[#23 PARTURITION] : WHY IS IT KIM WHO VISITS KES?
AND OTHER QUESTIONS

C O N T E N T S

INTRODUCTION

THE SCENE (EXCERPT FROM EPISODE GUIDE)

PREAMBLE

WHY DOES NO ONE ELSE VISIT KES? Torres. Janeway. Chakotay. Tuvok. The Doctor. Ship's counsellor.

WHY IS IT KIM WHO VISITS KES?

WHAT FUTURE SIGNIFICANCE DOES KIM'S VISIT TO KES HOLD?

DID JANEWAY ORDER KIM TO VISIT KES?

WHY IS KES IN HER QUARTERS AND NOT ON DUTY?

WHY DOES KES NOT HAVE THE SAME TELEPATHIC BOND WITH NEELIX AS SHE DOES WITH JANEWAY?

CONCLUSION

SUMMARY

INTRODUCTION

the Scene opens - Kes turns and asks Kim, as he arrives in her quarters, for news

SHIP'S LOG: EPISODE SYNOPSIS SHIP'S LOG: EPISODE GUIDE In the scene concerned (simply called "the Scene" hereafter), Kim visits Kes in her private quarters to update her on the search and rescue mission for Neelix and Paris. Before they left for the mission, they had a food fight in the Messhall after Neelix's jealous suspicions seem realised following Paris' realisation and private admission to Kim that he is attracted to Kes. This article poses, and attempts to answer, the question "Why is it Kim who visits Kes?" (why Kim, as distinct from any other member of the crew), and discusses the Scene's importance in describing and developing certain relationships among certain of the main crew (ensemble cast). Please note that there is no one way leading to an answer, and there are several answers (not all of which you, or even I myself, might agree with). Therefore this article as a single whole cannot be expected to provide a single coherent argument. As can be seen from other discussions on site, I prefer to raise issues in order that you can decide for yourself. There is a Conclusion and Summary at the end of the article. Screenshots are from [#23 Parturition] unless stated. Some are from the Episode Guide, some are new to this article. In addition, there are some screenshots from other episodes and, again, some are from the Episode Guide, and some are new.

THE SCENE

EXCERPT FROM SHIP'S LOG: EPISODE GUIDE Paris and Neelix have disappeared after leaving in a shuttlecraft heading for 'Planet Hell', a planet whose electromagnetic activity in the atmosphere obscures USS Voyager's scans and disrupts communications. Kes is in her quarters, waiting for news, anxious, upset. The door signal sounds. door signal "Come in." standard doors Kim enters. "Harry, any word yet?" He sits down. "We're doing everything possible. The transporter just doesn't want to work in that atmosphere. How are you doing?" Kes: "Oh, I'm alright," although she is actually very upset. "It's just er I was very angry at them a few hours ago." Kim: "You had every right to be." Kes: "And now they might both be dead. I'm sitting here, and I'm feeling guilty for some reason." Kim: "Guilty? Why?" Kes: "I don't know. I don't like it. And it's their fault. And I can't even tell them how angry I am at them. And I may never be able to tell them how angry I am at them! So it doesn't matter, does it!" Kim: "Look, you know if there was any way to land that shuttle, Tom Paris got it down." Kes: "And no one has stronger survival skills than Neelix." Kim: "I'm sure they'll both be fine." Kes tries to joke: "Unless they kill each other." Kim plays along. "They're professionals." Kes, voice almost breaking with a mixture of upset, worry and anger: "Oh, they better be alright, because when I see them, I'm personally going to tell them that I never intend to speak to either one of them again!" The ship jolts violently. Chakotay's voice comes over the com. system: "Chakotay to crew. Battle stations." Kim hurries out, followed closely by Kes. There are other screenshots in this article, from other scenes in the episode - some are from the Episode Guide, some are new to this article.

PREAMBLE

A simple observation, which depends on it being a television show and does not get "into" the story (the suspense of disbelief), is that the Scene provides dramatic impact and allows two main characters to interact. Their conversation is given greater impact for the lack of background music, action, special effects and so on - it is just two people talking. Characters talking are in fact the mainstay of drama (poor quality drama is driven by the often mistaken belief that characters have to not get along with each other in order for a scene to work, so that one ends up with, say, soap operas full of people arguing and shouting at each other; where the characters are not in conflict - that is often the more difficult dialogue to write and the most difficult for actors to do well). But it does not answer why it is Kim, rather than, say, Janeway or Tuvok or Chakotay or any other main or minor member of the crew. If Janeway or Tuvok or Chakotay or anyone else had visited Kes instead, the Scene would still have dramatic impact, only different, so that as the sole answer can be ruled out.

