"Caretaker" was the first episode of the television series Star Trek: Voyager. It was originally shown as one double-length episode, but has been split into two parts for repeats. The episode (and the series) features Kate Mulgrew as Captain Kathryn Janeway, but footage was shot with this role played by Geneviève Bujold, who quit. A television program is the content of television broadcasting. ... The starship Voyager (NCC-74656), an Intrepid-class starship. ... Kate Mulgrew as Captain Kathryn Janeway Kate Mulgrew is an American actress, most famous for her role in Star Trek: Voyager. ... Captain is both a nautical term and a military rank. ... Kathryn Janeway (Born: May 20, 2336 in Bloomington, Indiana), a character in the fictional Star Trek universe played by Kate Mulgrew, was the captain of the USS Voyager NCC-74656 (2371-2378) in the science fiction television series Star Trek: Voyager. ... Geneviève Bujold (born July 1, 1942 in Montréal, Quebec) is a Canadian actress. ...

The episode starts with a battle between the Maquis and the Cardassians, the Maquis being people formerly associated with the United Federation of Planets living in space now ceded to the Cardassians as part of a peace treaty. A bizarre space phenomenon seems to destroy the Maquis ship. In the fictional Star Trek universe, the Maquis were a resistance movement made mostly of humans that refused to give up the planets that they lived on after they were ceded to the Cardassians as part of the treaty to end the war between the Federation and the Cardassian Union. ... Cardassians, a spacefaring race in the fictional Star Trek universe, and the Cardassian Union were introduced in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode The Wounded. Cardassians were one of the main parts of the storyline in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. ... In the fictional Star Trek universe, the United Federation of Planets is a federation of more than 150 member planets and thousands of colonies, based in the Alpha and Beta Quadrants of the Milky Way galaxy. ...

Janeway makes a trip to a prison on Earth, to get Tom Paris to agree to be released on condition that he act as an advisor to help catch his former friends in the Maquis. He agrees, and is taken to the starship Voyager at Deep Space Nine. Whilst at the station, we meet Quark, who attempts to fleece a young member of the crew, Harry Kim. Earth, also known as the Earth, Terra, and (mostly in the 19th century) Tellus, is the third-closest planet to the Sun. ... Thomas Eugene Paris is a character in the fictional Star Trek universe who served aboard the USS Voyager (NCC-74656) as helmsman and pilot, with the rank of lieutenant. ... The USS Voyager (NCC-74656) is an Intrepid class starship in the Star Trek fictional universe. ... Deep Space Nine Deep Space Nine is a fictional space station in the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. ... Quark, son of Keldar and Ishka, is a fictional character in the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, played by Armin Shimerman. ... Garrett Wang as Ensign Harry Kim. ...

Voyager is transported to the Delta Quadrant.

The Voyager soon departs, and is swept up by the same type of phenomenon that affected the Maquis ship. It is discovered that both ships have been transported to a site in the Delta Quadrant near some sort of space array. A member of each crew, Harry Kim, and B'Elanna Torres, have been abducted. It is discovered that the entity responsible for bringing them there is the dying Caretaker of a nearby world. This world, peopled by the Ocampa, was nearly destroyed by his people ages ago, and he has remained there to look after them. The USS Voyager (fair use; image copyright Paramount Pictures) This work is copyrighted. ... The USS Voyager (fair use; image copyright Paramount Pictures) This work is copyrighted. ... In the fictional Star Trek series, the Milky Way Galaxy is divided into four quadrants, which are further subdivided into sectors. ... BElanna Torres is a character in the fictional Star Trek universe played by Roxann Dawson. ... Ocampa is the home planet of the Ocampans, a fictional race of elf-like humanoids in the science fiction television series Star Trek: Voyager. ...

The Voyager crew ultimately free the Ocampans from their closed-off underground facility, and destroy the array to stop the Kazon, their enemies, from being able to use it. As a side-effect of this, they trap themselves in the Delta Quadrant. The Maquis crew is integrated into the Voyager crew (they had lost about half in the accident), and the ship sets out to make the estimated 75-year voyage to Earth. Kazon Emblem In the Star Trek fictional universe, the Kazon are a Delta Quadrant race. ...

External links

• "Caretaker" article at Memory Alpha, a Star Trek wiki