ELOGIUM : Episode 18 : portrayed in several parts
ELOGIUM : Episode 18 : portrayed in several parts
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 | Paris and Kes enter the turbolift with Chakotay. They are carrying armfuls of supplies for the Galley.
Paris: "What was that all about?" Chakotay: "I would call it an indiscreet example of shipboard fraternisation." Paris: "Really? Sorry I missed it." Chakotay to the turbolift: "Deck 6." |
 | Paris and Kes are laughing together as they enter the Messhall. |
 | Paris deposits his armful of cabbage on the counter.
Kes: "Thank you for your help, Tom." Paris: "Yeah. See you later." Kes: "Right." He moves to one of the tables, while Kes goes into the Galley. |
 | Kes tells Neelix: "Here's the cabbage you asked for." But Neelix does not reply. Instead his face is stony. "Is something wrong?"
Neelix notices an insect in the cabbage: "What's this?" Kes: "A spawn beetle. Oh, they cross-pollinate the Oblissian cabbage. Have you ever seen such fascinating striations? Isn't it beautiful?" Neelix seems unnaturally peevish. He is jealous of Kes enjoying the company of Tom Paris. "I doubt the Captain would think so if she found it crawling around in her salad." |
 | Kes starts to prepare the cabbage leaves. While she works she asks: "There is something wrong. What is it?"
Neelix: "No, nothing. I'm just very busy." |
 | Neelix, trying to sound casual: "So, you're seeing Tom Paris later?"
Kes: "What? No, not that I know of." Neelix: "He said 'see you later'. You said 'right'. Is he helping you in the airponics bay now?" Kes: "He was just helping me carry these." |
 | Neelix, sarcastically: "How thoughtful."
Kes: "Neelix, this is ridiculous. You're imagining things that aren't there." Neelix: "You're such an innocent! I see the way he looks at you. I used to look at women that way. I know what it means." |
 | The com. signal sounds. Janeway announces over the com. system: "Janeway to the senior staff. Please report to the Bridge."
Paris stops briefly at the counter before he leaves for the Bridge. "Take care," he tells Kes. |
 | Neelix tells Kes abruptly: "Thank you for bringing the cabbage. I can handle this from here, thank you."
Kes slams down what she is doing and leaves without a word. Irritated, Neelix snatches an aggressive bite of the raw cabbage. |
| Paris and Chakotay enter the Bridge.
Janeway informs Paris as he enters: "We've detected a strange energy configuration off the port bow."
Paris asks Kim: "Any idea what it is?" Kim: "It appears to be some sort of magnetic disturbance." Janeway: "We're going to take a closer look." Paris takes his post at the conn. Janeway notices Chakotay deep in thought and approaches for an intimate conversation. Janeway: "You seem a little preoccupied, Commander." Chakotay: "This morning I interrupted a couple who were kissing in the turbolift, and I've been wondering if we should establish a policy regarding fraternisation." Janeway: "Well, the couple in question might be urged to show a bit more discretion but Starfleet has always been reluctant to regulate people's personal lives." Chakotay: "But of course, but we're in a unique situation here. The development of intimate relationships might cause us problems that wouldn't arise on other ships." Janeway: "I understand what you're saying but we're a long way from home. Everyone is lonely. All we have is each other. I think eventually people will begin to pair off." Chakotay: "Including you?" Janeway: "As captain, that's a luxury I don't have. Besides, I intend for us to be home before," her voices catches, "before Mark gives me up for dead." |
| Kim interrupts the conversation as he reports: "We're in visual range, Captain."
Janeway: "On screen." Chakotay: "Looks like some type of energetic vapour." Janeway: "Magnify." Chakotay: "Space-dwelling lifeforms." Janeway: "Full sensor scan, Mr Kim." Kim: "Their internal energy patterns appear to be consistent with discreet organic processes." |
 | Chakotay: "Captain, I'd like the chance to study them at close range."
