THIRTY DAYS: September 1993: Characters, USS Voyager, Delta Quadrant

Excerpts from Jeri Taylor's September 1993 notes provide insights into ongoing efforts to clarify important elements. Her notes also chronicle the emergence of what would later be developed into key aspects of the series. (The "Bloods" and "Crips" and certain other terms are merely the producers' shorthand for particular ideas and would not of course be used in the series.)

9-9-93 (9th September 1993)       Version Two: Procreation       We are the match he's looking for in DNA; he needs pieces of a strand to build a new Mayfly. "Give me a child."       After sampling us, he discards us.       He's a deity - keeps the balance of power in the area. He feels himself essential to the well-being of the system, like a powerful parent. We're able to say to him, "Let go. Your children are stronger than you think. They'll be fine."

9-10-93 (10th September 1993)       The dying goo-man is the protector of the Mayflys sees the fragile balance of their society cracking. If it does, they'll be overrun by the Crips and Bloods.       She's a curious, eager person breaking from her culture, wanting adventure, unwilling to settle for what everyone else has settled for.       The Bloods and Crips have taken over the Mayfly planet, and they are now a third world culture. Everything is given them, they're taken care of. Our girl is a heretic because she wants to work till the land, become self sufficient. "Our people are stronger than he thinks."       But goo-man feels they'll be "run into the sea" when he dies, by the Blood and Crips.       At the end, there's a standoff to hold the B's and C's back; so we have to go to the array to use it (to get back) but end up destroying it to keep the B's and C's from taking control of it.

9-15-93 (15th September 1993)       MUCH DISCUSSION OF JOBS.       Michael introduced the notion of a "joined by necessity" move at the end of the story, in which the raiders and SF (Starfleet) join forces in order to survive, and the raider captain negotiates for his people to have certain key positions on the ship.       The last configuration seemed to go like this:       CAPTAIN: SF, human female       FIRST OFFICER: R. (Rebel [Maquis]) native American male       TACTICAL: R/ SF, white American male, midway between both groups.       SECURITY: R. human male, preferably ethnic of some kind.       SCIENCE/MEDICAL TRAINEE: SF/alien, Mayfly female.       ENGINEERING: R. human/Klingon female.       MEDICAL: SF, holographic human male.       UNKNOWN: SF, black Vulcan male.

The order in which Voyager's primary creative steps occur is:

1. bible
2. story
3. script

Since both the story and the script would be based on the series bible, that had to be written first. Enough information was established so that Piller could begin writing the draft bible, necessarily a work in progress. The writing proceeded concurrently with the development meetings the three producers were still holding. As new details were agreed upon, Piller would revise the draft accordingly.

Jeri Taylor: "We tossed out more than we kept. We finally ended up bringing a Vulcan onto the bridge for the first time since [TOS], but making him black, and never even commenting on it ... which I think is a nice way of doing it."

On 21st September, the research report was received from Joan Pearce Research Associates, the consulting firm that had been asked to deal with the exploration of the paranormal which would form an element in [Star Trek Voyager], in particular for the Mayfly character. After examining the possibilities offered by Joan Pearce Research Associates, the co-executive producers decided to give the Mayfly character at least some measure of telepathic ability to begin with, and then see how stories developed from there.

At about the same time, Jamake Highwater (founder and president of the Native Land Foundation, and author of numerous books about Native Americans) forwarded seven pages of research suggestions regarding Chakotay's background. One point unresolved was his tribal ancestry.

On 23rd September, Taylor's notes indicate that the black Vulcan male had become the security officer. That same week, Rick Sternbach, senior illustrator, began sending Berman memos in response to requests from the producers for developmental input on the new starship. In a four page memo dated 25th September, Sternbach concludes with a section giving the first glimpse of the new Federation Starship Voyager:

THE U.S.S. VOYAGER The Voyager sounds to be a leaner, meaner starship, smaller than the Enterprise-D. A ship half the size of the Enterprise is still an impressive vessel. If Voyager is roughly ¾ the size of the Enterprise, that puts it in the same class as the Bortas, the new Klingon attack cruiser, or the Enterprise-C. We can assume that the Voyager is part of a class of starships that entered into its R&D cycle ten years after the Enterprise-D did (the Galaxy Class took 20 years to build). That would allow the Voyager to benefit from a number of systems improvements, while taking less time to fabricate in the yards. We'll talk about the actual design as things progress; in the meantime, I'll at least start some rough doodles.

Michael Okuda, scenic art supervisor, also began providing input on technology and on the Delta Quadrant. In a 27th September memo to Berman, Okuda begins with the philosophy which guides the design of virtually all Federation starships:

Thoughts on the ship: The challenge, of course, is to make this ship dramatically different from previous Star Trek starships, while retaining a strong family connection with those who have preceded us. Suggest we give the starship the ability to land on a planet surface. This is not something we'd want to (or could afford to) do every week, but this could be something that sets the new ship apart from previous vessels. Maybe it'd be something we could do two or three times a season.

Okuda suggested other story elements such as curtailing the use of the ship's replicators in order to conserve power, thereby setting up the need to rely more on fresh foods which the crew must periodically have to search or barter for. This in turn yields additional story possibilities. Okuda gives the name to the region of space into which USS Voyager is thrown:

Notes on the Delta Quadrant. Since the Gamma Quadrant is the province of ships from DS9, suggest that this new show be set in the Delta Quadrant. One of the few things we know about the Delta Quadrant is that the Borg homeworld is located somewhere there. This might present opportunities for the Borg to be recurring bad guys.

As September 1993 wore on, Piller continued working on the [Star Trek Voyager] bible, revising the draft when the three co-producers agreed on changes, and incorporating new material as they developed it. By the end of the month he was ready with a first draft of the bible. It included a page and-a-half story synopsis for the pilot episode, and thirteen pages of background (backstory) for nine series regulars:

CAPTAIN: KATE JANEWAY. SF, white human female. FIRST OFFICER: CHAKATOY. R, Native American male. No tribal ancestry identified. TACTICAL/ SECURITY: VICON. SF, black Vulcan male. 150 years old. CONN: TOM PARIS. Former SF, former R. white human male. OPS/COMMUNICATION: JAY OSAKA. SF, young human male. ENGINEER: B'ELANNA. R, half Klingon, half human female. INTERN/MEDICAL: DAH. Alieri---Ocampa female (the Mayfly). DOCTOR: DOC ZIMMERMAN: SF, holographic white human male. GOFER/GUIDE: FELUX. Alien-male.

R = Rebel (Maquis), SF = Starfleet; some names were later changed (e.g. "Chakatoy" became "Chakotay")

Piller's first draft of the bible was frequently revised, and would continue to evolve until the start of the first season, to be continually updated and revised throughout the life of the series. However, at the end of September 1993, Piller's first draft provided enough information upon which to continue the building process. Additional material was developed by the producers and a widening circle of staff members and outside consultants. Meanwhile, Piller began expanding on one specific part of the bible in order to write, not the script yet, but a draft of the pilot story.