NOW VOYAGER THE OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF THE KATE MULGREW APPRECIATION SOCIETY VOLUME II NUMBER 5 **THE BUZZ** Once again rerun season is upon us, and we find ourselves with no reviews to print. Instead we have filled this issue with commentary on Voyager's second season, con reports, and an inordinate amount of fan fiction: the usual copyright violation and, by popular demand, a pull-out mini-zine filled entirely with "Resolutions"-inspired material, a J/Cer's treasure trove. Like Chakotay says, my people have an ancient saying: "You can please some of the people some of the time, but you can't please all of the people all of the time." So don't blame us, we just collect and publish the stuff! One of the drawbacks of fandom is that inappropriate behavior by a few people can have repercussions for many others. Since we want this club to be a place for everyone to participate amicably, we've decided to define some parameters about us. Most of these are intuitive, and this column will probably sound legalistic and negative, but it's in the best interests of all of us to make clear: NOW VOYAGER FAN CLUB POLICY Kate Mulgrew's official fan club was created to give fans a forum to rejoice in Kate Mulgrew's career and her place in the Star Trek universe, with the possibility of engaging in charitable and humanitarian work in her name. Membership is open to any fan of Kate's in any country; participation in club activities is encouraged, but not necessary. The club and its publications are amateur, not-for-profit entities which claim no sanction from Paramount Pictures nor any other broadcasting company. Opinions expressed by members do not necessarily reflect those of the fan club nor those of Kate Mulgrew. Anyone representing Now Voyager must have written permission from the club to do so, and must behave in a manner respectful of Kate, her fans, and her professional contacts. Now Voyager reserves the right to revoke the membership of any member who harasses Kate Mulgrew, her associates, or any other member of the fan club. A member may also be dismissed for misrepresentation of the club, unauthorized dissemination of materials, or behavior which could cause embarrassment to Now Voyager or to Kate Mulgrew. Should such a cancellation become necessary, dues will be refunded on a pro-rata basis. Now Voyager will inform Paramount Pictures and convention organizers of any threats, slander, or behavior which might disturb Kate's privacy or disrupt an event connected with her. For security reasons, Now Voyager may inform current members of the club as well. Now Voyager endeavors to be a family-oriented club, but since Star Trek often deals with inflammatory social issues, the newsletter and electronic list may feature remarks about topics which run contrary to some people's definitions of "family values." Racist, sexist, or homophobic comments will not be permitted. The club will not participate in any campaign directed at the producers of Star Trek or UPN, except under circumstances such as cancellation of a show or recasting of a character. Members participating in write-in campaigns may not use the club's name without permission from the club. NOW VOYAGER EDITORIAL POLICY Now Voyager's newsletter is a forum to discuss and celebrate the work of Kate Mulgrew, the character of Captain Kathryn Janeway, and the broader universe of Star Trek. All articles submitted should be relevant to fans of Kate and/or Star Trek. Insightful criticism is always welcome; however, contributions which demean the performers, fans, or producers will not be printed, as this newsletter is not the proper place for such remarks. Now Voyager may edit submissions for clarity, length, and syntax. The club would prefer not to create a policy which would forbid the use of specific terminology, but reserves the right to edit profanity from any article. Libelous or plagiarized submissions will be rejected and may be considered grounds for dismissal from the club. Now Voyager may reject submissions for reasons of legibility, coherence, timeliness,appropriateness, or space in the newsletter. Articles refused by Now Voyager may be submitted elsewhere or revised for reconsideration. All items printed by Now Voyager remain the property of the original writers and artists. They may not be reprinted elsewhere without permission of the editors for a period of two months following publication. After that time, items appearing in Now Voyager may be printed or posted elsewhere at the authors' and artists' discretion, provided that such material is accompanied by a notation stating that it originally appeared in Now Voyager. Articles submitted simultaneously to Now Voyager and other publications must be identified as such. The use of pseudonyms is acceptable for publication, but all submissions must include the author's legal name. At present, Now Voyager does not have a letters to the editor column because we receive very few letters per se; submissions sent as commentary are evaluated as articles, and all suggestions are read and responded to. The club will forward comments to writers, but will not publicly publish criticism of authors or articles. Comments and suggestions about the club and the newsletter are welcome. We remind our members that Now Voyager operates on a very limited budget, so many requests simply cannot be implemented. We want Now Voyager to represent Kate Mulgrew and her fans in the best manner possible, and we appreciate your understanding of these policies. Michelle **REVIEWZZZZZZZZ** WRAPPING UP THE SEASON by Cecilia Lee The last season of Voyager has produced many memorable and compelling episodes, establishing a good trend for the next season. Who can forget the heartwrenching moment in "Resistance" as Janeway leans over Caylem, assuming the role as his daughter and reassuring the dying man wracked with years of guilt and grief that he saved all. The rare, open display of her emotions to a stranger contrasted well with her normally masked composure reserved for her crew. Or when she allowed her crew to choose to stay in "The 37's." As she and Chakotay entered the cargo bay, I know I breathed a sigh of relief along with them. And when she executed Tuvix with that steely determination and Starfleet composure that crumpled only after she escaped from sickbay, revealing her personal conflict. Or in "Death Wish" as she ordered Q out of her quarters with a simple yet deadly whisper--"Leave!"--more effective than any lengthy outrage--then the philosophical yet heartfelt monologue as she explained her ruling for asylum, and implored Quinn to think hard about his decision to die, because she likes this life. Compare that with her chilling composure as she gracefully rose from her command chair in "Deadlock" to welcome the Vidiians to the bridge: dying as she lived, with grace, composure, and strength. What a fabulous season, Kate! This season also painted another hue to each character. From Chakotay's conflicted youth in "Tattoo" to his coming to terms with his uniform in "Initiations" to his declaration of...peace...in "Resolutions," we're seeing an outline develop for his character. I would like to see more of it filled in next season. I have to admit that I was rather ambivalent towards him for most of the season, and amused by the scenes where his fondness for the Captain was apparent. But I dismissed his interest in her. Of course anyone would worship Janeway, and it's easy to think none are worthy of her. However, he really grabbed my attention with his quiet yet fierce devotion in "Resolutions"--always held in check, never insistent, yet deeply profound. I imagine that had they not been on the planet, he would have quietly loved her, unrevealed, for a long time. He would never compromise her position or be a source of conflict between her personal feelings and professional duty. During the latter part of the season, I realized that his quiet and easy manner of the past was not a weakness, but a great strength that only the most assured men attain after a lifetime of searching and conflict. I'm a sucker for strength that is wrapped in the gentlest of covers, by a man who's come to terms with himself, who can live without ever having to reveal his power. I wonder how this will play itself out on Voyager. I can't imagine Chakotay would press Janeway for a relationship. She would have to come to him, and understand where she's going with it, before he responds or encourages her in any way. Given their behavior on the bridge, it looks as if they have shelved whatever emotions they have. Personally, if nothing ever happens beyond this point, I'll still be ecstatic that his emotions were revealed. It would be even better if she revealed hers, after saying goodbye to Mark of course. And even if they painfully agreed never to act on it, I would be happy enough, in a bittersweet sort of way, to have been shown this much of their relationship. Otherwise, I can't see them doing anything other than going for broke--a love so profound and enduring that they'd have to get married. And then what would happen to them if they got back to Alpha Quadrant? Would they still serve together? What about kids? What about the movies? When did this get so complicated? The rest of the crew have developed nicely. More time needs to be spent with Harry Kim's character. He has to be more than the eager ensign. He did a great job in "Resolutions," as he stood up to Tuvok, and he worked quite well with B'Elanna in "Prototype." The same goes for Tom Paris--he's too one dimensional. His character was oddly showcased this season, from testosterone Tom in "Parturition" to tormented Tom in "Threshold" to an erratically moody Tom leading up to "Investigations." He needs to grow up, yet still retain his zest for life that makes his character so dynamic. B'Elanna Torres was showcased well with "Prototype" and "Dreadnought." However, I best enjoy her struggles with people and their decisions rather than her inner conflicts, like when she chewed out Hogan for questioning the captain's competence in "Alliances," argued with Janeway about the fate of the robots in "Prototype" and then dealt with that decision, struggled with Chakotay's disappointment of her handling of Dreadnought when she was a Maquis, scolded the ensign and barked at Harry to "take a deep breath and move on" in "Resolutions." Wonderful stuff. I hope this is showcased far more next season. The Doctor was wonderful, of course. His acerbic wit highlighted many scenes. I hope to see more of him next season, but I hope he avoids the "I wish I were someone/something else" syndrome of which Data and Odo fell victim and maintains his arrogant humour. Kes and Neelix are beginning to lose their appeal for me. They have added a wonderful touch to many episodes, but the monotony of their roles is becoming tiresome. Lovely as Kes is, memorable scenes like her adding additional time to the Doctor's flu program in "Tattoo," her sweetly wicked "Are you sure?" to the Doc's question of his reality in "Projections," the touching moments discussing loneliness with Captain Janeway in "Tuvix," and her chat with Tuvok in "Resolutions" are few and far between. I don't believe her character often warrants an entire episode like "Elogium" or "Cold Fire," but at least she's not as annoying as Neelix. Surely Neelix has more to add than being the resident chef of indigestibles and the bumbling buffoon. I'm not advocating an entire episode focused on his character, but each presence should be different, and not another instance of serving slop behind the counter. His most useful scenes were his away mission in "Alliances," fighting the Kazon with vegetables in "Projections," and testing the Kazon's approach through Nistrim space in "Basics I." I've really enjoyed Tuvok's scenes when he's not playing Security Officer. The powerful moment in the dark of his smashed room in "Meld," his warmth to the children and insight into Vulcan parenting in "Innocence," his handling of Kim in "Resolutions," and his glee at having Janeway in his quarters in "Alliances" were first rate--never overplayed, yet obvious in a subtle way. As a result, the symbio genesis episode was one of the best of the season. Unlike many viewers, I thought that Janeway made the correct decision in choosing to terminate Tuvix's life. I believe the decision was not based on numbers, i.e. kill one life, save two. She owed a bigger duty of care to her original crew members than Tuvix. Why? As she said, if she had to choose the moment the accident happened, she would have had no trouble in deciding. Just because Tuvix was quite likable does not mean she did not have a duty to Neelix and Tuvok. Time made the decision more difficult on a personal level, but the original dilemma was still the same. If she did not recover her crew, what message would she be sending? That she would have more regard for an evolving alien than for her own crewmembers? Given this argument, neither she nor Paris should have been extracted from the salamanders they turned into in "Threshold." Yes, the decision regarding Tuvix was difficult, and everyone looked queasy about it. To the Captain's credit, her strength of character enabled her to act on the correct decision and not allow her personal regard to affect it. The facts never changed, only the degree of intimacy with the 'victim.' Let's go back to that oasis within an oasis: "Resolutions." At the point when that episode aired, I had not discovered the world of Trek on the internet, so I was not aware of the show beyond what the spoilers revealed. I waited all week, wondering what would compel Janeway to abandon ship. I must have held my breath in wonder and delight the whole hour--just as the trailer promised, but for different reasons. Janeway and Chakotay on a planet--alone! Every time the relationship advanced, I held my breath: "Chakotay, I've been thinking, we're no longer in a command structure--maybe you should call me Kathryn"; the building of their house and new life; the "what are you up to in the woods" scene; the bathtub scene, showing their discomfort at his awareness of her physically; the back rub scene, which triggered his toe-curling confession and her tears; the growing easy banter, "I'd like your opinion on something in the house..." "...you've come to the right person, I always have an opinion." I waited for the fragile house of cards to fall. And it didn't. Going back to Voyager does not mean they resolved anything! I must have had a permanent grin as I unblinkingly watched and re-watched that episode. The whole time, I was euphoric. There's hope where none existed before! They didn't kill it! They just added tons of fuel to that fire. My feelings on the Did they/Didn't they debate: They definitely did not. Not that I didn't want them to. But she was obviously surprised at his admission, and highly unlikely to respond all of a sudden to his desire for a relationship. More likely, she was getting used to the idea, but still needed to say goodbye to Mark and give up on the idea of ever getting back to Voyager. I think she obviously did come to terms with her feelings for Chakotay, as indicated by their easy relationship at the end, but the time frame was not quite long enough. The final New Earth scene, Janeway's regret at what might have been as she looked to the tomatoes, was a nice touch--the plants symbolising the growing domestic side of her that would have borne fruit, given time. There should have been a scene where she touched his arm and he nodded in quiet understanding before the beamed up. This would have eased the abrupt and harsh shift as they resumed their necessarily over-played Starfleet composure as she crisply issued out commands, as if their absence had never happened. Well, as a result of "Resolutions" and "Tuvix," episode, I have become a Trekker. Okay, perhaps not a Trekker, as I only care about Voyager. Does that make me a Voyeur? or Voyageur? Jeri Taylor, this is all your fault. I'm scouring the Internet for any tidbits and relying on fan fiction as I anxiously await the third season. I'm hoping for a big Captain's redemption in "Basics II," and, more eagerly, to see what's going to happen with Janeway's relationship with Chakotay. Next season, I hope the first episode deals with the mistakes that were made in "Basics I." I know that I should reserve my judgement until I see the second half, but the Captain's competence has been eroded unless she can answer some basic questions. The episode should cover her plagued thoughts recognizing that the last encounter with an enemy was too close a call. If they are going to survive, they will have to do more than they're currently doing. Starfleet standards are not enough alone in the Delta Quadrant. After getting all systems running, they should explain why no one knew that the self destruct sequence requires the secondary command processor, how all functions were affected by the damage, why the internal fire systems did not put out the Kazon explosion, why the explosive was not detected by the transporter, why the authorization code was not required for Kulluh to take over the controls. To set the stage for the next shows, Janeway needs to have B'Elanna and Harry work on allowing the Doc access to all critical parts of the ship for future emergencies, Doc working on developing a procedure to render non- Starfleet personnel unconscious in case of alien boarding, Tuvok conducting emergency procedure drills like how to gas the ship without affecting the principal crew. Janeway should blame herself for having lost control of the ship. She needs to work herself and her crew on improving systems, cross-training and running drill after drill. Chakotay will probably speak to her about easing up a little, and she'll try to argue that they have to be better prepared. She'll eventually compromise when she realizes that she's working the crew and herself to death, ease off a little, but still maintain a more aggressive and active workload for the crew. They need to search for methods of getting home, work on the Warp 10 theory so they can go Warp 9.99999 without using too much antimatter, for a longer period of time, find a way to create wormholes, etc. As for herself and Chakotay, they'll both agree that they need to focus their energy on Voyager for the time being...always with just enough flirting to keep us happy. For the rest of the season, adios to Seska and the Kazon. I