The answer, or rather answers, to the question "Why is it Kim who visits Kes?" depends principally on character relationships, the history of those relationships and their development; and there are important relationship aspects and points which the show's writers have incorporated. The question "Who should visit Kes to update her on the search and rescue mission?" must have been considered by the episode's writer Tom Szollosi, and it is assumed that some or all of my reasoning was his as well. For, I believe, the elements which make Star Trek successful are not just the interesting and often original re-working of science-fiction themes or even new sci-fi ideas altogether, nor is it simply the excitement of the "wagon train to the stars" as creator Gene Roddenberry pitched it to the television network. Those elements are important, yes, but I believe one of the principal reasons why Star Trek is successful is because its shows are character-driven. While we the television viewers are carried along by great stories, plots, plot-twists or mysteries, the scenery, costumes and technology, and also the continuity between series and Star Trek concepts and ideals, at the same time and almost without realising it we become caught up in how the main crew (ensemble cast) build or damage relationships among themselves (and with others). Without being involved with the characters, we can never feel the suspense about what might happen to them, nor share their joys, nor share their grief for losses. In [#23 Parturition], the story deliberately keeps short the evocation of our fears for the safety of the shuttlecraft crew. The time is less than a minute from when Voyager loses contact with the shuttlecraft to our seeing the start of the next scene which starts with a shot of the crashed and damaged landed vessel then we see Neelix and Paris inside and learn they are alive. That time goes quickly as the action is given a swift pace - there is suspense and, as Janeway says it is now "a search and rescue operation", urgency, but we soon see what happens to Neelix and Paris. Rather than milking the suspense, instead the story turns our interest onto the interaction between Paris and Neelix i.e. it focuses on character. Interest is first stirred as we witness their verbal sparring on the shuttlecraft, and that sparring arises directly from the nature of their characters and how they rub against each other due to Neelix's jealousy regarding Kes and Paris' failure so far to talk to Neelix about it.

WHY DOES NO ONE ELSE VISIT KES?

It is not a non-member of the ensemble cast who visits Kes, but one of the main crew i.e. ensemble cast - this is inevitable given the dramatic impact. In the administration of a starship, it would need to be someone who can accurately brief Kes about the search and rescue operation. In emotional terms, it would need to be a good friend of Kes', and preferably also of the two missing men Neelix and of Paris.

Before moving onto discussion of why it is Kim who does visit Kes, first of all let me explain why it is NOT Torres or Janeway or Tuvok or Chakotay or the Doctor who visits Kes. This is, of course, in the absence of a Ship's Counsellor because, as Janeway tells Chakotay in [#6 The Cloud], the Badlands mission was only expected to last three weeks and no Ship's Counsellor was assigned.

1. The first, Torres, is swiftly and easily dismissed. She and Kes are not close, and the two people are very different in character - Torres is an engineer for whom mysteries such as Kes' mental abilities exist but can probably be explained scientifically, while that part of Kes' mind which tends towards science is turned more towards medicine rather than technology. As an Ocampan, Kes comes from a society accustomed more to using technology already provided (by the Caretaker) than to tinkering with it and maintaining or inventing it, albeit that she is observing and exploring the different use for technology that the Voyager crew exhibit, yet she will remain at one remove from it and indeed from the deeply ingrained desire to explore possessed by her fellow Voyager crewmen; in [#143 Fury] an older Kes will use exploration as an accusation when airing her grievances to Janeway. Torres is not the right person emotionally to visit Kes. Nor is she the appropriate person as regards rank because Torres, as the Chief Engineer, is busy attempting to achieve viable transporter use despite the planet's hostile atmospheric conditions (the screenshot shows her at the Engineering I station on the Bridge) and she is not, unlike Janeway, Tuvok, Chakotay or Kim, closely involved with the actual management of the search and rescue mission.

 
2. It is not Janeway who visits Kes. At first it seems surprising that Janeway does not leave the Bridge in Chakotay's or Tuvok's capable hands in order to visit Kes. It seems surprising because she is both the captain of the ship, thus best able to brief Kes on the progress of the search and rescue mission, and she is also a good friend of Kes. The pair share a special affection for each other and a unique telepathic bond. When Kes visits Janeway in [#7 Eye Of The Needle], Janeway does not disguise pleasure at her visit. It is Janeway who elicits what is distressing Kes after she locks herself in the Doctor's office in [#18 Elogium], starting Kes confiding in her by holding out her arms to her. In [#24 Persistence Of Vision], in Sickbay, Kes "sees" the Beatrice hallucination that Janeway does whereas no one else does. Kes' mental abilities are greater or broader in range than Tuvok's although until sometime before [#24 Persistence Of Vision], and therefore presumably sometime after [#23 Parturition], Kes does, as she explains it, "some mental exercises with Tuvok developing my telepathic abilities...." (Kes starts to be able to control aspects of her mental powers shortly after [#23 Parturition], from [#26 Cold Fire] onwards thanks to tutoring by Tuvok and short-term tutoring by Tanis the Ocampan in that story.) And when Kes decides to leave Voyager in [#70 The Gift], Janeway hugs her and confides: "Oh, I'm going to miss you!"

   
   Janeway: "Kes, this is a surprise." Note the broadness of Janeway's smile. [#7 Eye Of The Needle]

   
   [#18 Elogium]

   [#70 The Gift]

   Janeway: "On the basis of a feeling, an intuition, you're asking me to let you go, quite likely forever? Kes, I just can't do that." Kes: "It's my decision, my fate. Would you really try to stop me?" Janeway: "No. But I'd argue with you, even plead with you to reconsider absolutely for as long as it takes." Kes: "It won't work. Look at me, Captain. I'm the same Kes you've always known. I haven't lost my judgement. I'm not under some alien influence. I believe something crucial is happening to me and I want to see it through." Janeway: You've lived most of your life here. Voyager has been your home, and you've been a vital part of this family. Oh, I'm going to miss you." The above conversation is one between good friends who are very fond of each other.

