Now Voyager
The Official Newsletter of the Kate Mulgrew Appreciation Society
Volume III Number 6

Editorial Buzz

	(Note: much of this column is plagiarized from an article by Pam
Buickel in the most recent Flight Log, the newsletter of Robert Duncan
McNeill's fan club RanDoM Flight, which is run by Pam.)
	People seem to be under the impression that running a fan club is a
glamorous job. After all, we get fabulous perks, right? We get inside
gossip before anyone else does, we get to have intimate meetings with the
stars and power lunches with the producers, we can call celebrities up at
home whenever we want, we have collections of rare items that we got for
free, we attend cons without paying and get set tours and publicists call
us constantly to keep us updated on what the stars are doing, plus we get
to make friends all over the world...
	Actually, none of the above is true except the part about making
friends. And on bad days, we even doubt whether any of those friendships
would last if our honoree disappeared. Sorry to disillusion anyone, but
running a fan club consists mostly of paperwork, going to the bank, calling
convention organizers to find out if they actually have actors booked for
various cons they're advertising them for. We don't get any more "insider
gossip" than people who read spoiler folders online. We turn over any
memorabilia we get for club auctions and things like that. Many of us have
never been to the studio; we certainly haven't met with the producers. The
degree of actual contact with the honoree of a fan club varies, but I don't
know anyone who runs a fan club who has late-night intimate phone
conversations with a celebrity, and I'd seriously worry about a fan club
president who was doing the job in hopes of getting candlelight dinners out
of it.
	We do this because we get to meet fascinating people from all walks
of life, and the Trek community is a lot of fun. Sometimes we're subjected
to nasty comments and petty jealousies from people who have no idea how
much work actually goes into running a fan club, and sometimes we merely
get criticized for not doing enough--not getting news out fast enough, not
having information people want, not catching every typo or grammatical
error in our newsletters. Believe me, the amount of work we put in doesn't
come close to the so-called perks. I don't mean to complain: I really love
Now Voyager, and the people here. We've accomplished terrific stuff: we've
raised several thousand dollars for very worthy charities, we've
consistently put out a newsletter that's emulated by other clubs and has
earned accolades from people who've been in fandom for decades. We've held
two private meetings with Kate and gotten her to answer questions in the
newsletter several times, which doesn't always happen even with actors who
work a lot fewer hours than she does. Some of this is a tribute to Kate and
how gracious she's been to give time to her fans, but some of it is a
tribute to everyone who works in this club and on this newsletter--the
names in the masthead at left, and all the rest.
	I've heard a teensy bit of griping of late that I'm the one who
always gets to have contact Kate. First of all, this is a misconception:
the vast majority of my contact is with Kate's assistant and Kate's
publicist. I've talked to Kate maybe five times since I started this club
three years ago. But even for those rare occasions, there are a couple of
reasons why I'm the one who's been the major club contact with our honoree.
The biggest one is the need to protect her privacy. Another is the fact
that she trusts me to accurately transcribe what she says when we're trying
to get members' questions answered.
	But the simple truth is that not even this perk is a good enough
reason for running a fan club. In the past year, I've been on the receiving
end of mail threats intended for Kate. I've been asked by Kate's publicist
NOT to make public her appearance at certain events, because of security
concerns...and I've been snapped at by members of this fan club because I
didn't tell them about said events. I've spent countless hours doing
administrative drudge work. I've spent countless hours writing articles,
editing, doing layout, things which I enjoy but for which I could get paid
elsewhere. I'm not saying that I don't have a great time meeting people,
and that I haven't occasionally been introduced to a Trek star or had
someone mail me a magazine for free. I'm just trying to point out that
running a fan club is not something anyone in her right mind would do for
the limited perks. We do it for love of fans and fandom. We do it for the
good that can be accomplished. Of course we like the show, and we admire
the performers, but that's almost a secondary concern.
	That's the glamorous life of a fan club president. Anyone else
really have time for the job?


The Funny Pages

After Ethan Phillips revealed at Shore Leave that he always tries to play
Neelix as if Neelix has a crush on the Captain, someone put out an online
call for stories with that theme. Here are two of the finest.

MORALE OFFICER'S PERSONAL LOG
Translated from the original Talaxian by Siobhan Wolf

	You know, I'm not sure when I first became aware of it, but today
something has changed. Maybe I am finally accepting Kes' leaving, hard
though that is for me. I miss her so. But I'm not sure that's it. When I
think about it, it seems to go back as far as I can remember, since I first
stepped foot on Voyager. I wouldn't say I was oblivious to it all that
time; it has been a long time, you know. I guess I just had other things on
my mind that kept me occupied, kept me from really thinking about it,
noticing it. Not that that was a bad thing. No, it wasn't. It's just, now,
that I have finally realized it, it brings me a kind of joy that I thought
was gone from my life with Kes. It's hard to explain, really, but for
posterity's sake, I will try.
	I know that before coming aboard Voyager I had never seen such a
creature. There is beauty and wonder on Talax, to be sure. And my dear,
sweeting, Kes. Oh! But, still, I had never seen such dignity and grace all
wrapped together like that. Of course, my first impression was that here
was a delicate creature, much in need of my protection. Ha ha. How wrong I
was there. Certainly I learned that soon enough. But the wonders that were
yet to be shown. Those I had no way of being prepared for. The strength and
tenderness, the caring guidance, the true loyalty to the ship and crew.
Well, frankly, I'd never seen such a combination inside a female form.
Stunning. That's it. The combination was stunning.
	Now, I know that she thinks me a bit of the clown. And it is true
that Talaxians tend toward a sense of the flamboyant, the dramatic. But
this is the one way that I can be sure that she notices me. I know that she
would never, not under any other circumstances. So, with a flourish I will
approach her station on the bridge with a scrumptuous luncheon display. She
never takes the time she should to come down to the mess hall for a proper
meal break in the middle of the day. I have taken it as my personal duty to
see that my delicate flower not wilt from overwork and exhaustion, from
lack of sunlight and water. Of course, she has no idea. I would blush to
the tips of my spots if she did. Such behavior is so unfitting an officer
serving under her command. Still, it gives me those moments that I cherish,
when her beautiful eyes meet mine and the tired lines on her face relax,
just a little, in a smile, a laugh. She does not know that this is truly
her gift to me.
	It is her birthday in just a few weeks, and I have already begun
the preparations for her party. Of course, I had to include Commander
Chakotay in my plans to assure that he not prepare another, more inviting,
option for her that evening. He gave me the list of all her favorite
things! Imagine. Every morsel of her heart's desire, every sweet kiss of
her favorite desserts, every color, every smell — and all prepared by me,
and me alone! I can hardly keep the secret to myself. Secrets are not big
on Talax, you'll recall. But for her, it is worth the tender pain it causes
me having to keep these preparations to myself. When she enters the mess
hall in full display for her special day, after the surprise has washed
from her face and she looks to the Commander, he will turn to me and with a
sweep of his arm inform her that this spread, in her honor, was lovingly
prepared for her by Neelix. I won't be able to look her in the eye just
then. I know it. But maybe, just maybe, she will approach me, take my hand
gently in hers, and squeeze it in thanks. And I will cherish that touch
forever.

BREAKFAST
by Lori Summers

	He has always felt that kitchen sounds, especially those of one
that services 150 people, are second only to ocean waves for numbing the
sensibilities. The hiss and sizzle of cooking, the muted clatter and scrape
of silverware and of course the constant ebb and flow of murmured breakfast
conversation. Buoyed on this cushion of white noise, he falls into a
familiar rhythm: smile, listen, cook, serve. Next crewmember. Smile,
listen, cook, serve. Sometimes he feels the sounds of the mess hall are
almost musical, this morning for instance. Ensign Rosenberg is in to help
and has been set to slicing vegetables for the lunchtime stew, his knife
tapping steadily as a metronome. The rise and fall of the crew's voices
follows its own patterns...random, yet structured.
	The routine normally has a calming effect on him. A chance to
interact with his crewmates, or perhaps more a daily affirmation of his
important, if auxiliary, contribution to Voyager's smooth operations. Each
day he looks forward to his duties, to the familiar settings and the chance
to practice his culinary skills. As he prepares for each mealtime he firmly
sets his mind upon the task at hand, resolved that this time it will be
different.
	It never is.
	Most of the time, each of the three meals served each day aboard
Voyager are an exercise in stomach-twisting anxiety and heartwrenching
agony.
	Lieutenant Gomez, he thinks as the dark-haired man steps up to the
counter. It's a habit to catalog each crewmember as he or she passes by.
Just concentrate on Gomez's eggs, nothing else. Lovely eggs, not too soft,
not too done...no, don't look over there!
	And yet his eyes glance over to where she sits, then return just as
quickly to the frying pan. He determinedly begins humming an old Talaxian
drinking song under his breath. It is no more effective than it ever is.
His traitorious gaze again strays to the corner table. Her back to the
wall, her profile against the backdrop of stars...how appropriate for her
face to be there against the stars whose light seems to shine from it when
she smiles.
	Think about EGGS, you nitwit. Eggs eggs eggs eggs. Big eggs, small
eggs, strange blue and purple spotted eggs. Ensign Smythe now...eggs for
her too. Eggs for everyone. Keep your eyes forward...but that's so much
harder than it would seem to be.
	As usual, she is sitting with HIM. Holding a PADD, their heads
together in conversation. She lays a hand casually on his arm...
	Eggs, dammit!
	Ensign Smythe appears a bit startled at the vehemence with which he
slides her breakfast onto her plate. She hurriedly vacates the area. Ah,
here's Tom.     "Morning!" he smiles cheerfully.
	He smiles back. It's impossible not to return a Tom smile. "And to
you, Mr. Paris." It's as if his eyes are physically being PULLED to the
corner table. As always, he is powerless to resist. Talaxians have little
malevolence in their hearts, filled as they are with goodwill and buoyant
bouncy joyfulness...but something not quite so benign, something green and
ugly, tugs at his heart as he sees them laugh together. She looks so
comfortable and easy with him.
	She does not look this way.
	Nothing in the world but eggs. Eggs enough for the entire crew,
eggs enough for the entire quadrant, eggs enough to fill the vacuous ache
that flows through him at the knowledge that it is HIM she shares her joy
with and HIM she shares her sadness with and probably HIM she thinks of as
she tries to go to sleep at night.
	Tom smiles again over his plate of eggs and goes to sit down with Harry.
Another one moves into his place...there is always another one. They keep
coming and coming and Rosenberg's blasted knife-tapping never stops and
please don't let us run out of eggs.
	They are getting up now, dropping their dishes into the cleaning
unit. Giving in completely, he stares after them as they leave the dining
hall, each glance and each casual touch like a plasma burst through his
heart.
	He sighs and returns to his cooking, the torture over...at least
until lunch.


Kathryn  Janeway,  Feminist  Heroine

The captain plays a range, from command to compassion. And Kate is very
much that way on the set. She is in charge. She takes charge. And she
drives. She moves and drives. That's what the captain will do in her
position, and Kate does the same thing. But she's also a hopeless romantic.
The woman is a hopeless romantic. And that's all in one person. The captain
is exactly the same way.

--Tim Russ in TV Guide Online


FRIENDSHIP, LOVE, AND SEX ON THE HOLODECK
By Kathy A. Altom

	The holodeck is the most fascinating technology introduced on TNG.
In Star Trek's utopian future, the holodeck is portrayed in mostly positive
ways, but it could be imagined as the ultimate advancement in dehumanizing
fantasy. The Trek writers not only present pros and cons of the technology,
but also use it as a literary device for exploring characterization in ways
that would otherwise be difficult for characters living on a starship.
These holodeck scenarios are some of the most criticized aspects of modern
Trek.
	Holodeck technology offers the promise of wonderful educational
opportunities. Infinitely patient holoteachers can provide hands-on
instruction. Students can experiment with many fields to find out what they
prefer. Everyone can dabble in art, music, and many other hobbies without
finding a real live teacher and feeling like a foolish beginner in front of
other real people. Everyone's favorite sport is always available to make a
workout more fun.
	Holonovels provide the ultimate role-playing games. Such games can
immerse their players in historically and culturally accurate environments
that educate as well as entertain. Psychologists report that even today's
virtual environments are useful in treating phobias. Starfleet uses the
holodeck heavily for simulation exercises that help select the best suited
people for starship duty. The holodeck is perfect for Starfleet martial
arts training. Sparring with holocharacters, players need not pull their
punches or worry about injuring their opponents.
	Still, holodeck technology holds the threat of misuse. Will
holoviolence desensitize people to the horrors of real violence? Will
holonovels provide escapist, fantasy worlds that isolate individuals from
society? Will players lose themselves, their sense of reality, in the
holodeck's fantasy world and prefer fantasies to real life? Will players
fall in love with holocharacters? Will holosex be so good that it replaces
relationships?
	Often, stories that answer these sorts of questions affirmatively
paint dreary, dangerous futures where technology is used to enslave the
masses. In a world without hope, fantasies are particularly enticing. In
contrast, the utopian Trek future is based on an underlying assumption of
the fundamental goodness of humans. Human love, compassion, and empathy
combined with economic prosperity allow people to respect each other and
live together in peace. On Earth in the 24th century, there is no hunger;
no one has to resort to dehumanizing or criminal activity in order to
survive. While there are other humanoids in the galaxy who still use
technology to dominate others, humans use technology to enhance life.
	Trek holoprograms can be grouped into three basic categories.
Holonovels provide role-playing situations. Holoenvironments provide
diverse settings for socializing with other people as well as opportunities
to receive personal services from holocharacters. Holotraining programs
include exercise and sports opportunities as well as interactive technical
manuals and simulations, not to mention tests. All of these are reasonable,
positive uses for holotechnology. The problems arise in the choices of
scenarios that often present the most blatantly sexist scenes in modern
Trek.
	In the future the shows present, self-aware machines long to become
human. Data and the Holodoc use the holodeck to study human emotions and
social relationships. Data's programs are my favorite TNG holoprograms.
Although Doc's family started out as a shock, "Real Life" grew on me. Of
course he would start out by programming a family that revolved around him
perfectly. Torres changes the program to give him a serious lesson in the
difficulties of human life and negotiating compromises among people. The
ending is certainly a tear-jerker, but it is appropriate. Facing mortality
is an essential part of being human. For a doctor, the untimely death of
his child whom his medicine cannot save is the ultimate personal tragedy.
	Trek holonovels are usually role-playing versions of popular
fiction or myth. Worf is into Klingon mythology. Kim is into Beowulf.
Picard is into the mid-twentieth-century pulp, private-eye genre. Bashir is
into the super-spy genre. Janeway is into gothic romance. These stories
mostly present a familiar sort of cheap, gender-typed, lust-invoking,
formulaic entertainment. There are reasonable technical advantages in
choosing such stories for holonovels. They are formulaic enough to make it
much easier to imagine programming them than something more realistic. They
are formulaic enough that no one is likely to confuse the fantasy with
reality. There is often some aspect of a mystery to be solved in these
holonovels, but with the exception of Janeway's gothic romance, these
holonovels are mainly the providence of men who use them to exercise their
machismo. When Dax invites Kira to join her for a massage in a
holoenvironment, the costumes and cinematography suggest the scene is meant
more to display them as sex objects to male viewers than to present a
positive female version of holodeck relaxation. Sandrine's pub and the
Talaxian resort illustrate the use of the holodeck to promote socializing
among the crew in a relaxed atmosphere. Both emphasize female
holocharacters as sex objects.
	Holonovels and especially holoenvironments usually do not appear
socially isolating because they are often shared. Data and La Forge play
Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. Bashir and O'Brien play Battle of Britain
pilots. Couples go on dates in the galaxy's most romantic locales. Picard
has looked annoyed about having others horn in on his Dixon Hill holonovel,
but other officers are there with him frequently.
	However, healthy Starfleet officers have been shown to fall in love
with holocharacters. Riker falls in love with a holocharacter, Minuet, but
she is not a human creation. The Binars, who are extremely competent
programmers because their species is computer interlinked, created Minuet
specifically to distract him. She appears much more human than other
holocharacters except for Moriarty and Voyager's Holodoc. While using an
interactive, holographic technical manual, LaForge falls in love with a
hologram of a real person, Leah Brahms. Instead of wanting to live in a
fantasy world with the holocharacter, he hopes to create a relationship
with the real Leah Brahms. The problem is that his experience with the
hologram allowed him to develop unrealistic expectations of the real
person. Kim falls in love with an alien pretending to be a holocharacter.
Because Kim assumes that he has fallen for a mere holocharacter, he seeks
help rather than preferring to live in a fantasy world.
	Humans are social beings who need contact with other humans to
remain healthy. Orphaned infants actually die if they do not receive enough
touching. Unless their only contact with others feels demeaning, humans are
going to seek out human contract. However, an unhealthy person might prefer
a fantasy over which he has complete control. In TNG's "Hollow Pursuits,"
Trek explores such a case. Barclay deals with his feelings of inferiority
by creating a fantasy world in which he controls and ridicules holograms of
the Enterprise's command staff. The holodeck provides an avenue for Barclay
to express his psychological problems by externalizing his fantasies. The
holodeck does not cause Barclay's problems.
	TNG is careful to avoid dealing with holosex in spite of the fact
that we should expect it to be a very popular holodeck pursuit. On screen,
Picard maintains his practiced professional distance with the holodames in
his Dixon Hill holonovel. Since it is a period piece from a time when sex
was still avoided in pulp novels, the genre does not really imply that
Picard is fooling around off camera. In contrast, Bashir's super-spy
holonovel and Janeway's gothic romance holonovel imply by their genres that
they will be.
	Quark clearly offers holographic sexual partners to his holosuite
patrons. Being Ferengi, Quark does not share Federation values; still,
holographic sexual partners are less offensive to me than prostitution
because holocharacters can offer sexual services without dehumanizing
humanoids by inflicting such roles on them. Clients could fantasize about
oppressing the holocharacters, but they would only be hurting themselves by
playing out unhealthy roles. Normal, nonsentient holocharacters as sexual
partners are really just sophisticated sex toys. If there is only one
conscious person involved, holosex is just masturbation.
	While a relationship is a lot more than sex, sex is also more than
a relationship. There is a powerful genetically programmed urge for sex. We
need the physical release. Denying love hurts us, but so does just plain
denying sex. Enforced celibacy is never healthy. Celibacy is only healthy
if the need for sex has been transcended, e.g., by spiritual advancement.
Given that Janeway loves Mark but may not see him again for a long time, it
is reasonable and healthy for her to turn to holograms for sexual release.
Since masturbation is not equivalent to infidelity, sex with a
holocharacter should not be considered being unfaithful. Why does she feel
guilty about it when confronted by an image of Mark?
	Janeway could have programmed an image of Mark for sex, but that
would be less healthy than a holonovel. Programming an image of a real
lover invites one to confuse the fantasy with real life, like LaForge's
problem with Leah Brahms. We create enough problems in our relationships by
trying to hold our lovers to our images of them, without spending time
interacting with images that do not change and grow like a real person. It
is nice that Janeway chooses a holonovel in which she interacts with
children who are not her own, that she is not playing out a perfect family
fantasy. But, her turning to a sexist period piece that sets the
expectation of her employer becoming her sexual partner is highly
offensive. When she has the choice of any imaginable holocharacter, she
should turn to a social equal for sex.
	However, Janeway's seeking out a figure with power over her to
interact with in other ways on the holodeck is a sign of mental health. On
Voyager, she wields absolute authority. For balance, she needs to interact
with someone who holds power over her, and the holodeck offers her that
possibility. DaVinci holds promise for such a role, although a woman would
have been nice--say, Georgia O'Keeffe. Such a holocharacter cannot replace
human companionship. Janeway still needs to socialize with her senior
officers. TOS gave us a captain who could handle juggling friendship and
command. TNG gave us a captain who stayed horribly aloof, yet in the end
finally joined his senior staff for poker.
	Voyager began with a wonderful Captain who could switch
appropriately back and forth between professional distance and friendly
concern. I adored that Janeway who managed to be both commanding and sexy.
I wanted to be just like her. She is a powerful woman who wields her power
carefully and righteously. She is a powerful woman who thinks clearly and
feels deeply. She is a woman who is successful without having traded the
love of life for the will to succeed. She is a commander who understands
that her isolated crew members are going to start developing relationships.
	In the Delta Quadrant, surrounded only by people she commands, it
is reasonable that Janeway is shutting down her emotions. It is a realistic
response. It is a reasonable sacrifice. But, I do not want to identify with
her any more. Now she reminds me too much of my priggish, Protestant
mother, frowning at the least implication of sexuality. I wonder if TBTP
have done this to Janeway not because it is realistic, but because the
vaunted young male audience may find Janeway easier to accept as a captain
if she is sexless. Prudish Janeway bothers me more than just my loss of a
role model. I see that Janeway's situation in the Delta Quadrant is not
especially analogous to that of everyday women professionals today. That
Janeway suppresses her sexuality does not mean that we have to suppress
ours to succeed. But, I fear that young woman may not realize that, may
watch Voyager and heed a subtle push in the wrong direction. To provide a
good role model, Janeway needs both good friends among her senior staff and
some hint of sexuality.
	Janeway should not retreat from human companionship into holodeck
fantasies. However, I think that the holodeck could be used wisely to let
us see her occasionally playing among holocharacters in a way that gives
her an opportunity to act sexy and full of life with the kind of casual
disregard that she cannot show in front of her crew. Perhaps she could
flirt with holocharacters who do not represent sexist stereotypes while
solving a murder mystery. It could be done ambiguously enough that those
who are offended by holosex need not necessarily interpret it as leading
there.

