Welcome to the latest issue of TCM,

In this issue we will be taking an in depth look at Star Trek Voyager.

We have biographies of all the main characters written by Gerri and

Eugenia. We also have interviews with Eugene ‘Rod’ Roddenberry

and the female Q herself, Suzie Plakson, Also we have an article

written by Star Trek Stunt woman Leslie Hoffman.

Finally our Captains Log is written by acclaimed Star Trek author

Michael A. Martin.

So all that remains to be said is we hope you all enjoy the issue.

Live long and Prosper

Richard

FEATURES Star Trek Voyager 2371-2378

By Camren T. Burton 6

Star Trek Stuntwoman

By Leslie Hoffman 8

Captain Janeway Biography

By Gerri Donaldson and Eugenia Stopyra 11

Suzie Plakson Interview 14

Commander Chakotay Biography 19

Lt. Commander Tuvok

By Gerri Donaldson and Eugenia Stopyra 21

The Doctor Biography

By Gerri Donaldson and Eugenia Stopyra 23

Star Trek Voyager 2371-2378 A Timeline Seasons 1 and 2

By Camren T. Burton 26

Neelix Biography

By Gerri Donaldson and Eugenia Stopyra 34

Kes Biography

By Gerri Donaldson and Eugenia Stopyra 36

Seven of Nine Biography

By Gerri Donaldson and Eugenia Stopyra 38

Eugene ‘Rod’ Roddenberry Interview 41

Ensign Kim Biography

By Gerri Donaldson and Eugenia Stopyra 51

Lt. Tom Paris Biography

By Gerri Donaldson and Eugenia Stopyra 53

Lt. B’Elanna Torres Biography

By Gerri Donaldson and Eugenia Stopyra 55

Special Thanks:

Interviewees:

Suzie Plakson and Eugene ‘Rod’

Roddenberry.

Writers:

Camren Burton; Gerri Donaldson; Leslie

Hoffman; Michael A. Martin; Richard

Miles and Eugenia Stopyra.

Production Companies:

Roddenberry Productions.

Staff:

Writers:

Camren T. Burton; Gerri Donaldson;

Leslie Hoffman; Michael A. Martin;

Richard Miles and Eugenia Stopyra.

Graphics:

Richard Miles

Images:

Bing.com Images; Google.com

Images; Leslie Hoffman; Suzie

Plakson.

Head Writers:

Gerri Donaldson and Eugenia Stopyra

Creative Consultants:

Michael Hudson and Rick Pike

Assistant Editors:

Alex Matthews

Editor:

Richard Miles

Publisher:

Richard Miles

REGULARS

Captains Log

By Michael A. Martin 59

Next Issue 60

In 1994, the unthinkable was happening – Star

Trek: The Next Generation was coming to an end.

The ratings for season 2 of Star Trek: Deep Space

Nine were low, but the rumor mill was ripe with

speculation about the new Star Trek series in

development, Star Trek: Voyager.

Set aboard the U.S.S. Voyager, NCC-74656, the

series made some bold leaps forward with the

casting of a female captain (as a regular), a first

for Star Trek. Kate Mulgrew assumed the center

seat as Captain Kathryn Janeway. Also surprising

to some viewers was the presence of a black

Vulcan, Tuvok, played by Tim Russ. Other

crewmembers included Native American First

Officer Chakotay (Robert Beltran), pilot Tom Paris

(Robert Duncan McNeill), half-Klingon Chief

Engineer B’Elanna Torres (Roxann Dawson),

Asian Ops officer Ensign Harry Kim (played by

Garret Wang, and still waiting for his promotion),

a holographic Doctor (Robert Picardo), a Talaxian

guide and cook named Neelix (Ethan Phillips), a

young Ocampa named Kes (Jennifer Lien), and

later a liberated Borg named Seven of Nine (Jeri

Ryan).

With Voyager and Deep Space Nine airing at the

same time, the loss of The Next Generation was

somewhat softened, more so by their movie

“Star Trek: Generations” which opened the

autumn following the show’s ending.

Voyager and Deep Space Nine maintained their

own storylines but occasionally crossed paths,

maintaining a decent continuity. The two series

would also have major impact on the Star Trek

fan-film community, as depicted in the following

timeline of Voyager’s seven season run.

The timeline continues on page 31

I have always been a Trekkie ever since TOS. I even

attend the second Star Trek Convention that was

held in New York City. Imagine years later to walk

onto Paramount Lot and walk into the imagination of

Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek!!! I had been doing

stunts on DS9 for Dennis Madalone, Stunt

Coordinator for TNG, DS9 and Voyager. I could not

stunt double for Dax or Kira on DS9 due to my

height, for I was too short.

Then Star Trek: Voyager started up and there was a

Klingon-Human Hybrid named B’Elanna Torres.

Torres would rather punch someone first and ask

questions later. Dennis felt I would be a perfect

Double for her. The most memorable stunts I have

done for her were on “Blood Fever” where I did the

repelling stunt fall with Neelix and the final Pon Farr

fight with Vorik.

In “Day of Honour” I did the whole fight for Roxann

due to the fact that she was 10 weeks pregnant and

the Producer’s did not want to risk the health of

Mother and unborn Child. If you watch the fight very

carefully, you will see that there are no cuts

throughout the whole fight but at the end the camera

swings down to the Klingon that Torres had knocked

down and then swings back up to…… Roxann!!!!! so

that she could say her final line. All we did was to

switch places quickly but personally it is one of my all

time favorite fights that I have done.

Star Trek: Voyager was a major part of my Life for 7

wonderful years. There are so many wonderful

memories on and off the set. The main Cast was

always friendly and the crew especially Special Effects

always took care of the Stunt People who worked on

the set. In “Memorial” I had to be phasered in the

back. The Head of the Special Effects Department, Dick

Brownfield was very upset because up until then no

woman had been killed that way on any Star Trek

Series. Dick was so concerned about my wellbeing that

he personally rigged up the squib (explosive) on my

back. That was above and beyond what Dick had to do

and that is how I will always remember Star Trek:

Voyager.

I worked several other episodes as well. If interested

about my Career you can always visit:

Memory Alpha

http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/Leslie_Hoffman

IMDB

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0389003/

or my own site:

www.stuntrek.com

please feel free to ask me any more questions and I

will answer them.

Thank you Trekkie Central Magazine for inviting me to

share my experiences with you and your Readers.~

Personal Log, Stardate 48546.2. Our journey home is several weeks

old now, and I have begun to notice in my crew and in myself, a

subtle change as the reality of our situation settles in. Here in the

Delta Quadrant, we are virtually the entire family of man. We are

more than a crew and I must find a way to be more than a Captain

to these people

Kathryn Elizabeth Janeway grew up on a farm in Bloomington,

Indiana. Her father was a Starfleet Admiral. She adored her father

and credited him with forcing her to learn how to work things out

for herself. When he drowned under the polar ice cap on Tau Ceti

Prime Janeway was grief stricken, not moving from her bed for

days until her sister dragged her out of bed and coerced her to

accept the fact that their father was dead and it was time to move

on.

One of her heroes were her family ancestor, astronaut Shannon

O’Donnell who she believed was the driving force behind the

construction of the Millennium Gate also Amelia Earhart a 1930s

airplane pilot. These people, along with her father inspired her to

join Starfleet.

Janeway studied hard often pulling all-nighters with a pot of coffee

by her side. Her love for coffee was one of the things she missed

most when first lost in the Delta Quadrant.

Graduating from Starfleet her first posting was on the USS Al-

Batani under the command of Captain Owen Paris as Science

Officer. Under his patronage she eventually took command of the

USS Billings. It was here that she first met Tuvok when she was

dressed down by him in front of three Starfleet Admirals for failing

to observe proper tactical procedures. Soon after Janeway and

Tuvok became close friends and she found comfort in the fact that

she could ‘rely on his insightful and unfailingly logical advice’.

Her next command was on the Intrepid-class USS Voyager and her

first mission was to locate and capture a Maquis ship that had last

been reported in the Badlands. Whilst there, the Maquis and

Voyager crews were transported against their will by an alien being

called The Caretaker into the Delta Quadrant, 75 000 light years

away. The Maquis vessel was destroyed while fighting the Kazon-

Ogla and the two crews had to start working together when

Janeway destroyed the Caretaker’s Array that had the potential to

return them to the Alpha Quadrant. Janeway following the Prime

Directive meant they were stranded and it would take 75 years to

return home.

At the Academy, we are taught that a captain is expected to

maintain a certain distance. Until now, I've always been

comfortable with that distance. Maybe this is just the way it works.

Maybe the distance is necessary. Maybe more than ever now, they

need me to be larger than life. I only wish I felt larger than life.

Computer, delete last sentence....

Early days in the Delta Quadrant, Janeway felt uneasy about how

to interact with her crew and especially the Maquis. As time went

on the loneliness of being the only Federation ship in the quadrant

led her to relax the separation between Captain and crew. She

viewed herself as a shepherd looking after her flock and the crew

viewed her with respect and admiration.

Janeway was a Captain who was not afraid to take

chances, in many cases putting herself in the firing

line. She was intelligent, thoughtful and totally

committed to getting her crew home.

Chakotay, leader of the Maquis became Janeway’s

second in command. She slowly began to trust

Chakotay and admired the way he handled the crews

of both ships. They became firm friends, although

not always seeing ‘eye-to-eye’, often sharing a meal

and debriefing. When contracting a deadly virus and

were left on a planet where the virus was held in

remission it was here that Chakotay revealed to

Janeway just how his life had changed by meeting

her.

I can tell you a story, an ancient legend among my people.

It's about an angry warrior who lived his life in conflict with

the rest of his tribe, a man who couldn't find peace even

with the help of his spirit-guide. For years he struggled

with his discontent. But the only satisfaction he ever got

when he was in battle. This made him a hero among his

tribe, but the warrior still longed for peace within himself.

One day he and his war party were captured by a

neighbouring tribe, led by a woman warrior. She called on

him to join her because her tribe was too small and weak

to defend itself from all its enemies. The woman warrior

was brave and beautiful, and very wise. The angry warrior

swore to himself he would stay by her side, doing

whatever he could to make their burden lighter her needs

would come first and in that way the warrior began to

know the true meaning of peace.