hope Q returns and shows how the loved ones of the crew have gone on in the Alpha Quadrant. This would allow everyone, including Janeway, to finally let go, as they realize their family and friends have. Janeway should ask Q if they are ever going to make it back. His smile would give her renewed hope, anyway. **KATEWATCH** BEST OF THE REP 20 MAY 1996, SEATTLE, WASHINGTON The annual Best of the Rep celebration was created to raise funds for children's theater programs at the Seattle Repertory Theatre, so that kids who would otherwise never get exposed to the dramatic arts might have a chance to do so. This year the evening was hosted by Kate Mulgrew, with performances by Keith Carradine, Freyda Payne, Roz Ryan, the cast of Blues in the Night, and other performers who have been in residence at the theater. The show took place on the main stage of the Rep, the Bagley-Wright Theatre, currently being renovated and expanded. Kate has a long history with the Seattle Rep, some of which was detailed in the local news before the charity event. A huge photograph of her in costume from an early '80s production of Moliere's The Misanthrope hangs in the lobby where, before the show, all patrons were treated to local fare and brews--salmon, smoked turkey, fancy cheeses, and various other foods which it can be dangerous to ingest while wearing formal attire! There was a dinner for patrons after the show as well, which all the stars attended, but one had to have purchased $250.00 tickets to attend...so I cannot report on that portion of the event. Kate was dressed in an ankle-length black gown that had a velvet bodice and chiffon skirt, with a long slit up the side that showed off her legs. She looked elegant and exuberant, though more petite than one would expect from her television persona. She joked about the photo in the lobby, revealing that she was very pregnant while appearing in the production. When she warned the director about her expanding waistline, he suggested "More fabric!" She also joked about the Supersonics playoff game taking place nearby that night, offering to beam us all home so that we could avoid the traffic. Kate summmoned Keith Carradine to the stage by quoting his old reviews, which she "just happened to have," and remained onstage through his performance of several songs and a monologue from his new show. Other present and former Rep stars performed short dramatic pieces as well. Kate was obviously enjoying herself, tapping her feet and moving her shoulders, during Freyda Payne's singing "Band of Gold" and throughout the blues portion of the evening--a local school group, then Roz Ryan, and finally the cast of Blues in the Night singing standards. Kate encouraged them to do an encore and then thanked the applauding house. During the course of the evening, Kate revealed that she will be grand marshall of Seattle's Torchlight Parade at Seafair this July, so we look forward to having her in the neighborhood again! --Chris Showalter VULKON 22-23 JUNE 1996, ORLANDO, FLORIDA Stargazer lilies--very beautiful, very fragrant--my sinuses are still swimming. These were the flowers of choice which Trish Williams and I presented to Kate on behalf of Now Voyager during her first appearance in Orlando. It was all arranged with Michelle, Kate's publicist, Joe Motes (Vulkon promoter) and his staff. We were told where to stand, that we would make the presentation as soon as she got on stage, and that Kate was indeed aware it was coming. At 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, Kate breezed into the room amid thunderous applause and a standing ovation. She immediately grabbed a mike and began to talk...and talk...and talk... Fifteen minutes later, Trish and I were still standing there, the fragrance making my eyes spin as I looked wistfully into the audience where my vacant chair awaited me. In hushed tones, Trish said, "She's got to take a breath eventually. Then we're busting in there!" Sure enough, Kate finally paused to take her first question, and Trish leaped to the stage. Kate was very gracious and handed the mike to Trish, much to her chagrin. We made our presentation, got kisses on the cheek (happy sigh), updated Kate on Michelle's expectant condition, and beat as hasty a retreat as possible through the sea of 1100 back to our seats to enjoy the rest of Kate's talk. I was quite unprepared for just how comfortable Kate is in a con setting--seemingly a natural. She's bright, witty, quick on her feet with questions asked by both adults and children, and very funny. My 10-year-old son, who has been dragged to many a convention since he was just a baby, remarked to me later that Kate was the best guest he'd ever seen. He was really impressed by her, and suffice to say, so were 1100 other folks that day, and more the next. Kate opened her talk on Saturday with very Orlando-specific statements. Most notably, she said that Orlando is recognized around Paramount for having one of the best and most unconditional support systems for Voyager. Does she say that everywhere she goes? I don't think I've read as such, so if it's true, we're blushing! She also admitted that she and her children were vacationing in Orlando, and that her boys--the "Irish twins"--had been so courteous and entertained since they'd hit the theme parks four days earlier that she had to ask, "Should we live at Disney World?" I think I liked best those times when Kate talked about her upbringing, her drive to become an actress at age 12 and the hard work it took to get where she is, her sons, and the commonalities she shares with many of the rest of us--such as the difficulties in raising two pubescent boys whom she obviously adores, working long hours, keeping house (the phrase "up to my elbows in ground beef" kept popping up), and what it was like growing up in a very ethnic environment. Somehow, all that manages to bring her down from that pedestal where she is Kate Mulgrew, The Actress, to a level where the rest of us can recognize her as simply a warm and interesting woman anyone would love to sit down and have a conversation with--assuming you could get a word in edgewise . One of my favorite anecdotes that she told about the early days of career was how she "lied, stole, and begged" to get an agent. When she was 18 she walked into the offices of Star Castle Agency, at the time one of the best agents in New York. She told the receptionist that she had met a Mr. Hesselton the week before at a party in South Hampton, and that he told her to come in. A half hour later she was standing in Hesselton's office where he demanded she perform a comedy monologue and another from Shakespeare right then on her feet. After she did them, he said, "Sit down, sign here, and don't ever lie to me again." Two weeks later, her agent got her the role of Mary Ryan on Ryan's Hope which she taped during the day, and then at night she was driven out to Stratford, Connecticut, to star in the stage play Our Town. That was her first summer as a professional actress. Both days at the start of her talk, Kate went to great lengths to focus on each of her Voyager costars and to highlight their strengths and gifts, as well as her heartfelt adoration for all of them. She said more than once that it was so unusual to find a group of nine who all got along spectacularly, but that this was indeed the case on the set of Voyager. Of course, the pitfalls of getting nine people in a room who like each other so much would have to include a lot of laughter, a lot of fooling around, and the infamous practical jokes. At this time, Kate's pet peeve is Tim Russ, "The Dead Man" who has made it his mission in the last six months to get Kate to crack during her close ups. After being on the losing end of a spitball war while filming "Basics," Kate said she paid a wardrobe guy to go into Tim's trailer, remove his clothing, and leave only a car key. As luck would have it, she underestimated Tim once again because, as Kate found out, "Nudity is his natural state!" I think it's safe to say there are a few of us who will never look at Tuvok in quite the same light again, and not without a smile on our faces. Kate certainly seems to understand the passion fans have for the franchise. When asked by her friends, family, or peers what it's like to talk to the fans, she answers, "Have you ever been passionate about anything in your life? About a hobby...I don't think anything compares to what I have seen...but I mean this in a kind of extraordinary way, because I am very passionate about my hobby, which is acting." Kate's passion for her character is never in question. She admits that she fell in love with Kathryn Janeway right from the start. "I think it only happens once or twice," Kate said. "A little like men, isn't it?" For Kate, the challenge is to take Janeway even deeper than the writers conceived her to be. When asked whether or not we would see Janeway exploring her personal and spiritual side more in season three, Kate remarked that "The executive producers and possibly those in charge of the franchise...think the captain has to be...outside of personal peril. I think just the opposite. I think the more you come with me in my heart, in my head, the more we go together." Kate wants to find a more complicated level for Janeway and for the rest of the characters, and she expressed a desire to see Janeway "tortured." She stated that the interpersonal relationships on the ship intrigue her and that she wanted to see them all investigated. In that respect, when asked if she could write or produce any episode she wanted, what would it entail, both days she immediately answered that she would focus on a relationship between Paris and Torres, using Janeway as the voyeur. However, on the subject of Janeway's own love life, Kate seemed pretty certain that she didn't want to see a romance explored between Janeway and Chakotay. Instead, she said, "How about for the first time in the history of episodic television, a man and a woman have a friendship so deep, so true, so exciting, that you don't care about [romance]?" Personally, I think the fact that Kate wants to see a romance written for Paris and Torres is fueled by her desire to take the heat off Janeway and Chakotay for a while! Kate really does seem to think there are a lot of things Janeway can't get away with--a lot that the audience won't accept--because she's a woman in the center seat. With someone like Picard, whom she described as an attractive and brilliant captain, she thinks it's perfectly acceptable for him to go down to some planet and have a brief fling--but Janeway couldn't get away with that because, "If she's nothing else, she's a lady." On a related note, she mentioned that Janeway's holodeck program was written out because of the backlash from fans who seemed concerned that the character was immersing herself in a passionate affair with a figment of her imagination. Kate did touch on the controversy about Janeway's "touchy-feely quotient" and said, "If you were lost in space...probably never will see your family, loved ones, wives, husbands, children again, wouldn't you lay a hand on somebody? I do that to remind them that we're all in this together." As to Janeway's relationship with different kind of man--specifically Q--she admitted that she and the producers would love to find a way to bring the character back at least quarterly. Kate likes working with John de Lancie a lot--he's one of her closest male friends. She wondered why Janeway and Q couldn't be allies, "in the most electrifying sense. Where in fact she is titillated by this extraordinary personality...and he also conversely is rather fascinated by her." Kate's personal favorite episode she says is a toss up between "Resistance" and "Death Wish". Episodes that the audience kept asking about included "Deadlock" and her extensive double work there (or as Kate put it, "Double Janeway--a Baskin Robbins flavor."), and "Tuvix." One audience member remarked how "Tuvix" showcased the true loneliness of command, to which Kate agreed. She admitted there was a desire to lighten up the mood a bit at the end by having Janeway talk to Tuvok or something like that, but that she urged them to take the route that they did where it was obvious that no one else would have anything to do with the outcome, and to keep the ending very somber. Kate also thought that "Meld" was wonderful, and said that Tim Russ's performance moved her a lot in that one. What's coming up in season three? Kate did say that a new diabolical and terrifying species of aliens has been developed. Up until now, she admitted that her favorite aliens were the Vidiians. "I mean, you can always get bad guys, but organ stealers--they're hard to come by!" Kate also indicated that there would be more babies on Voyager, but gave no more details than that! She said that unlike some of her costars like Robbie McNeill and Robert Picardo, she had no plans to direct because she wasn't objective enough. "I have a very myopic approach," Kate said, and "I think a directorial sense is far more spacial." But she did go on to say, "Never say never, and never say die." When it came time to field the infamous hair question, Kate simply groaned and said that she didn't understand why that was the most interesting thing about her character. "I mean, the ship can explode, we can get lost in this quadrant, the alien species take my organs...but what about her hair?!?" She led the audience to admit that the only reason her hair was so interesting was because she was a woman. Kate said, "If Janeway lent as much credibility to her hair as the United States has given it, who would I be? I'd be Dolly Parton!" Kate said that she wants to elevate Voyager to a critical level. She admitted that she didn't understand anything about numbers, and the franchise game, and that she didn't really care about all that anyway. Kate said when she had the opportunity to go to the White House, the First Lady shook her hand and said, "It's the only show that Chelsea and I watch in the week." To which Kate responded, "Well, madam, if it's good enough for you, it's good enough for the rest of the nation!" I do have to note that Kate had quite a bit of good-natured fun with questions about "Threshold." On Saturday, Kate brought up on stage two young boys who had their hands raised for a while, but were talking to each other when she called on them. She took a couple minutes to needle them with good humor, and then got a bit taken aback when the question one asked her was, "How did you feel when you had babies with Tom Paris on that episode?" I think the whole audience busted a gut at that point. After a moment to compose herself, Kate came back with, "You called those babies? Those were salamanders...I felt a little odd about that because if you were me, and you were pregnant, and you had salamanders..." Sometime after that, an audience member asked about Martha Hackett's real life baby, and whether or not she had a boy or a girl. Kate launched into what a beautiful baby Martha had, but was embarrassingly stumped when she realized she couldn't remember if it was a boy or girl. She said, "You see, if they're not salamanders, I can't remember!" Kate did finally recall that Martha had a boy. As for the rest of the con, the Now Voyager/RanDoM Flight table was a huge success. We were stationed right outside the dealer's room, so the traffic level was stifling! Any and all Now Voyagerites came by to introduce themselves and get their badges. Everyone was wonderful. All the flyers were picked up, and folks really enjoyed looking at all the photos and other items of interest, such as the "Touchy-Feely Count" and "65 Reasons Janeway is Better than Picard." Anne Davenport's wonderful papier-mache Tom/Kathryn/baby salamanders were a hit with the crowd, who loved looking at them, touching them (making me a nervous wreck), and wanting to know which was which. Anne had marked their names on the bottom of the adults, and twice when our attentions were diverted, we turned back to find the salamanders stacked in mating position, with Tom appropriately on top! --Pam Buickel My youngest daughter once asked me--after she had just seen me interact with a particularly vivacious and animated woman in a store--"Mom...would you say that lady has a BIG personality?" My daughter's question aptly describes the personality of Kate Mulgrew. She is prettier and slimmer in person than on TV. Her hair is not quite shoulder length, and she wore it down. To a sold-out crowd of over 1000--looking elegant in an off-white, long-sleeved pantsuit with a long, single strand of pearls--she promptly launched into her two reasons for liking Orlando: It is the best city when it comes to unconditional support for Voyager...and her children have not asked her what they could do for the past three days! Because of her age, she then talked about how she feared that beloved character part would never come. After Genevieve Bujold left Voyager and Mulgrew was called back, there were four other actresses competing for Janeway's role. Kate noted the difference trying out for a part. At 20, you walk in (Kate struts with an attitude; audience hoots and cheers)--but when you're 40, you walk in and say, "Hi Helen! How are you doing and how are the kids?" Physically sick with a fever, she had 10 minutes to audition in front of 35 people, stating before she began, "You know...I love her." When it was over, she said "'Thank you very much'...went home...threw up...went to bed." Rick Berman called the next morning with "Welcome aboard, Captain." Mulgrew talked about the eight company members that "she truly does adore"--with the exception of Tim Russ, describing him as a dead man. After one particularly well-placed spitball in the middle of her forehead--they said "cut," she said "you're dead"--she paid wardrobe $500 to remove all of his clothing from his trailer, leaving him with one car key. He went about his business unperturbed because, "Nudity is his natural state!" Her second nemesis is John Ethan Phillips because just before a 10 minute bridge scene involving all the characters, he starts with the stupidest jokes, and they eventually all lose it. Continuing to laud her co-workers, she stated that "Everybody is great. Garrett Wang is great--and young." Jennifer Lien is "beautiful, deep, solitary" and a mystery to Mulgrew. She called Bob Picardo the "most perfectionist, involved, skilled actor," affectionately labeled him "anal-retentive," and said she feels that he will be directing soon. Roxann Biggs-Dawson continues to surprise her because "her life is full of quality and risk-taking." She said Roxann just converted to Catholicism "at her age", and is a "great friend--beautiful and superb wife--and an intense and exciting actress!" Robbie McNeill is "naughty" on the bridge. During the eighteenth shooting hour, "Mr. Paris starts voice changes." She described being on the bridge with everyone as being the same as in the kitchen with a big family--alluding to her growing up in a large family of eight. McNeill directed her in an upcoming third season episode called "Sacred Ground" concerning Janeway's spirituality. She said he has a "genius touch" for directing, showing "patience, kindness, and attention to detail," and was very impressed by the manner in which McNeill treated the four senior actors--as if he were blessed to have them working for him, and not the other way around. Last, but not least, she talked about Robert Beltran: "If only he could get a date!" Mulgrew said that when she complains about his "broads" bothering her to get to him, he just gives her an innocent "What? Are they bothering you?" and--as he's walking away--25 women are following in his wake. This seemed to affect her opinion of Chakotay. Regarding any future with himself and Janeway, she said, "I think not--I'd be #50 in his line! No, it wouldn't work. 