THE AWFUL TRUTH: PEOPLE OVER 40 HAVE SEX!
by CK

	Should they, would they...will they, won't they...do they, don't
they? I am amazed at the angst that these questions have produced since the
introduction of Captain Kathryn Janeway and Commander Chakotay into the
annals of Star Trek lore in January 1995.
	I am relatively new to the Internet, the World Wide Web, and
cyberspace in general, and I have never been involved in any type of fan
club in my life. But I have been watching Star Trek since its inception (I
grew up in Montreal, after all, I had a vested interest in William
Shatner!) And when my daughter introduced me to the sport of web surfing, I
dove right in, And was amazed by what I found. I can read the Los Angeles
Times and the Jerusalem Post. I can get stock quotes and theatre reviews. I
can watch live Pathfinder transmissions from Mars, and talk to my family
who are spread all over Canada and the United States. And I can find
anything and everything I ever wanted to know about Star Trek! It's quite a
phenomenon.
	I watched the first episode of Voyager when it premiered, and was
impressed, particularly with Captain Janeway. Women have come a long way
since the 1960's even on Trek, where it was always wonderful to see women
on the bridge, even if only for decoration. At least we had made it that
far! But Kathryn Janeway. A woman, with a capital W. Who was in charge. Who
had a life. Who was a scientist and a leader of men and women...and various
and sundry other species! Someone who could negotiate with the best of
them, but was not afraid to "punch her way through." Aha! A woman of the
90's--or at least of the 24th century. She would have it all. And she was
not blonde and 23 years old!
	And then we met Commander Chakotay and the sparks flew. Another
character with potential. Principles, commitment, sensitivity,
spirituality... The Delta Quadrant is filled with all the prerequisites for
an ideal Star Trek world. But I also looked for character development, and
it was there. Friendships were forming. Animosity was waxing... and waning.
Human (and non-human) nature was in evidence. Decisions were being made,
and they weren't necessarily the right ones or the easy ones! This is good
Star Trek.
	Since I surfed into the Now Voyager site, I have been fascinated by
the Janeway /Chakotay dilemma. It seems to have engendered the most
passionate discourse amongst this group. (I have also been impressed with
the caliber of writing, reviewing, reporting and debate that goes on here.)
I even started to read fan fiction, something entirely new to me. I read
with great interest and delight Kate Mulgrew's opinions on the subject.
And, on the whole, I agree with her. I like the relationship that is slowly
developing between the characters. It is a true, deep friendship between
two complicated human beings. It is almost an ideal picture of a marriage.
	However, there is one issue here that no one has addressed, and one
that I would like to see on episodic television.  A woman, over 40 or even
45 (some of us have actually made it that far!) can enjoy a satisfying
physical relationship. It does happen. But I can't think of any examples of
this on regular television. I guess this is what I would like to see happen
between the Captain and the Commander. Two mature people enjoying a total
partnership, physical as well as spiritual, with all the inherent dangers
involved...dramatic possibilities abound! To me this would be an
interesting and realistic (Star Trek realism!?) area to explore...
	So...should they? I think so. Would they? After much discussion,
they might. Will they? I hope so--for their own sakes. And for the sake of
my demographic. We too have lives!


Katewatch

FIRST NVO MEETING
by Anneke Apperloo

	In case you're wondering, 'NVO' is an abbreviation for 'Now Voyager
Overseas'--and it does have a ring to it, doesn't it, as Vicky put it at
our first international, intercultural meeting. Two Germans (Marco and
Wilfried), a Danish/Canadian woman living in Belgium (Vicky), and a
Dutchman and woman (Marcel and myself) gathered on July 5, 1997 in Utrecht,
the Netherlands, all because of Kate.
	How to start... Well, Marco and Wilfried certainly saw a lot of
Utrecht! Suddenly we saw two people walk past Marcel's house--and back, so
it took a quick sprint from me to convince them they finally were at the
right place. Vicky, Marcel and I had started to lunch already, because we
weren't sure whether I just had given them lousy directions or...whatever.
After finishing our lunch, we started our video session. We mutually agreed
that "The Caretaker" would be a good start. Wilfried hadn't seen it yet--at
least not in English--so we had a 'panel discussion' first, about dubbing
(done in Germany) versus subtitling (done in the Netherlands and Belgium).
The final conclusion was that both are very annoying, but when subtitles
are used, one at least gets the opportunity to hear the voices belonging to
the actors...and improve one's English language skills.
	Back to "The Caretaker"--it was a good start indeed! I almost
forgot how great Chak looks in "civvies," since I haven't been watching my
usual bedtime story, "Resolutions," for a while; I'm completely hooked on
"The Q and the Grey" at the moment (and doesn't he look great in that blue
uniform as well?) I do think Chakotay instead of Kim should have rescued
Janeway: wouldn't that have made a wonderful 'wallpaper' picture. But I'm
digressing further! More about "The Q and the Grey" later--back again to
"The Caretaker."
	Not for the first time, it struck me how much Janeway has changed
during the past few years. And I don't mean just the ha*rdo (I wouldn't
dare!); in my opinion, she transformed from a somewhat formal and distant
Starfleet Captain into a confident, caring community leader...although I
think one of the final scenes of "The Caretaker," the one with Tuvok and
the remains of the Caretaker ("We never asked to be involved, Tuvok, but we
are...") already shows what she's really like "inside."
	Of course "The Caretaker" wouldn't have been Voyager if it wouldn't
have contained some extremely funny scenes as well, next to the extremely
serious ones, the secret behind the power of Voyager. The meeting with
Neelix, for instance--I found it really hilarious: "Whoever you are, I
found this waste zone first!" We said it all together, out loud, which
happened a lot during the watching. And the bathroom scene ("Mr Vulcan,
come in, come in, I can hardly see you!")...Marco told us that in the audio
version of the book is stated that Tuvok "saw more of the little alien's
anatomy than he would ever have wanted to see" when Neelix asked him to
hand him the towel!
	After a little break we watched "The Q and the Grey." Vicky hadn't
seen it yet, so Marco already told her she was in for a surprise--and she
was! For me, even after having seen it so many times and thoroughly knowing
it (from beginning to end...and back...), it's still such a great episode
to watch! I'm only sorry we as the audience don't get to see Q serenading
Janeway in her bath (which also would have made a great 'wallpaper'
picture, in my opinion). Watching the episode this time, however, I
suddenly realized what a wimp Q is in fact! ("Aaah!!! I'm hit!!! I'm going
to die!!!" "Q, they're not firing at us..." "They aren't?!" Absolutely
priceless.) And I really hope to see the female Q again some time. She's
"got such...spunk!"
	Before dinner we watched a great music video Vicky brought. The
video clips were composed of all kinds of Trek scenes. Wonder Woman was
dedicated to Janeway. Then we had dinner. Marcel and I convinced our poor
guests to try the famous "patatje pangang" (French fries with babi pangang)
from "the cafetaria on the corner," which is run by a Chinese family. It's
our usual healthy, nutritious and balanced Sunday evening dinner, watching
Voyager. Unfortunately we didn't have time anymore to watch Throw Momma
from the Train, the only Kate movie I can get my hands on over here. It's a
movie from 1987 in which Kate plays a woman quite opposite to Janeway. "She
had a little trouble walking, but that was because of the gardener." Just
imagine Janeway...no, no, wait, Kate said "no dropping the knickers,"
didn't she?! Maybe next time--because we unanimously agreed there will be a
next time!!!


The  People  Page

THE CADET JANEWAY AUTHORS
by Mary Taylor

Recently I had the privilege of interviewing Diana G. Gallagher, co-author
with Martin R. Burke of The Chance Factor, and Patricia Barnes-Svarney,
author of Quarantine. The Chance Factor and Quarantine are the second and
third of the Cadet Janeway Starfleet Academy books published by Minstrel,
the Pocket Books division for the intermediate age group between children's
and young adult books. (Lifeline, the first Cadet Janeway book, and The
Chance Factor are already in stores; Quarantine will be out in September.)
I spoke with Diana by telephone and to Patricia by email, and both were
cooperative and interesting interview subjects and very patient as I picked
their brains on everything I could think of.

NOW VOYAGER: First, thank you for agreeing to talk to Now Voyager. I'll
jump right in and ask: how did you become a writer?

PATRICIA BARNES-SVARNEY: I really, really want to say I was born with a
silver pen in my mouth (word processors weren't around then). In reality, I
started READING early, and that started me on my way to writing. I never
thought of being "a writer"; writing was just something I always did. I
wrote articles and did illustrations for my school newspapers a gazillion
years ago; and when in college, I kept on writing (science fiction and
mystery short stories; poems; essays, etc.), but never published except for
the college magazine. And although people kept saying to "get published," I
didn't get the bug until a science journal published my Master's thesis
study (I'm a geologist by training)! Then I was hooked.

DIANA G. GALLAGHER: When I was twelve, I would hole up in my bedroom with
my father's typewriter furiously typing horse stories. I still have those
short stories. I always wanted to be a writer, but it took me quite a while
to actually accomplish the fact. I still am writing horse stories, and if I
ever get a break, I would like to do some original kid's horse stories.

NV: Are you writing predominantly children's books or are you writing books
for adults as well?

DG: Well, my first science fiction novel, The Alien Dark, which came out in
December 1990 from TSR, was an adult science fiction novel. Since then,
I've been writing strictly for children, actually intermediate readers, and
now with Sabrina: The Teenage Witch, the young adult books. I have another
completed novel, which my agent and I decided that now would be a good time
for it, with all the hoopla with Mars and Roswell. Unfortunately, it's
mainstream fiction with a science fiction element that is too heavy for
mainstream but not heavy enough for science fiction. It's actually like a
psychological thriller with a science fiction element in it. The story
involves a probe, a device to accelerate the time it usually takes a person
to work through programming from childhood, etc. The probe kind of became a
character in his own right and stole the end of the book. So, I'm really
hoping we can sell it now, considering that I actually did something that
nobody else has ever done with an alien artifact and how public awareness
is now with life on other planets. So we'll see.

NV: When did you first become interested in Star Trek, and how did that
interest culminate in a desire to write Star Trek stories?

PB-S: Oh, my. I've been in love with Star Trek forever. (Do you get the
idea I've been around for centuries? ) Many women I knew (and still
know) who became scientists (especially in astronomy and geology), liked
the idea that there was a woman communications engineer on the Bridge; that
many other women on TOS were scientists; and that the future looked bright
for anyone who was interested in the "final frontier." I liked it, too. I
even tried out for the space program; no such luck, so now I WRITE about
the space program. As for writing the Star Trek stories, how many of us
have NOT thought, "Hey, you know what would be a great story...?"

DG: That is actually kind of interesting because I didn't start watching
Star Trek until it went into reruns back in the 1970s, and I liked it at
the time, but it never occurred to me to write science fiction. I got
interested in science fiction and the realities of space because of Star
Wars. After Star Wars, I started watching Star Trek again. I happened to
move to California ten years later, and through a series of fortuitous
events, I sent a spec script to Melinda Snodgrass that got lost until after
she left the show. Between the third and second season, there were spec
scripts lying around the office. Someone must have gone through them,
because Michael Piller's office called me in to pitch to TNG on the basis
of this teleplay. This was prior to them opening the doors to SFWA [Science
Fiction Writers of America] members. So that was kind of cool. I never
actually managed to sell to the show, although I went in and pitched a
couple of times. I have thought of calling Jeri Taylor's office. I have a
great "B" plot. Sometimes they have "story by" credit but their people are
actually writing the scripts. I do have an idea for DS9, so I would like to
be able to pitch again.

Because I had put time and effort into the pitch process, a friend of mine
talked me into trying for the Star Trek novels. I was not successful there.
Not too long after that, they decided to do the intermediate reader books.
Lisa Clancy [Pocket books editor for the Minstrel books] had told my agent
that she would be willing to talk to any of her clients who had an idea, so
that they would not have to spend time writing up outlines on things she
could not use. So I called her with an idea I had. Actually, my A plot was
too similar to something Lisa had already taken, but she liked the B side
of it. I took the B side, which was an educational helmet device, and came
up with the alien game device in The Arcade. Lisa Clancy, bless her heart,
is absolutely a doll as an editor. It was a lot of fun, and it was my first
introduction to writing for children, period.

NV: Patricia, how did you find yourself writing for the Minstrel line, and
do you have any interest in writing for the Pocket adult Star Trek line?

PB-S: When I picked up the first book of the series (Peter David's Worf's
First Adventure), I thought writing about ST:TNG people in Starfleet
Academy was the neatest idea. I had written some short stories for obscure
places, took classes on writing fiction for kids, and I had been writing
non-fiction for kids and adults for about 9 years. Not only that, I'm
always intrigued by "throw away" lines--for example, in my Beverly Crusher
book (ST: TNG: Starfleet Academy: Loyalties), I mention what happened to
Beverly and her grandmother on Arvada III (it's a throw away line in The
Arsenal between Beverly and Picard).

As for writing for the main line of books--yes, I am interested! I've put
in one proposal, and I'm working on another one right now. As for having a
foot in the door with the young adult books, I truly believe it's the good
stories that get published, so I have just as much of a chance as everyone
else.

NV: How does writing for children differ from writing for adults? What
kinds of changes in your writing style do you make when you write for
children?

PB-S: The young adult books center more on action and include "problems"
that young adults often struggle with at that age; the adult books also
have action, but there is much more detail in between. Otherwise, I just
try to center on characterization, a good story, and getting all the
details right!

DG: When it comes to my intermediate books, I don't really change my style.
The stories are more straightforward than adult books, but they still have
A and B plots. The plots would perhaps have fewer twists and turns, but not
necessarily. Language would be the only consideration. Of course, the
publisher has language people who determine what language level a book is.

I wrote Honor Bound, which is the kids' entry for the Day of Honor series
coming up. I had wanted to do something with Alexander, so the Day of Honor
book was perfect for me. The language level came out at the eighth grade
level, and I figured that it was because of the Klingon stuff. Most of the
Star Trek books are roughly sixth grade, and this was the high end of the
intermediate range.

NV: How do they determine the language level of a book?

DG: You know, I don't know. I think it's basically particular words. I had
to go through and take "blood lust" out. What they determined was that it
was a question of describing Klingon ferocity. In the story, Worf goes to
Earth because Alexander has become totally unruly again, but it turns out
that Alexander can't help it. What is going on is Alexander in adolescence
dealing with surges of Klingon hormones, except that I never say
"hormones."

I really am so pleased with that book because it works well with the
episode where K'mtar comes back, and he was really the future Alexander
["Firstborn"]. I was three-quarters of the way through the book before I
remembered that episode and then I went looking for it. As it turns out,
what I had already done, which was have Worf be very understanding, worked
in perfectly with what they had done in that episode. I kept trying to
figure out what episodes Alexander was in and which were important.

NV: How did you deal with Alexander not being on the station with his father?

DG: I say that because the Enterprise crashed on Veridian III, Alexander
had to stay with his grandparents while Worf went to the monastery. Then
Worf went to DS9 instead of visiting Alexander, and again, he was supposed
to go visit Alexander and instead went on vacation to Risa with Dax ["Let
He Who Is Without Sin"]. I think that there was actually a reference in the
episode to Worf having planned to visit Alexander, so I brought that in. At
the beginning, Alexander is feeling resentful because his dad is only
coming to see him because he's in trouble. In the original outline, I had
Alexander go to DS9, but Paramount didn't want to do that because they
wanted to bring Alexander to DS9 first.

NV: Did you get any hints that they were planning to bring Alexander to
DS9, or just that they wanted to leave their options open?

DG: They have to leave their options open. When you're writing the book,
it's a very fine line. I remember John [Ordover] telling me that one of the
best outlines he'd received from absolutely one of their best writers was
almost identical to one of the episodes Paramount already had in the can.

NV: Regarding the Captain Janeway book, what have been your experiences
with Paramount's publication and approval process?

