What would really happen in a voyager-like scenario?

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

I don't get how you conscript all these people into a highly structured military organization and not have them be liabilities, bigger liabilities than we saw in the lower decks ep. Do we know how many of the maquis were ex-starfleet?

I would be completely fail if you forcibly conscripted me into starfleet.

 

[Kobayshi Maru]

It's not like the Fleeters forced them to stay. When they went to that planet with people from the 20th century they offered them the choice to leave.

After that, everyone who stayed was there by choice and had little right to complain because it was their own decision.

That's the kind of thing that I find completely unbelievable. That world seemed way better than a starship with all the discipline, the hardship (replicator rations versus Neelix cooking) , the sameness of the corridors the rooms and the people. Not to mention the dangers, I mean the ship was in danger of being blown off more often than not in many episodes. It seems insane that there wouldn't be dozens of people that would want to stay on a real world with hundreds of thousands of people on it.

 

[at Quark's]

That's the kind of thing that I find completely unbelievable. That world seemed way better than a starship with all the discipline, the hardship (replicator rations versus Neelix cooking) , the sameness of the corridors the rooms and the people. Not to mention the dangers, I mean the ship was in danger of being blown off more often than not in many episodes. It seems insane that there wouldn't be dozens of people that would want to stay on a real world with hundreds of thousands of people on it.

For the maquis you can add to that (at that point in the series) that they would be returning to a guerilla war if let free after returning, and probably to a federation court if not.

 

[Kobayshi Maru]

That's the kind of thing that I find completely unbelievable. That world seemed way better than a starship with all the discipline, the hardship (replicator rations versus Neelix cooking) , the sameness of the corridors the rooms and the people. Not to mention the dangers, I mean the ship was in danger of being blown off more often than not in many episodes. It seems insane that there wouldn't be dozens of people that would want to stay on a real world with hundreds of thousands of people on it.

For the maquis you can add to that (at that point in the series) that they would be returning to a guerilla war if let free after returning, and probably to a federation court if not.

Indeed, it's one thing that the maquis would agree to cooperate on a temporary basis to increase their chances of survival but why would they want to return to earth and face a trial or did Janeway strike an agreement to drop them off on a maquis planet as soon as they reach the alpha quadrant? Not that I know off. I mean the reason why those people were malcontent didn't just disappear because they were stranded on the other end of the galaxy. Those are clearly separate issues.

Well, there's many things that not only are somehow taken for granted in Voyager but more often than not even taken into account.

 

[Anwar]

It's not like the Fleeters forced them to stay. When they went to that planet with people from the 20th century they offered them the choice to leave.

After that, everyone who stayed was there by choice and had little right to complain because it was their own decision.

That's the kind of thing that I find completely unbelievable. That world seemed way better than a starship with all the discipline, the hardship (replicator rations versus Neelix cooking) , the sameness of the corridors the rooms and the people. Not to mention the dangers, I mean the ship was in danger of being blown off more often than not in many episodes. It seems insane that there wouldn't be dozens of people that would want to stay on a real world with hundreds of thousands of people on it.

Yes, but the thing is that they at least addressed it. If they complained after that...well, it's their own damn fault for not leaving when they had the chance.

 

[Orphalesion]

The thing was it never seemed like anybody on Voyager really ever expected the journey to last 70 years. Even the evolved humans of the 24th century would not swallow something like that as easily as portrayed on the show.

However it was still very unrealistic that not a single crew member decided to stay on that planet (though personally I'd rather stay on Voyager than live with people form the 1930s...)
An alternative to what might have also been the Marquis or another portion of the crew splitting off to colonize one of the pristine, uninhabited planets they ran across.

 

[Kobayshi Maru]

The thing was it never seemed like anybody on Voyager really ever expected the journey to last 70 years. Even the evolved humans of the 24th century would not swallow something like that as easily as portrayed on the show.

However it was still very unrealistic that not a single crew member decided to stay on that planet (though personally I'd rather stay on Voyager than live with people form the 1930s...)
An alternative to what might have also been the Marquis or another portion of the crew splitting off to colonize one of the pristine, uninhabited planets they ran across.

The thing is that at that point of the show they SHOULD have believed that the trip would have lasted seventy years... at least! Considering that Voyager would have to find supplies and they want to buy those supplies as they seem to do at times then they have to find, mine or harvest whatever it is that they could use to buy those supplies. That takes time, and would only lengthen their journey.

 

[USS Triumphant]

The answers to the OPs question are very varied depending on the specific individuals involved.

If you asked me what I think the most probable outcome is based on what I think is an "average" human template for all involved, I would say that the combined crew would face a choice between following the captain of the military ship or following the captain of the civilian ship. A certain number of the military crew would side with the civilian captain based on not having signed on to serve under military protocol for a 75 year stint. Then, if one side or another had a decisive and obvious advantage in numbers and resources, that would probably decide things peacefully - at least temporarily until and unless that situation ever shifted. The matter would be "tabled", with the commander of whichever side held the advantage running the show. But if they were approximately even - or if latter on, the situation did shift to bring things to a more even fight or even to the advantage of the opposed commander, then it would probably result in a fight. That might be decisive, or might lead to another temporary stalemate.

