When she first comes aboard Voyager in 2371, Kes is
intimately involved with Neelix, a Talaxian trader
Kes Her Life on Voyager and Beyond
Kes is from Ocampa, and has several abilities which allow her
to absorb information at a phenomenal rate she is highly intelligent with a
photographic memory. These qualities compensate for the extremely short Ocampan
life span she only lives 9 earth years before she evolves. Shortly after joining
the crew of the U.S.S. Voyager, Kes also begins to demonstrate powerful psychic
abilities. In times past, all the Ocampa possessed strong extrasensory abilities,
but it seems that over many generations these abilities disappeared. The crew of
the Voyager have a theory that the effects of space and traveling away from the
protected environment of her home world have combined to trigger Kes's dormant
psychic abilities. Kes herself is both excited and also afraid of the new
adventure.
Unfortunately for the couple, life on Voyager is taking its
toll on their simple relationship. Neelix has a hard time accepting that Kes
will make friends other than him, especially male friends. Lieutenant Tom Paris
makes it clear he is attracted to Kes from the moment he sees her, but accepts
that she is involved with Neelix and is content with her friendship. Neelix,
however, becomes jealous whenever Paris is around. Another close friend of Kes's
on Voyager is the holographic Doctor. Kes is the first person to treat the
Doctor as more than just a holographic program; this earns her his admiration,
and they develop a strong mutual respect. Working as the Doctor's assistant in
sickbay strengthens their friendship.
A lot of the male crew are attracted to Kes's beauty and temperament, but one man on Voyager sees the need to protect her naiveté and guides her much as a father might do. The bond between the Vulcan Tuvok and Kes comes about from her exploration of her mind's extrasensory abilities and Tuvok's guidance in discovering her untapped talents. Through their many lessons, Tuvok becomes fond of Kes in an unemotional Vulcan way. He feels his teaching is critical for her to understand how to control the power of her mind. This gives him the right to look after her interests, such as when she plans to leave Voyager with Zahir; he asks this man whether Kes will be safe with him. as a caring father would do.
Kes experiences a basic form of telepathy in which she begins
to hear the thoughts of the Voyager crew. The first voice she hears in her
mind belongs to Neelix. As Tuvok remarks, it is natural for her mind to be drawn
to the thoughts of the person she is closest to. Since
Vulcans are tactile telepaths, Tuvok is well qualified to help Kes. He agrees to
train her in Vulcan mind techniques in the belief that these will enable her to
make the most of her awakening abilities. Tuvok
uses Vulcan mind melds and creates an atmosphere of tranquillity. He instructs
Kes to begin with a sensory focus exercise that enhances her emerging skills.
She enters a mental state in which she hears voices. Although
her psychic abilities are much stronger than Tuvok's, his Vulcan mental
disciplines have taught him how to make the most of them. Kes finds it difficult
to control these mental abilities, and when she tries to demonstrate her ability
to boil liquid to Tuvok she accidentally heats his blood to dangerous
temperatures.
Neelix and Kes break up but remain dear friends. Kes's next romantic entanglement is with Zahir, a Mikhal traveller she meets when Voyager needs a map of the star systems they will be exploring. Handsome, and sensitive, Zahir is just the man to appeal to Kes's refined senses. While working on a medical supply transfer together, Kes and Zahir fall in love. Kes decides to travel with a new found love Zahir, away from Voyager, to see if their attraction can lead to a lasting commitment. But when an accident forces her to re-evaluate her position, she concludes that since her life is undergoing many changes, the best place for her is on Voyager among her friends. The men Kes has met during her time with Voyager have had an important influence on her life.
Neelix was as much her protector as her lover and friend. Tom
Paris was a fun flirtation that might have developed into something more, had
she not been involved already. Tuvok and the Doctor were her father figures and
mentors. What ever men Kes encounters, she has shown the intelligence and
strength to handle them all. Zahir admires her great tolerance for the
unexpected and the way in which she makes him consider alternative ways of
thinking. Kes has long believed that the
Ocampan people have been held back by circumstance, namely the crippling watch
of the caretaker over their world. She wants to realize her full potential as an
Ocampan, But her desire to reignite her telepathic abilities leads her down a
path of enormous growth that eventually leads to an incredible transformation.
With the help of her Vulcan friend Tuvok, Kes begins to explore her
psychokinetic talents. Tuvok finds them undisciplined and unpredictable at
first, Kes's work hard, and what appears to be a natural evolution, her skills
increase.
Kes feels exhilarated. But her unpredictable psychokinetic powers begin to spiral out of control. She experiences a haphazard range of telepathic premonitions, often resulting in wild states of cellular flux. At one point, Kes's transformation is so over whelming that her body begins to ripple and distort. She appears to be in a state of ecstasy. But, eventually, her atoms re-establish their molecular bonds and she appears to return to normal.
Captain Janeway and Kes say goodbye. Both are sad to be parting, but Kes is also excited that she is leaving to fully explore the changes that are happening to her. feeling a little strange for some time; she has been sensing the energy around her, and has been sleeping less. The transformation Kes goes through is so powerful that she is able to focus her mind well below the molecular structure of an object or person. She merely has to gaze at an object, and she begins to see the space between the atoms, filled with something even the most powerful microscopes are unable to detect. Kes claims to be able to see beyond the subatomic level . Kes's experiences a feeling of tremendous well being while using these new found powers.
The transformation taking place leads Kes
to decide to leave Voyager. She wants to explore her telepathic abilities
further, and she knows that she will endanger the crew if she stays; the effect
her powers are having on the ship supports her fears. Tuvok initiates a
mind-meld in order to slow the process, but he cannot stop the change
permanently. Kes's body destabilizes at the subatomic level while she fluctuates
between a normal physical existence and a subatomic state. The metamorphosis
affects everything around her, prompting her speedy departure from Voyager for
the safety of all. Shortly after leaving Voyager, her body bursts into a
sparkling explosion of molecules, beautiful light, and energy. As a goodbye
gift, she is able to send Voyager sailing at quantum speeds out of Borg space,
and deposits the ship nearly 10,000 light years closer to home. A goodbye gift
from a dear member of the Voyager crew.
Seven of Nine was born as a human female called Annika Hansen
at the Tendara Colony in 2348. Few records in the U.S.S. Voyager’s databanks
make any reference to the young girl, but there is a great amount of information
on her parents. Annika's parents were unconventional scientists who left
Federation space to perform experiments in pursuit of some unique secret
theories they had . The last record the Federation has of the Hansen family
places them and their ship, the Raven , at a remote outpost in the Omega system.
They refused to file a flight plan, and simply set course toward the Delta
Quadrant in a very small vessel .
Seven has very few memories of her early life, but she does remember that she lived on the Raven with her parents, just as she celebrated her sixth birthday. The Raven came across a Borg vessel, they study it for a long while before they are detected . They could have just quietly passed by but their scientific curiosity pulled them in to a trap. Annika’s father tries to fight off the Borg, but it was a hopeless battle and their ship the Raven was forced to crash land on a Class M moon. Annika’s parents appear to have been killed, maybe they were assimilated. The young Annika was assimilated and raised as a Borg. Her Borg name is Seven of Nine. When she was very young Annika lost touch with her human side and never developed many of the characteristics that are typical of humans. She has no experience of socializing as part of an adult group
In fact, any individual characteristics she once possessed are suppressed and they were that of a very young child.
When the Borg are forced have an alliance
with the crew of the
U.S.S. Voyager to defeat Species 8472, Captain Janeway requests that a single
Borg acts as a representative of the collective. The collective selects Seven of
Nine for this role During the conflict with Species 8472, the Voyager crew are
forced to disable the neuro transceiver in Seven's upper spinal column, severing
her link to the collective. Seven goes into shock and her human side starts to
reassert itself, rejecting her Borg implants. Seven's first instinct is to
return to the Borg. When Janeway refuses to return to Borg space, Seven asks her
to put her off at the nearest habitable planet with a subspace transmitter so
that she can contact the Borg alone. Janeway refuses to consider this option -
with her human and Borg elements in constant conflict, Seven is in physical
danger. The crew of Voyager anaesthetise Seven and the Doctor begins to remove
her Borg implants, allowing her awaking human metabolism to take over her body's
functions.
The Doctor replaces many of her Borg components, making her far more human than she has
been for nearly 20 years. He even replaces her Borg eyepiece with a prosthetic human eye. At the end of the process, Seven is not exactly human; the Doctor removes 82 percent of her Borg implants , but the remaining bio implants and nano-probes are still an essential part of her body. Seven is stronger than humans and the Vulcan Tuvok. The nano-probes in her bloodstream are unclear; Seven still has vast amounts of knowledge that she learned while she was a part of the collective. She has considerable emotional and philosophical problems in adjusting to her new situation. she misses her life the Borg collective. She regards her life as a Borg as natural, and can barely remember anything about her early life. She is convinced that her Borg nature will ultimately triumph over any human impulses she may feel.
At First Seven finds life as an individual almost unbearable.
She is used to hearing thousands of voices in her head, and when she is isolated
clearly frightened and distressed. and as a result she cannot imagine what her
new life will be like. Even when she learns that her given name is Annika, she
decides she wishes to be known as Seven of Nine, Janeway cuts it down to Seven .
Seven is used to cooperation and to doing as she is told. Eventually, she
decides to work with the Voyager's crew. She has not swallowed food for nearly
20 years; at this time she still prefers not to sit like humans. This happens
almost unconsciously. As Seven becomes used to the crew, she slowly acquires
human mannerisms, she seems fond of clasping her hands behind her back while
contemplating a situation, often arches her eyebrows when trying to make a
point.
The Doctor takes it upon himself to advice her to practice
more relaxed facial features, trying out the act of smiling in the privacy of
her cargo bay alcove. The Doctor also suggests Seven learn some social graces
and exercise common courtesy. Putting this into practice, Seven begins,
awkwardly at first, to say "thank you" to those who help her. Her
early attempts to acknowledge Harry Kim's physical attraction to her are far
less successful. Tom Paris does his best to introduce Seven to the pleasures of
his Captain Proton holo-deck scenario without much success.
By the end of her first year with Voyager. Seven has acquired such strong human values of selflessness and concern for her friends that she is prepared to risk her own life for the chance of saving theirs. Seven looks to Janeway as her guide to humanity. When Janeway asks Seven if her move from Borg to human was worthwhile , Seven say, she would never choose to have her experiences on Voyager
erased. She now thinks of the ship and its crew as her collective. This relationship between Janeway and Seven proves to be challenging and stormy as it developed. This sets the scene for a much calmer and more productive relationship between the two of them The U.S.S. Voyager crew find only partial records on Annika Hansen; all they contain are references to her birth and the last time she was seen. Records on her parents are more extensive. Neelix encourages her to view them, to better understand her humanity.
Seven sometimes questions Janeway's handling of certain
situations, and has been known to take
control of events without the captain's authority. and this means she cannot
always be Seven's friend. Nevertheless, the two women work well as a team. An
important turning point in the women's relationship comes when control of
Voyager must be handed over to Seven while
the rest of the crew waits out passage through a hazardous nebula in stasis.
Seven proves herself worthy of this trust
and is even ready to sacrifice herself for the good of the sleeping crew,
increasing her value in Janeway's eyes. Seven of Nine becomes a trusted
member of the Voyagers team.
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7 OF 9
Played By JERRI RYAN |
Kes
Played By JENNIFER LIEN |
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Star Trek Ladies / Jerri Ryan
