A new legend is born…—"Caretaker" was the first episode of Star Trek: Voyager, a feature length episode of the show's first season that was later re-aired as two parts, first aired on 16 January 1995. The episode story was written by
,
and Jeri Taylor, directed by
and novelized in by L.A. Graf for Pocket Books. At the helm of Starfleet's newest starship, the USS Voyager, Captain Kathryn Janeway sets out on a mission to rescue a crewmember—unaware of just how far her journey will eventually take her.
Description
- More than any other television show, more than any other motion picture series, Star Trek has for nearly thirty years been the most popular space adventure of all time. Now Star Trek: Voyager joins Star Trek, Star Trek: The Next Generation, and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine as the newest star in the ever expanding Star Trek universe.
- Pocket Books is proud to present the novelization of "Caretaker", the premier episode of Star Trek: Voyager. This is the story of Kathryn Janeway and the crew of the starship . Transported by the alien technology to the other side of the galaxy, years away from the Federation and everything they call home, their voyage back home will be a fantastic odyssey that will take them through uncharted space; into dangers as they travel where no one has gone before…
Summary
A rebel Maquis vessel commanded by former Starfleet officer Chakotay disappears in the plasma storms of the Badlands. Also aboard the Val Jean is the Vulcan, Tuvok, who is the chief of security aboard the USS Voyager, who is currently on an undercover spying mission. Voyager's commander, Captain Kathryn Janeway, recruits cashiered Starfleet officer, Thomas Eugene Paris - a former Maquis member who served under Chakotay - from the New Zealand Penal Settlement to help her track down Chakotay, and Voyager soon departs to the Badlands from Deep Space 9.
Once Voyager reaches the Badlands, the starship becomes caught in an unusual displacement wave and is flung over 70,000 light years into the Delta Quadrant, suffering major damage and numerous casualties in the process. As the crew struggle to get Voyager back up and running they discover that they are adrift near an Array. The Array is sending energy pulses to a nearby star system, but before the crew can investigate further they are all transported over to the Array.
The crew are transported into a facsimile of a farm from Earth. As they begin to investigate their surroundings, Tom Paris and Ensign Harry Kim discover the Maquis crew unconscious and connected to unknown machines in a barn. Before Captain Janeway can take action, her entire crew are rendered unconscious and also connected up to the machines.
Almost three days later, both crews awaken on their own ships, though two crewmembers are still missing: Kim and the engineer from the Val Jean, B'Elanna Torres. Chakotay uneasily agrees to cooperate with Janeway in the search for their missing crew members and accompanies Janeway back to the Array, where they encounter an elderly man playing a banjo. The man reveals that he is the alien being who drew their ships into the Delta Quadrant. He tells them that time is running out and that he must continue looking for something, but before Janeway and Chakotay can press for more information they are transported back to Voyager.
Meanwhile, Kim and Torres awake to find themselves in a medical facility under the care of a race known as the Ocampans. Both Kim and Torres are ill and have many unusual skin growths on their bodies. They discover that they are in a subterranean city with no escape to the surface. All of the Ocampans needs are catered for by the Caretaker, who lives on the Array. It is also revealed that many others have been sent to the Ocampans with the same symptoms as Kim and Torres, but no cure was found and they died.
Back on Voyager, Janeway reasons that the energy pulses from the Array are being sent to the fifth planet of the nearby star system. En route to the planet, Voyager enters a debris field and finds the Talaxian trader Neelix at the center of the field, aboard his shuttlecraft, the Baxial. Neelix offers to act as a guide for their journey to the fifth planet.