   Kes' unique bond with Janeway is not really defined, but she is able to sense Janeway's presence even when the Captain is a distance from her or even, as in [#4 Time And Again], in the past. Janeway is aware of this bond, in [#4 Time And Again], and even incorporates it in her hallucination in [#57 Coda].

    
   In the future, Kes senses Janeway's past presence. "Captain?" In the past, Janeway hears her and turns: "Kes?"
   [#4 Time And Again]

   Janeway hurries round to in front of Kes so that Kes walks straight through her.

   Kes walks through the ghostly Janeway. (pop-up window)

   Kes turns and looks back, having sensed something: "Captain?" Janeway: "Did you feel that, Kes? It was me." The above screenshots and the one to the right, Flash movie and dialogue are from [#57 Coda].

   But in [#23 Parturition], Kim not Janeway visits Kes. In this particular case, it seems less surprising than it at first seems, since we as the television viewers are privy to the Scene in the Captain's Ready Room earlier. Then, as she orders Paris and Neelix on the shuttlecraft away mission to 'Planet Hell', Janeway does not pursue it when she notices the evidence of their food fight and they decline to explain when she asks: "Would anyone care to explain?" She discerns they have a "personal problem" but instead of requesting or demanding details she immediately and brusquely orders them to solve it.

   Paris, Neelix and Janeway in the Captain's Ready Room

   One of the many themes in Star Trek is the responsibility or even burden of command (and often the loneliness of command), which at times sets up a conflict between being someone's captain and someone's friend. Janeway usually manages to tread the line with good judgement. She is also wise in letting, even ordering, those in conflict to deal with the problem themselves - Janeway is the Captain not a Ship's Counsellor. In [#58 Lineage] she declines to get involved in Paris' and Torres' marital disagreement.

   Janeway: "The biggest problem you two have is not ethical. It's marital." [#158 Lineage]

   We do not know whether Kim visits Kes on Janeway's order or rather request or suggestion, as she would have no need to make it as ostensibly as strong and blunt as an order. She would certainly be aware of Kim's close friendship with Paris and that he is a friend of Neelix and of Kes (and is a friend of Kes as Kes not as Neelix's girlfriend), and she of course knows that as Ops officer Kim has close knowledge of the progress of the search and rescue mission such that he would not need to be briefed. It is possible that Kim decides on his own initiative to visit Kes, of that more anon. In this story, Janeway acts as the Captain. In view of her special relationship with Kes, it can be taken for granted that she would want, on a personal level, to visit Kes. We assume she is at least aware of Kim's visit to Kes even if she was not instrumental in sending Kim there, so she presumably is happy that he is the right man for the job. In [#99 Once Upon A Time], she delegates Neelix, again the right man for the job as he is Naomi's godfather, to distract young Naomi from the fact that her mother is missing and possibly dead underneath the surface of an alien planet. In that story, Janeway does not take Naomi in hand herself.

   This is all sensible and understandable, for Janeway wants to oversee personally the search and rescue mission (in [#23 Parturition] and [#99 Once Upon A Time]), even though she could, at least for a time, delegate it to Chakotay or Tuvok. Janeway does this instead of sparing time to visit Kes, preferring to spend all her time managing the search and rescue mission from Voyager's Bridge. The screenshot shows Janeway in the captain's chair. It is always somehow reassuring for Star Trek fans to see the Captain on the Bridge, especially in the captain's chair, as it indicates a firm and competent heroine (or hero) directly in charge, even if the Captain sometimes has to leave the Bridge during a crisis for whatever good reason. Though not supported by evidence within the episode such as dialogue, it would be, given her decision not to visit Kes herself, nice to believe that Janeway is aware of the reassurance perceived whenever she is on the Bridge. Other officers (and doubtless all the crew) are at some level aware of this. Neelix voices it in [#95 Night] when Janeway spends most of the time in her quarters as Voyager travels the starless Void. Neelix says: "When they see that the Captain's happy they're happy." It is not just seeing her happy, but seeing her on the Bridge, commanding the ship - the captain's very presence is important, as well as her being seen to be happy. Chakotay responds: "It's her choice. She can run this ship from wherever she the hell she wants to! Understood?" but Torres speaks for all when she says: "It's pretty odd, you've got admit it."

   On the level of "this is tv drama" and no suspense of disbelief, [#23 Parturition] is not a Janeway-oriented story and, significantly, the next aired story is, namely [#24 Persistence Of Vision]. Moreover, the unique telepathic bond between Janeway and Kes, first shown in [#4 Time And Again], is shown in [#24 Persistence Of Vision]. More than one, often several, of the [Voyager] episodes were filmed at the same time, and certainly the scripts (even if not in final draft) were ready at the same time. It would probably have felt like duplication for Janeway to visit Kes in [#23 Parturition], so instead her captain's qualities (leadership, firmness of command etc.) are given priority instead. In addition, because the story focusses on love-entangled relationships, Janeway's appearances in [#23 Parturition] are kept at a minimum and are of the uncomplicated sort relationship-wise. Having Janeway visit Kes, and adjusting the dialogue with Paris and Neelix in the Ready Room so that Janeway learns the nature of their "personal problem", those two things alone would not make this a Janeway-oriented story anyway.

   Therefore, I believe it is wise, as regards dramatic impact and depiction of character relationships, that it is not Janeway who visits Kes.


