Synopsis:
The crew discovers that a nebula is not what it seems, and
Paris invites his fellow officers to share a little
"R&R" in his holodeck program.
Eager to raise the morale of the crew, Janeway jumps at the
change to explore a nebula emitting a high level of omicron
particles, which might prove useful for the ship's energy
reserves. But shortly after Voyager enters the cloud-like
formation, it encounters an energy barrier that brings the ship
to a dead stop. Breaking through, the ship continues its
penetration of the nebula's inner reaches, only to be bombarded
by peculiar globules that attach themselves to the hull. With
the globules beginning to drain the starship's energy reserves,
Janeway orders the crew to leave the nebula, but this time they
can't get past the energy barrier until they blast their way out
with a photon torpedo.
The excitement over, Paris invites Kim to tag along for some
rest and recreation in Sandrine's, a holodeck recreation of a
French bar that Paris frequented in his Academy days. In the
meantime, Torres spends her time analyzing one of the globules
that attached itself to the hull. Surprised at the results, she
confirms her findings with the Doctor and then notifies the
Captain.
The globules are organic elements of a much larger lifeform,
she explains. In other words, the nebula was actually a living
entity and the phenomena they encountered were part of the
entity's natural defense systems. Concerned that the encounter
with Voyager may have caused the lifeform serious injury,
Janeway proposes returning and repairing the harm they've done.
The Doctor tells her that the organic samples seem to indicate
that the lifeform has the capacity to regenerate, given the
appropriate stimulation.
Returning to the "nebula," Voyager re-enters and
prepares to irradiate the wound with a nucleonic beam. But
they're interrupted when the lifeform's natural defense systems
again attack the ship, forcing them away from the wound.
Although the ship sustains damage, they are eventually able to
return to the injury site. The Doctor suggests a method of
"suturing" the wound, which they manage to do after
distracting the entity's defense systems with a microprobe. Just
before the wound seals over, Voyager escapes from the cloud and
sets course for a planet where they can replenish their depleted
energy reserves. En route, Janeway joins Paris and her other
senior staff officers at Sandrine's, where everyone is surprised
with her pool playing expertise.
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Cast:
Kate Mulgrew as Kathryn Janeway™
Robert Beltran as Chakotay™
Roxann Biggs-Dawson as B'Elanna Torres™
Robert Duncan McNeill as Tom Paris™
Jennifer Lien as Kes™
Ethan Phillips as Neelix™
Robert Picardo as The Doctor
Tim Russ as Tuvok™
Garrett Wang as Harry Kim™
Guest Cast:
Larry Hankin as Gaunt Gary
Angela Dohrmann as Ricky
Judy Geeson as Sandrine
Luigi Amodeo as The Gigolo
Creative staff:
Director: David Livingston
Story By: Brannon Braga
Teleplay By: Tom Szollosi and Michael Piller
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