mixture of exasperation and affection, as
though she were a child. "Can't you forgive yourself a little, Kathryn?"
She had no answer. "Can't you at least love yourself a little?"
	She looked at the woman, her self as an alien, staring back at her. Not
really any more predictable than anyone else she knew. Foreign. A different
skin. Yet with a little of her parents and grandparents mixed in,
expressions she'd picked up from teachers, a gesture every now and then
that reminded her of a friend.
	Everyone she had ever cared about in her life was here, in this one person
who was not wholly herself.
	"I can love you," she said.
	Her duplicate reached out and stroked her face, across her cheek. She was
shaken. Without conscious thought, she did the same--traced her fingers
across the identical cheekbone, watched eyes like her own close in pleasure
at the contact. She could feel echoes of her fingers on the other's face
against her own skin. This must be what it was like for Chakotay in the
link with Riley, she thought, and felt no rancor. So compelling, to touch
oneself through another's hand. She could tell from the look in the eyes
which mirrored hers that her twin knew exactly what she was feeling.
	"I'm sorry--" She jolted back, humiliated. "This isn't like me." But the
other eyes held no condemnation, just curiosity.
	"No?" Amusement, reflected to her in her own voice. "Last time I saw you,
you used to touch people all the time. Which one of us do you want to hold
responsible now?" Blushing, she turned away, but there was no point in
lying to herself--either of herselves. She'd never met anyone who'd
understood her so thoroughly, instantly, without censure. It frightened her
to face that.
	"I'm not sure what I'm supposed to learn from this. How do I know if any
of it is real? You could be a figment of my imagination just like those
alien illusions. What's my body doing right now?"
	"I imagine you're sitting on the floor with your hand on the akunah in
Chakotay's quarters, and he's driving himself crazy trying to figure out
the expression on your face." Her double laughed, a wild, free sound which
she hadn't heard from her own lips since...probably since New Earth, when
Chakotay was teasing her about the bathtub. "You have more answers inside
of you than you think you do, Kathryn. But you can't always find them
yourself--not with science or all your training, not even asking your
animal guide. Let me tell you something. When you're really dead, you
realize that all the restrictions you put on yourself stem from timidity,
not strength. Things you deny yourself, you don't get a second chance to
try again. Stop backing away from asking the questions you really want to
ask. Starship captains don't give in easily to fear, remember?"
	The other Kathryn sounded like her guide from the Nikani. But that was
impossible--this Kathryn had never gone through the ritual. Nor had she
shared the experience with Fear--yet, somehow, she understood, as if it
didn't matter where one of them ended and the other began. The sky
darkened, the ground fading like a holodeck program turned off, nothing
remaining but the participants.
	"Believe in this, Kathryn," her self said to her, lifting her arms and
throwing her head back. For a moment looked out of focus--as if hundreds,
thousands of other Kathryn Janeways were superimposed on this one, so
bright that it was difficult to look at her. The image rose, all the
trappings of her rank and role falling away--she was naked, and glorious, a
self perfected. The multiple Kathryns smiled, then walked straight through
Captain Janeway of the starship Voyager, just as Captain Janeway had done
to Kes when she thought she was dead in an alien vision.
	For a split second, she was all those Kathryn Janeways. She could see all
the consequences of every choice she'd ever made, going back to her early
childhood, she was in direct contact with all the women she could have
become. The clarity was dazzling, even after the light became too bright
for her eyes, and everything went dark.
	When she could see again, she was on the beach, it was night, and she was
alone.
	Not quite alone. The little lizard was beside her.
	"What the hell was that all about?" she demanded, puzzled and slightly
embarrassed. Slowly, deliberately, her guide followed its own tail in a
circle. She shook her head, shifting uncomfortably. "Well, there must be a
reason. She told me I have more answers inside me than I think I do. But
then why was I here with myself, if I can't get the answers out of myself?
Or even out of you?"
	The creature cocked its head expectantly, then began to retreat.
	"Then what am I doing here at all?" She was going to have to complain to
Chakotay about this animal business. Not only was it unscientific, it
operated in the kinds of circles that gave her a headache. The lizard was
definitely laughing again. "I don't know where else I can look for
answers..."
	She stopped. "Because I can't get them while I'm here at all," she
realized abruptly. "That whole time, I was trying to tell myself..."
	She opened her eyes to find herself sitting on Chakotay's floor, where he
stared with an expression of wide-eyed wonder on his face.