When Janeway severed Seven of Nine’s connection with

the Borg she took it upon herself to help rediscover her

human identity. Janeway became her mentor and role

model challenging Seven to remember her past and to

pursue what a ‘normal’ life should be. Often at

loggerheads with each other as Seven questioned

Janeway’s opinions but over time they became friends.

It was her personal relationship with Tuvok and Chakotay

that was the determining factor for a future Admiral

Janeway wanting to change the timeline after Voyager

returned from its twenty-three year journey. Tuvok

suffered a condition that destroyed his mind, with the cure

only available on Vulcan they had returned too late for it

to be effective. Chakotay had married Seven of Nine in the

Delta Quadrant but she was killed during an away mission

and since returning Chakotay died from what Janeway

believed was a broken heart.

(At Chakotay's grave) Any final words of advice for your old

Captain? Wait, don't tell me: I'm being impulsive. I haven't

considered all the consequences. It's too risky. Thanks for

the input. But I've got to do what I think is right. I know it

wasn't easy living all these years without her, Chakotay.

But when I'm through... things might be better for all of us.

Trust me.

Travelling back in time Admiral Janeway provided Captain

Janeway with sophisticated anti-Borg technology, including

transphasic torpedoes and ablative generator armour

technology, in order for her to enter the nebula that

housed the transwarp hub. Not in any way unexpected

Admiral Janeway sacrifices herself so that her crew get

home.

As Voyager flies out from the wreckage of a Borg Sphere

that surrounded them, she was greeted by the voices of

Admiral Owen Paris and Lt Reginald Barclay welcoming

them home. After seven years in the Delta Quadrant she

accomplished what she had set out to do. She got her

crew home.

We're alone - in an uncharted part of the galaxy. We've

already made some friends here... and some enemies. We

have no idea of the dangers we're going to face. But one

thing is clear: both crews are going to have to work

together if we're to survive. That's why Commander

Chakotay and I have agreed that this should be one crew -

a Starfleet crew. And as the only Starfleet vessel assigned

to the Delta Quadrant, we'll continue to follow our

directive: to seek out new worlds and explore space. But

our primary goal is clear. Even at maximum speeds, it

would take 75 years to reach the Federation. But I'm not

willing to settle for that. There's another entity like the

Caretaker out there somewhere who has the ability to get

us there a lot faster. We'll be looking for her. And we'll be

looking for wormholes, spatial rifts, or new technologies

to help us. Somewhere, along this journey, we'll find a

way back.

Upon the return of Voyager to the Alpha Quadrant,

Janeway was promoted to the rank of Vice Admiral and

was assigned to Starfleet Command.

Here are three things to remember about being a starship

captain: keep your shirt tucked in, go down with the ship,

and never abandon a member of your crew!!

TCM: How did you first get cast as K’Ehleyr for The Next Generation,

was it on the back of your role of Selar in an earlier episode or did you

have to audition for it?

SP: I auditioned for it.

The stand out memory for me in that audition was...well, wait: I

should set up the fact that though I’m profoundly and eternally

grateful to Star Trek fans, and have felt so incredibly blessed and

honored a thousand times over by my inclusion on Planet Star Trek, I

don’t happen to be a SciFi person at all. And as an actor, I tend to

come, predominantly, from comedy. So, back to the audition, and the

fact that an alien chick with a gnarly forehead should stand at a door

and silkily say, “Sorry I’m late, I had to make myself look beautiful,”

was something that I knew all the comedy and theatre folks in my life

would be in stitches over.

Well, of course, it was quite a serious moment, and the “panel of

judges” as it were, didn’t, rightfully, crack a smile, which I found rather

unnerving.

I also think something about my generally (subtly, I hope) comic take

on things, probably led to me giving a bit of a wink to someone at

some point, which consequently led to a notable note I later received

from the producers: “Um, Suzie: there’s no winking in the 24th

Century.” (Which frankly, makes me glad I won’t be around to see it, if

that’s the case.)

Point herein being, even though I’d been on the show before, it took

me some time to really grasp the world I was entering, and get on the

same train with respect to the tone of things. Not much time, of

course, because I got the role on, what, a Thursday, went in for

makeup and hair on Friday, shot on Monday.

TCM: You have played a number of different characters in Star Trek,

did you prepare for them in the same way?

SP: Probably. They’re all a thousand years ago now, and remember --

it’s television. Hailing back to the speed of light at which one is cast

and thrown into the mix, there generally isn’t time to prepare in any

depth, nor, frankly, does there need to be. I think I took most of my

character cues from the script, as usual, and I’m pretty sure they gave

me a few episodes to watch. Though I remember as I write, that

I didn’t “need” to see a Vulcan; I’d watched just enough Trek with my

brother -- who’s a big Trek fan -- that one of the coolest I-got-cast

phone calls I’ve ever made was to him saying, “Mike, you’re gonna

freak: I’m playing a Vulcan.”

Also, to be noted with respect to my approach to acting and Star Trek:

I find it hooks pleasantly into “kid” energy. In other words, the fun,

the plain old, ordinary, serious fun of getting clothed in wild makeup

and cool costumes and pretending the thing you’re holding measures

diseases, or shoots firey rays of some sort is a transformational

impulse that comes from a very deep place.

And as far as the stunt stuff for K’Ehleyr, they just threw me in the

deep end. And with the exception of two stunts, I did everything. It

was exhausting. And hilarious.

Egotistically, I was always a little miffed they used

me only in close-ups when I thought I was just a

bit more convincing than the stunt gal, and we

have totally different heights and measurements.

The stunt stuff for the Andorian, thank God, was

done beautifully by Katie Holmes, who was

terrific. I could never have pulled off something so

tough, and my body would have been very angry

with me.

TCM: All 4 of your characters had different

personalities, were any them more difficult to

play then the other?

SP: The Vulcan was the most difficult. Firstly, I’m

so insanely animated, that it’s a real challenge to

be still. And every decent actor knows that less is

more and that projecting with ever so much less

takes serious chops. The guy in the new movie (I

saw it on a plane), I thought was true genius. If

you look closely, in my first scene in “The Schizoid

Man”, I look like a deer in the headlights, and my

facial muscles are so at a loss I look like a dinner

plate.

TCM: In Star Trek Voyager you played the Female Q, how

different was she to play from K’ Ehleyr?

SP: Well, as vastly different as they are to watch. One’s

very, very physically demanding, the other’s just, well, a lot

closer to playing Noel coward.

TCM: A lot of the Voyager episode ‘The Q and the Grey’

features a Q Civil War, with American Civil War Dress, what

was it like to film?

SP: It was a blast. I loved it because we were outside,

instead of on a dusty soundstage, getting our lungs full of

that atmosphere smoke. Much as I love the theatrical

effect of the makeup, I loathe the practicum and the hours

involved, so with the q, in that era, it was about beauty

makeup and a bit -- well, more that a bit, actually -- of hair

curling and styling and such. I’m mad for period costume,

though I happily took the opportunity to wear sneakers

under my dress. It was a gorgeous day, and lots of fun. I

was, to be honest, a bit disappointed in the little lace doily

afternoon tea dress: I think the Q -- the Q I played anyway -

- would’ve easily been vain enough to wear something very

low cut and ravishing and wildly inappropriate in the

middle of a battlefield. But, alas, I was only a hired hand.

TCM: How different was it working on Voyager

compared to The Next Generation?

SP: Different cast, of course, just as much fun and

welcoming as Next Gen. - same crew, though, so the

experience still felt very similar, very filial, in its way.

TCM: There was a ‘sex’ scene in that episode, which the

fans found a little humorous; was it interesting to film

after the whole build up through the episode?

SP: I’m sure it wasn’t filmed in sequence, so we didn’t

get the effect of any build-up: at least I didn’t, but I can

be a bit dim. I seem to remember it being funny to film,

and having to have been informed about what it was we

were doing.

TCM: Is there anything else you can tell us about your

time on the Star Trek episodes you filmed?

SP: Well. You’re asking for a novella with that one. Let’s

pick one thing: I seem to, at this sitting, remember being

punchy a lot of the time. There’s something about

everyone being dressed up in Sci-Fi costumes, working

insanely long hours (from dark to dark), being deadly

serious about wildly imaginative things, that tends to

bring out the giggles in me. And I happen to be an

inveterate giggler anyway, and barely professional, if

truth be told. I remember on Next Gen., Brent had to

enter via the elevator, which was manually operated,

and he had to do some crazy number of takes; and the

elevator just couldn’t get it together. Hilarious, in my

book. I was pretty sure they were going to have to fire

me, if I got out of control, and I was teetering, let me tell

you. I was very thankful, that I didn’t know anyone well

enough for them to realize how dangerous I can be

when I think something’s funny. Yeah. It’s amazing I

kept it together long enough and convincingly enough to

pick up my paychecks.

Hey, Thanks so much for asking me to do this.

Be well and happy, folks!~

TAKEN FROM WIKIPEDIA.ORG. NO INFRINGEMENT

INTENDED.

Chakotay was born in 2329. As a boy, he often rebelled

against his Native American upbringing in his father

Kolopak's unnamed tribe, with its sometimes strict

spiritual and cultural traditions. He dreamed of

entering Starfleet Academy, which he finally managed

to do at age 15, sponsored by Captain Sulu. (Voyager

episode "Tattoo"). He attended Starfleet Academy from

2344 to 2348, where he engaged in the sport of boxing.

During his tenure in Starfleet, he was assigned as an

instructor in Starfleet's Advanced Tactical Training and

achieved the rank of Lieutenant Commander. This may

be a reference to the TNG episode Pre-emptive Strike

where Ro Laren reveals that her tactical training

instructor, a lieutenant commander, left Starfleet to

join the Maquis. While not explicitly stated in the

series, Chakotay's official biography on the official Star

Trek website also states that he was Ro Laren's

instructor at Advanced Tactical Training.

