Full name: Kes
Species: Ocampa
Current assignment: U.S.S Voyager: airponics gardener, medical aide/student
Year of birth: 2370
Place of birth: Ocampa homeworld
Parents: Benarem (father) and Martis (mother)
Marital status: Single
Profile Entry: Report by Capt. Kathryn Janeway
(Additional Medical Notes: EMH Doctor, AK-1)
Kes is a female Ocampa, the species with a lifespan of only nine years whose home system Voyager was pulled to by the "Caretaker" entity of the Nacene race; although she appears as a twenty-year-old in human years, Kes is actually just two. A tough survivor and a bit of a rebel despite her waif-like air, she came aboard as Neelix's lover and to escape her abuse as a slave with the Kazon-Ogla on the surface of her world, having fled her people's passive underground existence to pursue the outside world and the mental acuities rumoured to have flourished among her ancestors. She did so at the regret of leaving behind her wise father, Benarem, who died just after her first birthday; she was very close to him and still feels his presence as a guide.
Kes has already begun to develop her abilities, pursuing a full-fledged medical course with the EMH doctor and studying Vulcan mental disciplines with Tuvok. She has already led the ship into a disappointing rendezvous with the "female Caretaker" Susporia and a renegade Ocampa colony of advanced yet malevolent brethren, who almost allowed her to lose control of her new powers and kill her Vulcan friend. Kes' medical training has advance so far that she can now handle away team medical duties, a welcome relief for the holographic doctor. She also helps Neelix in the kitchen and handles the airponics bay gardening.
She had first met Neelix when he stole water from the Kazon-Ogla to bring to her, and now absolutely adores him, standing by him in his times of crisis; while doing all she could to discourage his jealous streak she was baffled when he and his perceived rival Paris came back old pals from birthing a reptilloid infant, and she was even fearful to tell him that she and the Doctor were married in his holo-program malfunction. She has indeed developed a close friendship with the Doctor, whose medical training in a way by her encouragement on the road to his increasingly human programming-- including hints about bedside manner, raising his level of respect by the rest of the crew, and a joint effort with Paris to get him and the Vidiian Dr.Danara Pel's hologram together for a date.
Kes faces the greatest crisis of her young life when she became prematurely pregnant with the elogium due to electrophoretic activity of nearby space-dwelling creatures and confronted with Neelix the emotional roller-coaster of whether or not to conceive a child at her young age. She opted not to, but the absence of the creatures and remission of the elogium effects made it a moot point; she should be fine at the right time. She would have chosen her father to perform her rolisisin pre-mating ritual had she been home for it; her mother may not be alive, since she is unmentioned.
Database Update, SD 50460:
Entry by K. Janeway
Our "youngest" crew member, aside from Samantha Wildman's baby, continues to make incredible growth and contributions to this crew as she nears her third Ocampan birthday. I do not know how we could have survived without advanced medical skills if not for her independent and quick-witted actions during the Swarm attack, when she intialised and grafted on more memory to our EMH when its database overloaded and began to degrade. It is too her humanity that she spoke out against fully blanking the Doctor's acquired memory and personality, and I understand that she has more than risen to the challenge of aiding him in his new mobile state. This is why, apart from the personal note, I felt the need to risk retrieving Kes from the Nechani.
Since her premature elogium, the past year has been nothing but an emotional roller-coaster for Kes as well, beginning with Neelix's and Tuvok's freakish transporter merger into one new lifeform, dubbed Tuvix, and her disquiet with his residual attraction for her. Her reaction, along with many other factors, led to the decision I made at that time to try for the separation.
Closer to home, her body's possession by the Illaran warlord Tieran has affected her perception of Tuvok, the Doctor and even Neelix, although it is to her credit that Kes' will and ethics fought through the abduction. Still, I note with some sadness that she and Neelix have embarked on a platonic relationship for now at her request; it is good to know, for instance, that he still prepares her favourite meal of Trellian crepes on Wednesdays. But I wish them well along whatever path they choose.
Database Update:
Entry by EMH Doctor, AK-1
Kes has undergone a radical evolutionary process. Following contact with the species known only by their Borg designation as "8472", Kes began to exhibit extremely elevated serotonin levels. After runnig a micro-synaptic analysis, I found no way to slow the increase in telesynaptic activity. Kes continued to destabilise at the molecular level and eventually became a being seemingly comprised of pure energy. Kes left the starship Voayger at the time of her destabilisation, but imparted a gift to the crew; she propelled us 9,500 light years towards home, completely circumventing Borg space.
All the above was taken from STARTREK.COM
More about Kes:
* Her greatest inspiration in her life was her father Benarem, who died when she was only one.
* She had an uncle called Elrem.
* After she broke up with Neelix, she had a brief romance with a Mikhal traveller called Zahir.
* In an alternate reality, she has a daughter, Linnis, with Tom. Linnis marries Harry and her grandson Andrew was born.
* Her normal body temperature is 16.3.
What do others say about Kes?:
* "You're a powerful little thing." (Bothan / "Persistance of Vision")
* "She's far more devious than I ever expected." (The Doctor / "Tattoo")
* "Who would have imagined that such fierce determination existed within that deceptively frail body?" (Tieran / "Warlord")
Some of the best Kes episodes:
* "Elogium": Kes enters the Elogium, the Ocampan mating period, prematurely and must consider whether or not to conceive. She feels that she would be unable to help a child grow when she is still so young herself. However, if she doesn't, she may never be able to have a child as the Elogium only occurs once in an Ocampan's lifetime.
* "Cold Fire": When the crew endeavour to make contact with the Female Caretaker they come across a colony of Ocampa and Kes is encouraged by Tanis, one of the colonists, to pursue her mental powers further and to stay with him on the space station.
* "Warlord": Whilst the Doctor and Kes treat some injured aliens, one of them, an egomaniac known as Tieran, dies. But before doing so he manages to transfer his mind into Kes' body. Kes/Tieran then return to Tieran's home planet where he attempts to launch a coup.
* "Before and After": When an aged and dying Kes undergoes treatment in order to prolong her lifespan, she comes out of temporal sync with the rest of the crew and begins a backward journey through time, witnessing the events in her life in reverse.
* "The Gift": Whilst Janeway is trying to bring the newest addition to the crew into the fold, Kes is having problems of her own. Her body goes into cellular flux and her psychokinetic powers begin to endanger the ship and crew. As she leaves the ship, she transcends into a being of pure energy and, as a final gift to the crew, she propels the ship 9,500 light years closer to home.
* "Fury": Almost 3 years after she left Voyager, an older Kes returns in an attempt to make Janeway pay. It appears that Kes was not ready to transcend into a "child of the light" and that Janeway was responsible for everything that happened to her. As part of her revenge, she travels back in time and devises a plot to hand Voyager and its crew over to the Vidiians.
Some good Kes quotes can be found in the Kes Quotes section in the Quotes Archive. Others can be found in the various categories in the Quotes Archive.