'Red alert! And Commander--in my ready room!'" Mulgrew describes herself as "one of the world's happiest actresses." She said the work is "hard and exacting" and "you have to be tough and disciplined." If they have a 5 or 6 page scene, and one line is inverted--can't say an "if" for a "but"--they reshoot the scene. The 8--16 hour days with no tolerance for improvisation can be "disconcerting" to the guest actors. Alluding to her roots, Mulgrew described the long work day as "Irish-Catholic penance"; she also called her 12 and 13 year old sons "Irish twins," and revealed that after the phone call from Rick Berman, she fell down on her knees with her sons and housekeeper to recite "Our Father," and then brought out the champagne! After Bartricia Williams and Pam Buickel gave Kate Mulgrew flowers on behalf of Now Voyager, she stated that she was overwhelmed at the unconditional support from her fans. When a fan asked how long it took her to realize how much she was appreciated, she again stated that she still hasn't realized how much (ahhhs and then applause). She said it was because of "her own myopia" concentrating on Janeway only; she has a "deep and abiding passion for her." Mulgrew zeroed in on children during the questioning. A tiny girl asked her in a little voice, "What's your middle name?"--"Katherine Kiernan Maria Mulgrew--and they would have gone on, but they decided to have a drink instead!" Asked if she could work with her own children on the show, she said...no. "It's difficult to work with them in my own living room!" She had a 12 year old boy and his Klingon friend come up on stage. They wanted to know how it felt to give birth to the babies in "Threshold"; she said, "You mean salamanders? Bizarre, wasn't it. Why me?" She went on to say that she felt a little odd about that episode, and her reaction to Tom Paris in sickbay, "I don't think I'd ever go with you anyway if we ever had a chance"...wasn't very complimentary. She added that there will be more babies on Voyager next season! Continuing to answer questions from fans, she said she does a voice on the cartoon Gargoyles, and has always found time to do a Saturday morning cartoon. Asked about working with LeVar Burton and Jonathan Frakes as directors, she said Burton is a wonderful director because "he's such a good actor" and Frakes is a "madman, but divine." With him, what you see is what you get. She hopes he has a successful directorial debut with the new Star Trek feature film because "it would mean a whole new life for him." Mulgrew feels that she herself is not objective enough to direct an episode of Voyager. When asked the obligatory hair question, she said she "put her foot down" with the producers to leave it up in the traditional bun because it's "elegant, quick...and Janeway doesn't care." Asked if she would like to meet her "evil twin," she said it would be fun to meet her doppleganger, and "her hair would be down!" She said she enjoyed working with George Takei on the 30th anniversary episode and that we are "in for a treat." She got to work with Avery Brooks several years ago in Roots: the Gift-- she played a bounty hunter and "the dead man" Tim Russ played a houseboy--she described Brooks as a great actor and "complicated personality." She said it was a privilege to work with such a powerful and intense actor. Asked what kind of story lines would she like to see, Mulgrew said that she would like to see Janeway act as "voyeur" for Paris and B'Elanna, and would like the relationship not to be so "pretty," i.e. B'Elanna goes for Tom, Tom doesn't reciprocate..."let's see them fight, and then let's see them discover one another." Mulgrew would like to see an increase in interpersonal relationships among the crew and an exploration of the "whole family dynamics." She thinks there will be some really big surprises this season! The holonovel was thrown out because "we didn't like Janeway making love to an invisible man." Mulgrew went on to say that there are "dicey things about Janeway--she can't do a love affair because she is a woman and, "if she's nothing else, she's a lady." Where a man could get away with the affair, a woman can't, "because she can have a baby." Asked if she had a tough time showing Janeway's toughness, she laughed. "Those are the scenes I love...not tough, but truth." When asked about how Mulgrew feels about her Janeway doll, she told a story about how while driving in traffic, she stopped next to a guy in a BMW who "looked like he owned the city. He had a little Janeway doll hanging from his rear-view mirror! She smiled at him, but he didn't recognize her; he waved her off and drove away. She also talked about how difficult it is to work with animals and children, but that's what viewers like to see. The monkey in "Resolutions" kept escaping every day up into the rafters. They tried bribing it down with chips, McDonald's, etc. Her lizard spirit guide had an animal trainer who--to get it to sit still on the log--put it in the deep freeze for 15 minutes, and then warmed it up with a hair dryer. She said the little lizard probably woke up and thought, "Hope I'm getting overtime for this"! After Mulgrew finished answering questions, she had a marathon session of signing autographs: ("Captain Janeway, your assignment, if you choose to accept it, is to sign as many photographs as possible in a 90 minute timespan...") I didn't get a chance to tell her how impressed we are with her characterization of Kathryn Janeway, so I'll just end my report by saying "You know...we love her, too!" --Jackie LeBoeuf Before the weekend started, I had heard stories about how great Kate was in person, but I never expected this. I think I would have to say that I was awestruck! The woman is simply incredible. I have gone to many conventions, but I have never come away feeling so happy. I had been excited about seeing her as soon as I heard she was coming to my home town of Orlando. I ordered the tickets as soon as I could and was graced with second row seats. For two months, I joked with my friends that I would be close enough for her to spit on me. Just to see her was enough for me, but to be that close...let's put it this way, we were sitting so close that we could see that her toenails were painted red. Kate is a truly impressive woman in person. It starts with the way she carries herself, right down to the inspirational talks she has with children about following their hearts in a given career. After awhile you start to feel like you really know her. You feel close to her because her motherly instincts show in everything she does. She would stop to talk to every child and always call them "sweetie." She reminded me more of my own mother and not of Captain Janeway. We were told before the convention started that she would only sign autographs for 90 minutes. The whole process was streamlined to get as many people as possible through. On Saturday, she signed 1100 autographs in 80 minutes! Everyone went home with an autograph. And the quality of each signature was excellent. The last one she signed looked as good as the first. Many of us sat in awe watching her sign at world record pace. On Sunday, my friends and I realized that we probably would not see her for quite awhile since she does so few conventions. As we walked out of the hotel, we saw her limo waiting. Another opportunity! We waited with about a dozen other people. Finally, I heard, "Here she comes!" I got my camera and everyone packed in. The strange thing was that she stopped to pick up a child. The mother immediately got her camera. After the photo op, Kate went to get in the car. She stopped again and looked over the small but growing crowd. That's when it happened. She looked straight at me. It only lasted for a second or two, but it felt like an eternity to me. I was overcome by this indescribable feeling. Why does this woman hold such power over me? She got into the car and out of my line of sight. Being from Orlando, we could guess which area of town Kate was staying in. We were heading in that direction anyway to go home, so we decided to follow the limo for a bit. In order to catch up, we had to play a little "Dukes of Hazzard." The silliness of two girls in their early 20's kicked in. I dared my usually shy friend to make a sign that said, "We love you Kate!" and put it in the window. It took some doing, but we got right beside the limo and did it. We don't know if she saw it or not, but we got a great laugh out of it and a lot of memories of a great weekend. We went home that evening with a feeling that we had gotten a glimpse of a truly inspirational woman. When I got home and my parents asked how it went, the only word I could utter was, "Wow!" -- Stephanie Whiddon Kate was well-rested and very energetic, having spent the last few days at Disney World with her sons, and she seemed to have been enjoying herself--in fact, Kate was like a walking advertisement for the amusement park. "How many times have my children dragged me on to the Alien Encounter ride? I do the Alien Encounter ride for a living!" Throughout her visit, Kate was increasingly shocked at her boys' behavior. "I am going to kiss Walt Disney! Never have my sons been so courteous, because they're so entertained!" she said, shaking her head in dismay. "I mean, these rides! They come out of the rides; they jump on the boat; they're out on the sea; they eat 52 cheeseburgers; they come in, take a nap; they get up and go out again. 'It's great, Mom! It's great!' Should we live at Disney World?" Kate also spoke briefly of her home life with her sons. "I watch my boys. I am in abject amazement in the emotional changes they'll go through in one day. I now wake up my youngest son and say, 'Just give me one clue: What's the personality today?'" She admitted at one point, "At 12, you can decide your whole life." But she balked at the idea of having her sons on Voyager with her--"My children? On the Bridge? Don't make me fall down and order a tranquilizer!" Kate had nothing but praise for her Voyager castmates. "It's very unusual that nine people would get along like this. We have to work together; we have to laugh together; we have to be together. It's a family." When a small child stood up and asked Kate who, of the cast members, she loves, Kate had little trouble answering. "I love Ethan Phillips. The world is a better place because of John Ethan Phillips..." She referred to him as her heart's delight. "Mr. Happy, whose mission in life is to make us all wet our pants before the big scene [each] day." "I love Roxann Biggs-Dawson," Kate added a moment later. "The most exciting, gifted, skilled actress. She's very intelligent, and one of those people who can move you after a three-hour conversation. She's just a kind of walking miracle to me." Next came Robert Beltran. "He's all man!" she admonished to the Saturday crowd. "I'm terribly fond of Robert Beltran...but then, so is the rest of the world." She rolled her eyes at the topic of Beltran's love life. "Who do you think [his women] bother? 'Oh Captain Janeway, is he free now?' 'Who do I look like to you? Dr. Ruth?'" She spoke kindly of "Garrett Wang, who keeps us on our toes. Garrett is a facinating person." Then, "we have Robbie McNeill, whom I simply adore. His trailor is right next to mine. We're in and out of each others' trailers, and we're talking all the time. Therefore, I know more about him, on a personal level, than anyone else." Kate later told the Sunday's audience, "I adore Jennifer [Lien]. She is a bibliophile. She is incredibly private, very solitary. She is a thinker and a feeler...and nobody can blow your mind in a scene like that girl!" The one member of her "crew" that she spoke negatively (though jokingly) of was the practical-joking Tim Russ. It seems the jokes Mr. Russ has played on our Captain this past season have primed her for revenge. "Mr. Tim Russ...is finished. He's not going to make it. He doesn't know it yet, but he's dead." Hence his new pet name, "The Dead Man." In addition to the regular cast members, she commended the work of several guest stars and directors: Johnathan Frakes ("He's absolutely devine... and as a director, he's sublime!"); LeVar Burton ("He has the golden touch [for directing]."); Martha Hackett (Martha is a fabulous actress!") George Takei ("I have seldom met a more gracious and intelligent man."); and John De Lancie ("That madman! The guy is a consummate actor.") At a recent Orlando convention, Garrett Wang was asked by a fan what kind of story he would like to see done on Voyager, and Garrett, in his usual cocky manner, answered that he would like to do an episode in which Kim and Janeway were trapped in a turbolift together, and, through a series of (off-screen) events, Harry would "prove to her that he was was a man." An attendee of the Orlando con related this story to Kate, which sent Kate and the crowd into peals of laughter. "I don't know," she grinned, "if he could stay away from Las Vegas long enough to get into the turbolift...prove to me that he's a man!' I mean, he's proven that to the entire western world." Kate was asked to answer this same question and marveled at what a "provacative" question it truly was. Her answer: "I think that I would remove myself, actually, and I would focus on a relationship between Tom Paris and B'Elanna Torres. Maybe using Janeway as the voyeur. Intra-personal relationships on the ship intrigue me...and I would like to see them really investigated. I would like to see them not so pretty. Let's say B'Elanna goes for Tom, Tom doesn't go for B'Elanna. Let's see a fight! Let's see that Klingon in her go after him. Let's see him, instead of always having this dandy, suave response, really put up [against the wall]. Then, let's see them discover each other as a result of it. I would like to go places with them." She also gave what she referred to as a "selfish" answer. "I would like to see [Janeway's] flaws exposed. I would like to see her tortured." The crowd giggled at this last statement and a woman shouted out, "Read the fanzines!" "I have had ample opportunities," Kate added. "Janeway's had some very good episodes. So I would like to go now and watch a few of the others. These are great actors. And what is more compelling to you as an audience than watching the whole family dynamic at work? I want, next season, to find an even more complicated level." Kate's favorite Voyager villians? The Vidiians, of course! "You can always get bad guys, but organ stealers? They're hard to come by!" Kate mused that perhaps Martha Hackett [Seska] could come back as a Vidiian. "The leader of of the Vidiians! They'd never recognize her! Put a little pancreas on her nose." An adolescent boy stood up and asked Kate what it was like to have babies with Paris, but Kate turned the question back around on him. "If you were me...and you were pregnant...and you had salamanders...?" The boy thought for a moment, then answered, "I might just kill myself." Another question pertaining to the third season: Will Janeway's spiritual side be explored? "When you get into somebody's personal life, you have to see their vulnerabilities and their weaknesses. You have to see their loneliness. [The producers] think the Captain has to be outside personal peril. I think just the opposite. I think the more you come with me--in my heart, in my head--the more we go together. The more I stand outside, the less compelling it will be for you. There's no reason on Earth why I can't run a ship and [then] go into my quarters and reveal a completely different side." Kate absolutely loves acting. "It's the best there is, because there is no security. And that's the only way to live!" She told the Sunday crowd about how she had gotten herself an agent. "I tell you all with pride: I lied, stole, and begged to get one." She walked into the office of one of the best agents in New York and told the recepionist that he had invited her in for an interview. "She looks at me--I mean, how many times has she heard this before--and says 'Gimme a minute,' and goes into the back. I must have waited for a half an hour. Suddenly, from around the bend, this tall, remarkable-looking man... 