In 2370, Chakotay's home planet in the Demilitarized

Zone was ceded to the Cardassians in accordance with

a treaty between the Federation and Cardassia. He

subsequently resigned from Starfleet and joined a

rogue group known as the Maquis. During his time as a

renegade fighter against the Cardassians, Chakotay

inducted into his Maquis cell the half-Klingon woman

B'Elanna Torres who became his chief engineer. He also

invited a Bajoran named Seska and the two became

involved in a romantic relationship for a time. However,

unknown to Chakotay, Seska was actually a Cardassian

spy who had been surgically altered to infiltrate the

Maquis.

Chakotay was captain of the Val Jean raider (the ship's

name appeared on a readout screen in the episode

"Repression"). This vessel was destroyed after both it

and the USS Voyager were transported to the Delta

Quadrant. Captain Kathryn Janeway, the commanding

officer of Voyager, offered the Val Jean crew a chance

to serve on her ship, and appointed Chakotay as her

first officer with the provisional rank of commander (in

episode "Caretaker"). Janeway and Chakotay eventually

become close friends, though in the second season

episode "Resolutions", they experienced romantic

tension when they entered a state of self-imposed

quarantine on an alien planet, after contracting a fatal

virus. After several weeks on the planet, however, the

Voyager crew managed to find a cure, and they

returned to the ship.

Near the end of Voyager's seven-year journey in the Delta

Quadrant, the former Borg drone Seven of Nine chose

Chakotay to be the object of her affections in her

continuation of her rediscovery of her humanity. In an

alternate future, seen in the series finale "Endgame",

Seven and Chakotay married, though she died before

Voyager reaches home and Chakotay dies in 2394.

Chakotay's character is a unifying presence on Voyager.

He is well-liked and well-respected by both Starfleet and

former Maquis crew members. As First Officer, he often

serves as a mentor to the junior crew members and as an

intermediary between the junior crew and the Captain.

Tuvok was born on the Vlucanis Lunar Colony on

T’Rukhemai in 2264. His parents Sunak and T’Meni

thought that Tuvok had a narrow view of the galaxy

and enrolled him in Starfleet Academy. Tuvok

wanted to continue his study in logic and the

Kolinahr discipline but did not want to disobey his

parents so in 2289 he joined Starfleet.

After his Graduation from Starfleet he was assigned

to the science division of the USS Excelsior under

Captain Hikaru Sulu. He stayed on the Excelsior for

six years but because he was always uncomfortable

associating with non-Vulcans he decided to resign

from Starfleet to return to his home and continue

his study of the Kolinahr discipline.

During this time Tuvok was struck by the Pon Farr

and was married to T’Pel who had been betrothed

to him at a young age. He fathered four children, his

sons Sek, Varith and Elieth and daughter Asil and

was a devoted father and husband.

In 2340s Tuvok made a pilgrimage to Mt. Seleya on

Vulcan on foot. The journey took him several

months and during his journey he decided that it

was time for him to give something back to the

universe that had given him so much, so in 2349 he

rejoined Starfleet serving aboard the USS Wyoming.

Over the next twenty years Tuvok has various

assignments including a number of years teaching at

Starfleet Academy. After he took part in a covert

mission behind Romulan borders he was assigned to

Starfleet Command to review the tactical and

procedural records of starship captains. It was here

that he first met Captain Kathryn Janeway and was

appalled by her lack of attention to tactical and

security matters in deference to scientific research.

In 2371 Janeway requested that Tuvok join her as

Tactical Officer on USS Voyager which was her new

command. Over time Janeway respected Tuvok’s

advice and became a good friend. Tuvok in turn

trusted Janeway completely and considered her the

closest thing to family aboard Voyager.

Under Janeway’s command Tuvok was asked to

infiltrate the Maquis and became part of a crew

captained by Chakotay. Janeway ended up chasing

this ship into the Badlands to rescue Tuvok.

After Voyager was transported to the Delta Quadrant they

picked up two natives that wanted to join the crew. A Talaxian

by the name of Neelix and an Ocampa named Kes. Over time

Tuvok and Neelix formed an ‘odd couple’ relationship. Neelix

was always fond of the Vulcan however Tuvok never returned

the sentiment because he thought Neelix was frivolous and

undisciplined. When Tuvok lost his memory after an attack by

mysterious aliens called the Ba’neth, it was Neelix that helped

Tuvok to recover, strengthening their friendship.

Tuvok encouraged Neelix to be reunited with his people when

he joined a lost Talaxian settlement to assist them to develop

their society again. As a going-away gift Tuvok danced a brief

step, to the delight of Neelix who always said he would get the

Vulcan to dance. It was evident through this display that Tuvok

had developed at least respect if not affection for the Talaxian.

During his time on Voyager his physical, investigative and

tactical skills were an inspiration and he was one of the most

respected members of the crew. In 2377, Tuvok was diagnosed

with a degenerative neurological disease that would eventually

eat away at his self-control. To cure this disease Tuvok needed

to mind-meld with a blood relative. A simple remedy if you are

in the Alpha Quadrant but a death sentence in the Delta

Quadrant. Janeway ended up changing the timeline where

Tuvok succumbs to the disease by going back in time and

bringing Voyager through a Borg transwarp hub all the way back

to the Alpha Quadrant in time for Tuvok to mind meld with his

Son Sek.

The Doctor also known as “Emergency Medical

Holographic Program AK-1 Diagnostic and Surgical

Subroutine Omega 323”, had been programmed with an

expectation that the program would run for 1500 hours

in total.

The Doctor who was not given a name due to

understanding that it was just a tool was required to

become the fulltime medical officer of USS Voyager

after the death of all of the medical staff on the ship.

Although his outward appearance was that of a human

male he did not have reproductive features as it was

believed that there was no need for them.

The Doctor was programmed with all known Federation

worlds medical knowledge and included information on

over five million surgical treatments and had the ability

to create new techniques and treatments when

required.

The Doctor was a Hollow Man not only a Holo Man. It

had little control over his destiny and in fact initially had

no control over whether its program was on or off! This

was a frustration for it and it was only when Kes

convinced the Captain that it should have the same

rights as any other member of the crew giving it control

over his (he saw himself as male) deactivation sequence.

Kes went on to teach The Doctor about social graces and

it was then that ‘his” personality began to develop.

The Doctor although technically a medical genius was

oblivious to what his patients really suffered. He was

considered unsympathetic to his patients although he

attempted at times to try to see it from the point of

view of his patients! Once he programmed the

symptoms of a nasty flu which lasted for a finite 29

hours thinking that he could say “see you lot are just

wusses!” but trusty assistant Kes changed the time

frame and he finally found out what an illness was like

for those that suffered it. Now he understood what his

patients went through!

Having a hologram crewmember proved invaluable to

Voyager and Captain Janeway. The Doctor was able to

hide himself in the ship’s computer when the ship was

attacked on many an occasion. So much so that he

considered that he should be a Command back-up

program! The Doctor was if nothing else quite

conceited and believed in his own abilities. Sometimes

this would find him in conflict with the crew, such as

when he wrote a holo-novel with thinly veiled

references to the crew. He had sent this to a publisher

and although the crew did not like the content they

defended his right as a person, albeit not recognised as a

sentient being by the Federation, to the copyright of his

work even when his publisher tried to say that he had

no rights over his work!

Two events in The Doctor’s journey were extremely

significant in his life they were his falling in love with another

being and his gaining of a remote holo-device from the

future.

His relationship with a Vidiian who was rescued by Voyager

was the first time that he found himself in what may be called

a relationship with another being. He even changed his

program to give him all the attributes of a human male!

With the acquisition of a remote holo-emitter The Doctor was

now free to move not only around the ship but also off the

ship and now it was hard to stop him.

The growth that The Doctor went through on his seven-year

journey would fill a very long holo-novel. He saved the ship

on numerous occasions, he came through in medical

disasters, he taught Seven of Nine how to be human, just like

Kes had done for him. He gained hobbies, photography,

singing and more. He really became a renaissance man!

Voyager’s journey was not only a physical one for The Doctor

it was one of personal growth for him as he went from just

being a tool that was used in an emergency but a well

rounded and developed sentient being.

Caretaker 1 & 2 48308.2

While pursuing a Maquis vessel, the U.S.S. Voyager is pulled 70,000 light-years across the

galaxy by a powerful alien called the Caretaker who is protecting a primitive species called the

Ocampa. The two enemy

crews are forced to work together to survive

after being attacked by the hostile Kazon-Ogla.

(First appearances of the Ocampa and the

Kazon. Lt. Carey appears in Engineering, but

isn’t named until “Parallax”.)

Parallax 3 48439.7

Voyager is in an uproar by B’Elanna Torres’ attack on the acting

Chief Engineer. Chakotay lobbies for Torres to be the Chief

Engineer while Voyager attempts to rescue what they believe is

an alien ship caught in the event horizon of a singularity. (First

appearance of Seska, second appearance of Carey.)

Time and Again 4 No Stardate

Kes has a vision of a planet’s destruction at the same time Voyager passes through the

shockwaves of that planet’s explosion.

Investigating the phenomenon causes Captain

Janeway and Lieutenant Paris to be lost in

time.

Phage 5 48532.4

While scouting an asteroid for dilithium, Neelix’s

lungs are removed by an aggressive alien attack, and

Voyager attempts to capture the thieves and recover

the organs. (First appearance of the Vidiians. Seska

appears)

The Cloud 6 48546.2

Voyager enters a nebula to replenish its declining

energy reserves – but the nebula is no mere gas cloud.

(First appearance of Sandrine’s Bistro on the

holodeck. This program would remain popular until

season 3)

Eye of the Needle 7 48579.4

Voyager encounters a miniscule wormhole

which allows them to communicate with a

Romulan ship in the Alpha Quadrant. The

Doctor learns to stand up for himself

against crewmen who treat him like an

object.

Ex Post Facto 8 No Stardate

Lt. Paris is convicted of murder

on Benaea, and forced to re-

live his crime through his

victim’s eyes every fourteen

hours. Lt. Tuvok takes it upon

himself to re-investigate the

incident.

