THE CLOUD
Episode 6
Part A

 

USS Voyager in flight.

	Janeway's log is given in italics. "Personal log stardate 48546.2. Our journey is several weeks old now, and I have begun to notice in my crew and, in my myself, a subtle change as the reality of our situation settles in." Janeway exits a turbolift. The two crewmembers waiting for it stand aside for her but say nothing, and she says nothing either but simply acknowledges them with a nod of her head.
	As she goes along the corridor she is moved to see a crewmember looking out into space, wondering what is out there in the unknown, and looking toward their so very distant home. "Here in the Delta Quadrant we are virtually the entire family of man. We are more than a crew, and I must find a way to be more than a captain to these people, but it's not clear to me exactly how to begin."
	Janeway enters Main Engineering. Janeway enters engineering. (pop-up window) [#6 The Cloud] "At the Academy we're taught that a captain is expected to maintain a certain distance. Until now I've always been comfortable with that distance.
	No one is expecting Janeway. Torres: "Captain! I, I didn't realise there was an inspection scheduled." Janeway: "Not an inspection, Lieutenant, a stroll."
	Torres hurries across the upper level and hastily climbs down the ladder, reporting as she does so: "We should have the warp drive up and running by 0900 hours. Recalibrating the reactant injectors is the only thing left we have to do." But Torres does not reach the lower level. Janeway calls out: "Carry on." and is already departing, still leaving Torres as if she has been caught on the hop.

"Maybe this is just the way it works, maybe the distance is necessary, maybe more than ever they need me to be larger than life. I only wish I felt larger than life. Computer, delete last sentence."

Janeway leaves the turbolift at Deck 2 and heads for the Messhall. The picture shows the view through the window of one of the Messhall doors of her leaving the turbolift. Janeway exits the turbolift, walks across the corridor and enters the Messhall. (pop-up window) [#6 The Cloud]

In the Messhall, Janeway sees Kim and Paris dining together. She goes up to them. "Gentlemen." They start to get up as acknowledgement but she waves them back into their seats: "As you were. So, has Neelix concocted anything interesting this morning?" There is an awkward feeling. She and they are unsure how to deal with each other socially. Kim answers: "There's an ancient Chinese curse, 'May you live in interesting times'. Mealtime is always interesting now that Neelix is in the kitchen." Janeway laughs but not uninhibitedly. "We shouldn't judge him too harshly. He is helping us conserve replicator energy." Paris: "And I'm sure the gastro-intestinal problems will go away as soon as our systems get used to his er...'gourmet' touch'." Janeway laughs awkwardly again. Abruptly she says: "See you at duty call." She straightens up briskly and moves to the serving counter.

Kim: "Should've asked her to join us." Paris: "Ensigns don't invite captains to sit down." Kim: "Why not?" Paris: "Because they don't." Kim: "Well, what's wrong with showing a little courtesy?" Paris: "Captains don't want courtesy. They want respect. That's why they don't get chummy with the lower ranks." Kim: "Well, who else is she supposed to get chummy with out here? There aren't many other captains and admirals for her to talk to." Paris: "If she wants to sit with us she'll ask us to join her. That's the way it's done." Kim: "I think you're working from an old rulebook, Paris."

Janeway is irritated when she finds the coffee has run out.

She goes into the Galley which is deserted. "Neelix?"

She looks round curiously.

She blows away the steam from a simmering cauldron and is about to pick out one of the cooking items when....

....Neelix enters the Galley from the corridor and sets down the basket of supplies he has been fetching. Neelix: "Captain!" Janeway starts. She straightens up and turns to face him.