'Oh, Kate! Yes, so good to see you again!' He closed the door to the room and he says, 'This is absolutely unacceptable. Now, I want you to do a monologue from Shakespeare and a comedy monologue. And I want you to do it now, on your feet, and not think.' I did it. He said, 'Sit down, sign here, and never lie to me again.'" Kate is an opera aficionado. "I love opera! My mother played it all the time when I was a little girl. I think that your ear falls in love, whether you know it or not. So, I play it now for my boys...when they're not playing `Busta Rhymes' or whatever. Janeway will listen to opera," she adds. On her Irish heritage, Kate said, "We can survive anything on one potato." Kate spoke a bit about working on Roots: The Gift with two of her present Trek colleagues (plus LeVar Burton, who starred in the TV movie). Avery Brooks "was a powerful and intense actor, and I think his intensity has grown. It's wonderful to pass him in the alley twice a day!" And "Tim Russ was a houseboy; he never lets me forget that!" When the topic of Tuvok's Pon Farr came up, Kate demurred, "That just grosses me out: Tuvok with a seven-year-itch. The itching he does every day is quite enough!" Even though she complained wholeheartedly over the debate about her hair, Kate seemed to have a good time poking fun at that part of Janeway's infamy, spouting a barrage of one-liners: "You go to Yellow Alert; I'll go and get my curlers!"; "If Janeway lent as much credibility to her hair as the United States has given it, who would I be? I'd be Dolly Parton!"; "I called Patrick Stewart for the first 6 months [I was on Voyager] and just left him crank notes. `You think you had it so hard...'" Kate admits to having an oddly familiar characteristic--"Yours truly always has a very strong opinion." Does Kate have a hard time being tough?--"No, no. No, no, no, no, no... You got the wrong actress there." She described "Deadlock" as "Double Janeway. It's new at Baskin Robbins!" and speculated on the alternate universe Janeway: "Wouldn't she be fun? And her hair would be down!" --Leah Frey Kate made an appearance at Disney World the week she was in Orlando, and a few members managed to attend. One report: The questions were much the same as at the convention, rather unexceptional, except for one little girl who was adorable. "When you were little did you want to be a TV star?" "No, I wanted to be an actress. Do you know the difference between--honey, come back to the microphone--do you know the difference between beeing an actress and being a TV star?" "An actress acts...." "And a TV star [laughing] does what?" " ...is famous." "Give her a hand, that was absolutely brilliant. And I would rather act, honey." I saw her at the con in Orlando, but I couldn't tell whether the person on the stage was as genuinely gracious and, well, nice, as Kate appeared to be. However, after seeing her in the oppressive heat of an Orlando afternoon, I know the truth. Sarah Bernhardt couldn't fake it on a day like that. I wanted to leave after five minutes in the sun...if I hadn't promised pictures, I would have been gone in minutes. By the way, the water spots on the photos are either from my sweat, or the water that Disney employees insisted misting the spectators. --Lauren Baum KATE'S CONS AND APPEARANCES Remember: ALL DATES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE. Please contact the event organizers before purchasing tickets to see a guest. SeaFair Torchlight Parade, Seattle, Washington, August 2. Creation in Minneapolis, Minnesota, August 4, (818) 409-0960. Creation in Detroit, Michigan, August 17-18, (818) 409-0960. Paramount Pictures' 30th Anniversary Star Trek Convention, Huntsville, Alabama, September 7-8, (888) 2BEAMUP **THE KATE MULGREW FILM FESTIVAL COLUMN** BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES by Emily J. Clare Friedman Recently, Kate Mulgrew did the voice of Titania/Anastasia Reynard for Gargoyles, the first time most Voyager fans have heard her doing a regular character's voice on an animated series. However, this is not the first time Kate has lent her voice to a well-written cartoon. In 1992, Kate was the voice of the Batman villainess Red Claw, the blue-eyed, imposing, svelte Slavic supervillian, with a streak of white through her long black hair and a nifty blood-red tattoo on one arm. She has thus far appeared in two episodes: the two-parter "The Cat and The Claw," and "The Lion and The Unicorn." In Part One of "The Cat and The Claw," Catwoman makes her first appearance, as a petty jewelry thief who catches Batty's eye. She firsts meets Bruce Wayne/Batman at a charity bachelor auction for a wildcat preserve, and the B plot of the two episodes centers on the inability of the two to go on the date Selena/Catwoman has paid $10,000 for. In the A plot, however, Batman discovers that a super-villian named Red Claw--presumed to be a man--is reportedly on his way to Gotham. While attempting to investigate the destruction of an animal preserve, Catwoman uncovers Red Claw's secret operation and tries to infiltrate it, but is captured by Red Claw. She escapes, and later there is brief interlude between herself and Batman which ends with Catwoman, scorned, pitching Batman off the side of a building. Part Two opens with a mysterious encounter between Batman and an aging gangster in the park, where he finds out more about a heist Red Claw is planning. Batman discovers that Red Claw plans to steal a virulent toxin from a top-secret government train, unknown even to Police Commissioner Gordon. Cut to a secret midnight run by a federal train a la X-Files, and Red Claw's henchman attacking the convoy. Batman proceeds to rough up the bad guys, then comes face-to-face with Red Claw--who is a woman! "You gotta a prrroblem wis zat?" she asks. "Not at all," he replies, "I'm an equal oppertunity crime fighter." But alas, she has the plague canister in her hands, and Batman can do nothing but watch her escape in her heliocopter. "You've finally met yourr match, Batman," she laughs. "Not surprrising it's a woooman!" Gotta love a feminist villian. Red Claw issues her demands: one billion dollars in 24 hours, or Gotham and all people in a 10-mile radius will be killed by the plague. Meanwhile, on the mountain lion preserve, Catwoman slips into Red Claw's lair again, gets caught again while taking more pictures, is rescued by Batman, then they're caught by Red Claw, tied up, and locked in a government compound with the vial of poison--the top covered with acid. They escape their confines, blowing up the place in their wake. As the police arrive, Catwoman and Red Claw end up fighting to the death. Luckily, Selena's mountain lion friend pounces on Red Claw, foiling her escape, if in a rather cliched manner. Alfred the butler a spy? In "The Lion and The Unicorn," we find out that Batman's butler, Alfred Pennyworth, is a former attache in the British security service, but became well-known for his ability to defuse diplomatic situations. Alfred is called to London by a cousin whom we find out is being controlled by none other than Red Claw herself. He is kidnapped in his hotel room by two thugs, but he was on the phone with Batman at the time, which leads Batman and Robin to London to rescue him. Meanwhile, Alfred and his "cousin," Agent Frederic, meet at Red Claw's hideout. "If you cooperate, you might live to see another day," she threatens ominously. As it turns out, each of the two aging spies has half of a firing code for a huge missile, and Red Claw wants it, which means she's going to get it. She pulls out two vials of truth serum. "You may struggle if you like," she quips menacingly, "But you will not hold out for long." Then she admits that it might be amusing." "Anything to amuse a lady," deadpans Alfred. "If lady is the word I'm looking for--which I doubt." Unruffled, she tsks, "Sticks and stones." As the serum is working, Red Claw slides away a bookcase to reveal a computer. The two spies fight the serum, and Alfred says, "You'll get nothing but gibberish from me, Madam," and proceeds to mumble like a madman. Red Claw is not amused. "And people wonder why no one takes Britain seriously anymore," she groans, shaking her head. Finally, the other agent lets out his code, "absurdly simple like most passwords." Batman and Robin find out that Red Claw has occupied Blairquon Castle, off the west Scottish coast, the base for Project Excalibur and the last of Great Britain's land-based missile silos. Red Claw, aghast that they have discovered her fiendish plan, locks them in a room fast-filling with smoke and liquid. Broadcasting to all London televisions, Red Claw proceeds to issue a new ultimatum, much bigger than that of "The Cat and The Claw": London will be destroyed if five billion pounds aren't delivered in one hour. As Red Claw slaps and yells at Pennyworth, the heavy Slavic tones slip into Irish brogue more than once. Finally, she realizes that he's not immune to the serum, he's been mumbling the code all along: The Lion and The Unicorn! (And you thought they'd never fit in the title!) She sets the countdown for one hour and attempts to make her escape. In the ensuing battle, she knocks out Alfred and Robin and activates the launch early. Batman is forced to leave to save London without taking Red Claw. Little does he know she's stowed away on the Batplane until she grabs his face from behind, they scuffle, and she gets ejected with a parachute while Batman proceeds to save the day by detonating the bomb just short of Big Ben. In both of the episodes featuring Red Claw, the character, and the way Mulgrew's vibrant, life-giving inflections and tones portray her, is shown to be one of the few empowered, fascinating women in the dark cartoon, in which sadly all "good" women are passive and most villianesses are confident and self-assured. Is it mere coincidence that Red Claw, delighted by her temporary defeat of Batman, plays with her hair for a minute before tossing it over her shoulder? Yet another coincidence: she uses more gestures and moves more than any animated person I've seen. Like Poison Ivy and other Batman villianesses, Red Claw makes intelligent young girls like me wish to be on the wrong side of the law--in the male-oriented world of Gotham, it's ever so much more interesting. **THE FUNNY PAGES** VOYAGER WITH A GERMAN ACCENT by Marco Zehe As many of you probably know already, when Star Trek or other American or British TV series are imported to Germany, they're translated into German, and the voices of the actors and actresses are replaced by German ones. Voyager is scheduled to air on the German TV station SAT.1 in spring or summer 1996. So far, there have been two German videotapes released. The first one features "Caretaker" ("Der Fuersorger"), and the episodes on the second one are "Parallax" ("Die Paralaxe") and "Time and Again" ("Subraumspalten"). Here are my comments on each of the main characters' German voices: Janeway's German voice is nearly as deep and strong as Kate's own. During the three episodes, the actress constantly improved herself, and she reflects the different moods Janeway is in in a very good manner. One can believe in her authority without any difficulty! The only thing she needs to do is work on her "th"; the name "Kathryn Janeway" turns into "Kasryn Janeway" in the German version. Why so many Germans have difficulties with the "th" sound, I don't know! Chakotay:'s German voice is also well-chosen, although a little too rough sometimes, and possibly a bit too old. But in general, he also does a good job in performing Robert Beltran's way of inflecting moods into his speech. Tuvok definately sounds too young, but the actor managed to lower his voice so he imitates Tuvok's deep, handsome voice more closely in the later episodes than in "Caretaker". Also, he sounds a little too emotional sometimes. For Paris, the responsible people chose an actor with a voice very close to Robert Duncan McNeill's. He also reflects Paris' emotional states of mind quite well, be they excited, ironic or whatever. Well done so far! Kim's German voice, on the other hand, definately lacks the excitement Harry feels in many situations. Also, his tension when carrying out orders isn't that well reflected. But otherwise, his voice fits Garrett Wang's quite closely. The German voice of Roxann Biggs-Dawson's Torres does a better job interpreting B'Elanna's different frames of mind, be they of Klingon rage, sarcasm or excitement. The Doctor is also a good choice of a German voice actor. He tries to understand the character he's representing. The doctor's annoyance, agitation, sarcasm and other inflictions are well represented. The German actor who is Ethan Phillips' voice definitely overdoes it! Not only does Neelix sound like a sissy, but the performer also stretches almost every word Neelix says to an extent that isn't funny any more. This actor ought to watch a few episodes to learn more about Neelix! (By the way: The singing we hear in "Caretaker" when Neelix takes a bath and Tuvok enters the quarters is left intact in the German version! The dialogue is continued in German as Tuvok says: "Sir?") Kes is one of the worst choices ever made when lending German voices to a Star Trek character. Absolutely nothing is made to make the German voice sound as calm and deep as Jennifer Lien's. In fact, the German Kes sounds like a cheeky teenager, and everything she says sounds more like a fight with a parent than a mature statement we are used to from the "real" Kes. To her credit, however, I must admit that the actress did a good job in performing the scene in "Time and Again", where Kes tries to explain to Neelix what she saw in her sleep. You really believe her tears! But all in all, I'm convinced the actress will have to better her performance to a great extent! All in all, the responsible people paid more attention to the characters on Voyager than any other Star Trek series. Starting with TNG where some of the main characters were really badly chosen in the German versions, they've been constantly improving, on DS9 where people like Garak and Gul Dukat are simply great, to Voyager where even the minor characters are good actors and actresses. The following is a list of titles available in Germany to date. I've translated them back from the German, so they make sense to you. Enjoy! Original title German title Back-translated title ============ ============ ================ Caretaker Der Fuehrsorger The welfare worker Parallax Die Parallaxe The parallax Time and Again Subraumspalten Subspace Fractures Phage Transplantationen Transplants The Cloud Der mysterioese Nebel The Mysterious Nebula Eye of the Needle Das Nadeloehr Eye of the Needle Ex Post Facto Die Augen des Toten The Dead Man's Eyes Emanations Das Unvorstellbare The Unimaginable Prime Factors Das oberste Gesetz The Prime Law State Of Flux Der Verrat The Betrayal Heroes & Demons Helden und Daemonen Heroes & Demons Cathexis Bewusstseinsverlust Loss of Consciousness Faces Angesicht zu Angesicht Face to Face Jetrel Dr. Jetrells Experiment Dr. Jetrel's Experiment Learning Curve Erfahrungswerte Value of Experiences Projections Das Holo Syndrom The Holo-Syndrome Elogium Elogium Elogium Twisted Die Raumverzerrung The Spatial Distortion The 37's Die 37er The 37's Initiations Der Namenlose The Nameless Non Sequitur Der Zeitstrom The Time Stream Parturition Der Hoellenplanet Planet Hell Persistence of Vision Raetselhafte Vision Mysterious Vision ____________________________________________________ This was the inspiration for "Neelix's Online Advice Column," and, we sort of suspect, for parts of the episode "Investigations"! TUVOK'S PSYCHIC HOTLINE By Jeff Long NEELIX: Greetings, shipmates. First off, I'd like to thank Mr. Kim for getting the shipwide intercom back in service in time for tonight's broadcast. As your morale officer, I'm well aware how much you all look forward to these nightly shows. I can't imagine why the whole system went down so unexpectedly last night... TUVOK: Indeed. Nor I. NEELIX: It was the strangest thing, don't you think Mr. Vulcan? Er, Mr. Tuvok? I was only three hours into the show, when the whole system went offline. I was in here babbling to myself for 20 minutes before I realized no one could hear a thing outside this room.. TUVOK: It was the most relaxing 20 minutes I've had for the past several evenings. NEELIX: Hmm? What was that, Mr. Tuvok? I was scanning my notes for tonight's show and didn't catch that. TUVOK: I said, the problem was no doubt related to the systems failures we experienced when your cheese infected the ship's bio-neural circuitry. NEELIX: Uhh, well, yes. That could be. Let's move on, shall we? Friends, tonight we have a special guest on "The Neelix Feel-Good Show." I'm sure he needs no introduction. He's my second favorite pointy-eared being on this ship: Let's have a warm welcome for Lt. Tuvok, Voyager's most able chief of security. TUVOK: I am...That is to say, I am most...Well. I am here. NEELIX: I was terribly disappointed when Captain Janeway told me she couldn't be my guest tonight because of that urgent problem down in...uh, where was it? TUVOK: The toilet on deck 13 is clogged again and she wanted to see that a repair team got to it immediately. NEELIX: Yes, that was it. But I was absolutely surprised and delighted when she told me that Mr. Tuvok would be taking her place with me for the evening. TUVOK: I, too, was surprised. NEELIX: Let's get to it, shall we? TUVOK: Get to what, exactly, Mr. Neelix? When the captain...requested...my presence here, she failed to inform me what I would be doing. NEELIX: Friends, we have a treat tonight indeed. I've been studying all the races of the Federation in great detail since you so graciously allowed me to join your quest. And during those studies I learned that Vulcans are telepathic to a degree. TUVOK: That is not exactly... NEELIX: Correct me if I'm wrong, but most telepaths have the ability to predict the future. TUVOK: Certainly there is no evidence that supports such a wild leap... NEELIX: And since the future is what preoccupies so many of our intrepid crewmates, I thought it would be nice for Mr. Tuvok here to share some of his insights about the journey that lies ahead of us. TUVOK: Mr. Neelix, your facts are in grave error. I have no ability... NEELIX: So, our lines are open. If you have a question for "Tuvok's Psychic Hotline," punch your communicator pin now. TUVOK: Really, Mr. Neelix, this is most absurd... NEELIX: We have our first caller! You're on the air. PARIS: I'd like to know if I'll ever nail the Delaney sisters. NEELIX: A little blunt, but a fine question nonetheless. So far from home, many of our shipmates are beginning to think about long-term relationships. Wedding bells may be in the future for more than a few of our colleagues. PARIS: Oh, it doesn't have to be anything long-term. An hour or two would be fine. NEELIX: Oh, my. TUVOK: I suggest you confine your illicit affairs to the holodeck, Mr. Paris. Shipboard flings such as you are implying can bring nothing but harm to a crew in our situation. NEELIX: Do you sense something, Mr. Tuvok? A broken heart--two broken hearts--and a dead Mr. Paris lying bloodily in an access corridor? Perhaps his body being blasted out an airlock? I must check my inventory of butcher knives as soon as we finish here. TUVOK: Nothing of the sort. NEELIX: More gruesome than that even? Well, best not to dwell on it then. Heed Mr. Tuvok's advice, young man. Ahh. We have another caller. KIM: I just wanted to say that I was ordered to repair the shipwide intercom system for security reasons. NEELIX: Mr. Kim, I've already mentioned how grateful we all are for your speedy attention to the failing intercom. What happened to it, by the way? KIM: Uhhh...accidental phaser discharge. Twenty of them. TUVOK: Any chance of it being repeated, Mr. Kim? KIM: Possibly. In fact, the Delaney sisters are...HEY! I spent six hours on that this afternoo... ***bzzzt*** TOP 10 REASONS JANEWAY WEARS HER HAIR UP By MAURryan 10. It's easier to manage during Kazon attacks. 