Emanations 9 48623.5

Ensign Kim is lost in a subspace phenomenon which

transports him to an alien world – but the locals

believe he has returned from their afterlife, while the

subspace phenomenon also deposits alien corpses on

Voyager. (Seska appears)

Prime Factors 10 48642.5

Voyager is invited to a respite on Sakaris,

a pleasure-seeking society, which possesses

advanced technology that could speed their

journey home. (Note: This episode occurs

during the movie “Star Trek: Generations”.

Seska and Carey appear)

State of Flux 11 48658.2

After a close call with the Kazon, Tuvok suspects someone

on Voyager of clandestinely selling their technology to the

enemy. The two prime suspects are Lt. Carey and Ensign

Seska. (First appearance of First Maje Culluh)

Heroes and Demons 12 48693.2

While gathering energy samples from a protostar, several Voyager

crewmembers vanish inside a holodeck program based on the epic Beowulf,

forcing the Doctor on his first Away Mission. (Note: The Doctor briefly

assumes the name ‘Schweitzer’ for this episode. A music track from this

episode was also used as the original theme song for the short-lived fan

series “Voyages of the U.S.S. Angeles”.

Cathexis 13 48734.2

Chakotay and Tuvok are attacked on a shuttle

mission, leaving Chakotay brain-dead. Bizarre

incidents on the ship lead Janeway to suspect

there to be a non-corporeal alien intruder on

board.

Faces 14 48784.2

B’Elanna awakens in a Vidiian laboratory to find

herself completely Klingon, while in the Vidiian

prison camps, Paris and a very human B’Elanna

are held in captivity. Voyager attempts to mount

a rescue operation. (Note: Brian Markinson plays

both Vidiian Dr. Sulan and the ill-fated Lt. Durst

in this episode.)

Jetrel 15 48832.1

An alien scientist named Jetrel boards Voyager,

concerned that Neelix may be in danger of

contracting a fatal illness, but Neelix is angered by his

very presence, as Jetrel was the scientist who

designed the weapon that destroyed Neelix’s entire

home colony, as well as his family. (Note: Neelix

mentions he had little brothers in this episode, but in

all subsequent stories, he mentions only having older

sisters)

Learning Curve 16 48846.5

Four Maquis crewmen are having particular difficulty

adapting to Starfleet regulations. Tuvok is assigned to

show them the ropes, but the training lessons get off

to a very rocky start. Voyager’s bio-neural circuitry is

infected with a virus. (Technical finale of Season 1.

The next four episodes aired as part of season 2, but

were filmed for season 1)

Projections 17 48892.1

The Doctor is activated to find an empty

Voyager, victim of a Kazon attack. But a

series of bizarre events proves that

things are not what they seem. (First

appearance by Dwight Schultz as Lt. Reg

Barclay)

Elogium 18 48921.3

Voyager encounters a swarm of space-borne life-

forms and gets pulled into their group. Kes also

begins the Elogium, the Ocampa’s single fertility

cycle. (First appearance by Nancy Hower as Ensign

Samantha Wildman)

Twisted 19 No Stardate

On Kes’s second birthday, Voyager

encounters a spatial distortion which

twists the inside of the ship into an

impossible labyrinth.

The 37’s 20 48975.1

Following an ancient radio signal, Voyager discovers a planet inhabited by

descendants of humans abducted from Earth in 1937, where they also

discover the fate of Amelia Earhart. (Note: This episode marks the first time a

Star Trek ship has landed on a planet)

Initiations 21 49005.3

Chakotay is attacked by a young Kazon seeking to earn

his name in combat, leading to a confrontation with

the Kazon-Ogla sect. (Note: The Kazon boy is played by

Aron Eisenberg, better known as Nog on Star Trek:

Deep Space Nine)

Non Sequitur 22 49011.0

Harry Kim awakens to find himself in

San Francisco on Earth, where no one

else seems to realize that events have

been changed.

Parturition 23 No Stardate

Neelix’s jealousy toward Paris and Kes comes

to a head when Paris and he crash on a hostile

planet and find a reptilian hatchling that

needs their care to survive.

Historical note: U.S.S.

Enterprise, NCC-1701-E

launched 49037.6

Persistence of Vision

24 No Stardate

A stressed-out Janeway

begins seeing elements

of her holodeck program

in real life, while

Voyager seeks

permission to cross a

hostile species’ territory.

Tattoo 25 No Stardate

While searching for needed materiel, Chakotay

discovers an ancient symbol from his tribe’s culture

which brings him face to face with his people’s Sky

Spirits. (First appearance of Chakotay’s father,

Kolopak, played by Henry Darrow. Second

appearance of Ensign Wildman)

Cold Fire 26 No Stardate 2

Voyager discovers a space station similar to the Array that brought them

to the Delta Quadrant, inhabited by Ocampa with powerful mental

abilities, learned from the Caretaker’s vengeful mate Suspiria. (Note:

Ocampa Tanis is played by Gary Graham who would later have the

recurring role of Vulcan Ambassador Soval on Star Trek: Enterprise)

Maneuvers 27 49208.5

Voyager is attacked by the

Kazon-Nistrim, who have

Seska’s assistance in stealing

transporter technology for

themselves. (Seska’s first

appearance as a Cardassian.

Second appearance of

Culluh. Seska supposedly

impregnates herself with

Chakotay’s DNA)

Resistance 28 No Stardate

Tuvok and B’Elanna are captured by an

oppressive government while trading for

desperately needed supplies, and a

wounded Janeway is hidden from the

troops by a half-senile old man who

believes her to be his long-lost daughter.

Prototype 29 No Stardate

B’Elanna repairs a robot Voyager finds

drifting in deep space, inadvertently dragging

the ship into a robotic conflict.

Death Wish 30 49301.2

While investigating a rogue comet, Voyager accidentally releases a member of

the Q Continuum from confinement. When the familiar Q (John DeLancie)

appears to lock him away again, he demands asylum on Voyager, with the

express desire of committing suicide. (John DeLancie’s first appearance as ‘Q’,

Special guest appearance by Jonathan Frakes as Commander William Riker)

Alliances 31 49377.4

After losing several crewmen to Kazon attacks,

Captain Janeway reluctantly seeks to end the

hostilities by seeking an alliance with one of the

sects. (Seska appears. This episode begins a story

arc with crewman Michael Jonas, played by

Raphael Sbarge, secretly funneling information

to the Kazon-Nistrim. First appearance of

Crewman Hogan. Third appearance of Culluh.)

Threshold 32 49373.4

After successfully breaking the Warp 10 barrier,

Tom Paris suddenly begins to undergo a series of

bizarre mutations. (Second appearance of

Crewman Jonas)

Meld 33 No Stardate

When a murder is committed aboard Voyager, Tuvok mind-

melds with the killer to understand his motivation, with

terrifying results. Paris starts a gambling ring, much to

Chakotay’s displeasure. (First appearance by Brad Dourif as

killer crewman Suder. Second appearance of Hogan)

Dreadnought 34 No Stardate

Voyager pursues a Cardassian-built weapon

that B’Elanna once reprogrammed to attack

enemies of the Maquis, which has now

targeted an innocent alien civilization. (Third

appearance of Crewman Jonas. Third

appearance of Ensign Wildman)

Lifesigns 35 49504.3

The Doctor falls in love with a holographic

recreation of a comatose Vidiian female found in

deep space. Paris’s dereliction of duty lands him in

serious trouble. (Seska appears. Fourth appearance

of Crewman Jonas. First appearance of Danara Pel

played by Susan Diol)

Investigations 36 49485.2

Tom Paris leaves Voyager to work for a Talaxian convoy. New

journalist Neelix investigates a series of strange computer logs,

uncovering the presence of a spy on Voyager. (Seska appears. Final

appearance of Crewman Jonas. Third appearance of Hogan)

Deadlock 37 49548.7

Voyager passes through a subspace phenomenon which duplicates

the entire ship and crew, but both ships cannot exist in the same

space and time. (Fourth appearance of Ensign Wildman. Fourth

appearance of Hogan. Naomi Wildman is born in this episode, but

does not become a major character until season 5)

Innocence 38 No Stardate

After a shuttle crash on a class-M moon, Tuvok encounters a group of children

who claim they were brought to the moon to die. Voyager makes contact with

a very insular alien culture.

The Thaw 39 No Stardate

When Voyager uncovers a small group of disaster

survivors in suspended animation, Kim and

B’Elanna interface with the virtual world inside and

Kim is trapped by a computer-generated clown

who torments and terrifies his captives for

pleasure.

Tuvix 40 49655.2

A transporter malfunction fuses Tuvok

and Neelix into a single person who

calls himself Tuvix. It seems there is no

way to restore Tuvok and Neelix to

their individual selves. (Fifth

appearance of Hogan)

Resolutions 41 49690.1

Janeway and Chakotay must be left behind when

they are infected by a virus that the Doctor

cannot cure. Voyager’s crew suffers from their

absence, forcing Tuvok to risk the ship in an

attempt to secure medicine for them. (Final

appearance of Danara Pel)

Basics Part I 42 No Stardate

When Seska pleads for Chakotay’s

help to protect their son from an

outraged Culluh, Voyager heads into

a region of space heavily controlled

by the Kazon, only to fall into a

brilliant trap. (Seska appears. Fourth

appearance of Culluh, second

appearance of Suder)

SEASONS 3

AND 4

COMING NEXT

ISSUE.

Neelix was a Talaxian from Rinax which was a moon in

orbit around the planet Talax in the Delta Quadrant.

Life was never the same for Neelix after his home was

destroyed and his family irradiated along with the rest of

the population of Rinax by a metreon cascade during a

conflict with the Haakonians.

After the war he was forced to become a junk dealer

scavenging the planets for whatever he could trade,

surviving on his wit, instinct and his conning ways.

It was on one of his salvage trips in a debris field near the

Ocampa home world that he was discovered by the crew

of USS Voyager. The Starfleet crew were searching for

some of their missing officers and Neelix suggested they

may have been transported by the Caretaker to a city

beneath the surface of the Ocampa home world. He

offered himself as a guide and took them to the surface

of the planet that was controlled by a Kazon sect a

scavenging war like race led by Jabin.

But Neelix had an ulterior motive for helping Voyager.

He had fallen in love with an Ocampa named Kes who

was being held as a slave by the Kazon. Water was a

scarce commodity on the planet and he persuaded

Captain Janeway that they could use the water as trade

for information about the missing crew members.