	"How long..." she finally managed to ask.
	"A few minutes--less than five, I think. I got worried about you at the
end--you were trembling. Did you find your animal guide?"
	"Yes." Belatedly she felt herself flushing, her body responding to the
adrenaline surging through her. He studied her face as she evaded his eyes.
"It wasn't what I was expecting, though."
	"Did you get answers? About your nightmares?"
	"I'm not sure." She stretched her legs out in front of her, trying to calm
down. "Can I ask you some questions?"
	"Of course. Just give me a minute." He got up and went over to the
replicator, bringing more tea for himself and some for her.
	She sipped quietly, trying to think where to start. "Do you really believe
that the dead can speak to the living? You can contact the spirits of your
ancestors and they're really there, not just in your own mind?"
	"I'm not sure." She watched him lift his head to regard the medicine wheel
on the wall. "I was raised to believe that, yes. I've had experiences that
I can't explain, in scientific terms, and I believe in their validity. But
I don't have a clear mental picture of the afterlife, either."
	"That alien...the one who almost killed me. He did everything I'd heard
people experience in near-death encounters. He looked and talked like my
father, he tried to make me accept my death. I watched everyone letting me
go. Even you--you resisted it the most. Chakotay, if you believed I was
dead, would you try to contact me in the next life?"
	"I don't know." His face was dark, troubled.
	"'I'm not sure' and 'I don't know' aren't the most comforting answers I
can think of."
	He refused to meet her half-smile. "I have a feeling that if you died, I
wouldn't be able to meditate at all. It would take all my energy just to
put on a front for the crew. If I let myself try to contact you, if I had
any sense that you were out there, waiting for me..."
	"Yes?" she prodded quietly.
	"I'd never be able to let go," he finished. "I wouldn't want to wait to
join you. Kathryn, I can't imagine going on without you right now, I can't
imagine this ship without you." He turned his face away. "I know, I'm the
first officer, and this is not what you want to hear me say. But it's the
truth. If you died, I would have to find some way to let you go quickly, or
I might never truly be able to be Voyager's captain. I've been trying to
find some way to let go as it is--I know that's what you want, so it
doesn't ever come to pass..."
	She was silent for a long time, unable to speak or even to drink the tea,
digesting what he'd said. Wondering whether the burden of her own feelings
would seem greater or lessened if she took on his as well. Remembering what
her double had told her about herself and Chakotay, in the timeline where
they died together.
	"Some days...I want to wake up and find out that our lives these past
months were all a dream, and I'm still living on New Earth with you." His
exhaled exclamation sounded a little too much like a sob. "I feel so
guilty, Chakotay. I don't want to leave Voyager, even when things are going
badly and I think we'll never get home--I realized that when Culluh took
the ship. But I wish I could find a way to keep more of what we had on that
planet right here, for both of us."
	His hands were held out to her, awkwardly, as though he wanted to embrace
her but wasn't sure she'd let him, yet he couldn't completely hold the
impulse back. She reached out to him, felt his arms go around her and his
chin come down over her head, keeping the side of her face pressed against
his neck. "Sometimes I think it would be easier if there were two of you,"
he was saying. "The captain of Voyager, and the person I shared my life
with those weeks. But I can't separate them, and neither can you. When I
met you, you were a starship captain--not even being stranded without a
ship could change that--but that wasn't all you were."
	"I don't know how to be any other me. I'm not even sure I want to," she
said in frustration, moving back a little. He let her; they both needed
distance to have this conversation.
	"I remember the first time I told you about animal guides--you were
concerned that you weren't close enough to the crew, you even wanted to
join people on the holodeck. I was so happy to realize that you were that
kind of captain, you weren't going to shut yourself up in your ready room.
You'd be part of the crew. But you changed."
	"I thought it was a mistake. When Durst died, and Bandara, and Hogan--I
started to realize that it was too dangerous for me to be so involved with
any of the crew..."
	He let out a breath, hard. "I'm glad to hear you say that. Not because I
agree--I think you're wrong. But I thought maybe it was something I'd
done."
	"Something you'd done? I don't understand."
	He looked away from her, then rose and paced to the viewport. looking out
at the stars. "I realized...I thought you must have known how I felt about
you. And that I never should have let you see, since you seemed to take
that as a reason to start isolating yourself, and avoiding friendships with
people serving under you. It was even worse after New Earth--I couldn't
even get you to talk to me--"
	"I'm sorry." She couldn't speak for several seconds, realizing how deeply