9. When the Maquis joined Voyager, everyone agreed on "one ship, one crew, one bun." 8. It's the secret hiding place for Voyager's command codes. 7. By using her hair bun, Neelix doesn't need to replicate Brillo pads. 6. It's really her secret pet Tribble. 5. She hates when her hair gets caught in temporal disturbances. 4. Her DNA was merged with Mayberry's Aunt Bea during an unfortunate transporter accident. 3. When she didn't have the bun, only Lt. Paris was interested. 2. Tuvok laughed when she tried the Kazon hairstyle. 1. Last time she let it down, Neelix harvested it for hair pasta. TOP 10 REASONS JANEWAY AND CHAKOTAY GIVE FOR LEAVING VOYAGER AND RETURNING TO NEW EARTH By JackieLeb 10. Janeway was this close to getting Chakotay to model her towel for her. 9. They need to rescue their primate friend, who was captured by a band of monkeys. 8. Janeway is homesick for Chakotay's cuisine after she samples the nth version of Neelix's "Breast of Leola Root." 7. They don't want to deprive Tuvok from receiving the annual "most anal-retentive captain" award. 6. Janeway fears for her life when she discovers that B'Elanna purposely turned the safety controls off to her gothic holonovel program. 5. Janeway fears for her life when she discovers that B'Elanna purposely turned the safety controls off to Neelix's cooking. 4. They need to rescue their tomato plants, which they claim are being eaten by a band of monkeys. 3. They haven't finished playing out their version of "Spanking the Monkey." 2. Janeway misses Chakotay's "angry warrior" stories--the only Indian legends she can get him to tell her on Voyager involve cutting out and eating Cardassian body parts. 1. They both swear that they left the bath water running! **BOOKS AND COLLECTIBLES** POCKET BOOKS PUBLISHING SCHEDULE July '96 VOY #9: Final Fury by Daffyd Ab Hugh Sept '96 VOY (PB) Flashback by Diane Carey VOY (HB) Mosaic by Jeri Taylor Nov '96 VOY #10 Bless The Beast by Karen Haber Jan '97 VOY #11 The Garden by Melissa Scott Final Fury is the last book in the four-part Invasion series spanning all four Treks; the first three are First Strike (TOS), The Soldiers of Fear (TNG), and Time's Enemy (DS9). The story for Flashback, based on the episode of the same name, was pitched by Now Voyager's own Juliann Medina and scripted by Brannon Braga. Hyped as "The 30th Anniversary episode that spans the generations," it's about how Tuvok's experiences serving with Captain Sulu and Janice Rand on the Starship Excelsior come back to haunt him 100 years later, putting himself and Janeway in danger. Executive Producer Jeri Taylor's long-awaited hardback Mosaic tells the life story of Kathryn Janeway, in the form of a flashback when the captain of Voyager must make a terrible decision in the heat of battle. Kate Mulgrew will lend her voice to the audiobook. STAR TREK VOYAGER #8: CYBERSONG by S. N. Lewitt The latest installment in the Voyager series may also be the dumbest book of the bunch. I found some of the earlier novels tedious, but it took me six weeks to get through this one. I always try to find something positive to say, but I can't think of anything good to say about this novel. We are treated to a new and original storyline about a computer with seemingly malevolent intent. This AI wants company, so it tries to trap unsuspecting vessels by creating environments similar to their own. It taps into the computer files and finds out about its visitors, and then tries to snare them in its web. Unfortunately, our intrepid space travelers make the rather silly assumption that they have a Cardassian agent among them who is sabotaging their own computer. I like Seska, but I've had my fill of Cardassian doublecrossers and traitors in the last two seasons. Do I really need to see this in a novel? And then we have new character Daphne Mandel, an awful stereotype of a geek programmer with zero personalilty. Someone tell author Lewitt that one can like computers and be a real person too. I thought this characterization was stupid, pointless, and obsolete. Peripheral characters can be interesting if there is some valid reason for them to be in a Trek novel, but I found absolutely no point in Ms. Mandel's presence. When I find myself keeping a tally of the number of times it's mentioned that Mandel has no personality or someone dislikes her, I know there's a problem, especially at the cost of ignoring the compelling storyline. Daphne appears in the middle of the book. She is not gradually introduced; there is a brute force chunk of exposition, so the reader is never given a chance to care about this woman or what happens to her. She has absolutely no redeeming quality and if ever someone shrieked "Red Shirt," she does. Bless the author for deciding to drop her off and make her an Ambassador. Please, please, don't write a sequel about her, OK? Her entire premise as the expert programmer could have been filled by Ol' One Dimensional Harry Kim, the second-best programmer on the ship. If ever a character needed some personality, it's Harry. He doesn't get it on the show, so the least the literary world could do is help the poor boy out. The author did a decent job writing Tuvok, Neelix and Tom Paris, but that's not saying much. Tuvok and Neelix were annoying (as usual) and Tom was just playing his usual role of the best damn pilot on the ship. You get the picture. The rest of the characters might as well have been replaced by their cardboard counterparts. We got a lot of repetitive statements, technobabble, dramatic shifts in point of view, and lousy editing. This writer has clearly not spent a lot of time watching the show. Case in point: I sincerely doubt that B'Elanna Torres ever had a warm and fuzzy Christmas with her paternal grandparents, since we know from "Faces" that her human father left when Torres was 5. Yet, at the age of 8, according to Lewitt, she was visiting Grandma and Grandpa on Earth. I also believe that Torres has a sense of humor, but we later see the others laugh at her expense when she reveals an encrypted message about spies. What other problems can I point out? We get endless conversations where the speaker is not always identified. I am a big proponent of dialogue, but it should be clear who is doing the talking. There is the identification of some of the female officers as "Ms. Torres" or "Ms. Mandel", but I really burst out laughing when Tuvok referred to Chakotay as "Mr. Chakotay". No one on the show uses this naming system. And since when did Tuvok got a promotion to Commander? That's news to me, but the author says so on page 148. Anyway, I don't recommend this book. It's a low point in the Voyager series. Let's look forward to Jeri Taylor's release this fall and hope that Pocket Books gets their act together and starts signing some better writers. ---Elizabeth Klisiewicz The eighth Voyager novel, Cybersong, in my opinion ranks up with beautiful novels like The Murdered Sun or The Escape. There's a good story with a message, good character work, and--what I liked most about this novel--it showed not only the usual characters in the thick of things, but focussed on Kes, too, which I found a welcome new variation. Her interaction isn't limited to the Doctor, Captain Janeway, and Neelix. Also, the fact that there are hardly any space battles (aside from an explosion which almost catches a shuttle), and that the alien antagonist is an artificial intelligence, contribute to the refreshing nature of this novel. The basic storyline is relatively straightforward: Voyager encounters a tachyon field. After a brief analysis of distant ship wreckage and the reception of an alien transmission, Janeway decides not to investigate further. But as Voyager attempts to cruise along on its path, it becomes evident that something has gone wrong with their computer. Navigation and engines don't respond to any commands whatsoever. In addition, Kes and Chakotay experience sensations of loneliness and anger, and both have the distinct feeling that the events they connect these feelings with are real, but the emotions themselves don't seem to originate from within them. After more investigating, it becomes more and more evident that the alien transmission has somehow altered the main operating system of Voyager's computer. With Kim on an away mission, a programmer from stella cartography is asked to do programming and debugging. Tuvok, meanwhile, investigates the possibility of a Cardassian spy... The turn of events is really well plotted, and the novel kept me on the edge of my seat--so to speak--until the very end! The solution is brilliant, though not new, as well. And it's typically Trek. --Marco Zehe OTHER COLLECTIBLES The second set of Playmates Voyager action figures are out, including Maquis Chakotay, Klingon Torres, Bajoran Seska, Lt. Carey, a Kazon, and a Vidiian. The Hamilton Collection's first Voyager plate is also available now; it features Janeway, Chakotay, Tuvok, the Doctor, and the ship. And next month, Hallmark's Star Trek holiday ornaments will be released for sale in stores, including a Voyager which lights up when attached to Christmas lights. **KATHRYN JANEWAY, FEMINIST HEROINE** Warning: anti-J/C sentiment follows! Or maybe "sentiment" is the wrong word. At any rate, in the interests of equal time... THE ANGRY WARRIOR: JANEWAY'S AUTHORITY AND CHAKOTAY'S HONOR by L.R. Bowen "Just what were you thinking?" Janeway asks Chakotay at the end of "Maneuvers," the episode in which he takes it on himself to remedy Seska's theft of Federation transporter technology. Without the captain's permission, he steals a shuttle and launches a sneak attack on a Kazon ship, completing his objective but getting himself captured as well. Janeway must then decide whether to rescue him or treat him as a casualty as he requests. When he is finally recovered and Janeway gives him a piece of her mind, he says almost nothing to explain himself. He seems to sense that any justification he can give will not serve as an excuse in her eyes, and he may feel the same way himself. Much of his motive for acting on his own seems to be his personal bitterness against his traitorous ex-lover, but why did he carry out his plan exactly the way he did? Why did he act alone? Why did he seem to forget that he is subject to Janeway's authority and as first officer should set an example? What was he thinking? His background, so different from his captain's, may shed some light on the question. Janeway, as a Starfleet captain, is working from a descendant of traditiona l Western command structure, with modifications introduced by the 24th century and her own personality; directed consensus, with clear procedures and a single final authority, strictly obeyed. She expects to oversee a group of well-trained people all operating from the same rulebook, individuals but sharing many common assumptions from their Starfleet training. Chakotay as a Maquis captain operated substantially from a completely different tradition, that of the ad hoc war leader or "chief." He directed a grab bag of rebels with widely varying motives and abilities and very little training of any kind. The most he could hope to do was hold them together for the immediate goal by any means necessary. He's been shown physically assaulting an insubordinate member of his former crew, something unthinkable for a regular Starfleet officer, but which the witnesses accept as justified. The Maquis resemble to some extent a native war party or premodern army, one drawn from the available individuals for the occasion and destined to fall apart once the goal is achieved. It's difficult for the band to maintain any larger picture. Individual honor and tribal identification tend to be more important than obeying the orders of the highest commander. The model of premodern warfare and victory is different from the standard with which Westerners are familiar. Large ideas of strategy and policy are not the point. The fast raid (such as to steal horses), with as few casualties as possible, and the naked physical bravery of facing the enemy in person are the ideals. The Native American tradition Chakotay grew up in is suffused with tales of warriors counting coup with bare hand or stick and returning to their people's acclaim. Chakotay's Starfleet training works against this tendency, and probably accounted for his apparent success as a Maquis leader. It is no accident that the greatest Indian war chiefs, respected by the regular US Army forces fighting them, were those who could mold their warriors into a cohesive fighting force in the Western style. Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse defeated Custer at Little Bighorn with an adaptation of regular cavalry tactics to their own needs. Their followers had to abandon a preference for showy bravery and simply work together to kill as many of the enemy as possible. When every fighter is out for himself, trying to gain individual honor at the cost of the entire effort, a well-drilled, intelligently commanded unit will nearly always defeat them in pitched battle. Although we have seen few details of the DMZ conflict in Star Trek, the Maquis probably have avoided Cardassian destruction only because of their guerrilla tactics and their large complement of former Starfleet officers. But Starfleet procedure is not in accordance with Chakotay's natural instincts and inclinations. He is perfectly capable of operating in Starfleet style, as he is a veteran of the system, and he does so most of the time. But when Seska returns to taunt and attack, putting her personal knowledge to devastating use, something cracks. He feels directly responsible for everything she does, though even Torres points out that he is not. When Chakotay is challenged so deeply as a warrior, as an officer, as a man, he reverts to his heritage, his earliest model of conflict, the one inculcated in childhood and most suited to his individualistic temperament. Janeway calls him a "cowboy", which gets her point across, but emphasizes the fact that he is an Indian, as most viewers will instantly have associated with the phrase. He grew up in a highly traditional colony, one that has actively rejected Western thinking, although it does not engage in warfare. But his basic thought processes were probably formed by tales of his ancestors and by an ancient language and culture. He rejected the strong bond of his tribe as a young man, but probably retains the ideals of the native warrior, and has tried to return to the ways of his father, more passionately than if he had taken them for granted all his life. Seska's raid arouses all those instincts, along with the overlaid Starfleet ideas. Chakotay's motivations are complex, with many layers; concern for the safety of Voyager's crew, agreement with Janeway's top priority of keeping Federation technology out of Kazon hands, anger at Seska's betrayal of her Maquis comrades, as voiced by Torres, bitterness at his personal betrayal by a lover, and his humiliation at her public taunting, driving him to avenge his honor and pride. His original plan does not call for him to die, but to make a quick raid and get out, accomplishing his goal of destroying the stolen transporter and counting coup on Seska. When he is discovered and his equipment damaged, he decides to complete his objective anyway at the probable cost of his life, but redeeming his honor in the process. That is why he hands his phaser to Seska with a flourish after destroying the transporter--in his mind, he's finished anyway, has done everything he needed to do and should go to his death with style. The Starfleet training is operating here, as well as the personal ideals of "a gentle man, from a gentle people." He has no intention of killing Seska in cold blood or of taking as many Kazon with him as he can, as some viewers thought he should have done. To walk up to her, demonstrate that he could have killed her, and then surrender is the act which redeems his honor in his own eyes. And, yes, it's snide and nose-thumbing and self-satisfied, which is the whole point. The ideal of the native warrior was to die well if captured, taunting his torturers to the last, which Chakotay does. Even while he is beaten and drugged, he vents his bitterness with characteristic dry humor, trying to undermine Seska's obviously precarious position with the Kazon. That his crude cracks about her bedside manner also express his own anger at her gives the scene an intensity seldom seen on Star Trek. All of Chakotay's motives come together here. He emerges as a powerfully drawn character at last, deeply flawed as well as brave and spiritual. This man is a fatalist of the highest order, and truly does not seem to care about his own life when certain things are in the balance. He was capable of piloting one ship into another to save Voyager, with an excellent chance he would die as a result. Showy bravery indeed! That risk paid off, but it could easily have ended in disaster. Janeway's position as captain of the mixed crews would be significantly less viable without his backup, but he does not take that into account either at the time of "Caretaker" or during "Maneuvers," underestimating the value of his life to the morale of the crew when he takes off secretly and asks not to be rescued. He does not want anyone else to go into danger for him, which seems noble, but at the same time he rejects cooperation with others that might have been a less risky course. Chakotay lacks the true connection to the group and ideals of discipline that Janeway possesses. He is basically a loner and an introvert, cut off by his own actions from both his tribal heritage and his career as a Starfleet officer, a "contrary" as his father put it but trying to find his