Script Segments 4-15-97 Star Trek Voyager Episode : Coda Adaptation by Patti Keiper Written by Jeri Taylor Chapter Eight ---------------------------------------------------------------------- A steady note interrupted the lifesign tones and Kes knew heartbreaking failure, "No vitals signs. No brain activity." Kes glanced at Chakotay's face and read the disbelief on his features. Unseen and wraith-like, Janeway's mirrored his own and she was mute. "Again!" came the command. Again the captain's body felt energy. Kes began steeling herself. The computer showed that there was no hope. Her friend had slipped away... "No change!" she said. The doctor was more tenacious, "Again!" "Doctor!" Kes began. "Don't question me! Again!" he snapped. Kes obeyed in spite of the fact of the irreparable damage display rearing its ugly head on her screen. Janeway gripped the bed console as the person she thought was herself move one last time. The steady note from the monitor screen was unbroken and bore mercilessly into Chakotay's head. Then the doctor grew quiet and closed his tricorder. He had seen Kes' data, "Make a note in the log. Death occurred at 0320 hours. Cause: Massive cerebral vascular collapse." Chakotay didn't say one word and he left quickly. Janeway watched him leave and her heart felt ripped from her chest. Numb, she tried to communicate with Voyager, "Computer, confirm Janeway voice pattern." There was only silence while Kes and the doctor began to put their equipment away. Her fright threatened to overwhelm her. Desperate, Janeway called on Kes' empathic ability, "Kes, you're a telepath. You've been able to sense things others can't." she swallowed, "Kes, ....can you sense me?" The Ocampa didn't look up. Then the doctor got her attention instead. He spoke to her quietly, "Kes,...please go to the science lab and prepare the autopsy protocols." Kes fled immediately and Janeway followed after her. In her haste, the captain didn't notice that she had walked right through the closing bulkheads like mist... Kes navigated the corridor on automatic, deep in remorse. Janeway twinned her pace, determined to reach out to her, "I'm here, Kes. I'm staying with you until you realize it." Everything had happened so fast. Kes started to walk faster. Captain Janeway had been with her most of her life. It was hard to believe she was really gone. She had seen Commander Chakotay leave sickbay and knew that her own pain was nothing like his. Grief welled up unbidden, but Kes ruthlessly crushed it down. Janeway saw Kes beginning to lock out her surroundings. That couldn't happen. She needed someone who didn't believe what had occurred in sickbay. Especially someone with Kes' abilities. People would listen to her. She had to do something now... Her hands just fogged through Kes without effect. Frustrated, Janeway stepped out in front of her. For a moment, Janeway actually flinced in anticipation of colliding just as Kes moved through the point where she was standing. The young girl stopped, wrapping her arms about herself as she felt a change around her, like an echo of something nearly familiar, "...Captain?" she asked in a small voice. She turned and looked back the way she had come. Janeway stood in line of sight with Kes only inches away, "Did you feel that, Kes? It was me...." Kes shivered and saw no one else around her that would account for the sensation she had felt a few moments ago. And that sensation had been unmistakable.... Before she knew it, her hand had tapped her combadge, "Kes to Commander Chakotay. I need to talk with you right away." ---------------------------------------------------------------------- All of the senior officers were present in the conference room to hear a very shaken Kes relate her story. Neelix, too, was listening, determined to simply be there if she needed him. Kes felt exposed as everyone watched her from around the table. But she didn't let that stop her, "...Maybe it was nothing but I had the strongest feeling that the captain was in the corridor with me." Tuvok steepled his hands, "It is possible, that in your distress over the captain's death, you imagined that you were aware of her.." Kes was adamant, "It was more than that. I'm sure of it." Chakotay felt a mix of emotions. His voice was quiet, "In the past, Kes has shown an ability to detect an unseen presence....I think we have to take her seriously." Torres concurred, nodding, "The captain's consciousness might have been phase-shifted out of our reality." Janeway circled the table intently, willing them to believe in her. She saw Tom Paris mull over the idea. If anyone could alter slim odds, it would be him, "She could be in some kind of alternate dimension in subspace." the helmsman reasoned. Neelix was the crew's conscience, "We have to find her some- how." The captain noticed that Chakotay's face was unreadable. Come on, Chakotay, she thought, be convinced... B'Elanna offered the first option, "Harry and I could run a full subspace sweep,..to see if we could come up with anything." Chakotay hid his pain. It had been hard to let her go. All of this discussion was salt in the wound. He had seen Kathryn Janeway die.... But then again.... He threw caution to the wind, "Get on it. It's a top priority. Neelix, help the crew with this. Keep their morale up until we can get some answers." Neelix squared his shoulders, "Yes, sir. Right away." Tuvok caught Chakotay's attention, "Commander. I suggest I work with Kes. I may be able to help increase the range of her perceptions." "Good idea." he agreed, "Tom, we'll take duty stations." The first officer rose from his chair and everyone followed him out of the room. Janeway was pleased with her progress, "That's more like it." Now she knew how to proceed. You simply had to not act dead. It worked with Kes. It would work again... ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Engineering was a hub of activity. Torres had her junior officers bustling. Janeway was hovering over practically every shoulder as she watched them work. B'Elanna looked over at Harry Kim, "I've reconfigured the lateral sensor array to scan subspace." Janeway concentrated on the back of her head, "Don't forget to run the magneton sweep." She leaned against a pillar, folded her arms, and waited. Harry moved near Lt. Torres, setting control sequences, "The forward array is ready to scan for temporal phase shifting, chronoton particles, or field flux." B'Elanna's eyes unfocused and she shivered a little. She found herself obeying a nagging urge, "I'm.... going to activate the magneton scanner. It might pick up an anomolous presence." Behind her, Janeway gave her a pleased nod. Her eyes shone... Janeway was studying the control panel so intently, she almost missed a brilliant flare from the direction of the entryway doors, "Now what?" It was huge, a convoluted ball of twisting energy forming just above the deck. Janeway had seen it before. It was the anomaly... Something moved within it, becoming real. It walked toward her and was vaguely humanoid. Then it solidified into a man wearing Starfleet admiral red.. Kathryn was struck with instant recognition. It was someone she knew...... "Daddy?!"