she must have hurt him--not as a rebuffed lover, but as her friend and
first officer, who blamed himself for her isolation and the effect it had
on herself and the ship. "It wasn't ever you, Chakotay. It was almost
losing the ship, twice, because of Dreadnought and then because of Seska.
And what almost happened to Harry. And Tuvix. I had to balance the
responsibility..." She started to choke up, and felt him come back across
the room to sit beside her. "It's me," she admitted finally. "I could have
to order anyone on this crew to his or her death at any time. Even
you--I've watched you refuse to let me die, twice, and I can't afford to
feel the same way."
	"Is it so much easier to let go now?" he asked gently. She flinched at the
honest response in her mind. "Can I tell you something I learned from that
Borg collective? It's very seductive, that sort of closeness. You feel like
the other people are a part of you, you're not sure how you lived without
that sort of communication. When I left, I wanted to bring them with
me--even though the neural link would be severed, I still felt like they
were a part of me, and I wanted to hold on to that connection. A real
community. It felt...a lot like love." She turned her head sharply. "I even
thought about asking if I could stay with them when I realized Riley
wouldn't come with me. But I couldn't do that, any more than they could go.
I couldn't leave this ship. Or, to the point, I couldn't leave you. That
would have been cutting out a bigger part of myself than I lost when I lost
the connection to them."
	She understood the feeling all too well. It was how she felt about him,
and every single person on the ship. That conflict--she couldn't afford to
let herself connect for fear of losing the connection and becoming
incomplete. Yet she was incomplete without it as well.
	"I saw myself in my vision," she whispered to him. "The me from the other
Voyager, from the accident that duplicated the ship."
	"That is interesting. Two of you. Did she make you feel split apart?"
	"No." She smiled. "She made me feel whole. She was--happy. At ease with
herself. And she kept trying to tell me that I'm complete, I have the
answers within me. But I can't find them myself."
	"What did she think you should do about that?"
	"She thought I should ask you." Chakotay blinked in surprise. "What do you
think I should do?"
	He looked torn--wavering between what he wanted and what he thought was
right, not certain whether there was a difference. "I think I might have to
consult with *my* animal guide before I answer that one," he said ruefully,
and she laughed.
	"Can I ask you something else?"
	"Go ahead."
	"Are all the things we see in trances symbolic of something, or just
random archetypes?"
	"I'm not sure what you mean." He lifted his mug to his mouth as he waited
for her to explain.
	"Does it mean anything if you see yourself naked in a vision?"
	She heard him try to choke back his drink before spluttering it all over
the table, watched his hand quaver as he set the mug down, sloshing tea
everywhere. "I, uh...I'm sorry," he was laughing helplessly. "Um, my
tradition is based on the balance of the elements and the power of nature.
I would say that if you were naked in your vision...that is, in general,
nudity in a trance might have something to do with not hiding from oneself.
I guess it could be an indication that the seeker needs closer contact with
noncorporeal things instead of material ones. Spiritual instead of physical
matter."
	"She looked pretty physical to me." Her tone was nonchalant, though she
felt her face turning scarlet. But Chakotay didn't notice; he had buried
his head in both hands and was practically howling.
	"Stop. Now *I'm* going to have visions of this for months. I think next
time you enter a trance, you definitely need to take me with you. Please."
They were both chuckling, avoiding one another's eyes, but it was
comfortable embarrassment. He straightened slightly beside her, glanced at
her as if he needed to make sure they could stop grinning before he spoke
again. "OK. Seriously? Maybe it means that you need more direct interaction
with your own feelings. Or your animal guide."
	"I asked my animal guide about it. He laughed at me."
	"Not really?"
	"He certainly did."
	Chakotay grinned again, then shook his head slightly. "Kathryn...this
isn't something you're going to solve in one night. I still have nightmares
about things which happened to me in the Maquis four years ago. But I know
what I think you should do."
	"What's that?"
	"Stop trying to work all this out yourself. Tonight, well, you're probably
tired from that vision, but right now I think you should go to the
holodeck. Even if they're running that awful beach resort, just long enough
to say hello. It's different than participating in talent night or tennis
matches if you just drop by to be friendly. Just to make contact."
	She nodded. "And you think that will chase my nightmares away?"
	His grin was unrestrained. "If not, I could try a purification ritual to
chase them out of your bed. I might have to stay all night, though..."
	They were laughing as she swatted at him and he hauled her to her feet so
they could head together for the door.

