Emanations ( episode ) Investigating mineral deposits on an asteroid , Harry Kim is trapped on an alien planet . Summary . Teaser . The is investigating a new element , the 247th one known to the Federation , on a ring of asteroid s around a class D planet . Chief engineer Torres suggests that they get a look at the element , as many of the asteroids support class M environments . Captain Janeway agrees and orders that Commander Chakotay head an away team to an asteroid . He brings Torres and Ensign Kim with him . Materializing , the three discover numerous decaying bodies . Act One . Chakotay reports that they have discovered eighteen bodies on the asteroid – eleven male , seven female . The bodies are in various stages of decomposition , some have been there for years , others just a few days . They cannot determine from where the bodies came from , however . The element " Voyager " discovered is apparently emanating from the alien ' s decomposed bodies . Chakotay recommends they leave the bodies in peace , but Ensign Kim disagrees , saying that their find could be a notable anthropological discovery and they should take full advantage of it . Chakotay believes that the unknown species clearly meant for their dead to be left alone . Janeway ultimately agrees with the commander , but advises that the away team ' s tricorder s be set to passive scan only . Chakotay also advises against that , not wishing to disturb the sanctity of the bodies . He wants to use visual observation only . Janeway agrees to this also . Upon ceasing communication with " Voyager " , Kim nevertheless thanks Chakotay for allowing him to voice his opinion to Janeway . Chakotay then recalls to the young Starfleet officer his first tomb excavation to Ktaria VII , where he visited a burial chamber and took a as a memento . He later found out later that the Ktarian s leave sacred stones representing prayers in the chamber . He had unknowingly desecrated the man ' s grave . Torres appears and tells Chakotay she has probably found out all she could about the species , stating that " " they like to bury their dead on asteroids . " " She can find no artifacts or inscriptions – just some naked dead people . Chakotay explains that she is simply looking but " not " seeing . " " The fact that they ' re naked says a lot . It means this race doesn ' t believe in dressing the deceased . " " Upon debating various species ' beliefs about the afterlife , a subspace vacuole suddenly forms , and Chakotay requests an emergency beam out . Aboard " Voyager " , Chakotay and Torres materialize with a female dead body and Kim is missing . Using his sensors , Tuvok can find no sign of him anywhere in the asteroid field and Seska has no trace of his transporter pattern . Scanning the deceased woman , Torres is reading electrical activity in her brain , meaning they could still revive her . Chakotay orders Ensign Seska to beam them directly to sickbay . Meanwhile , Kim has been transported . . . somewhere . Act Two . Kim learns that when the species , called the Vhnori , are near death , they are placed in a coffin - like device called a cenotaph , which euthanizes the occupant , then transports them to the " Next Emanation , " their culture ' s concept of Heaven or nirvana . They express amazement that an alien has unexpectedly appeared in the coffin . In trying to explain to Hatil Garan where he comes from , Kim introduces to the Vhnori doubt and suspicion about their afterlife beliefs . Aboard " Voyager " , the Vhnori corpse is determined to have died within the last few minutes , and within reach of Starfleet medical resuscitation technology . The Doctor removes her brain tumor , replicates replacement neural tissue , and explains that the new element " Voyager " discovered is a biopolymer , secreted by the epidermal layer of the skin of this species when they die . Janeway asks The Doctor revive the woman , which he does with 2ccs of netinaline . She is disoriented and upset , as she died fully expecting to wake in the Next Emanation , and be reunited with her brother . Not understanding what she is talking about and perceiving her to be delusional , The Doctor sedates her with a hypospray . Chakotay and Janeway glance at each other , not knowing what to say to the troubled woman . Act Three . Back on Vhnori , a leading thanatologist , Neria , questions Kim , and provides him with further information on their beliefs . The cenotaph Kim appeared in is built on a subspace vacuole , called a spectral rupture by the Vhnori . When Neria continues to question Kim on what he saw while on the asteroid , Kim tells the thanatologist that it is a custom of his people to not reveal too much to alien cultures they have just initiated first contact with . Neria then announces that he would like Dr . Ranora to begin a complete bio - analysis on Kim , much to the ensign ' s chagrin . " " You are our first " glimpse " into what lies beyond death . We are not going to let this opportunity pass us by , " " he states to Kim . Back aboard " Voyager " , Chakotay is conducting scans of the asteroids at a science station . He reports to Janeway that they have detected 200 , 000 alien bodies in numerous asteroids . Apparently , a subspace vacuole appears every two hours , leaves a body and then disappears . Janeway believes the vacuoles are the key to locating Kim and has Chakotay try to find more about them . Signaled by The Doctor , Janeway heads to sickbay , where the alien woman , named Ptera , is now awake and much calmer than before . Ptera tells Janeway everything she knows and would like to know what is currently happening . Janeway explains the situation , that vacuoles appear and deposit bodies on the asteroids . Ptera wants to know if anything else happens after that , which Janeway cannot explain . Ptera emotionally explains that when her people die , they are supposed to evolve into a higher state of consciousness and gain a greater understanding of the universe , where all of their questions are supposed to be answered . Janeway tries to comfort the frightened woman , who wants to see her deceased brother in the afterlife , but Ptera notes that he is not here . Janeway promises her that she will do everything in her power to find out how she got to " Voyager " and she will let her know as soon as she finds out . Kes suggests they have Ptera leave sickbay and get something to eat . Suddenly , " Voyager " rocks . Janeway taps her combadge and asks for a report . Lieutenant Paris responds that a vacuole has formed near engineering . Torres reports that she has localized