Nothing Human (Star Trek: Voyager)

"Nothing Human"
Star Trek: Voyager episode
Episode no. Season 5
Episode 8
Directed by David Livingston
Written by Jeri Taylor
Featured music Dennis McCarthy
Production code 200
Original air date December 2, 1998 (1998-12-02)
Guest actors

"Nothing Human" is the 102nd episode of Star Trek: Voyager, the eighth episode of the fifth season. This was the final episode to be written by series co-creator Jeri Taylor.

Plot

The Doctor is not making any fans with his attempts to entertain the crew with a series of holo-image presentations that detail their recent exploits and misadventures. Shortly after one of them concludes (and an exasperated, bored audience leaves the Doctor alone on the holodeck), Voyager is confronted with an even scarier situation: a massive energy wave that cannot be eluded which rocks the ship. Luckily, it does no damage and turns out to be only some form of distress call. Tracking its origin, the crew comes upon a heavily damaged ship containing a non-humanoid life sign which is very faint. Captain Janeway, hoping to provide medical assistance, has it beamed into sickbay. It resembles a large colorful scorpion, at least a metre in length, but the Doctor finds its physiology, at first glance, to be exceedingly difficult to understand, leaving him at a loss as to how to treat it. B'Elanna Torres joins him in sickbay, reporting that at least she's made some progress in understanding how the alien interacts with its starship. Suddenly, the creature leaps upon her, wraps itself around her body, and pierces her neck and other vital organs, creating a physical and biochemical bond between them.

The Doctor surmises that this chemical attachment is probably some sort of defense mechanism employed by the ailing creature to keep itself alive. He also discovers that it is too complex for him to easily break while still ensuring B'Elanna's survival. Acknowledging that his standard medical program is insufficient in the face of a problem like this, he searches through the computer's main database for any information that might help him, and he finds a file on a brilliant Cardassian exobiologist named Crell Moset. With the help of Ensign Kim, he develops a hologram program of the scientist with which he can collaborate. As the two doctors conduct their research in a recreation of Moset's old laboratory on the holodeck, their rapport grows and a friendship develops.

A vivisection of a holographic recreation of the alien creature reveals details of a neuroanatomy that both suggest sentience and indicate a manner in which it might be removed, though likely at the cost of its life. Moset seems unconcerned about this outcome, but the Doctor holds out hope for a way to save both lives.

Meanwhile, as the crew hear about the situation, a young Bajoran ensign named Tabor protests angrily at the Doctor's use of the Crell Moset program. He alleges that during the Cardassian occupation of Bajor, the real Moset used living Bajoran patients as test subjects. His experiments and 'treatments,' although ultimately, for example, leading to a cure for the deadly Fostossa virus, also resulted in the deaths or mutilations of thousands of people. B'Elanna is dying and barely conscious, but upon learning this news, refuses to undergo any procedure that has anything to do with Moset: she would rather die than benefit from medical knowledge gained from the suffering of others. Evidence in the Starfleet records is found which corroborates Tabor's story, and he threatens to resign his commission if the program is not taken offline. But Moset has developed a surgical plan which has a good chance of working, and so the senior officers heatedly debate what should be done and to what extent they might ethically use his help and research. In the end, Captain Janeway decides that all sides have a point, but that B'Elanna's life must be saved, regardless of her wishes or the morality of the situation. She gives the Doctor her authorization to proceed with Moset's assistance.

Moset begins the procedure by using a cortical probe to send a high frequency pulse into the alien's primary neo-cortex, weakening its motor control so that it will release its grip. The technique appears to be working, but it becomes apparent that an even higher frequency will be necessary to induce total separation, and as the creature's synapses are already degenerating, it seems that it will not survive if they continue along this path. The Doctor and Moset vociferously argue about whether they should stop, with the Doctor finally ordering him to do so and threatening to terminate his program if he refuses. Taking the probe from him, the Doctor then applies it at a lower frequency to the secondary neo-cortex of the creature, believing that in this way he can induce its separation without killing it.

While the operation is going on, another ship similar to the one the alien was found on drops out of warp and attempts to communicate with Voyager, but their language is an incomprehensible cacophony of shrieks which the universal translator cannot even begin to parse. They then lock onto Voyager with a power-draining tractor beam. Tuvok suggests the possibility of firing on them, but Janeway is determined to avoid a violent first-contact, and Chakotay's re-routing of power to the holodeck buys enough time for the surgeons to complete their work, the Doctor's modified plan having been a success. Moset and the Doctor, once again working harmoniously, are even able to devise a drug treatment for the creature which stabilizes its metabolism so that it can be beamed onto the ship that has come in search of it — and just in time, as Voyager's shields have nearly failed. The transport complete, the alien ship releases the tractor beam and departs amidst contented shrieks, to which Janeway replays, "You're welcome."

The Captain allows the Doctor to make the decision as to whether to keep Moset's holographic program in the computer databanks, in case of future emergencies (as he had initially expressed a keen interest in keeping the new hologram around as a co-worker). She also tries to help B'Elanna, who is utterly furious about having her right to refuse treatment overruled, understand why she allowed for the surgery to proceed under Moset's direction.

The Doctor arrives on the holodeck to inform his colleague that their patient is recovering, and a jubilant Moset suggests they celebrate by attending an opera program which the Doctor had previously told him about. The mood of the Doctor, however, is clearly disturbed, so Moset does his best to convince him that Machiavellian methods — and the continued use of his program — are what is needed to keep the Voyager crew safe, especially considering how far they are stranded from Earth. Their conversation hearkens back to an earlier one in which Moset had made the point that half the medical knowledge on Earth came via experimentation on "lower" animals, with the Doctor protesting that this wasn't equivalent to what happened on Bajor, and that it had been done long ago, anyway. Moset furthers his plea by quoting the Hippocratic Oath to The Doctor, accusing him of actually violating it by not availing himself of all possible resources, regardless of the ethical entanglements which doing so may create. The Doctor is unmoved, however, having already made his decision before he entered the holodeck, and he deletes the medical consultant program and all related files, stating for the record that he cannot in good conscience use this research after having learned how it was obtained. Moset and his Cardassian lab vanish from the room, and the Doctor walks alone out of the holodeck.

See also

External links

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