However, Neelix really wanted the water to trade for

Kes. Even though the Kazon refused to trade, the crew

members were about to escape rescuing Kes in the

process.

Seeing a chance to leave his scavenging ways Neelix

offers his service to Captain Kathryn Janeway, as a guide

to the Delta Quadrant. She accepts not realising how

much of a difference this Talaxian would make on the

ship.

Straight away Neelix took over the Captain’s Mess (much

to her surprise) and changed it into a Mess for the crew.

Appointing himself chef, Neelix cooked culinary delights

and not so culinary delights as replicator usage had to be

rationed due to Voyager’s limited power supplies.

Each of Neelix’s dishes was an adventure filled with

flavour (not always suited for human consumption) and

colour. Each dish was served with a story and a smiling

face.

Later he appointed himself as ‘chief morale officer

‘making it his duty to cheer up the crew (even if they

didn’t want to be cheered up!!) He offered personal

counselling sessions and ran a daily intership video

program for the crew called ‘A Briefing with Neelix’.

Captain Janeway gave Neelix the unofficial title of

‘ambassador’ when he proved that he had a flair for

diplomacy.

He also became godfather to Naomi Wildman who had been

born aboard Voyager. Each night he would tuck her into bed

and tell her stories. While her mother was on away missions

he would babysit. Neelix loved and treasured these special

times with Naomi.

His relationship with Kes did not continue. She found it

difficult to handle his jealous nature and eventually decided

that she would like to spend some time apart from him.

Neelix respected her decision and continued to immerse

himself in the life of the ship.

After nearly seven years on Voyager Neelix ended up leaving

the ship and joining a Talaxian colony that had taken refuge

on an asteroid and made it their home. Neelix discovered the

asteroid when his shuttle had crash-landed on it. He was

nursed back to health by Dexa one of the Talaxian women and

ended up helping them to defend themselves against a group

of miners who attempted to drive them off the asteroid.

Having fallen in love with Dexa he opted to leave Voyager and

stay behind with the colonists to live a life with Dexa and her

son.

The crew were sorry to see Neelix go. Even Tuvok, who Neelix

affectionly called ‘Mr Vulcan’ showed recognition of Neelix’s

valuable assistance to Voyager by doing a little dance.

Something Neelix always wanted to see the Vulcan do.

Neelix kept in contact with Voyager right up until the ship

entered the Borg transwarp hub to travel back to Earth. He

would never forget the time he spent on a small Federation

ship from the Alpha Quadrant.

Kes belongs to the Ocampa peoples of the Delta Quadrant

who only live nine earth years. She was brought up in the

underground city in the south of the planet where all

Ocampas live because of a disaster that causes the planets

surface to become virtually uninhabitable. Kes’ mother

wanted her to see the planet’s sun some day, whilst Kes also

believed the legends about the metal powers that the

Ocampa’s seem to have forgotten. Being a bit of a rebel she

eventually left the city through some of the old tunnels to

find out what the surface was like.

When Kes reached the surface she was captured by the

Kazon and in particular the Ogla sect who tried to torture

her for information about entering the city. During her time

as a slave with the Ogla she met Neelix, a Talaxian also

native to the Delta Quadrant, when he stole water from the

Kazon-Ogla to bring to her. The two of them fell in love and

Neelix promised to return and rescue her. Neelix eventually

conned the crew of USS Voyager to help him rescue Kes.

On board Voyager the first thing Kes did was to volunteer to

establish a hydroponics garden in cargo bay two. The

garden provided fresh fruits and vegetables to allow for

more variety in meals for the crew.

Kes formed a strong friendship with the Doctor and ended up

studying medicine and helping the Doctor in sickbay. She not

only helped the Doctor in his medical procedures but she

more importantly helped the Doctor to interact more easily

with the crew teaching him how to act in social situations.

Whilst on the ship Kes started to exhibit some of the mental

powers her species had long ago lost. Under the guidance of

Tuvok, Kes began to learn how to control her mental powers.

and her telepathic abilities saved the ship and crew on many

occasions.

Kes’ affection for Neelix began to change when she felt he

was becoming jealous, suffocating and too protective of her

eventually calling off the long-term romantic relationship.

They remained friends but never returned to the love she

had once for Neelix.

When Kes became exposed to the powerful telepathic influx

of Species 8472, she began to evolve into a different state of

being. Kes became telekinetic and was able to carry out

delicate surgical operations using her mind. Because of this

she found that she could no longer stay on Voyager as her

powers were becoming unsafe for the crew as she started to

rapidly destabilise at the subatomic level causing massive

damage to Voyager.

Kes brought a great deal of joy to the Voyager crews her

compassion, curiosity and youthful exuberance made her a

favourite amongst the crew. Captain Janeway in particular

found it hard to say goodbye to Kes as she had had a strong

connection with the young Ocampa.

As a parting gift Kes hurled Voyager safely beyond Borg

space, 9 500 light years closer to home.

A year or so later Kes returned to Voyager appearing much

older and more powerful and extremely vengeful towards

the crew. In her old age Kes had forgotten why she had

chosen to leave Voyager thinking the crew had abandoned

her. Making her way to engineering she used her powers to

inflict extensive damage along the way. A hologram that she

had recorded herself before she left Voyager was activated.

The hologram reminded her how the crew cared for her and

how it was her decision to leave the ship. Janeway asks her

to stay but she refused, opting to return to her homeworld of

Ocampa.

Seven of Nine, Tertiary Adjunct of Unimatrix 01 was a Borg

drone for 18 years having been taken by the Borg at age four.

Annika Hansen did not always travel with her parents when

they went on scientific trips but as this one was for a long

period they took her with them. The Hansen’s were pioneers

in their field and were studying the Borg even before the

Federation knew too much about them. Following them with

technology they designed so that they could remain hidden

and even go onto their ship they became obsessed with this

species. It was only after an ion storm that took down the

technology that they were assimilated by the Borg.

So for the next 18 years Annika was a drone and having been

assimilated so early she did not remember her early childhood.

Being part of a collective was normal for her hearing millions

of thoughts that were not her own was just the way it was.

Seven had an early taste of being an individual but as she was

only 16 at the time she panicked, afraid of being just one, she

forced a collective consciousness on three other drones with

which she had crash-landed. The others who were adults

started to regain their identities but she just got scared

because she only had knowledge of life as a drone.

Voyager made an alliance with the Borg when aliens

known to the Borg as Species 8472 attacked both of them,

Seven was one of a group of drones placed on Voyager to

work with the crew to deal with the attacks. The cube

from which Seven was from sacrificed itself to save

Voyager as they were the ones with the weapon that

would save them both. But with Janeway injured Chakotay

made the decision to get rid of the Borg by decompressing

where they were working. However, showing the tenacity

with which we have come to know she Seven managed to

remain on board.

With the mission successful Seven attempted to assimilate

Voyager but the crew were prepared. Seven was severed

from the collective and was now just “one”. Accepting

this was hard for Seven, 18 years of knowing everything

and not having to make a decision on her own were

suddenly gone. Most of implants were removed but not all

as some were still critical to her health. There were two

particular non-human traits that made her not yet fully

human she still had to regenerate and did not eat solid

food.

Seven was like a very intelligent and precocious child not

knowing how to interact with humans, selfish and

egocentric, afraid of what Janeway had forced her to

become. Seven contributed much to Voyager as she

retained most of the information that she gained whilst as

a drone and along with Harry Kim built what would

become one of Voyager’s most important tools, The

Astometrics Lab. With the aid of this tool the crew were

now able to plot courses that allowed them to take years

off the journey and ultimately to contact home.

It was slow but Seven began to except her humanity and

in a very Borg way tried to plan and develop this side of

her. Like The Doctor who took lessons from Kes, Seven

began taking lessons from The Doctor. This though was

hard work for Seven who was forthright and direct,

thinking that she knew more than those around her,

finding it hard to follow “The Line of Command” on the

ship. Caught between two worlds the one that she knew,

as a drone and the one that she was gaining, humanity at

was a hard journey for her. Working with people as a

single entity and remembering what she had done as a

drone meant that she had to face many moral conflicts.

Seven’s journey on the ship was not the same as the

others in the crew. Her journey was about self-discovery,

learning who she was, understanding the human condition

and how to be “one” amongst many.

TCM: What is your first memory of Star Trek?

ER: I don’t have a super clear first memory of Star Trek, but I do

remember conventions. My mother ran Lincoln Enterprises, for

fans who purchased Star Trek items in the late 60’s and early

70’s you would have most likely purchased them from Lincoln

Enterprises. They went to conventions, Creation Entertainment

had a convention at Disney in Orange County California and I

loved it for two reasons firstly I would get to spend half the day

at Disneyland and secondly I would get to go to a giant costume

party, everyone was dressed in costumes and there were tables

selling all these cool knickknacks. I must have been around 4, 5,

6 I’m not sure how old. Another memory, again I’m not sure

how old I was, but now you’ve got me thinking about it, my

father used to have an old 16mm projector in his home office

bathroom and on those projector wheels that he would have

were episodes of Star Trek and one particular one was the

blooper reel from the original series and he would have it on his

counter top in the bathroom and a little piece of white card in

front of it and he would play the blooper reel for me, now to be

honest I didn’t even get what Star Trek was at this time. I could

repeat the phrase that I had heard other people say which was

my father was a producer on Star Trek or my father created Star

Trek but I didn’t know what it was, I just knew the blooper reels

were funny because these guys would run down stairs and trip

and all sorts of things would happen. So those are my two

earliest memories of Star Trek.

TCM: Did you ever go to the set of a Star Trek shoot?

ER: Well the first time I remember

Going to the set was really when I was,

it probably happened before this but I

can’t remember, the first time I was

there was on the set of The Next

Generation, in fact the first season.

