Episode Synopsis : Season 1
CARETAKER
Episodes 1 and 2

 

In the late 24th century, an outlaw paramilitary group known as the Maquis operates to right what they see as Federation injustices. They have a particular hatred for Cardassians due to that regime's brutality. Maquis members vary from dispossessed civilians to former Starfleet officers. (The precise nature of relations between the Federation and Cardassia is explored in [TNG] and [DS9].) A Maquis ship, commanded by Chakotay, vanishes in the Badlands as it flees from a Cardassian warship. One of his senior officers is Tuvok, a Starfleet lieutenant who has secretly infiltrated the Maquis. Kathryn Janeway, who is captain of the state-of-the-art Federation starship Voyager and also Tuvok's commanding officer, says farewell to her fiancé Mark in a communication transmitted on her computer, then greets Paris and Kim who have arrived together, and sets off on the mission to find the Maquis ship. She has obtained parole from prison for Tom Paris to act as 'observer' because he once served with Chakotay and is an excellent pilot. Paris is shunned by several of the crew because he was expelled in disgrace from Starfleet after at first trying to cover up the fact that his error caused the deaths of three officers. But he is befriended by Ensign Harry Kim, Voyager's new ops officer who is on his first posting after graduating from Starfleet Academy. Upon reaching the Badlands, Voyager encounters a massive force of energy that sends the ship hurtling 70,000 light-years from home, far into the Delta Quadrant. Voyager ends up near an enormous spaceborne structure, a kind of array. The displacement wave kills several crew, including the Chief Medical Officer, nurse, the First Officer and conn officer. The ship is equipped with an Emergency Medical Hologam (EMH), a short-term medical supplement that can operate only in Sickbay as it is fitted with holo-emitters. With the medical staff dead, the EMH is activated to attend to the wounded. Barely has the EMH started work than the entire crew is transported to what appears to be a Earth-like pastoral farm populated by friendly humans. But the farm and its occupants turn out to be an illusion designed to occupy them while preparations are made. For the "farm" is actually the interior of the Array, and the crew are then imprisoned within an alien laboratory facility, alongside the missing Maquis crew. After being subjected to a painful examination, the crews of Voyager and the Maquis vessel are returned to their respective ships. But one person from each crew is missing: B'Elanna Torres, Chakotay's half-Klingon and half-human chief engineer, and Harry Kim. Janeway contacts Chakotay and in order to discuss the missing crew he beams on board Voyager along with his righthand man, Ayala, and Tuvok. Tuvok then reveals to Chakotay that he has been covertly working for Starfleet. Tuvok takes up his post as Voyager's tactical officer and chief of security. Chakotay also discovers that Tom Paris is aboard and unsurprisingly considers him a traitor. Janeway compels Chakotay to suspend his anger so as to join forces to search for the missing officers. They return to the "farm" where Janeway confronts the only remaining inhabitant, an old man playing a banjo. But the man, while revealing that he knows who they are, cares nothing about their dilemma and offers them no information about the missing officers. Observing that the Array is sending energy pulses toward the fifth planet of a neighbouring system, Janeway sets course in that direction. Far beneath the surface of that planet, an ailing Kim and Torres regain consciousness in a medical facility, but can find no information as to why they are there. En route to the planet, Voyager's crew encounters a small starship. It belongs to Neelix, a Talaxian, who is a scavenger. In return for water he agrees to guide them. He explains that the Array has been bringing ships into the region for many months. Neelix guesses that "the Caretaker" who controls the Array may have sent the missing crewmembers to the Ocampa, a race that lives two miles below the surface of the planet Voyager is heading for. Meanwhile, Torres and Kim are receiving medical treatment in the Ocampa medical facility. Although they now live in a subterranean society, the Ocampa inhabited the planet's surface until it was struck by an environmental disaster over 500 Ocampan generations ago. Since that time, they have lived underground, with all their needs provided by the being they refer to as the Caretaker. Neelix acts as guide to an away mission. They beam down to the planet's desert surface, where Neelix introduces Janeway to the Kazon, a violent alien species comprising numerous sects, one of which has taken over the surface of the arid Ocampan world. Janeway asks Jabin, the Kazon-Ogla leader, if he will help them but he is hostile and refuses. Neelix has not