MEDICAL LOGS

ONE
Season 4 : Episode 93

 

MORGUE RECORD:

Voyager encounters a vast Mutara-class nebula, and everyone, except the Doctor (as he is a hologram) and Seven, is severely affected by its radiation. On his being inundated with calls, he orders Seven to go the Bridge and use a dermal regenerator to treat the burns. One unnamed member, an Ensign, of the Bridge crew dies as a result.

DOCTOR'S LOG:

Since the nebula is 110 light years across and it would take a year to go around it, Janeway decides the best course of action is to put the crew into suspended animation within stasis chambers with independent life support while the ship takes the month-long trip through the nebula. Seven and the Doctor will check on their vital signs and monitor the ship's status until it reaches the other side. The Doctor continues to tutor Seven in social skills through the medium of a holodeck simulation. On some previous occasion, the Doctor has demonstrated knowledge of the rudimentary aspects of piloting. After several days, the lack of social interaction and activity begins to put a strain on the Doctor and Seven. In addition, the computer suffers malfunctions, for instance issuing false system status alerts. Malfunctioning gel packs are found to be responsible for the false sensor readings. While the pair attempt repairs, the Doctor's program begins to degrade in the holo-emitter. He manages to make it back to Sickbay, but with his mobile emitter malfunctioning he will have to stay there for the remainder of the nebula trip. Now that Seven is even more isolated, she begins having disturbing dreams and visions. She hallucinates interaction with a non-existent alien and hears voices of the crew calling for her. When the Doctor finally gets his mobile emitter to work by tying it into the EPS system, he rushes to Seven and discovers that she is hallucinating. He believes that the radiation, which was producing a degradation in the gel pack synaptic relays, is having a similar effect on her Borg implants, causing them to degrade and altering the neurotransmitter levels in her sensory nodes. That would explain why she is hearing voices and seeing images. (This is the third occasion since joining Voyager that Seven has experienced hallucinations or false memories. The previous times occurred during  [#74 The Raven] and  [#85 Retrospect].) The Doctor suggests administering an anti-psychotic to help Seven cope until he locates the problem. Then the EPS conduits overload and the Doctor's program goes offline, leaving Seven truly alone. With the fate of the crew entirely in her hands she begins to panic. With hours to go before Voyager clears the nebula, the propulsion system begins to fail. Fighting against the hallucinations and the fear they create, Seven struggles to reroute power. With only minutes left, Seven reroutes power from life support and falls unconscious. When she regains consciousness in Sickbay, the crew is awake and out of the stasis chambers, Voyager has cleared the nebula, and she has managed to save everyone on board.

STAR TREK CONTEXTUAL MEDICAL GLOSSARY:

Dermal regenerator.

DOCTOR'S QUOTE:

To Seven: "It's not unheard of for people to come out of stasis and start wandering. Leave it to Mr Paris to be just as much trouble now as when he's awake."