Cathexis (episode)

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"Cathexis"
VOY, Episode 1x13 Production number: 113 First aired: 1 May 1995
←	12th of 168 produced in VOY	→
←	12th of 168 released in VOY	→
	{{{nNthReleasedInSeries_Remastered}}}th of 168 released in VOY Remastered
←	362nd of 727 released in all	→

Teleplay By Brannon Braga Story By Brannon Braga & Joe Menosky Directed By Kim Friedman
48734.2 (2371)
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When Voyager attempts to investigate the force that made Chakotay brain-dead, an unknown entity keeps turning them back.

[edit] Summary

[edit] Teaser

Chakotay having an out of body experience in the corridor

Captain Kathryn Janeway is taking part in a holonovel when she is called to the bridge by Harry Kim, who announces that the shuttle Chakotay and Tuvok are in has appeared on long range sensors but has not answered hails. Kim also states that the shuttle has taken damage with multiple hull fractures; Janeway orders the two to be beamed to sickbay when they are within range.

In sickbay, The Doctor says that both Chakotay and Tuvok have taken blows to the head by an energy discharge of some kind. Tuvok incurred a concussion which is treatable, but Chakotay had been drained of all bio-neural energy from the brain. The Doctor can keep the commander on life support, but he is brain dead.

[edit] Act One

Tuvok retells the story of an unexpected encounter with a dark matter nebula, where an unknown vessel attacked the shuttle containing the two officers with an energy discharge that penetrated the shields and filled the cabin. Tuvok explains that he was barely able to set the shuttle on autopilot to return to Voyager. Janeway decides to return to the nebula to investigate and find the ship that attacked the shuttle.

In sickbay, B'Elanna Torres uses a medicine wheel to aid Chakotay through a healing ritual he had previously taught her in case something ever happened to him. She explains to The Doctor the meaning behind the wheel, and how it relates to the universe outside and within the mind. When a person is sleeping or on a vision quest, it is said that he is walking the wheel and the placement of each stone acts as a signpost to help point the way back home.

The Doctor notes that Torres had placed the coyote stone at the crossroads of the fifth and sixth realm, which would divert Chakotay's soul into the mountains of antelope women, an attractive locale.

Kes, experiencing the feeling of someone in her quarters, goes to the mess hall to tell Neelix.

Janeway notes the nebula is giving off intense electromagnetic radiation that is preventing the sensors from being any help. Attempting to change the sensors to utilize a multiphasic bandwidth to penetrate the radiation, she loses the nebula on sensors and discovers the ship has turned completely around.

Kim asks where the order came from, and finds that the command came from the conn, where Tom Paris is sitting. Paris denies doing anything and faults the console. The captain orders Kim to transfer helm control to ops and resume their previous course while she orders Paris to helm control to see if there is something wrong with the ship's systems.

After the ship shudders, however, Janeway discovers it has changed directions once again, and orders Kim to get the ship back on course – but this time helm doesn't respond because it has been locked out.

[edit] Act Two

Tuvok investigates the source of the lockout and finds it came from navigational control on deck 12. Paris returns to report he checked every ODN junction in helm control and found no problem. Tuvok establishes helm control once again and resumes course. Janeway asks Torres if anyone is currently in navigational control, to which she reports no one is. But she adds further that she was there in the morning and Paris was there only a few moments ago. Paris denies having been there, and Janeway believes him, but orders him to report to sickbay to check his memory.

The Doctor runs some scans on Paris and reports to Tuvok that nothing out of the ordinary has been found. Tuvok, however, came to sickbay after running a forensic sweep of navigational control in which traces of Paris' DNA were found on the console.

As the ship continues on course to the nebula, Tuvok indicates that he believes he has found the ion trail of the ship that attacked the shuttle leading back into the nebula. Noting the highly erratic flight path, Janeway suggests that the planetoids the trail bends around could be generating gravitational effects that cause currents within the nebula. Further hypothesizing the route the unknown vessel took may be the only safe way through the currents.

