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Eager to raise the morale of the
crew, Janeway jumps at the chance to explore a nebula emitting a
high level of omicron particles, which might prove useful for
the ship's energy reserves. But shortly after Voyager enters the
cloud-like formation, it encounters an energy barrier that
brings the ship to a dead stop. Breaking through, the ship
continues its penetration of the nebula's inner reaches, only to
be bombarded by peculiar globules that attach themselves to the
hull. With the globules beginning to drain the starship's energy
reserves, Janeway orders the crew to leave the nebula, but this
time they can't get past the energy barrier until they blast
their way out with a photon torpedo.
The excitement over, Paris
invites Kim to tag along for some rest and recreation in
Sandrine's, a holodeck recreation of a French bar that Paris
frequented in his Academy days. In the meantime, Torres spends
her time analyzing one of the globules that attached itself to
the hull. Surprised at the results, she confirms her findings
with the Doctor and then notifies the Captain.
The globules are organic elements of a much larger lifeform, she
explains. In other words, the nebula was actually a living
entity and the phenomena they encountered were part of the
entity's natural defense systems. Concerned that the encounter
with Voyager may have caused the lifeform serious injury,
Janeway proposes returning and repairing the harm they've done.
The Doctor tells her that the organic samples seem to indicate
that the lifeform has the capacity to regenerate, given the
appropriate stimulation.
Returning to the "nebula," Voyager re-enters and prepares to
irradiate the wound with a nucleonic beam. But they're
interrupted when the lifeform's natural defense systems again
attack the ship, forcing them away from the wound. Although the
ship sustains damage, they are eventually able to return to the
injury site. The Doctor suggests a method of "suturing" the
wound, which they manage to do after distracting the entity's
defense systems with a microprobe. Just before the wound seals
over, Voyager escapes from the cloud and sets course for a
planet where they can replenish their depleted energy reserves.
En route, Janeway joins Paris and her other senior staff
officers at Sandrine's, where everyone is surprised with her
pool playing expertise.
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