NOW VOYAGER
The Official Newsletter of the Kate Mulgrew Appreciation Society
Volume I Number 1


[Hey online folks!  Here it is!  No photos, no cartoons, no graphics--but
lots and lots of text!  Enjoy!]


EDITORIAL RANT

	I started this club because I've been waiting for Captain Kathryn
Janeway my entire life, and Kate Mulgrew couldn't be incarnating her any
better.
	Okay, so maybe that's a bit of an overstatement.  But I've watched
"Star Trek" my entire life--the original show went on the air three months
before I was born, and I'm told that as a baby I sat in front of the TV
looking at the ship whooshing out of the stars.  Paul and I were both
Trekkers a decade before TNG made it cool to be one, long before fans could
hook up electronically and share resources outside of conventions.  We
started dating as a result of the L.A. press junket for "Star Trek IV:  The
Voyage Home," but that's another story...
	My favorite episode of TOS was "The Enterprise Incident." I loved
the Romulan Commander, and it drove me nuts that while the Romulans had
women out commanding ships, the Federation had only Uhuras and Janice
Lesters running the consoles and wishing they could be Captains.  But I
loved Kirk's desire to explore everything, and I thought the effort to make
the show relevant to the issues of its era was terrific.
	I can't say I was happy with all the characters on TNG, although I
collected the action figures.  Picard had a split personality--one week
he'd be passionate while the next he'd be quoting regulations and barking
orders.  Plus we were left with two women in support positions whose pasts
firmly anchored them to the male captain and first officer.  DS9 made me
feel a lot better on that count--it actually HAS a woman second-in-command,
and a terrific one at that--but she's Bajoran, not Starfleet.  Despite
glimpses of Rachel Garrett, Norah Satie and Alynna Necheyev, we'd never
really seen a woman of high rank with any dimension from what's supposedly
our own future.
	Until Janeway.  Who managed to earn the loyalty of a group which
despises the organization she represents.  Whose fierce devotion to her
crew in turn has made her the most accessible, likable commanding officer
we've seen in the Federation.  Who, like James T. Kirk, isn't afraid to
lead landing parties and confront the Prime Directive head on.  Who can
outplay all the senior officers at pool, get Torres to admit she was wrong,
laugh off holodeck sleazeballs from Paris' imagination, drink Neelix's
better-than-coffee, negotiate in lingerie with Romulans...
	Which brings us to Kate.  Admittedly I primarily knew her from
movie and stage roles before "Voyager," being a non-television watcher for
the most part (although kind people have been sending us "Heartbeat" and
"Cheers" episodes for which we are most grateful!)  But I can't imagine
anyone else playing Janeway; she IS Janeway.  And based on the responses we
got when we posted the first "Kate Mulgrew Appreciation Society anyone?"
query online, we're not alone in our thinking.  We were flooded with
requests for information even before we had any; then people sent
videotapes, scanned pictures, fan fiction, pleas for photographs...
	It seemed obvious that there was only one thing to do:  start a fan
club, which we could not have done without everyone who contributed to this
newsletter and everyone who's reading it.  We thank you.  We praise you.
And we beg you:  Tell your friends!  Take flyers to cons!

	Here's our editorial policy:  We'll print whatever you say,
provided it won't get anyone into legal trouble.    You want to gush about
how much you love the show?  We'll eat it up.  You want to nitpick?  We're
used to it, and so is everyone who reads the net.  You want to spend three
paragraphs babbling about how good Janeway looks with her hair down?  You
wouldn't be the first.  You want to curse the writers, directors, and
producers at Paramount?  Be our guests, we've certainly done our share of
that.  You want to send us your fan fiction?  We'd love it.
	So--in case this isn't absolutely clear--CONTRIBUTE!  I never again want
to write an editorial this long.  Tell us what you're thinking!  Keep the
reviews and comments coming!  This is your newsletter:  call, tell us what
you want to see.
	But NOT Mondays between 8 and 9 EST, please!

Michelle

REVIEWZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Disagree with what's written here?  Good--COME WRITE FOR US!  We need staff
reviewers.  This means that EVERY WEEK within seven days of seeing an
episode, you send us a review--several meaningful paragraphs with plenty of
Kate-watching.  We also need someone to compile a running list of directors
and guest stars for various episodes. Volunteers?  You know where we
are--and our address is in the masthead if you've forgotten!


CARETAKER

	Set Phasers on Stunning!
	From the opening graphics to the characterizations to the theme
music, "Star Trek: Voyager" signals a return to some of the best elements
of the original Trek series and repairs a few faults on the way. It was an
inspired idea to use Quark and DS9 as the takeoff point for the show. DS9
is one of the Federation's furthest outposts, and as U.S.S. Voyager left
port I had a feeling that we were heading toward new concepts and leaving
some things behind.
	Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) is a kind of captain we haven't seen
for awhile. I was perfectly primed to hate her guts:  having seen her in a
series of largely forgettable parts, I was completely in favor of her being
shown the nearest airlock. Well, kids, I was WRONG! I was too young not to
accept Shatner, I got used to Stewart, and, well...Mulgrew walked into this
role like she'd been born to play it. From the first, "At ease, Mr.
Kim--before you strain something," to the Janeway Maneuver [hands high on
hips, fingers out], she is every inch a starship captain. No more sitting
around on the bridge while the younguns grab the glory. This is a captain
in the best tradition of the British Naval history, upon which Gene based
Starfleet tradition.
	The story is a concept played around with several times in the
original series but not so maturely. To some extent, it was also flawed by
the same problems. The Voyager crew gets transported into the 'Array' by a
being so superintelligent that it seems to know that humanoid beings from
all planets and cultures are always most comfortable in a rerun of "Green
Acres." In the good old days, the information for the illusion would have
been mysteriously drawn from someone's mind. I wonder which crewmember we
can blame for this. Additionally, we're treated to the image of the
crewmembers trapped in an enormous chamber while whirling alien coffee stir
sticks get drilled into their chests (one wonders if the Caretaker ever
heard of blood samples.) On the whole, I felt the story merely served to
set up the odyssey to come and put the players in their appropriate places.
The characters themselves are so well drawn that one tends to forget that
"Caretaker" is an old overused plot of the Star Trek louvre.
	Janeway's original meeting with Mr. Neelix--"We are not interested
in your....debris," was priceless and Neelix is himself the most
interesting character since Quark (or Harcourt F. Mudd for the historically
minded). His puppy-dog friendliness which belies a deep native cunning is
going to be interesting as a contrast to Janeway's brisk authoritarian view
of the captaincy. Harry Kim is the resident 'bright bouncy cadet type.'
I've never liked that kind of role and I worry for him. Paris was very
smooth as the 'Pariah with a chip on his shoulder.' I particularly like
B'Elanna's not being good at handling the Klingon part of her genetic
makeup. There's a lot that might be done with it. Tuvok will not be able to
replace Spock; as such, Tim Russ has my heartfelt sympathy. At least, so
far, he's managed not to consciously imitate Nimoy. The problem here is
that Vulcans are 96% idiosyncratic. Russ's challenge will be not to become
a caricature of himself. Which leaves the holodoctor, who has enough going
for him to become one of the major stars of the show, and Chakotay, who is
tough and mystical enough to be aprototype for "Clan of the Cave Bear."
	If Berman & Co. are careful (easy on the particles, Okuda), Star
Trek: Voyager could take us well into the 21st. Century.

--Richard Hanson

	These are the Voyagers of the Starship Ent..oops..wait a minute.
This is not the Enterprise, this is not Picard and Co. but the brand new
crew of the Starship Voyager. A new crew and a new ship. Gone is the name
Enterprise, gone is the voice-over that many Trekkies have come to recite
word for word.
	The opening sequence to the show was breathtaking. It was so
unexpected, so different from TNG that it was refreshing. Trek hasn't got a
good track record with premiere episodes. I don't need to remind people
about "Encounter at Farpoint" - ACK!  "Caretaker" was fresh, it was
visually terrific. Not since the opening of DS9 had I been impressed with
the opening of a show.
	The story and eventual mission: To track down a Maquis ship and to
bring home an undercover Starfleet Officer. The adventure really starts
when the Maquis ship goes into the Badlands pursued by a Cardassian ship.
Voyager is sent in after it to find it only to find some trouble of mega
proportions and find itself in the Delta Quadrant - 75 years away from
their home. Here is where they will explore strange new worlds, new
civilizations and boldly go where no one has gone before. Here is where
they will find adventure and danger, here is the place for heroes to be
made - hey, that can be the opening monologue for "Voyager" if one is
required.
	The story unfolds and a member of each ship gets kidnapped which
leads to adventure and mystery.   Who is this crew? What makes them tick
and what drives them along?
	Captain Kathryn Janeway:  A woman. Well who would have thought it
possible for the show to have a woman at the helm of a starship. The idea
is not new - Gene Roddenberry submitted the idea to the buffoons of the
network before TOS got off the ground - they hated it, out went the female
captain. Janeway is tough, sensitive and is a hands on Captain. She is so
different to Picard that comparing them is like comparing apples to oranges
and that isn't right. She stands up to anyone which is a mark of strength.
She is not afraid to show she is scared (as she did to Tuvok) and she cares
for her crew. She is going to be a fine Captain. Kate Mulgrew is fantastic.
I think she is an asset to the show. She is the Captain. Well done.
	Chakotay:  The Indian Warrior. His decision to find the Cardassians
is based on his belief that he wants to remain on his planet - his home.
The Maquis was a way for him to defy the Federation and take on the might
of Cardassia. He is a strong character and willing to step down and follow
Janeway - a mark of a true warrior. Robert Beltran is going to be a real
favorite of mine.
	Tom Paris: Paris is the Riker/Kirk model for Voyager. I am not
impressed with this character although I can see the potential there. The
actor has done a good job with what he was given. Time will tell whether
Tom Paris will be different or a clone.
	Harry Kim:  I am very impressed with this character and the actor.
The naive Starfleet Ensign is on his first mission - how anyone could be so
unlucky. He will grow in confidence and he will become an asset to the
show.
	Tuvok:  The Vulcan made a great first impression. He is strong, has
a sense of humor although tries to hide it, is not a Spock clone by any
means. Tim Russ has done his homework. He has studied Leonard Nimoy and he
has studied how Vulcans behave. This is excellent. I feel Tuvok is going to
be Janeway's sounding board. She will rely on him for advice.
	B'Elanna Torres:  I am most unimpressed with this character. Very
unimpressed. I was looking forward to seeing how this human/Klingon woman
would pan out. I enjoyed watching Suzi Plakson in her role as K'Ehlyer. It
is quite obvious that the actress hasn't done any homework on Klingons for
starters and even less on acting. She hasn't done the character justice.
Not a good beginning.
	Kes:  Why do I get the feeling I'm going to hate this character? I
don't know butthere is something there that doesn't quite fit. The jury is
still out on the Ocampa woman with a life span of 9 years.
	Neelix:  Neelix is the rogue - he is wonderful. I love the idea and
Ethan Phillips is wonderful in the role. He doesn't remind me of anyone
which is really refreshing. Neelix will become another favorite although I
can's see what Kes sees in him.
	The Holographic Doctor:  I am really impressed with Robert Picardo.
He is so funny in the role that you have to overlook the possible problems
of only having a hologram as a doctor. He has wit and is gruffy. Much like
McCoy but with more grumpiness.
	Well that's the crew. It's going to be fun watching them try and
get home. I'm hoping to go along for the ride. Join me.

--Mary Draganis

PARALLAX

	The second episode of "Voyager" kicks of with an excellent
teaser--a great Doc scene and some humorous banter between Chakotay and
Torres--and takes off from there. Though some might complain about the
episode's resemblance to TNG's "Cause and Effect," the similarities pretty
much end with the garbled voice transmission. Aside from being the historic
"First Time Voyager Encounters a Quantum Singularity" episode, "Parallax"
is one of the few Trek episodes to commence a story arch. The tension
between the Maquis and Starfleet, aptly handled by Chakotay, is shown for
the first time, as is the story arch concerning the holographic doctor's
need for a name. Others include the promotion of B'Elanna Torres to Chief
Engineer, the growing of food aboard Voyager (Kes sets up a hydroponics
bay) to help conserve energy, and Tom Paris training to be a field medic.
Captain Janeway's experience as a science officer, a point of contention on
the Internet, also shines through.
	"Parallax" offers a strong showing by Roxann Biggs-Dawson and Kate
Mulgrew, especially in light of the technobabble they had to deal with, as
well as a healthy dose of humor and sarcasm from Robert Picardo. The
producers should be thankful for this, since the "scientific" explanations
of time delayed reflections and effect proceeding cause in temporal
mechanics was pretty incomprehensible, as was the fact that the captain
*had* to pilot the shuttlecraft (after all, she only pressed a few panels
and had a heart-to-heart with Torres). Lt. Carey seems to be a retread of
O'Brien, but I like him nonetheless and would be interested in seeing him
in a recurring role.
	Theater buffs should be pleased with the excellent lighting on the
Voyager set, reminiscent of Next Gen's third season, and anyone listening
closely to the background music will have picked up the "Best of Both
Worlds" theme during the scene where Janeway and Torres were attempting to
land the shuttlecraft and a bit of TNG's main theme at the end of the
episode when Voyager goes into warp.
	Best Line: "So how long do I have to stay in here?" --Torres.
"Rest of the trip. Seventy-five years." --Chakotay.
	I just wish Kes would get a new haircut.

--Jen Gartner

	Sometimes, You Just Have To Punch A Hole In It.
	The second episode of any new show is usually the first real
episode after the pilot. It's usually here that we begin to see whatever
problems or outstanding qualities a new show will have. In television it is
not true that "only the good die young." "Voyager" is not an exception in
this regard. Going back to review it with the benefit of hindsight, I see a
number of qualities that have set it apart from the Trek shows that
preceded it.
	We start out with the pushiness of Kes and Neelix at the senior
officer's staff meeting. Clearly, neither of them are going to be content
with being excess baggage--an important insight into both their characters.
Janeway shows in the staff meeting that she is an expert delegator and a
no-nonsense captain, concerned with the opinions and expertise of her
officers, but aware that hers is the final responsibility. Kes begins her
interesting relationship with the holodoctor and proves, right from the
start, that she possesses more sensitivity than Troi was able to bring to a
largely token role on the jolly ship Enterprise. We are also given glimpses
into the characters of Paris and Tuvok, Chakotay and Kim. No one character
is developed at the expense of our knowledge of the rest of the crew. This
is rare in a show in its second episode .
	Halfway through, when the staff is discussing the problem of the
singularity, we find the beginning of the "Janeway is too smart" whine of
the testosterone brigade. Janeway informs the crew that she is going to
begin her own analysis of the situation and orders a staff meeting to
follow. Interestingly enough, at the meeting she admits that she hasn't
been able to arrive at a solution. In fact, it is Torres who finds the
initial solution to the problem, but Janeway [who IS an ex-science officer]
makes the chauvinistic mistake of actually being able to understand what
Torres is talking about. This leads me to wonder just how stupid a captain
needs to be before being acceptable to all those Kirkheads and Picard buffs
out there...
	The small bit where Torres and Janeway both come to the same
conclusion at the same time concerning "WARP PARTICLES!!" is cute and
memorable, although speaking personally, it may be somewhat lost on those
of us who have been "particled" to death by Mr. Okuda. Better is the same
situation turned on its head, when they simultaneously come to opposite
conclusions about which Voyager is the real ship.
	But all's well that ends well. The groundwork for tension between
Chakotay's people and the crew is well-laid here, and Janeway's being dead
wrong about his motivations is proof that she'll be just as human and
fallible as any of her predecessors. Chakotay's quiet way of dealing with
the situation and his ultimately being right, as well as Janeway's being
able to admit she's wrong, tells you a lot about these two. But Kate's a
tough old space jockey. I didn't miss the point at which she politely
declines to say whether or not she could handle serving under Chakotay if
the situation were reversed. It's an important difference between her and
the first officer, an important difference between her and anyone on the
ship: Janeway IS the captain.   And she tells us all we really need to know
about her, right at the end. "Sometimes, you just have to punch your way
through."
	I agree with Tom Paris. "I'm going to have to remember that one."

