JETREL
Episode 15
Part B

 

In the Galley, Neelix is agitated, preoccupied, as he mashes an ingredient.

He comes out to the Messhall, dips a finger into the concoction and tastes it. Kes: "Neelix, why didn't you ever tell me about the war?" Neelix: "Maybe this is one experience that can't be shared. It's too hard to describe how I feel to someone who didn't see what I saw. Sorry."

Kes, gently: "You've nothing to be sorry about, Neelix." He appreciates her, and strokes her face fondly.

Janeway enters through the Galley. Janeway: "Excuse me."

Neelix, with forced jollity: "Captain! Back from your doctor's appointment already?"

Janeway: "I'm afraid I have some disturbing news, Neelix." Neelix: "Nothing you tell me can make this day more disturbing than it's already been."

Janeway knows that is not true. She comes out to the Messhall. "According to Jetrel, you were exposed to dangerous levels of Metreon poisoning, and may be at risk of developing a fatal blood disorder. He wants to screen you for the disease."

Neelix, over-politely as he suppresses the seething rage inside: "Er, Captain, please tell Dr Jetrel that I am touched by his tender concern for my state of health, but that I'd rather be immersed in a pit of Krallinian eels than examined by him."

Kes: "Neelix, if there's something wrong with you we should find out." Neelix: "I don't want that man within ten parsecs of me!" Janeway: "I understand your feelings, but this is your life we're talking about."

Neelix: "Don't either of you find it the slightest bit strange that a man who has made it his life's work to develop a weapon to destroy as many Talaxians as possible should suddenly be concerned with this Talaxian's health?" Janeway: "I don't know what his motives are. Maybe he's trying to undo some of the damage his weapon caused. But he seems sincere, Neelix, and at this point I have no reason to doubt him." Neelix: "If the disease is fatal, what's the point of knowing whether I have it or not?"

Kes: "Our Doctor is the most skilled physician either of us has ever met. If you have this disease, he won't stop until he's found some way to treat it." Janeway: "And if Jetrel discovers you don't have the disease, at least you'll have peace of mind." Neelix: "Peace of mind is a relative thing, Captain."

Janeway: "I simply want you to hear what he has to say. Then, if you still don't want him to examine you, no one will force you." Neelix, trying to say it lightly: "Outnumbered and outflanked." Reluctantly: "Alright then, I surrender."

USS Voyager.

The meeting is held in the Briefing Room. Jetrel has already started to explain why he has come.

Jetrel: "The Metreon isotopes are unique. The rate of decay is highly variable. We have found that it's sometimes years before Metremia sets in, and unfortunately-" Neelix: "Why are you doing this?" Jetrel: "I beg your pardon?" Neelix: "Is it all just scientific curiosity, Metreons and isotopes. Or do you feel guilty about what you did?" Jetrel: "Guilty. I do not regret it. I did what had to be done." Neelix: "Really. It was necessary to vapourise more than a quarter of a million people and to leave thousands of others to be eaten away by Metreon poisoning?" Jetrel: "Would it make any difference if I told you we never thought there would be any radiation poisoning, that anyone close enough to be exposed would be killed by the initial blast. It was unfortunate we were wrong." Neelix: "Unfortunate! Did you hear that, Captain? It was 'unfortunate'." Janeway: "Neelix, I think what Dr Jetrel is trying-" Jetrel: "No, Captain, that's alright. I'm used to it. I'm simply a scientist. Yes, I developed a weapon, but it was the government and the military leaders who decided to use it, not I." Neelix: "That must be a very convenient distinction for you. Does it help you sleep at night?" Jetrel: "I slept no worse last night than I have any other night for the past fifteen years." Neelix: "What is that supposed to mean?" Jetrel: "It means I must live with my conscience. It is you who must live with yours. How many did you kill during the war?" Janeway: "Gentlemen, please. This is obviously very difficult for both of you but we are not here to debate history. We are here to talk about Neelix's condition." Neelix: "Don't worry about it, Captain, because Dr Jetrel will have to find himself another laboratory rodent to help his experiments. Because I would rather die than help you ease your conscience." Jetrel: "I do not expect you to like me, Mr Neelix, nor do I hope to allay your obvious pain with moral arguments, but I do believe I can help you, if not you, others of your race. Isn't that more important than punishing me?"

Neelix, accompanied by Kes, has turned up in Sickbay, having reluctantly agreed to let Jetrel scan him for Metremia. Jetrel takes a scanner which, when not in use, slots into and forms an integral part of his equipment.

Neelix to the Doctor: "Are you sure you can't do this?" Doctor: "Your new-found confidence in me is flattering, Mr Neelix, but Dr Jetrel has instruments designed specifically to analyse Talaxian physiology."

Jetrel indicates that Neelix should lie down on the biobed. Neelix to Jetrel: "Just get it over with."

Neelix to Kes: "Did I ever tell you about the notorious two-tailed talchoks of Rinax?" Kes: "I don't think so."

Neelix: "Nasty little vermin, sharp claws, dripping fangs - ugh! It was quite a nuisance. So one summer when I was a boy, I decided to do something about them. I spent weeks tinkering, creating a foolproof talchok trap. Once I'd perfected it I set it in the garden. And the next day I found one of those beasts pinned at the neck, but it wasn't dead, it was squirming, and squealing in agony. And suddenly it didn't look so fiendish any more. It looked like a poor innocent animal."

Kes: "What a horrible story." Neelix: "Well, you see, I had become so fascinated with my invention that I never really thought about how that poor creature would suffer."

The point of Neelix's story is not lost on Jetrel: "Are you finished?" Neelix: "For now." Jetrel: "So am I." Neelix: "And?"

Jetrel: "I'm sorry, Mr Neelix." Neelix: "Sorry? Why are you sorry?" Jetrel: "I'm afraid you have incipient Metremia."

 

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