“Caretaker: Part I” is episode one of season one of Star Trek: Voyager.
The series starts with some introductory text about how the Maquis formed from colonists who disagreed with a treaty between the Cardassians and the Federation. A small Maquis ship is being pursued by a much larger Cardassian warship, which is shooting at the Maquis vessel. Gul Evek of the Fourth Order contacts the Maquis ship demanding their surrender. That doesn’t happen. The Maquis ship’s commander wants more power to the engines so they can make it to the Badlands. The, presumed, engineer asks how. He tells her to be creative. So, she decides that power should be cut to the weapons – they aren’t even scratching the Cardassian ship, after all – and transferred to the engines.
In the Badlands, the Vulcan, Tuvok, says that there is a plasma storm heading for the Cardassian vessel, which gets hit and puts out a distress call. Then something seemingly affects the Maquis ship; a coherent tetryon beam. from an unknown source. Then Tuvok tells them that a massive displacement wave is heading towards them. It hits, and everything goes white.
At the Federation Penal Settlement in New Zealand, a man is fixing something when a woman, a Starfleet captain, calls him by name, Tom Paris. She introduces herself as Kathryn Janeway; she served with his father. She has a job she’d like him to do for the Federation. He’s already doing one. Yes, and the Rehabilitation Commission is pleased with him and has given her approval to discuss him accompanying her on a mission to find a Maquis ship that disappeared in the Badlands a week ago. Tom has never seen a Federation ship capable of manoeuvring through a plasma storm. He has never seen Voyager.
Tom says that sure, he’d like to come with, but he was only with the Maquis for a few weeks before his capture. Yes, but that’s still better than anyone they have. Janeway’s chief of security was onboard and he hasn’t reported in. The ship was commanded by another former Starfleet officer, one Tom is acquainted with, Chakotay. Tom says the two didn’t get along too well. Chakotay resigned his commission and left Starfleet on principle to defend his home. Tom was forced to resign and Chakotay regarded him as a mercenary. He was right. After the mission, Tom will be cut loose. He is simply along as an observer, too, even though he protests that he’s the best pilot they have.
Tom is on a shuttle approaching Deep Space Nine, where the Voyager is docked, attempting, it seems, to chat up the pilot. This doesn’t work. The pilot reels off a whole bunch of specs about the Voyager, including that it uses bioneural cells, as the shuttle docks. The episode takes place between the DS9 episodes “Past Tense: Part 2” and “Life Support”.
In Quark’s, Quark (Armin Shimerman) himself is talking to a Starfleet ensign, Harry Kim, attempting to get him to buy something as a memento of his first mission. He has just the thing, some crystals he gets from a very strange creature called Morn – who has just been seen. Harry says he was warned about Ferengi at the Academy and Quark goes off on one about the insult to his people – all with the intention of shaming Harry into buying something. Which would have worked if Tom hadn’t intervened.
The two board the Voyager and the doctor is not happy to see Tom. It seems they were stationed at the same place. He suggests they check in with the captain. Harry wants to know what that was about and Tom tells him it’s a long story that he’s tired of telling. Someone else will tell Harry no doubt. Janeway is finishing off a conversation, telling the man at the other end she will be back in a few weeks, when the two arrive. She takes them to the bridge, and the first officer, Lt., Cmdr. Cavit, doesn’t seem happy to see Tom either.
In the mess hall later, Tom spots the doctor and Cavit speaking to Harry. After, Tom goes over and says he knew someone would share the story. Is it true? Yes. The accident was Tom’s fault, but it took him a while to admit it. He falsified reports. then came forward and admitted what happened. All Tom had to do was keep his mouth shut. His first mistake. Next, he joined the Maquis and was captured on his first mission. Harry says it must be tough for the son of an admiral; Tom thinks it’s harder on his father than him. Harry has been told to stay away from Tom, and Tom thinks he should listen. Harry does not appear to have the same opinion.
In the Badlands, they are at the last known heading of the Maquis ship, which the Cardassians are claiming was destroyed. There’s no trace of it though. Then Harry announces they are being scanned by a coherent tetryon beam and a displacement wave is heading for them. Attempts to disrupt the wave fail and it hits, tossing the Voyager around.
The ship gets badly damaged; Tom, Janeway and Harry are fine but the first officer and the pilot are dead. Com lines to engineering are down, there’s a hull breach, casualties and no contact with sickbay. Harry says there is something out there. When the viewscreen comes up, there is a large structure from which energy bursts are being fired. And they are apparently 70,000 light years from home. The Maquis ship is also there, but there are no life signs. The energy pulses are being fired at a G-type star system. The chief engineer is also dead and a warp core breach is imminent.
Sickbay has been trashed and the doctor and nurse are both dead. So, the Emergency Medical Hologram (Robert Picardo) is activated. He asks them to please state the nature of the medical emergency. When told the medical personnel are all dead, the EMH says that new personnel need getting as soon as possible. That may be a problem. His bedside manner is also a bit lacking. Whilst dealing with patients, everyone on the ship bar the EMH is transported off.
Inside the array structure, things are a bit odd. There seems to be a single intelligent entity in charge, but it’s more than a little cryptic in its talk. The Maquis and Federation crews are going to have to start working together.
The story continues in “Caretaker: Part II”.