Before Janeway can order the ship to follow the ion trail, there is a massive energy drain throughout the ship. The warp core begins to shut down, causing Voyager to drop to impulse power. After getting no response from engineering, the captain and Tuvok head down to investigate.

Janeway finds Torres at the warp core controls, where Torres has initiated an emergency warp core shutdown. Janeway explains to a baffled Torres that the engineer has crashed the main computer, locked out the bridge, and stopped the ship cold, for which Torres has no explanation.

In sickbay, The Doctor shows the captain the results of his scans of Torres and Paris. He found that Paris' memory engrams contained a different memory pattern during the exact times that Paris allegedly changed the ship's course, and again when he was tampering in navigational control. Further, the same disruption has been found in Torres when she shut down the warp core. The Doctor explains further that the signature is bio-neural and he believes it to be another brain wave that has been superimposed, the only explanation being that an unknown alien entity temporarily took control of their bodies.

Janeway observes that the alien seems intent to prevent Voyager from getting to the nebula, and it boasts the ability to take control of anyone at any time, except The Doctor. She then transfers all command codes to The Doctor for fear of the alien taking over any of the senior staff.

Janeway departs, leaving it with Tuvok and Torres to get the warp core back online. Kes catches up with Tuvok in the corridor, and reports that she has been sensing the entity on the ship. Tuvok offers to meld with Kes to see if they can find the entity with Kes' telepathic abilities. But the two get no further than the turbolift, where Kim discovers them unconscious.

[edit] Act Three

In a darkened conference room, Tuvok explains that an energy discharge came out of the bulkhead and filled the turbolift, knocking them both unconscious, just as happened on the shuttle. Torres reports that they picked up no unusual readings from the internal sensors.

Paris suggests the use of a magneton scanner in hopes that a more detailed scan may reveal the source of the discharge. Torres, however, proposes to use the magneton scanner on the entire ship all at once in order to detect the exact location of the entity. She will reconfigure every sensor array on the ship to emit a single burst in hopes of detecting an anomalous energy signature. Torres asks Kim for his thoughts on the matter, but he remains motionless and stares into space. Tuvok pulls his phaser out, thinking Kim has come under the control of the entity, while Torres conducts a personal scan via tricorder. Kim finally snaps out of it. Janeway, disturbed by the increasing paranoia, orders preparations for the magneton scan.

While scanning Kes, the Doctor finds himself in the company of Neelix. Neelix recounts the strange behavior of every crewman on board, noting that Ensign Parsons ordered his pejuta cold instead of hot. After a brief debate on who really is paranoid, The Doctor explains that Kes hasn't suffered any permanent neurological trauma and that he will notify Neelix when she is revived. After Neelix leaves, Tuvok enters to modify the sensor array in sickbay for the magneton scan. The Doctor tells Tuvok that Kes' injuries don't match Chakotay's, pointing out contusions on her neck and shoulder that are consistent with something similar to a physical struggle.

Tuvok goes to the captain in her ready room to inform her that the magneton scan will be ready in two hours, and its use will cause dizziness and disorientation throughout the ship. He further reports that The Doctor has found evidence that Kes' injuries were a result of a physical assault. Janeway suggests that because Tuvok wasn't assaulted, it is possible he injured Kes while under the influence of the entity. She calls sickbay to notify The Doctor to conduct a scan on the security chief, only to get no response. Janeway tries to activate the EMH and finds it has been disabled by an unknown person, and that the initialization routine has been locked out with an encryption.

Janeway wonders why anyone would want to deactivate the Doctor when Tuvok points out that he had the command codes to Voyager. It is then proposed that if the entity knew it could not take over the Doctor, it would try to force the command codes back to her, and then take over. The captain suggests that because it is too dangerous for one person to have the command codes, they will be divided between herself and Tuvok.

The two go back to the bridge to explain the situation, when the entity takes over Janeway and attacks Tuvok. A fight ensues. Tuvok tries to use his phaser but it is kicked from his hand by Janeway. Paris stuns the captain, and the entity takes over Kim, who pulls out his phaser to shoot Tuvok, but Paris knocks the phaser away from Kim and manages to subdue him. The alien then jumps to another bridge officer, who manages to get a miscalculated shot off at Tuvok before being pulled back by another crewman. Tuvok then stuns everyone on the bridge with his phaser set to full spread.