My father like all fathers wanted to

teach me about earning a living, so he

got me a job one summer at the

Paramount lot working on the season

one set of The Next Generation and my

title was essentially what’s known as a

production assistant or a gopher and

my job was to essentially run packages,

scripts, tapes and everything from

department to department all over the

lot as well as make coffee as well as a

lot of the other important yet

Non-production level things, but I was 13 it seemed like great

fun to me at the time riding around the lot. I have to say initially

I was kinda mad at my father cause all of my friends had the

summer off and they were all playing, we were all 13 we wanted

to go goof off and have a good time, but my father forced me to

work and so I did. I remember saying ‘do you know how many

people would kill for this job’ and I would always tell him ‘they

don’t have to kill anyone I’ll give it to them’ (laughs) so that was

really my first experience. The sad part, well I wouldn’t say sad,

and I wouldn’t say regret either but at that age, I was till relatively

young I never went from department to department actually

trying to learn how television or how Star Trek was mad. It really

was just a fun summers job for me and yes it would have been

great if I’d taken a real interest and learn but I’m gonna forgive

myself because I was so young at the time, but that was really the

first time I was on set. I got to know all the cast, I had free reign of

the paramount lot to some degree, and I could go on sets

whenever I wanted. It wasn’t that big of a deal at that time, you

know, after going on because you kind of get to know the crew get

to know the cast and just how everything works but in retrospect

looking back at it I do have extremely fond memories and I do miss

the experience because it was really like a family even though I

was the youngest and I was the producers son could tell all the

cast and crew. I mean they worked together between 12 and 18

hours a day. I mean were talking a minimum of 12 hours and it

really becomes a second family to them for some of them

probably their first family and there was definitely that closeness

that everyone had and again it just warms my heart when I think

about it. Id love to have that experience again one day in the

future on one of my productions.

TCM: Which Star Trek series is your favourite?

ER: That’s a simple one for me actually because The Original Series was

from 1966-1969. I was born in 1974 so by the time I started watching

TV Star Trek already seemed too old for me. I’m a product of the Next

Generations (laughs). I love that show, I was 13 when I was working on

the set and my father would bring home the final tapes, they were VHS

tapes back then, every Thursday night. I wouldn’t say that I got Star

Trek by then but I really thought it was a fun show and I watched

episode after episode, out of all the series except for the original (the

original and the next generation are the two that I have seen every

single episode) and even to this day I have to say The Next Generation

is still my favourite. What makes it my favourite is the fact that, my

father through out his life grew and evolved as a human being, his

philosophy, his ideas, his expectations I mean The Original Series had

this young Kirk who was willing to get in to a fist fight and even though

he did the right or ethical thing at the end of the episode, he was

definitely a little bit more of a cowboy, where as Picard was more laid

back, used his mind a bit more then his fists and there’s something

about his character and in fact the entire cast that I was able to respect

more and enjoying more. So The Next Generation it is for me.

TCM: What were your initial thoughts when Enterprise was cancelled?

ER: TO be honest my initial thoughts were I didn’t care to much. I gave

it a chance, I watched the entire first season and I thought it was good,

maybe not great but sort of a good Star Trek with a little bit of a rocky

start. It had jumped too far ahead for me, in fact I thought the

entire first season should be a build up to discovering the

Klingons. So I kinda just wanted a slower more natural

progression of this young civilization reaching into the depths

of space, it just moved a little bit to fast for me.

I tuned into the second season for just a few episodes and was

immediately turned off and I cant particularly remember why

at this time but I remember it just didn’t interest me, and you

know how it is, the minute you miss a season or a number of

episodes its hard to tune back in. I’d heard that seasons

three and four were much better, thanks to Manny Coto, but

I never really gave it another shot and even to this day I

haven’t given it another shot because I’ve gotta sit down and

watch it all over again from one to four.

So my first thoughts were kind of I don’t care but I did care

that it was, you know, the end of Star Trek running as a TV

series, now truthfully I never thought and I still don’t think

that its off the air permanently. It had a good run and I figure it

needed a hiatus, the audience, the market and the TV waves

had been saturated with Star Trek series after Star Trek series

and I thought it might be a good idea for it to rest for five, ten

or even fifteen years, and to be honest I still feel that way.

I think Star Trek will come back on TV whether its in a year or

twenty years, its never going to die, the fans are gonna keep it

alive and also CBS and Paramount are always going to see profit

to be made. So one day they well dig it back up and say well

‘hey lets make something out of this’. I do know that Star Trek

will come back in one form or another on TV, I just don’t know

when and I don’t know how good it will be (laughs). The last thing

I want it to do is to become Star Wars, that doesn’t deal with

ethics, humanity, the human potential, we don’t want

science fiction that doesn’t have a statement about the

positive attributes of humanity as well as learning from our negative

ones.

TCM: What did you think of the latest Star Trek Movie?

ER: Well to be honest I thought it was pretty good, umm yeah there are

plenty of things that I would do differently, there were plenty of things

my father would do differently and there were plenty of things that you

out there reading this would do differently, but I thought it was pretty

good. In fact I was very impressed that they stayed as true as they did to

the Star Trek canon. Now I know there’s a lot of naysayers out there

that are upset because it went on a different timeline but I have to give

them credit for at least doing that, you know they could have gone back

and said ‘you know what we’re gonna re-write history and were gonna

do it our way’. I would have been very disappointed had they done that,

but instead they branched off on to a new timeline which allowed all the

original fans, the people who like the original stuff like me to still

connect and believe in that timeline, that it does still exist but there’s

also a whole new generation and for those of us with open minds

there’s a whole other timeline that we can go down, you know I thought

it was fairly intelligent and basically very respectful of the current fan

world out there. The story was fine but what really made it were the

characters, I mean the story was nothing really special it was good guy

verses bad guy, planets going to get destroyed, we’ve kinda seen it

before, but again done by JJ. its always unique. Where I have to give

credit is to the characters, they did a great job of casting, I mean Spock

was Spock, McCoy was McCoy, they all did a fantastic job on that and

that really helped I think ease some of the pain, some of the fears and

some of the expectations we might have had. It lived up to that

expectation by really making sure the characters stayed true to the

original series, so I thought they did a great job.

My only issue, my only gripe if you want to call it that is that at the ed

when Neros ship is being sucked into the wormhole type thing and

being destroyed. I was happy Kirk said ‘hey we’re willing to offer you

assistance if you just as for it’, and of course Nero says no I’d rather

die. I didn’t think it necessary that they fire all the photon

torpedoes to “blow them out of the sky” that was a little bit

over kill for me and I know that it came from a vengeful Spock who’d

just seen his planet destroyed but the true Roddenberry/Star Trek way

is to do what they did, offer assistance but then show remorse for and

pity for the loss of life regardless of what its done.

TCM: When did you first become aware of Star Trek Fan Films?

ER: I can’t put a date on it but I can tell you that it was six to eight years

ago. The major one was Star Trek New Voyages, I came across either a

web series or a DVD and I was extremely impressed by the quality of the

sets and the wardrobe. I mean it didn’t seem like somebody just picking

up a video camera and goofing off with it, it seemed like a relatively well

made production and after I contacted them they sent me a script and

the script really seemed to get Star Trek. I as very impressed with it, it

was the closest thing to The Original Series since The Original Series at

the time, that’s what I was telling people and that’s what o thought

about it. I’ve seen a number since. I’m really impressed by the quality

and the production values they’re giving it. I’m sure all those hard core

people out there say ‘hey it will never be like the original series’, I don’t

think that anyone out there is trying to beat or be like The Original

Series, may be if they have half a million dollars they can get up to that

or now a days they would probably need $1.5million to $2 million but

until independent fan film productions get the donation of $1.5 million I

don’t expect to see them of the production quality that TV shows are

made of these days, but that aside it is the story and the passion that

has drawn me to them and that’s why I’m supporting them. I mean hell

the studios aren’t making a series right now, the fans might as well do

just a good a job representing the Roddenberry name the Star Trek

philosophy .

TCM: Can you tell us about Roddenberry Productions, like when it was

founded and was Star Trek the only show represented when the website

was launched?

ER: Roddenberry Productions basically came from my fathers company

called Lincoln Enterprises. Lincoln Enterprises was a Star Trek

merchandising catalogue show that was started in 1968 by my mother

and father and it was basically mail order Star Trek merchandise.

Anyone who got a patch, a pin or a shirt back in the 60’s, 70’s and even

the early 80’s probably got it most likely from Lincoln Enterprises. So my

mother ran that basically up until the early-mid 90’s and then it kinda

sat defunct for a while. In 2000 I decided to bring it into modern times

and bring it online, so I also didn’t like the name Lincoln Enterprises. I

know my father was a big fan of Abraham Lincoln but I wanted to bring

it closer to home, closer to the Roddenberry philosophy, so of course I

called it Roddenberry.com and we simply replicated what my mother

has done for so many years but through an online interface. W also

introduced new merchandise and at the time it was only Star Trek, in

fact for 40 years its only been Star Trek, but now we can open it up and

call it Roddenberry merchandise, not just Star Trek merchandise. We

don’t branch into Star Wars or any of the other science fiction simply

because we don’t have a licence to do so but its merchandising for all

Roddenberry products now.

Now back to your question of when Roddenberry products begin well

that is sort of the umbrella company which houses all the other ones

below it that is an entertainment company which houses

Roddenberry.com it also houses Trek Nation, Genes Journal and

Days Mis5ing, those are properties which we currently have

In development. Roddenberry Productions was started anywhere

between three and five years ago and its essentially there to create and

invite all forms of science fiction that have that philosophy attached to

it. So for example we’re not just putting out any sci-fi about a monster

who attacks a city and sci-fi space. This is about anything that has heart,

has ethics to it, that has a story about humanity that gives us sort of a

look into our potential. That’s what we call the Roddenberry philosophy

and there are all kinds of ideas and products and properties that we’re

gonna be putting out through Roddenberry Productions.

TCM: Can you tell us about some of the productions you have put out?