PB-S: The process is similar to most books (fiction and non-fiction): You
first send for their writer's guidelines, read the books that are already
out there, send in your proposal to the correct editor (detailed outline
and sample chapters); if they approve of the idea, then you're on your way.
It sounds easy, but remember, you have to come up with a great idea, write
the best proposal, and wait--the hard part. As with Pocket, Minstrel (the
YA division under Pocket) asks that you have an agent.

DG: My experiences have been excellent. According to Lisa Clancy, the
Minstrel editor, The Arcade outline was approved with no revisions, which
was highly unusual.

NV: Is Pocket stricter with the young adult and intermediate books or with
the adult books?

DG: I have no idea. Anyway, what happened with The Arcade was unusual; the
manuscript came back with only four line revisions. This is what put me at
the top of the list when The Secret World of Alex Mack came along, the
books for the Alex Mack Nickelodeon series.

I had wanted to do a Beverly goes to Starfleet Academy book, but Lisa
wanted me doing Alex Mack, so that sort of got tabled. When the Voyager
young adult books came along, she just asked me to do one of the Janeway
books if I wanted it. So what was I going to say, no?

NV: Writing for Captain Janeway strikes me as unique because, unlike with
any of the other Star Trek characters, the life of Kathryn Janeway in her
formative years has been set out in a fair amount of detail in Mosaic by
Jeri Taylor. Can you describe how Mosaic affected your storytelling, if at
all?

PB-S: Yes, I was given Mosaic to read before I wrote the story. It gave me
an idea of what Janeway was like before she went to Starfleet Academy (who
her friends were, how she responded to certain events, what she liked to do
as a child, etc.), her family background (we're all still somewhat attached
to our family when we're at college--no matter what we say!), and who
affected her the most (her father, her own driven personality, etc.). Then
I interspersed some of those elements into the story. I also like to think
I had a "head start" on writing this book--I remember what it was like to
be a science major while in college, although Starfleet Academy looks much
different than my college!

DG: They supplied me, and I'm sure they supplied the other writers, with
the manuscript, actually the galley, so that we could know what was going
on. Of course, Jeri Taylor was able to look at all of our outlines and, I
assume, say OK.

NV: Did you have the opportunity to talk with Jeri Taylor about Mosaic or
any details that you might have needed in Janeway's backstory?

PB-S: No. I talked with my editor (Lisa Clancy) when I had a question.

DG: No, and oddly enough, it was Jeri Taylor that I had pitched to when I
pitched for TNG.

NV: Were there any special directives from Pocket or Paramount that you had
to follow?

PB-S: That's a tough one. Mosaic was the foundation for Janeway; then
Paramount checked the proposal and the resulting manuscript, giving
suggestions at both stages in the process.

DG: Not really. I referenced the manuscript for the parts about Janeway and
her dad. I really liked the way they brought that out on the show in
"Coda." Basically, I referenced the part about when she goes to Starfleet
Academy and is talking to her friend about her uncertainty. As far as
Mosaic is concerned, that is the part that would have been critical to
anything we did in the Academy, her feelings right before she went.

NV: Did you feel constrained in having to fit your story within the bounds
of Mosaic?

DG: No, because when you're writing for kids that age, for intermediate
readers (8-11, and with Star Trek, adults are reading them), you need a
relatively straightforward story, with a goal. I will not write anything
that does not have a positive ending, that does not have something positive
to say. The Chance Factor is written from Janeway's viewpoint, so
consequently, her feelings about her dad, about being a perfectionist and
screwing up, which is what I have her do, make her question whether she
belongs in Starfleet.

NV: The young adult and intermediate novels have a moral, a lesson that the
young people featured in the story learn by the end of the book. This moral
lesson often seems to involve who she is and what she wants out of life.
What moral lesson does Cadet Janeway learn from her experiences in your
story?

PB-S: In Quarantine, Cadet Janeway--along with several other cadets--is on
her first real off-world mission on the Tsiolkovsky, a science vessel
delivering medical supplies to Chatoob, a planet dotted with domes that
protect its people, two groups, the Chats and the Obers, from atmospheric
pollution. While on the planet, Janeway and the other cadets are
contaminated with a deadly disease and thrown into quarantine with dozens
of sick Obers. They find out there is more to this quarantine than meets
the eye -- the Obers say it's a plot. It's up to Janeway to figure out how
to get the cadets out of there, and to help the Obers. Without giving the
plot away, she learns that maybe she IS a leader. Always the scientist, she
never sees herself as a leader. But when push comes to shove, she uses her
scientist-mind to figure out a way to lead others and finds it's not as
uncomfortable as she thought.

DG: It's called The Chance Factor. The idea is brought up by one of the
teachers in class that there are things that you cannot anticipate, and
what Janeway has to learn is that she can't control everything. At the
beginning of the book, you find out that there is a man who has a project
which is low on Starfleet's priority list to use non-tech means for going
into planets where either technology won't work, or where because of the
prime directive, they have to sneak in and sneak out, whether it is a
rescue mission or the like. So I use five kids, including Janeway, a
Klingon, Endar from "Suddenly Human," who is about the same age as Janeway
(the same Endar who was Jono's adoptive father in "Suddenly Human" and who
was so missed by Jono), a young Betazoid, and a young Vulcan. They go into
the mission with ten different animals, all of which, with one exception,
have been mentioned or depicted in one series or another. I got them out of
the Star Trek Encyclopedia. I use everything from the sandbats of Manark
Four, which Spock mentioned in "The Empath," to an American Quarterhorse.
The American Quarterhorse and Star Trek; I may send them a copy.

So basically, we have the young people on a mission to prove the
feasibility of this man's study. Janeway learns not only that is there a
chance factor that she can't control, but also the importance of the team
effort and that everyone has something they can contribute. We all have
faults and we all have strengths, and you have to play to people's
strengths. Of course, she's not on a command track at the time, she's on a
science track, but her decisions all kind of create a foundation for what
will come to pass in the future.

NV: Do you set these decisions up to tie in with later events in Mosaic?

DG: No, not really. It's just that later, with all that went on, she
realizes that you just never know what is going to happen.

NV: Diana, what can you tell us about the collaborative process between you
and Martin Burke for The Chance Factor?

DG: It's hard to define in this particular instance. When it comes to Star
Trek books, sometimes you have a collaboration where the other person's
input is in a more general scope of human insight, which is what Marty's
input was for The Chance Factor. It was a 50-50 effort. There's an
interesting story that goes with this book, where Marty is very
instrumental regarding the Star Trek stuff. What happens was I decided to
use an Aldebaran serpent, which has three heads. The way it was depicted in that Q episode, it had three heads but you didn't see the rest of it. Well, we w
ere told that we couldn't use an Aldebaran serpent because it didn't have a
body. So Marty came up with using a dinosaur. It works for me, and kids
would love it. So we came up with a dinosaur that has no Star Trek
reference whatsoever. They had said that we might as well use a one-headed
creature. So we said fine, it will make life a lot easier for us. Well, no
one told the cover artist what we did. This really was a no fault
situation. Lisa's assistant had left and had not been replaced yet.
Consequently, the artist was working with the outline and didn't know that
we weren't using a three-headed Aldebaran serpent. So we ended up with
cover art that has a three-headed creature and a manuscript that has a
one-headed dinosaur. We had to correct it in the story because it was too
late to correct the cover art. The interior illustrations also had to be
corrected.

This is where the science fiction mind--and I said to Marty, we have to
think science fiction--came in. Originally with the creature having three
heads, we could have had three different personalities. Because we made the
creature a one-headed dinosaur, it had only one personality. In trying to
fix the manuscript, it would have been a horror to add two personalities
when we had had one that worked just fine. So what we came up with is a
three-headed creature where the heads operate independently as hands do,
but there is only one brain, in a cavity at the base of the neck that
controls it all. Three heads, one brain. So we went through and had
sentences where one head is getting scratched under the chin, and one head
is looking for grasshoppers in the grass, and the other head is playing
lookout. It was actually an easy fix and everyone heaved a sigh of relief.
It was the kind of story that you would love telling at a science fiction
convention because it was nobody's fault. It just happened. The cover art
passed, and the manuscript passed, and no one noticed.

NV: How would you describe Cadet Janeway as she is in your book and how she
is similar to and different from the Captain Janeway that we see every week?

PB-S: She loves science, she's trying to help others (especially her fellow
cadets), and she's very headstrong (didn't you love it when she stood her
ground in the last episode of the season? THAT'S the Janeway she's starting
to become in Quarantine).

DG: As a cadet, based on her schooling and her father and everything, she
was seeking perfection, and she was an overachiever. Only perfection would
do. Anything less than perfection was a failure. No gray area. That's how I
perceive it. Consequently, at the beginning of the book, we set up a
simulation, and everybody on the ship dies because of mistakes that the
team made, Janeway included. The professor points out that there were
points all along the way that a person could have made a decision that
could have affected the outcome. It's at that point that she realizes that,
in a life or death situation, does she want to rely on other people that
may not be competent? She also starts questioning her own competence.

When she goes on this mission with several aliens, not all of whom are from
races friendly to the Federation, everyone's faults are what get noticed
first. As the mission progresses, the strengths come out. As it turns out,
it was everybody working together that got them through the mission. From
Janeway's standpoint, it was accepting the concept that there are things
beyond our control and all we can do is punt and do the best we can.

NV: Do you see the present day Janeway as someone who has learned those
lessons?

DG: Yeah, I do. I just love the cliffhanger this season, where she says,
"OK, here we are, there's the Borg, I'm going over there."

NV: How did you feel about the conflict between her and Chakotay in the
decision to deal with the Borg in finding a solution to the Species 8472
threat? Did you have any reaction to Chakotay going nose to nose with her
and disagreeing with her?

DG: No, because I think that we have to have a devil's advocate because
there are things you don't think of. If you don't have someone who is in
opposition pointing them out, you're not going to think of them.

NV: Online, there has been a lot of discussion about demographics and the
gender of the actual and targeted audiences for Voyager and DS9. I've also
read that "girl books" and "boy books" differ in terms of characterization
and action. Was this a factor in writing The Chance Factor? Or Quarantine?

PB-S: No, I just wanted to tell an exciting story. I've been writing for
kids for some time now, and I've noticed there are "boy" and "girl" books,
but that line is slowly diminishing. I think boys and girls like excitement
and adventure, and that's what the Starfleet Academy books offer.

DG: Not at all. Not at all. I think that I can tell you from Alex Mack, the
fan mail I get is 50-50 boy and girl, and Alex, who is the star, is a girl.

NV: In addition to the Star Trek Minstrel books or other books we have
already talked about, what other books are you working on or have you
written?

PB-S: Do you really want the list? I've written 14 books and more than 300
magazine articles. In fiction, I've written two of the Star Trek Starfleet
Academy books (on Beverly Crusher and Janeway); and I've also written
several The Secret World Of Alex Mack books. In non-fiction, I write
science (Asteroid: Earth Destroyer Or New Frontier?; The New York Public
Library Science Desk Reference; Traveler's Guide To The Solar System;
etc.); I'm currently under contract for two more science books, and several
proposals are being considered (keep your fingers crossed!)

DG: The Alex Mack books, of course. I have one out in the Are You Afraid of
the Dark series. I just finished another one that is pure science fiction.
It was quite a deviation for them, but they really liked the idea. It's a
sort of "the grass is always greener on the other side" idea and involves a
multiverse machine. It was really fun and definitely science fiction. I
also have one of the first The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo, which is just
out, and Sabrina, The Teenage Witch, which is just pure fun. Marty and I
wrote an X Files adult book.

NV: It sounds like you're keeping very busy. How many of these books can
you expect to write in a year?

DG: Well, this is July, I'm about to start another Alex book, which I ought
to have started two weeks ago. I have written six books since Thanksgiving.
If the schedule keeps up the way it looks like it is going, I would have
written nine to ten books by the end of the year, which is really pushing
it. Sabrina's a lot of fun, and I suspect that it's doing very well. They
are definitely going to do more Sabrina books. My local Barnes & Noble says
that they are selling phenomenally. I'm surprised at the number of kids I
run into, six year olds, who just love the show. I think that Sabrina is
going to be good. I like the fact that if Sabrina uses her magic for any
kind of gain, there is always a repercussion. Of course, I like to write
books with a lot of chaos, and Sabrina is just prime for a lot of chaos. I
think that the limitations that they put on certain things really work
because we all have limitations in real life.

NV: Some of our members would be interested in what you think of Voyager.
What are your favorite episodes?

PB-S: Oh, my. That's a trick question, I can tell. All right. I'll bite:
All of them!

DG: I really liked the one where Neelix and Tuvok got combined ["Tuvix"]. I
liked the one where the doctor got a family ["Real Life"]. A lot of the
stuff they have done with the doctor has been really good, but that one
really struck me. What really got to me was when the doctor wanted to quit
and Tom Paris talked him into going back and finishing, when Tom said that
in order to understand, you have to go back and finish. That showed a lot
of human grit. It really did. In Tuvix, it was the moral dilemma that was
so great. Those two episodes stand out. There were a couple of other
episodes that I really liked, but those two in particular because theydeal
with the human condition.

Talking about favorite episodes, I think that my favorite DS9 episode is
the one where Nog talks Sisko into sponsoring him for the Academy. I
thought that was absolutely great. What he had to say about his father in
the end was wonderful. I love what they have done with Rom. That particular
show shows a progression of characterization that Voyager is developing but
they haven't been on long enough to show that yet. I think that Voyager has
gotten to that point quicker than earlier Star Treks.

NV: When Voyager started, there was an endless amount of talk online about
the direction the show should take. What direction do you think that the
show should take?

PB-S: I really don't have a preference--I just know that this season's Star
Trek: Voyager sounds promising already! Most people I talk with would like
to see Voyager pull away from the polish of Starfleet and become more
rough-cut: More trading with other ships and planets, and joining up with
other groups to make it through bad spots in the quadrant (sounds like what
they may do with the Borg?)

DG: I really haven't thought about it. If you're trying to write something,
to come up with a book idea, you have to have a standalone idea. They're
out there, they're stuck, and the idea can't be one that will alter their
circumstances. I'm perfectly willing to watch the show and see what's going
to happen next. It's one of the high points in my life. I do have to tape
them and watch them at my leisure, at 11:00 at night. But I do that
religiously. But sometimes I will have three weeks worth and sit down and
go on a binge. I'm curious about what is going to happen to Worf and Dax;
I'm glad that O'Brien and Keiko got married. I'm glad that Kasidy came
back. It puts it all into the realm of human reality, and I'm curious
there. But as far as trying to predict what either show will do, I'd like
to be surprised.

NV: What do you read in your spare time, if you have any spare time. What
are your favorite books?

PB-S: ACK! Another list! Fiction: Star Trek books, of course; Sherlock
Holmes; Mark Twain; Ray Bradbury; Edgar Allen Poe; I'm really all over the
board between science fiction, classics, and mysteries. Non-fiction: Isaac
Asimov; Carl Sagan; Stephen Hawking; John McPhee; in other words, anything
to do with the sciences, especially the physical sciences. My favorite
book? Charlotte's Web.

DG: Of late, I have read almost nothing but Star Trek because I think that
is because you can go into a Star Trek book, and you can get lost in Star
Trek. Personally, I think that Gene Roddenberry has created the blueprint
for the future, or at least, I hope so. I adore Babylon 5, but I would
rather live in the Star Trek universe. All this Roswell business, and my
feeling is that don't these aliens have something better to do? If you can
accomplish interstellar travel, why would you abduct individual humans? It
doesn't make sense to me. Now, the Vulcans observing makes sense to me.
Prior to that, I would read everything from Dickens' Tale of Two Cities to
Dean Koontz to anything I can lay my hands on. My favorite science fiction
writer would be Jim Hogan. I don't read voraciously because reading is
something I tend to do before I go to sleep, so I read whatever I can get
through before I start nodding off.

NV: Of the Star Trek books you've read, what are your current favorites?

DG: Put me on the spot here. The original series book, The Prime Directive,
was that the one where everybody was in trouble? Loved that. I loved Q
Squared, but I love Peter David's stuff anyway. I went to Barnes and Noble
trying to find the New Frontier books but I couldn't. They told me at the
bookstore that they had 200 cases of books in the back but I said, "a lot
of good that's going to do me." A friend of mine who is an avid Star Trek
reader has said that they are really good so I decided that I would get
them. So I'll have to look a little more.

NV: What are your objectives and goals for the future?

PB-S: That's a good one!! What's that joke? "Want to make God laugh? Make
plans..."

DG: The immediate goal as far as writing is concerned is to hope that Lisa
keeps sending the books my way. As far as adult books, I would love to
write an adult Star Trek novel. It's one of those things that you decide
you want to do something, and you're not going to rest until you do it.
Lisa keeps me so busy though, which makes it difficult.

My ideas come from the strangest places. You know, the shower is a great
place to get ideas. I came up with a whole Alex Mack book during the course
of one shower. I knew I wanted to do a book about dogs. So I went into the
shower and the whole thing popped into my head. Who knows? Sometimes I'll
be watching an episode and there will be a line that is an aside and I
think that it would be interesting to take that somewhere, or it would be
interesting if and so forth.

NV: Did that happen with your Cadet Janeway story?

DG: My stories tend to be very personality and biologically oriented as
opposed to technically oriented. I think I'm pretty good with aliens, but
that's again, a thinking kind of thing, a non-technical kind of thing. I
just decided that I wanted to do something with the horses, and the whole
thing just came from that, wanting to do all these different kinds of
animals that have been mentioned and that we've seen.

NV: Do you have any suggestions for aspiring writers and Trek novelists?

PB-S: The dreaded "P" words: Practice, patience, and persistence! Practice
your craft by writing and reading -- and remember the word "rewrite" -- the
first words out of your head are usually just for fun; have the patience to
take advice from editors (if you are lucky enough to get feedback -- most
editors do the work of twenty people), and wait for replies; and finally,
be persistent, which means if something comes back with a no, work hard to
make the text better, and if you can't make the text better, start over --
then send it out again.

DG: Persistence pays off. I started writing seriously twelve years before
my first book was published, and I was absolutely determined in spite of
what everyone told me I shouldn't be doing. George Burns gave the same
advice. And pay attention; your words aren't written in stone and you can't
be married to them. It's a team effort, especially with Star Trek. It's
Paramount's baby, and what they say goes.