[edit] Act Four

In sickbay, Paris treats everyone's wounds while Kim tries to get The Doctor's program back on-line. Torres requests the captain's presence in engineering to explain that she found a discrepancy in the shuttle's internal sensor logs. After reviewing them, Torres explains that the logs weren't destroyed; rather, someone erased them then overloaded the sensor matrix to make it appear they had been damaged. Further, Torres says that she was able to reconstruct the events in the shuttle. She was able to confirm that they were at the dark matter nebula, and there was an energy discharge that came from the nebula itself, but there was no ship. After being notified that the ship is approaching the nebula, Janeway orders Torres to transfer controls for the magneton scan to the bridge once the sensors are ready to initiate the burst.

On the bridge, Janeway asks Tuvok to locate the ion trail once again, where he transfers the course to ops. Paris enters the bridge and tells the captain he has been studying the data The Doctor had been working on to discover the cause of Kes' injuries and relays to her that they were actually caused by a Vulcan neck pinch. Janeway asks Tuvok to explain, and he says that he has no knowledge of the event and offers the entity as an explanation. But Janeway confronts him with the fact the entity keeps attacking him, even on three different occasions. Tuvok blames Janeway's questions on paranoia, but she elaborates further that she is unable to pick up the ion trail he says he found. He directs the captain to search the alpha-k band, where she finally finds the trail, but also notices the lack of any subspace distortions in the trail's wake, and notes that according to the readings it would have come from a ship without engines.

Tuvok confronts the captain, suggesting that she is under the influence of the entity and that it is trying to prevent Voyager from entering the nebula. Relieving Janeway of command, he orders Kim to take the ship in, but Kim refuses. Tuvok then warns everyone that his phaser is set for wide beam dispersal and to kill, before taking command of the bridge and huddling everyone in a group where he can see them.

[edit] Act Five

Kim notices from a secondary console that the sensors are picking up highly coherent energy pulses with a biomatrix inside the nebula, suggestive of lifeforms, and that they are heading in Voyager's direction. Janeway asks Tuvok if the beings in the nebula are his people, assuming he is under the control of one of them, and Tuvok introduces them as the Komar and the nebula as their domain.

Torres, in engineering, falls under the influence of the entity and ejects the warp core. She informs Janeway, and Paris questions how it was possible if the alien is controlling Tuvok at the same time. Kim suggest there may be two aliens, and Janeway realizes that Torres isn't authorized to eject the core, only command officers can. Janeway asks the computer who authorized the ejection of the warp core, to find it had been authorized by Chakotay. The captain puts two and two together and figures out that the alien in Tuvok wants them to go to the nebula, and another entity that has been trying to prevent them from going to the nebula must be Chakotay.

Tuvok, upset at the turn of events, engages the emergency thrusters. Janeway asks Tuvok if the reason the Komar wants Voyager is to extract everyone's neural energy, to which Tuvok confirms saying that their collective neural energy will sustain the Komar for years. Janeway tries to negotiate the search for alternate sources of energy but the ship falls under attack by the energy discharges within the nebula.

Janeway uses this time to activate the magneton burst from the command console, disabling Tuvok and releasing the alien controlling him. Paris tries to steer the ship out of the nebula but can't be sure which direction they are really going because of the complex course Tuvok had been following. Kim goes to reconstruct the logs at Tuvok's station in order to backtrack their course.

The entity, now identified to be the displaced neural energy of Chakotay, inhabits Neelix in sickbay, who approaches the medicine wheel and rearranges the stones into a pattern that Paris is able to recognize as a map of the dark matter nebula, allowing them to chart a way out.

After The Doctor successfully reintegrates Chakotay's consciousness, Janeway inquires as to what really happened in the shuttle. He explains he had the sensation of floating over his own body and thought he was dead. He couldn't speak or touch anything, but discovered he could concentrate on someone and control their body, and with time was able to do more complex tasks.