--Richard Hanson

TIME AND AGAIN

	"We Have Discovered the Problem and it's Us."
	In this episode, we get yet another "particle" from Okuda. This
time it's polaric ions, and boy, they can be nasty! But some nice moments
occur along the way.
	Kes shows us what it might really be like to be empathic in a
tender scene between Neelix and herself which showed a sensitivity to the
role that Sirtis was never quite able to pull off in TNG. The holodoctor
becomes more amusing and acerbic with each passing episode and leaves us
wishing we could all have our own anal-retentive computer programs. The
"voyage of the damned," comment is next on my list of most quotable quotes
for Voyager.
	In the riot following Paris and Janeway's time-fracture trip back
to the planet, Janeway gets conked by a guard wielding a 'space-club.'
(sorry, couldn't resist). Here is where the "Janeway isn't tough enough to
lead an away team" myth probably originates. Students of higher Star Trek
Nitpicking will recognize this as a close relative of the "No Captain
Should Lead an Away Team" argument which has its origins in Picard's
fondness for the big Lazy Boy Recliner on the bridge of the Enterprise. The
fact is that the immortal James Tiberius Kirk made a career out of being
stunned, knocked dramatically to his knees, and tortured by invisible
particle beams on a weekly basis. Janeway got hit and fell down, to be
sure, but she also got up again and all this without "Bones" there to make
the scab disappear and without immediately jumping up and making love to
the nearest alien of the opposite sex.
	The way the events of the story and the efforts of the characters
just seem to keep making things worse is an old time-travel story
technique. That this represents the bulk of the story makes this episode
the weakest yet offered. That it follows hard on the heels of a story based
on the event-distorting effects of a black hole gives the unfortunate
impression that "Voyager" might be turning into "Dr. Who meets Lost In
Space." But this is also a story about the tradition of the Prime
Directive. Every starship captain has had to deal with it, and here we are
given an opportunity to see Janeway's interpretation of this, the most
important of the Federations ideals.
	Janeway's lecture to Paris on temporal mechanics will undoubtedly
add fuel to the young but growing Coalition for The Advancement of
Brain-Impaired Starship Captains, but since most temporal concepts have
become old-hat to the average SF fan, I am left more amazed at Paris'
wide-eyed density than Kate's expertise. Janeway's showdown with the
saboteurs took me all the way back to the fun days of Kirk's 'Cowboy
Diplomacy.' The scene was as tense as it could get and Mulgrew portrayed
more real fear at the outcome than most of her predecessors.
	When the planetary policeman tells the nosy child to go get himself
a "confection bar" we run smack into one of the worst problems that beset
space-operas of all kinds. Obviously, people on other planets will have
different names for things like candy bars, but the writers usually fall
prey to the temptation to use this as an opportunity to remind the viewer
that he's now in the world of the future. In the good old days of "Rocky
Jones: Space Ranger," we used to sit breathlessly through dialogue like
this: "Winky! Get on the Space Phone and call Space Central. Tell them will
be at the Space Port in fifteen Space Minutes." The conclusion is obvious.
I don't expect a screen with moving pictures to be called 'television,' but
I get a little upset when the Cretorians refer to it as 'the moving picture
box.' A little imagination please.
	If I've got a real beef, it's those great-big timepieces the
planet's citizens all seem to own. Have they no concern over bulging
pockets? Have they never heard of slimline wristwatches? Can you imagine
what their keychains look like?  Warp technology or not, these people are
not ready for the Federation.I shudder to think of what these people might
do with a concept like a pocket pager!


--Richard Hanson

	This episode won't be remembered as one of the greats.
Fortunately, it won't be remembered as one of the worst either.  It had a
fairly engaging plot, and a surprising ending (for me, anyway, but I'm
easily duped).  Unfortunately, we didn't get to see much meaningful
character development.  Paris doesn't particularly like kids.  No big
shock.  But then, Paris flies in front of a gun to save little kid.  What a
turnaround!  Janeway doesn't want to leave Paris when he's shot.  Big
surprise.  Kes is turning into Voyager's Counselor Troi.  I think we all
saw it coming.  The question is, is it too late to stop it?
	Some of the acting on board the ship was wooden, especially the
scene where Kim, Torres, Chakotay, and Tuvok were looking at the "time-wave
displacement" on a viewscreen.  Everyone seemed very uncomfortable with
each other, which I suppose is realistic since Kim doesn't know the others
well, and Tuvok's presence might make Chakotay and Torres uneasy, but it
made everyone look stiff.
	What was surprising, character-wise, is the bond that Janeway and
Kes appear to share.  Kes could "feel" Janeway's presence, and vice versa.
We could see a really nice friendship develop there.  It's really just too
bad that Kes can be so annoying, with her empathic weeping and her
feel-good platitudes.  But, as Janeway has pointed out, the ship does need
(paraphrasing here) an annoying counselor-type, so it might as well be Kes!

	We did get to see Chakotay actually commanding.  This episode is a
lot more fun if you end all of Chakotay's lines with "Chiquita."  (He's got
a lot of them!)  [I see SOMEONE's been indulging in a little too much
"Eating Raoul"...  ;)]

--Kay Helgesen


	The third installment of "Voyager" deals with two traditional Trek
topics--time travel and commentary on our own society--rather well for a
new series. The dialogue between Harry and Tom in the teaser is nice,
letting the audience know that Ensign Kim has a girlfriend back on Earth to
whom he plans on remaining faithful. The subplot dealing with Kes's
emerging mental abilities manages to avoid the melodrama associated with
Counselor Troi and segues nicely into another amusing Doc Zimmerman scene.
The writers continue the excellent character development for Janeway,
allowing the captain to be a good mixture of strength, smarts, and
compassion. Kate Mulgrew's delivery of the line "I am a hostage" was a
pleasant surprise, showing that Janeway is more than simply a synthesis of
Kirk and Picard, and her chemistry with the rest of the cast shines through
in Janeway's discussions with Chakotay, Kes, Neelix, and Paris.
	"Time and Again" also receives the historic quadruple whammy award
for being the first episode of "Voyager" to deal with time travel, social
commentary, violations of the Prime Directive, and the "it never really
happened" complex. All of these together make for a somewhat confusing
episode technically speaking, but the acting once again pulls the show
through its weak spots. The Polaric Test Ban Treaty of 2268 very nicely
parallels our own Nuclear Test Ban Treaty of 1963, and the commentary on
the possible dangers of nuclear energy is not as heavy-handed as Trek
usually gets. Unfortunately, like "Parallax," the idea of the Voyager crew
being responsible for an explosion that took place before they had ever
reached the planet is nearly incomprehensible.
	Finally, the episode does make very good use of future technology,
showing us that communicators are capable of functioning through temporal
distortions and bringing back the armbands last seen in "Timescape" (TNG)
used to disperse the effects of temporal displacement.
	Best Line: "It seems I've found myself on the voyage of the
damned." --Doc Zimmerman
	Wondering who choreographed the awful fight scene that made the
Power Rangers look impressive...

--Jen Gartner

THE CLOUD

	From the giant amoeba in the original Star Trek's: 'The Immunity
Syndrome' to the economy-sized intergalactic jellyfish on TNG's: 'Encounter
at Farpoint,' Star Trek writers have always reveled in the idea of
encountering super-large beings to hurl at Federation starships. In this
week's episode, Voyager gets to encounter a nebula with an attitude while
Janeway embarks on a quest for caffeine and animal guidance.
	By now, most of the main characters are starting to sparkle, and
grim as the plot may be, we're treated to some of the best lines yet.
Neelix speaks for many of us in a conversation with Kes on the
inadvisability of flying into unknown dangers.   Kes: "These people are
natural-born explorers." Neelix: "These people are natural-born idiots!
Here they have a ship that's the rival of anything in the quadrant and what
do they say? Duh, let's see if we can't find some space anomoly that will
rip it apart!"
	These are followed closely by Janeway's "There's coffee in that
nebula," and Chakotay's: "B'Elanna's the only one I've ever known who tried
to kill her animal guide." I even cast one small vote for Paris's referring
to a 'fin' as being a Scandinavian unit of exchange.  And speaking of
animal guides--Chakotay shows up in Janeway's quarters with his 'medicine
bag,' saying he's never shown it to anyone before. Several minutes later
B'Elanna says Chakotay's tried to help HER find a spirit guide too. Never
shown anyone your medicine bag before, eh Chakotay? I'll bet you say that
to all the female officers.
	Kidding aside, Janeway's interest in finding an animal guide seemed
more like an attempt to get to know Chakotay better as well as a bit of
needed therapy than it did a major religious shift on her part. I see her
as trying to find alternatives to help her crew get through a trying time,
not as some ditzy bit of fluff jumping onto whatever new social gimmick
that comes along.
I live in constant dread that we will be getting overdosed on holodeck
episodes, but this one was okay, and at least gave us a few funny moments
with Janeway hustling at the end. "Oh right! Pool's the one with the
pockets."
	Personally, my favorite scene was the conversation between Janeway
and Neelix about "going back into the belly of that beast."  Neelix: "You
know, I didn't sign on this ship to be a veterinarian."  Janeway: "And I
thought you were a man of unlimited talents."
	Once again, Mulgrew shows us that a woman can be captain without
being either catty or cloying. She is brisk and businesslike and it's clear
that the thought of anyone getting in her way or disobeying her orders
never enters her mind. The 'dismissed' line is my pick for best quote of
the episode,  "...that's a Starfleet expression for Get Out."
	I don't think "The Cloud" has any special message for us (with the
possible exception of kindness to nebulae). It is above all, a ripping good
adventure that leaves us wishing it had lasted longer.

--Richard Hanson

PHAGE

	Imagine what would happen if you were part of a civilization that
had perfected the art of organ transplants. Imagine what would happen if
that civilization were infected by a supervirus which resisted all attempts
at a cure. Imagine what would happen if you learned that you could use the
organs of other beings to slow the progress of the virus. What would you
do? An interesting problem that provides the setting for this week's
"Voyager." Unfortunately, the moral implications of the plot are only given
a light treatment and most of the episode seems devoted to an excellent
chase sequence and a 'Chicago Hope' style substory of Neelix's difficulties
in dealing with a potentially intolerable existence in what looks an awful
lot like an iron lung.
	There are some excellent bits for the holodoctor in this episode
and some potentially classic lines. As he bends over to adjust one of the
doodads on Neelix's hololung, he seems almost gleeful as he says: "Don't
worry, Mr. Neelix. I'm not going to kiss you." Neelix's reply of: "I'll try
to contain my disappointment" is almost as good. Later, in a tip of the hat
to the original Trek, the holodoctor's "I'm a doctor, not an interior
decorator," is worth the price of admission.
	We learn a few more things. We learn that Tuvok has served under
Janeway for the last four years. We learn that Neelix has a bit of a
jealous streak, and we learn that Janeway isn't always right. There's a
great bit on the bridge where Kate tells Tuvok to lock phasers on the enemy
ship and fire. Tuvok tells her that the walls will undoubtedly start a
ricochet effect resulting in Voyager's getting hit by its own phaser. "All
right," says Janeway. "We won't try that."
	I was very touched by the scene in which Neelix begins to
hyperventilate, and our acidic holodoctor attempts to console him. The
holodoctor's frustration is obvious, what is less obvious is that he
actually cares. Behind the constant carping about crewmembers not
remembering to turn his program off is a growing humanness that I'm
beginning to find more interesting than any other aspect of the show. Kes's
interactions with him are always poignant. Her kindness and her obvious
awareness of him as a person are a catalyst, making him more human all the
time.
	I was very impressed by Kate Mulgrew's acting in the scene with
Daleth and Motara in the transporter room. Presented with an intolerable
decision, whether to kill the Sodalitan using Neelix's lung or to let him
go, it seemed to me that all the frustrations of her command suddenly hit
her. In a word, she loses it. Mulgrew dances between horror and pity at the
plight of these tortured people and the sternness of a judge. When she uses
the words: "any further attempts....will be met with the deadliest of
force!," I realized that Voyager couldn't have a better actress to play the
part of captain. Pity and threats, no melodrama, no phoniness. It was one
of those rare moments in the cinema where you feel you're right there.
	More could have been made of the moral implications of "Phage," but
as a whole, the episode worked. At worst it was a good adventure, in the
same mold as but far superior to "Spock's Brain." At best, it gave us
something to consider.
	In the words of the holodoctor: "Thank you. You've given me much to
think about."

--Richard Hanson

	At last, an episode devoid of time travel! The fourth Voyager
episode is filled with fascinating story arches, a rather original
life-or-death situations, and our first look at a new alien ship since the
Kazon Ogla in "Caretaker". Exceptional performances are given by Kate
Mulgrew, Robert Picardo, Jennifer Lien, and Ethan Phillips as their
characters attempt to deal with the havoc wreaked by the organ-harvesting
aliens. The usual dose of humor is still supplied by the doctor and Neelix,
but this time it is used as a means to break the tension.
	The main plot involving the harvesting of organs was very original,
and raises some interesting moral dilemmas. The episode poses the question:
Is it morally right to commit murder in order to save a life? According to
a sympathetic yet outraged Captain Janeway, the answer is an emphatic no.
There is a medical theme running throughout "Phage" touching on areas such
as organ donations, disease parables (perhaps the unstoppable phage is the
Delta Quadrant's version of AIDS), and the consequences of prolonging life
(certainly I wasn't the only one to note that Neelix's medical restraint
bore a striking resemblance to the iron lungs of the polio era).
	The continuing story lines in "Phage" include the search for energy
sources, the conservation of replicator energy through the use of a galley,
the possibility of Kes replacing Tom Paris as a field medic, and most
interestingly, the realization by the doctor that he is more than just an
emergency holographic medical program. The chemistry between Jennifer Lien
and Robert Picardo is great fun to watch, and it will be interesting to see
Neelix's reaction to Kes spending so much time with Doc Zimmerman.
	Technically speaking, "Phage" had some major breakthroughs. The use
of flashlights worn on the arms is an excellent idea, freeing up the hands
of the Voyager crew to accommodate phasers and tricorders. The idea of
holographic lungs was almost unprecedented--kudos to the writers! The "hall
of mirrors" effect was also very well done, as was the reflecting phaser
fire and the style of the alien vessel. The only point of contention in the
entire episode deals with the infectious nature of the phage--the
transporters normally screen out disease, but since the advanced nature of
the aliens' medical technology could not contain the phage, it is doubtful
that the transporters would be of much use. I feel certain that the
technical consultants will perform an intricate dance around this subject
to explain why the crew of Voyager does not become infected.
	Best Lines: "I'm a doctor, Mr. Neelix, not a decorator." --Doc.  "I
have a little accident. I lose a pair of lungs..." --Neelix .
	Wondering why the aliens, who can change lung structure, cannot fix
their faces...