Books  And  Collectibles

HAMLET ON THE HOLODECK: THE FUTURE OF NARRATIVE IN CYBERSPACE
by Janet H. Murray (Free Press, 1997)

	Since Hamlet on the Holodeck is about the effect computers have on
storytelling, I'm going to tell a story about it. Now Voyager member Diane
Nichols, who works in a New York state library, sent me e-mail last month
about this new book she'd discovered. Diane liked the Hamlet-Trek
connection--she's one of a surprising number of fans who trekked to L.A. to
see Robert Beltran in the title role of that play. But she figured I'd be
interested because the book sounded like it paralleled my academic
interests from before I became a professional Trekkie--Shakespeare and the
Internet.
	When I picked up Hamlet on the Holodeck, I wasn't sure what to
expect--commentary on Star Trek's classically trained actors? Analyses of
Data's assorted Shakespearean holoprograms? When I picked up the book, I
shrieked to discover that the very first chapter is called "Lord Burleigh's
Kiss"! The chapter is about cyber-relationships, interactive media, and how
new technology affects morality, but Janeway and the holodeck are the
vehicle for analysis. "Persistence of Vision" as Hamlet for
futurists...who'd ever have thought it? Much of the book is about the way
readers and viewers (fans, by extension) obliterate the outside world from
their awareness when they're lost in a really good text--holographic or
otherwise.
	The author of Hamlet on the Holodeck, Dr. Janet Murray, is a senior
research scientist at M.I.T. with a doctorate in English literature. Since
cyberspace is a small world, especially among Trekkers and academics, I
figured that Janet must know M.I.T. professor Henry Jenkins--head of the
Academic Study of Fandomlist, and the most prominent expert on fandom in
the country. When I e-mailed Henry begging for information about how to
contact Janet, he told me he and Janet are working together on an article
about Star Trek CD-ROM games. And when I wrote to Janet, I learned that a
friend of a former college professor of mine had already given my e-mail
address to Janet and suggested that she contact me.
	I tell this story because it illustrates Janet's celebration of
electronic technologies and the new relationships open to us because of
them. Without the Internet, what are the odds that three different
connections would have led me to her? If we want to talk about Star Trek
having a legacy that affects social trends in a larger sense than "just
television," here it is, in the real technologies which are increasingly at
our disposal.
	Kirkus Reviews described Hamlet on the Holodeck as "a provocative
yet cautious meditation on the possibilities and ramifications of
encounters between traditional literature, characterized by the Melancholy
Dane, and emerging technologies, represented by the holodeck, a form of
virtual reality enjoyed by characters on Star Trek." I asked Janet to
summarize Hamlet on the Holodeck in layman's terms for Now Voyager. She
wrote, "Basically, I am assuming that this moment is analogous to the
invention of the movie camera 100 years ago, and asking if the digital
environment (multimedia, networked, desktop, VR, arcade, etc.) is the
'camera,' then what will be the equivalent of the 'movie'? The holodeck
provides one provocative model. I was particularly intrigued by the
episodes [of Voyager] that use the repetition feature of the holonovel,
allowing people to enter the same story and play out different versions of
it. I think that Star Trek and Neil Stephenson's Diamond Age are the most
thoughtful images so far of what digital narrative forms might look like."
	I told Janet of my own negative response to Lord Burleigh and
Janeway's use of the holonovel, shared by many in this fan club. The
concerns have less to do with holo-technology as such than with the
frustration of seeing that technology used as a gimmick for gratuitous sex
and violence, at the expense of relationships and problem-solving.
Libidinous holo-programs are often damaging to images of women--Janeway
getting smooched by her lord and master, Paris programming a girlfriend who
waits on him like a puppy, Harry cavorting with bimbos in bikinis, Vorick
using a holographic woman as a sex toy to assuage pon farr. Even on DS9,
when the holosuites aren't getting used for Quark's "Vulcan Love Slave Part
II" programs, we see them serving bat'leth competitors and weapons
dealers--violence without consequence. It's rare for the holodecks to be
programmed for ideological or scientific inquiries, like the TNG Moriarty
episodes or Voyager's "Distant Origin," though they seem ideally suited for
such purposes.
	Janet did not find the Trek writers' use of Janeway's holonovel
particularly disturbing: "I liked their framing the problem of how she
would keep distance from the crew, and of how she would consider the issue
of fidelity to her conveniently absent lover. I think the holodeck is well
used to engage those issues. I also think it is well used to consider plot
points that were undeveloped (like the mutiny in "Worst Case Scenario") and
the crew members' fantasies of one another." Yet Janet also understood my
concerns about the way such experiences are presented on the show.
	"The narrative imagination is a very powerful part of our survival
equipment," she wrote to me. "In earlier ages, it took the form of myth and
magic; we thought the things we invented were externally true. Nowadays we
are more sophisticated in our understanding of cause and effect, but we are
still subject to the overwhelming power of imaginative experience. It
thrills us and scares us. We fear the participatory narrative world because
we don't know how to indicate what is real and what is make-believe, what
is romantic and what is pornographic, what is fantasy and what is
anti-social behavior. The holodeck stories frame these anxieties in
fascinating ways--your own responses to 'Persistence of Vision' make clear
how complex that model is, even for those whom one might expect to embrace
it. I think the real problem is finding appropriate 'boundaries.'"
	On the whole, Janet admitted, "I think B'Elanna and Kes are more
successful female characters than Janeway has been. I think they are still
struggling with the issue of a woman captain." To this, I can only say,
bingo. My complaints about Voyager stem from the discrepancies between the
24th-century setting and the 20th-century prejudices projected into that
future. I'm not disturbed by the concept of a holodeck any more than I am
by the existence of video games, IRC, or other electronic leisure tools,
but I am troubled by the social milieu in which sex and violence are
increasingly large components of these interactive entertainments. The
problems are not caused by the technologies, merely reflected by them. I
wonder whether Trek's writers stop to consider the variance between current
and future social systems and how they might make different use of
interactive technologies, just as I wonder whether the writers take into
account four hundred years of human and alien cultural evolution when
characterizing attitudes toward gender and command.
	It's interesting that on TNG, Barclay's desire to interact on his
own terms with the other characters--his desire, in effect, to write
holographic fan fiction about the crew of the Enterprise--got him
ridiculed, psychoanalyzed, and "cured," though the same production team
which wrote TNG thinks that Janeway having similar fantasies about
fictional Victorian characters is perfectly appropriate. There are
interesting parallels between Barclay's unauthorized and chastized use of
his superiors in a holo-fantasy, and Tuvok's duty-driven use of his own
colleagues in a security training program. Though Tuvok complained that
Janeway executing the Maquis rebels in one version of the scenario would be
out of character for her, nobody seems to have complained that mutiny would
have been out of character for Chakotay in the first place, and that Tuvok,
the chief security officer, might have compromised the first officer's
image among trainees who had access to the renegade holographic version.
	I never had a problem with the holodeck when used for entertainment
like Picard's Dixon Hill scenarios, which Picard never took overly
seriously, but I have a big problem when Janeway prefers the advice of a
fictional representation of Leonardo Da Vinci to that of her first officer.
If I thought Voyager was attempting to make substantive commentary about
the values and hazards of the technology, rather than just using it as a
convenient plot device, I'd feel much better about it.
	We are consumers of an entertainment culture in which we are
becoming increasingly powerless. While we now have authorized means to
participate in the Trek universe--the interactive VCR Next Generation board
game, the various CD-ROMs--we are also witnessing a crackdown by Viacom on
unauthorized participation in a narrative culture to which they own the
rights. Even as a participatory Trek experience is being readied for
opening in Las Vegas, and while an official fan-written anthology, Strange
New Worlds, is being prepared by Pocket Books, Viacom is shutting down
fan-run web sites and hounding zine dealers into stopping circulation of
the unauthorized fan fiction that has been around for decades.
	I asked Janet who she thought would own interactive narratives of
the future, in which writers and artists would create the backgrounds and
studios or publishers would market them, but the participants would do the
actual scripting of the scenarios. She said, "The question you raise about
who owns the story is central to the future of digital narrative, and Star
Trek is the clear battleground for these issues right now. The recent
closing of fan web sites over copyright issues was quite shocking,
considering the long history of fan participation and the role of the fans
in making the series successful. The same issues come up in MUDs
[multi-user domains] and in live action role playing games (LARPs) between
game masters and players. The more these participatory story worlds
develop, the more tension there is going to be. The media industry is
trying to figure out more and more ways to profit from participation, and
the fans want more and more control over how the story turns out."
	"It will be fascinating to see how these tensions play out," Janet
added. "In chapter 9 of Hamlet on the Holodeck I imagine how a world that
was partially authored and partially invented by interactors might operate.
I believe the solution will come with the invention of clear conventions of
participation (like the "fourth wall" in a theater) that give interactors
control over some parts of the story but not others in a predictable way.
In such a world, a fan could choose to be a member of the Voyager crew, but
would have to take some global events as givens (like an encounter with the
Borg) while being able to influence others (like enacting laws over
holodeck use)."
	Janet is interested in the boundary between the audience and the
narrative. Movies like Purple Rose of Cairo and The Last Action Hero, where
viewers end up becoming participants in the story, "raise the same question
that fan participation does. Who owns the characters? Who determines what
happens to them? If our feelings for the characters seem as powerful as
those for our actual intimates, then will our imaginary actions change our
actual lives? What is the difference between what I would call
'progressive' fantasy, a form of make-believe experience that help us move
forward in our emotional development, and 'static' fantasy that just
distracts us from daily tensions? I am less afraid of make-believe
experiences in general because I think that story-making moves us toward
health, toward greater inclusion of the real world. The fan discussions
you've been telling me about are evidence of that. People attach very
strong personal fantasies to these characters, and then notice the
inconsistencies between what they want them to do and what they actually
do. I think this kind of activity helps us to know ourselves, and to
understand our collective fantasies better."
	It strikes me as ironic that Trek's producers, who have been known
to tell fans to butt out of their narrative and get a life, are the very
people giving Janeway and the Doc a life only in narrative on the holodeck.
Meanwhile we, the fan community of principal consumers of Paramount's
officially licensed interactive Trek games, are resistant to having limits
placed on our use of the narratives. Janet sounded bemused by the fact that
both Jeri Taylor and Kate Mulgrew have been known to claim, "I am Kathryn
Janeway," as if Janeway is a private alter ego, when both women are aware
that Kathryn Janeway� is the property of Viacom, Inc., and controlled by
Paramount Pictures, which can demand her rescripting or execution at the
whim of a few executives. Janet does not even swallow Viacom's claims of
ownership. "Janeway is a joint projection in the shared space between all
these different communities, a consensual hallucination we can all share,"
she claimed.
	This statement makes me absurdly optimistic. Janeway may be a
fiction, but she's a communal fiction. Our fantasies about her don't
isolate us like someone on a holodeck, relating to a fictional
character--they bring us together, the same way a convergence of
cyber-relationships brought me into contact with Janet. The issues we have
engaged in this fan club, which have been political and social,
charity-oriented and educational, go well beyond the narrow scripts of Star
Trek: Voyager. And the narratives we have shared have been transformational
for many of us.
	The New York Times, which gave Hamlet on the Holodeck a mostly
positive review, was concerned that Murray failed to note that cyberspace
"is a form of escapism, escapism that can foster a retreat from the
problems and pleasures of the real world." Well, I have news for the Times:
cyberspace is the real world. Like that old saying goes, reality is
sometimes a crutch for people who can't handle science fiction.

--Michelle Erica Green


STAR TREK VOYAGER: STARFLEET ACADEMY
#1: LIFELINE
by Bobbi JG Weiss & David Cody Weiss
A Minstrel Book published by Pocket Books, 1997)

	This book has a few things going for it: decent writing and real
nice artwork. For a young adult novel, it's not far below the reading level
in Jeri Taylor's Mosaic. This first novel covers Kathryn Janeway's first
two weeks at Starfleet Academy. Unfortunately, it is marred by Mosaic's
canon, which force-fits 20th century precepts into a 24th century timeline.
That didn't work in Mosaic, and it doesn't work here. Plus we get a brief
mention of Cheb Packer (gag) and a glimpse of Will Riker. If anyone
remembers Janeway's botched attempt at dating Riker, then they'll take this
as a bad omen for upcoming novels.
	Young Kathryn seems to live for the day when she sees dear Daddy
and has his shining beam of approval. She is driven, humorless and
downright unfriendly to her fellow cadets. Blinded by her overly
competitive nature, she turns her back on her roommates and the young man
who continuously tries to befriend her. For some reason, she's put herself
in an Atlas-like position, and young Chakotay isn't around to ease her
burden. Instead of fostering friendships, she spends time on the holodeck
with Amelia Earhart.
	This book bludgeons home its point: make friends and work as a team
because it might save your life someday! (The adult Kathryn obviously
forgot this advice, didn't she--in "Scorpion," she seeks the counsel of a
holodeck character, not her old friend Tuvok.) From a writing and editing
standpoint, this book is a lot better than most of the Voyager novels, but
it's not enough to make me swallow Taylor's narrow vision of Janeway that
these writers are forced to use in their work. Despite these objections,
it's not a bad piece of fiction.

--Elizabeth Klisiewicz

	I passed a dealers' table at Shore Leave, and saw the cover of this
book. Janeway! I figured $3.75, even though I haven't bought a Trek book in
I don't know how long, I could swing. The drawings inside are kind of cool.
The quality varies, as does the liknesses. But overall, thumbs up on the
art. The story, on the other hand...
	Well, in its favor, it is short. It has a moral (the advantage of
teamwork and friends). But Kathryn is still lonely, still isolated, and
pretty much clueless about how to interact with people. This book was
written with Jeri Taylor in mind. Anyone remember Mosiac? Well this Kathryn
Janeway got started on her holodeck avoidance of reality problem early. I
read aloud the part where Kathryn turns to the holodeck counselor--she has
monkeyed around with the programming, turning it into, taa daa, Amelia
Earhart, because Amelia is her only true friend, the only one she can talk
to, and the only one who understands her--and I had people falling off
beds, covering their ears, screaming, "Oh no, don't tell me...the horror!"
Oh, yeah, and Janeway is still trying to avoid Riker, because Cheb dumped
her when she got accepted to the Academy.
	After reading this, I am absolutely amazed that with the slew of
psychological problems this woman has had in her life, she is entrusted
with a starship, several hundred lives, and live weapons. You know how, on
the show, Kate Mulgrew makes Janeway look so put together, with only a
couple personal problems? Holodeck counselor Amelia gave some pretty good
advice: make some friends, live in the real world. What is Kathryn still
doing with Leonardo Da Vinci, two decades later?
	After reading this book, I have to say that one other thing really
bothers me. (On top of all the rest of the plot holes, that is.) Kathryn in
the book, and Kathryn in Mosiac, had an admiral for a father, and so
essentially was a Tom Paris who didn't screw up. High expectations, people
in high places willing to help out, etc. I think I would have been more
interested if I had learned that Kathryn Janeway wasn't a "princess" of
Starfleet, but a woman who had found a career that she loved, and worked
her ass off to accomplish, without all the extra helping hands. Don't get
me wrong--I firmly believe in helping hands, but nepotism is something else
entirely. At the end of Lifeline, Kathryn dashes off to class with Admiral
Daddy looking after her, the future so bright, and his friend her teacher,
also looking after her, both with grins on their faces. I nearly choked.
All throughout the book, Kathryn misses her father, is mad at him for not
seeing her off to the academy, wants to please him.
	Plus points: moral, short, good artwork. Would I buy it again? No.

--Rachael Quereau


UPCOMING TREK POCKET BOOKS

Star Trek Voyager: Starfleet Academy  #2: The Chance Factor . By Diana G.
Gallagher and Martin R. Burke. September 1997, Minstrel paperback.

Star Trek: Voyager: Day of Honor #3: Her Klingon Soul. By Michael Jan
Friedman. September 1997, Pocket paperback.

Star Trek: Voyager: Day of Honor: The Television Episode. By Michael Jan
Friedman.  October 1997, Pocket paperback.

Star Trek Voyager: Starfleet Academy #3: Quarantine. By Patricia
Barnes-Svarney. October 1997, Minstrel paperback.

Star Trek: Voyager #14:  Marooned. By Christie Golden. November 1997,
Pocket paperback.

Star Trek: Voyager #15: Echoes. By Dean Wesley Smith and Kristine Kathyrn
Rusch and Nina Kiriki Hoffman. December 1997, Pocket paperback.

Star Trek: The Captain's Chair: The Official Starfleet Virtual Tour of Five
Federation Starships. October 1997. Simon & Schuster Interactive CD-ROM.


Reviewzzzzzzzz

* * * * * * * *
	As everyone has surely noticed, there have been no new episodes of
Voyager to review. If you've been depressed about that, think about how
Classic Trek fans felt in 1969, when the show was cancelled and there were
no prospects for any more Trek, ever! Fortunately, those fans had fanzines.
These collections of amateur stories, poetry, and artwork sustained Trek
for more than a decade while Paramount devised ways to turn the syndicated
success of Trek into a new source of revenue.
	Recently, the net has cut into zine production--free stories can't
be beat, even if they're rarely illustrated like zines. While Viacom's
crackdown on fan activities has scared off even some long-time
distributors, there are still terrific zines around. Here are reviews of
some of the more prominent Voyager amateur publications,  focusing on the
ones with strong Janeway stories. When possible, we have included excerpts.
Artwork quality varies wildly. Now Voyager's reproduction of the graphics
is poorer than average. Prices will rise for shipping to Canada, Latin
America, Europe, Australia, and Asia, so please send IRC coupons to the
dealers if you are interested in purchasing a zine and you live outside the
U.S.
* * * * * * * *


ASSIMILATION
An Orion Press Zine by BEKi
300 pages. $25, postpaid.

