I gather the Maquis would constantly worry about betrayal. Chakotay after the first season or two certainly would! If even one of their ranks told Starfleet, they'd all be screwed. In contrast, even if a dozen of Janeway's folks secretly joined the Maquis, Janeway would be little worse off. Even at 1/1 odds, and with, say, Tuvok suddenly pointing his phaser at Janeway, Starfleet forces might well prevail. And, even if defeated, would be in a good position to regain control - but in an even better one to deny control from the Maquis! After all, they were already agreeing with Janeway on upholding Starfleet regulations and ideals over quick and easy ways to get home: they might well fry the engines for good if the field manual's anti-boarding procedure called for that.
None of this would be a true showstopper for a carefully planned-out mutiny. But Chakotay or his immediate underlings would still be disinclined to try, out of caution - and anybody lower down would be hard pressed to manage the "carefully planned-out" bit without getting betrayed or otherwise exposed.
The most likely threat scenario probably would be a disgruntled Maquis suddenly simply killing Janeway. This wouldn't depend much on Maquis numbers vs. Starfleet numbers, either. It's a bit surprising this was never discussed in an episode, even when it started to become evident that not all the Maquis thought so highly about Chakotay's authority. I mean, Janeway would have absolutely insisted that a bodyguard would be bad for the morale and all - but the discussion would have been of dramatic interest.
Timo Saloniemi