Janeway: "So would I, Commander." Chakotay: "But let's not get too close. We wouldn't want to disturb their natural behaviour." |
 | Janeway: "Half-impulse, Mr Paris. Take us into bio-scanner range."
Paris: "Aye, Captain." |
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 | At the science station on the Bridge, Janeway, Ensign Wildman and Chakotay look at the xenobiology scan on the monitor.
Tuvok: "The swarm is not particularly dense, Captain. I estimate their number at fewer than 2,000." Paris: "They're really moving." Kim: "He's right. They've accelerated to a velocity of approximately 1,000 kilometres per second." Wildman: "It's possible we're frightening them." Janeway to Paris: "Keep us within scanner range, Lieutenant, but try to avoid rapid acceleration." Paris: "Aye, Captain." Chakotay: "Take a look at this. See the way they propel themselves?" Janeway: "They seem to flagellate, almost like protozoa." Chakotay: "Exactly, but they're achieving incredible speeds, over 3,000 kilometres per second." Janeway: "Ensign Wildman, scan the field for a repeating pattern. Maybe they're capable of some type of communication." Wildman: "Aye, Captain." |
 | Chakotay: "Their internal anatomy's also very unusual. They don't appear to have a digestive system of any kind, but they've an extremely porous outer covering. My guess would be that they absorb nutrients directly from space."
Janeway: "Incredible. A space-dwelling lifeform capable of metabolising inorganic matter." Wildman: "Particle density in this part of space isn't very high. That might explain why they have to keep moving so fast." Chakotay: "Feeding at 3,000 kilometres per second. Not exactly leisurely dining, is it?" |
| In her quarters, Kes is ravenously stuffing herself with food, unable to get enough.
The door signal sounds.  door signal
Guiltily and clumsily she gathers up the plates and food and hides them hastily in her cupboard. The door signal sounds again, and she calls, indistinctly as her mouth is full: "Come in." Neelix enters. She hastily wipes her mouth and puts on a smile. He produces flowers from behind his back: "For you, sweetie." Kes: "Thank you. What's the occasion?" Neelix: "No occasion. I just wanted to apologise." Kes: "Apologise?" Neelix: "For the way I acted in the Messhall. I was jealous." Kes: "I know. I just wish you could trust me." Neelix, wandering around the room looking for something: "It has nothing to do with trusting you! It's him I don't trust. I've seen his kind before. They're all over the Quadrant as a matter of fact. They prey on naive sheltered young women like you." Kes: "What are you looking for?" Neelix: "A vase." Kes leaps toward the cupboard and tries to stop him but she is just too late. Neelix opens the cupboard, and comes upon Kes' secret food stash. Neelix: "What's this?" Kes: "Nothing. Just a snack: a Ktarian delicacy. Ensign Wildman told me about it. Mashed potatoes with butter. It's delicious. Would you like to try it?" He samples it. "It's awful! How can you eat it?" With it in front of her, her hunger pangs come back and she is unable to resist digging into the piles of food again, greedily grabbing at various foods and stuffing them into her mouth. Kes: "I can't stop eating it. I've had six bowls, and the reason it tastes so strange - I put a container of nitrogenated soil in it." Neelix: "Dirt? You're eating dirt?! Why???" Kes: "I don't know. But this morning-" Neelix: "What?" Kes: "You remember the spawn beetles?" Neelix: "You, you didn't?" She nods, still stuffing herself. Her sound of confirmation is muffled by eating. Panicked, Neelix taps his combadge. "Neelix to Sickbay! Prepare to receive an emergency patient!" Kes: "I'm not sick. I feel fine. I just can't stop eating." Neelix: "We are going to get to the bottom of this. Come on." Kes: "No! I'm not going!" Neelix: "We are going to Sickbay! Come with me!" |
 | Neelix picks up and carries the shrieking protesting Kes out of the room while she clutches the flowers and goes on stuffing herself with them. |  |
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