ER: Genes Journal and Rod and Barry are two comic strips currently on

the Roddenberry.com website, they are illustrated by David Reddick

who is well known in the comic industry, he’s done many comics such as

Garfield. Those are two creations that my business partner Trevor Roth

came up with, he actually developed both ideas and hired David to

illustrate them. So now I think once a week or if not twice a month we

have a new three celled comic panes that have a cute little clip of Genes

Journal. I should tell you Genes Journals basic concept is Gene (my

father) as a little kid and sort of his life experiences that led him to

create the idea of Star Trek. So as a young kid he’s got all these

characters around him and all these experiences where he will get

abducted by UFO’s or something and he’ll meet Klingons or someone

who is painted themselves green and they called themselves Orion Slave

Girls. They’re just little snippets, fictional snippets of his history and run

ins that helped him create Star Trek. Rod and Barry is another comic

strip that we have and its about two aliens, ones named Rod and the

others named Barry and they were sent out by their evil overload to go

and destroy the earth but on their way there they’ve caught some of

our TV shows and they have become caught up they become sci-fi fans,

so they ‘geek out’ after watching these TV shows. So most of these

comic strips have to do with recent sci-fi entertainment events so what

ever movies come out at the time, randomly for example the matrix all

of a sudden you will find those characters kind of goofing off on each

others characters.

TCM: You have recently been releasing a comic book series

called Days Mis5ing, can you tell us a bit about that?

ER: Well again I’ve gotta give credit to my business partner Trevor Roth,

he developed the idea of Days Mis5ing and what it is, is a five book

series. Five comic books at least for starters that tell the story of the

Steward, which is this non-human character who has the ability to fold

time, but only in 24 hour increments, so for example if there were an

event and he decided that event shouldn’t have happened or shouldn’t

have happened in the way it did he could stop time and jump back 24

hours and some how sort of prevent or change the event, he doesn’t

actually jump back but he stops time and throws it back 24 hours and

sort of nudges the other characters involved in that activity to perhaps

decide to do things differently so that it doesn’t have the same

potentially catastrophic outcome it did the first time. That’s it in a nut

shell, its available in hard cover from Amazon and a lot of places, but the

important part here is not that we’ve just doing a comic book but we’re

doing a comic book in a way that people haven’t done before or at least

its not as often done. These are real Roddenberry characters and

Roddenberry stories, in the way that they deal with ethics, they deal

with humanity, they deal with social issues and real questions that we

all have. So its very intelligently written and thought out and I think

anyone anywhere who’s a fan of Roddenberry and a fan of good sci-fi

will really get a kick out of this. I have never been a comic book fan but I

am very very into these comic books because they are really well done.

One thing that was done differently was that each issue has a different

writer and a different illustrator. Normally when a comic book comes

out they pretty much have just one or two and they do the entire series.

This one what we really did was try and pull from the big names in the

comic book names in the comic book industry and see if we could get

each one of them to do a book and they did and it proved extremely

successful because all they had was a backbone story to stay in line

with, they could all give it their own spin whether it was story or

illustration, so while the stories all follow the same premise of Days

Mis5ing of the Steward, they all have their own feel. Again the exact

same thing for the illustrations, they all have the same basic look but

they are all drawn differently and it keeps it interesting I think. I think

we will probably be releasing another series of five and we hope to have

the same success. We would love to get your feedback on these comic

books, so please go out and get them, of course we want you to buy

them but if you want to steal them that’s fine, to me the most

important thing is that we really sort of tap into the Roddenberry

audience out there and get their feedback as to whether we’re doing a

good job or not.

TCM: You have something called Roddenberry Dive Team listed on the

Roddenberry.com website; can you tell us what that is and what it

does?

ER: For those of you who don’t know I am an avid scuba diver. I love the

ocean, I love exploring it. It gives so much whether its education or

enjoyment or fulfilment, I can explore every emotion out there and its

really sort of my place of Zen, its more then just a hobby it’s a passion

for me and the parallels between scuba diving and going into space/Star

Trek are I think obvious to a lot of us, I mean if you are exploring a

strange new worlds you are seeking out alien life and you are going

where very few have gone before not to put a too fine point on it, but it

really does parallel Star Trek. That’s not why I got into it, I got into diving

on its own but again the parallels are pretty blatant there and it just

made sense to me that I might as well put some passion into

this or take advantage of my passion and make sort of this

dive club and what we’ve called it is the Roddenberry Dive Team and

the reason why we call it a team is because its not something out there

where we are competing with other teams but it is a group of us getting

together and working as a team to educate ourselves and improve our

environment so we’ve has a ton of fun with that. We started last May

2009 and its been extremely successful so far. It’s a global concept we

hope to reach out to people from all over the world and have them

become members of the team, but right now since we’ve just started

out we are keeping it localized and small, so its pretty much a California

West Coast thing. At least as far as events go. What we hope to do is if

people have interest in this we hope for people to start their own

Roddenberry Dive Team Chapter in their own state or even country and

this would be great because we could all have exchange programs

where you come out and dive with us and we will come and dive with

you, but again the real focus is not just the gimmicks of Star Trek

because we do have a lot of Star Trek gimmicky things. We have Star

Trek wet suits and dry suits, we also have things that we call the Red

Shirts dives, those are all hooks, those are all the fun things that we get

people involved in. The real idea is to get people involved in preserving

out environment and bringing awareness to the community as how

important not just our oceans are but our planet is and each event that

we do we try to have some sort of educational element, we try to have a

scientist or someone who can teach us about where we’re diving and

why it’s important to preserve it. We try to have them come along and

really just sort of bring awareness to why we’re doing it. Now I started

this with a gentleman by the name of Greg Martin who lives in

Washington and he’s been diving for 30 years and he’s got a passion for

Star Trek, what we are doing is to try and gain this movement and bring

in as many people as we can.

Visit roddenberrydiveteam.com for more information.

TCM: Is there anything else you can tell us about current or future

Roddenberry Productions projects?

ER: Well we do have a number of things in the works like all production

companies in Hollywood but the most prominent right now is a

project called Questor or for those of you who know it best

The Questor Tapes, it was a series, a two hour pilot I should

say, that my father did in 1974 about an android who’s come out

of hibernation and has lost its programming and goes searching for its

creator. You can actually see it on You Tube if you look up Questor

Tapes. We have just sold the rights to Imagine Entertainment which is

another production company much more successful then ours so far in

Hollywood; they do such shows as 24 and Parent Code. We sold it to

them because they are known for doing a high calibre work and we

really have high hopes for it. I don’t want to say to much right now

because things can still fall through but its looking good and we’ve

brought on a writer so far named Tim Marier, he really seems to get the

Roddenberry philosophy and really has a passion about incorporating

those philosophies into this new series because as I’ve said in a million

of my other answers we just don’t want to put on stock sci-fi,

Roddenberry sci-fi, Roddenberry entertainment has always been about

humanity, its always meant to reveal our follies and our potential from

those follies, its really supposed to show humanity at its worst and best

and it’s the times when it shows us at its best that it inspires us the

viewers to really want to go create that future and that’s what Star Trek

did, it said we’re fallible creatures but we learn from our mistakes, we

can grow and when we do the right thing we can really be something

special. That sums it up for all future Roddenberry productions they will

all have that type of philosophy in there.

There is another one that I should mention and that’s Trek Nation. Trek

Nation is a documentary that I’ve been working on for way too long

(laughs). The premise is a son searching to understand who is father was

and it’s a documentary where I went out meeting my friends, family,

fans and other notables in the entertainment and sci-fi community and

asking them what they knew of Gene Roddenberry and who he was. It

was great because the close friends of the family could really tell me a

bit about the man behind Star Trek and of course the fans tell me about

what Star Trek has done for them and how it has inspired them and the

other people in the industry tell me what his work has done in the

industry and its really a somewhat of the man behind the myth and I’m

really proud of it and we have just completed the final rough cut and are

sending it out to distribution companies to see if anyone is interested in

buying it. I have extremely high hopes cause we have put a lot of time

and effort into it and its extremely well done. So look for that sometime

in the next year.~

Harry Kim the unluckiest ensign in Starfleet!! Unlucky in

love, unlucky at staying alive, unlucky in getting a Starfleet

promotion!!

In 2349 Harry Kim was born in South Carolina to Mary and

John Kim. In 2370 he graduated from Starfleet

valedictorian of his class, having earned Interstellar

Honours. A talented sportsman and during his Starfleet

time was captain of the Velocity team and a three-time

Academy champion of Parrises squares, his other sporting

loves were volleyball and tennis.

Harry was gifted academically and in the sporting arena

and was an accomplished clarinet player having played in

the Juilliard Youth Symphony.

After graduating, Harry applied to be part of the USS

Voyager crew and was given a commission on the starship

the following year as the Operations officer. Excited and

‘green behind the gills’, Harry Kim boarded Voyager at

Deep Space Nine. It was here that he met Tom Paris, who

saved him from making a bad deal with the Ferengi Quark

and was to become his very good friend.

As Harry Kim entered the bridge of USS Voyager little did he

know that he would be killed, kidnapped, and captured many

times!

Kim’s ordeals started during Voyager’s maiden voyage when

Captain Janeway was ordered to chase a Maquis ship that had

entered the badlands. Due to the self styled Caretaker of the

Ocampa planet the ship was transported into the Delta

Quadrant along with the Maquis ship. After medical tests on

the crew by the Caretaker who wanted to see if he could mate

with these species (he couldn’t) they were returned to the ship

except for Harry Kim and B’Elanna Torres. They were

transferred to an underground Ocampa medical facility by the

Caretaker. They were advised that they would die but with the

help of an Ocampa nurse they made their way to the surface

and were rescued by Voyager.

During an away mission Harry found an alien burial ground.

When the team was beamed back to the ship Harry was

switched with one of the bodies in the burial capsules, and a

dead alien was beamed aboard Voyager. Harry Kim found

himself on the Vhnori homeworld where the dead came from.

Harry was meant to be sent back to the burial ground but to

cut a long story short again he was eventually rescued by

Voyager alive!

While using the Beowulf holodeck programme Harry Kim was

captured by an energy being and along with Chakotay was

changed into a stream of energy. This time the Doctor rescued

him. When Voyager was accidentally duplicated, the Harry Kim

from the damaged Voyager was killed after being blown

through a hull breach. When the undamaged Voyager was set

to self-destruct when they were being boarded by Vidiian

forces, an alien race that collects body parts, the damaged

ship’s Harry Kim took the duplicate baby Naomi Wildman, who

had just died on the other ship with him to the surviving ship.