the rupture and opens a door to an engineering Jefferies tube , where she finds a Vhnori corpse lying on the floor . Act Four . Kim ' s presence disturbs the plans of Hatil Garan , whose family has convinced him that it is time to be sent to the Next Emanation . Expressing his doubts to his wife , Loria , she angrily tells Kim to leave her husband alone . Kim is told by Garan that everyone does this willingly – when they ' re sick , dying , or lonely . In Hatil ' s case , his family has urged him to make the decision to make their eventual separation quick and painless . With Kim ' s arrival , he has begun to have severe doubts . In close to proximity to the planet , more Vhnori corpses start materializing on the engineering deck , probably attracted by the warp core . None of the crew can determine why these people have died and why they keep appearing . Torres enacts safeguards , such as a dampening field around the warp core , but hopes of getting Kim back dwindle . The bodies continue to appear , and the transporter room beams each body to the asteroids one by one . On " Voyager " , Torres comes up with a way to send Ptera back to her dimension and to also get Kim back . They plan to recreate the transporter accident that brought Ptera to " Voyager " , but send her through the vacuole with a subspace transponder . Chakotay notes that they may be able to penetrate the dimensional barrier and bring Kim back with a transporter beam . Ptera agrees to this , although Janeway warns her they do not know if this will work . She decides to anyway , saying that she has died once before and she is prepared to again if it means her getting home . During the attempt to send Ptera back to Vhnori , it fails and ultimately results in her death again . Kes tells Janeway that they cannot revive her this time and Janeway has Seska beam her to one of the asteroids , believing that is where she now belongs . Kes expresses to Ptera ' s lifeless body that she hopes she finds what she was looking for . Act Five . On Vhnori , Neria intends to move Kim to another location at Paffran for further detailed medical analysis , threatening Kim ' s hopes of returning to " Voyager " . " " I ' m sorry , Harry . It ' s out of my control , " " he says before leaving . Kim convinces Hatil to let him take his place in the device , hoping that it will return him to the same cave he was exploring before he was transported , allowing his crewmates to rescue him . The Vhnori man will flee to the mountains , where his friends live , to live the rest of his life , letting his family believe him dead . Inside the device , Kim dies and is transported to " Voyager " , where sensor s have detected him . Immediately beamed to sickbay , Kim is revived by The Doctor with a dose of cordrazine . Later in the mess hall , Captain Janeway catches up with Kim , and orders him off duty for a couple of days to put his recent adventure in perspective . He resists , but she tells him that it is too easy in Starfleet to just carry on , and objectify each new , " extraordinary experience " as all in a day ' s work . She urges him to take the time to appreciate what he ' s been through . Kim then admits that he ' s been thinking a lot about what happened , how the Vhnori look forward to death and what comes afterwards yet they don ' t ascend to the Next Emanation but instead are just dumped and decay inside an asteroid . Janeway tells him that may not be the whole story , as the energy that was detected by " Voyager " had slight neural energy emissions from the newly appearing bodies , adding to a complex and dynamic energy field that inundated the asteroid field and surrounded the planet – a possible indication of the Next Emanation . Memorable quotes . " " It looks like most of these asteroids support class M atmospheres . " " " " I just want to give you a chance to reflect on what ' s happened . This may not make much sense to you now , a young man at the beginning of his career . But one of the things you ' ll learn as you move up the ranks and get a little older is that . . . you wish you had more time in your youth to really , absorb all the things that happened to you . It goes by so fast . It ' s so easy to become jaded , to treat the extraordinary like just another day at the office . But sometimes there are experiences which transcend all that . You ' ve just had one , Mr . Kim , and I want you to live with it for a little while . Write about it , if you feel like it . Paint . Express yourself in some fashion . The bridge will still be there in two days . " " " " Ptera , you ' ve been through a " very " traumatic experience . It would frighten me . " " " " I don ' t know who you are or where you come from , but you stay away from my husband ! " " " " In essence , commander , you were strolling through dead bodies . " " " " No artifacts , no inscriptions . . . just some naked dead people . " " " " That ' s why I ' m here . I ' m . . . getting ready to die . " " " " Relax , Mr . Kim . Everything ' s fine . You ' re alive . " " " " The fact that they ' re naked says a lot . It means this race doesn ' t believe in dressing the deceased . " " " " Sometimes I come in here and just stare out at the stars for hours . I never get tired of looking at them . " " " " I ' m not certain , but I am certain about this . What we don ' t know about death is far , far greater than what we do know . " " Links and references . References . 47 ; antimatter ; asteroid ; biopolymer ; bioscan ; blind beam - out ; ; brain stem ; briefing room ; burial ; burial site ; byproduct ; Cararian Mountains ; cancer ; cenotaph ; class D ; class M ; class 5 humanoid ; complex ; " comra " ; cordrazine ; death shroud ; decomposition ; depression ; Earth ; element 247 ; emergency power ; emergency transponder ; epidermal layer ; Federation ; first contact ; garili tree ; grave ; Klingon s ; Ktaria VII ; Ktarian ; Ktarian corpse ; lesion ; magnetic interlock ; microcellular structure ; midbrain ; Milky Way Galaxy ; morgue ; netinaline ; neural tissue ; Next Emanation ; nucleon ; Ocampa ; Paffran ; pattern complexity ; planetary scan ; postmortem resuscitation technique ; prayer ; Ptera ' s brother ; Ptera ' s brother ' s children ; Ptera ' s father ; Qo ' noS ; quantum density ; ring system ; sculpture ; spectral rupture ; " Sto - vo - kor " ; subspace distortion ; subspace phenomenon ; subspace scan ; subspace transponder ; subspace vacuole ; thanatologist ; theologian ; theology ; tomb excavation ; Toyan ; transference ritual ; transporter log ; tumor ; universe ; ; Vhnori ; Vhnori homeworld