	When it comes to the question of assimilation, the Borg will tell
you, "Resistance is futile." When it came to the question of whether or not
to buy the fanzine Assimilation, I didn't even try.
	Of course, when the Borg get you that way, you generally don't like
it...insofar as you feel anything at all, that is. But when the zine got me
that way, I liked it a lot.
	Assimilation, a Voyager "novella" (at 292 pages, the length is that
of a novel) written and illustrated by BEKi, is a sequel to the episode
"Unity." Through his link with Riley's group, Chakotay received the
assimilation memories of a number of former Borg--knowledge which is
desperately needed by another group, whose race will eventually have to
face and fight the Borg Collective. Working from a distance, these people
force Chakotay to relive the memories in all their shattering detail, so
that they can tap his knowledge. The process causes him not only emotional
distress but neurological damage. Unaware of the aliens' role in his
traumatic nightmares and (eventually) waking delusions, Janeway and the
crew struggle to find a way to save Chakotay from a terrifying death. When
they think they've found it, the aliens themselves arrive, and demand
Chakotay as the price of Voyager's safety.
	That summary just skims the surface of this powerful story, which
deals in issues of life, death, loyalty. What a man will do to retain his
identity. What those who care for him will do to protect him, sometimes
even over his own objections. What a people will do to survive.
	Assimilation grabs the reader with a stunning beginning scene and
doesn't let go until a satisfying epilogue. Despite the story's length, few
scenes are wasted. As in many of BEKi's better stories, Assimilation is
rife with plot and subplot, undercurrent and counter-current. Events unfold
reasonably (for the characters and the situation, that is) and
intelligently. Tactics make sense. And the technobabble babbles smoothly
along, even to the creation of a truly alien, and logically consistent,
technology for Chakotay's assailants.
	But for all that, the story is more character-driven than it is
plot-driven. Events in Assimilation don't just happen: they happen to
people we care about, and because these people we care about are doing
things we can believe these people would do. Even BEKi's created characters
are people who act for their own reasons and motives--not a "spear carrier"
or plot device in the lot.
	Perhaps the best of all her characterizations, BEKi's Chakotay is
strong and memorable. If there's a flaw in her treatment, it's a worthy
one: that, in this third-season novel, this is definitely a first- or
second-season Chakotay. Far from the softer, more passive version often
presented in the past year (ironically, particularly including the episode
on which this novel is based), Chakotay here is seen as proud and
passionate, wry, intelligent, and profoundly spiritual. This is the
Chakotay that most of us who love the character fell in love with, and it's
easy to believe he's the kind of officer, the kind of person, who inspires
the kind of loyalty BEKi claims he does.
	BEKi's portrayal of Janeway also incorporates many elements of the
character we fell in love with. Her Kathryn is definitely a commanding
presence: strong, self-assured, and not afraid of unconventional solutions;
yet she's also capable of tremendous empathy and understanding. Her
relationship with Tuvok is so dead on target that it's almost impossible
not to hear Kate and Tim reading the lines, and her scenes with Chakotay
show a level of warmth and closeness that completely justifies his
emotional dependence on her. (They seem somewhat closer here than they've
seemed, this past year, on the series--but I like that sort of treatment
too much to quarrel with it.) There are, however, a few jarring notes in
the characterization. For one: I find it impossible to believe that, after
two years, there's anybody on Voyager Janeway wouldn't know, at least by
name, face, and job title. She's far too conscientious for that--and there
are only 148 of them!
	Tuvok is mostly well-presented. Logical, ethical, and reserved,
when the Vulcan decides to help Chakotay, he does it more for the sake of
duty, and possibly that of his friendship for Janeway, than from friendship
or affection for Chakotay himself. His relationship with Chakotay,
guardedly but decidedly antagonistic, rings so true one can almost see the
sparks flying. Though there are a few dubious suggestions that Tuvok feels
personal loyalty to the other man, and one regrettable, almost "cute" scene
at the end that tries to reconcile the two of them, by and large their
interactions are spot-on.
	B'Elanna gets to show her stuff as Chief Engineer and ex-Maquis and
hoverball player and friend of Chakotay, and she looks great doing all
that, but there's a recurring bit about her replicated cookies I could have
done without. Paris is decent in a minor role that allows him to be
alternately clever, petulant, flirtatious, and heroic. BEKi even manages to
touch on the infamous Paris/Torres "relationship" in terms that aren't
nauseating or obvious--a trick the series has yet to manage!
	One of BEKi's strengths as a writer is in creating memorable new
characters, and that strength is much in evidence here. The new crop, this
story, are mostly Maquis, and they're a lively bunch, from fiercely loyal
Aaron Moseby, to unrepentant Bajoran terrorist Pong Raya, to diffident
ex-Fleeter Carla Bevington, to surly Two Bears. Most interesting of all,
they're Maquis; even those thoroughly integrated into the crew have
different attitudes and sensibilities from their Starfleet counterparts--as
they should. I don't sense nearly as much potential for division in the
ranks, these days, as BEKi does, but it's a concept that she justifies in
context.
	Another of BEKi's strengths is the artist's sensitivity that
flavors her scenes and colors her descriptions. Her phraseology is crisp
and vivid. To cite an example: "Torres watched as the wave of pain hit. She
watched him ride it, watched him breathe through it in specific cadence as
it washed across his mind and spent itself on the beaches of his eroding
endurance." Beautiful. Speaking of artist's sensitivity: BEKi's cover, a
colored-pencil drawing of Chakotay with a Borg face-piece, is ample
testimony as to why she's one of the more highly-regarded portrait artists
in Trek fandom. The interior art is also lovely.
	Assimilation was put together in a very short time--something like
two months from concept to completion, which blows my mind for an original
project of this length--and I understand that the editor had almost no time
to proof and edit the work before it was published. I wish there'd been a
little more time, though: I wouldn't call the level of typos and
misspellings high compared to some zines I've seen, but it's high enough to
distract. All in all, though, this is an impressive work, and I'd have no
hesitation recommending it to a fanzine buyer. If you like solid fanfic,
give it a try.
	After all, you know what they say about resistance.

--Brenda Shaffer-Shiring

From Assimilation by BEKi:
	Janeway sighed. She turned, leaning against the edge of the biobed
and crossing both arms across her chest. For the first time since he'd
re-awakened, she was no longer touching him. Chakotay's eyes opened in a
gesture that might have resembled muted panic had she been watching him to
see it.
	"I'm sorry this is happening to you, Chakotay," she announced, her
voice weary with the weight of the past several days, her eyes without
focus on the bulkhead in front of her. "I wish there was something I could
do."
	"You're doing everything you can," he said. "I know that."
	"I wish it was more," she allowed.
	Her hip was within reach of his hand. His fingers moved, as if to
touch her, but he didn't. "You can only do what you can do," he said
finally.
	Janeway nodded, still staring at the bulkhead. "I suppose you're
right." She turned then, her expression structured to a false serenity.
"Get some rest, Commander," she instructed, smiling. "And get well. We miss
you on the bridge." Her expression flickered. She touched him, her hand
once again seeking solace against the acceptability of his forearm. "I miss
you on the bridge," she revised quietly.
	And then she left him, walking away like a captain leaving behind
nothing more than a wounded member of her bridge crew. He let her go before
challenging the pretense.
	"Kathryn."
	She turned. Her smile was a warmth he deflected with opaque eyes.
	"Do me a favor," he said, his voice calm.
	"Anything," she agreed.
	"Don't come here again," he said.
	Her expression barely flickered. "Anything except that," she revised.
	"I don't want to hurt you."
	"You haven't hurt me, Chakotay."
	"I will."
	She returned to his side, defiant of the cold-eyed gaze meant to
warn her off. She touched him immediately this time, lifting his hand off
the biobed and weaving her fingers through his.
	He refused the intimacy of the gesture, his hand lax and
unresponsive. "I will," he repeated.
	Her fingers tightened. She leaned closer, breaking his gaze to
speak softly to the distance that remained between them: "There's a legend
among my people," she murmured near his ear. "It's about a woman warrior
and the angry man who stands at her side."
	Chakotay closed his eyes. He turned his face away, deflecting her.
	"They stand together because they choose to stand together," she
went on, holding tighter to his hand. "Neither of them steps away because
neither of them chooses to step away."
	He listened to the silence for almost a minute, barely breathing,
barely thinking. The pressure of her hand in his grew familiar. "Don't let
me hurt you, Kathryn," he said, his eyes still closed to protect himself
from her response. "I couldn't live with that."
	"Neither of them steps away," she repeated, her voice a tangibility
against his skin. "Because neither of them chooses to step away."
	He forced his eyes open then, forced them to meet hers, forced them
to face what she was saying. He nodded tightly, as grateful for her
tenacity as he was for her compassion.
	Janeway smiled. She held his hand a moment longer, then replaced it
on the biobed. "Get some rest, Commander," she said. "I'll visit again
soon."
	He watched in silence as she turned and walked away.


DELTA QUADRANT 5
An Orion Press Zine
176 pages. $15, postpaid.
DQ4 202 pgs. $17.25, postpaid. DQ3 136 pgs. $14.50, postpaid.
DQ2 240 pgs. $19.50, postpaid. DQ1 158 pgs. $15, postpaid.

	Orion Press puts out really nice-looking publications, and DQV is
no exception. It's perfect bound and has a decent illustration of Tom Paris
on the cover. I'd like to say the copy editing and artwork inside are as
stunning, but that is not the case, though I have come to expect
high-quality work from this fan-run press. They don't have the time
pressures of the big publishing houses--their schedule is their own, so
they should go that extra mile to do it right and produce a clean,
attractive zine with clear illustrations.
	In "Masks," Valerie DeVries explores Tom Paris and how other
people, especially Chakotay, perceive him. Valerie turns back the
Federation clock to Season One, and provides the reader with an interesting
story. She knows these characters and has their voices down cold.
	"One Wish," by Ulrike Schaefer, is a gentle and sweet tale where
Janeway is given the chance to go home and say good-bye to Mark. One of
Jeri Taylor's promises for season three is that Janeway would do just that,
but she broke her word, so I was happy to see someone fill this void.
	I didn't care as much for Miranda Mumford's "Unshed Tears." She's
fallen into the overused story trap where the Voyager crew is searching for
food supplies, meet up with seemingly friendly aliens (the Tariman), and
discover that things aren't what they seem. How many times have we seen
these in the official novels? Paris, Torres and Kim go on an away mission
and are attacked by thugs, who turn out to be hostile aliens called the
Chaar (enemies of the Tariman). Torres is thrown into prison and Harry and
Tom meet up with a Tariman female named Shalees, who is beautiful (of
course) and falls for our favorite flyboy, Tom Paris. Kim is sucked into a
quicksand puddle, and later turns up in the same prison as B'Elanna. It's
up to Tom and Shalees to save the day! Mumford is a good writer, and her
story has some depth, but there are no new concepts here.
	BEKi's "A Delicate Matter" is a brief sketch about the
Chakotay/Torres friendship. From a chronological standpoint, it takes place
right after that dreadful episode, "Persistence of Vision." Torres reveals
her feelings, and Chakotay takes it in stride by offering friendship and
trust. During their conversation, B'Elanna questions his feelings for the
captain. I love BEKi's work. She is always very subtle and presents the
reader with story threads the producers dropped like a hot potato. Nice,
very nice.
	In Brenda Shaffer-Shiring's "Lack of Resolution," Chakotay is
engaged in carnal maneuvers with Riley, but he uses the time to think about
Janeway. The author pulls a neat trick by flashing back to all the
Janeway/Chakotay moments during Season Three. She adds a few fillips of her
own, and it managed to keep me engaged for the entire story.
	In "Defining Parameters," Jordan Trevor delves into an alternate
timeline. What would happen if J/C stayed on New Earth, got involved, and
were later picked up? It's a nice, romantic story that should please the
JetSki contingent, but not much more than that.
	All in all, a decent zine, but like their real world writing
counterparts, Orion Press may need some new faces.

--Elizabeth Klisiewicz

From "Lack of Resolution" by Brenda Shaffer-Shiring:
	He confronted Janeway in her ready room. "Captain," he said
shortly, "I've just learned something disturbing from the doctor."
	She stiffened in her chair, with what looked, even to his
willingness to trust her, like defensiveness. "Really, Commander? And what
is that?"
	"He tells me you were in danger of brain damage during your mind
meld with Tuvok." He kept his voice level because he knew he had to, but
the very thought unnerved Chakotay on some level too profound to
comprehend: that Voyager--that he--could have seen this proud woman reduced
to helpless dependence. "That you could have died." That, too, was nearly
unthinkable.
	"Yes." Her face gave him acknowledgement, no more.
	Chakotay pressed on. "And he tells me you knew that."
	"I did." Her voice was flat, as if she wanted the discussion to end.
	No chance of that. He speared her gaze with his own, letting his
rising anger heat his eyes and edge his words. "You knew that, and you
didn't tell me."
	"Obviously." She was still expressionless.
	At his sides, his hands clenched as he tried to keep hold of his
temper. "And why not?"
	"You would have tried to talk me out of it."
	No use denying it. "I might have, yes."
	"It was too important. I couldn't risk losing Tuvok."
	"Oh." Tuvok, always Tuvok! a part of him railed, resenting the easy
way she could admit her concern for the emotionless Vulcan when she could
barely bring herself to acknowledge the existence of the human man who
loved her. "But you could risk losing your mind."
	She snorted, her eyes openly scorning that idea. "Tuvok would
rather die than hurt me."
	So would I, dammit! Stop evading me! "I thought the whole point was
that Tuvok wasn't in control," he snapped.
	Her own anger flared up, taking the form of a withering glare. "If
you want me to acknowledge that I knew there was a chance I could get hurt
in the meld," she said sharply, "then yes, you're right, I did. But Tuvok
would have died without it. It was a risk worth taking. And it was my
decision to make, Commander."
	He matched her glare for glare and sharpness for sharpness.
"Nobody's arguing that, Captain. Although I think I should point out, once
again, that you're less replaceable than Tuvok is."
	"To you personally, Commander?" she asked bluntly. "Is that what
this is really about?"
	The pointed accusation almost knocked the breath from him, and he
struggled for a few moments to find air, and words. "Is that what you
think?" he asked, in disbelief.
	"I think it's possible, yes." She clipped the edges off the words.
	"You don't think your first officer has a legitimate interest in
your safety."
	She shook her head. "I'm sure he does. But Commander, I'd point out
to you that I'm fine. And are you telling me that's all your interest in
this? As my first officer?"
	He shook his own head, restlessly. "No, dammit," he admitted at
last. "You know better than that. But that doesn't mean--"
	"You're right," she cut him off, "I do know better than that, and
it's that that bothers me. I can't let your personal fears for me dictate
my command decisions, Chakotay." Putting both hands down on the desk, she
pushed herself up to a standing position, and looked at him levelly. "This
discussion is over."
	He stared at her. "What?" It was the last thing he'd expected. He
hadn't said half of what he'd come to say: that a first officer, personally
attached to the captain or not, had the right to discuss risks to her
safety, had the right at the very least to know--
	"This discussion is over."
	"Permission to speak candidly--"
	"Denied. I think you've spoken candidly enough." Her eyes flicked
toward the doorway, a clear directive. "I gave you the bridge when I came
in here, Commander. I think you'd better reclaim it. Dismissed."
	"Captain--" he protested.
	"I said, dismissed."


AND NOT FADE AWAY
An Orion Press Zine by Morgan Stuart
98 pages. $10.75, postpaid.

	It all starts with a shuttle crash. Chakotay, Paris and Harry are
captured by pre-warp aliens who live in a fiefdom. Although their lord and
master appears to be reasonable, he turns his prisoners over to a cruel
overseer who makes their life a living hell. Paris, who has grown good at
playing hero, sees that Chakotay is threatened and throws himself in the
path of the oncoming alien who plans on hurting the senior officer. The
helmsman is thrown into solitary confinement, brutally tortured and
injected with a virus that eats away at his lung tissue.
	On Voyager, Kes is able to sense what Tom is going through. A
rescue attempt is thwarted, and Janeway decided to remain behind until they
can recover the three men. This decision proves to be unpopular, and she
faces a lot of hostility from the crew. Janeway was well written in this
story, and I really appreciated her strength, humanity and compassion for
her crew.
	On the planet, Paris is returned to his friends. He is critically
ill, and Chakotay and Kim must take turns watching over him. Their
situation becomes intolerable, and they manage to escape into the
mountains. It's a real treat to watch these characters grow as they
overcome their differences and work together to create a home for
themselves. Tom's illness continues and puts a strain on his two
companions. Paris feels useless; to fill his days, he is given the task of
keeping a journal. Chakotay acts as the hunter, and often goes off for long
periods to meditate and bring home the beef. On one of his excursions, his
mount falls on him. He is finally rescued, and goes through an agonizing
ordeal when Tom sets his leg.
	Back on Voyager, Kes continues to monitor the three officers, and
their thoughts and emotions become intertwined with her own. At some point,
it seems like her own identity is gone, but she becomes stronger at the end
when the lost crewmembers are rescued. When they disembark, it is hard to
recognize any of them because they have changed so dramatically.
	This novella was a joy to read. Stuart has managed to craft a
believable and moving story about isolation, transformation, and survival.
All the characters were right on the money, and the story flowed without a
hitch. In fact, this novella was so epic that I could imagine it on the big
screen. While not always an easy read, it is well worth the effort in the
end.

--Elizabeth Klisiewicz

From And Not Fade Awayby Morgan Stuart:
	All she could do was wait. Torres and her team needed time and
peace to process the data from the shuttle. Then they could talk about
options. How a rescue team could get to the planet. How they could find the
missing men. How they could return.
	But waiting never came easily to Kathryn Janeway. She was grateful
for her reserve of replicator rations, saved for just such a situation. The
espresso burned her throat and she arched her neck appreciatively. The
ready room swam with the aroma, bitterness so biting it tasted on the
tongue. To others it signaled jittered, frenetic activity, but to her it
was a comforting comrade-in-arms. The night would be long and she was far
from sleep.
	She tucked her legs beneath her on the couch. Her quarters would
not do. The stiff bonnet and heavy cloak would haunt her, reminding her of
the holosuite hours she had enjoyed while her navigation officer had
suffered torture on the planet below. Intellectually, she knew that she
could not have known of Paris' plight. But guilt was seldom rational.
	Besides, the bonnet and cape represented waste. Think how many cups
of coffee I could've replicated with those credits--  She chuckled bitterly
to herself and took another deep swallow.
	There were many things she wanted right now. To see a dark, broad
presence, hands clasped behind him, nodding gravely to her as she commented
on his first officer's report. So sober, so serious. If she were lucky, she
might make him smile once, a concession to their steadily-growing
familiarity and rapport. Or vulnerable blue eyes, carrying her on a
breathtaking ride through despair to invincibility to cynicism, and perhaps
even hope, all in one look. What had Chakotay called him? Her "personal
reclamation project"? Of all of them on board, he was the most fragile...
	The cup was empty. She sighed. Why do you do this to yourself? She
rolled her neck, stretching. It was a familiar question. You know why. You
never want to forget what's at stake. You can't make people into numbers,
and determine their fate by some equation. Compassion and care are Human
strengths, not weaknesses. She played idly with the dry mug, still warm
from its former contents. Don't be afraid to feel for them, Kath.
	Rubbing the leg that threatened to go to sleep, she shifted
slightly on the couch. That's easy to say now. A time will come when you'll
have to make hard choices. Pleasant platitudes will be just so many words
then. She twisted again, failing to burrow into a comfortable spot on the
couch. It would be a long night, indeed.


CODE OF HONOR
An Orion Press Zine by BEKi
180 pages. $15.25, postpaid.

