“Sacred Ground” is episode seven of season three of Star Trek: Voyager.
Voyager is in orbit having accepted an invitation from the Nechani to take shore leave on their world. B’Elanna, Harry, Neelix and Kes are being shown around a sanctuary that houses the Nechani’s ancestral spirits. The man showing them around is discussing things but Neelix and Kes remain to look at a symbol. Then Kes hears something and heads to a chamber where there is a glowing area. She says it’s beautiful and looks like a shrine and walks up to it to take a quick look. When she does, a field knocks her down.
The Nechani who was showing them around arrives with Harry and B’Elanna, and says they mustn’t be there. B’Elanna contacts Voyager and tells them there is a medical emergency; Kes and Neelix are beamed to sickbay. The Nechani says it’s most unfortunate and he must ask them to leave as well. Only the monks truly understand what the energy is. Scanning equipment would disrespect the spirits. Kes has been punished and is going to die. B’Elanna is not happy with this statement.
In sickbay, the Doctor is saying that Kes is weak, but stable. She’s in something similar to a comatose state. At the moment, he can’t speculate as to treatment; first, he needs to know what caused this. Captain Janeway is working on this but they aren’t allowed in the area where the event occurred. The captain is going to talk to the Magistrate, who was the one showing people around. Neelix wants to help; Janeway tells him to go to the planet and find out as much data on the energy field as possible.
The Magistrate tells the captain that he’s an official of the government, not a spiritual leader. The monks consider the matter closed and offer sympathy for their loss. By agreement of the council, the government doesn’t interfere in spiritual affairs and the vice versa. It’s been that way for centuries. When asked about the sanctuary, the Magistrate says the monks receive a gift of purification, cleansing for the soul. They first prepare with a sacred trial, and can then enter safely. Only monks who have gone through the ritual know what happens and they are sworn to secrecy. The field is a naturally occurring phenomenon. He can do nothing more to help.
The Doctor has got a report back on the field, along with a lecture on how difficult it is to scan through rock. It’s an intense biogenic field and Kes is lucky not to be killed instantly. The captain explains that the monks enter without being harmed. Somehow. The Doctor is running out of ideas and Kes is already risking permanent damage, even if she is revived. It’s not looking good.
Neelix’s research has turned up nothing scientific. However, there is a story from a very old text. A boy recovered from a condition like this. He was a young prince and wandered where he shouldn’t, and the will of the spirits dent him into the same condition. His father, the king, refused to accept this, and underwent the ritual to plead for his son’s life with the spirits. They granted his request.
This gives the captain an idea. She contacts the Magistrate, and he says that the story related to a father and king. As a starship captain, Janeway states, she is fully responsible for every member of her crew. The Magistrate agrees. Captain Janeway wants to undergo the ritual herself.
Janeway talks to Chakotay about this. She doesn’t expect to speak to any ancestral spirits, but something happens to the monks. If they find out what, it might give them a clue as to how to treat Kes. The Doctor will monitor her physical condition; Chakotay wants a way for her to beam out as well, just in case. The captain has been reviewing spiritual beliefs on lots of planets. Chakotay says it’s possible that ancestral spirits really do control things. The captain thinks that there is a scientific basis for most religious doctrines.
The monks approve eagerly to Janeway’s request, as it honours the spirits. She is implanted with a subdermal probe and a homing beacon, and is told a guide will meet her at the sanctuary. However, no-one pays any attention – apart from a woman who asks if the captain can help fix a light. She’s very chatty and asks to take a look at Janeway’s tricorder. Which she keeps. The woman is the guide. Janeway is first painted and dressed in other clothes. They know about the probe, but say it will make no difference.
So, the very scientific Captain Janeway has to go on a spiritual quest, something she is rather less suited to do than Chakotay.