path between the different world views, sometimes stumbling in this unknown territory. He hasn't found a way to subordinate his personal honor to his larger goals. Chakotay's loyalty is based strongly on Janeway as a person and not on Starfleet command protocol. The very reason he follows her is the reason he bypasses her. He can give her his entire loyalty when she's demonstrated her superiority, forgetting his own captaincy and yielding to her greater abilities, but he can also toss aside procedure and simply do what he thinks is right without clearing it with anyone. If he had proposed his scheme to her, she would probably have vetoed it, and actually breaking a direct order would have cost him too much. He may not be capable of that, but he certainly is capable, as is Tuvok (in "Prime Factors"), of making an end run around her to do what he wants to do and believes would ultimately benefit her. Janeway is a stronger Starfleet officer than Chakotay, because of her ability to rise above her personal inclinations for the good of the group and to serve the ideals she believes in, and he is drawn to her charisma and clarity of purpose, which cuts through his own tangled web of motivation and gives him a focus. But since his thinking is based on the individual, when his own personal demons come so strongly into play as with Seska, he is vulnerable. "Basics," at the end of the second season, holds out hope that Chakotay has learned his lesson. Seska calls in her gamble, her claim that she has conceived Chakotay's child, and begs for assistance. What is his answer? "This is not my responsibility!" He's furious that she can try to manipulate him again, knowing his powerful inclination to his kin relationships, and his immediate reaction is based on his lingering anger from his last encounter with her. Janeway has to ask him to think this over carefully--she knows more about him now, and that he may regret rejecting his supposed son. Their long stay on New Earth may have allowed Janeway and Chakotay to understand far more of each other's personality and principles. Chakotay reconnects to a deep part of himself when he asks for guidance and finally reaches the corner of his spirit where his dead father dwells. But now he can see the crew of Voyager as his family, his tribe, and accept their wholehearted help. When he says to the others, "There is one more thing... Thank you," after the meeting that plans the child's rescue, all his mistakes in "Maneuvers" are remedied. Of course, the risk to the ship is the same one he feared when he acted alone in the first place, and this time his nightmare comes true because Seska has planned even more carefully than she did the first time. But he hasn't created a bad situation with his own recklessness. He's carrying out the imperatives of his heritage and personality, but with the permission and cooperation of the Starfleet family he joined and helps to lead. He's no longer a lone warrior, but a cohesive part of Janeway's crew. JANEWAY/CHAKOTAY--NO WAY! by Barbe Smith For months I have read with interest here and on the net the compelling reasons why Captain Janeway should allow herself the indulgence of a romantic relationship with her First Officer. Personally, I relish every double entendre and gleam of the eye that flashes between those two. Yet, while my romantic heart beat wildly during "Resolutions," there was still a rational part of me that cringed at this course of events. I suppose my reservations arise from the fact that I'm viewing each episode not only from the point of view of a mature female devotee, but with the additional comments of members of the prime demographic group. And while Now Voyager members eloquently debate the pros and cons of Starfleet policy as it applies to the Delta Quadrant, and whether a mature sexual relationship is possible in the 24th century, I am watching with a testosterone-befuddled teenager and his friends who merely snicker that of course they would "Do It"--why have a good-looking male & female in the lead roles otherwise? Now, mind you, this attitude goes well beyond Star Trek. After all, with the sole exception of the Scully/Mulder relationship on X Files, where can you find adults of the opposite sex working together without the ratings-grabbing "sexual tension" ploy constantly being called into play? I am striving to raise children who will see past exteriors, and prepare them to participate in a workplace made up of diverse individuals--not potential sexual partners. Certainly TV is not making this easier on me; after a few hours of nightly viewing, you would think that all those briefcases we see being carried on the streets must be filled with condoms! You may say that boys will be boys--no matter what the writers put on, they will always snicker and look for baser interests. You could also say that while a celibate relationship might have been possible, the all-too-obvious electricity between Kate Mulgrew's portrayal of Janeway and Robert Beltran's portrayal of Chakotay make that unthinkable now. Certainly, there is the dilemma of whether it's worthwhile re-locking the barn door at this late hour. Yet I feel that there is still the opportunity to create a relationship far beyond a sexual one--not a Picard/Crusher ever-present but buried beneath the surface type, but a deepening understanding and friendship that allows not only more conversation but more conflict between the two. In time perhaps it could broaden to include a physical relationship. "Resolutions" was a wonderful show--it just came several seasons too early. As a result, the writers have the unenviable task of deciding a future course which has drawbacks no matter what the direction. If you ask my vote, count me in on the side of friendship rather than romance. Whether in the enlightened 24th century or not, romance on the job, especially in a military environment, should not be undertaken lightly. Nor do I think that Janeway will be perceived as less of a woman without a bed partner. There's an opportunity to show a positive (and accurate) image of women in leadership to a massive number of young men in the audience who are still developing values--let's make it count! (Of course, that doesn't mean I'll quit reading the J/C stories; a girl has to have a few fantasies, you know!) SEX, LIES, AND HOLONOVELS: THE CONUNDRUM OF JANEWAY'S SEXUALITY by Jennifer Pelland (Siubhan) Kathryn Janeway is a sexual person, or so we have been lead to believe. So why are the writers so afraid to explore her sexuality without piling on heaping helpings of guilt? Is it that they're afraid we can't deal with a sexual woman in power without being reminded of Mata Hari? Or are the writers afraid of the inevitable comparisons to romance novels and soap operas? Or maybe it belies another sort of guilt, the guilt that all sexual women are dealt by society. Most people are sexual, and, as I said, Janeway is no exception; by creating the character of Mark, the producers solidly put Janeway into the category. She's not celibate, nor does she want to be. This is not a point of contention. She has also been written as very much monogamous, although I suspect this is mostly due to sexual conventions of the late twentieth century. If the writers were content to have her occasionally exhibit how much she misses Mark, that would be wonderful. She could miss him, but be strong and unwavering in her decision to remain faithful, and it would fit her character beautifully. But instead we are treated to constant displays of Janeway's sexual weakness. There's her drippy holonovel with Lord Burleigh. There's the time she tearfully declared her faithfulness to a hallucination of Mark. There's her on-again, off-again flirtations with Fabulous French aliens and Chakotay. Chakotay...so much has been written about pairing Janeway and Chakotay. Should they or shouldn't they, or more recently, did they or didn't they? The bulk of writing on the subject defends their possible union, but of late I have found myself disagreeing. Why? First of all, I think it would best suit Janeway to remain unwaveringly faithful for several more years. And why not? Why give up on someone that you adore and love and have built a beautiful, lasting relationship with when you have no idea if you'll be home tomorrow or seventy years from now? Does she love Mark? If the answer is truly "yes", then I want to see the wavering stop and her backbone reappear. Should she remain faithful for seventy years? No, that would be ridiculous. When she starts to question her relationship with Mark, I want to see it expressed not as doe-eyed guilt, but boldly. Have her sit down with Kes, who is somewhat outside the chain of command, and unload her conflicting feelings of loyalty and fading love. Have her rail to Lord Burleigh about how much she misses being touched by a lover's hands. Have her have a steamy and guilt-free affair with a beautiful alien that shocks her into the realization that she no longer feels tethered to Mark. But there are reasons for not pairing her off with Chakotay. At first he seemed the natural candidate: strong, self- assured, centered, but since then he's become something of a Rambo. I should have seen it coming when he punched Dalby and called it "the Maquis way," but when he went after Seska on his own and "selflessly" asked that Voyager not follow him, he suddenly became the most selfish character on the show. And I have to admit that Janeway is right--it is dangerous for a Captain to date a member of the crew. Picard learned this the hard way on TNG, and while the "sexless Captain" ideal is not one I would like to see continued, it does not come from a vacuum. Imagine the danger if the captain and first officer were romantically involved. So many decisions would be second-guessed, so many emotions would clog up the chain of command. Both his personality and his position make Chakotay an untenable candidate. What I would like to eventually see, several years into the show's run, is Janeway develop a relationship with someone outside the chain of command. Who is to say that Voyager won't pick up more Delta Quadrant vagabonds? If it weren't for his attachment to Kes (and a certain air of repugnance), Neelix would be the perfect person to date Janeway. The same goes for Kes, but it seems that Voyager is stuck in a heterosexual paradigm, so I'm not about to hold my breath for that. Give Janeway someone aboard who has not been folded into the Starfleet melting pot, whom she can love without reservation or restraint. She deserves it. No human being, no matter how strong, should be expected to spend a life without love. But for now, let Janeway be unwaveringly faithful. It can be a source of strength, not of conflict and despair. And then, when hope of getting home soon is irrevocably lost, let her decide to take another lover with strength and dignity and joy. THE NON-J/C ARGUMENT by Anne Davenport She looks at his lips when they're talking together. He looks at her behind when she's bending over the pilot's controls, and then grins when she notices. She grins back. The attraction is there. Now that they've spent some significant time alone together, Janeway and Chakotay will pause to think over which things between them draw them together and which ones push them apart. Chakotay confessed unequivocal love to Janeway in "Resolutions." From his roundabout 'ancient' legend, it appears that the depth and level of his feelings for Janeway are a first for him, and he probably felt this way long before he and the captain were stranded together on New Earth. Chakotay has always been the active element of the pair. He's been doing all the housework in trying to get along well with Janeway. He committed his Maquis crew to her ship and Starfleet. After she'd mentioned in passing that she'd be interesting in animal guides, he was up in her ready room that afternoon with the medicine bundle that he hadn't ever shown to anyone else. But there are no amorous pressures attached to any of Chakotay's actions. He was alone with Janeway for months and, except for a little harmless looking down her towel, he shared quarters with her like a brother. And he seemed perfectly happy to keep doing so, not saying a word about his feelings unless she noticed him. It's questionable that he would have said anything to her if he and Janeway hadn't been forced together, away from the ship. The intensity of the personal closeness Chakotay feels toward Janeway outshines any speculations for a physical relationship he might have. Janeway obviously didn't seriously think about a physical relationship with him until she found out that Chakotay gave nice neck rubs and that she was susceptible to them. After that she wanted to "define parameters" between them...oooooh, how romantic of her. Janeway does not leap into passion without thorough analysis. First of all, she is already committed to someone else; she's a one-man woman, and Mark is still waiting back home. Even if he doesn't know if she's still alive, she hasn't let go of that relationship, and we saw in "Resolutions" how long it takes for her to let go of anything. Her emotional attachment to Mark intertwines with her desire to get her ship and crew home. A romance with Chakotay would be an undeniable life change, and proof that she didn't really expect the ship to get back to the Alpha Quadrant anytime soon. In "Resolutions" it took Janeway and Chakotay months just to talk about their feelings for each other. Neither of them were in a hurry to add physical passion to that, not when they thought they had the rest of their lives together. They clasped hands and talked that first night, and anything more would come in its own time. Left alone together, I'm sure that it would have. But once they got the message that the ship was coming back to rescue them, their situation changed. Back on the bridge, Janeway and Chakotay assumed their roles with tense military precision, doing their best not to show the emotional shift they were both going through. The decision had been made between them to keep things strictly business, nor did they want anyone to suspect that they had become as close as they had, lest anyone conclude that they were now lovers. Chakotay had already expressed his reservations about the effects of "fraternization" on ship operations in "Elogium." Janeway places her role and responsibility as captain above any of her own personal needs. Both are serious, dedicated individuals who have already proven that they will sublimate every other personal detail in their lives to their chosen cause: Janeway to science and her Starfleet career, Chakotay to his father's world and the Maquis, which he gave up Starfleet for. On board Voyager, the weight of their roles of commanders will squeeze out the physical intimacy between them because they would risk conflicting their life's passion with their passion for each other. Smooth command and ship operations are a matter of survival for everyone on board. A love affair between the captain and first officer would exist under huge constraints: --They can't fight, not publicly at least, and they would likely feel inhibited about arguing about anything privately too keep it from becoming public. --They can't get away from each other, whether they decide to share quarters or not; Voyager isn't any bigger than a large building. --Stuck in the Delta Quadrant, they can't really get away from the ship; no long, planned vacations, no time alone together. --They have no long-term prospects for a life together, only the long-term hope of getting home, where Chakotay is still a wanted criminal. These are the kinds of stresses that destroy relationships, no matter how passionate the partners are. Even having people think that they might be lovers lays some of these restraints on them. Janeway and Chakotay know the strength of their feelings for each other, but they aren't going to stress them this way. They will sadly leave what might have been on New Earth behind and play it safe with their emotions. Janeway and Chakotay will care deeply for each other, work together, and, after they've settled back in on the ship, very privately discuss a few things. We might even hear Chakotay say 'Kathryn' again, maybe even in front of other people. Their lives may include near-death ship problems, alien mind-takeovers, and spatial-anomaly crises that will move them closer together in ways that they cannot plan for. But both of them will move to control their relationship first. That's just who they are. **COPYRIGHT VIOLATION CORNER** Paramount owns Janeway and her animal guide, but since the producers have been ignoring them, Alanna picked up their slack! FINDING THE BALANCE by Alanna Whitestar The sky was a clear green; the sun, a flattened disk of molten bronze sitting just above the horizon. She stood on a beach of peach-colored sand, a vast ocean to her left and luxuriant tropical foliage to her right. A soft breeze, redolent with the smell of salt and green, growing things, stirred her unbound hair. Frowning slightly, Captain Kathryn Janeway turned and tried to get her bearings. There was something familiar about this place, but she couldn't quite put her finger on why. It was almost as if she were seeing it from a different perspective... Her glance lingered for a moment on a nearby outcrop of colorfully striated sandstone washed in gold by the sunrise. The clearly marked cross bedding intrigued her, and she strode forward to examine it more closely. When part of the rock moved, however, she froze, all her senses alert. Then the rock moved again and she relaxed, recognizing the small lizard basking in the early sunshine. Firedream, as he had named himself to her, turned his head and gazed at her solemnly. "Hello," she whispered, kneeling to be at eye level with her animal guide. "I haven't seen you for quite some time." You have not sought me out, he corrected, blinking with deceptive laziness. Kathryn felt her cheeks grow warm, and knew it was not just from the early heat of the day. "No, I haven't, have I. Things have been so busy ...." Her voice trailed off. The excuses she'd been about to make were just that--excuses, and not very good ones, at that. She'd had plenty of opportunity, but something always held her back. Firedream gave her a look of tender exasperation. You were not ready to listen to advice from a source outside the boundaries of your rational science and technology. But now, I