EMANATIONS
Episode 9
Part E

 

Voyager's Bridge. Torres: "Another vacuole, Deck 15."

Tuvok: "The body of an alien female has been left behind."

Chakotay, via comms: "Chakotay to Transporter Room 3. Lock onto the body on Deck 15 and transport it to one of the asteroids." Seska, via comms: "Aye, sir."

Janeway to Torres: "Status of the warp core, Lieutenant." Torres: "The dampening field's down to 21 per cent. The interlocks won't hold much longer." She turns to look at Janeway: "I recommend leaving, Captain." Janeway puts her hand to her face in sudden intense consideration. That would mean abandoning the search for Kim, but the ship is danger. "Very well. Mr Paris, bring us about. Prepare to resume our-" The ship trembles violently.

Chakotay: "Captain, I'm picking up a vacuole forming on Deck 12. It deposited a human body." Janeway: "Human?" Chakotay: "But it's dead." Janeway, via comms: "Janeway to Seska. There's a body on Deck 12. Beam it directly to Sickbay." Seska, via comms: "Yes, Captain."

At the same time, Voyager leaves the planet and its ring system.

Janeway and Tuvok rush into Sickbay.

The Doctor is trying to revive the dead Kim. Doctor to Kes: "2 cc's cordrazine." She prepares the hypospray and hands it to him.

The Doctor injects Kim.

Nothing happens for a moment. Can he be resuscitated?

Suddenly Kim revives.

Doctor: "Relax, Mr Kim. Everything's fine. You're alive."

Kim, pleased to be alive.

USS Voyager

Kim is in the Messhall, staring at the stars.

Janeway enters. She comes up to his table. "Mind if I join you?" Kim, rising politely: "No, not at all. Please." She sits down. "Thank you."

Janeway: "So, how are you feeling?" Kim: "Better. I'll be ready for duty tomorrow morning." Janeway: "You're off duty for the next two days." Kim: "Captain, I'm fine." Janeway: "It's not a reflection on your capabilities, Ensign. I just want to give you a chance to reflect on what's happened. This may not make much sense to you now, a young man at the beginning of his career, but one of the things you'll learn as you move up the ranks and get a little older is that you wish you had more time in your youth to really absorb all the things that happened to you. It goes by so fast. It's so easy to become jaded, to treat the extraordinary like just another day at the office, but sometimes there are experiences which transcend all that. You've just had one, Mr Kim, and I want you to live with it for a little while. Write about it, if you feel like it. Paint. Express yourself in some fashion. The Bridge will still be there in two days." Kim: "Thank you, Captain. I have been a little preoccupied with the experience. I mean, all those people think that they know what happens after death. They look forward to it. They're prepared for it, but the truth is, none of it's real. They don't have an afterlife. They just decay inside those asteroids." Janeway: "I wouldn't be so sure of that, if I were you. That neural energy their bodies release, it becomes part of the ambient electromagnetic field surrounding the planet. Our readings also indicate the energy is unusually dynamic. There's a great deal of variation and pattern complexity, quantum density...." Kim: "Are you saying you think they do have an afterlife? That the energy field is where they exist at a higher level of consciousness, just like they believe?" Janeway: "I'm not certain, but I am certain about this. What we don't know about death is far, far greater than what we do know. See you in two days, Ensign." Kim: "Thank you, Captain." She leaves, and he resumes staring at the stars.