	Neelix: "May I say you look beautiful this morning! Is that a new colour lipstick?" Janeway: "Oh! No, it's the same colour I always wear." Neelix: "Well, perhaps it's just the way the glow of the food heater lamps hit you but you look wonderful! Not to suggest that you don't always look wonderful."
	Janeway feels disconcerted by all this flattery. "Neelix. Do we have any coffee left?"
	Neelix: "No, but we have something even better." As he goes to the store cupboard she tells him: "I don't want something even better. I want coffee!"
	Neelix: "It's made from a proteinacious seed I discovered on-" Janeway: "Never mind. I'll use one of my replicator rations for coffee." She starts to leave. Neelix calls after her: "That would not be appropriate, Captain." Janeway stops at this. As Captain, no one should dream of speaking to in this way. She calms herself and summons patience.
	By the time she turns round and speaks to Neelix she has mostly suppressed the urge to rebuke him. "I beg your pardon?" Neelix: "You need to set an example for the crew." Janeway: "Well, thank you for reminding me."
	Her sarcasm is lost on him. "You're welcome. I mean, after all, if you want the crew to begin to accept natural food alternatives instead of further depleting our energy reserves you need to encourage them by your own choices, don't you?" Janeway: "Fine. Give me your 'even better than coffee' substitute."
	Neelix: "And how about some Takar loggerhead eggs with that this morning?" Janeway is finding it hard to maintain her patience. She holds up her hand to stop him. "Just coffee." She holds her cup ready.
	Neelix starts to pour: "It's a tiny bit richer blend than you're used to but you'll learn to love it." But it comes out of the pot not as the steady flow of liquid but as drops of gloop! Janeway looks horrified.
	When the com. signal sounds comms. signal and Chakotay says: "Bridge to Janeway-" she sees an avenue for escape and replies at once, "On my way! Janeway out." Neelix pours Janeway his 'even better than coffee' substitute. (pop-up window) [#6 The Cloud]
	Hastily she hands the cup to Neelix and hurries off, pausing only to say, "Tomorrow maybe." As far as she is concerned, that tomorrow will never comes if she has anything to do with it.
	Neelix has the coffee substitute himself - no use wasting it. He manages to swallow it.

	Janeway enters the Bridge. "Yes, Commander." Chakotay: "There was no need for you to come to the Bridge, Captain." Janeway: "Yes, there was." She does not explain. Chakotay: "I just wanted to alert you to a nebula we've picked up on long-range sensors."
	Janeway stands at the front of the command centre: "Put it on screen." The nebula appears on screen. "Magnify."
	Tuvok: "There are unusually high levels of omicron particles within this nebula, Captain." Janeway: "Are you thinking we could collect these omicron particles to provide an additional antimatter reserve, Lieutenant?" Tuvok: "Precisely." Janeway, via comms: "Senior bridge officers, report for duty." To Chakotay: "Commander, set a new course."
	As she takes the captain's chair, she says to herself: "There's coffee in that nebula!"

Paris and Kim arrive on the Bridge, reporting for duty.

Janeway has a private conversation with Chakotay. "Exploring this nebula should raise some spirits around here, don't you think, Commander?" He acknowledges this. "You're closer to the crew than I am. How bad is it?" Chakotay: "There's a 'nuanka', a period of mourning that everyone's going through. It's a natural reaction." Janeway: "I'm worried about them. I wish we had a counsellor on board but the nature of our mission didn't require one." Chakotay: "We talk to animals. It's a Native American tradition." Janeway: "Animals?" Chakotay: "Our own counsellors. We're taught that an animal guide accompanies us through life. Basically it's what Carl Jung thought he invented when he came up with his active imagination technique in 1932 but we'd been doing pretty much the same thing for centuries." Janeway: "Is there a different animal guide for everyone?" Chakotay: "Actually, yes." Janeway: "Let me guess: yours is a bear." Chakotay: "Why do you say that?" Janeway: "You strike me as the bear type." He laughs. "Thank you. The bear's a very powerful animal - it has great 'pokata'. But he's not my animal guide. The creature who guides us doesn't define who we are, it merely chooses to be with us." Janeway: "Ok. If not a bear, then what?" Chakotay: "I can't tell you that. It would offend my animal guide if I spoke its name." Janeway: "But he guides you well?" Chakotay: "Actually, it's female, but yes, she usually guides me very well." Janeway: "Can one just choose your own animal guide?" Chakotay: "It's not quite that simple." Paris: "Captain, we're approaching the perimeter of the nebula." Janeway turns to Paris: "Slow to one third impulse." She and Chakotay finish their conversation. He says: "If you're interested, I'll be glad to teach you how to contact your animal guide." Janeway, delighted: "You've got a date."

	Janeway gets up and goes to look at the viewscreen more closely. "Analysis, Mr Kim?"
	Kim: "Seven a.u.s in diameter. Sensors are picking up intermittent gamma and thermal emissions. Nothing our shields can't handle." ("a.u." is short for "astronomical unit")

Janeway: "Mr Paris, any problems for navigation?"
Paris: "I'm showing mostly hydrogen, helium and hydroxyl radicals, some local dust nodules. I don't see them giving us any trouble."
Janeway: "Mr Tuvok, can you find us a rich deposit of omicron particles in there?"
Tuvok: "A significant concentration appears to exist approximately 64 million kilometres inside the perimeter."
Janeway: "Set co-ordinates."
Tuvok: "Aye, Captain."