--Jen Gartner

EYE OF THE NEEDLE

	In "Eye of the Needle" we get a further look into the makeup of
Captain Janeway. Her excitement at the possibility of a way home through
the worm hole is refreshing in a Starfleet captain and has not been seen
since Captain Kirk's days of service. Both Captain Picard and Commander
Sisko are leaders who keep their emotions in check. Captain Janeway's
ability to let her emotions through when they are needed to help boost crew
morale and to keep them under control when the crew needs her leadership
skills and determination to continue pushing ahead as an example to follow
prove her to be both strong and compassionate.
	The developing relationship between Captain Janeway and Chief
Engineer Torres is one example of this captain's ability to lead by example
without being emotionless. The developing relationship between Captain
Janeway and Ensign Kim is another example. This captain is not afraid to
get close to her crew and to show them that this is the case. She is not
threatened by her emotional side in the way the Captain Picard was. The
natural progression of bonding and the resultant growth of trust and
beginnings of intimacy keep us coming back for more.
	Kate Mulgrew does a fantastic job of portraying these character
strengths. Her ability to take the viewer with her through this broad range
of emotions is almost overwhelming and left this viewer teary-eyed at the
end of "Eye of the Needle". Mulgrew presents a commanding presence that is
not to be taken lightly and holds its own with strong co-stars.
	"Eye of the Needle" effectively set the ground work for yet further
character development and the establishment of close crew ties. I am sure
the Mulgrew will only gain breadth and depth as the series continues.

--Siobhan Wolf

EX POST FACTO

	Ex Post Facto: The Adventures of Tuvok Holmes.
	And another major character receives a bit of development in the
continuing excellence of Star Trek: Voyager. Tuvok comes off as the perfect
embodiment of Vulcan stoicism and logic in this take off of Edgar Allen
Poe's *The Purloined Letter.* The solution to the mystery is right before
our eyes through the entire episode in the little hieroglyphics at the
bottom of the black and white scene where Paris allegedly kills Dr. Wren.
And, of course, we never see it. Lots of little hints get dropped along the
way; some subtle like Neelix's referring to the Numeri as "a remarkably
covert society," some not so subtle, such as the over-vamping of Wren's
wife. But the whole plot is remarkably fair to all us would be detectives,
and stands out as one of the few honest mystery stories Mssrs. Pillar & Co.
have yet offered.
	The captain's showdown with the Numeri will come as a great treat
to her fans and a big disappointment to those die-hards who fear (or hope)
that Kate just doesn't have the command capabilities of a Kirk or a Picard
or even (heaven help us) a Sisko. I for one, sat a little closer to the
edge of my recliner, as Paris and Kim beamed out of the shuttle craft and
Janeway suddenly rose in the darkness, her face, lovely and terrible, to
confront the Numeri. Could there be a woman more born to command.
	The opening conversation between Kes and the doctor and Chakotay's
"old trick" used to handle the Numeri attack vessels were an example of how
Voyager has risen above a problem that has plagued all the other Star Treks
and even the much touted Babylon 5. In all of these shows, the characters
seem to take turns with development. The necessity of focusing on different
characters on a weekly basis is obvious, but the problem has usually been
that every other character just seems to disappear. If this week, it's a
Data story, Geordi never shows up. On Voyager, things are being handled
differently. With each passing story, we get to know a little bit more
about everyone. The result is a growing feeling that these characters are
part of us, our family. Janeway's concerns over her crew are fast becoming
our concerns.
	Sure, there are still little problems. Maybe having a species with
feathers instead of hair is fine, but Mrs. Wren? No, no. Not a problem.
With a show this wonderful, I'll forgive a lot more than this.

--Richard Hanson

	Well, there were good character bits. Tuvok finally got to do
something, I really liked the repartee between Janeway and Chakotay re:
battle strategies (the cavalier manner in which they refer to Maquis and
Starfleet affiliations hints that they've resolved something---and that
there was something to resolve...still hard to tell what they have figured
for when they return...). Doc had some good lines (I loved it when he told
Tuvok he knows more about mind melds than Tuvok does...that he's a sort of
composite of a bunch of Vulcan doctors too...). Tom Paris suffered nicely.
Janeway shows a fierce devotion to  all her crew that I appreciate---in
"Neelix's Lungs" [chortle] she fought for the guy even though she barely
knew him.
	And, uh, that's about it. Foremost, the bad film noir femme fatale
was really badly done, and so horribly sexist as a stereotype...I dislike
it that Paris's rueful "words of wisdom" to Kim are validated by the plot.
	And that plot...sigh. Tim Russ valiantly makes his analysis sound like it
should make sense, despite the number of holes in the plot (whole fleets of
starships...)
	It bothered me that we weren't shown the scene---would've taken but
a moment---in which Tuvok asked Paris's permission for the meld. (The last
meld we saw was Spock's rape of Valeris, so I'm especially touchy on this
point.) This isn't a fatal problem---it's easy enough to assume that it
happened anyway (it isn't as though Tom is going to have any major
objections or anything). But still.
	And then they have Paris be a "sentimental idiot" at the end. This
is apparently, irritatingly, going to be a consistent part of his
character.  It's a weird way of including in the worst of Next Gen
sappiness... at least Tuvok stayed appropriately proper and impersonal: in
that sense, it was like a parody of a sappy Next Gen tag.
	I wish the scripts (and direction...and casting of non-regulars...)
lived up to the fine acting of the regular actors and the imaginations of
fans. Sigh.

--Patricia Gillikin

	In "Ex Post Facto" we get to see Captain Janeway's ability to lead
in a controversial situation. Kate Mulgrew does a great job portraying the
balance between Janeway's obvious concern for her crew members Kim and
Paris with her confidence and command authority when dealing with the
Numiri and Benari leaders. We see here a deeper level to the depth of
Mulgrew's ability to portray Janeway's fire and intensity. Janeway's
ability to remain in charge and not allow her vulnerability to become a
detriment to her crew shows us that we are dealing with a Starfleet captain
first and a woman second.
	The use of parallels to TNG here cannot be missed. Captain Janeway
is operating much more in the command style of Captain Picard in this
episode. Tuvok's investigation of the incident is reminiscent of Data and
his fascination with mystery and intrigue. It is good to see that Captain
Janeway's range of command style varies as appropriate for the situation at
hand.
	The interlude on the bridge between Captain Janeway and Commander
Chakotay is well timed and serves to break the tension that has built
without drawing the viewer's attention too far away from the seriousness of
the situation. We see Janeway's trust building in her First Officer but, at
the same time, she establishes that she is in complete control of her ship.
The flexing of Chakotay's Maquis muscles leaves us anxiously awaiting more
demonstrations of his talents. We are also assured that the two highest
ranking officers are a well matched pair.

	All in all, "Ex Post Facto" was an entertaining episode. It was
successful in establishing depth of command and breadth in character of our
illustrious Captain and leaves us secure in the knowledge that no matter
what lies on the path between Voyager and Alpha Quadrant, Captain Janeway
will rise to meet the challenge.

--Siobhan Wolf

[ABSENT GREAT KATE PHOTO]

This is Kate, not Kathryn...we think (alternate universe Janeway?  Now
THERE's a thought).  Every single photo in this newsletter came from a web
site, and they're all copyright Paramount Pictures.  (We had other photos
of Kate from movies  and some GIFs of Janeway from TV, but we couldn't get
those clear enough to print.  Clearly we need both our own web site and our
own scanner!  Help anyone?  Right now for pictures try the web:
http://voyager.paramount.com
http://www.ftms.com/st-voy/Cast.html
http://umbc8.umbc.edu/~mpanti1/kate/kate.html


THE KATE MULGREW FILM FESTIVAL COLUMN

Have you got any of Kate's movies/TV?  Want to review them or let someone
else do so?  Send us your Kate tapes, we'll take good care of them and send
you ours!

"Love Spell"
Clar Productions Ltd, 1979.
Videocassette:  Continental Video, 1985.

Cast :  Kate Mulgrew (Isolt), Richard Burton (King Mark), Nicholas Clay
(Tristan), Cyril Cusack, Geraldine Fitzgerald.
Written by  Claire Labine/Music by Paddy Moloney.

	Summary: Tristan is shipwrecked on the Irish coast. He is nursed by
a girl named Isolt. He keeps a few dark secrets from her (his true identity
and the fact he killed Isolt's cousin in battle). Tristan and Isolt start
to fall in love. Before revealing his feelings Tristan goes back home to
Cornwall. Once home, Tristan is commissioned by his uncle King Mark to go
and set up a peace treaty with the High King of Ireland. The treaty will be
sealed by the marriage of Mark to the King's daughter. Tristan finds out
Isolt has kept a few secrets of her own ; she is the lady in question. On
ship to Cornwall, Isolt takes matters into her own hands and fixes up a
love potion for herself and Tristan. King Mark may ignore the affair out of
affection for Tristan and Isolt, but the courtiers cannot. If this sound
familiar, so much the better. The movie is retelling of the Tristan and
Isolt legend.
	If like me, you are sometimes in need of a Arthurian or Celtic fix,
this is your movie. The plot is a faithful retelling of the legend not
watered down or abridged. I found Clay slightly miscast--a bit weak
compared to Burton and Mulgrew. Well, epic legends can be an acquired taste.

--Caroline Christian

This is her filmography from the film archives on the web:

Star Trek: Voyager (1995) 1995-???? [Kathryn Janeway]
Camp Nowhere (1994) 1994 [Rachel Prescott]
For Love and Glory (1993) (TV) 1993 [Antonia Doyle]
Round Numbers (1992) 1992 [Judith Schweitzer]
"Man of the People" (1991) 1991-???? [Lisbeth Chardin]
Danielle Steel's 'Daddy' (1991) (TV) 1991 [Sarah Watson]
Fatal Friendship (1991) (TV)[Sue Bradley]
Heartbeat (1988) 1988-1989 (TV) [Dr. Joanne Springsteen
Roots: The Gift (1988) (TV)[Hattie]
Roses Are for the Rich (1987) (TV)  [Kendall Murphy]
Throw Momma from the Train (1987)[Margaret]
Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins (1985) [Fleming]
Stranger Is Watching, A (1982)  [Sharon Martin]
Manions of America, The (1981) (mini) [Rachel Clement]
Time for Miracles, A (1980) (TV)
Kate Loves a Mystery (1979)
Jennifer: A Woman's Story (1979) (TV)[Joan Russell]
Love Spell (1979)
Word, The (1978) (mini) [Tony Nicholson]
Ryan's Hope (1975) 1975-1989


OUR WISH LIST

	We know:  we make an awful lot of demands on people.  But look at
it this way:  the more you do, the better we are!  So, here's what we'd
like to see in the next newsletter:  volunteers, you know where we are, and
if you tell your friends, your family, and people you meet on the street,
just think what we can accomplish!

1.  We need a club librarian.  This person would be responsible for keeping
and distributing the Kate Mulgrew film collection, meaning that people send
you postage and you get the tapes in the mail.  You also might be
responsible for the Kate Mulgrew photo collection and eventually our entire
"Star Trek" magazine collection; again, people tell you what they want to
see, and you send it.  Electronic access would be highly desirable/

2.  We need someone to archive fan fiction for all of our enjoyment.

3.  We need someone to be the Official Kate Mulgrew Archivist.  Go to the
library, get on Lexis/Nexis, find every review of every performance she
ever gave, find those old Soap Opera Digests, track down her elusive agent
and get an accurate copy of her resume...and make this available to all of
us?

4.  We need a roving con reporter.  Your primary responsibility would be to
keep a running list of upcoming cons and who's going to be at them.  You
don't have to GO to every con; you just have to be in charge of getting
reports out of everyone who did, making audiocassettes available, and
transcribing the good ones.  Plus you could keep a con photo file of and
for members!

5.  Apparently we are going to have a crossword puzzle in the next
newsletter; anyone want to do a comic strip?

6.  We need someone to take responsibility for the column below:

WE ARE FAMILY

Other "Star Trek" fan clubs we think you should know about; send SASE for
information:

ENVY
Nana Visitor/Kira Fan Club
c/o Kimberley Junius
1451 W. Springfield Street, Apt. D
Upland, CA 91786-2951

OASIS
Official Armin Shimerman/Quark Fan Club
c/o Kathy Bayne
26 Dogwood Street
Jersey City, NJ 07305


TREK COMEDY!  FINALLY!

We almost died when the doctor said he wasn't a decorator:  our prayers had
come true and we knew McCoy's sense of humor had been programmed into him
somewhere!  The doc has had some fantastic lines--his descriptions of being
ignored, getting turned off, and needing better programming have been
priceless--but almost everyone on the show has provided a good laugh
somewhere:

1.  Janeway:  "There's coffee in that nebula!"

2.  Doc:  "A hologram that programs itself!  Now what would I do with such
a power?  Create a family?  Raise an army!"

3.  Alien in "Phage":  "You're not here."
    Doc:  "Believe me, I wish I weren't."

4.  Kes:  "These people are natural born explorers."
    Neelix: "These people are natural born idiots!"

5.  Paris:  "You're right...we are demons.  We eat children, and I haven't
had my supper!"

6.  Torres:  "Paris, did you program this guy?  He's a pig, and so are you."

VOYAGER VOYEURS:  INNUENDO ALERT!

Dirty minds think alike, so this column was culled from at least a dozen
individual reports.  Every one took note of the many times Janeway put her
hand on Tom Paris' shoulder (c'mon, kids, she served under his
father...turn your warped perspectives to that!)  Unforgettable moments:

1.  Tom and Harry on the way to the holodeck the first time, beginning with
the blindfold scene (did someone forget the handcuffs?) and Tom telling
Harry he learned to break into bedrooms in prison (and what else did you
learn in jail, Tommy?) Then that discussion of Harry's memory of being in
his mother's womb, and Tom's reaction...

2.  Kes:  "I think she's wonderful.  If I were the captain I'd open every
crack in the universe and peer inside."

3.  Kim:  "How long should I keep it up, Captain?"
Janeway:  "Until I say otherwise!"

4.  Tuvok's threats to produce a psychological profile on Janeway based on
how darn well he knows her.  Hmmm, and about that mindmeld business...

But Janeway and Chakotay win the Innuendo Award, largely because of Robert
Beltran and The Grin:

5.  Although it's arguable that all the back-and-forth good-job smiles in
"Parallax" should count, we'll start off with the undoubtedly unintentional
but delicious double entendre from the end of the episode while J and C are
walking around Voyager like proud parents.   C says (with The Grin), "If
things had been different and you had to come aboard my ship, would you
have served under me?"  J wisely refuses to answer--she pulls rank.
[Meanwhile, we've already received some, ummm, interesting speculation as
to how he'd serve under, over, behind, below, and on top of her...]

6.  That breakfast discussion in "Phage" about all the rich, sensual foods
J wishes she could have ("eggs benedict... asparagus... strawberries and
cream") which C listens to with The Grin while she's not looking; of course
when she invites him into her private dining room, he quickly does the
"I've already had my vacuum-packed oatmeal" routine.

7.  Every word of the first Bridge scene in "The Cloud," from "We talk to
animals" (delivered with The Grin, it's hard to tell whether this is an
important tribal custom or pickup line) through "Let me guess...your animal
guide is a bear" (wasn't J's dog named Bear in the novelization of
"Caretaker"?), until J says, "You've got a date!" (you can see The Grin at
that even though the shot's of the back of C's head).  Then there's the
entire sequence in the Ready Room from "I've never shown this to anyone
before" through the substitute drugs, right until B'Elanna breaks up the
vision questing.  But the immortal line from this episode is "Commander
Chakotay...your stick..."

