“The Cloud” is episode six of season one of Star Trek: Voyager.
The captain is narrating her personal logs. It’s been a few weeks, and she’s noticed a subtle change in the crew as reality sets in. They represent almost the entire family of man in the Delta Quadrant, and are becoming more than a crew. She thinks she must find a way to be more than a captain, but doesn’t know how. The Academy taught captains to maintain a certain distance, something Janeway has been comfortable with. Until now. Janeway arrives in the engine room, making B’Elanna think it’s an inspection. It’s just a stroll. The captain wonders if maybe distance is necessary, as more than ever she may need to be larger than life.
In the galley Neelix constructed in the previous episode, “Phage”, the captain asks Tom and Harry if there’s anything interesting. Harry mentions the old Chinese curse about interesting; it’s always interesting now Neelix is running the kitchen. When Janeway leaves, Harry wonders if they should have invited her to sit. Tom tells him captains don’t get chummy with the lower ranks; Harry points out that there isn’t anyone else for the captain to fraternise with.
Janeway is inspecting what Neelix is cooking when he appears and compliments her. They are, he answers her question, out of coffee. The captain is going to use a replicator ration, but Neelix tells her it isn’t appropriate. If the crew is going to become accustomed to natural food, she needs to set an example. Janeway agrees to his ‘better than coffee’ which is a dark gloop, and welcomes Chakotay contacting her from the bridge.
The commander says she didn’t need to come to the bridge. She differs on that opinion. A nebula has been detected that has unusually high levels of omicron particles, which could be collected to add to their antimatter reserve. Janeway tells them to set a course. Because there’s coffee in that nebula.
Captain Janeway speaks to Chakotay about the crew. She wishes they had a counsellor, but their mission didn’t require one. It does now. The commander mentions his animal guide, and explains further at Janeway’s interest. He offers to show her how to contact her own animal guide.
As they enter the nebula, Harry says he has never seen anything like it. Tuvok contacts him privately and says that senior officers don’t say things like that; it makes the juniors nervous. The engines are pulling dust towards the Voyager, so they go to thrusters. An energy barrier causes the ship to lurch to a stop, so they punch through it. On the other side is an open space of blue things with green lights. Tuvok is unable to identify it; Harry contacts him privately in return. The breach closes behind.
Neelix is not happy. Kes asks if all nebulas look like that; Neelix doesn’t know, he’s smart enough to go around them. Kes replies that the crew are natural born explorers; Neelix would use the term ‘idiots’ instead. They have a ship that’s the match of any within a hundred light years and all they do is search for some sort of space anomaly to rip it to pieces. Kes thinks it’s wonderful.
Then blue blobs start coming through the shields and sticking to the ship, draining power. An attempt to leave causes the ship to bounce of the barrier, phasors have no effect so a photon torpedo is used to blast the way out, losing energy rather than gaining any. Captain Janeway decides there’s no alternative; she’s going to have to give up coffee.
That night, Tom breaks in to Harry’s quarters – you learn some things in prison – and invites him to come to the holodeck. Where Tom has created a replica of Chez Sandrine, a place he spent most of his second semester at the Academy, just outside Marseilles. The place comes with a pool table and friendly locals.
B’Elanna, meanwhile, is examining the residue from the ship. She heads to sickbay, activating the Doctor – who appears behind her announcing his standard phrase and causing B’Elanna to jump. B’Elanna suggests changing his program. She could probably do it herself. That makes the Doctor feel quite confident. On a complaint about his manner, the Doctor suggests she take it up with a man called Zimmerman at Jupiter Station. Who looks a lot like him. What B’Elanna thinks, and the Doctor confirms, is the nebula is alive. When asked if they could have hurt it, the Doctor says they rammed it, shot it, fired a photon torpedo at it then left a hole in it. Yes, that could have hurt it.
The attempt to gain more power has not been a success so far. Plus, they have an injured nebula to heal and Neelix loses it at one point.