 
3. Tuvok might at first seem to be a logical choice to visit Kes. He is a senior officer (the second officer) and has close management knowledge of the progress of the search and rescue mission. But at this time, Kes needs someone she can confide emotionally in, not just a straight briefing. Tuvok is less suited to the required task than anyone else on the ship. At this time, he and Kes have not started to form the special bond that comes from telepathic linking resulting from his tutoring her in controlling her evident mental powers. That tutoring begins, interestingly enough, after [#23 Parturition] but before the next aired episode [#24 Persistence Of Vision]. In the latter episode, Kes explains the she has done "some mental exercises with Tuvok developing my telepathic abilities...." and by the early part of [#26 Cold Fire] Kes' lessons have become maybe daily as she has had a lesson with Tuvok three days in a row according to the Doctor. This is due to his Vulcan nature, and not, however, that he is unaware of Kes' emotional needs. There is a difference, as was brought out skilfully by actor Leonard Nimoy with respect to his character the half-Vulcan Spock throughout [TOS], between lacking emotion and suppressing emotion. Once as emotional (and violent) as most other species, suppressing and controlling emotion is what Vulcans decided to do in the Time of Awakening some 2,000 years ago initiated by Surak (refs. [TOS: The Savage Curtain], [TNG: Gambit]) and suppressing and controlling their emotions is what Vulcans are famous for doing now, although to untrained non-Vulcan observers it can give the impression of actually lacking emotion. Tuvok, a full-blooded Vulcan, is shown in [Voyager] in several ways that he understands how powerfully and compellingly an emotional make-up affects someone's personal needs. As revealed in the later episode [#107 Gravity], Tuvok himself, as a youth, experienced infatuation for a woman named Jara. Tuvok is sensitive to the emotional needs of others. For instance, in an episode in which the nature of loneliness is explored, [#56 Alter Ego], Tuvok shows that the Vulcans have analysed and learned to suppress the emotion of love or infatuation, which is why Kim seeks his aid in overcoming his infatuation for a holodeck character. Tuvok's Vulcan discipline enables him, though at personal cost, to deal with being without his spouse better than anyone else on Voyager and indeed to cope with the loneliness of not having a true confidant(e) (Janeway is the closest thing he has to family on Voyager, as noted in [#44 Flashback], but their relationship is not rooted in emotional vulnerability and need). As a further instance, he handles Neelix's need to have Tuvok's respect and indeed friendship in a diplomatic and considerate way, as seen in the last scene of [#61 Rise] and his dance-step when Neelix leaves Voyager in [#169 Homestead]. So it is not that Tuvok is the inappropriate person because he has no sensitivity to the emotional needs of others, nor that he could not handle the situation reasonably well and exhibit tact and consideration. It is arguable, however, whether Tuvok's strict regime of meditation to attempt to counter the feelings of infaturation, and which Kim tries to apply himself to, would work for someone with a human make-up (as Kim gives it up we will never really know). Such meditation does not always work even for Vulcans, as with Vorik in [#58 Blood Fever] and Tuvok in [#152 Body And Soul]. It would seem strange for someone who suppresses feelings of love to visit and receive confidences from Kes whose problem is not just that Neelix and Paris are missing but that they have been fighting over her. Anyway, to summarise, it is that Tuvok is not the ideal person to visit Kes. In this episode, his role is that of the tactical officer, and he contributes to Bridge discussions and identifies the weakness in the alien starship's defences. Tuvok's exploitation of the weakness enables Voyager to proceed toward 'Planet Hell' to progress the search and rescue operation. It is not necessary for him to contribute to the developing character relationships.

   
   Tuvok reports contact lost with the shuttlecraft, then as the alien ship arrives and blocks the way he contributes to the tactical solution, and Voyager passes the defenceless alien ship


 
4. Chakotay does not visit Kes. At first it might seem reasonable that he should do so, rather than Kim or Janeway. If Janeway is unable or feels it less appropriate to visit Kes herself, the First Officer and the officer in charge of personnel would be the logical second choice as far straightforward ship operations is concerned. As First Officer, Chakotay also possesses thorough knowledge of the management of the search and rescue operation that would be necessary to brief Kes. That Chakotay is not the one who visits Kes is another indication that the choice of person to visit her depends principally on a crewman's emotional needs. Chakotay and Kes are not close. Even if Kes were to be equivalent in age to what she appears to be i.e. early twenties (she is in fact a bit beyond the age of two; the crew celebrated her second birthday in [#19 Twisted]), Chakotay would be quite a bit older than her. Without the compensation of emotional closeness to Kes or some special bond, as with Janeway, Chakotay could only come across as the elder talking with the youngster. Chakotay is confided in about matters of the heart by Neelix in the earlier story [#19 Twisted], and indeed their conversation arises due to, as with [#23 Parturition], Neelix's jealous reaction to Paris' actions, although Neelix does not explain about his jealousy nor is Paris mentioned. In [#19 Twisted] it was Paris giving Kes the intimate gift of a locket which gave rise to Neelix's jealousy. So it is understandable that Kes does not confide in him too because there is the additional interest, as well as it being a fairly common fiction convention, that (usually) no one character ever learns the whole of what the reader or television viewer learns about how the characters feel about each other, and that convention often extends to the facts of a situation too. For these several reasons, it is appropriate that it is not Chakotay who visits Kes.

   Instead, Chakotay's role in the episode involves duties on the Bridge. He is party to the tactical discussion about how to get Voyager past the alien spaceship, and he takes the helm at a time when the ship is under attack and has to maneuver carefully in the planet's dangerous atmosphere.