explained to the Voyager crew that he has come here hoping Jabin will trade Kes, an Ocampan woman he is holding captive, for some of Voyager's precious water. They incidentally learn the average Ocampa lifespan is nine years. But the Kazon are more interested in seizing all of Voyager's technology. When Jabin tries to take the crew hostage, Neelix takes Jabin hostage instead. The away team escape and beam back to the ship, rescuing Kes at the same time. There Neelix's romantic attachment to Kes becomes clear. Kes agrees to lead Janeway and the others through the tunnels to her underground city to search for Kim and Torres. Meanwhile, Kim and Torres persuade an Ocampan nurse to show them a route that could lead to the planet surface. As the Array increases the rate of the energy pulses that power the city, Kim and Torres begin their journey, narrowly missing the search party from Voyager. Tuvok theorises that the increased activity of the Array may indicate that the Caretaker is dying - it seems he is trying to generate a surplus of power to sustain the Ocampa after he is dead. The Array starts firing a weapon at the planet to seal up the energy conduits, the tunnels that provide the only access to the city. This will protect the Ocampans, but prevent the others from escaping. The away team split up. Paris, Neelix and Kes manage to find Kim and Torres, and send them up to the planet surface where they are beamed to Voyager. Then Paris and Neelix go back for Janeway, Tuvok and Chakotay. When Chakotay is trapped underground, Paris saves his life, in what he claims is a calculated move which succeeds in putting Chakotay in his debt and eliminating Chakotay's enmity. Returning to the Array, Janeway again encounters the old man, whom she realises is actually the Caretaker. He explains that he was been bringing beings from across the galaxy to the Array in the hope of finding a compatible species with which he could procreate - he wanted to provide the Ocampa with someone to care for them after he dies. His mate has long since left the region. So far no species has proved to be a compatible match. Janeway tries to persuade the Caretaker to send Voyager and the Maquis ship back home, but he refuses. Instead he wants to destroy the Array so that its technology will not fall into the hands of the Kazon who no doubt would abuse its power. But he dies before he can carry out his plan. Janeway realises she has to decide whether to use the Array to return home, and which would leave it intact for the Kazon, or else to destroy it and save the Ocampa. She chooses, with Chakotay's tacit support, what seems to be the only moral option and makes a mortal enemy of the Kazon. Chakotay's ship having been destroyed in the battle against the Kazon-Ogla for the Array, Janeway asks the Maquis to join Voyager's crew, with Chakotay as her new First Officer. She also allows Neelix and Kes to stay aboard. In addition she gives Tom Paris a field commission, making him a Starfleet lieutenant and Voyager's new conn officer. Torres and Kim are cured by the EMH. Janeway addresses the two crews, warning them of the difficulties they face. She tells them she and Chakotay have decided they will be one Starfleet crew. They will search for shortcuts home, including the Caretaker's mysterious mate, but meanwhile they have a long journey home.      JANEWAY TO THE CARETAKER: Most of the species we've encountered have overcome all kinds of adversity without a caretaker. It's the challenge of surviving on their own that helps them to evolve.      NEELIX TO JANEWAY: Whatever you need is what I have to offer. You need a guide? I'm your guide. You need supplies? I know where to procure them. I have friends among races you don't even know exist. You need a cook? You haven't lived until you've tasted my angla'bosque. It will be my job to anticipate your needs before you know you have them. And I anticipate your first need will be me.      JANEWAY TO THE COMBINED STARFLEET AND MAQUIS CREW OF VOYAGER: We're alone, in an uncharted part of the galaxy. We've already made some friends here, and some enemies. We have no idea of the dangers we're going to face, but one thing is clear, both crews are going to have to work together if we're to survive. That's why Commander Chakotay and I have agreed that this should be one crew, a Starfleet crew. And as the only Starfleet vessel assigned to the Delta Quadrant we'll continue to follow our directive: to seek out new worlds and to explore space. But our primary goal is clear. Even at maximum speeds it would take 75 years to reach the Federation. But I'm not willing to settle for that. There's another entity like the Caretaker out there somewhere who has the ability to get us there a lot faster, and we'll be looking for wormholes, spatial rifts or new technologies to help us. Somewhere along this journey, we'll find a way back. Mr Paris, set a course, for home.