think, the time has come. Look carefully in this place; what you seek is here. "I don't understand. I'm not looking for anything." You should be, Firedream replied enigmatically, then disappeared. A soft but insistent chime vied with the sound of the ocean for her attention. The forest, beach, sea, and sun wavered like a heat mirage and were replaced by a nondescript gray ceiling and a window filled with stars. Kathryn took a deep breath and bolted upright in bed, blinking the sleep from her eyes. "Lights," she commanded. Grabbing her peach robe, she strode toward the computer terminal on her desk. "Computer, display the planet we're orbiting--both hemispheres, day view." The two most recent sensor scans appeared, showing a young world that was mostly ocean. There was one large landmass--reminiscent of Permian Earth's Gondwana continent--and smaller proto-continents and volcanic island arcs. Over the next hundred million years or so, Kathryn thought idly, they would probably join up to form a Pangea-like supercontinent. But for once, the usually fascinating study of a planet's geophysics and plate tectonics took a back seat to a most unscientific feeling. Staring at the display, she felt the same tugging she'd experienced four days ago when Ensign Kim had discovered this world. Only now it was stronger, more insistent. It was as if the planet were reaching out to her, compelling her to beam down to one of the equator-straddling continent's numerous beaches. "Computer, display the night hemisphere only--in real time. Now, enlarge and enhance grid 42." A single area of the continent appeared, and she could feel the pull getting stronger as she narrowed her search, finally zeroing in on one particular cove. "That's it," Kathryn murmured. "That's where I'm supposed to go and...find something. Computer, how long before sunrise at this location?" "Sunrise will occur at 1320, ship's time." "Well, so much for that idea," she snorted, turning off the display. At 1300 she'd be meeting with Lieutenant Torres to discuss the chief engineer's latest idea for optimizing the warp engines. Then Neelix wanted to give her his report on the food supplies they'd gathered from the planet, and after that she wanted to talk with the astrophysicists about that new variable star they'd been studying. Voyager was due to remain in orbit for a few days while the crew enjoyed shore leave. Maybe tomorrow she could get away. Excuses, excuses, a niggling little voice in the back of her mind said. "Not excuses; obligations," she snapped aloud, then glanced at the chronometer. Good; there was enough time to take a quick run in one of the personal holodecks before meeting Tuvok for breakfast. The exercise would clear her mind and, hopefully, get rid of this annoying and irrational compulsion. But as she peeled off her nightdress and pulled on a single-piece exercise suit, the vivid image of the beach from her dream returned. Pushing it firmly out of her mind, she strode out the door and headed for deck six. To Kathryn's dismay, the early morning run fueled her restlessness rather than reducing it. She found it almost impossible to sit still during breakfast--a sharp contrast to Tuvok's unruffled calm. He'd been surprised, though, when she refused a cup of coffee. His single raised eyebrow invited an explanation for this extraordinary and uncharacteristic behavior, but the fact was she didn't know why even the thought of her favorite beverage made her nauseous. She wasn't hungry either, and barely touched her glass of fruit juice. The antsiness followed her to the bridge like a playful puppy nipping at her heels. Chakotay was already on duty, sitting in the left hand seat and looking as serene and calm as Tuvok. In fact, everyone on the bridge seemed relaxed and happy, so much so that Kathryn felt she'd go mad from the general air of contentment. She stayed long enough to get an update on the ship's status, then beat a hasty retreat to her ready room. Padds of all sizes were stacked neatly on her desk, each containing the latest reports from various departments. Choosing one at random, she carried it over to her sitting area and began to read. But her gaze kept wandering to the planet that hung like a bright jewel in the window. There, a little voice kept murmuring to her. That's where you should be, where you need to be. By 0900 she couldn't stand it anymore, and decided to take an impromptu tour of the ship. She prowled the lower decks, minutely examining every piece of equipment in every laboratory, uncharacteristically oblivious to crewmembers' anxiety over this unannounced, white-glove inspection. Her frustration began to climb, but it didn't occur to her until the turbolift doors opened on the bridge that she'd been looking for something, and hadn't found it--because what she sought wasn't on the ship. This is ridiculous, Kathryn thought irritably. We've been in orbit for days, and will stay here for a few more. Why this obsessive need to beam down today? Was Firedream somehow compelling her, forcing her to go to the place in her dream? No; that couldn't be. It was contrary to everything Chakotay had told her about how animal guides interacted with those they chose to be with. But something was calling her with a siren song that was becoming harder and harder to resist. "Captain, is something wrong?" Tuvok's words snapped her back to reality. How long had she been standing there, staring at the main screen? Seconds? Minutes? Everyone's attention was focused on her, and on every face was a look of concern. Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to smile. "Everything's fine; I was just admiring the view," she replied briskly, stepping down to the command deck. "Commander, I'd like to speak to you for a moment in my ready room. Mr. Tuvok, you have the bridge." As Kathryn entered her ready room, the sight of the real planet, as opposed to the sensor image on the main screen, struck her like a blow to the solar plexus. It took all her willpower to remain upright and walk, seemingly unconcerned, to the seats beneath the window. Hearing the doors swoosh behind her, she motioned for Chakotay to join her. "I lied just now," she began quietly when they were both seated. "Everything is not fine, and hasn't been since early this morning. And it has something to do with my animal guide." Without giving him time to comment, she told him about her dream. The commander listened intently to her narrative, his expression thoughtful. When she finished, he said slowly, "What you've described is very common among my people. You're being called to undertake a quest, to find a fetish. But your animal guide isn't compelling you; what you're feeling is coming from within. From your spirit." "But I'm not one of your people, Chakotay," Kathryn protested, standing and beginning to pace. "I don't even know what a...a fetish is. And as for a quest, I simply don't have the time." "Why not?" he countered. "For the first time in months, there's not a Kazon in sight, the ship is running smoothly, and we're orbiting a beautiful planet. The rest of the crew is enjoying shore leave; why can't the Captain do the same?" "I was planning to beam down sometime tomorrow, or the day after. I've got meetings all afternoon --" "Can't they be postponed?" he interrupted. "That's not the point! I still feel like I'm being compelled, and I will not give in to it!" She halted abruptly at the sound of soft chuckling. Chakotay was grinning--almost ruefully, she thought. Crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes, she asked coolly, "You find this amusing, Commander?" "No. I was just remembering the first time this happened to me. I felt exactly the way you do now. I was 16 and spending all my time studying for the Academy entrance exams, and the last thing I wanted to do was go harrowing off on some crazy search. So, I dug in my heels and refused to go. But the more I tried to ignore it, the stronger the feeling became--and the angrier I became." "I'm not angry; I'm just frustrated!" she snapped. Chakotay raised his eyebrows in mute question, and Kathryn took a deep breath to force herself to relax. "All right; maybe I am," she finally admitted. "How did you cope with these feelings?" Chakotay shrugged. "I gave in--but only after arguing with my father for days." His grin faded and his eyes seemed to look past her, as if he were seeing the events of long ago. "He insisted that all the energy I was putting into anger and frustration would be better spent on the quest. To make matters worse, my animal guide agreed with him. I felt I had no choice." His voice trailed off and his expression became more thoughtful. Quietly, Kathryn sat beside him, not wanting to disturb his thoughts. "When I finally did go," he continued slowly, "my father insisted on going with me--something I resented at the time. I thought he just wanted to be sure I adhered to traditional ways, but I was wrong. He gave me guidance and encouragement when I needed it. I'm afraid I was only grudgingly grateful, but the truth is I probably would have stumbled around for days if he hadn't been with me." "And how did you feel, once you'd found whatever it was you were looking for?" "At peace. As though I'd found a part of myself I never knew was missing. It was the river stone I keep in my medicine bundle. I often use it during meditation and ritual, as a focus." "A focus," Kathryn murmured, then admitted, "Maybe that s what I need. I haven't been meditating much lately, because every time I try, I fall asleep." Chakotay grinned suddenly, his eyes taking on an impish gleam. "Perhaps that's why your animal guide wants you to find this fetish." "That's the second time you've used that word. What exactly is a fetish?" "It's a natural object--a feather, a stone, a sea shell--that has personal meaning for you." "And you're saying that's what is calling to me," she said slowly. When the commander nodded, she stood and began to pace again. It was one thing to put off studying for exams, but quite another to neglect her duties as captain. Her scheduled meetings with B'Elanna and Neelix were every bit as important as whatever was down on that planet. Although, she admitted reluctantly, given her current frame of mind, she wasn't sure how receptive she'd be to her chief engineer and morale officer. Mentally, she sighed. Perhaps Chakotay was right, and the meetings could be postponed by a day. Excuses, excuses, she heard again. Are you making excuses now to indulge your desire to beam down to the planet, just as you made excuses earlier not to? She halted her pacing and stood still for a moment, equally balanced between the two choices--to stay or go; to fulfill her obligations as captain or deal with this amorphous yet frighteningly intense spiritual need--then looked at Chakotay with sudden resolve. "All right; I'll go. Is there any kind of...preparation, some kind of ritual I should perform first?" "Among my people, it's customary to fast and purify ourselves for at least a day beforehand. But if you feel you absolutely have to go today --" Surprised, Kathryn interrupted. "But I have been fasting! Not intentionally; I just haven't felt hungry. The last time I ate was at dinner, day before yesterday." Chakotay stood and gripped her shoulder gently. "It sounds like you've been readying yourself subconsciously, Captain. How long did you say it was before sunrise?" "A little more than an hour; at 1320." "Then I'd suggest you take a warm bath. If you can meditate, fine; otherwise, just try to relax." "And then what?" "Then, you beam down to that cove and begin your search." "Just like that? Chakotay, I haven't the vaguest idea what to look for. How will I know when I've found it?" "You'll know. Listen to your heart, not your mind. Use your intuition." Kathryn grimaced. Intuition was not a word she was comfortable with. It implied knowledge that came from some unknown--or unknowable--source. As a starship captain she'd used her gut instinct on more than one occasion, and as a scientist she'd had her share of hunches. But those were different. They were simply a subconscious way of tying together disparate bits of objective, scientific data. To look for some undefined object based on the contents of a dream was so completely outside her experience that, for one of the few times in her life, Kathryn Janeway felt unsure of herself. If only she knew exactly what she was supposed to do.... "Would you like some company?" Chakotay's soft voice interrupted her musings. A wave of relief swept through her, almost embarrassing in its intensity. "I...yes; I would." She smiled ruefully. "After all, I'd hate to stumble around for days on my own." "I don't blame you. I'll meet you in transporter room one at 1320, then." "I'll be there. And, Chakotay...thank you." Returning to the bridge, she turned command over to Tuvok, then went back to her quarters. The feeling that she'd done the right thing deepened as she stepped into the tub and sank to her chin in the warm, fragrant water. Closing her eyes, she felt herself returning to the place where she'd first met Firedream, the place where she'd been more content than anywhere else in the universe. Six hours later, that feeling of peacefulness had completely vanished. In its place were fatigue and frustration. "Chakotay, this isn't working," Kathryn sighed, dropping down to sit under a tree with large, palm-like fronds. "What am I doing wrong? I'm trying to keep an open mind and let whatever it is call to me, as you suggested. But I haven't felt so much as a twinge." The commander handed her a container of water from his pack, then hunched down beside her. "It's not your mind you have to keep open; it's your heart. Your spirit." "Well, my spirit doesn't seem inclined to cooperate," she replied before opening the container and quickly downing its contents. This was only the second break they'd taken during the long morning. With this planet's 32-hour rotation, they still had hours before the sun reached zenith. But it was almost 2000 hours ship time, and Kathryn had finally called a halt to allow Chakotay, at least, to eat. Strangely, she still had no desire for food, and wondered how much longer she'd be able to go on before the heat would make her lightheaded. Fanning herself with one of the fallen leaves, she asked, "Just how long am I supposed to search for this fetish?" "Until you find it," Chakotay mumbled around a protein bar. "Thank you, oh inscrutable one," she growled, flicking sand in his direction. "How long did it take you?" "Four days." "Four...! But I thought your father--" "He helped me discover what I needed to find. But it still took four days to get there. That doesn't mean it will take you that long," he added. I've known people who found their fetishes within a couple of hours of setting out." Chakotay finished the dry Starfleet ration, washed it down with water, then placed the empty containers back into the daypack. "To answer your other question, I think I know what your problem is. You said it yourself; you're trying too hard. You have to be able to just...let go. " Kathryn smiled wryly and snorted. "Not something I'm very good at, I'll admit." "Would you be willing to try an experiment?" "What kind of experiment?" she asked warily. "I thought I wasn't supposed to be analyzing this rationally." "You aren't. I'd like to try the same guided meditation my father used for me. It should help you relax and find your center. Once you find your fetish and begin to work with it, you'll be able to do this for yourself." He raised an eyebrow in question. Kathryn nodded slowly. "All right. Should I close my eyes?" "If you wish. Sit so your spine is straight--leaning against the tree is fine. Now, I want you to take a deep breath, in through your nose, and hold it. Then slowly release the breath out through your mouth. Again, breathe in through your nose, hold it, and breathe out through your mouth. That's right. Breathe slowly and steadily. Now, imagine yourself in the center of a web. You are the spider, the weaver, the dreamer. The web is what connects you to this world. Reach out and feel the rock to which the web is anchored, the breeze that stirs it, the dew that sparkles along each strand." Well, that wasn't too hard, Kathryn thought. Although she wasn't sure about being a spider. But the sand was very fine and soft, a soothing counterpoint to the scratchy feel of the tree trunk against her back. And the sun's heat was mitigated by a cool breeze off the ocean. It felt so good just to sit here, in the shade, and listen to the sound of the surf. Chakotay's voice slowed and deepened, lulling her into a profound sense of peace. "Now, extend your senses further along the web. Know the rock deep beneath your feet; touch its solidity and feel it in your bones. Know the vast ocean that encircles you; taste its saltiness and feel its rhythm in your blood. Know the sky, clear above you; hear the wind and feel its currents in your mind. Know the green, growing things all around you; smell their perfume and feel your spirit soar. Then, when you are ready, open your eyes and see that which you desire to find." A myriad of mental images flashed by so quickly she had no time to guess their meaning. Then they were gone, as Chakotay's voice and the sound of the surf faded to silence. Far from soaring, she felt herself sinking. Her spirit became a falling stone, plunging deeper and deeper into a silent pool, until all trace of light above her went. It seemed like an eternity before her progress finally slowed. She could feel eddies forming that swirled her around, tossing her stone-self between them like children with a ball. Gradually, the eddies became strong currents, swirling around a common center, spinning her faster and faster. The coriolis force beat at her, stretching and elongating her even as it forced her back to the surface. She had silvery-pink scales now, and fins that were flattened to her sides. And something called to her. It was nothing she could see or hear--it was almost, but not quite, a smell. There was a place she had to be, and it lay above. Swimming with the current, she eagerly sought the growing light. With a violent heave she threw herself out of the whirlpool and into a mighty river. But what she sought was still some distance ahead, and now she had to swim against the current to get there. There was a way, something deep inside murmured. It was done...thusly. Suddenly she fell