Why Did They Even Try To Come Home?

[USS Triumphant]

Imagine for a moment that you're the captain of the Voyager, stranded in the Delta Quadrant as in the beginning of the series. You know it will take most if not all of the rest of the lives of your crew, and significantly into the lives of any children they might have, to get home. And, some long period of that time will be spent sneaking through Borg space. Unless there is some significant advance in propulsion technology, which is just as likely to happen (if not more likely) if you set up a colony on the first relatively comfortable world, and set up a propulsion lab.

I believe my priority would have been to do just that, both to take advantage of the unforeseen opportunity for the Federation, and to better defend my people. The technology onboard Voyager would have allowed the construction of a seriously nice colony, and by the time Starfleet reached us, I would have tried to have another portion of the Federation they didn't even know about waiting to meet them.

(Oh - and please don't say "because there would have been no show", because there still could have been. Especially if the initial colony was set up as guests on an already inhabited world.)

 

[RoJoHen]

To be fair, that subject did come up several times in the earlier seasons.

Janeway seemed to feel that settling in the Delta Quadrant was the same as giving up.

 

[Tachyon]

But how would it have been opportunity for Federation, if they would have never been able to report about their findings? Or should they have send some probe towards AQ (though it most likely would not never got that far).

In addition, if I had been a member of the crew, I would have wanted to go towards home.

 

[apenpaap]

I would have settled during season 3, when they had left Kazon and Vidiian space, but had not yet entered Borg or Krenim space. It seemed like a rather safe area.

 

[USS Triumphant]

In addition, if I had been a member of the crew, I would have wanted to go towards home.

Well, see, this is kinda part of my point - there is more than one way to "go toward home". One way involves pointing the ship as it exists now that way and kicking in the warp drive - which is what Janeway did (except for all the detours). The other involves sitting somewhere a while and figuring out a better way to get home faster. And taking advantage of opportunities presented in the meantime - like the ability to create a permanent presence for the Federation in the DQ.

It's like all those sci-fi books where one group goes out sublight in generational ships to colonize a world, only to find they've been beated there by people who stayed on Earth, developed FTL, left long afterward, and still got there a hundred years ago. Only backward. But the point still stands.

 

[JustKate]

Imagine for a moment that you're the captain of the Voyager, stranded in the Delta Quadrant as in the beginning of the series. You know it will take most if not all of the rest of the lives of your crew, and significantly into the lives of any children they might have, to get home. And, some long period of that time will be spent sneaking through Borg space. Unless there is some significant advance in propulsion technology, which is just as likely to happen (if not more likely) if you set up a colony on the first relatively comfortable world, and set up a propulsion lab.

I believe my priority would have been to do just that, both to take advantage of the unforeseen opportunity for the Federation, and to better defend my people. The technology onboard Voyager would have allowed the construction of a seriously nice colony, and by the time Starfleet reached us, I would have tried to have another portion of the Federation they didn't even know about waiting to meet them.

(Oh - and please don't say "because there would have been no show", because there still could have been. Especially if the initial colony was set up as guests on an already inhabited world.)

I don't think Janeway really believed it would take "most if not all of the rest of the lives of your crew, and significantly into the lives of any children they might have, to get home." That was always a possibility, of course, and it was mentioned often. But just as often and from the very beginning (I can remember a speech to this effect in the second part of "Caretaker") she talked about taking advantage of wormholes and other neat-o spacy stuff to reduce the time the journey would take - the reference to "neat-o spacy stuff" is because although I can remember the speech, clearly I can't remember it all that well.

So I am pretty sure Janeway thought they could get home a lot faster than that. And...she was right.

Aside from that, I think a lot of people wanted to go home. I expect I would have as well, at least in the beginning.

 

[Lynx]

I would have settled during season 3, when they had left Kazon and Vidiian space, but had not yet entered Borg or Krenim space. It seemed like a rather safe area.

Or they could have settled at "The 37.s " planet. OK, in that case one of Voyager's best scenes, the one when Janeway and Chakotay enters the cargo bay to say goodbye to those who would stay on the planet and there's no one there, had been omitted.