   
   Chakotay at the helm


 
5. The Doctor plays an important part in the story. If that is to be retained, it would rule him out of being the one to visit Kes or rather, since he is confined to Sickbay where the holo-emitters are, she would have to see him in Sickbay. It is the Doctor who first draws Kes' attention to the fact that Paris is attracted to her. The Doctor tells her: "Whenever you walk into the room, his respiration increases, his pupils dilate and the coloration of his ears turns decidedly orange. Until I noticed the pattern, I thought he was suffering from Tanzian flu." The Doctor and Kes have this useful and important conversation:

   Doctor: "You're only two years old. There may be a few things you don't know to look for in a man. In time, you'll understand."
   Kes: "On my homeworld it's so much simpler. You choose a mate for life. There's no distrust, no jealousy, no envy, no betrayal."
   Doctor: "Hmm. Your world must have very dry literature."
   Kes: "I don't know how to handle something like this. What am I going to do?"
   Doctor: "You've done nothing to precipitate this state of affairs. You may not be able to do much to resolve it either. There are some things you can't cure."

   This is a significant conversation because it shows Kes at one stage of her life - where life or at least love has no complications ("no distrust, no jealousy, no envy, no betrayal") - whereas this story shows her differently. It will then take a year or so for Kes to develop further until she actively seeks complication, telling Janeway when she discusses the possibility of spending a lot of time exploring space with Zahir whom she is attracted to: "I want complication in my life." [#60 Darkling] Yet however significant this conversation is, and indeed however correct the Doctor's observation "You may not be able to do much to resolve it either." proves to be (since Neelix and Paris resolve it between themselves), it means that the Doctor's role in this story can only be this one. It would be inappropriate for him then to be the one to brief Kes about the search and rescue operation, though mainly because his profession, department and rank mean that he is not concerned with the close management of the operation.

   
   the Doctor advises Kes

Deanna Troi Index

the moment when Neelix announces himself as the ship's morale officer [#6 The Cloud]

WHY IS IT KIM WHO VISITS KES?

As regards likely ship protocols, Kim is the Ops officer who therefore has an intimate knowledge of the management of the search and rescue mission. He is an Ensign and a Bridge officer which is an important position, however much he lowers its apparent worth by telling Terek in [#154 Nightingale] that he is the lowest rank on Voyager. According to Encyclopaedia: "On recent Federation starships, the operations manager, usually known as ops, is the bridge officer responsible for coordination of the various departmental functions aboard the ship. Ops is one of two freestanding consoles located directly ahead of the captain's chair in most bridge designs. Also referred to as an operations officer." (In [#1 and #2 Caretaker] the post is "operations officer".)

On Voyager's Bridge, Janeway shows Kim to the Ops station. "Ensign Kim, this is your station." The officer there makes way for him. "Would you like to take over?"  Kim: "Yes, ma'am." [#1 and #2 Caretaker]

This means that Kim is close to search and rescue mission events as they unfold. Due to his importance, why is Kim spared from this important job long enough to visit Kes? There is no evidence as to whether her quarters have been moved or are in the same place but in [#19 Twisted], her quarters are on Deck 8. The visit involves Kim travelling to Deck 8 then to Kes' quarters, travelling back, and spending what could reasonably be expected to be at least five minutes (in terms of television air-time, it is actually less than five minutes). Does Kim visit while on a rest break? although with a search and rescue operation in progress it seems unlikely that normal rest breaks would be either allowed or taken. Is Kim on a toilet break and decides to visit Kes? Is the search and rescue not urgent enough that Kim can have a break? despite Janeway's words to Torres: "Bring in as much help as you need. This is now a search and rescue operation." Those questions, while speculative and thus futile, does raise the point that, since obviously the search and rescue operation is indeed urgent, Kim must have been despatched to visit Kes either at Janeway's behest or with her prior knowledge. It is unlikely that Kim would simply leave his post without advising where he was going, or that he would contemplate doing so at all at such a time.

Kim arrives and, by tacit invitation, pulls up a chair and sits down close to Kes

Kim is having to control his own fears for the safety of his best friend Tom Paris and for his friend Neelix. He is a friend of Kes, and not just because she is Neelix's girlfriend. These are foremost reasons for it to be him, rather than anyone else, to visit Kes. As well, the Scene is important for Kim in his own right. For a young man on his first Starfleet posting, how he deals with his own fears while yet reaching out to another with friendship and sympathy is a test of character. Being the bearer of news in this kind of situation is a test of character anyway. With the number of times that away team members go missing, the situation must recur with unfortunate frequency, but we do not see it again until the crew of the Delta Flyer crash and become trapped beneath a planet's surface in [#99 Once Upon A Time]. That story, like [#23 Parturition], includes as part of the plot-strands and themes the question of how (or indeed, whether) to inform someone nearest the missing people, specifically in [#99 Once Upon A Time] Naomi Wildman whose mother Samantha is one of those trapped. The Scene incidentally reminds us of the hazards of space exploration which our heroes have to confront regularly - not just the hazards but the emotional fall-out if a hazard should befall.