The End


VOYAGER FAN CLUBS

NOW VOYAGER
Official Kate Mulgrew Fan Club
P.O. Box 34745
Bethesda, MD 20827-4745
tigger@cais.cais.com

THE COMMANDER
Official Robert Beltran Fan Club
330 Greenwich Street
Reading, PA 19601-2821

B3 PRIME
Official Roxann Dawson Fan Club
1630 Ft. Campbell Blvd., Suite 143
Clarksville, TN 37042
blilsism@aol.com

RANDOM FLIGHT
Official Robert Duncan McNeill Fan Club
850 Mellowood Avenue
Orlando, FL 32825-8085
ricknpam@iag.net

EPIC
Official Ethan Phillips Fan Club
P.O. Box 4818
Waterbury, CT 06704
randeg@aol.com

CARPE
Official Robert Picardo Fan Club
Box 373, 1277 Linda Mar Shopping Center
Pacifica, CA 94044
traceldel1@aol.com

VULCAN INSIDERS
Official Tim Russ Fan Club
P.O. Box 8248
Long Beach, CA 90808

CERES
Official Garrett Wang Fan Club
P.O. Box 13767
Sacramento, CA 95853-3767

SESKA'S SCANDAL SHEET
Official Martha Hackett Fan Club
3699 Barnard Drive #517
Oceanside, CA 92056
southpawdj@aol.com

DEEP SPACE NINE FAN CLUBS

EMISSARY
Official Avery Brooks Fan Club
P.O. Box 621719
Oviedo, FL 32762-1719
emisary1@aol.com

ORACLE
Official Rene Auberjonois Fan Club
2604B El Camino Real #377
Carlsbad, CA 92008

SYMBIOTICS
Terry Farrell Fan Club
194F Craig Henry Drive
Nepean, ON K2G 4M7 Canada
cg573@freenet.carleton.ca

OASIS
Official Armin Shimerman Fan Club
26 Dogwood Street
Jersey City, NJ 07305
kathybayne@aol.com

THE DOCTOR'S EXCHANGE
Official Alexander Siddig Fan Club
P. O. Box 1363
Minnetonka, MN 55345-0363
verba001@maroon.tc.umn.edu

THE TEMPORAL MECHANIC
Colm Meaney Fan Club
P.O. Box 5282
Elm Grove, WI 53112-5282

NANITES
Official Nana Visitor Fan Club
8824 Cross Country Place
Gaithersburg, MD 20879
nananut@aol.com

D'ABO!
Official Chase Masterson Fan Club
2029 Verdugo Blvd. Box 150
Montrose, CA 91020
daboleeta@aol.com

OTHER FAN CLUBS

THE PATRICK STEWART NETWORK
Official Patrick Stewart Fan Club
P.O. Box 4990
Riverside, CA 92514

GRMC
Official Gene Roddenberry Memorial Club
P.O. Box 3177
Greensburg, PA 15601

TO CONTACT TREK TALENT

PARAMOUNT PICTURES
[TNG/DS9/VOY Actor, Producer]
Star Trek: TNG/DS9/VOY
5555 Melrose Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90038

LINCOLN ENTERPRISES
[Classic Trek Actor, Producer]
14710 Arminto Street
Van Nuys, CA 91402

___________
FIRST CLASS

NOW VOYAGER
P.O. BOX 34745
BETHESDA, MARYLAND 20827-4745

    Source: geocities.com/televisioncity/Station/1965/archive

               ( geocities.com/televisioncity/Station/1965)                   ( geocities.com/televisioncity/Station)                   ( geocities.com/televisioncity)