	Janeway: "Engines at one quarter impulse. Engage." Voyager enters the nebula. Voyager enters the nebula. (pop-up window) [#6 The Cloud]
	Kim: "I've never seen anything like it!"
	Tuvok clicks his combadge to contact Kim privately. combadge "Tuvok to Kim. Mr Kim, that is a comment we'd prefer not to hear from a senior officer on the Bridge. It makes the junior officers nervous." Kim: "Yes, sir."

Paris: "Density has increased to 42%." Janeway: "Cause?" Paris: "Not sure. We seem to be drawing some interstellar dust toward us." The bridge and engineering, where Torres is, have an open comlink. Janeway: "Engineering, could the magnetic field from our impulse engines be attracting this dust?" Torres: "It's a good possibility, Captain. I'm showing the dust with a return force ratio of 4.1. Recommend we shut down impulse and go to thrusters." Janeway: "Acknowledged. Engage thrusters. Ahead slow."

	Paris: "Density still increasing. Up by 70% now." Janeway: "Mr Tuvok?" Tuvok: "The level of resistance poses no danger to the hull at this time, Captain." Janeway: "How far are your omicron particles deposits?" Tuvok: "12,400 kilometres."
	Janeway: "Maintain course and-" The ship is jolted violently. "Report!" Paris: "We're at a dead stop now."

Torres: "Shutting down thrusters."

	Tuvok: "We seem to have encountered an energy barrier." Janeway: "Is it natural or artificial?" Torres: "We're not reading any directed energy source down here, Captain. My guess is it's a natural phenomenon." Janeway: "How far are we from the particles, Lieutenant?" Tuvok: "Just over 25,000 kilometres." Janeway: "It's conceivable this energy barrier is related to those particles. Mr Kim, if you could get a transporter beam through the barrier-"
	Kim: "Can't do it, Captain. The thoron emissions of the barrier would interfere with the transporter signal." Janeway thinks again.
on viewscreen as Voyager breaks through the energy barrier	Janeway: "Miss Torres, do we have enough power to take this ship through the barrier?" Torres: "The barrier appears to be only 50 metres deep. A four second burst at maximum thrusters ought to do it." Janeway: "Alright. Maximum shields. Engage full thrusters for four seconds and then drop to one quarter." Paris: "Acknowledged. Engaging thrusters." Voyager breaks through the energy barrier.
	Janeway: "What do you make of it, Mr Tuvok?" Tuvok: "I am unable to offer identification, Captain."

Kim clicks his combadge. combadge "Kim to Tuvok. In other words, you've never seen anything like it. Oh, I promise not to tell the junior officers."

Tuvok makes no reply.

Paris: "Captain, the breach we just made where we penetrated the field? Just closed behind us."

In the Messhall, where Kes and Neelix are preparing for the next influx of hungry crewmembers, Neelix notices from the view outside the window that the ship is inside a nebula. Neelix: "Kes! Now look what she's gotten us into!" Kes: "Do all nebulas look like that?" Neelix: "I wouldn't know. I'm smart enough to go around nebulas when I encounter them." Kes: "These people are natural born explorers, Neelix." Neelix: "These people are natural-born idiots, if you ask me. They don't appreciate what they have here. This ship is the match of any vessel within a hundred light years and what do they do with it? 'Well, er, let's see if we can't find some space anomaly today that might rip it apart!'" Kes: "I don't think the Captain is an idiot. She cares a great deal about her crew." Neelix: "You don't care a great deal about your crew and introduce them to the spectre of death at every opportunity. And I speak as a member of that crew now. I'm not sure I'd've wanted you to come along if-" Kes: "I think it's wonderful." Neelix: "Wonderful?!" Kes: "If I were captain I'd open every crack in the universe and peek inside, just like Captain Janeway does." Neelix: "I don't deny the romantic quality of this kind of casting about but I wouldn't exactly call it wonderful." She kisses him. "Although it's getting more wonderful by the minute." Kes: "I've never kissed anyone inside a nebula before." Suddenly splats of matter thump against the hull. Neelix: "What did I tell you?!"