In addition, Kim is Tom Paris' best friend. As such Kim is his sounding board, confidant, companion and, for us, educative contrast. The pair have contrasting extremes whereby, I am certain, the show's co-creators (Rick Berman, Michael Piller, Jeri Taylor) intended to deliberately invite comparison, as regards their childhood and relationship with parents. There are other contrasts e.g. their approach to breaking rules. When watching a [Voyager] story, however, the contrast(s) need not be at the forefront of our minds. Probably it is not at the forefront of our minds most of the time. But Kim's intimate knowledge of his best friend requires or entitles him to have an important part in this story, and not only as his best friend to whom Paris confides his attraction towards Kes. Over the years I have watched [#23 Parturition] many times. I also watched it three complete times and then umpteen excerpts for this article. I have tried to envisage other characters instead of Kim being the one to visit Kes. Ultimately, I for one would feel there was something missing if it were anyone other than Kim who visits Kes. Obviously it is true to say that anyone else visiting Kes would be worried for Paris' and Neelix's safety, but with Kim visiting Kes we know that he is more than just worried. Kim is actually afraid for his best friend, and that gives him a closer connection to Kes - they are both deeply worried about a loved one (Kim and Paris love each other as friends, Kes and Neelix love each other in the romantic sense). Kim and Kes have a connection stronger or deeper than someone such as Chakotay or Tuvok would have. Tuvok will gain a close connection, mentally speaking, with Kes before the next aired episode, but that occurs after this story. When Kim encourages Kes towards optimism, telling her: "Look, you know if there was any way to land that shuttle, Tom Paris got it down. .... I'm sure they'll both be fine." he is either confirming his own self-optimism and conveying it to Kes, or speaking it to himself, or probably both.

From the Scene. Kes: "Unless they kill each other."   Kim: "They're professionals." He reminds her that Neelix and Paris are mature enough to deal with their differences sensibly.

WHAT FUTURE SIGNIFICANCE DOES KIM'S VISIT TO KES HOLD?

The Scene is important in that it draws in another, namely Kim, into the several relationships under scrutiny and development in this story. Most obviously, the relationship between Paris and Neelix is explored, in that Neelix's jealousy comes to a head as Paris suddenly realises and admits to himself that he is attracted to Kes. That relationship, played off by Neelix's jealousy over Paris giving Kes an intimate piece of jewellery as a birthday present in [#19 Twisted], has been in the offing from at least [#5 Phage] in which Neelix resents Paris' attentiveness toward Kes while the seriously ill Neelix is unable to move. In [#5 Phage], Neelix tells Kes: "It's not you I'm worried about, it's him [Paris]. He's just one big hormone walking around the ship. Don't you see the way that he looks at you?". [#23 Parturition] compels Kes to deal with the jealousy issue in a way she has not had to do before. The theme will develop, with the climax in [#52 Warlord] when Kes insists that she and Neelix should spend time apart i.e. she breaks up their romantic relationship. She does so while her body is occupied by the invasive consciousness of a hostile alien, but she does not resume the relationship after the alien is driven out and destroyed.

The events in [#23 Parturition] prove to be pivotal. Kes remains loyal to Paris, and Paris does the decent thing and backs off. But in the "what if?" story [#63 Before And After] we see what happens in an alternative timeline, where in the future, following Torres' premature death, Kes becomes fully attracted to Paris and his romantic feelings for her are allowed to return such that they marry.

in the unrealised timeline, Harry Kim and wife Linnis with their newborn son Andrew. Linnis is Kes' daughter by Tom Paris [#63 Before And After]

in the unrealised timeline, Kes with husband Tom Paris and their newborn baby Linnis [#63 Before And After]

Kim's role in the Scene, as well as to try and turn her worry and frustration toward optimism, is to stimulate her catharsis, just being her friend who listens. She is worried for the safety of both the missing men, and she is frustrated, upset and angry with both men equally due to their rivalry over her. That rivalry will play out, both in this story's scenes on Planet Hell, and in later stories in interesting science-fiction ways. This all happens as a result of Kes starting to re-evaluate her feelings for both Neelix and Paris in [#23 Parturition]. As a direct result of this episode, with Paris deciding to leave Kes alone romantically, the Paris and Torres courtship begins in early 2373, in [#46 The Swarm] with flirting in a shuttlecraft, and the pace picks up in the powerful Torres-Paris cavern scenes in [#58 Blood Fever].

flirting in the shuttlecraft [#46 The Swarm]

trapped in a Sakarian underground cave [#58 Blood Fever]

DID JANEWAY ORDER KIM TO VISIT KES?

WHY IS KES IN HER QUARTERS AND NOT ON DUTY?

If Kim's visit is official or not official but Janeway knows of it, it is likely that Kes, if on duty in Sickbay, would have been asked to go to her quarters ready for Kim's visit. As this is speculation, further speculation as to who or how the instruction or request to Kes was made.

If Kim's visit is unofficial and at his own initiative, is Kes there on a break (which is convenient)? If she is in her quarters, she is either off-duty or on a work-break. She might have been given time off specially, but that seems unlikely. With a search and rescue mission in operation, all contingencies must be allowed for including possible emergencies in Sickbay because, for instance, no one knows in what physical condition the missing men might be when or if found. Of course, there are junior medical staff, as they are referred to in several episodes, and one or two are seen, for instance in [#121 Equinox, Part Two]. But it is logical to assume that the Doctor would not want to be without his principal assistant, namely Kes, however sympathetic he or the ship's commanding officer might be to her anxiety for the missing men. Why should she have time off specially? It is not, for instance, as if the men have already been found dead and she is being given time off to grieve. In addition, often a way of dealing with, or partly dealing with, anxiety is to be busy, and therefore continuing to work in Sickbay could be thought of as being sensible. When it comes to emergencies, Kes does go to her station, i.e. Sickbay, because she leaves her quarters (along with Kim) when Chakotay makes the shipwide announcement of "Battle stations."

