The Cloud (Star Trek: Voyager)

"The Cloud" is the sixth episode of Star Trek: Voyager.

Plot

Janeway's log opens with her stating that several weeks have passed and since Voyager is the only Federation ship in the quadrant, the crew have become more like an "extended family". Neelix has been serving his special recipes to the crew which helps save replicator power, but Janeway has been cut off from her regular black coffee, Neelix' "better than coffee" alternative isn't as attractive. After encountering a strange nebula, Janeway orders: "Set a new course... there's coffee in that nebula," and the Voyager enters the nebula an attempt to supplement its rapidly depleting energy reserves. En route to the nebula, Janeway asks Chakotay about the crew. He states that they're in a period of mourning, which is natural since there is no counselor, due to the original purpose of Voyager's launch. As they go through the cloud, the gases in the nebula are attracted to the ship's thrusters. They come across what appears to be a natural energy barrier keeping them 7000 km from the particles they need. To get through, Ensign Harry Kim engages thrusters to breach the barrier which immediately closes.

Neelix, working in the kitchen with Kes, looks outside and sees the nebula. While he thinks it is a bad idea to go into one, Kes finds it wonderful to seek the unknown. As they enter further into the nebula, but encounter trouble when the shields begin to drop in power, reserves begin to fade, and the impulse thrusters trigger a dangerous reaction inside the nebula which causes the crew to vacate immediately. Voyager sustains damage and unidentified material from the nebula becomes attached to the ship's hull, which Torres studies. The Voyager crew investigate the material from the nebula, discovering that it is organic, leading to the realization of the Nebula as a sentient being.

The crew find a way to fix the Nebula, to which the Doctor points out has a regenerative power and the attempt to fix the cloud would only be a helping hand, and Captain Janeway takes Voyager back inside to repair some damage done to a 'membrane' by the ship in the first encounter. Torres attempts to modify the engines to produce a Neucleonic Beam, the energy needed, though the ship is more depleted than before. As they enter, the natural defenses of the Nebula attack the ship, lodging it deeper and further from the wound. Chakoatay finds a flow of energy in the nebula and believes it is the circulatory system. The ship reaches the wound by the "blood flow", repair it, the mission is a success and the Voyager crew search for an alternative means of resupplying power for ship functions. Fortunately, Neelix's knowledge of local space might lead them to what they need.

In a side-story, Janeway receives help from Chakotay on finding her "animal guide" from Indian folklore - hers is a gecko. Torres once tried to find hers and later tried to kill it. Lt. Tom Paris takes Harry to spend some downtime at 'Chez Sandrine', a French pool bar holodeck program Paris created. The crew join in after the mission to relax.

Notes

Janeway adds a supplemental log at the end of the episode similar to a tribal chief noting an observation of his people. "Acuchimoya. We are far from the sacred places of our grandfathers and from the bones of our people. But perhaps there is one powerful being who will embrace this good crew and give them the answer they seek."

External links

• The Cloud at the Internet Movie Database
• "The Cloud" at TV.com
• The Cloud at Memory Alpha (a Star Trek wiki)
• The Cloud at StarTrek.com