When Harry Kim was placed into a reality stasis storage facility

created by the Kohl he ended up being kidnapped by The

Clown which was the fear of a self-destructing race personified,

and The Clown had survived by being linked to humanoid

sensory functions. Captain Janeway rescued Harry this time.

And so it goes on, Harry Kim is duplicated by silver blood aliens

on a demon planet and nearly left to die! He believes that he is

Taresian and that he was conceived on their world, with his

embryo implanted in an Earth woman and now his DNA has

brought him home. He is attacked by Species 8472 (and almost

died again) and then his body is invaded by alien cells that

begin destroying his own cells, but once again was just saved.

After seven years, Voyager returned to the Alpha Quadrant

with a not so naïve, not so timid, but still alive and still not

promoted Harry Kim.

Tom Eugene Paris the son of a Starfleet Admiral was following

his family tradition when he entered Starfleet Academy. He

discovered that he was a natural pilot when he went on a trip

with his father aged eight years of age. Tom had a difficult

relationship with his father who was tough and unyielding.

Flying was not Tom’s only love he also loved the ocean and at

one stage had planned to join the Federation Naval Patrol.

Tom’s father was not in favour of this plan and he eventually

joined Starfleet.

Tom is a passionate man and in his first year at the Academy fell

in love with Susie Crabtree who eventually broke off the

relationship. Tom took this hard and allowed his feelings to

overcome him nearly failing his course. This displays how he

led his life in his younger years allowing issues and incidents to

overwhelm him and then to make quick and sometimes just the

wrong decisions.

Tom finally made it through his Starfleet Course and was

assigned to the USS Exeter but it was not long before his ability

to make the wrong decisions again affected his life. Tom made

a fatal piloting error that caused the death of three of his fellow

officers and then tried to cover it up. Racked with guilt Tom

finally told the truth but it was too late, his inability to think

logically instead of passionately forced him to resign.

So Tom is now free from family obligations and can make his

own choices and what does he do, he joins the Maquis! But

was his heart really in it? Maybe not because he is captured on

his first mission and sent to gaol.

So how did Tom escape his prison sentence well we really

have Tuvok to thank for that! Wanting to retrieve a

Maquis ship that they thought was lost in the Badlands

Captain Janeway recruited Tom Paris to help in her search

for the ship on which Tuvok was undercover. Being the

son of one of her Starfleet mentors and that he had some

experience with the Maquis Janeway offered Tom a

supercargo position on her ship. It seems though that

both the Starfleet and Maquis crews that joined together

after being pulled into the Delta Quadrant jointly did not

think much of Tom as both thought of him as a traitor.

However, he found a friendship that would last his life in

the form of Harry Kim a young crewmember who helped

him come to believe in himself and that maybe he really

did have value.

But the Delta Quadrant it seems was the best place that

Tom could have gone. Although the crews had little trust

in him, slowly over the years Tom was able to prove

himself. Often he would display bravery and good tactical

judgement when put to the test and with Janeway

showing trust in his abilities he won the crew over. Tom

has saved the ship on more than one occasion, found

ability to design spacecraft and was a talented

holoengineer.

One of the best things to happen to Tom was his

relationship with B’Elanna Torres, finally after a stormy

beginning Tom and B’Elanna found a love for each other.

This relationship is finally what caused Tom to reach his

potential. When the crew of Voyager was finally able to

communicate with their families at home, Tom could not

bring himself to take part in this exchange fearing that his

father had little regard for him and his life choices.

Tom as always a passionate man once again made an

emotional decision that caused him to be put into the brig

by Janeway. This time it was for noble reasons not selfish

ones. He wanted to save a world that he considered was

being abused by its occupants and he did. Tom had

grown! Busted to the rank of ensign for disobeying orders

for violating the Prime Directive his reward was not only

included the demotion but 30 days in the brig. .

Tom and B’Elanna finally married and even when they had

been kidnapped and their memories wiped and not

knowing of his relationship with her he found himself

looking out for this pregnant woman, his love for her still

within him even though he did not know who she was.

Finally, Voyager returned home and as they entered

Earth’s space Tom and B’Elanna’s child was born. Now he

had a family for himself and had grown enough for him to

enjoy the prospect of what life will bring to him. Tom’s

passion was his undoing and his doing and the journey on

Voyager was to see him to grow from a selfish and

egocentric youth to a well-rounded, compassionate and

focussed man.

B’Elanna a mixed species child of Human and Klingon

heritage has had to fight not only what she perceives as

racism but also her two natures. Inheriting classic

characteristics from both species had allowed her to seek

out new adventures, having the courage to meet these

challenges head on.

Born on Kessik IV and with her mother the only people in

the colony with Klingon heritage she believed that she did

not fit in. B’Elanna’s father left her and her mother when

she was still young and this affected her and her

relationships in later life.

She joined Starfleet Academy when she was17 and spent

two years working towards an engineering speciality.

B’Elanna again had a difficult time fitting in with four

disciplinary hearings and one suspension. Finally at 19 she

dropped out and it seemed that she was looking for

somewhere to belong. B’Elanna’s life was saved by

Chakotay a member of the Maquis and with whom she

would develop a close bond.

She had found a place where the displaced in the Maquis

where no one cared where you where from and cared

nothing about your background. B’Elanna was still an angry

women and the Maquis was a place where she could

channel that anger into the fight with the Cardassians.

Chakotay tried to teach B’Elanna his Native American

techniques to deal with her temper and emotions. This

had some success but she was the only person that he

knew who tried to kill her animal guide.

Pulled into the Delta Quadrant by the Caretaker, the

Maquis ship was destroyed! Both the Maquis and Voyager

crews had to join to not only survive but work towards

making it home.

Torres was a highly gifted engineer and was made Chief

Engineer of Voyager after proving her abilities to Captain

earning her respect for her skills.

Although B’Elanna had many adventures whilst on Voyager

one of the most telling was when she was captured by the

Vidiians who were able to separate her human and Klingon

DNA when they found that Klingon DNA was resistant to

the Phage, a disease that was killing their people. This was

one of the most significant life events for her as she was

able to understand the two parts that made her whole and

who she was. The Klingon part of her gave up her life to

save the human side! On her return to Voyager and with

the Doctor being able to recombine her DNA she

understood for the first time in her life that both sides of

her heritage made her whole. The Klingon side was her

courage and her passion whilst her human side was her

compassion and empathy. It is from this point in her life

that she grows and becomes who she was meant to be a

courageous, focussed individual, who could still chuck a

wobbly with the best of them.

B’Elanna found more on Voyager than just herself she

found that she had the ability to command, work under

pressure, care for others and the ability to form

relationships. Eventually she fell in love with Tom Paris

and as in most relationships they found themselves with

child. This situation brought back many of the childhood

issues that she had thought that she had dealt with. When

she found out that the child would show its Klingon

heritage she wanted the Doctor to eradicate this DNA Tom

found out that she had falsified records to make The

Doctor believe it was necessary. Tom was able to convince

her that this was not a bad thing and that he would not

leave the child as she had thought that the Klingon side of

her was what made her father leave her mother.

This was another turning point in the acceptance of

B’Elanna of her own self-worth. In a future timeline that

may not be brought to fruition she became Federation

Liaison to the Klingon Empire. B’Elanna it seems has a lot

to offer and someday she will believe that herself.

STAR TREK: VOYAGER -- BETTER THAN I REMEMBERED

It’s long been a fashionable practice in fandom to downplay the importance of Star Trek: Voyager. Almost from

the beginning, the show’s critics characterized it as derivative, dismissing many of its episodes

as worn retreads of the more glorious Treks of yore. Voyager was evidence that either the franchise or its

custodians (or perhaps both) had grown tired and were in need of a rest. I have to confess to having

felt the same way about the show; back in the day I thought it suffered in comparison with Deep Space Nine,

whose creative triumphs (particularly during its latter seasons) made Voyager’s alleged

shortcomings stand out in sharp relief. But I’ve revised my opinion after my oldest son (James, now eleven

years old) and I began systematically watching all the Star Trek television shows and films, a multi-year father-

and-son endeavor that quickly came to be known as our “five-year mission.” Voyager held up a lot better than I

had expected. Sure, the show had, and still has, its flaws—the crazy logic of Kazon who could ply

interstellar space yet couldn’t find drinking water, the missed opportunities for Starfleet/Maquis crew conflict,

and shuttlecraft as numerous as T. J. Hooker’s squad cars—but it also had a lot of heart, especially as the show

progressed and the cast members became increasingly comfortable wearing their characters’ skins. As we

watched disc after disc, James and I (re)discovered some of the series’ high points: taut actioners like season

three’s “Blood Fever,” which evoked TOS “Amok Time” without aping it; the nifty, space-operatic “Distant

Origin,” in which humanity comes faces-to-jaws with a reptilian road not taken back on Earth; season four’s

“Living Witness,” a chilling echo of the Holocaust; the sheer retro fun of season five’s “Bride of Chaotica!” and

the other episodes that featured Tom Paris’s Saturday-serial alter ego, Captain Proton; and the touching,

unrequited romance of “Someone to Watch Over Me.” Even though Voyager still can boast a tie for worst Star

Trek episode ever (season two’s “Threshold,” in which Janeway and Paris become copulating iguanas, a

dreadful show that for me comes in dead even with TOS’s execrable “The Alternative Factor,” and makes

“Spock’s Brain” look like Citizen Kane), the chronicle of the U.S.S. Voyager brought forth some truly superb

television storytelling. Of course, I’m sure not everyone will concur with me. But in 2010, the year we celebrate

Star Trek: Voyager’s fifteenth anniversary, I think that anybody reading these words can agree that the show

definitely deserves a second look.

Michael A. Martin is the author of STAR TREK: ENTERPRISE: THE

ROMULAN WAR -- BENEATH THE RAPTOR'S WING, STAR TREK ONLINE:

THE NEEDS OF THE MANY, and the forthcoming STAR TREK: TYPHON PACT

-- SEIZE THE FIRE (fall 2010) and STAR TREK: ENTERPRISE: THE ROMULAN

WAR -- IN SHARIEL'S JAWS (fall 2011)