8.  That throwaway exchange in "Ex Post Facto" about old Maquis tactics, in
which J repeatedly belittles C even as he's saving the ship, ending with
her putting her arm around him in begrudging appreciation of his tricks and
him grinning, "I have more..."

Yes, we do have the maturity of ten-year-olds.  Our heartfelt thanks go to
the members of the Robert Beltran Lust Society--contact rblleader@aol.com
if you want to know more--for their assistance in this column.
Siobhan--just say "I get it!"  Karen-- it's all your fault. Janis--FIERY
CHAKOTAY!  Anyone who gets us photos of Kate at Grand Slam gets our undying
gratitude and our entire sequence of Janeway-in-nightgown GIFs from "Eye of
the Needle" in recompense...
_________________________


RED ALERT!  FIRE PHASERS!
Have you noticed that this newsletter is aesthetically impaired?  That we
need artists, cartoonists, movie stills, grainy photos of Kate Mulgrew in
high school?  Well, you can HELP!  Offer us your artistic talents, or the
use of your scanner, laser printer, and desktop publishing software.
Better yet, offer to assist with layout!
_________________________

KATEWATCH

DeAnn G. Rossetti has actually been in the same room as Kate
Mulgrew...which is more than most of us can say.  In fact, they went to the
same college.  One of the advantages of this is that DeAnn could call the
nuns at Clarke to find out Kate's birthday from the alumni records, thus
convincing me that Kate really is a Taurus and not a Leo like I'd
expected--NOT that we take astrology seriously, Captain Janeway!  Here's
how  DeAnn saw Kate.  We the editors would like to remind you the readers
that WE don't KNOW whether the Richard Burton story is true!

Encounter with Kate
by D.G. Rossetti

	Clarke College is a private liberal arts college in Dubuque, Iowa,
a nifty Irish-catholic town that is on the end of the eastern 'hump' of the
state, and therefore borders Illinois and Wisconsin (good beer, good
shopping and good pizza were only a bridge away, in other words) with only
the mighty Mississippi between them. It was founded in 1834 by 6 nuns and a
priest who came over on a boat from Ireland. The buildings of Clarke are
named after them.
	Until the year I entered Clarke, it was an all-women's college.
They wanted to gain enrollment, so they opened enrollment up to guys under
serious protest from the nuns and the students. My first year we had four
male students; the rest of the college consisted of 800 women, 75 nuns and
3 male staff professors, all of whom had beards, and one of whom became a
famous SF author, George R.R. Martin (who wrote the "Beauty and the Beast"
TV series).
	I went to Clarke as a nursing major but became one of 12 Drama
Department students within 6 months of my freshman year. The theater
department at Clarke is an anomaly. Sr. Carol Blitgen, Ph.D., can drink any
undergraduate under the table, and remain brilliant and insightful the
whole time. She and the other instructors delighted in doing strong and
controversial theater pieces, often shocking the general Clarke population
as well as the nuns. The "Drama/Speech" Department, as it was referred to,
won (and continues to win) American College Theater awards for everything
from scenic and costume design to acting and direction.  (All theater
majors are required to build props, learn to run the sound & lights, and
all within a budget) It helped that there was no athletic department while
I was at Clarke, and we had some semi-famous drama alumni who would come
back to give private talks to the current theater majors about 'the biz'
and what to expect in the "real world."
	 I actually didn't know who Kate Mulgrew was until Sr. Carol
mentioned her in class, and told us what she had been doing since she left
Clarke. She recounted how Kate, visiting after she'd gotten the role on
"Ryan's Hope," dressed in a flowing cocktail dress and a veiled hat with a
big brim, wearing sunglasses and sporting an 'aristocrat's lockjaw' accent,
swept into her office and said, "Carol dahling, you have no idea of the
layers of sh*t that have rolled off of me since I left here!" To which
Carol responded, "Could've fooled me!" Actually, Carol is quite fond of
Kate, and told us she'd done "Mrs. Columbo" (which led to a spate of
late-night re-run watching), and a mini-series.
	Not more than a week later, Kate arrived with little or no hoopla,
(Iowans don't do hoopla too well--we figure everyone's just a neighbor,
only some dress better!) and immediately went to the newly-refinished art
gallery that was having an opening of two local artists' works. One of the
artists was a guy who created visual puns. He had a brown sack on a
pedestal with Saint cards, rosaries and a big plastic cross with a fully
agonized and bleeding Jesus on it, and the caption beneath this read
"Sackreligious."  I saw Kate, who I thought looked so tall and big-boned on
TV as Mrs. Columbo, looking at a wall-plaque with a fish and small black
bulges coming out of it, called "Bass Relief" (subtitled "dirty filthy
little bass turds"). She was smiling beneath her hand, doing her best to
look as if she were contemplating it instead of trying not to laugh out
loud.
	As I got closer to her, I thought "My God, She's TINY!" I'm only
5'5", but I felt like Godzilla approaching Bambi. And as I came up next to
her, my typical bravery in the face of strangers fell on its face, and I
just stood there, trying to think of what to say that didn't sound totally
stupid. She was wearing her hair in a bun and she had on a cream silk
blouse and a dark brownish pair of slacks, and heels. She has a sprinkle of
freckles across her nose, and flawless skin, and I'd bet she's not taller
than 5'2", probably weighing all of 98 pounds. Her eyes are that pretty
blue color that babies' eyes are. Her hair was a brownish-red, the kid that
gets bright auburn or strawberry-red in the summer. As I was standing
there, thinking of asking her what the name of her perfume was (I know, but
I was really at a loss) she said, without turning, "It's amazing what
people will do when they have too much time on their hands." She stifled a
chortle, and moved to the next room.
	I bounced into the cafeteria, which is right next to the art
gallery and ran to tell my friends that I just spoken to Kate Mulgrew!

	That Friday, we had a chance to sit in the lounge area of Mary
Josita Hall and chat with her in person, and, again as usual, I was late,
and rushed into the lounge, interrupting Kate as she was recounting what
shows she had been in. She was wearing a purple knit outfit, and she had
her hair down, sitting on the coziest sofa in the lounge, which was not
used too often unless a female student had a male visitor. She was talking
about the day she got the part on "Ryan's Hope," she was whisked away in a
limo to the set, and that she got her SAG and AFTRA cards the same day,
which is a rarity, I guess. She then told us about "Mrs. Columbo," and how
she found the whole premise to be ridiculous--"How many times can he call
me and tell me he's going to be late?"--because by the time she did her
show, Peter Falk was sick of being Columbo, and wanted nothing to do with
the series. She told us about auditioning for a role in a holocaust movie
or mini-series that Rachel Ward got instead of her, and how she rolled her
eyes when they told her that she didn't look "Jewish enough" and she
replied, "Of course, Rachel Ward is just the essence of Judaism." She'd
also auditioned for a video with David Bowie, and said he was everything
you'd think a rock star would be. She said it was the oddest experience she
had ever had, that she was in one room of his suite with the 'suits' who
had 'girls' all over them, and the room was filled with smoke and liquor
bottles, and they asked her all sorts of odd questions until she heard
giggling and turned around to see Bowie coming out of the bedroom, naked,
with a naked woman. She noted that they both had weird colors in their hair
and party streamers coming off of them, and that she was glad to leave.
	She then told us about "Manions of America" and how she was
thrilled at the chance to work with the director and with Richard Burton,
who was old and ill from drink by then, but whom she said put in some
stunning performances. He allegedly said to Kate, "Oh, monkey-face, let's
run off to the islands and make love on the beach forever" in that staunch
British accent of his.  He'd already tried this on her mother, who had come
to visit Kate on the set and who wisely rebuffed him with humor, as she was
used to "men who get drunk too often and say too much."
	Kate said her next task was to have a baby with her husband and move with
him to Seattle, where they were going to "reform" the Seattle Rep. We were
all impressed, as Seattle sounded so far away and exotic compared to Iowa.
I was fascinated and a little horrified by her tales of Tinsel town, but I
knew that most of us were probably never going to make it that far, and for
those that might, I asked, "What do you recommend for those of us who want
to be professional actors, directors or writers...what can we do now that
might give us an edge later?"
	She replied, "READ. Read everything you can get your hands on. Not
just plays, mind you, but real literature, real art, and good poetry. Get
to the nerves of the writing, and think about how the author made it to
touch you, or thrill you or make you angry. THINK, self-actualize, and you
will have the edge of understanding. Being educated is good, but
understanding the human condition is better." She also advocated a
renaissance-like apprentice system that she wanted to try in Seattle (I
have no idea if she ever did), and she spoke of the importance of raising
children with the arts. "Hopefully," she said as she grabbed her abdomen,
"this little guy will be raised on the floorboards himself."  It was an
intimate and informal setting, and I really enjoyed listening to her, but
was thrilled to death to hear her advocate reading, as I am a notorious
bookworm.
	Her voice, by the way, was low, husky and rather Bacall-esqe, as I
remember it, with only the Hepburn-heights we hear on TV coming out when
she was excited. She stayed at Clarke for several days and came to watch
rehearsals for the drama department children's production, which I was
assistant directing. She was always warm, open, honest and looked you right
in the eye when she spoke to you.


You know, I wanted to see her and Columbo together...'cause she was so
smart, and so clean, and so clever, and so quick, I wanted to know what SHE
saw in HIM!

	--L. Morgan



KATHRYN JANEWAY, FEMINIST HEROINE

There was a flurry of discussion on this topic right after "TV Guide" came
out with the line, "Let's get one thing straight:  Kate Mulgrew is not a
feminist."  [Please note that Mulgrew was never actually QUOTED as saying
this; we don't have any way of knowing what question she was responding to
when the writer drew this conclusion, or exactly what she did say, and
everything else I've ever heard her say about gender belies the statement.]
But that's not really the issue anyway, is it?   The big question is, is
Janeway a feminist...and is it even possible to use that loaded term to
discuss a 24th century woman?


FROM CAPTAIN TO KATHRYN & BACK AGAIN
by Janet E. Coleman


	You have to admire Janeway. She's tough--boy, is she tough!  She
doesn't even take any guff from the comic relief!--but she's all woman.
	It's as if Kate Mulgrew plays a double role. She has a nearly
magical ability to shift between a forceful, strident, *tough* starship
Captain and the lonely, lovely Kathryn Janeway, worried over her crew and
yet forever separated from them by the invisible barrier of command. She
can threaten Numiri with steely gaze and deadly tone like a mama panther
whose cubs are in jeopardy; and she can appeal to a Romulan's love for his
family, her own eyes glistening with unshed tears. But these changes are
effortless and fluid, naturally coexisting. Not *two* roles, but a *double*
one.
	They're all lost in space, but she's more alienated than any of her
brood in this strange quadrant. The others can form new friendships and
enmities amongst themselves, but Janeway doesn't have that freedom. She can
shoot a mean game of pool, but she is doubtless aware the whole time that
none of her crewmates can relax while she's on the holodeck with them.
	Her very hairstyle seems to be in on the act--it's perfect for this
character. When she's in uniform, and her hair is drawn back in a severe,
functional knot, she's very nearly masculine. Her movements are dynamic and
rapid; she strides *at* things, and we've seen how she likes to stand
*very* close to others when she speaks to them, invading their personal
space, effectively forcing them to notice her, answer her, take her *very*
seriously.
	Yet, when she lets her hair down...she *lets her hair down*. Wham!!
She looks like a different woman. Her features seem softer, her energy more
diffused throughout her body rather than practically leaping from her hands
and eyes as it does on the Bridge. (And let us not forget her excellent
taste in sleepwear - it seems the prerogative of starship Captains to have
the coolest pj's on the ship!)
	It's been argued in certain nooks and crannies on the Internet that
female Voyager fans admire Janeway simply because she is a woman. I had to
consider this argument very seriously--I am, indeed, *very* pleased
intellectually to see a woman Captain--before ultimately rejecting it.
Would I still be on the cheering squad for a character I couldn't
personally like?  No. I genuinely respect and enjoy the character of
Captain Janeway, with her knack of morphing between traditionally
"masculine" and classically "feminine" traits, her dry wit, her tolerance
for new ideas, her longing for coffee, her love for her dog, her
determination to keep her promise to get her people home. She is more a
*real woman* than literally *any* fictional character I could name.
	Real women *do* have to walk that line in order to compete,
especially, of course, in high-profile, high-responsibility jobs. It's
reassuring to have a glimpse of a future in which it's not only possible,
but *normal*, to be a Captain and a woman simultaneously. That's what "Star
Trek" has always been about - -to boldly show us where we can go--that we
as a unified species will be all right after all.


CAPTAIN JANEWAY, ROLE MODEL
by P. Castillo


	After watching "Voyager" with my four-and-a-half year old daughter,
I asked her whom she liked better, Captain Janeway or Captain Picard.
Without much thought, she replied Captain Janeway. When I asked why, she
told me because Captain Janeway had a newer space ship.
	In any event, my daughter's pick of Captain Janeway made me happy
because Kate Mulgrew is one of the few strong female lead characters on
television. Historically there has been a lack of strong female role models
on television, especially in science fiction. I am concerned about the lack
of female role models because of the power of television. Based on what she
sees on television, my daughter can tell me that her favorite cereal is
part of a balanced breakfast and what new toy Disney has out.
	The power of television scares me as too often television portrays
women as subordinate to men. Television would prefer women to be seen
solely as a sex object, rather than a leader of some company. I worry that
my daughter may not view herself as capable of being able to achieve any
position that she wants based on the television portrayal of women.
	Captain Janeway is refreshing since she is in control of a powerful
starship and no one questions the fact that a woman can command such power.
The show assumes that she got the job because of her skills.
	What is bothersome are the many posts that I read on the Star Trek
news group that criticize Captain Janeway solely on her sex. For whatever
reason, these persons view her as a threat to their masculinity. These
posters fail to realize that the vision of Star Trek is the fact that
people are judged for the abilities and not their sex or race. The fact
that Janeway is the captain is because of her abilities. I know that
Paramount wanted a female captain for this series. However, why should
anyone doubt that in the 24th century that a woman could be a captain?
	Watching "Voyager" gives my daughter a person to model herself
after. A woman who is control and has power. A woman whom others look to
for support. A woman who is confident. Captain Janeway has the skills that
I want my daughter to have so she can succeed when she grows up.
	The power of television is its ability to entertain as well as to
teach. Many scientists and astronauts of today trace their interest in
field to "Star Trek." So long as Kate Mulgrew stays true to the role that
the writers of "Voyager" have given her, women 20 years from now will say
in interviews that their role model from television was Captain Janeway.