into a rhythm, her muscles responding to tiny variations in water pressure, and she began to make progress. It was no longer hard work, but something she did instinctively, just as she instinctively knew where she had to go. With strong sweeps of her tail and leaps into the tropical air, she made her way forward until at last she lay, gasping and spent, on the banks of the now quiet river. Slowly, her back thickened and grew hard, becoming a shell that was spine and shelter both. Her head shrank and developed a thick neck, and fins turned into stumpy feet. But whereas before she had progressed with leaps and bounds, now she could manage no more than a slow, ponderous pace. Yet it was progress all the same, and gave her time to become intimately familiar with her surroundings. Fine sand gave way to rocks and then underbrush, and finally onto the floor of a primeval forest. The sun was a remote presence, peeping only occasionally through the thick foliage above. And so she crawled forward, inch by inch, until the inches flowed into feet, and yards, and miles. It seemed she had been walking this path forever, but the forest was cool and there were plenty of insects to eat. Her intuition told her that what she sought would remain there long enough for her to find it. There was no sense of urgency, and she was at peace with the world around her. A white chrysalis appeared in front of her, dangling from a low-hanging branch. She stretched her neck to butt at it playfully and watched it spin gently in the breeze. Suddenly, with a dizzying sort of twist, she was the one spinning around. She was confined in some membranous substance, and somehow knew that it was time for her to emerge. A gentle arching movement split the covering, allowing her wet and glistening wings to emerge. Gradually the rest of her body followed: thorax and abdomen and, finally, her head. She felt very weak and strangely heavy, but that feeling lessened as her wings dried and stiffened. And then, with no effort at all, she was airborne, following some instinct that led her to a cluster of wildflowers. Uncurling her long tongue, she delicately sampled the varied feast spread before her. With a flip of her wings she rose in the air, and, as in the pool, was suddenly caught in a current that hurled her spiraling upward. It was useless fighting the updraft, but after a few moments she was able to sense which way the air would flow. Now her wings were made of feathers that extended to either side in a great span. Higher and higher she flew, until the world lay below her in a great motley patchwork of color. On one particular stretch of sand, a woman leaned against a tree and a man sat next to her, motionless. But there was something near them, something she needed. With a high, piercing cry, she tucked in her dark red tail feathers, folded her wings, and dove. At the last moment she pulled up, plucked a stone from the sand with her talons, and then stroked upward toward the sun. With a dazzling shower of molten bronze sparks, she burst through the sun and continued upward. Now her spirit resided in the stone, and the dark green of the sky became the depths of the ocean. Slowly she drifted upward, finally breaking the surface and floating until she washed up on the shore and became lodged in the sand. And there, at last, her journey ended. Gradually, her human senses returned. It was warm; the breeze that had cooled her earlier was gone. She heard the endless roar of the surf and felt a hard surface behind her, a soft one beneath. Her eyes fluttered open, revealing two legs stretched out in shadow before her. Taking a deep breath, she came fully awake and looked around. "Chakotay?" she called. "Are you there?" The only answer was the gentle sussuration of waves breaking on the shore. Kathryn's right hand instinctively went to her left shoulder--and encountered nothing but cloth. Her comm badge was missing. Rising slowly, she moved onto the beach, away from the concealing trees. And there, only a few steps away, was a familiar outcrop of colorfully striated sandstone. Part of the rock suddenly moved as she approached. "Firedream," she murmured. "If you're here, I must still be dreaming." Are you sure? "Well, it can't have been real, my turning into all those creatures." She hesitated. "Could it?" What do you think? "As a scientist, I know it s impossible for Terran fauna to exist on this world. But the whole experience felt so real .... I'm not sure what to think--except that I definitely need to brush up on my natural history." You will not find answers in your computer files. If you truly wish to learn about Salmon, Turtle, Butterfly, and Hawk, you must seek them in your dreams and listen to what they have to teach. I will help you find the way, once you have found what you seek. "That stone," Kathryn murmured, gazing up the beach. But, just as in her earlier dream, the view suddenly wavered like a heat mirage and vanished. Unlike that dream, it was replaced, not with a window filled with stars, but with the face of her first officer, looking down at her. She was still seated under the tree. So; her talk with Firedream had been part of her vision. "Captain, are you all right?" She tried to speak, but coughed dryly instead. Immediately, Chakotay pressed a container of water into her hands and helped her navigate it to her mouth. After taking a few gulps, she said hoarsely, "What happened? Did I fall asleep?" Craning her neck up and then around, she found the sun--just beyond the treetops. "My God. How long...?" "Four hours. And you weren't asleep, you were in one of the deepest trances I've ever seen," Chakotay replied, his voice a strange blend of worry and awe. "Why on Earth didn't you wake me?" Kathryn said, getting to her feet and brushing the sand off her legs and shorts. "I'm not sure I could have. Do you know now what you're supposed to find?" "Oh yes," Kathryn replied dryly. "But that piece of information was the least of it. The whole experience was...remarkable." She looked up the beach, shading her eyes with her hand. "My fetish isn't too far away, but we'd better hurry. The tide's coming in." Slinging the daypack over his shoulder, Chakotay joined her as she strode down the beach. Thankfully, he didn't ply her with questions and seemed content to walk in silence. Which was just as well; Kathryn wasn't sure she could put her experience into words just yet. But she was a scientist; her instinctive reaction was to analyze... Her instinctive reaction. Instinct; that was the key. Each of her vision-selves had been guided by instinct, a knowledge so deep it was written in their very genes. In each form, she'd been able to sense the planetary currents of sea and soil and air. It was as if she'd tapped into the web Chakotay had described at the beginning of the guided meditation--a web that connected all forms of life on this planet. But she had taken the form of Terran creatures. How could they, who were foreign to this world, be part of its web? Unless...was it possible there was a greater web, one that connected planetary systems and spanned the Universe? Her mind reeled at the implications, and abruptly she remembered the images that had flashed through her mind just before the vision began. She'd had that experience before -the brief but exhiliarating feeling of being everywhere at once and knowing everything that ever was, is, or will be -- when she'd broken the Warp 10 barrier with Tom Paris. Normal humanoid consciousness couldn't cope with such a barrage of information. But what if humanoid instinct--or intuition; she reluctantly admitted there really was no difference--was the subconscious mind's way of tapping into that Universal web? Was that how she'd felt the connection, even light years away, between her and her fetish? It was an interesting idea--similar to, but not quite the same as, Jung's theory of the collective unconscious--and certainly something to think about. Or, she amended ruefully, to meditate on. A little less than an hour later, Kathryn finally saw the object of her search. The tugging had grown more insistent as she'd gotten closer, and now she sprinted forward to cover the last few meters. Buried in the sand, just as she knew it would be, was a stone that fit neatly into the palm of her hand. Breathing a soft ahhhhh , she bent down and picked it up, then turned to Chakotay, smiling. "It's a piece of pumice, she said, turning it over and over in her hands. "It must have taken months to float to this shore. The nearest volcanic arc is over two thousand kilometers away." "A long journey." "Hmmm. The ocean didn't smooth it very much, but then it wouldn't. It has much too high a silica content. But why this, I wonder? Why not something like a sea shell, or a leaf?" Chakotay waggled a finger in admonishment. "You're analyzing again. The only one who can answer that question is you. Although I can tell you what it means among my people." "What does it mean?" "My ancestors believed that all things were made of four elements: earth, air, fire, and water. A little simplistic, compared to the modern periodic table," he grinned. "Our shamans still teach that everything can be classified as one of those four elements, or as a mixture of two or more. They would call this a balance stone : a piece of earth, formed in the fire and air of a volcanic eruption, and carried here by the water. " Kathryn remained silent for a moment, holding the rock in her left hand. Four elements. In her vision, she'd been four different creatures. Did each one relate to a different element? Well, salmon lived in water, and although turtles could live on either sea or land, she'd been crawling across the ground. So that would represent earth--a singularly parochial term for alien soil, she thought wryly. But both the butterfly and hawk flew in the air. Ah, but she had been a red-tailed hawk, and had flown into the sun. Perhaps the bird represented fire, then. Something else on which to meditate. "Balance," she finally murmured. "Something I'm definitely going to need during our own long journey." A low, growling noise interrupted her. Flushing with embarrassment, she realized the sound came from her stomach. "Sounds like you're ready to break your fast, Captain," Chakotay laughed. "I guess I am! And I am also dying for some coffee. Do you realize it's been over 36 hours since my last cup?" His eyebrows arched and his eyes widened in mock astonishment. "I'll have to enter that in the log; it must be a record." "Not even close," she retorted, laughing with him. "The longest I've abstained from coffee--of my own free will, mind you--is five days. But that's a long story." Her stomach rumbled again. "Care to tell me that story over breakfast? Or, whatever we can scrounge up; it's almost 0200, ship's time." "I'm sure we can find something." Kathryn paused, then reached out to touch his shoulder. "Thank you, Chakotay, for helping me find this." The commander shook his head. "The finding was all yours. I only gave you a nudge in the right direction--as my father did for me." Smiling, she gripped his shoulder again, then touched her comm badge. "Janeway to Voyager; two to beam up." For a brief moment, two columns of blue light rivaled the sun for brilliance. Then they disappeared, as did the two visitors. Slowly, the waves encroached on the small depression in the sand where the stone had been, filling it in and restoring the balance. **ALL ABOUT NOW VOYAGER** Welcome to the officially sanctioned Kate Mulgrew Appreciation Society. This newsletter is published bimonthly by Michelle Erica Green and Paul Anderson, P.O. Box 34745, Bethesda, MD 20827-4745. You can reach us online at tigger@cais.cais.com or thepooh@aol.com. Send SASE for information or $5 for sample issue, or e-mail us for the electronic edition. Current yearly dues, $25/U.S., $32/Canada-Mexico, $40/Overseas (U.S. funds only), are subject to change without notice as rising printing and mailing costs affect our ability to produce this newsletter. Now Voyager is on the World Wide Web at http://gl.umbc.edu/~mpanti1/kate/kate.html. This is a not-for-profit, amateur publication and is not intended to infringe upon the rights of Paramount Pictures or any other broadcasting or motion picture corporation. All material herein is copyrighted by the authors, except for the copyrights, trademarks, and patents of Paramount Pictures and its licensees. You may not reproduce any part of this newsletter without written permission of the editors and writers. If you received this newsletter electronically, you may not forward it, excerpt from it, post the illustrations, nor disseminate it in any other manner without permission of the editors. The opinions expressed in Now Voyager are not necessarily those of the editorial staff, Kate Mulgrew, or Paramount Pictures. If you are interested in contributing, please write for guidelines. PHOTO AND ART CREDITS 3, 4, 5, 13--Illustrations © Jennifer Pelland 1996. 5--Illustration © Ruth Burns 1996. 6--Program cover © Seattle Repertory Theatre 1996. 7--Photo © Cheryl Waldie 1996. 7--Photo © Leah Frey 1996. 8--Photo © Rick Buickel 1996. 9, 10--Photos © Joan Testin 1996. 12--Photo © Lauren Baum 1996. 14--Illustration © Caricatures by Wayne 1995. 24--Illustration © L.R. Bowen 1996. WE ARE FAMILY THE COMMANDER Official Robert Beltran/Chakotay Fan Club c/o B.J. O'Leary P.O. Box 183 Reading, PA 19603 B3 PRIME Official Roxann Biggs-Dawson/B'Elanna Torres Fan Club c/o M. Russell 1630 Ft. Campbell Blvd., Suite 143 Clarksville, TN 37042 blilsism@aol.com RANDOM FLIGHT Official Robert Duncan McNeill/Tom Paris Fan Club c/o Pam Buickel 850 Mellowood Avenue Orlando, FL 32825-8085 ricknpam@iag.net EPIC (Ethan Phillips International Club) Official Ethan Phillips/Neelix Fan Club c/o Joe Christiano and Rande Goodwin P.O. Box 4818 Waterbury, CT 06704 randeg@aol.com CARPE (Central Alliance of Robert Picardo Enthusiasts) Official Robert Picardo/The Doctor Fan Club c/o Tracey Ledel, RNC Box 373, 1277 Linda Mar Shopping Center Pacifica, CA 94044 traceldel1@aol.com CERES 1 Official Garrett Wang/Harry Kim Fan Club P.O. Box 13767 Sacramento, CA 95853-3767 VULCAN INSIDERS Official Tim Russ/Tuvok Fan Club P.O. Box 8248 Long Beach, CA 90808 SESKA'S SCANDAL SHEET Official Martha Hackett/Seska Fan Club c/o Donna J. Abate 3699 Barnard Drive #517 Oceanside, CA 92056 southpawdj@aol.com EMISSARY Avery Brooks/Benjamin Sisko Fan Club c/o Bartricia Williams P.O. Box 621719 Oviedo, FL 32762-1719 emisary1@aol.com THE TEMPORAL MECHANIC Colm Meaney/Miles O'Brien Fan Club c/o Lisa Anderson P.O. Box 5282 Elm Grove, WI 53112-5282 berly@execpc.com OASIS Official Armin Shimerman/Quark Fan Club c/o Kathy Bayne 26 Dogwood Street Jersey City, NJ 07305 kathybayne@aol.com THE DOCTOR'S EXCHANGE Official Alexander Siddig/Bashir Fan Club c/o Joan Marie Verba P. O. Box 1363 Minnetonka, MN 55345-0363 verba001@maroon.tc.umn.edu NANITES Official Nana Visitor/Kira Nerys Fan Club c/o M. McGowan 8824 Cross Country Place Gaithersburg, MD 20879 nananut@aol.com The Masthead Kate Mulgrew is our captain and our raison d'être. Michelle Erica Green publishes and presides over Now Voyager. Paul Anderson, our XO, is our treasurer and assistant editor. Jennifer Pelland, Communications Officer, runs our internet list. Michael Pantiuk & Cheryl Zenor are our official web spinners. Anne Davenport, our Science Officer, distributes our back issues. Meredith Antonelli, our Security Chief, made our club badges. Joan Testin, our Morale Officer, does most of our special projects. Anna Shuford & Becky Olsen are our crew personnel directors. Alanna Whitestar at conn makes it possible to get the newsletter out. L.R. Bowen is in charge of creating all our holodeck scenarios. Maureen McGowan of DS9 lets us use the Nanites' scanner. Pam Buickel & Bartricia Williams, who command other crews, represented us onstage and in the dealers' room in Orlando. PHOTOS FROM STARFEST Now Voyager has color prints of the group photo from Denver which was on the cover of Now Voyager 2:4, as well as a terrific color photo of Kate during an autograph session, both taken by Joan Testin. 4x6 prints are $3.00 for both; 5x7 prints are $6.00 apiece, postage included. We will have several black and white photos available as well as soon as we are able to get them reproduced inexpensively. If interested, send checks/money orders to the club at: Now Voyager P.O. Box 34745 Bethesda, MD 20827-4745 NOW VOYAGER BACK ISSUES Issues feature Voyager reviews, interviews, commentary, pictures, art, humor, reports on Kate's non-Trek performances/appearances, book reviews, and short fan fiction. All back issues are are 24-32 pages, photocopied. Specific issues also contain: Vol.1, 1 - Feb. 1995 - First issue, a little of everything. Vol.1, 2 - Apr. 1995 - San Francisco and Grand Slam con reports, interviews with Lolita Fatjo and Eric Stillwell. Vol.1, 3 - Jun. 1995 - Interview with Kate's stand-in Sue Henley, Bellevue con report. Vol.1, 4 - Aug. 1995 - Vulkon Janeway fan discussion, interview with David Stipes, full page Kate photo (same as '96 club photo). Vol.1, 5 - Oct. 1995 - Phone interview with Kate, full page photo. Vol.1, 6 - Dec. 1995 - Kate at charity event photos/reviews, Robert Beltran convention interview and full page Robert publicity photo. Vol.2, 1 - Jan. 1996 - Now Voyager phone interview with Jeri Taylor, Robert Picardo convention interview. Vol.2, 2 - Mar. 1996 - Heartbeat review, Christie Golden interview. Vol.2, 3 - May 1996 - Kate's horoscope, full page photo from A Stranger is Watching. Vol.2, 4 - Jul. 1996 - April Denver Starfest convention reports/ photos and Now Voyager club members' brunch with Kate. All checks/money orders should be payable on a U.S. bank in U.S. dollars, made out to Anne Davenport. Any cash sent through the mail is AT YOUR OWN RISK. U.S./Canada/Mexico: $4.00 each, or $3.50 each for 6 or more items (first class postage included). Europe, elsewhere North/South America: $5.00 each, or $4.00 each for 8 or more items (air mail postage included). Australia, Asia: $5.50 each, or $5.00 each for 8 or more items (air mail postage included). Send SASE for back issue orders or e-mail: 72560.1307@compuserve.com or kjaneway@beaches.net. Please print clearly the name and mailing address to send issues to: NAME: ADDRESS: CITY: STATE/PROVINCE/COUNTY: ZIP/POSTAL CODE: COUNTRY: BACK ISSUES YOU WANT (include quantity of each issue): TOTAL NUMBER OF BACK ISSUES ORDERED: TOTAL DOLLAR AMOUNT ENCLOSED: