"STAR TREK VOYAGER: Uneven Punishment"
"STAR TREK VOYAGER: UNEVEN PUNISHMENT"
Every time I watch the "STAR TREK VOYAGER" Season Five episode, (5.09) "Thirty Days", I feel a surge of disbelief. I am sure that this particular episode is familiar to many "STAR TREK" fans. In it, Tom Paris, the Chief Helmsman of the U.S.S. Voyager, was demoted from Lieutenant Junior to Ensign and sentenced to thirty days in the brig for taking illegal action in an attempt to save a vast, inhabited ocean floating in space that was in danger of destruction.
Let me explain what happened. "Thirty Days" began with Tom sitting inside Voyager's brig for disobeying Captain Kathryn Janeway's orders, recounting how he had landed there in a letter to his father, Admiral Owen Paris. The episode flash backed to Voyager's arrival at an oceanic planet called Monea. The planet's two delegates - Burkus and Riga - reveal their planet is losing water mass at an alarming rate, which threatens to destroy the planet within five years if the situation is not stopped. Though they have some submarine vehicles, the Moneans were unable to reach the center of the planet where they believed the source of their problems could be found. Janeway offers the use of Voyager's premiere shuttle, the Delta Flyer for use, since it could withstand the water pressures near the planet's core. Paris expressed excitement at the upcoming mission, considering he had an earlier ambition to join the Federation Naval Patrol. Paris and Riga discovered that Monea's core was a massive reactor that drew the surface water of a nearby planet and that oxygen-mining reactors used by the Moneans were the cause of the planet's water loss.
Although Janeway had offered technological options to minimize the water loss, Burkus dismissed it. He had also dismissed Riga's suggestion to turn off several of the oxygen-mining units. Paris, longing to help Riga and the planet, had asked Janeway to try to change the Moneans' minds, but the Captain refused, citing the Prime Directive. Instead, Paris and Riga stole the Delta Flyer, and attempted to use a photon torpedo to destroy one of the oxygen-mining facilities. But Voyager's crew destroyed the torpedo with a depth charge and recovered the Delta Flyer. Upon his return to ship, Janeway demoted Paris to the rank of ensign and sentenced him to thirty days in the Brig.
I am not claiming that Tom Paris had deserved to evade punishment for his actions. He had clearly disobeyed Janeway's order and violated the Prime Directive. But "Thirty Days" did not mark the first or last time when a member of Voyager's crew - specifically, a Senior Staff member - had committed an illegal act that angered Captain Kathryn Janeway. The following is a list of those officers and crewmen who had either disobeyed Janeway, violated the Prime Directive . . . or both:
*Then Lieutenant Tuvok, Lieutenant Junior-Grade B'Elanna Torres, Lieutenant Joe Carey and Ensign Seska had acquired a matrix trajector from someone on Sikaris. They did so behind Captain Janeway's back, in order to use the technology to send Voyager back to the Alpha Quadrant. The Sikarian technology proved to be incompatible with Federation tech and nearly ended in disaster for Voyager. Janeway had lectured both Tuvok and Torres but did not punish them. - (1.10) "Prime Factors"
*Following a successful raid on Voyager by Kazon warriors, planned by Seska (earlier revealed as a Cardassian spy), Voyager's First Officer, Commander Chakotay, had decided to go after them to retrieve or destroy the Federation technology they had stolen . . . without Janeway’s permission. Although Chakotay had managed to destroy Voyager's technology, he ended up captured by Seska and the Kazon. Following his rescue, Janeway had lectured Chakotay and entered a reprimand in his official file. - (2.11) "Manuevers"
*Fearful that his lack of knowledge of the Nekrit Expanse would end his position aboard Voyager, Talaxian crewman Neelix had attempted to acquire a map of the region by helping an old Talaxian friend illegally sell medical supplies ("drugs") from Voyager's Sick Bay to a murderous drug smuggler at a space station. When Chakotay and Paris ended up arrested for illegal drug trading and murder, Neelix kept silent. Eventually, he and his friend confessed to the drug trading and helped capture the real killer. In the end, Janeway punished Neelix with a lecture and by ordering him to clean out the warp plasma manifold for two weeks. - (3.13) "Fair Trade"
*During an encounter between Hirogen hunters and a member of Species 8472 who had boarded Voyager while trying to return home following the species' war against the Borg, former Borg drone Seven-of-Nine disobeyed Janeway’s order and transported the Species 8472 castaway to one of the Hirogen ships in order to save Voyager from destruction. Janeway punished Seven by limiting her access to some of Voyager’s systems and privileges, which confined her duties primarily to the ship's Astrometrics Lab. - (4.16) "Prey"
*Ensign Harry Kim had become romantically involved with a member of a xenophobic race called the Varro and eventually broke Starfleet regulations by having sex with her without any medical consent. Janeway lectured him and entered a reprimand in his official file. - (5.17) "The Disease"
*Voyager's Chief Medical Office, the Doctor had developed feelings sympathetic feelings toward a group of fellow holograms in rebellion against the Hirogen. He eventually joined their cause and gave the holograms Voyager’s shield frequencies, following the latter’s brief fight with a Hirogen ship. His actions not only allowed him to give them data so that they can overload Voyager’s deflector dish and primary systems, but also gave the holograms the opportunity to kidnap Torres. Following the resolution of the conflict between the Hirogen and their holograms, the Doctor handed over his mobile emitter to Janeway, limiting his access to the ship. Otherwise, Janeway had decided not to punish him. - (7.09-7.10) "Flesh and Blood"
Has anyone notice something very disturbing? Out of seven Senior Staff members and Seven-of-Nine, only three were physically punished by Janeway for their transgressions - Neelix, Seven and Tom Paris. Janeway had ordered Neelix to clean warp plasma manifolds for two weeks. She had limited Seven's access to some of Voyager’s systems and privileges, which confined her duties primarily to the ship's Astrometrics Lab. And Tom Paris? Janeway had pulled a double whammy on him by demoting the pilot from Lieutenant Junior Grade to Ensign and forced him to spend thirty days in the brig. Aside from Paris, all of the others had nearly endangered Voyager’s crew or some alien planet one way or the other. Torres and Tuvok’s deal with the Sikirians had nearly destroyed Voyager's systems. Despite destroying the Starfleet tech stolen by the Kazon, Chakotay had nearly endangered Voyager’s security system even further with his capture by them and Seska. Neelix’s actions at the Nekrit Expanse space station had led to Chakotay and Paris’ arrests as drug dealers and murderers. Seven-of-Nine had sacrificed an innocent’s life - the Species 8472 - in the name of self-preservation. Kim’s little sexual escapade could have endangered the crew’s physical health. And the Doctor’s actions during the Hirogent-holograms conflict had resulted in the damage to some of Voyager’s systems and Torres' kidnapping. Yet, Paris was the only Senior Staff member, the only crewman mentioned in this article, who had received severe punishment by Captain Janeway. The question is . . . why?