JANEWAY VS. RIPLEY:
CLASH OF THE SCI FI HEROINES
by Atara Stein


	Is "Star Trek: Voyager"'s Kathryn Janeway a feminist heroine? Most
emphatically, yes! Since this issue has been much discussed lately, ranging
from impassioned newsgroup debate on the Internet, to the now-notorious "TV
Guide" statement, "Let's get one thing straight up front: Kate Mugrew is
not a feminist," I've decided to take a different approach and compare her
to my own personal favorite SF heroine, Ellen Ripley of the "Alien" films.
Ripley and Janeway are both competent, assertive, confident natural
leaders; both wield authority with flair, and neither will take any crap
from anyone. Both are motivated by a powerful ethical sense; they will do
what's right regardless of the "rules" or the consequences to themselves.
Yet their differences far outweigh their similarities. I have to admit that
Ripley is a delightful heroine to watch: Sigourney Weaver is gorgeous and
sexy, and Ripley is courageous, scathingly sarcastic, aggressive, and
fiercely determined. Watching her wield a flamethrower takes my breath
away. What she is not, however, is a feminist role model. The chief and
most important distinction between Ripley and Janeway, and the element that
makes Janeway one of the very few genuinely feminist heroines around is
that Janeway is not a stereotypically male and macho action-adventure or SF
hero in drag. Ripley is.
	For all of the apparent innovation of making the "hero" of Ridley
Scott's "Alien" (1979) a woman, the part was originally written for a man.
Ripley's character in the three films of the series, which include "Aliens"
(1986), directed by James Cameron, and "Alien3" (1992), directed by David
Fincher, is deceptively feminist. The films appear to make a feminist
statement by having the "hero" be a woman, but Ripley hardly serves as a
feminist role model. Although the filmmakers' try to balance her
"masculine" aggressiveness by playing up her nurturing side in "Aliens,"
Ripley ultimately demonstrates that the roles of warrior and mother are
utterly incompatible. She informally adopts the orphaned Newt, a young girl
whose parents were killed by the aliens.
	Although Ripley saves Newt's life, she twice inadvertently exposes
her to danger, once when the Company representative Burke locks them in the
lab with an alien larva, while Ripley is cuddling Newt, and the second
time, when Ripley is battling the queen alien on her ship, opens an
airlock, and almost sends Newt flying off into space along with the alien.
She is saved at the last moment by the dismembered android Bishop. "Alien3"
opens with the information that Newt has died in transit; Ripley's efforts
at parenting were ultimately in vain. In fact Ripley seems to have an
inadvertently deadly touch. Almost immediately after she goes to bed with
Clemons in "Alien3," he is killed. Ripley is not going to be allowed to
sustain any romantic or familial relationships; she's not the first woman
who cannot balance a career and a personal life!
	Ripley's creators place her in situations in which she is forced to
fluctuate between a stereotypically masculine macho toughness and a
stereotypically feminine vulnerability. Either way her gender is always an
issue; it is never taken for granted. In "Alien," Ripley is attacked by the
android Ash, in a symbolic rape, as he tries to drive a rolled up girlie
magazine down her throat. Both "Alien" and "Aliens" conclude with Ripley in
a vulnerable state, in her underwear, about to enter hypersleep; in
"Aliens" this hypersleep allows Newt to be killed and Ripley to be infected
by the alien. In the second and third movie, Ripley is surrounded by
hypermasculine men who cannot ignore her gender. One of the marines in
"Aliens" asks the macho Vasquez, "Hey Vasquez, have you ever been mistaken
for a man?" Her reply: "No, have you?" "Alien3" strands Ripley on a prison
colony planet, a "Double Y Chromosome Work-Correctional Facility" inhabited
by extremely aggressive male inmates who haven't seen a woman in years.
Disparaging his men for cowardice, Dillon calls them, of course, "pussies."
This is hardly an environment where gender can be irrelevant. Dillon tells
Ripley, "You don't want to know me, lady. I'm a murderer and rapist of
women," and Ripley coolly replies, "Well, I guess I must make you nervous."
I guess she does, because she is later the victim of an attempted gang
rape. The most devastating way the film's creators reinforce Ripley's
female vulnerability, however, is her forced impregnation with an alien
larva. She has been emotionally and physically raped, and she wearily tells
the male alien, "I'm part of the family. You've been in my life so long, I
can't remember anything else." Her only recourse is suicide; interestingly,
as she plunges into a vat of molten lead, her arms outstretched in a
Christlike pose (yes, this movie is subtle!), the alien larva begins to
burst out of her chest, and Ripley actually caresses it with her hands
before their simultaneous death. She truly is part of the family. Like it
or not, she accepts the alien as her "child."
	In each film, Ripley is forced to adopt a leadership role, as other
potential leaders are proven inept, or corrupt, or are killed. In each
case, she has to prove herself, specifically because of her gender. In
order to gain the respect of those she must lead, she has to demonstrate
herself to be as tough, unfeeling, and stereotypically macho as they are.
She gets her away with sarcasm, profanity, and violence. In the meeting
with Company representatives in "Aliens," she snaps, "Did IQ's just drop
sharply while I was away?" When one of the marines begins to panic during
an alien attack, Ripley unsympathetically snaps, "Hudson, just deal with
it. I'm sick of dealing with your bullshit." When she realizes that Burke
is responsible for the deaths of the colonists, deliberately exposing them
to the aliens, Ripley attacks him, yelling, "Well, I'm going to make sure
they nail you right to the wall for this. You're not going to sleaze your
way out of this one. Right to the wall!" At this point she matches actions
to words, hurling him against the wall. Discovering that no weapons are
available on the planet in "Alien3," Ripley comments "Then we're fucked."
Trying to fashion some, she asks "Do we have the capacity to make fire?
Most humans have enjoyed that privilege since the Stone Age." She calls the
borderline retarded "85" (so nicknamed for his IQ) a "stupid little shit,"
and when Dillon won't comply with her request to kill her, she labels him a
"fucking coward."
	"Alien" and "Alien3" further reinforce the ever-present awareness
of Ripley's gender by having her undergo symbolic gender transformations. A
lengthy scene in "Aliens" shows Ripley riding in an elevator,
systematically arming herself with weapons, and strapping on ammunition
belts. By the conclusion of the scene, she has become Arnold Schwarzenegger
in drag (James Cameron directed both "Terminator" movies as well as
"Aliens"). Wielding a flamethrower with all the panache and callousness of
a macho action-adventure hero, Ripley wastes an entire nestful of alien
eggs, actually pausing in her rescue of Newt to do so.
	In her final combat with the queen alien, Ripley must not only
defeminize but dehumanize herself, climbing into the robotic-appearing
loader, which transforms her essentially into a machine. "Alien3" similarly
defeminizes Ripley's appearance (of course, the fact that Weaver is so
stunningly gorgeous allows them to get away with it); her head is shaved,
and she is wearing men's clothes. By continuously making Ripley's gender an
issue, either by symbolically transforming her into a male or by
emphasizing her particularly femininine vulnerabilities to rape and forced
impregnation, the filmmakers make stepping outside of traditional gender
roles for women a very unattractive prospect. The message is clear: Don't
try this at home; if you do, you are, as Ripley would have it, fucked (in
more ways than one).
	I am not at all denigrating Ripley's heroism. She is a hero in
precisely the way Arnold Schwarzenegger is a hero in, say, "Terminator 2."
Both the Terminator and Ripley battle a more powerful enemy, both have to
combat corrupt institutional authority, both die heroically, and both
symbolically adopt children--it is made very clear in "T2" that the
Terminator is a better parent to John Connor than his own mother (another
macho heroine) is! Much as I love all three "Alien" movies, and much as I
adore Sigourney Weaver, an Ahhhnold clone does not a feminist heroine make.

	"Voyager"'s Janeway is an ideal feminist heroine and role model
precisely because her gender is not an issue. No one questions her
authority on the basis of her gender. Nor is she a Kirk or Picard in drag.
She is competent, in command, assertive, firm, and, when need be,
aggressive, without having to transform herself into an exaggerated
simulation of a hypermasculine male. Janeway does not need to prove herself
as Ripley does. While her officers make suggestions, her commands are never
questioned.
	The fact that her gender is such a non-issue allows Janeway to
wield power in a relaxed fashion and with a warm humor. She tells Ensign
Kim, in the series premiere, "The Caretaker," "At ease, before you sprain
something." In "The Cloud," when Neelix suggests it wouldn't be a good idea
to use her replicator ration for coffee, Janeway says, "I beg your pardon,"
in a deadly whisper but later accepts his advice. Later, busy and getting
tired of Neelix's pestering, Janeway says "Dismissed." When Neelix does not
immediately comply, she says quietly, without losing her temper, "That's a
Starfleet expression for get out." When Chakotay suggests a Maquis maneuver
when the ship is under attack in "Ex Post Facto," Janeway allows him to
implement his suggestion. She then goes up to him, remarking casually, "Not
to belittle Maquis tactics, Commander,but this is a very old trick." He
responds defensively, "It worked against those Starfleet runabouts," and
Janeway replies, "You're lucky I wasn't commanding one of them!" She
asserts her authority and puts Chakotay in his place coolly and with a
light touch, and moments later, she warmly puts her hand on his shoulder as
a means to congratulate him for a job well-done, while remarking, "That's
one trick you won't be able to use again when we get back."
	That hand on the shoulder seems to be evolving as Janeway's
characteristic gesture. Unlike Picard's trademark tug on the front of his
uniform, a gesture that seemed to emphasize his authority, control, and
distance, Janeway's hand on the shoulder during a difficult maneuver or as
a means of quiet praise draws her closer to her crew.
	Mulgrew endows Janeway with an impressive emotional range. When she
needs to, she projects a steely and decisive determination. She asks the
Kazon commander in "The Caretaker," "Can we discuss this like two civilized
. . ." When the Kazon power up their weapons, Janeway mutters fiercely, "I
guess we can't" and immediately starts barking out attack maneuvers. In
almost every episode, she is forced to make a serious decision and does so
firmly and assuredly. It's not that she doesn't have doubts or fears, but
once she makes up her mind, she follows through unhestitatingly, confident
that her crew will comply.
	In "The Caretaker," Mulgrew shows Janeway's struggle with her
decision to destroy the array and her ship's chance to get home along with
it, but once she has made up her mind, she doesn't hesitate. Although
Janeway readily uses force when necessary, she successfully employs other
methods to get her way. In "Phage," Janeway reveals her "great sympathy"
with the plight of the organ-stealing alien race afflicted with a deadly
illness. Mulgrew conveys an entire spectrum of emotion in her speech: "I
can't begin to understand what your people have gone through. They may have
found a way to ignore the moral implications of what you're doing, but I
have no such luxury. I don't have the freedom to kill you to save another.
. .So I see no other alternative . . . but to let you go. Take a message to
your people: If I ever encounter your kind again, I will do whatever is
necessary to protect my people from this harvesting of yours. Any
aggressive actions against this ship or its crew will be met by the
deadliest force. Is that clear?" As the speech progresses Janeway displays
deep sympathy, intense frustration, anger, and finally a fiercely deadly
earnestness. Yet it is that apparent sympathy that convinces one of the
aliens to use his medical knowledge to repair the damage he has done to
Neelix. In "Eye of the Needle," Janeway goes where neither Kirk nor Picard
has ever gone before. Needing a favor from the Romulan commander, hoping
for his help in getting messages back to her crew's friends and families,
Janeway appeals directly to his own sense of family. She actually gets a
Romulan commander to acknowledge that the price of his mission may be too
high in that it has taken him away from a baby daughter he has never seen.
	Now that is a feminist statement, but it's presented in a way that
simultaneously subtly points to and minimizes the gender issues involved. A
male Starfleet Captain would never start asking an enemy commander about
his family, but concern for one's family is shown *not* to be merely a
woman's issue. It is a human issue, and on that basis the Romulan Commander
agrees to help his "enemies."

	My favorite Janeway scene so far takes place in the French tavern
Paris has programmed into the holodeck ("The Cloud"). Janeway plays with
two stereotypes on the part of her crew: one is that the Captain is somehow
not really human and not capable of having fun, and the other is that a
"good" woman would not know her way around a pool table. Janeway teaches
her crew a lesson, but it's with her usual humorous touch. When Paris
hurriedly intervenes between Janeway and the holographic gigolo who is
making a pass at her, Janeway retorts, "You would have changed it, and I
would have missed all the fun." With a feigned ignorance Janeway then asks,
"Is this pool or billiards?" Paris responds dubiously, "Ah . . . pool," and
Janeway says brightly "Right! Pool's the one with the pockets!" Carrying
her pretended lack of knowledge further, Janeway asks Chakotay for his
"stick," then blows all her crew away with a masterful display of
pool-playing. Janeway breaks, numerous balls roll obediently into pockets,
and she declares, with a demonic glint in her eye, "Solids!" Showing off
even further, she calls, "Eight-ball into the side pocket," making her shot
while conspicuously not looking at the pool table.
	The scene is obviously cliched, a fact the writers draw attention
to by having the holographic tavern owner remark, "I saw that coming a mile
away," but what distinguishes it is the gusto with which Mulgrew performs
this role. Janeway is clearly having fun putting one over on her
crewmembers, and Mulgrew is clearly having fun playing the part. The scene
is not simply gratuitous though; Janeway has concluded that she must break
down some of the distance between herself and her crew in a way Picard
never does until TNG's series finale, when he finally sits down for a game
of poker with his officers. Humankind had to be on the verge of extinction
before he realized that he could relax and hang out with crew without
undermining his authority. Although "The Cloud" opens with a moving
personal log in which Janeway worries that she has to rise above her own
concerns and be "larger-than-life" to her crew, she concludes the episode
by reinforcing her connections to them rather than isolating herself.

	Janeway is a feminist hero precisely in that she is female (she
wears lipstick on duty and fairly revealing nightgowns off duty), but her
gender is never an issue. It is simply a given on this series that gender
has no bearing on what a person can or can't do. Torres gets the Chief
Engineer's position because she proves without a doubt that she is the most
qualified, and her male rival for the position unquestioningly offers her
his support once the decision is made. Although Kes has the nurturing
qualities of a Deanna Troi, she also shows considerable toughness and
backbone and is in fact braver than her lover, Neelix.
	It is actually a testament to the growing acceptance of feminist
ideals (even among people who deny that they are feminists!) that Jeri
Taylor was able to include three strong, interesting female characters on
this series and that Taylor and Mulgrew between them have been able to
create a strong, capable, competent, female captain who does not have to
prove that she is tougher, more callous, more ruthless, and more macho than
the guys are in order to earn their respect. Instead she is funny, sexy,
sharp, confident, empathetic, full of life, and unquestionably firmly in
command of the starship Voyager. Please, sisters, keep up the good
work--don't let the bastards grind you down! I'll let Janeway have the last
word as she insists upon the utter irrelevance of gender to her position.
She tells Ensign Kim (as well as her viewers): "Despite Starfleet protocol,
I don't like being addressed as sir. . . . Ma'am is acceptable in a crunch,
but I prefer Captain."
	Amen!

	[Quick aside on Janeway's name:  You all probably know that it was
originally going to be Elizabeth Janeway, but they changed it to Kathryn
after the Genevieve Bujold debacle.  Interesting first choice.  There's a
noted feminist author named Elizabeth Janeway who wrote a book called
_Man's World, Woman's Place_; she argues that women have been restricted to
domestic activities for too long and need to circulate more in "outer
space"--she means outisde the home, not outside the Alpha Quadrant, but I
still don't think this is an accident.  We'll have to ask Jeri Taylor, I
guess.
	If you're interested:  Janeway, Elizabeth.  _Man's World, Woman's
Place_.  NY:  Dell, 1971.  Anyone want to write a book report for next
month?    Anyone want to take a crack at compiling some definitions of
"feminism" at least?  There's been a lengthy thread on Janeway and
"Voyager" in both soc.feminism and alt.feminism on the Internet; anyone
want to summarize?
	For the record:  yes, Paul and I are both feminists and so is our
one-year-old son Daniel...

Michelle]


BOOKS, BOOKS, BOOKS

You know that in a matter of months, all the mediocre episodes people
couldn't sell to Paramount will be out as mass-market Pocket paperbacks.
We figured we should keep track of those.  Meanwhile, here's what people
thought of the novelization of the first episode...The first original novel
is due out in April.