But on the other hand, we would have had lots of episodes and books about the Voyager crew trying to help the people on that planet with defending it against possible invaders and in the long run also create a new Federation in the Delta Quadrant.

 

[crohnie]

Imagine for a moment that you're the captain of the Voyager, stranded in the Delta Quadrant as in the beginning of the series. You know it will take most if not all of the rest of the lives of your crew, and significantly into the lives of any children they might have, to get home. And, some long period of that time will be spent sneaking through Borg space. Unless there is some significant advance in propulsion technology, which is just as likely to happen (if not more likely) if you set up a colony on the first relatively comfortable world, and set up a propulsion lab.

I believe my priority would have been to do just that, both to take advantage of the unforeseen opportunity for the Federation, and to better defend my people. The technology onboard Voyager would have allowed the construction of a seriously nice colony, and by the time Starfleet reached us, I would have tried to have another portion of the Federation they didn't even know about waiting to meet them.

(Oh - and please don't say "because there would have been no show", because there still could have been. Especially if the initial colony was set up as guests on an already inhabited world.)

I don't think Janeway really believed it would take "most if not all of the rest of the lives of your crew, and significantly into the lives of any children they might have, to get home." That was always a possibility, of course, and it was mentioned often. But just as often and from the very beginning (I can remember a speech to this effect in the second part of "Caretaker") she talked about taking advantage of wormholes and other neat-o spacy stuff to reduce the time the journey would take - the reference to "neat-o spacy stuff" is because although I can remember the speech, clearly I can't remember it all that well.

So I am pretty sure Janeway thought they could get home a lot faster than that. And...she was right.

Aside from that, I think a lot of people wanted to go home. I expect I would have as well, at least in the beginning.

Also there was the possibility of the female caretaker being nice enough to send them home.
They found her 10 months later and boy was she angry!


And I agree with RoJoHen that Janeway thought it was giving up.

 

[JustKate]

^ Oh, yeah, that too. Saying "We'll never make it home" would be admitting defeat, and Janeway didn't do that stuff.

 

[apenpaap]

I would have settled during season 3, when they had left Kazon and Vidiian space, but had not yet entered Borg or Krenim space. It seemed like a rather safe area.

Or they could have settled at "The 37.s " planet. OK, in that case one of Voyager's best scenes, the one when Janeway and Chakotay enters the cargo bay to say goodbye to those who would stay on the planet and there's no one there, had been omitted.

They were still in Kazon and Vidiian territory. The Kazons may not be very strong enemies, but they are persistent, and would probably have continued to try and get their grubby hands on Voyager's technology. And I wouldn't want to live within a thousand lightyears of the Vidiians.

 

[USS Triumphant]

So I am pretty sure Janeway thought they could get home a lot faster than that. And...she was right.

With the way they actually did get home, she'd have been right even if they had sat on their hands on some planet and waited for Starfleet to find them. Future Janeway still probably would have shown up seven years in, sliding down their chimneys with slipstream drive and batmobile armor.

I would have settled during season 3, when they had left Kazon and Vidiian space, but had not yet entered Borg or Krenim space. It seemed like a rather safe area. <snip>
They were still in Kazon and Vidiian territory. The Kazons may not be very strong enemies, but they are persistent, and would probably have continued to try and get their grubby hands on Voyager's technology. And I wouldn't want to live within a thousand lightyears of the Vidiians.

Good call. Although the Vidiians might not have been so bad once they weren't so desparate to get rid of the Phage. Heck, a good captain might have been able to convince them to help bring peace and freedom to the quadrant as a sort of penance for the wrongs they committed while so desparate. And the Kazon might have been surprised at how utterly outmatched they were if Voyager had set up a well-armed and -defended colony, rather than just ran for it. I kinda felt bad for them. They wanted Voyager so bad, but I think they'd have straightened up a lot if given a steady supply of water and some combs.

 

[kimc]

With the way they actually did get home, she'd have been right even if they had sat on their hands on some planet and waited for Starfleet to find them. Future Janeway still probably would have shown up seven years in, sliding down their chimneys with slipstream drive and batmobile armor.

Actually if they had settled on a planet future Janeway would not have been able to show up with the new tech toys because she would have died on that planet, never made it home to get the toys so she could come back...

...okay, now I have a headache.