WHY DOES KES NOT HAVE THE SAME TELEPATHIC BOND WITH NEELIX AS SHE DOES WITH JANEWAY?

The "tv drama" answer is that it would be unnecessary duplication to have that bond between Kes and Neelix as well as between Kes and Janeway. It is interesting that the co-creators of the show (Rick Berman, Michael Piller and Jeri Taylor) decided that the bond would not be between Kes and Neelix. Whilst it is possible that they did not create the bond's existence until [#4 Time And Again], when Kes and Janeway are able to sense each other across time, it might anyway have reduced the dramatic impact, and introduced a complication, if Neelix was feeling telepathically drawn to Kes during her captivity by the Kazon-Ogla in [#1 and #2 Caretaker]. We can speculate that Kes' suffering was being transmitted telepathically, but if her fellow-Ocampans could not hear it then it is unlikely that Neelix would. He does not need such a bond in order to locate exactly where she is being held prisoner - it should be noted that the story's dialogue gives no background information about how precisely Kes was captured nor whether she was with Neelix at the time nor how he knew who and where she was being held, nor indeed do we ever learn precisely how Neelix and Kes first met.

Neelix rescues Kes from Maje Jabin of the Kazon-Ogla [#1 and #2 Caretaker]

It would be too easy, plot-wise, for Kes to have a strongly developed telepathic sense. That is why, for instance, starting in [TNG], that Counsellor Deanna Troi, a Betazoid and thus a telepathic empath, is unable to give precise detail about a subject's trustworthiness. She usually knows when someone is lying, as with Leosa in [#152 Inside Man]. (Betazoids cannot read Ferengi, Breen, or Dopterian minds, ref. [TNG: Menage à Troi] [DS9: The Forsaken], or Ullians ref. [TNG: Violations].) Often simple observation of physical and verbal behaviour would provide the same information that Troi does. Likewise, until [#68 and #69 Scorpion] and only then on isolated occasions in that story, Kes is rarely in a position to be able to warn Janeway and indeed she never takes on the same role as Troi. Unlike Troi, Kes does not have a station on the Bridge, and we should not expect [TNG] and [Voyager] to duplicate in that way.

Leosa and Deanna Troi in Admiral Paris' office, Project Pathfinder [#152 Inside Man]

Kes senses that the away team is in danger [#68 and #69 Scorpion]

In [#26 Cold Fire], a few episodes after [#23 Parturition], we see part of a session in which Tuvok tutors Kes on managing (in a controlling sense) and honing her mental abilities. She hears Neelix's thoughts while he is having his whiskers trimmed.

Kes and Tuvok in a mind-meld. Tuvok's tutoring on mental control. [#26 Cold Fire]

We have to assume that Kes' powers are not as advanced in [#23 Parturition]. It would not have been implausible for Kes, in [#23 Parturition], to at least sense some of the immense stress and concern that Neelix must be feeling while on the planet, even if she is unable to quantify it in any meaningful way. However, it is important to observe that [#23 Parturition]'s strength of story depends on character inter-relationships WITHOUT telepathy. The lack of a telepathic bond between Neelix and Kes is important, however, because when Neelix and Kes are dining together it contributes to their inability to understand each other. Kes' expression, which is the last we see of that scene, indicates that she does not understand why Neelix is acting rather pensively.

CONCLUSION

1. Janeway knows Kim is visiting Kes. She may have encouraged Kim to do so. As captain, and as a good friend to Kes, Janeway knows Kim is a suitable person to visit Kes, even without him being the Operations officer.
2. For a practical administrative reason of Kim being the Operations officer, Kim is the logical choice to visit Kes. However, his rank is played down in favour of his relationship significance.
3. It is in keeping with Kim's role in the series. Kim is not only a main character in his own right, who develops throughout the series like the other characters played by the ensemble cast and, as with each of them, has a specific role all his own, but he also has a role as regards Paris. As regards Paris, he acts as the following:
   • As an educative contrast to Tom Paris. The contrast is there to be seen if looked for, and attention is drawn to it by frequent juxtaposition - he is Paris' best friend so we often see them together. Kim had a very happy childhood, he has doting parents, he gets on well with them, he used to be in contact with them at least once a week, he was their "miracle child". Paris is estranged from his father (we do not learn about his mother).
   • As an equal foil for Paris' character to play off. Kim is instrumental in helping his best friend get back on track, starting with befriending him against the urgings of the likes of the human doctor in [#1 and #2 Caretaker].
4. If Kes, who is two Ocampan years old, is ascribed the equivalent of a human age, Kim is roughly the same age. He can better talk with Kes less formally than an informal visit from, say, Chakotay. Emotionally and sympathetically speaking, he is better able to talk to her as an equal, and he persuades her toward optimism. She nearly laughs.
5. Kim is Paris' best friend. He is also a friend of Neelix and of Kes, and of Kes not just as Neelix's girlfriend but just as much as Neelix. He knows both the missing men very well and quite well. He knows Kes quite well. The empathetical bonding is easy, unforced and welcomed by Kes. The bond is deeper, for Kim and Kes are in the same fix, namely scared for people they love (I mean, of course, that Kim loves Paris as a best friend, while Kes loves Neelix in romantic fashion). This means that in their conversation, which is also founded on their past friendship, Kim and Kes relate to each other deeply, and in a way that, say, Chakotay and Kes could not.
6. The Scene forms a stage in developing the theme of Neelix's jealousy, which began in [#5 Phage] and will climax in [#52 Warlord]. Neelix's jealousy, of itself, is unattractive and Neelix is aware of that and does not want to feel jealous (implied from his conversation with Chakotay in [#19 Twisted]), but the jealousy gives vital pointers about the nature of his romantic relationship with Kes and provides potential for it to go in any one of numerous directions. The theme will also be explored tangentially, with the "what if?" episode [#63 Before And After] in which we see Kes and Paris married.