Star Trek: Voyager  #1: CARETAKER by L.A. GRAF

	Almost before the final credits rolled on Monday night, January
16th, Pocket Books had their novelization of "Caretaker" on the store
shelves. For those of you who have never read a novelization of an actual
movie or television episode, you are in for a treat. Reading a novelization
is the next best thing to having the actual script with all stage direction
included. Another nice thing about novelizations is that we get to find out
about the scenes that ended up on the cutting room floor. Unlike other
"Star Trek" novelizations, there were not very many extra scenes in
"Caretaker. "
	The best part of the novels, and this one in particular, is that
they give us the story behind the story. The novels let us see into the
minds of the characters. We learn why characters act and interact the way
that they do.  "Caretaker" gives us Captain Janeway's thought processes and
emotions behind all the decisions she makes. We get to see a lot which
never is truly conveyed to the television viewer. For instance, in the
novel we learn that in the beginning, Janeway does not like Paris at all,
something that was not truly shown in the pilot. Additionally, in this
novel we learn a little about Janeway's late first officer, conn officer,
doctor and nurse.
	On the whole, I would recommend this novel, especially to those who
did not have the opportunity to see the premiere. This is not to say that
those who did see Caretaker would not enjoy reading it (I have seen it 5
times by now and have read the book twice). Besides, they put a couple of
pages of pictures from the pilot into the center of the book.

--Risa Kovac

	"A roar of scarlet light blasted through the tiny spaceship's
bridge, and alarms screamed as if in surprise as the deadly tremor of a
direct hit went rattling off down the ship's already battered frame." And
with a bang a new legend is born, by L.A. Graf (the pen name used by
authors Julia Ecklar and Karen Rose Cercone).
	When I first saw Caretaker on the stands, I didn't think I'd be
interested in reading it, since I'd already seen the episode several times,
but I bought it anyway because it had "Star Trek" on the cover (I'm kind of
a obsessive about such things). And once I started reading it, I didn't
regret my obsession.
	I know...you're all out there shaking your heads saying, "Why
should I take the time to read a book that's the same story as the
episode?" Well, for one thing, books aren't limited to two hours where
everything has to happen in that time limit. While the novel does retell
the story, there is space for some added dialogue and actions that help
fill out the story and make it run more smoothly. There's also room to add
a little humor (not side-splitting laughter, but just a lightening of
tension) in an otherwise serious story.
	But the best reason to read this book is one of the great things
about any book. The reader can actually see what a character is thinking
and feeling. The authors are very adept at weaving these details into the
story, never interrupting its flow while still letting us access these
inner workings that give us so much insight into the reason for a
character's actions and behavior. Chakotay is not the cut-and-dry,
no-assembly-required renegade captain that he might have appeared to be for
the first part of the TV episode. Through his memories of his past and his
home world, the reader gets a feel for why he is so devoted to the Maquis'
cause. Paris is a smart-aleck, but we also see the regrets and insecurity
behind his devil-may-care attitude. When we see Janeway's memories we get a
peek into the life of a starship captain, trying to balance the
requirements of Starfleet and her personal life. There are even sections
showing what goes into any of the holographic doctor's actions.
	Still not convinced you should read this book? Well, it's not
necessary to read this book to understand the series, but it helps. This
novel weaves the past and present of these characters together, giving them
a depth and realism no single TV episode could give. When you finish the
novel, the captain and crew are so real that you almost feel you know them,
and you have to sit in silence for a moment and wish these voyagers well.

--Gray Cougar


	I was quite impressed with the imagery used by the authors. The use
of words such as "coruscating" (13) and metaphors such as "the stinging
kiss of too-near fire"(14) inhanced my internal pictures without being
overbearing. The character descriptions were excellent, particularly those
of Janeway and Paris. Until I read this book I did not like Paris, but my
opinion changed once I understood what was (according to Graf) going on in
his mind. In fact I could sympathize with him in a lot of respects. The
authors seem to have knowledge of psychology, but once again the
information they gave did not detract from the story as a whole.
	Specific character interactions that appealed to me were Paris with
Odo on DS9, Tuvok with Neelix, and Neelix with Kes. Speaking of Neelix, I
can't help but like that spotted-headed creature. At first I expected him
to be another Quark (whom I also like, but for different reasons), but
Neelix is quite different. I was touched when he stayed with Paris to
rescue the others from the tunnels, and his relationship with Kes is quite
sweet.  I didn't like the beginning at first; I think I had expected the
story to begin on the Voyager itself.
	The details of the Doctor's Decision Tracks, VRM's, etc. added a
different, somewhat lighthearted perspective to the scene of the wounded
crewmembers. Another case in which a change in viewpoint added to the story
were the dying thoughts of Stadi and Cavit. Specific aspects I liked
included Janeway's preference of "Captain" rather than "sir" (I always
thought that sounded pretty dumb anyway!), the lack of pretense regarding
"You're the captain, you can't go on the Away Team" that we found so often
on TNG, and the familiar Trek theme of "teach the new naive species HOW to
fish." Dislikes included the use of "kiwis" to refer to New Zealanders, the
bit of sexism about men letting themselves be enslaved, and the interaction
with the Kazon which seemed just a little bit too easy, as if they had been
enemies for a long time and had really gotten to know each other. I would
suspect that encounters with new species would involve a lot more
uncertainty in the beginning.
	Overall I really enjoyed both the story itself and the style of the
book. At the end I experienced the good feeling I had hoped for, and in the
future I will definitely give any book by L.A. Graf a try.

--Angie Hall


MAAAAAAAAAAIL CAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLL!

	Ya ever wonder what everybody wrote home in "Eye of the Needle"?
Hmmm. Here are a few ideas ...
	Janeway (to her boyfriend) - "I'll be home soon. Don't have kittens."
	Harry Kim (to mom) - "Please send my clarinet C.O.D.!"
	Chakotay (to a fellow Maquis) - "Okay, you win, there is *one*
decent captain in Starfleet. The steak dinner's on me...in 75 years."

	B'elanna (to her father) - "Dear dad. Doing fine. Will be home in
75 years. Since that'll be 3/4 of a century that I won't have had the
opportunity to fight with her, tell mom I'm gonna beat the *living hell*
outta her when I get home!"
	Tom Paris (to the Alpha Quadrant subspace dating service) - "For a
good time, hail USS Voyager, Delta Quadrant. Ask for Tom. Bipeds preferred,
but will answer all communications within 70 light years."
	Tuvok (to his folks on Vulcan) - "Attention sirs. The Delta
Quadrant is here. To describe it as beautiful would not be logical. Were it
not a display of emotion, I would wish that you, too, were here. That,
however, is not logical. See you when I get home, if I survive seven years
out here..."
	Kes (to a med school correspondence course) - "Please send all
available curricula ASAP. Go ahead and send the degree as well."
	Neelix (to all points in the Alpha Quadrant) - "You people have
anything good to eat?"
	The Doctor (to his programmer) - "Attention, Dr. Zimmerman. If I
might suggest an upgrade for the next emergency medical hologram, please
endow any future versions of this program with the option to K.O. any rude
or uncooperative patients. Thank you."
	Engineer Carey (to his family) - "Got edged out of chief engineer
by a Maquis! But it was close. I lost by a nose."
	An unsigned letter from a bridge officer to the families of the
deceased first officer and ship's doctor - "Don't EVER be rude to Paris!
Bwah ha ha ha ha haaaaa!"
-- Earl Green (earl.green@f1.n3822.z1.fidonet.org)


COPYRIGHT VIOLATION CORNER

	[We weren't going to publish any fan fiction in this newsletter.
Then Dee sent us this story--or, rather, Dee sent us a piece of this story,
and we sent her annoying e-mail demanding that she finish it. It's
completely irresistible.
	So here are the rules for fanfic if you want to see yours in print:
Send us SHORT stories involving characters we know.  Nothing that would get
a rating higher than PG (welllll, DO SEND us the others, but we can't
publish them!)  Your work must be original, cannot have been printed
elsewhere or posted to alt.startrek.creative or a.s.f.s., and had better
not infringe upon Paramount's copyrights.]

TRIAL AND ERROR
by Dee Jones

	"Bridge to Janeway."  The voice was unfamiliar.  "Captain...this is
the Bridge..."
	Janeway rolled over and shook her head slightly. "Yes?" She felt so
tired; it seemed that she had just fallen asleep when the night crew called.
	"Sensors have picked up an M-class planet. They have also detected
some areas that seem to contain large amounts of raw dilithium. We're not
quite sure of the accuracy of these readings yetdue to heavy radiation in
the planet's atmosphere, but we should be close enough within the hour for
a better scan--if we have your permission to re-set coordinates."
	"Do it.  Good work..." Janeway desperately tried to recall the
woman's name, but settled for, "...Lieutenant. I'll be there shortly." She
rolled backwards, listening to the quiet hum that usually lulled her to
sleep. It seemed to intensify a small headache that she was rapidly
becoming aware of...
	"Coffee.  Coffee," she murmured, sliding out of bed and gliding as
if by instinct to the replicator. She leaned her head into the wall and
raised her voice. "Coffee, hot."
	Within fifteen minutes, her pace accelerated to the usual brisk
walk, and soon she was striding through the still-darkened corridors. She
would bypass the kitchen again this morning; if Neelix tried to get her to
taste one more coffee substitute, especially today...she smiled at the
thought of what she would do, and closed her eyes momentarily to see the
look of terror on Neelix's face as she--
	WHUMP! She collided with a tall figure and a dining tray at the
hall intersection, and they fell forward with Janeway awkwardly straddling
the tray and a food-covered ..."Commander!  Oh!  I'm so sorry..."  She
placed a hand on a clean part of his chest and pushed herself up, "I wasn't
looking where I was going," brushing herself off as she stood, although it
was apparent that Chakotay was wearing the contents of the tray.
	He looked up with a smile, appearing to be somewhat amused with the
incident.  "Good morning, Captain."  He held out his hand and she took it
and pulled him up, shaking her head at her own stupidity while he looked
down at his sticky, smeared uniform. She did as well, and then they looked
at each other and started to laugh. When she did so, however, she realized
that she had taken most of the impact from the tray on the bridge of her
nose, and while rubbing it could feel an indentation.
	"Are you all right?  You seemed to have taken a blow off the port
bow," he grinned.
	"Well, there doesn't appear to be a hull breach, so I'll just be on
my way to the Bridge. If you're a few minutes late this morning, I won't
notice." She winked at him and resumed her walk.

	The corridor lights were just beginning to brighten as she strode
onto the Bridge. "Good morning, Ensign Long. What do we have here?" Her
head was already turning towards the viewscreen.
	"Good morning, Captain.  We're still getting a good amount of
radiation interference, but from what I've got so far, there are several
areas containing large amounts of raw dilithium--so much that if we could
refine it, we could fully replenish our reserves."
	Janeway sucked in her breath with excitement. "What about
civilization? Are we going to have to get ourselves an invitation to this
feast?"
	"I'm afraid so, Captain. I've been trying to adjust hailing
frequencies to compensate for the radiation levels. Should be--wait--it
seems that they are hailing us.  Trying to get a visual."
	The screen lit up, and Janeway's eyes widened at the sight of a
leathery creature that bore a fair resemblance to Neelix, only hairless and
with a better complexion.  Before she could open her mouth to speak,  he
waved his arm and pointed to her.
	"Who is the ruler of this vessel?" His voice had an annoying wheeze.
	"I am responsible for this ship and the crew. I am Captain Kathryn
Janeway of the Federation Starship Voyager. How may I address you?" She
became aware of the quiet crew shift change around her, and knew that Tuvok
and Kim were at their respective stations.
	"I am King Daniff of the Drakur.  Queen- Janeway? What is your
business with us?  We do very little trading.  Or have you come to tour our
splendid kingdom?  We are famous all throughout he galaxy for our natural
beauty, and of course, our hospitality is legendary.  I myself am a legend
among my people--I have obtained leadership four times now!" The intensity
of his wheeze, and his gestures, were markedly increasing, and Janeway
winced as he spoke. She waved her hands as if to cut him off, and
interrupted.
	"King Daniff, we are very interested in something your planet has
to offer us. I prefer that you call me Captain, and if you don't object..."
	"Oh! Such humility! To allow yourself to be addressed by your first
name!  I'm sure your people love you for it!" he grandly interjected,
waving and yelling to someone she couldn't see. "Did you hear that, Fira?
Maybe you could take lessons from her! We might be able to keep power
longer this way, and..."
	"King Daniff," Janeway cut in, trying to keep her irritation out of
her voice, "I would appreciate your accepting a small...delegation to your
kingdom.  If you were to offer a tour, we are looking for..." she gritted
her teeth as he interrupted her again.
	"Whatever you are looking for, I'm sure you'll see it here!  And of
course we are unsurpassed in--"
	"Many areas, no doubt, all of which you'd like to show us, I'm
sure. Now I'm going to go choose my delegation, and I'll be in touch with
you shortly," Janeway blurted out quickly, and waved her hand impatiently
to end the transmission. She turned and strode towards her ready room. "Mr.
Tuvok." She nodded her head, and they went in together. She tapped her comm
badge. "Commander Chakotay, please see me in my ready room."
	"Standing outside your door now, Captain." The doors opened and he
walked in with a trace of a smile that disappeared entirely when he saw her
expression.  She sat down behind her desk and fought an urge to rub her
sore nose, instead drumming her fingers on the table.
	"Gentlemen, I need you to go down to this planet and see if there's
any way we can convince these Drakur people to part with some of that
dilithium, and how hard it will be for us to obtain and refine it.  And be
very careful; from Daniff's comments, it would appear that their political
structure is not very stable. If you feel that there is any danger, I want
you back up here immediately, where we can approach them from a safer
vantage point. Any questions?"
	"Captain,  the heavy radiation may make transportation and
communication difficult.  I would suggest that you maintain a constant lock
on our comm badges. We will not be able to beam back without them; our
sensor readings would be too distorted otherwise." Tuvok crossed his hands
in front of him. "And I do not believe that you would want to beam any
Drakur here by accident."
	Janeway's eyes widened again. "Certainly not. I'm not sure we could
fit such dramatic egos aboard this ship, and heaven help us if they should
meet up with Neelix. Speaking of which, I suppose we should inquire as to
whether he's heard of these 'famous' Drakur. Commander, that's your
assignment. Let me know when you're ready to beam down. I'll be," she said,
touching her nose lightly, "in Sickbay for a few moments. "

	"Please state the nature of the medical emergency," the doctor
barked. He arched his eyebrows at the sight of the Captain. "What did you
do to your nose?"
	Janeway shook her head. "I collided with a serving tray. I'm not
sure what damage it sustained, but my nose is throbbing and my head hurts
terribly."
	"I'm sure it does. Stay there." He briskly went to a station and
returned with a few items.
	"Captain?"  Kim's voice rang out. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but
Daniff is hailing us and is insisting on speaking to you personally."
	Janeway sighed. "Put him on screen in my ready room. I'll be right
there." She turned to the doctor . "I'm sorry, I'll just be a few
minutes--I'll turn off your program if you want.  But I will be back:  pain
is a great motivator."