[edit] Log Entries

"Captain's log, stardate 48734.2. Sometimes it's a good idea to get away from being a captain for a while. To that end, I've started participating in a new holonovel. The setting is ancient England."

"Captain's log, supplemental. It appears that Mr. Tuvok and Kes were both hit by an unidentified energy discharge. Tuvok was not badly hurt, but Kes is in a coma."

"Captain's log, stardate 48735.9. We have returned to the coordinates where we ejected the warp core and have successfully retrieved it. Now we're hoping The Doctor will be able to successfully reintegrate Commander Chakotay's consciousness."

[edit] Memorable Quotes

"You might have asked before adorning my sickbay with animal remains."

- The Doctor

"If you feel at any time, that any of us are under the influence of the alien, you can countermand our orders and take control of the ship. Do you feel up to it?"
"Well of course, I make life and death decisions every day."
"I feel better already."

- Captain Janeway, informing The Doctor about transferring command codes to him, with a comment from Tom Paris

"Mr. Neelix, just because a man changes his drink order, doesn't mean he's possessed by an alien."

- The Doctor

"Nevertheless, don't you think you should scan him or dissect him or something? Just to make sure."
"I could examine every crewmember you've mentioned so far, every person on board for that matter and it wouldn't do any good. From what we can tell the alien can jump from person to person at will."
"Sounds to me that you're defending Ensign Parsons."
"I'm not defending him, I'm just pointing out that you're acting a little paranoid. In fact, one could say that you're acting a little too paranoid."

- a paranoid Neelix encouraging The Doctor to investigate the crew

"Captain I believe you are having a typically Human response to circumstances which are frightening and inexplicable; commonly known as paranoia."

- Tuvok

"According to these readings; it's a ship without engines..."

- Captain Janeway

"How did you manage to reintegrate his consciousness?"
"It involved three neural transceivers, two cortical stimulators, and fifty gigaquads of computer memory. I would be happy to take you through the process but it would take at least ten hours to explain it all to you. Needless to say it was a remarkable procedure. I would consider writing a paper about it, if there were a convenient forum in which to publish it."

- B'Elanna Torres and The Doctor

[edit] Background Information

During this episode, Tuvok's rank switches from Lieutenant Commander to Lieutenant and back again a number of times. However, by the end of the episode, he wears the rank of Lieutenant, and remains that way until 2374, when he is officially promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Commander. ("Revulsion") There is no scripted reason why Tuvok lost his rank some time during this episode, and it may be that it was simply an error in costuming for him to have been wearing a Lt. Commander rank for the first half of the first season. He had been referred to as “Lieutenant” several times in earlier episodes, despite wearing Lieutenant Commander rank insignia.
While no explanation is given, Lieutenant Paris' rank is also dropped from full Lieutenant to Lieutenant J.G. in this episode. He would carry the latter rank continuously until "Thirty Days" where he gets demoted to Ensign and spends time in the brig.
This episode is similar to the classic episode TOS: "Spock's Brain", in that in both episodes, a crewmember's consciousness is displaced from their bodies.
As Captain Janeway begins her role in the holonovel as Mrs. Davenport, the story seems to borrow elements from Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre, Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca, and Henry James' The Turn of the Screw.
The holonovel will be seen a second time in "Learning Curve" and a third and last time in "Persistence of Vision".

[edit] Video and DVD releases

UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 1.7, catalogue number VHR 4007, 9 October 1995.
As part of the VOY Season 1 DVD collection.

[edit] Links and References

[edit] Main Cast

Kate Mulgrew as Captain Kathryn Janeway
Robert Beltran as Commander Chakotay
Roxann Biggs-Dawson as Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres
Jennifer Lien as Kes
Robert Duncan McNeill as Lieutenant Tom Paris
Ethan Phillips as Neelix
Robert Picardo as The Doctor
Tim Russ as Lieutenant Tuvok
Garrett Wang as Ensign Harry Kim

[edit] Guest Stars

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Star Trek: Voyager
Season 1

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