Most TREK would chalk this up to poor writing from the "STAR TREK VOYAGER" writing staff. Considering the series' portrayal of Janeway's relationship with Paris, I disagree. After so many years, I believe I had discovered an answer to my question. A member from a Star Trek discussion board had hinted a few years ago that like most parents or authority figures, Janeway had punished whom she believed possessed the most potential. It is possible that she believed that Tom Paris had the most potential to be a successful Starfleet officer, despite his past as a disgraced Starfleet officer and his role as a failed member of the Maquis. Paris was the son of one of Janeway's mentors, Admiral Owen Paris. He managed to do well at the Academy and became one of Starfleet's best pilots. But his lie over a shuttle accident, along with his brief stint with the Maquis before getting captured had ruined his career. At least in the Alpha Quadrant. I believe Janeway wanted to succeed with Paris where her former mentor had failed. She wanted to ensure that her chief helmsman would live up to his potential. Unfortunately, Janeway encountered a little problem that threatened to derail her goals - namely Paris' confession regarding his true ambitions in "Thirty Days".
Early in the episode, Janeway had noticed Paris’ enthusiastic reaction to Monea. She invited him to her Ready Room to discuss his Away mission to the planet and learned something new about her chief helmsman:
Janeway: "I had no idea you were such an old salt."
Paris: "When I saw that ocean today it reminded me of the first time I read Jules Verne."
Janeway: "'20,000 Leagues Under the Sea'."
Paris: "Mmm! I must've read it 20,000 times. I was obsessed with stories about the ocean. All my friends were busy with their holo programs. I had my head buried in Captains Courageous, Moby Dick...."
Janeway: "So your interest in history includes the 19th century as well."
Paris: "Ancient sailing ships were always my first love. I had it all planned: finish high school, join the Federation Naval Patrol....but my father had other ideas."
Janeway: "You'd think Admiral Paris might have understood his son's passion."
Paris: "As far as he was concerned the only ship I was going to serve on had to have a Starfleet insignia on it."
Janeway, surmising his enthusiasm: "And now you have an opportunity to make up for lost time."
Paris: "Captain, with a few simple thruster modifications to the Delta Flyer, she will be seaworthy in no time."
Janeway: "Good. It'd take at least a week to make the necessary modifications to Voyager."
Paris: "Then it's my mission?"
Janeway: "Bon voyage."
As much as he loved flying, Paris had another love . . . namely the sea. He never really had any ambitions to become a Starfleet officer, let alone end up with his own command. Paris wanted to join the Federation Naval Patrol. But he had given in to Owen Paris’ demands that he follow family tradition by joining Starfleet. This lack of desire for a career on the Starfleet fast track manifested in other "VOYAGER" episodes and scenes. And since "Thirty Days", the Chief Helmsman never bothered to volunteer for Bridge command. He even ridiculed his close friend Kim’s ambitions every once and awhile. Tom maintained his contempt toward the Prime Directive [see (6.12)"Blink of an Eye"]. In (5.14) "Bliss", his main desire for returning to Earth seemed to be centered around becoming a civilian test pilot at a facility in New Zealand. I am not that surprised, considering his exchange with the ship "Alice" in the aptly named Season Six episode:
Alice: "Sometimes you have to leave your family behind. They're not like us. They're trapped by rules and regulations. Velocity, freedom - they'll never understand these things the way we do."
Paris: "Yeah, maybe you're right."
Alice: "Of course I am. You don't belong here. You belong with me. You're thinking about your first flight, aren't you? Tell me."
Paris: "Dad took me up in an old S-class shuttle - two seats, no warp drive, manual helm controls. I was eight years old and I was scared out of my wits."
Alice: "You couldn't keep the ship level."
Paris: "No, not at first, but then came this moment of clarity when suddenly everything made sense."
Alice: "The clouds parted."
Paris: "I was flying! No matter how many starships I've piloted since then I'm still chasing that feeling."
I would not be surprised that both the sea and flying represented that feeling that Paris had been chasing since his first flight - namely freedom. And I cannot also help but wonder if the pilot’s confession regarding his true ambitions - namely to join the Federation Naval Patrol - had led Janeway to realize that transforming Paris into the successful Starfleet officer she may have wanted him to become might prove to be a lot more difficult than she had imagined. Or perhaps in the back of her mind, lead her to punish Paris more severely than she did other members of Voyager’s crew.