	In her ready room, Janeway stared at the monitor with her arms
crossed. "Just what, exactly, is the problem?" she asked.  Her headache
definitely was getting worse.
	"Why are we not to be honored with your presence?  Who are these
men that you try to send in your place? Are they high-ranking officials of
your court? We will not be subjected to entertaining your servants!" Daniff
growled and wheezed.
	Janeway drew herself up and almost glared at the screen. "Mr. Tuvok
is in charge of my people's security. And Commander Chakotay is my first
officer." She paused. Daniff looked confused. "That means if something
should happen to me, he would assume control of the ship. That is why he is
called Commander. Close enough to having me there?" She sincerely hoped she
would not have to meet this overreactive creature face-to-face.
	"Oh! Yes! But of course you would send security to protect your
Commander. You wouldn't want anything to happen to your partner. I just
couldn't bear to live without my Fira!  Of course we'll take good care of
him, we are famous for..." Janeway shook her head and waved her hand at him
in attempt to stop his misinterpretations.
	"Captain. We're ready to beam down as soon as we can get
coordinates," Chakotay's voice broke in. Janeway heaved a sigh. "You stay
put," she said, pointing to Daniff on the screen, and tapping her comm
badge, "Mr. Kim, please put our King through to transporter room three.  He
has some important information to give Mr. Tuvok."
	"Transferring now, Captain."
	As soon as Daniff's face disappeared, Janeway put her head into her
hands. "The way that creature twists everything that is said to him, I'd
feel lucky if he would just turn us down and send us on our way," she
muttered. Holding her head back up and marching out the door on her way to
Sickbay, she added under her breath, "But somehow I don't feel lucky."

	It took much of Chakotay's patience and Tuvok's reiterations to
finally convince the Drakur to take them to the dilithium "Caves of Canar"
as the Drakur called them. The King had fussed a great deal, and his
soldiers seemed quite surly and not fully cooperative.  They had flown over
in two small cutters. En route the guards had started to taunt one another.
Eventually they engaged in a zig-zag race which made both Chakotay and
Tuvok appreciate Tom Paris all the better; Tuvok even made reference to the
trip being the "worst shuttle service" he had ever received. Once they got
to the caves, the guards brought the cutters to an abrupt stop. They were
hurriedly escorted to the front of the caves, but the guards stopped and
waited outside.
	"You're not coming in?" asked Chakotay.
	The Drakur narrowed his eyes and wheezed, "We never go in! We would
not want to anger our Canara! To see a Canara would be bad luck!"
	"Superstition." Tuvok stated, and flipped open his tricorder. "The
strongest readings are coming from the cave in the middle. I suggest we
start there."
	"Agreed." Chakotay said, shrugging a pack and starting forward. The
guards followed slowly behind them again, and stopped when they went into
the cave. "I will keep scanning as you collect the samples," Tuvok said,
walking ahead of Chakotay and going around a corner.
	"Not too far."  Chakotay raised his voice. He bent over and began
to unpack the test equipment. Suddenly a shrieking sound battered the cave
walls. The hair on the back of his neck prickled.  "Tuvok!" he yelled,
grabbing his phaser and jumping around the corner. To his horror, a large
lizard-like creature had Tuvok in its jaws. Tuvok's face twisted in pain as
he tried to fight the creature with his free hand.  Blood was trickling
down his uniform. Without hesitation, Chakotay fired; the creature dropped
Tuvok and shrieked again. Its tail snapped toward Chakotay. He dodged it
and fired. This time the creature fell to the floor, jerked and lay still.
Chakotay threw down his phaser and leaned over Tuvok. "Chakotay to Voyager!
Emergency!  Beam Tuvok directly to Sickbay! He's been..."
	He was unable to finish his sentence as a guard's weapon slammed
into his head, knocking him away from Tuvok. "Murderer!" The guards
screamed and wheezed. One kicked the comm badge off Chakotay's heaving
chest. "You will pay for this!" They circled around him, closing in with
their fists and feet, so that Chakotay never saw Tuvok disappear.

	Janeway was smiling at Kes. "You've done a great job here," she
said, rubbing her nose. "I feel as good as new. And I think it would
certainly be possible that if your medical skills continue to improve, you
could be included on some of our away teams in the future." She slid off
the table where she had been sitting.
	Kes stood next to her, positively beaming. "Thank you, Captain.
That would mean a great deal to me. I like the challenge."
	"That's why all of us here are on board this ship, Kes. We like a
challenge. Good work.  And Doctor, may I compliment you on your skills as
an instructor." She nodded her head in his direction.
	"You may, although I'm not sure this is what my original
programming was designed to do, I seem to be making the best of it."
Janeway nodded her head again, stepped back into the hallway, and strolled
leisurely down the hall in the direction of the bridge. She felt so much
better. She would feel good as new once they were no longer in orbit around
this insensible planet, but hopefully that would be soon...
	"Captain!" It was Kim's voice, urgent. Her head snapped back and
her body stiffened.
	"What is it, Mr. Kim?" She tried not to sound worried, but she knew
something was wrong.
	""Tuvok's been beamed to sickbay. There's been some kind of
accident. We can't locate  Commander Chakotay, he is not responding to our
attempts to reach him."
	Janeway had already turned and started to run back to sickbay. "You
get those Drakur right now and find out where he is and what the hell
happened down there!"
	She paused upon entering the sickbay, for she could not believe
what she saw. Tuvok lay under the stasis field on the operating table; his
blood-soaked uniform had been cut and thrown to the floor. The doctor was
barking orders to Kes and they seemed unaware of her presence.  Janeway's
hand went up to her mouth as she shook her head, giving a quick gasp while
she tried to find her voice.  "What happened to him?" she choked out.
	"You should not be in here," the doctor hissed, not bothering to
look at her.  "He has been severely bitten by some creature that had very,
very sharp teeth.  We have a lot of work to do here, and you can't help."
He continued working quickly.
	Kes looked up briefly and met Janeway's eyes. "We'll take care of
him for you, Captain," she said soothingly.
	Janeway nodded her head in appreciation. "I'll be on the Bridge."
She walked out slowly, head down in thought. Idly she ran her hand along
the corridor wall. If this is the shape that Tuvok is in, she wondered,
what has happened to Chakotay?  With that thought she picked up her pace
and went rapidly down the corridor to the Bridge.
	She entered just as Daniff's ugly face came on the viewscreen. He
pointed to Janeway.  "You! Traitor! Who would send your men to murder what
is most dear to us!  Most sacred!  And to think we trusted you--this is
treachery of the highest order! And it will not go unpunished!" He
gesticulated wildly.
	Janeway spoke very slowly.  "We are not murderers. We were not
warned of any danger involving this expedition.  I have a wounded
crewmember aboard my ship and one who is missing.  Where is Commander
Chakotay?"
	"The murderer is awaiting his trial and sentencing. We will let you
know the verdict so that you may mark your history with this terrible
event, and see that we cannot be trifled with!" With that last remark,
Daniff ended transmission.
	Janeway whirled and faced Kim. "Hail them non-stop until they
respond, or at least until I get back from Sickbay," she snapped. "I'm
going to see it Mr. Tuvok is any shape to give us some answers."
	When she reached the lower decks, she paused for a split second
before entering the medical facility. This time, though, the picture was
calmer.  The doctor was at his console, and Kes stood next to Tuvok.
	"Oh!  Captain, I was just coming to see you," Kes smiled.
	"Yes! Because the patient here won't take any pain medication and
he needs to get some rest! See if you can reason with him; I can't," pouted
the holograph.
	Janeway walked over to see Tuvok looking at her from eyes that were
struggling to stay open. "We can manage our pain, Captain." he whispered.
	She took a good hard look at him.  "Mr. Tuvok. You are to take
whatever medication the doctor wants you to. That's an order." Tuvok looked
at her, with almost a sense of relief. "As you wish, captain," he whispered
again. "I know you wish to question me; unfortunately I will not be of much
help. I am unable to recall any events that happened once I entered the
cave.  Commander Chakotay was with me then, but it is my understanding that
he did not beam aboard."
	"You're right, Tuvok," she said, gently touching his shoulder, "he
didn't."
	She had started back down the corridor and was so deep in thought
that she did not notice Kes behind her until the young woman spoke.
	"Captain, Chakotay is in grave danger."
	Janeway stopped, turned and looked at her. "How do you know that?"
Her forehead knotted with worry. She stared at Kes.
	"I know, Captain. And I also know that you are the only person who
can save him."
	Janeway leaned forward and grasped Kes by the shoulders.  "Kes,
what are you talking about?" She frowned for a moment. "I've heard you have
certain... powers. I guess I'll have to trust in that."
	Janeway paced with her hands clasped tightly behind her back as Kes
spoke. "Captain, Neelix has told me about these people. They live for drama
and chaos in their lives."
	"Well, they're going to have a lot of it very soon unless they
release Chakotay." Janeway growled.
	"I have an idea. If you were to pretend that Chakotay was your
husband, they would be bound by their custom to let you see him. "
	Janeway's eyes widened, and she stopped for a moment.  "Pardon me?"
Kes repeated her previous statement, but Janeway had her eyes narrowed and
did not appear to be listening. She put her hand on Kes's shoulder. "You're
sure of this? That if I make some sort of...dramatic appeal, they'd let me
beam down...then I'd be able to beam him back with me." She marked off
several paces and then whirled back.  "But I'm sure they'll have thought of
that possibility as well, and they'll take my comm badge from me when I
arrive. So..."
	"So you're going to have to let down your hair," Kes said with a
smile.
	Janeway blinked. "Because?"
	She reached back and began undoing her hair as Kes removed her own
comm badge and walked behind the captain.  The Ocampa leaned forward and
placed the communicator on Janeway's uniform at the back of her neck.
"Because they won't be looking for it here," she smiled again. "Your hair
looks very pretty like that, Captain. Have you ever thought..."
	"We'll discuss hairstyles another time, Kes."  Janeway hit her comm
badge.  "Mr. Kim! Report!"
	"No response yet, captain."
	"Have you tried a coded beam on the frequency Daniff used earlier?"
	"Doing so now."
	Janeway turned to Kes. "I'm going to dismiss you now, Kes. I need
to go to my ready room.  But thank you for your help."  She marched down
the corridor, muttering under her breath as if she were rehearsing a speech.
	Kim looked up when Janeway entered the Bridge.  "Captain, we have a
response. But it's not Daniff."
	"I don't care.  Put it through to me--" She pointed at the ready
room as she quickly crossed to it.  When she entered, the screen flickered,
and a rather irritated-looking female Drakur appeared.  "Don't tell me,"
the creature spoke, "you must be Queen Captain Janeway with the very long
title."
	"That's right. And you are?"
	"Queen Fira.  Daniff is busy with your murderer, and I am in charge
of communications for now. So why do you bother us again?" She crossed her
arms impatiently.
	"Queen Fira. But of course--how could I forget your name?  Daniff
spoke of how he could not live without you. Which is why," Janeway recited,
looking down and twisting her hands, "I must beg you to let me see
Commander Chakotay.  I cannot go on without him. He means everything to
me--surely you know how it is to be separated from the one you love, from
your mate! Please, show me some kindness.  Let me come see him." She held
her hands out towards the screen.
	"Oh!" Fira wheezed heavily. "Your mate! Well, had I known, we would
have sent for you sooner! Imagine! Traveling the galaxy together--how
romantic--how bold! I'll send the coordinates right away! How could I
refuse a plea to see your husband for one last time?" The screen went
blank. Janeway pushed back her chair and stood up, crossing her arms over
her chest and cocking her head with determination. "Last time? I don't
think so."
	She went onto the Bridge and saw Tuvok leaning on his console.
"This is ridiculous. You are supposed to be resting."
	"I am quite comfortable in this position, now that the doctor has
treated me according to your orders."  He was his usual unruffled self in
manner, if not physically.  She walked up to him and put her face close to
his. "You are under strict orders to go sit in that chair and watch the
Bridge until I come back." She pointed to her seat. "And I had better not
hear that you got up unless you went back to sick bay. Understood?" She
would have given him a smile if her headache wasn't closing back in on her.
Tuvok nodded his head and started down the steps.
	"I would advise against going down to the planet at this time,
Captain."
	"I would advise it as well, but I don't feel I have a choice. Now,
Mr. Kim. I want you to come to the transporter room with me. Maintain a
constant lock on my comm badge. I've got one here," she flipped her hair
aside, "that I'll activate if my other one is removed. When I give the
word, I want to be back here immediately. There won't be a second chance on
this one."

	A musty, stale scent stung her nose as she appeared in a small room
with several guards and a scowling Daniff. She had barely taken a breath
before he came towards her and briskly picked the comm badge off her chest.
She made no attempt to stop him, instead giving him an icy stare that did
little to hide her contempt. He waved the badge at her. "Security reasons.
You'll get it back when it's all over." He wheezed. "Surely you know all
about security, Captain?" His sneering face was close to hers, but she did
not blink.
	"I want to see Chakotay." It was a command more than a request.
Daniff wrinkled his nose and waved his fist at the guards.
	"Go on, let the lovebirds meet in the nest one last time. Just
don't get too sentimental." He turned to leave, his wheezing could be heard
even after he left the room. One of the guards pushed Janeway towards a
locked door. Realizing that they had no interest in being civil to her, she
silently followed their lead and tolerated the light pushing. She was led
down a corridor full of prisoners crowded into small, barred cells. Some of
them shouted when she passed, seeming to want to provoke the guards.
Occasionally a guard would return the verbal abuse, or swing his weapon
toward the bars.
	They stopped at a cell containing two guards and a figure slumped
into a corner. Janeway gripped the grate with her hands as the door was
opened. She had never seen Chakotay like this. He was propped against the
stone wall, covered with bruises. He was wearing the same clothing as the
rest of the prisoners--a leather vest with a number on it, and a pair of
cloth drawstring pants. His feet were bare. He looked up slowly at the new
arrivals. She saw from his eyes that he was tired, but not afraid; but his
expression changed when he saw her to one of alarm. He started to get up,
but she darted in, put her hands on his shoulders and gently pushed him
back down. "No, no. And don't talk--not yet."
	She was kneeling next to him now, taking in his injuries both
visually and tactically, running her hands over him, causing him to wince
frequently. "Captain...I don't think anything is broken, although..." he
sucked in his breath through his teeth as she went over his knees, "I have
to give them credit for trying." His voice was hoarse. Janeway cast an
angered look around the room which the guards did not seem to notice.
Satisfied, she drew closer to Chakotay.
	She cupped her hand around his face and drew it next to hers.
"Listen to me," she said in a low whisper.  "There's a comm badge hidden
under my hair at the back of my neck. If you can reach around to activate
it, we'll go back right now." She felt his face curl into a smile beneath
her hand, and held her breath as he slowly raised his arm. She could almost
feel the pain and stiffness in his body, and his face twitched with another
grimace.
	They were so engrossed that they did not see the guard approaching.
With a swift kick, he threw Chakotay back into the wall. Janeway jumped to
her feet but the guard quickly pinned her into the wall with his hands and
gave her a leering smile. "So sorry, sweethearts, but it's time for the
murderer to stand trial."   He emitted a sound that was probably a laugh,
and then took a set of shackles from his belt and clamped them over
Janeway's wrists.  Another guard did the same to Chakotay and sharply
yanked him to his feet, causing Chakotay to groan with pain. "Let's go,
traitors," wheezed one of the guards.
	Janeway walked next to Chakotay with a worried look on her face. He
was concentrating on keeping his strength to walk, and looked sideways at
her without speaking. They came to a stairway. The two guards ahead of them
started up and she and Chakotay followed, but he wobbled and fell forward.
The guards behind them quickly slapped him across the back.  "Get up!"
	Janeway took a quick, sharp step and placed herself in front of the
guards. One step above them, she looked down on them with a hard,
unyielding glare. "You will not," she said with a voice that could cut
nails, "touch him again." She stared at them for a split second longer,
until they cast their eyes down. She climbed in front of Chakotay, knelt
and caught his hands in hers, gently pulling him forward. "Come on." she
said quietly, and they started again.