To make it unequivocal that it should be Kim who visits Kes, a hint is given earlier that the most likely candidate instead of Kim, who is Janeway, is out of the running. Despite Janeway's close affection for Kes and their special telepathic bond, in her Ready Room after the food fight Janeway does not manage to elicit from Neelix and Paris what their "personal problem" is - she does not pursue her enquiry, "Would anyone care to explain?" and when Neelix admits "Frankly, yes." on her "detecting a problem", she does not ask for details but tells them just to "Solve it."

If not Kim, then Janeway would be the next best candidate to visit Kes, due to her special bond of affection and unique telepathic awareness of each other. This is why having the earlier Ready Room scene is so important, because it prepares us not to be all that surprised when she does not visit Kes and that someone else (Kim) does.

[Voyager] stories often contain layers or frequently certain elements have more than one role. Principally, Kim visits as Ops officer, which is logical as regards briefing Kes on the search and rescue mission. And he is a friend to Kes and to both the missing men. Kim's link with Paris is the result of two of Kim's roles in the series, namely as a contributor to Paris' character development and as an educative contrast to Paris. As a result, Kim and Kes have a deep emotional connection, for they both care deeply about the missing men - Kim for Paris in particular (as a best friend), Kes for Neelix in particular (she is in love with him). The Scene also serves as a stage in the developing story theme of Neelix's jealousy and how it affects his romantic relationship with Kes.

SUMMARY

• Kim is the Operations officer. As such, he plays an important part in the search and rescue. Like the Captain and First Officer, he is in a good position to brief Kes.
• He is the best friend of Tom Paris, one of the missing men. He is a good friend of Neelix's. He is a good friend of Kes, and not just because she is Neelix's girlfriend. These friendships qualify him as being the ideal person to brief Kes.
• Janeway's telepathic bond with Kes, first seen in [#4 Time And Again], is not mentioned or used in this episode. Janeway would be a good candidate to visit Kes instead of Kim, and therefore this is deliberately played down by the following:
  • lack of appearance of the telepathic bond
  • Janeway is not told the reason for the "personal problem" between Neelix and Paris and orders only that they "solve it"
  • Janeway's other qualities (those of command) are given air-time instead.
• Kim's fulfils his dramatic role of contrast to Paris. The pair have contrasting childhoods, contrasting parental relationships, contrasting Academy careers, contrasting Starfleet careers, one of them ends up outside the law (Paris), contrasting attitudes to the job, contrasting attitudes to women etc. By comparing the contrasts, the television viewer is invited (but not obliged) to learn. By comparing the contrasts, Paris himself learns, often making a conscious effort to do so e.g. in [#62 Favorite Son] he tells Kim that he is trying to be more like Kim. Ultimately, it is the television viewer, better than the characters themselves, who understands that Tom's cruise is long journey of redemption, that to attain his good being, Paris must search for his soul, which is not who he was or fears himself to be, but who he wants to be. [#23 Parturition] helps him some way along that journey as he is forced to deal with his feelings for Kes and his relationship with Neelix.
• Kim fulfils another of his dramatic roles, that of being a sounding-board for Paris. Through their conversation we learn what Paris thinks. At the same time, and as a result, Kim is drawn more deeply into the complexities of the existing relationships. Kim provides Paris, and later Kes, with the opportunity to re-evaluate their attitudes and feelings. For Kes, the re-evaluation has already begun, but it continues through the Scene and beyond. There will be consequences, such as Kes breaking up with Neelix in [#52 Warlord].
• The Scene is important for Kim in his own right. Like Kes he is anxious about his missing friends. He has to subordinate his fears, or suppress the visible sign of them, while extending sympathy and friendship to Kes in a difficult situation. It is another test of character for the young man. The Scene also shows us some of his existing or developing character. When Kim encourages Kes towards optimism, telling her: "Look, you know if there was any way to land that shuttle, Tom Paris got it down. .... I'm sure they'll both be fine." he is either confirming his own self-optimism and conveying it to Kes or speaking it to himself or probably both.

The Scene is a short and apparently simple scene which could go unnoticed amongst the other scenes in [#23 Parturition] due to its brevity and slower pace - the important part of the Scene is just two people talking. Yet the Scene is one which economically contains a number of important character and relationship aspects. Some of those are issues, e.g. Neelix's jealousy and Kes' re-evaluation of him and Paris, for which there are consequences, not just in this episode but beyond.

end of the Scene - Chakotay announces battle stations and Kim and Kes immediately
hurry out of the room, heading for their posts