	Code of Honor, originally a short story in Delta Quadrant Two,
makes better use of the Voyager characters in a hundred or so pages than
the show has in three seasons. The dialogue crackles with the energy of
standup comedy, the relationships have complexity and depth. This is a
Janeway/Chakotay novel in the best sense--it's about the working
relationship between two people with dramatically different ideological
committments, who are pledged to working together for a common cause, and
who care deeply about one another. Janeway perhaps spends too much time
dwelling on procedure and too little taking action, but she's
multidimensional, warm and passionate without losing an iota of her
intelligence or force in command.
	The story concerns a group of xenophobic aliens, the Goshin,
offered assistance by Voyager and rescued from their failing ship. During
the rescue, Chakotay discovers Desh, an alien of a different ethnicity who
has been tortured horribly by the racist Goshin. Desh's experiences remind
Chakotay of the reasons he joined the Maquis and shunned Starfleet. He
becomes committed to protecting Desh, a suspected terrorist, from the
possibility of being returned to Goshin custody, which Janeway--citing the
Prime Directive a little too thoughtlessly--feels Voyager may have to do.
	This is a terrific setup, though the entire crew is a little too
obsessed with Chakotay's obsession--Janeway dreams about him, Paris frets
about their history together, Tuvok doubts him and later admires him.
Chakotay is given a compelling, moving backstory, in which he had political
as well as personal reasons for shunning Starfleet and joining the Maquis.
His wry sense of humor and loyalty to his beliefs are a welcome change from
the muddled character he's become on the series.
	The Doc is BEKi's great comic achievement: I loved his revelation
that he has been programmed with the Hallmark database of platitudes and
condolences. I also liked Janeway and Tuvok for most of the story, though
they're a tad too paranoid about the Maquis and too rigid as Starfleet
officers. The weak link is B'Elanna Torres. In the shorter story in Delta
Quadrant, she was in fewer scenes, yet came across as a much stronger
character--Chakotay's equal and confidante. Here, she's not only his lover,
she seems to exist to serve as his personal support system. She gives him
backrubs, she gives him pep talks; her contributions have little to do with
her knowledge and skills as a scientist, and, since she's much more Klingon
here than she's been in the series, it's hard to understand why she
identifies with the Maquis beyond her devotion to her former captain.
	It gets tiring, especially since every other character in Code of
Honor--Tuvok, Paris, and, most disappointingly, Janeway--come around to
believe in Chakotay's righteous self-absorption, to accept that he's a
prince in wolf's clothing. When Janeway and Tuvok tacitly approve mass
murder of aliens as "the Maquis way" of responding to the killing of a
crewmember, the story and the characters become caricatures of their
television counterparts. While Chakotay and Janeway are balancing one
another, representing opposing approaches to the same basic values, this
novel succeeds admirably. The Starfleet-bashing, perhaps justified due to
the heavy-handed praise of conflicting Federation values on the television
series, ultimately weakens this story.
	That said, this zine is still vastly better than any of the Pocket
Books Voyager novels, in terms of both the characterization and the issues
brought up by the plot. It costs more than a mass market paperback but I
think it's well worth it.

--Leah Abramowitz

From Code of Honorby BEKi:
	"Did he do what they accuse him of, Chakotay?" she pressed.
	I don't know," he allowed.
	"Ask him," Janeway said, leaning forward. "If he's willing to pass
up a get-out-of-jail-free card for your sake, then I have to believe he
wouldn't lie to you. If he tells you he didn't do it, I'll take him at his
word."
	"I can't ask him," Chakotay whispered. He turned then, his features
thrown in shadow by the strength of the glittering starlight that backed
him. "If I ask him, he'll answer."
	Surprise flickered through Janeway's features. "You think Desh is
guilty?" she asked.
	"I don't know," Chakotay returned dully. "But I'm afraid that if I
ask him, his answer will place me between the two of you. I've been there
before, Captain: between duty and honor. But this time it isn't Starfleet
I'll have to stand against. This time it's you."
	"What are you saying, Chakotay?" Janeway asked after a beat.
	"I'm saying you will destroy me, Captain," Chakotay answered. "If
you make me choose between you and what I believe, you will destroy me."
	Janeway stood. She stared into the eyes of her first officer,
barely able to discern them from the deep shadows in which his face was
painted. "I wasn't aware there was a choice to be made," she said finally.
	"If I allow you to return him to the Goshin," he said. "Everything
I left Starfleet for is laid waste. If I stand by and do nothing, I can no
longer justify the things I sacrificed in the name of right and wrong."
	"Are you saying you'll stand against me?" she asked.
	His eyes glimmered in the darkness. "I'm saying I can't stand
against you," he answered. "And I can't live with myself if I don't."
	For a long time, Kathryn Janeway said nothing at all.
	"That's a great deal of trust to place on me all at one time,
Commander," she murmured finally.


UNTO US A SON IS GIVEN
A Unicorn Press Zine
Send S.A.S.E for availability.

	What if Chakotay had been the father of Seska's baby, and that
child had remained on Voyager following the events of "Basics Part II"?
That's the question at the center of this zine, illustrated by R.R.Schmitt
and Madalena Mumford, which features four different stories about how
Chakotay might have dealt with his son.
	The stories feature Janeway heavily, often as Chakotay's lover,
sometimes acting as a co-parent of sorts to the child. Some readers may not
be fond of Janeway's domestic angst--she's barely recognizable in the story
where Voyager returns to the Alpha Quadrant and she hides from him for more
than a year before their predictably drippy reunion. Yet she comes across
sympathetically, and reasonably intelligently, in most cases.
	As in many other Voyager zines, the writers go overboard in their
interests in the domestic lives of the characters at the expense of action,
science, and politics. I also get a little sick of Chakotay, Chakotay,
Chakotay, and his personal problems and concerns. But since the show gives
us so little continuous character development and squanders opportunities
stemming from plot threads like this one, it's refreshing to see fans
taking the raw materials of Voyager and creating entirely new, interesting
scenarios.

--Sara Unger


From "For a Son" by Brenda Shaffer-Shiring:
	Somehow, most of the senior officers had, in the space of a few
moments, managed to cluster around Kathryn and himself. They were looking
at the captain now, waiting for her word; Tuvok with calm certainty, Harry
with beaming happiness, B'Elanna with fierce joy. Neelix grinned hard
enough to hurt his face, arm around a serenely smiling Kes.
	Finally, Kathryn looked back, her steady eyes taking in all of them
as the tiniest quirk of a smile graced her lips. "Gentlemen," she said
softly, "let's go home." She turned to walk down the path, and the crew let
her through so that she could take the lead. Chakotay trailed behind her,
the smile that threatened to take form on his own face tempered only by a
single, solemn question:
	If Voyager's people had been granted this one beneficence, the safe
return of their vessel, was it too much to ask of the gods that there
should have been a second blessing as well? Was it too much to hope for,
that Chakotay's son should be aboard the ship?
	The thought beat in his mind like a chant, like a prayer, on the
long walk back to the ship. Despite the distance, despite how tired many of
the crew were from their earlier exertions, somehow the trip was made
without a single audible complaint.
	By the time they reached the valley, Kathryn and Chakotay's group
had caught up with those who'd started walking sooner, and those groups too
had allowed their senior officers to take the lead.
	Janeway's smile blossomed as they crossed the field, the
comprehensive happiness of the expression transfiguring her smudged, weary
face. Her jaw was firm, her deep blue eyes glowing, with triumph.
	Voyager's hatch opened, and a tall slim figure, clad in black and
burgundy and topped with a thatch of bright blond hair, stood framed in the
entranceway. A few more steps and figure and face took on definition,
became Tom Paris.
	A few more, and Chakotay stumbled, almost going to his knees, as he
discerned the shape of the black-wrapped bundle that Paris held in his
arms. Oh spirits, please...
	Trailed by an entourage of smiling Talaxians, the sober-faced pilot
began walking down the ramp to meet Kathryn and Chakotay. They came
together at its foot. Drawing himself up to a near-military posture, the
lieutenant looked Janeway in the eye and said solemnly, "Captain, the ship
is yours."
	Drawing herself up to a matching posture, Janeway nodded and
answered him, just as formally. "Thank you, Lieutenant."
	Chakotay's eyes fastened on the bundle in Paris's arms, the bundle
that had picked that precise moment to wiggle. Oh spirits... He wanted to
stammer questions, to look more closely, to take the bundle in his own arms
and hold it tightly, protect it from any further danger with his life, if
necessary--but shock held him motionless.
	Paris grinned at him, shifting his hands under the object he
carried so that he could offer that object to Chakotay. "And this belongs
to you, Commander." Chakotay simply stared, as the blankets shifted to
reveal a glimpse of a small tan face with a tiny forehead ridge and dark,
dark eyes. "Take him, Chakotay." Paris's voice was gentle, encouraging. "I
think he's missed you."
	And though Chakotay's mouth was dry, his eyes were not, as he
extended his own hands to claim and hold his firstborn son.


FOREVER
A Unicorn Press Zine by Kathleen Speck
92 pages. $13, postpaid.

	In this alternate timeline Voyager novel, an older Tom Paris finds
himself in love with the daughter of Harry Kim and B'Elanna Torres. More an
interesting "what-if" speculation than a believable character scenario,
there are nonetheless some amusing moments between Tom and Harry, a sort of
reversal of their relationship in "Before and After" when Harry married
Tom's daughter.
	This story is almost entirely domestic in nature, PG-rated, and
rather sweet if you can stomach B'Elanna and Kathryn as matriarchs who talk
about clothes with their teenagers--Janeway and Chakotay are married, too,
and have a daughter. It's sort of the opposite extreme from what we get on
the show: this is an entirely character-oriented Voyager, where 20th
century family values appear to be alive and well. Girls dress in white and
stay virgins till their wedding night, friends and family are the most
important things in the universe.
	It's a sad commentary on the television series' lack of heart that
I found this anachronistically appealing.

--Sara Unger

From Foreverby Kathleen Speck:
	"She doesn't have to start thinking about getting married at all, yet."
	"But I'm not surprised she did." Kathryn took Chakotay's hand and
led him to the couch. She picked up her glass and took a long drink. "This
is something I've actually been thinking about for a long time." He looked
surprised, but didn't say anything.
	"The children have grown up on this ship, with no permanent
attachments to anyone but the people on board Voyager. We might stop at
this planet or that for supplies, but the children only get to go down to
the surface on uninhabited planets after all the adults have checked them
out. Which is only reasonable.
	"But they haven't met anyone besides the people on board. I'm sure
they've had no thought about other possibilities."
	Chakotay thought about this for a moment. He truly hadn't given any
thought to possible marriage partners for his children. He had thought he
would have several years before the need arose. "Why doesn't it surprise
you that she's getting married so young?"
	"It follows. Their choices are going to be limited to the people on
the ship or the very slim chance that they might meet someone on a planet
when they're old enough to meet them on an away mission. The second
alternative means that they would either have to convince the other person
to leave everything behind and join us, or that they would have to leave
everything behind to join the ones they love on an alien world.
	"So I believe that choice isn't going to be made too often. That
leaves marrying someone on the ship. Since that choice is limited, they
will have looked over and discarded many of the possibilities early on. The
smaller the field, the less time it takes to decide. And once that choice
is made, why wait?
	"I can see our children's generation marrying very young. They'll
be stepping into full adult roles very young as far as their professional
lives go. We're getting older, love, and will eventually need replacements.
They have to explore the options available to them, and find their niche."


WE'LL ALWAYS HAVE PARIS
A Unicorn Press Zine
#1--92 pages. $13, postpaid.
#2--114 pages. $17, postpaid.

	This zine features stories, poetry, and artwork by fans associated
with RanDom Flight, Robert Duncan McNeill's fan club; as one might expect,
Paris is featured heavily in the stories. Each volume runs about a hundred
pages with cover art by Madalena Mumford. Contributors include Richel
Darrah, Brenda Shaffer-Shiring, and our own Jennifer (Siubhan) Pelland.
	If you don't adore Paris, you might find these stories limited, but
the energy and passion make this zine a great deal of fun. Particularly
impressive are "The Long Road Home," narrated by Harry Kim, in which
Voyager comes through a wormhole to an Alpha Quadrant where the Maquis were
pardoned but Paris's Starfleet crimes stand, and "Someone To Watch Over
Me," about Tom's unhappy benefactress.

--Sara Unger

From "The Long Road Home" by Ruth Ann Jones:
	"Let's sit down," the captain said, indicating the conference
table, and we grouped ourselves around one of its corners. She got right
down to business, as usual. "Mr. Paris, have you had a chance to get caught
up on political developments in this quadrant during our absence?" she
asked.
	Another tiny quirk of a smile. "I had some time to read on the way
here. I have to admit, I never dreamed that if we got back, I'd be the only
member of the crew in trouble with the Federation."
	The captain nodded ruefully. "Neither did I, frankly. All these
years I've been rehearsing my arguments on behalf of the Maquis
crewmembers!" She shook her head. "However, Starfleet does have the
authority to require the Federation penal system to release you for
service, if it chooses. Since I've already granted you a field commission,
that should have happened automatically. But Starfleet's Personnel Affairs
Division has delayed on confirmingyour field commission."
	Tom looked worried. "I thought my service record on Voyager was okay."
	She patted his hand reassuringly. "It was more than okay, Tom. Your
service record on Voyager was exemplary. Any captain in the fleet would be
glad to have an officer as competent and reliable as you. The problem is
that the PAD is questioning my decision to give you a field commission in
the first place. They're arguing that due to our extraordinary
circumstances, I was forced to commission you even though you didn't meet
the usual criteria."
	I raised my eyebrows at that. No one forced Kathryn Janeway to do
anything. If she had thought Tom deserved to spend a 70-year journey in the
brig, that's exactly where he'd have been when Voyager pulled into Earth
orbit.
	She continued. "I have an appointment with Admiral Hobbes at the
PAD in three days. If I can convince him to confirm your field commission,
you'll be released immediately and your sentence reduced to time served."
	"And if you can't?" Tom asked steadily.
	The captain met his gaze with a serious expression. "Then you'll be
remanded to the Federation Penal Colony in New Zealand to finish your
sentence. We'll have to pursue a parole through the civil courts."
	Tom frowned, staring down at the table for a long moment. We waited
quietly while he gathered his thoughts. Finally he looked back up at us.
The anxiety in his face was unmistakable. "Captain," he began carefully. "I
won't pretend I'm not desperate to get out of here. I don't want to spend
the next eighteen years in prison. But I understand there's a lot more
going on here than whether I was a good pilot on Voyager. Plenty of people
still hate the Maquis. Starfleet has no reason to confirm my field
commission just to keep me out of prison."
	"Perhaps not," the captain agreed. "But they might be persuaded to
do it to keep me from raising hell." From anyone else, it might have been
arrogance. From Captain Janeway it was calm certainty. She was, after all,
the captain who brought Voyager home from the Delta Quadrant. A celebrated
hero, hounded by journalists, handled with kid gloves by Starfleet brass
ever since we got back. If that celebrity was worth anything, maybe it
could get Tom released.
	Tom smiled in spite of himself; if anyone could appreciate a show
of confidence it was Tom Paris. Then his expression grew serious again. "I
know you'll do your best, Captain. I guess what I'm trying to say is--if it
doesn't work, don't blame yourself." He glanced at me for a moment, then
back to the captain, and I saw a hint of resignation in his eyes. "I made a
big mistake, joining the Maquis. I didn't realize how high the price would
be, but that doesn't mean I don't have to pay for it."
	The captain stood and paced a few steps before turning back to Tom,
her arms crossed over her chest. "If I didn't know you better, Mr. Paris, I
might think you were giving up," she said crisply. "The only reason you're
here is that the Federation and the Maquis still resent each other, despite
the alliance. They haven't been forced to give up old prejudices, as we
were on Voyager." She fixed him with a steely look. "Imprisonment is
supposed to be for rehabilitation, not punishment. You don't need to be
rehabilitated! You've already done it yourself."
	Tom stared back at her, stricken. The captain's face softened and
she sat back down next to him. "I know the prospect of eighteen years in
prison is overwhelming, Tom. And you've gotten past the time in your life
when you were angry at everyone and everything. But you have to be angry
about this. If you start to believe that you deserve to be in prison,
you'll be giving up everything you worked for on Voyager--earning my
respect, and your own."
	Tom sat silent a moment, struggling for control. "That's just about
all I have left," he said finally. I ached at the pain in his voice.
"I'll...stay angry, Captain. For as long as it takes. I promise."
	She took his hands in both of hers and squeezed. The pride in her
face was unmistakable. "I know you will."


TO THE FARTHEST REACHES OF SPACE
A Unicorn Press Zine
#1--60 pages. $11, postpaid. #2--76 pages. $13, postpaid.
#3--$11, postpaid.

	These multi-generation Trek collections feature the crews of all
four Trek series in crossover situations. In the three volumes so far,
Voyager joins forces with the Enterprise and Enterprise D to stop the
destruction of all, and have a rousing adventure with the Kazon. Crossover
zines often do more to rationalize the inconsistencies and continuity
errors of the multiple series than Paramount bothers with, so they can be
great fun for readers familiar with the Trek universe.


* * * * * * * *
NC-17

* * * * * * * *

STAR-CROSSED VOYAGERS
A Unicorn Press Zine
#1--58 pages. $9, postpaid. #2--80 pages. $9, postpaid
#3--77 pages. $11, postpaid. #4--66 pages. $11, postpaid.
#5--send S.A.S.E. Special Edition--72 pages. $12, postpaid.

	Star-Crossed Voyagers was the first print Voyager romance I
encountered, so I was glad to find it, though it can't beat the quality of
similar material on the net. The entire first issue and most of the
subsequent stories and poems are about Janeway and Chakotay, though the
editor clearly has a penchant for the first officer and has featured him
paired with virtually every woman in the Voyager universe. There are five
volumes at present, plus a special issue about naughty Seska and nice
Kathryn during the events surrounding the episode "Maneuvers."
Illustrations are minimal.
	The stories are erotic, yet they come across as innocent, even
naïve. This is romance novel sex--hardly pornographic, rarely realistic.
Everyone talks huskily, everything is by turns firm and melting, nobody
ever has to take a bathroom break...well, that's standard for Star Trek.
I'm sure that people of the future will have better stamina than we do, yet
the number of times the lovers simultaneously explode in a shower of sparks
is truly incredible. The language of love is full of mixed metaphors,
clichés, and occasional naughtiness--reader beware, if you can't deal with
hearing about Kathryn's pleasure button and Chakotay's impressive maleness,
or if you can't stomach Captain Janeway screaming the "f" word in the
throes of passion.
	The best parts are not the sex, but the exposition. Chakotay's been
given substantive backstory, and Janeway does a better job coping with her
conflicting career interests and her feelings for Mark than she ever did on
the series. I like seeing her passionate and powerful all at once; even in
the most treacly stories, where she calls Chakotay "dearest" and says she
loves him three times on one page, there's no contradiction between captain
and woman as there is on the show. It's not easy for me to picture Janeway
in seafoam-green panties, nor to imagine Chakotay weeping at the scent of
her orange-blossom shampoo, but maybe I'm just unromantic. The zines are
almost as cheap as Trek books, better edited, and frequently more
interesting...so, despite their shortcomings as erotica, I'm inclined to
recommend them, if you go for this sort of thing.