	The courtroom was filled with Drakur, and the smell that had
bothered Janeway before now was stifling, making her headache almost
unbearable. They were led to a railing and their shackles were chained to
it. On pedestal-type steps in front of them was Daniff, wearing an
expression that was almost wicked, with an ugly, satisfied smile on his
face. He gestured around his head with a large metal staff, and the room
became silent. The smile disappeared from his face as he pointed the staff
towards Chakotay. Chakotay opened his mouth to speak but it was covered
quickly by one of the guards, who hissed at him, "If you speak, you die."
	"You are charged with the most sacred, most serious crime one can
commit. A crime against all Drakur! Against our planet! Murderer of Canara!
For this, the most horrible of deeds, you are to pay with your life!"
Daniff almost choked with emotional wheezing as he raged at Chakotay, and
swung the staff wildly. Janeway tugged on the chains restraining her,
making a clanging noise. This drew his attention to her.
	"I thought this was going to be a fair trial." She spoke loudly,
and looked around the room. "A trial where I would be able to speak in the
defense of my Commander."
	"A trial is fair when justice is done! We have the Canara, this
man's weapon and his confession! He is a murderer, and his life is his only
penance!" yelled Daniff. A slow smile returned to his face and he pointed
the staff at Janeway. "But it is touching that your love has brought you
here in an attempt to save him. Foolish of course, but how brave." Janeway
saw other Drakur nodding their heads in agreement, and could feel
Chakotay's stare. Now was not the time to explain.   "And for that, I will
grant you the right to be with him at his death! Death by..." here he
closed his eyes and swung the staff in a wide circle. The room hung in
expectant silence. A joyful look came upon Daniff's face as he yelled,
"Death by hanging! Now!"
	The room echoed with yells, cheers and applause, as Janeway and
Chakotay silently looked at one another.

	They were practically paraded in front of the entire Drakur
populace as they were taken to a large courtyard that seethed with fervor.
Chakotay did not seem to notice the crowd, and drawing in closer to
Janeway, spoke with a hushed voice. "Somehow all this seems to have been a
ploy for the Drakur to enact some new drama into their lives."
	She looked at him and nodded her head. "Agreed. And they will not
forget the last act on this one".
	He was curious, and arched an eyebrow. "And your plan?" They were
walking closely together now, not noticing the rapid growth rate of the
crowd, nor the intermittent fighting that had started to erupt for lack of
space.
	"Commander, as a convicted prisoner, I believe you will be granted
a last request.  If they will not honor it for your sake, then they will
for mine. I'm here because they think you're my husband--" she tried to
ignore the look of astonishment on his face "--and we must be allowed our
final goodbye. It's the only way they'll free our hands. "
	"What type of final goodbye?" He was looking so intently at her
that he almost fell over the steps leading up to the hanging platform.
	She cocked her head to one side. "Improvise."
	The guards now were pushing them up the steps, and Janeway was
looking into the crowd for Daniff. She saw him being carried on a metal
platform through the crowd. When he reached them, the platform stopped. He
raised the metal staff and miraculously the crowd's roar died away. The air
was thick with expectant silence. He seemed to be enjoying himself
tremendously, and leaned over towards them. "Any last words?" he wheezed
loudly.
	"Yes." Chakotay knotted Janeway's fingers in his, their shackles
clinking together.  She looked up at him but remained silent; his voice was
now surprisingly strong. "You have spoken of justice, and it is in the name
of justice that I make this last request. You have seen," he now looked
back down at Janeway, "how this woman has proved her love for me by coming
to try to save me, no matter what the danger or consequences; and so I ask
now that our hands be undone so that she may see my love in return." He
broke his gaze from hers and stared at Daniff. "I would be happy to die,"
he turned back to Janeway and let his voice became hoarse, "if I could just
hold her, and kiss her one more time."  The silence in the air was
deafening. Janeway stared wide-eyed at Chakotay, whose face showed a trace
of the humor she had come to expect from him. They turned their heads
towards Daniff, who let out a heavy wheeze, then raised his hands.
	"It may be done!" he shouted, and the crowd once again broke into
applause and cheering. The guards removed their shackles. Janeway saw the
rope being lowered behind Chakotay's head. Taking his hands, she drew him
in close to her. "You had better make this good, Commander," she murmured,
"because this is your only chance." He put his arms around her back and
slid them up towards her shoulders, under her hair, gently searching. While
he did so she ran her hands up his arms over the bruises lightly, taking
her time traveling up to his neck, then his short thick hair. Suddenly he
gave her the grin that she had been waiting for as his fingers pressed the
comm badge. Her hands went his face, and she said in a low tone, "Janeway
to Voyager." She could barely hear Kim's reply as the crowd was now
chanting, "Kiss! Kiss!" but she could make out the word "ready."  With a
smug smile, she pulled Chakotay tightly to her. He said nothing, gazing at
her earnestly while she slowly raised her face to meet his.  "Energize,"
she whispered, as their lips met...and they faded from the square.

	Ensign Kim could not believe what he was seeing materialize in
front of him. His mouth dropped open at the spectacle.  Tom Paris, striding
through the transporter room door, had to choke back a laugh.
	As soon as the transport was complete, Janeway extracted herself
from Chakotay's arms and began putting her hair back up.  "Good show,
Commander." Her voice had a slight edge to it.
	Chakotay stood in place, folding his arms across his chest; he
appeared to be feeling much better. "I'm glad you liked it, Captain," he
said straightfaced.
	She nodded her head briskly and turned to leave, then saw Kim
staring at her. She put her hands down on the console across from him,
leaning over it into his face. "Mr. Kim, surely you've seen stranger things
in space than this."
	As she moved away, Paris whispered to Kim, "I sure wish she'd been
at MY trial..." He stopped and straightened as Janeway whirled to him.
	"I don't know who you think you're amusing, Mr. Paris, but it's certainly
not me. Now get back to conn and take us out of here--warp three."
 	"Yes, ma'am." He gave a half-salute and left.  She turned back to
see Kim shaking his head. "Ensign, please report to your station. And
Commander, I'm ordering you to sickbay immediately." Kim nodded, moving
past them and out the door. Chakotay edged behind Janeway, picked the comm
badge off her back, and handed it to her.
	"Don't forget this." He handed her the communicator, flashing a
smile, then became serious. "Thank you for coming after me."
	She placed a hand on his arm. "Commander, if I were you, I'd be
more careful. First your life belongs to Tom Paris, and now," she had a
dangerous look on her face, "it belongs to me."
	He watched silently as she strode away from him, giving Tuvok
orders over the communicator, heading for the exit while she finished tying
up the hair that still cascaded across her shoulders.  Chakotay cleared his
throat.  "Captain?"
	"Yes?" She turned warily to her first officer.
	"I like it better down."  He gave her the same sly smile as he had
on the planet the moment before their departure.
	Janeway hesitated for only an instant before pushing the last
strands into place.  "You'd better get to Sickbay, Chakotay," she said
carefully.  "I want the doctor to make sure you're all in one piece."
	He grinned and followed her through the doorway.


END


CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE DEPARTMENT

We could not have started this club without the assistance of Kimberley
Junius, who has been running ENVY so spectacularly for the past several
years.  We plagiarized everything from her column headers to her editorial
asides.  Kimberley--you are an inspiration.  We take the blame for
everything that sucks about this endeavor, but everything that works was
probably your idea.  (And you know what I owe you--next con we can
negotiate collection!  --Michelle)

Gentle readers:  We threw this newsletter together in two weeks.  You may
therefore find a higher number of editing errors than you would prefer,
plus inconsistencies in spelling, grammar, layout, and lord knows what
else.  All we can say is that next time we'll have two months instead of
two weeks so it can only get better!  (Copy editor anyone?)

Reviewers:  you did a truly incredible job working under our ridiculous
time constraints.  And we really did a hack job editing you and laying you
out.  Next time, we promise visuals, we promise spell checking, we promise
no snide comments about Tom Paris inserted into the middle of your
carefully worded prose (unless you're REALLY asking for it).  Please keep
them coming.

RBLS and a.s.f.s. regulars--you know who you are:  thanks for everything,
especially for keeping us laughing and making us remember that sex makes
Star Trek worthwhile--or do we mean the other way around?

Dee:  Didn't I promise you a good time?  Now where's the next one...hidden
in the AOL mailbox?  2 a.m. deadline...

Kate:  We loved every word you said to Tom Snyder about morality and
religion. And we love you even if you DID tell TV Guide you're not a
feminist. (Just don't do it again...  :D)

Just to clear up some things people keep asking us about...

No, we don't know Kate Mulgrew personally.  We're not related to her and we
don't know anyone in her family.  We've never met her, never spoken to her,
never even written to her directly.   We cannot say for certain that she
knows that we exist, although her publicist does.  We have no clue what
kind of car she drives nor who designs her clothes.  We know nothing about
her love life (nor do we care to).   We can't tell you where she lives or
what her phone number is, nor can we tell you how to get onto the set to
meet her.  We can't reveal "Voyager" plot secrets, nor can we offer you
spoilers outside those available in public press releases.  We don't know
anything you dont, except maybe her birthday (April 29).  We're sorry if
this comes as a big disappointment, but we're a fan club, not a direct line
to the goddess herself.  If you want to talk to Ms. Mulgrew, write to her
c/o Paramount Pictures, 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood CA 90038.


WHO WE ARE AND WHERE WE ARE

NOW VOYAGER
c/o Michelle Erica Green and Paul Anderson
15613 Ambiance Drive
North Potomac, MD 20878
301-926-8162
tigger@cais.com, thepooh@aol.com

REAL MASTHEAD NEXT ISSUE!

	You have our heartfelt permission to circulate this first issue
anywhere you want--make more photocopies, post it on the net, spread the
word.  This is the ONLY issue, however, that we will have this policy with.
And this is the LAST issue anyone who didn't pay dues will receive!
	Copyright reserved for the individual authors, except for material
which is otherwise the property of Paramount Pictures and its licensees.

Those of you reading this via e-mail:  you're missing the photos!  You're
missing the cartoons!  You're going to be missing the crossword puzzle!
What's $7 out of your life, really?


We are:

tigger@cais.com (Michelle and Paul)
thepooh@aol.com (Michelle)
anderp@spaceworks.com (Paul)
sa5@cu.nih.gov (Kay)
intendant@aol.com (Cheryl)
bajorfemme@aol.com (Kimberley)
tommyparis@aol.com (Tom)
mbshaw@ucdavis.edu (Matt)
wilson@athena.hood.edu (Missy)
missy@darklair.com (Missy)
cchristi@acs.bu.edu (Caroline)
cortese@netcom.com (Janis)
scarletwit@aol.com (Ari)
wrfbuny@cris.com (Krys)
michael@umbc.edu (Michael)
cmdrselok@aol.com (Jen)
selok@strauss.udel.edu (Jen)
kira@jolt.mpx.com.au (Mary)
sailorcw@ix.netcom.com (Andrew)
mpanti1@gl.umbc.edu (Michael)
sting007@aol.com (James)
thebajoran@aol.com (Annette)
archer34@aol.com (DeAnn)
jrz@psuvm.psu.edu (Joe)
nananut@aol.com (Maureen)
ejs115@psuvm.psu.edu (Siobhan)
kpw@efn.org (Kyle)
captjanwy@aol.com (Risa)
fj505@cleveland.freenet.edu (Jerry)
preacher@mit.edu (Terry)
ataras@aol.com (Atara)
blanche@du.edu (Blanche)
kaabrown@indiana.edu (Kathy)
kareneff@astro.ocis.temple.edu (Karen)
plr8551@aol.com
cardizem@aol.com (Dee)
jlowers@delphi.com (Jane)
cforest@aol.com (Christopher)
jeanne21@aol.com (Jeanne)
moodyblu@umcc.umich.edu (Matthew)
anitag@utdallas.edu (Angie)
plaag@gamma.is.tcu.edu (Joel)
bn737@freenet.carleton.ca (Janet)
peirsant@aol.com
rblleader@aol.com (Karen)
cbstone@phoenix.princeton.edu (Christopher)
jrz3@psuvm.psu.edu (Joe Zimmerman)
dalcowfn@ix.netcom.com (Emilio)
russkerE@aol.com (Russ)
kedinal@midway.uchicago.edu (Karen)
jmanders@willamette.edu (Jon)
rassilon@aol.com (Josh)
sorren@mit.edu (Josh)
lepcast@aol.com (Peter)
emerald@dartmouth.edu
rbolady@aol.com (Becky)
mujle@uxa.ecn.bgu.edu (Jennifer)
aa772@freenet.carleton.ca (Karen)
rhanson@ix.netcom.com (Richard)
oracle@eskimo.com (Jerry)
jd32@umail.umd.edu (Jane)
gt3834a@prism.gatech.edu (Jill)
cmarti12@itc129.be.ford.com (Chris)
mclemens@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (Elizabeth)
cmzmasek@artsci.wustl.edu (Christian)
schmidt@primenet.com (Bill)
aaront@norden1.com (Aaron)
gcarroll@blue.weeg.uiowa.edu (Gerry and Susan)
rvw@netcom.com (Robert)
leonardll@aol.com (Larry)
treehouse2@ix.netcom.com (Ed)
moondog@primenet.com (Ralph)
xtrem2dmax@aol.com (Jacob)
mike@mailserv.phoenix.net (Mike)
delaney@j51.com (Richard)
penningt_l@kosmos.wcc.govt.nz (Lana)
clevy@husc.harvard.edu (Carla)
robokid2@aol.com
andreahaag@aol.com (Andrea)
zilyar@aol.com (Liz)
thp9z@poe.acc.virginia.edu (Trevor)
GG-MEE@ix.netcom.com (Mary)
dee@primenet.com (Saxton)
scheong@idirect.com (Steve)
sac35652@saclink1.csus.edu (Kevin)
z004790b@bcfreenet.seflin.lib.fl.us (Steve)
roh@coventry.ac.uk (Trencher)
rmartin12@aol.com (Richard)
dl145@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Brian)
71573.2027@compuserve.com (Joe)
gini@ix.netcom.com (Virginia)
radke@krypta.snafu.de (Marco)
drasmuss@julian.uwo.ca (Denyse)
roy_green@his.com (Linda and Roy)
jchrist911@aol.com (Jennifer)
lukej@db.erau.edu (John)
nguyen@omega.uta.edu (Tr)
horney@english.engin.umich.edu (Ben)
br407@freenet.carleton.ca (Dwayne)
s0195571@hawkmail.monmouth.edu (Shawn)
stefan@mercury.owl.de (Stefan)
lauralee@princeton.edu (Laura)
caralec@mcs.com (Carollina)
kaess@badlands.NoDak.edu (Ryan)
eahg231@ea.oac.uci.edu (Robyn)
wwlee@io.org (William)
ricknpam@ix.netcom.com (Pamela)
petersm@peak.org (Marguerite)
hutch@wam.umd.edu (Linda)
sashi@feith1.feith.com.feith.com (Sashi)

    Source: geocities.com/televisioncity/station/1965/archive

               ( geocities.com/televisioncity/station/1965)                   ( geocities.com/televisioncity/station)                   ( geocities.com/televisioncity)