References
Characters
Episode characters
- Adah • Ayala • Broik • Brooks • Caretaker • Joseph Carey • Aaron Cavit • Chakotay • Daggin • The Doctor • Aman Evek • Laurie Fitzgerald • Fitzpatrick (Crewman) • Golwat • Jabin • Kathryn Janeway • Mark Johnson • Kes • Harry Kim • Lagren • Morn • Neelix • Kashimuro Nozawa • Tom Paris • Michael Parsons • Quark • Ril • Rollins • Veronica Stadi • T'Prena (aka T'Ral) • B'Elanna Torres • Toscat • Tuvok
- Referenced only
- Julian Bashir • Owen Paris • Hans Zakarian
Novelization characters
- Caretaker • Joseph Carey • Aaron Cavit • Chakotay • Daggin • The Doctor • Aman Evek • Laurie Fitzgerald • Jabin • Kathryn Janeway • Mark Johnson • Kes • Harry Kim • Neelix • Odo • Tom Paris • Quark • Rollins • Shenzi • Veronica Stadi • T'Prena • B'Elanna Torres • Toscat • Tuvok
- Referenced only
- Crisa • Morn • Owen Paris • Hans Zakarian
Locations
- Alpha Quadrant • Auckland • Badlands • Bajor system • Caretaker's Array • Deep Space 9 • Delta Quadrant • Earth • Ops • New Zealand • New Zealand Penal Settlement • Ocampa • Quark's Bar
- Referenced only
- Alcatraz • Bajor • Bajoran wormhole • Caldik Prime • Moriya • San Francisco • San Francisco Bay • Terikof Belt • Volnar colony
Starships and vehicles
- Baxial • USS Voyager (Intrepid-class) • Val Jean (Condor-class) • (Galor-class) • Predator-class • Type-6 shuttlecraft
- Referenced only
- USS Al-Batani • USS Kingston
Races and cultures
- Betazoid • Cardassian • Ferengi • Hologram • Human • Kazon • Klingon • Lurian • Nacene • Ocampa • Talaxian • Vulcan
- Referenced only
- Tellarite
States and organizations
- Auckland Control • Cardassian Fourth Order • Cardassian Guard • Cardassian Union • Kazon Collective • Kazon-Ogla • Maquis • Starfleet • United Federation of Planets
- Referenced only
- Federation Council • Starfleet Academy
Other references
- anatomy • beaming • boot • captain's log • captain's log, USS Voyager, 2371 • clothing • coordinates • diplomacy • Federation members • government • homeworld • hour • humanoid • jumpsuit • language • lifeform • log entry • logic • matter • memory • nation-state • orbit • pants • planet • population • quadrant • races and cultures • radiation • rank • space • star • star system • stardate • Starfleet uniform • Starfleet uniform (2366-2373) • technology • title • uniform • universe • war • weapon • angla'bosque • Arias expedition • AU • bio-neural circuitry • Bolian tomato soup • The Cherry Orchard • clarinet • class M • compression phaser rifle • cormaline • corn • displacement wave • Emergency Medical Hologram • G-type star • graviton • Koladan diamond • Latino • lek • lemonade • Lobi crystal • medical tricorder • Molly • nucleogenic particle • phaser • plasma storm • racquetball • science officer • sickbay • sporacystian lifeform • tetryon • tomato soup • trianoline • tricobalt warhead • tricorder • "The Warming" • warp core • water • captain's log, USS Voyager
Chronology
- years prior to 2371
- The Maquis and Cardassians become bitter enemies. (prior to episode)
- stardate 48315.6, 2371 (2370s chronology, Voyager's journey)
- Voyager travels to the Badlands.
Appendices
Related media
- Paris recalls hearing about the events of "Emissary".
- VOY novel Pathways.
- VOY episode Relativity.
- VOY episode Future's End, Part II.
- VOY episode The Voyager Conspiracy.
- The Badlands, Part III
- The Maquis: Soldier of Peace
- VOY episode & novelization: Endgame: The end of Voyager's arc in the Delta Quadrant.
Background
- Pathways has Tom and B'Elanna meet prior to stardate 48315.6, which is inconsistent with their unfamiliarity with each other in the novelization.
- Janeway meets The Doctor in "Relativity", mere hours before this story, which is inconsistent with her seeming unfamiliarity with him in the novelization.
Notable cast and crew
Images
Novelization images
Episode images
Connections
| published order | ||
|---|---|---|
| Previous novel: first in series |
Voyager numbered novels | Next novel: The Escape |
| Previous novel: first in series |
Voyager novelizations | Next novel: Flashback |
| Previous episode: first episode |
Voyager episode produced | Next episode: Parallax |
| Previous episode: first episode |
Voyager episode aired | Next episode: Parallax |
| chronological order | ||
| Previous Adventure: The Badlands, Part III |
Next Adventure: Pathways Chapter 8 Section 19; 12 Section 12; and 6 Section 14 | |
| Previous Adventure: The Badlands, Part III |
Journey of the USS Voyager | Next Adventure: Pathways Chapter 8 Section 19; 12 Section 12; and 6 Section 14 |
Translations
- 1995
- German : Der Beschützer, translated by Andreas Brandhorst. (Heyne)
- 1999
- French : Le Protecteur, translated by Ivan Steenhout. (Ada)
- 2000
- Japanese : 惑星管理者, translated by Tomoko Yamaguchi. (Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko)
External links
- Caretaker article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.
- "Caretaker" article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.
- Caretaker (Star Trek: Voyager) article at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.