--Sara Unger

From Star-Crossed Voyagers I: "Crossroads," by Karen Morrison
	Chakotay sipped his coffee, and let himself feel the full pleasure
of the moment: on his tongue the familiar bitter flavor of the Terran
drink, in his ears the lilting alien melody, in his eyes the well known but
always fascinating visage of Kathryn Janeway.
	They had come a long, long way indeed, since that moment when he'd
first seen this woman's image on a viewscreen. Then, recognizing the
allegiance implied by Janeway's ship and her uniform, Chakotay had
stiffened in alarm, thinking that he and the Maquis crew he commanded had
been yanked across a galaxy only to be confronted by one of the very
opponents they'd fought or fled at home.
	Not much later, he'd found himself serving second-in-command for
the same ship that had worried him, wearing a uniform identical to the one
that had risen his hackles. Despite his previous experience with Starfleet,
it had been a while until anything about the arrangement felt natural or
comfortable to Chakotay--or, he suspected, to Janeway. For most of the
first several months, their relationship had been formal on its best days,
strained on its worst.
	Then, he would never have thought to invite this Starfleet captain
to share dinner in his cabin, much less to persuade her to linger
afterward. Had she answered his invitation at all, he would not have
greeted her in casual garments, black fitted slacks and a soft gray shirt
embroidered at neck, wrists and hem with colorful symbols common to his
Native American tribe. Nor would she have arrived bereft of the armor of
her own duty uniform, clad in smart civilian clothes that (though not
especially revealing) allowed him to think of her as a person, a woman, and
not only his superior officer.
	Chakotay smiled as he regarded the woman across from him,
appreciating the subtle way the soft, flowing lines of her satiny teal
blouse hinted at the contours of the lithe body beneath it, even as its
color emphasized the fair skin. Janeway, caught up in the music, did not
seem to notice his gaze. One hand moved to the back of her neck and began
rubbing lightly.
	Yes, we have come a long, long way... Now, it seemed the most
normal thing in the galaxy that Chakotay should open up his private
sanctuary to Kathryn Janeway, and seek her company even where and when duty
did not mandate it. It seemed the destined order of things that, even on
days when (unlike today) he'd spent most of his shift working with Kathryn,
he should want additional time with her, to exchange stories, gossip,
philosophies, or whatever else felt like the best choice on a particular
day. It seemed almost predictable that he should have come to appreciate
her husky laugh, her perceptive eyes, her crystal-cut features and perfect
figure.
	It seemed so completely reasonable, rational, inevitable that he
should love her, that Chakotay forgot how long ago he'd realized that was
the case.


DELTA QUADRANT OF VENUS
A Unicorn Press Zine by Em Wycedee
158 pages. $15, postpaid.

	There are many reasons for writing and reading fan fiction. When
the original series ended, it was the only way to get new stories about
people we had grown to love. During the run of Next Generation, it was a
way to expand on the stories told and to learn more about the minor
characters who had tugged at our imaginations, but who would not be
returning to the show. Voyager fan fiction has a different sensibility. The
overwhelming theme of Voyager stories seems to be the need to take the main
characters where we feel they should go--to break the barriers that TPTB
seem unwilling to tackle. Ergo, most Voyager stories are about the loving,
sexual relationships that would come about on a ship that is marooned for
70+ years.
	Delta Quadrant of Venus centers on the relationship that for many
fans seems inevitable, that of Janeway and Chakotay. Illustrated by one of
the finest fan artists currently working--though she wishes to remain
anonymous, readers of this newsletter will recognize her work--the zine is
gorgeous. The drawings are beautiful studies of the human forms...not for
the kiddies, but art in the truest sense. The artist has captured the
essence of these characters in the sketches, and in the same fashion, the
writer has captured their emotional essence in 23 well-crafted and very
different stories.
	The zine contains a variety of styles. As the title would indicate,
the sex is graphic, but unlike Anaïs Nin's famous erotica, the characters
are not merely props for different sex acts. Rather, they are fully defined
and believable characters who have a loving and sexual relationship. In the
longer stories, the characters are fully drawn and multi-dimensional. Some
stories instead take a facet of the characters as portrayed on the show,
and then show how that character trait might determine actions and
reactions.
	A couple of these pieces are frolics which are not meant to be
taken seriously--I'll never believe Janeway taking a few minutes for a
quickie in the ready room, but in the context of "Prick of the Needle,"
I'll enjoy it with her. "More Myself Than I Am" is a delight...the sense of
humor that leaks out occasionally on the show is given full reign, as
Janeway and Chakotay play out the doomed romance from Wuthering Heights on
the holodeck. "Drowning," my own personal favorite, is a dark tale, yet the
one where the characters are most fully themselves. Chakotay saves
Janeway's life and this proves to be the catalyst for their relationship.
Hurt/comfort is a genre I usually despise, yet this story manages to rise
above the cliché and give us a portrait of two people who have to be
brought to the brink before taking the risk of loving each other.
	Each character has at least one story that takes him or her to the
boundaries of their worst characteristics. In "Leavetaking," Chakotay is so
paralyzed after Kathryn's death that he creates a holo-image of her which
sustains him for the decades it takes them to get back to Earth. His
tendency to be dependent on a strong woman is taken to the extreme, and the
only way he is able to command Voyager is to use an image of one as the
receptacle for the strength he cannot find in himself. Pitiful--yet one
logical evolution of the character as described by TPTB. In
"Reunification", Janeway is the Ice Queen, unable to acknowledge her own
pain when Chakotay confesses his involvement with Riley. Chakotay doesn't
read true in this story (he spends a lot of time whining), but in the end
his reason for being there is to show us how Janeway could evolve into a
woman who, while refusing to allow him to love her, is unwilling to share
him with anyone else.
	The story has a happier ending than is believable given the
wretched way the characters behave; I wouldn't have wanted anything to do
with either of them. Similarly, in "A Consummation Devoutly To Be Wished,"
which takes place on New Earth, Janeway and Chakotay spend their nights
alone, thinking of each other rather than exploring the possibilities of a
relationship together. The worst aspect of these stories is that I can see
how these characterizations were derived from what we've seen on the
series; I shudder to think that characters with so much potential could end
up like this. I'd love to send copies of these stories to TPTB, but I'm
afraid they'd miss the author's intended meaning, and use them for plot
ideas.
	There are other stories worth a mention. "Killing Time" is a J/C
story starring Chakotay and Tom Paris (you have to read it, though
slash-phobics might react badly). "Dress Code", which has Janeway and
Chakotay enjoying their time together on New Earth, makes an interesting
contrast with the more canonical "Resolutions" tales. "Pleasure" is a sappy
but satisfying shore leave story.
	Most of the stories center on Janeway, but Torres is featured
prominently and strongly in several as well. If you're over 18, the
drawings alone are worth the purchase price, and the zine will be a great
addition to your collection.Many of the stories can be found at
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Zone/8402/.

--Joan Testin


From "More Myself Than I Am" by Em Wycedee:
	As they stepped into the turbolift, Chakotay leaned over with a
smirk and murmured, "The holodeck is up and running again, Captain."
Janeway rolled her eyes, but recovered long enough to say "Thank you,
Commander," making a mental note to cast him as the villain in her next
program: it would serve him right. She hurried to her quarters, changed her
clothes, then paused on her way out the door. "Computer, locate Commander
Chakotay."
	"Commander Chakotay is in his quarters," came the reply.
	Good, she thought, smiling to herself as she walked to the
holodeck. She had decided on something classic; somehow that seemed more
dignified.
	Arriving at the closed door, she tapped the computer access panel
and said, "Computer, activate program Janeway, Wuthering Heights." After a
brief pause the computer informed her that the program was loaded, and she
entered.
	Janeway stood in a doorway staring out as fog swirled in the
darkness, rolling over the windswept hills. From a distance came the sound
of approaching footsteps. A tall, pale man suddenly stepped out of themists
and spoke with intensity."Catherine..."
	"Computer, freeze program." The slender figure remained motionless,
trapped in mid-sentence. "This isn't right. Computer, delete image." She
paced back into the ornate room, pulling at the long skirts she wore as she
considered changing the program. Remembering her earlier threat, she smiled
devilishly. "Computer, replace image with that of Commander Chakotay, same
clothing. Resume program from time frame two-oh-two-two."
	"Working," the computer paused.
	...a tall, dark man suddenly stepped out of the mists and spoke
with intensity. "Kathryn..."
	She had to stop the program again just to inspect her first
officer's form in the period costume. Of course he was too old to be
Heathcliff, but she was too old to be Catherine--she didn't even want to
think about by how many years.
	"Computer, delete the tattoo." Intruguing as the mark on his
forehead was, it was also anachronistic; she would never think of him as
Heathcliff if she allowed it to remain. With the new clothes and forehead,
the man before her looked different enough to be believable within the
story--and still very attractive. "Resume program," she ordered, resisting
the red alerts that went off in her mind.
	On another deck, Chakotay tossed down the padd he had been reading
in annoyance. "Computer, locate Captain Janeway," he demanded plaintively.
	"Captain Janeway is on holodeck two." Grinning, the commander
glanced back down the padd, then strode out of his quarters.
	Outside the holodeck, Chakotay paused. She might be furious if he
barged in. Well, nothing ventured...
	"Computer, access holodeck."
	"Access denied, security protocol in effect."
	"Computer, command-level override Chakotay One."
	"Override denied. Audio contact only."
	"Computer, what program is currently being used?" Surely that
wasn't confidential.
	"Program in use is Janeway, Wuthering Heights."
	The computer library contained a copy of an ancient earth novel
called Wuthering Heights, but Chakotay could barely stay awake through the
first five pages; the pompous descriptions and language bored him. He
wasn't going to be able to tease Janeway about it if he couldn't get
through the florid tome.
	It took a couple of hours of scrutiny and a few questions to Torres
and Carey, but Chakotay finally was able to gain access to the program
through a little-known engineering sequence. "Computer, activate program
Janeway, Wuthering Heights, override two four seven one."
	"Override initiated, enter when ready," the computer reported
smoothly, and the first officer strode onto the holodeck. By the time he
left, his life seemed as unreal as the program.


BEYOND THE FINAL FRONTIER
A Unicorn Press Zine
#1--74 pages. $11, postpaid. #2--62 pages. $11, postpaid.

	This slash zine features some heavy Chakotay/Paris bonding and some
really hysterical entertainment, with a great many stories by our own
Siubhan, whose version in #2 of the Voyager crew performing The Rocky
Horror Picture Show is screamingly funny even if you're not a slash fan.
The stories feature same-sex couples in sexual situations and not a lot of
Janeway or heavy-duty science fiction, just so you know what to expect.


* * * * * * * *
There are a handful of zines which I was uncomfortable asking anyone to
review, since the writers are all well-known contributors to this
newsletter. Rather than deprive Now Voyager readers of the knowledge of
their existence, I asked the writers to summarize their work and provide
excerpts.

* * * * * * * *


THE LEFT HAND OF MADNESS
A Unicorn Press Zine by Jennifer Pelland (Siubhan)
200 pages. $12, postpaid.

	The Left Hand of Madness begins between seasons one and two of
Voyager--diverging from the show's timeline completely right before Seska's
attempt to impregnate herself with Chakotay's DNA--and ends over ninety
years later in the Alpha Quadrant. In the first part of the story, Chakotay
and Paris are stranded together on a very hospitable planet while Voyager
attempts unsuccessfully to rescue them. Due to a transporter malfunction,
Tom finds himself slowly changing his physical and biological sex, and in
the process discovers how strong a person he really is. As the two of them
work together to ensure their continued survival and comfort on the planet,
they find themselves drifting into a relationship, a relationship that
survives their rescue and Tom's change back to his own body.
	Parts two through four chart the continuance of their relationship,
a shorter piece between parts three and four chronicles Neelix and Kes's
struggle to have a child, and the epilogue takes place about eighty years
after the end of part four and is told in the voice of Chakotay and Tom's
adopted daughter. This story is rated NC-17, and will not be sold to anyone
under 18. The story can be found electronically at
http://world.std.com/~layla.

From The Left Hand of Madness by Jennifer Pelland:
	We'd beamed down on another food gathering mission. Neelix had
never been to this planet before, but our scans had shown it to be Class M,
with no large animal or insect life. Chances were good that the food would
be edible, but only the Doctor would know for sure. I didn't want to beam
down, but the captain had insisted.
	"Tom, there's no reason for you to stay on the ship. We need as
many hands down there as we can get."
	"But Captain, don't you need someone to stay behind to pilot the
ship?"
	"Don't flatter yourself, Mr. Paris. We're in orbit around a planet.
The ship can fly itself."
	"But what if..."
	"Lieutenant, get down there and dig up vegetables! That's an order."
 	So there I was on a warm, damp planet picking vegetables instead of
staying behind the conn on the cool confines of the ship. What I always
failed to understand was why they made us wear such heavy uniforms when we
were on away missions to hot places. Within five minutes, I was a sweaty
mess.
	"Chakotay to Paris."
	I painfully straightened up and wiped the hair from my forehead
before answering, "Yes?"
	"Mr. Kim says that there's a major storm coming our way. Collect
your team and prepare to beam out."
	"Aye aye, sir. Paris out." Well, at least we were leaving. I called
everyone and assembled them and the vegetables for a beam out, then noticed
a funny smell in the air. "Go ahead and beam out. I'll join you later," I
told them as I pulled out my tricorder and started taking readings.
Something just didn't look right.
	I wandered over to Chakotay's group and cornered him. "Commander,
look at these readings."
	He held up a finger to me and turned to his group. "Ready to beam
out? All right, you go ahead. I'll be right there." They beamed away and he
turned to me and asked, "What is it?"
	I handed him the tricorder and said, "This doesn't look right, but
I'm not sure why."
	He peered at it, obviously puzzled. "It's probably just the storm."
	"I dunno. It's too big to be a storm. I mean, look at these
readings. They're all over the scale!"
	"Janeway to away team."
	"Chakotay here."
	"We're reading a massive spatial disturbance directly in the path
of the planet. We're breaking orbit, and we need to get you out of..."
	And as the wind picked up, her voice was completely cut off. The
last thing I remember was being blown off my feet and crashing into
something. Then it all went black.

	"Mr. Kim, report!" Janeway barked.
	"I...I don't know what happened. The planet just disappeared!"
 	"That's not good enough, Ensign!"
	"I know, but I can't figure it out. I've never seen anything like
it. I'm running a search through our database now."
	Janeway paced the bridge angrily. "How can a planet just disappear
like that?"
	Tuvok calmly intervened. "Captain, may I suggest that Ensign Kim
and Lieutenant Torres work together on this problem? It appears to be too
complicated for a quick solution."
	"I'm well aware of the complexity of this problem, but I've got two
crewmen down there who might need rescuing soon and I'm not going to let
them down!"
	Harry looked up and said, "Captain, the computer found no matches."
	Janeway took a deep breath to calm herself and said, "Very well.
You and Lieutenant Torres should start working on this problem. It's your
number one priority."
	"Aye aye, Captain," Harry said as he marched off the bridge.

	"Tom. Tom, wake up."
	"Wha...huh?" I tried opening my eyes, but everything was spinning
too fast. I groaned and put my hands on my aching head, desperately trying
to contain the pain. I felt two strong hands pull my hands away.
	"No Tom, don't touch your head. I've bandaged it with some leaves,
but it's not a very sturdy dressing."
	"Okay," I moaned.
	"Tom, do you know who I am?"
	"Chakotay, right?"
	"And what's your full name?"
	"Thomas Eugene Paris...why are you asking this stuff?" 	"I'm trying
to see if you have a concussion. I'd ask you what your birthday is, but I
don't know the answer. Can you open your eyes?"
	I tried again, and the spinning wasn't so bad this time. I tried to
focus on Chakotay's face, but it only sent another sharp pain through my
head and I think I cried out. Chakotay held my hands down again.
	"Okay, just keep your eyes closed. I'll keep trying to contact
Voyager."
	"We're still on the planet?"
	"Yes. I don't know what happened, but Voyager isn't answering my
hails. I think my commbadge is working, but I can't tell."
	I tried to move my right arm, and Chakotay let go. I reached up for
my own commbadge, but it was gone. "Where's my badge?"
	"It's gone. It got blown off in the storm. Both of our tricorders
are gone too, but we still have one phaser. If the storm goes on any
longer, I'll use it to heat up a rock to keep us warm. There's no way I'll
find dry wood with all this rain."
	"Rain? But I'm dry."
	"We're in a cave. Why don't you try to rest?"
	"Can't. My head hurts too much." I tried opening my eyes again, and
this time nothing was spinning. We were in a small cave, just tall enough
to stand up in and just deep enough to keep out the rain. I could just
barely see Chakotay's face in the dim light.
	Chakotay noticed that I was looking around and noted, "Hey, you
managed to open your eyes. How are you feeling?"
	"Still hurts, but at least I can see straight now."
	"Do you want to sleep?"
	"Yeah."
	"Hold still. Let me see if I still remember how to do this." He
leaned over and started pinching my shoulder.
	"What are you trying to do?" I asked.
	"Vulcan nerve pinch. I used to know how to do this, but that was a
long time ago. I had a Vulcan roommate my first year at the Academy and he
showed me a few tricks. Still awake? Damn, I've lost my touch. Okay, how
about over here..."

	The remaining senior officers strode into the conference room. "I
assume you've come up with something?" Janeway asked brusquely.
	"Yes we have," Harry replied, walking over to the computer screen.
B'Elanna followed close behind. He activated the screen and said, "This is
a schematic of what seems to have happened."
	B'Elanna stepped forward and said, "When we were searching through
the computer, we found a reference to a planet in the Gamma Quadrant that
phased in and out of our plane of existence. But upon closer inspection, we
found the similarity to be only superficial. This was obviously a similar
situation working on entirely different scientific principles."
	Harry continued, "What served as our breakthrough was an analysis
of the star of the system. On first glance, it seems like a normal star.
However, when we had stellar cartography run what they consider a complete
scan on it, we were able to see that it has strange subatomic phase
variances. These phase signatures exactly matched the disturbance that
swallowed the planet, and they bear a striking resemblance to the phase
signature of a chronoton particle."
	"So what does that mean?" Janeway asked.
	Torres and Kim looked at each other, and Kim said, "It means that
this star exists in two places at once, in two parallel time streams. And
all the planets in this system spend some time in this time stream and some
time in another."
	"Which means, Captain, that the planet will re-enter our time
stream in 219 days," Torres concluded.
	Janeway shook her head incredulously. "A separate time stream?
That's unbelievable."
	"The evidence would seem to be conclusive," Tuvok said as he neatly
steepled his hands. "Would there be any way to enter the alternate time
stream to recover Lieutenant Paris and Commander Chakotay?"
	"I don't believe so, sir," Harry said with a sad slump to his
shoulders. "The forces involved in a phenomenon this big would rip the ship
apart."
	Torres nodded. "I agree. The best option we were able to come up
with was to wait the 219 days for the planet to re-appear."
	"219 days? But that's over seven months!" Janeway shook her head
and continued, "I'm sure you did your work thoroughly and completely, but
I'd like the both of you to continue searching for ways of getting through
to them before the planet reappears. Understood?"
	"Understood," they both replied.
	"Dismissed."
	Everyone filed out of the room, leaving Janeway alone at the head
of the table. Seven months. Would they even survive seven months on that
planet? The food supplies were plentiful, and there were no large animals
to contend with, but if anything went wrong...
	There had to be a way to get them home quicker, and she was going
to make sure they found it.