 

[USS Triumphant]

Actually if they had settled on a planet future Janeway would not have been able to show up with the new tech toys because she would have died on that planet, never made it home to get the toys so she could come back...

Nah, she'd have still gotten home. They'd have figured out the communication thing, Barclay would have gotten obsessed, and Starfleet would have gone to them. Or, figured out a propulsion tech and transmitted the details to them.

 

[kimc]

Actually if they had settled on a planet future Janeway would not have been able to show up with the new tech toys because she would have died on that planet, never made it home to get the toys so she could come back...

Nah, she'd have still gotten home. They'd have figured out the communication thing, Barclay would have gotten obsessed, and Starfleet would have gone to them. Or, figured out a propulsion tech and transmitted the details to them.

Well heck, it it was that easy they should have all just settled down and started making babies!

 

[USS Triumphant]

Well heck, it it was that easy they should have all just settled down and started making babies!

Yes. And clones. And more ships. And spread out as quickly as possible.

 

[Tachyon]

I would have settled during season 3, when they had left Kazon and Vidiian space, but had not yet entered Borg or Krenim space. It seemed like a rather safe area.

After they left Kazon and Vidiians behind, they entered Nekrit Expanse, which was rather unpopulater region of space. So they continued their journey and once on the other side, they were already very close to the Borg space.

 

[Lynx]

I would have settled during season 3, when they had left Kazon and Vidiian space, but had not yet entered Borg or Krenim space. It seemed like a rather safe area.

Or they could have settled at "The 37.s " planet. OK, in that case one of Voyager's best scenes, the one when Janeway and Chakotay enters the cargo bay to say goodbye to those who would stay on the planet and there's no one there, had been omitted.

They were still in Kazon and Vidiian territory. The Kazons may not be very strong enemies, but they are persistent, and would probably have continued to try and get their grubby hands on Voyager's technology. And I wouldn't want to live within a thousand lightyears of the Vidiians.

You're right about that.

But think about the challenge! The possibility to help Earth people in the Delta Quadrant to survive and maybe also create a new Federation.

I agree that they would have settled in a somewhat dangerous area. But there would also be potential allies, like the Talaxians around. In the long run they could have found a way to cure the Vidiians from the phage and maybe come to terms with the Kazon too. All of that would have given us lots of good episodes and books.

 

[Praetor]

You know, in some ways I can't help but feel the show might have been better if they'd been actually lost (i.e., they did not know where they were) and perhaps forced to give up at some point and start a colony. It never really felt, to me, like they weren't going to get home, and as the seasons progressed that feeling increased - it became a foregone conclusion. It seemed like they tried to have it both ways - they sidetracked to explore while still schlepping home. (Wasn't it said somewhere that there is supposedly a law preventing expeditions to other quadrants for the purpose of territorial expansion?)

Furthermore, I never really bought the notion that the crew really believed they would need to have children to take over due to old age - a high mortality rate, perhaps, but not old age. No one on that ship other than Tuvok was much over 40 at the show's start, and humans can clearly live past 130 per McCoy.

 

[Timo]

But we haven't seen a physically fit human centenarian. McCoy was a cripple, and Mark Jameison was worse at 80 (although he seemed convinced he'd be fit as a fiddle if not for his disease). The oldest human known to actively serve would have been Picard at his seventies; Bob Wesley in TAS was forced to retire at 75 at the latest, and the issue of his physical fitness was sidestepped by the fount-of-youth anomaly.

As for sitting down to think, it seems to me that there wouldn't have been benefits. The starship already was as good as any colony world they could come up with: she provided all the possible brainstorming and R&D assets they could dream of, in mobile form. By all means keep trying to find faster ways home - but don't stop in order to do that, when you really don't have to.

Contrary to some original impressions, our heroes weren't distressed or lost or stranded. They were simply very far from home - but in a fully functional starship that allowed them to pursue a number of goals without major physical limitations. They chose a set of goals where getting home had priority, but doing it in style was an important consideration as well...

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Anwar]

Jameson had some kind of disease that had crippled him, they even said that a man at his age would usually still be commanding a ship.

Also in the DS9 novels Kira's XO is 100 years old and he's still in good shape.