But, like I said: individuals. A well-known and respected captain like Picard might have the presence to unify the crew. Someone like Chakotay might have the wisdom to lead his crew to unify. A Captain Styles might piss off the civilians into trying to take power even if the odds were against them, or a captain like Esteban might not have the sense to relax the regs to allow the civilians a little breathing room, and force them to rebel - and his own crew, too, for that matter. Someone like Tom Riker (as the civilian captain) might have the knowledge and sneakiness to play nice and then steal the ship's resources necessary to rule the day... at least for a while. Maybe there's a specific popular lieutenant (on either side) who has been looking for a way to gain power and prestige, and now we have THREE factions (or more). Maybe the Starfleet crew has more members who sympathize with the Marquis cause - maybe less, maybe none, maybe some of them HATE the Marquis for some reason. Maybe the Marquis crew don't like their captain for whatever reason and were only following his orders because of the Marquis command structure that is now 75 light years away. And on and on.

 

[Lance]

They'd all start rutting like rabbits.

When the only hope for long-term survival is the propagation of a species, and this was actually discussed in an early episode of the show due to the expected journey time being something like 70+ years, then people start getting into each other's pants a lot sooner than they did.

You certainly don't get a scenario where there are only two babies born on a ship with a crew of 150 people over a seven year time period.

 

[USS Triumphant]

They'd all start rutting like rabbits.

When the only hope for long-term survival is the propagation of a species, and this was actually discussed in an early episode of the show due to the expected journey time being something like 70+ years, then people start getting into each other's pants a lot sooner than they did.

You certainly don't get a scenario where there are only two babies born on a ship with a crew of 150 people over a seven year time period.

I can see where instincts might have inspired a lot more of the act itself, but with their medical science, I can't see there being unexpected births, and in their situation, expected ones would be irresponsible, unless they colonized somewhere.

 

[Orphalesion]

The thing is that at that point of the show they SHOULD have believed that the trip would have lasted seventy years... at least!.

That's very true and, just one of the issues many fans have with the excution of Voyager.

 

[Anwar]

That's the thing, VOY's premise had already been done several times before the show and the people affected always made it back in like a few days. They had no reason to believe they'd be gone for 70 years.

This is why they should've brought them home in S2 or S3 and then moved onto a different plotline.

 

[hux]

This is why they should've brought them home in S2 or S3 and then moved onto a different plotline.

Or sent them 700,000 light years away from the Alpha quadrant and made it clear from the start that getting home just wasn't a realistic option. The crew could hope for it and make all efforts to get back home but in truth the show would remove any real sense of it actually being achieved (if not for the audience then at least for the characters)

 

[USS Triumphant]

This is why they should've brought them home in S2 or S3 and then moved onto a different plotline.

Or sent them 700,000 light years away from the Alpha quadrant and made it clear from the start that getting home just wasn't a realistic option. The crew could hope for it and make all efforts to get back home but in truth the show would remove any real sense of it actually being achieved (if not for the audience then at least for the characters)

It would have changed the premise of the show to something the showrunners weren't going for. If getting home was next to impossible, then, for example, why *wouldn't* they just set up home base on the next comfy planet they found? Honestly, thinking about it, I think it could have been a BETTER show - but not the one they were trying to make.

 

[hux]

This is why they should've brought them home in S2 or S3 and then moved onto a different plotline.

Or sent them 700,000 light years away from the Alpha quadrant and made it clear from the start that getting home just wasn't a realistic option. The crew could hope for it and make all efforts to get back home but in truth the show would remove any real sense of it actually being achieved (if not for the audience then at least for the characters)

It would have changed the premise of the show to something the showrunners weren't going for. If getting home was next to impossible, then, for example, why *wouldn't* they just set up home base on the next comfy planet they found? Honestly, thinking about it, I think it could have been a BETTER show - but not the one they were trying to make.

But you could say that about the original premise. They're going to be travelling for 70 years so why not just settle on the next planet

And besides there would always be characters who wanted to try and get back no matter how unlikely it seemed (at least my way you've got an opportunity to explore both sets of characters)

To be fair, they could have done that with the 70 thousand lightyears premise

 

[Nerys Myk]

There seemed to be a large number of former Starfleet officers among the Maquis and it seemed to be organized along paramilitary lines. So while not Starfleet they weren't quite civilians. Might be different if it was cruise ship who passengers were transferred to Voyager.

 

[Anwar]

Or if there were lots of aliens from the Alpha Quadrant on the Caretakers Array who escaped with them on other ships (much weaker than Voyager) and they all hung together for mutual protection.

 

[Guy Gardener]

I don't get how you conscript all these people into a highly structured military organization and not have them be liabilities, bigger liabilities than we saw in the lower decks ep. Do we know how many of the maquis were ex-starfleet?

I would be completely fail if you forcibly conscripted me into starfleet.

Hundreds of thousands, millions, maybe billions of Maquis, spread out across the demilitarized zone... And these are the only 16 Maquis that can function with any aptitude aboard a starship.

Even a starship the size of a rowboat like the Val Jean.

(The Maquis had hundreds(?) of raiders, with 16 man crews, but that's still no where near %1 of a club numbering in possibly the billions?)

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I don't think they would necessarily mutiny. But, military discipline may have broken down, and a whole lot more people would have wanted to find a planet somewhere and settle on it.

Even the Maquis would have too much survival instinct to start an armed conflict against the only people within thousands of light years interested in keeping them alive.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Tuvok thought it was a possibility and wrote a training program to teach his security officers how to outwit and physically destroy Chakotay.

You'd have to wonder if real Chakotay would have been able to put down the armed overtaking of the ship by Holochakotay...

I wonder if this is the Chakotay Seven cut and pasted onto his romance training program, or if she built her own from scratch?

Ifso, then romantic holoChakotay was olaying the long game trying to turn Seven of Nine into his soldier to take over the ship, and that program in season seven if it kept running, was eventually going to get really dark.