THE CARDASSIAN MASK
A Zine Written and Illustrated by L.R. Bowen

	At a point in the timeline immediately after "Learning Curve" (the
end of the first season), Voyager visits a beautiful, fertile garden to
gather food, but far more grows there than fruit trees...Seska may be gone,
but she's not finished with Voyager.
	Captain and first officer make an intimate misstep after Chakotay
returns to the ship with a holorecording of the garden. He discovers a
trace image of his fugitive ex-lover in the background of the scene, and
Voyager returns to capture her. Tuvok speculates uneasily about the result
of a reunion, and Torres vows to get even with her former friend. Janeway
must balance her obligations against very personal loyalties. Seska's got
her wits about her, however, and she knows far too much about Chakotay and
all the crew of Voyager. And those nasty Kazon are bound to show up any
minute, whether she wants them to or not...
	Suspicion, longing, peril, anguish, joy, and Neelix's cooking
ensue. Written very much for Janeway/Chakotay aficionadoes, there is still
plenty to enjoy for all Voyager readers.  This is an adult novel, and
contains several explicitly written sexual situations, including some
not-fully-consensual sex. There is potential for offense to tender
sensibilities. This zine will not be sold to anyone under 18.
	Editor's note: the artwork in this zine, and the layout and
production, are exceptional. Available from CM Orders, 215 Bret Harte
Court, Santa Clara, CA 95050, or contact Lrbowen@aol.com. This story can be
found electronically at http://members.aol.com/lrbowen/lrbowen.htm.


From The Cardassian Mask by L.R. Bowen:
	"I can't give her even a single particle of dust from this ship."
	Janeway felt the warmth drain from her face as she pronounced the
words that might spell the death warrant of the three hostages.
	Kim, that innocent boy on his first mission. Rutskoi, a good solid
crewmember who didn't deserve such a reward for years of meritorious
service.
	Chakotay...
	He was her first officer. A valuable member of the team. A man
utterly worthy of trust, into whose charge her ship and crew would fall if
anything were to happen to her. She knew he would take good care of
them--if he ever got the chance.
	And no other reason that you want him to return to you can have any
influence on your decision...
	"Captain, you have to get them back. It doesn't matter what she's
demanding. Give her anything, and we'll get it back later," pleaded
B'Elanna Torres, leaning over the conference table. "I know her, Captain.
She will kill them if we don't cooperate. She was one of the most ruthless
fighters in our Maquis cell. She doesn't stop at anything to achieve her
goals."
	"Did she even kill Cardassians?" asked Janeway softly.
	"She once slit the throat of an Obsidian Order operative we caught
before Chakotay could stop her," said Torres. "I only realized why a little
while ago--she must have been afraid he might blow her cover."
	Tuvok quirked an eyebrow upwards. "I must concur with Lieutenant
Torres. I did not witness the incident in question, but it is consistent
with the psychological profile I compiled while observing the cell's
operations."
	"Observing, huh?" muttered Torres. She darted a glance at the Vulcan.
	"Do you compare my actions within your group with those of Ensign
Seska, Lieutenant?"
	"There's some basis for comparison there," she replied, reluctantly
but with a growl that made Janeway glance sharply at her. Tuvok said
nothing.
	"Gentlemen," said Janeway into the crystallizing tension. "We are
not here to debate the relative morality of undercover operations. I called
this conference to find a solution to the immediate problem: how to get our
people back without compromising the Prime Directive and putting powerful
weapons technology into the hands of the Kazon-Nistrim."
	"Can't we attack her?" suggested Tom Paris. "If we put together a
small group and transported on board--"
	"Too risky," said Janeway with a wave of the hand. "We'd have to
deactivate their shields first, and that would give them plenty of time to
kill the hostages. You saw Seska with that phaser against Chakotay's head."
	"Yeah, but...would she really do that? I thought she was one of the
Big C's old girlfriends."
	"You should know better than to ask a question like that, Paris,"
sneered Torres. "Old girlfriends are the worst kind."
	"None of mine ever wanted to kill me," he snapped back.
	"Don't be so sure about that," she said.
	"Gentlemen," said Janeway, with an edge in her voice.
	 Paris gulped and nodded.
	"I'm sorry, Captain," said Torres after a moment."It's
just...Chakotay...and Harry..." Her voice trailed off.
	"I know, B'Elanna. We're all...concerned about their welfare.
Suggestions?"
	Torres bowed her head, and Paris cracked his knuckles, jumping at
the sudden sound into the silence. Tuvok cleared his throat.
	"Ensign Seska has not yet specified the arrangements she wishes to
make for the delivery of the ransom. She is due to contact us for our
decision in thirty-six minutes. If we simply refuse to pay, she may kill a
hostage to convince us to reconsider. An outright refusal would therefore
be unwise."
	"Yes, Tuvok. My thoughts exactly. We have to play along with her
until our people are out of danger. B'Elanna--get together all the items
Seska mentioned, and put them in carrying cases."
	"Aye, Captain--but--"
	"Yes?"
	"That anti-transport field she used during the fight on the
surface--it was a pretty sophisticated one, but I think I know how to
counter it in case she uses it again. If I could take some people--"
	"As many as you need," Janeway nodded. "Get on it right away."
	When Torres had left, she turned to Tuvok. "What do you think? Is
Seska playing straight herself? Do you think she'll just hand over her
captives and fly away?"
	"To bring so many valuable technologies to the Kazon might give her
some prestige in their society. She went to them with nothing but her
knowledge of Alpha Quadrant inventions and her engineering skills, which,
if truth be told, are significantly inferior to those of Lieutenant Torres.
These attributes would be of some use to the Kazon, but she may feel that
her position is precarious. I believe she will logically be seeking some
way to consolidate her power, to place herself above threat and the favor
of one Maje or another."
	"Yes, Tuvok, that makes a lot of sense. But what could she do to
consolidate power?"
	"She may have no intention of handing over her acquisitions, but
instead to use them to seize control of a group of Kazon and act as Maje or
warlord."
	"But she'd need a bigger ship--"
	"Maybe First Maje Culluh is going to get a little surprise when his
Cardassian friend gets back," grinned Paris.
	Janeway returned the smile, grimly. Seska and Culluh, a match made
in a diseased imagination. What a pair those two devious vipers must make.
	"Security to Lieutenant Tuvok," buzzed Tuvok's comm badge.
	"Excuse me, Captain," he said, and tapped it. "Proceed."
	"Sir--this is Peters. I'm in Sickbay. The Kazon prisoners...the doctor
just pronounced them dead."
	"Indeed," said Tuvok. "May I presume they committed suicide?"
	"That's right. We searched them, but we'd have had to shave them to
get through their hair. One of them had a poisoned needle. I'm sorry,
Lieutenant."
	"There is no need for apology, Crewman." Tuvok looked at Janeway,
and she lowered her head to her hand and took a deep breath.
	"It's all right, Peters," she replied. "It's not your fault. What
did they fear more than death...?" She shook her head in disbelief. "At
least we weren't counting on them as a way to get our own back, the poor
devils. Have the doctor put the bodies in stasis. Perhaps we can return
them to their people eventually."
	"Aye, Captain."
	The silence in the briefing room hurt Janeway's ears, and when she
spoke, her voice seemed harsh to her.
	"Well, until we get a communication from Seska, all we can do is
find ways to counter the devices we know she has. Let's get back to work."
	"Wait a minute--how is she going to call us if she's on the other
side of the planet where we can't observe her?" asked Paris.
	"She has placed a communications relay buoy between us," replied Tuvok.
	"Hey...maybe we could use that to tap into her systems--"
	"I already thought of that," said Janeway."It's not activated at
the moment; she'll notice if I try to turn it on. And after that threat, I
don't want to do anything to make her think we're sneaking up on her. The
ball's in her court. Gentlemen--dismissed."


COYOTE
A Unicorn Press Zine by Elizabeth Klisiewicz
186 pages. $17, postpaid.

	Voyager unexpectedly discovers a way to get home, and Janeway must
deal with the many issues involved with their return to Federation space,
including her relationship with her first officer. Chakotay, on the other
hand, is forced to choose between the woman he loves and his heritage. As
he tours the ruins of Cardassian-occupied Dorvan V, he unexpectedly meets
up with his half sister, a slippery and wily Starfleet officer.
	The story also touches on the personal stories of Tom Paris,
B'Elanna Torres, Alynna Nechayev and a pivotal character named Jana Hunter.
When Tom returns home, he is confronted by his father, who delivers the
news that his mother is dead. A grieving Tom gets into a spot of trouble
and after Admiral Paris bails him out, is forced to examine and possibly
resolve his feelings for the old man. B'Elanna is caught in the crossfire
between the Federation and the Maquis, and temporarily reverts to the woman
we saw in the early days of Voyager's journey. Nechayev, the ultimate
Starfleet officer, makes a series of tactical errors that throw her career
into jeopardy and cause her to question her precious Starfleet principles.
Janeway is swept up in the maelstrom of all these events, and does
everything in her power to help the former Maquis from her crew. Hunter is
a mysterious woman whose past is linked with Chakotay's sister and a
Bajoran named Tor Beral. Her friendship with Chakotay widens the gulf
between Janeway and Chakotay, whose relationship is already marred by
distrust and broken promises.
	This novella spans the Trek universe from Voyager to DS9 and back
to TNG. Ro Laren is dusted off and pressed into service, and Admiral
Nechayev has more depth than the pinched little woman we loved to hate in
her faceoffs with Picard. Coyote is a sprawling tale filled with spies,
gray characters with unknown agendas, and a close examination of trust and
friendship. This story can be found electronically at
http://www.tiac.net/users/rain/fanfic.html.

From Coyote by Elizabeth Klisiewicz:
	The bridge crew watched as the Klingon ship decloaked on the view
screen. It was one thing to have long range sensor readings telling you
that a ship from home was appearing in the Delta Quadrant, but it was quite
another to have it confirmed with your own eyes. Excitement sizzled through
the air.
	"Someone seems pretty confident that no one is around," Janeway
remarked wryly. She turned to Harry and asked, "Are you detecting any life
signs?"
	"Negative, Captain. But it's possible my sensor readings are being
affected by the nebula."
	"Well, that's a chance we'll have to take. Tuvok, can you tell us
anything about this ship that we don't already know?"
	"It's a bird of prey of a type built within the last ten years. The
Klingons would be quite capable of running such a ship by remote control."
	"How fast have they been moving through the gate, Tuvok?" Janeway
asked, recalling B'Elanna's words of warning.
	"During their last test, they were moving at Warp 2."
	"Then we'll have to match that speed when the time comes," Janeway
said quietly. Tuvok nodded, understanding the risks involved. She had
passed on the disturbing information to him about the cloaking device.
	"Is the temporal rift still present?" Chakotay asked, noting that
the small vessel was hanging motionless in space.
	"No, it closed immediately after the ship decloaked. However, I was
able to scan the area immediately before the rift disappeared, and my
findings seem to support Lt. Torres' gateway theory," Tuvok reported.
	"What would the Klingons be doing with Iconian technology?"
Chakotay mused as if to himself.
	"A very good question, Commander, but one which I don't have an
answer to at the moment," Tuvok replied reluctantly. There was a slight
hesitation in his voice, which Janeway picked up.
	"Tuvok? Is there more?"
	"Yes, Captain. I cannot be sure of this, but for the brief instant
the gateway was open, I was able to make some quick scans." He looked
around and motioned for her and Chakotay to move closer.
	"What is it, Tuvok?" Chakotay asked quietly.
	"The data seems to indicate the presence of a trinary star system
called Idran. It is very close to the DS9 wormhole, Captain. If we are able
to make the transition through the gate, we could be home in a matter of
days," Tuvok replied.
	Her eyes sparkled as she savored the delicious thought of home.
"Very good. Let's observe our friend for one more pass through. I'm
wondering why they closed the rift so quickly."
	"Maybe they're having difficulty sustaining the gateway, Captain,"
Harry suggested.
	"That's possible, and it would certainly explain why they've been
making so many trial runs." Janeway looked thoughtful and took a sip of her
ever present cup of coffee.
	A moment later, she said, "See if they manage to keep the gate open
longer this time. If they do, we'll follow them next time."
	Harry interjected, "Captain, please excuse me for asking, but what
if there is no next time?"
	Janeway caught the troubled note in Harry's voice, and she wanted
to reassure him, but she couldn't. "I'm sorry, Mr. Kim, but I'd rather err
on the side of caution."
	"There's something else we ought to consider," Chakotay said. At
her nod, he continued, "Whoever is running these experiments is probably
waiting on the other side. I doubt they will appreciate us riding on their
coattails."
	"That's why we have our cloaking device, Commander." Janeway faced
him with her hands on her hips and a raised eyebrow. She was happy that
Chakotay challenged her regularly. It kept the job interesting.
	"You said you wanted to err on the side of caution, Captain. If we
rely on a device that hasn't been physically tested on this ship, we are
taking a chance with the lives of this crew."
	"You're right, Chakotay. But I trust B'Elanna's judgment in this
matter. Do you?"
	He lowered his voice. "Of course I do. I just want you to consider
all the angles, Captain."
	"Don't worry, I have." Her gaze encompassed the rest of the bridge
crew as they started their vigil.


* * * * * * * *
Filks!

* * * * * * * *

IF I HAD A FILKSONG and I FEEL A FILK COMING ON
A Unicorn Press Zine
62 pages. $11 and $12, postpaid, respectively.
Trekkin' Around The Christmas Tree $5, postpaid with any order.

	This collection, along with the sequel I Feel A Filk Coming On,
contributes to the popular genre of "filks" wherein writers take a popular
tune or showtune and rewrite it with fan-appropriate lyrics. These volumes
contain versions of "Gilligan's Island," "The Beverly Hillbillies," and
skewer Rod Stewart, Michael Bolton, Meatloaf, and Mister Rogers. Make sure
to inqure about the small supplement Trekkin' Around The Christmas Tree.

TAKE ME HOME, VOYAGER
A Collection by Charles H. Shiring and Brenda Shaffer-Shiring
32 pages. $3.50, postpaid.

	All-Voyager material ranging from the serious title song based on
John Denver to the silly "Insurrection," based on "The Locomotion."
Digest-sized, available from Charles H. Shiring, 419 Violet Drive, Lower
Burrell, PA 15068.


* * * * * * * *
Where To Find Fan Fiction

* * * * * * * *

ZINE DEALERS (SEND S.A.S.E. FOR INFORMATION)

Orion Press
3211 Saddleleaf Avenue
Albany, GA 31707
rlanders@isoa.net

Unicorn Press
P.O. Box 3177
Greensburg, PA 15601
unicrnprs@aol.com


BEST OF THE NET

This is by no means a comprehensive list! These are just good starting
points for people looking for fanfic on the World Wide Web.

http://aviary.share.net/~alara/
The Index of the alt.startrek.creative Story Archive
A comprehensive listing of the fan fiction which has appeared in a.s.c..
Indexed and linked by series, there are also readers' awards.

http://www.erols.com/imppub/fanfic.htm
The Definitive Guide to Trek Fanfic on the Web
Lots and lots of links, indexed by show and by author.

http://www.geocities.com/Area51/4418/jetcindx.htm
The Janeway/Chakotay Fan Fiction Index
Even if you're not a J/Cer, the JetC archive contains hundreds of superb
Janeway stories with more comprehensive summaries than those on a.s.c. The
index makes this site easy to use.

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~bentley/
Betsy Vera's Fanfic Resource Page
A great place to start looking for fan fiction, Trek and non-Trek alike.

http://members.aol.com/RaptorJC/tbmain.html
Trek Bytes
Originally an AOL mailing list for fans of romantic fan fiction, Trek Bytes
is now a treasure trove of short stories by writers who avoid the spam in
newsgroups.

http://www.geocities.com/televisioncity/set/2246/
The Slash Archive
K/S, C/P, P/K, Garak/Bashir, even Tom/Will Riker--from serious epics to
sexy nonsense. NC-17.

http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Hills/4534/pandt.html Paris/Torres
Stories and Links
Nowhere near as impressive as the J/C archive, this site may still be of
interest to J/Cers, since Janeway and Chakotay seem to wind up together in
90% of Paris/Torres stories.

http://members.aol.com/spocksarah/index.html
New Trek Stories
Janeway/Torres fans, this is your site. NC-17.

http://www.lymax.com/kaeori/j&c/WebRing/
The Janeway/Chakotay Web Ring Site
The homepage for a web ring linking dozens of J/C sites.

http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Vault/8435/ts-c.html
The Talking Stick-Circle Page
A complete alternate Voyager universe, with a Janeway and Chakotay who,
while they often do not resemble the versions on the show, are complex and
well-engaged with the intricate societies they encounter.

http://www.voicenet.com/~dravyk/mjaneway/
The Secret Logs of Mistress Janeway
A highly NC-17 site! Voyager meets Exit To Eden.


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://members.aol.com/nowvoy/. 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.


Photo  and  Art  Credits

1--Illustration © Chris King, 1997.
4-5--Photos © ABC-TV, 1988.
6-10--Illustrations © Michael Herring for Pocket Books, 1997.
11-12--Photos © Free Press, 1997.
13--Illustration © Jason Palmer for Pocket Books, 1997.
16--Illustration © BEKi, 1997.
19--Illustration © Zaquia Tarhuntassa, 1996.
20, 28--Illustrations © Madalena Mumford, 1996 and 1997.
24--Illustration © YCD's Slave, 1997.
26--Illustration © L.R. Bowen, 1996.
31--Illustration © Deborah Rush, 1997.

____________________________________________________

Kmas  Inc.  Board  Of  Directors

Michelle Erica Green, president.
Joan Testin, vice president.
Lauren Baum, treasurer.
Anne Davenport, membership secretary.
Mary Taylor, business secretary.
Paul Anderson, assistant secretary.
Jeanne Donnelly, charity coordinator.
Peter Castillo, legal advisor.

Now  Voyager  Staff

Cheryl Zenor, web page designer.
Donna Christenberry, assistant editor.
Anna Shuford, membership director.
Beth Schuman & Nancy Molik, convention coordinators.

Member of National Association of Fan Clubs
____________________________________________________

VOYAGER FAN CLUBS

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OTHER FAN CLUBS

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GRMC
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WALTER KOENIG FAN CLUB
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STAR TREK WELCOMMITTEE
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TO CONTACT TREK TALENT

PARAMOUNT PICTURES
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______________________________


Now Voyager
P.O. Box 34745
Bethesda, MD 20827-2725
FIRST CLASS

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