USS Equinox problem

I Am Spartacus · Post by **I Am Spartacus** » Thu Aug 02, 2007 11:31 am

I don't see why he would be sending them back. That would have rendered the entire series pointless. Even if Voyager had to wait ten years before being sent back, that would have way less time than flying back under her own power.

That would also have removed the moral grounds of destroying the array. She said she did so in order to prevent other ships from being sucked away. What's the point in doing that if he just returns them anyways?

Post by **Teaos** » Thu Aug 02, 2007 11:33 am

She destroyes it so the Kazon didnt get their hands on it. Everyone he brought here before Voyager he supposedly sent back.

Sionnach Glic · Post by **Sionnach Glic** » Thu Aug 02, 2007 12:57 pm

The caretaker was dead at that point, IIRC. There was no one left to return the ships.

Post by **Teaos** » Thu Aug 02, 2007 1:24 pm

That explains why Voyager wasn't sent back and destroyed the station but why wasnt Equinox sent back?

Monroe · Post by **Monroe** » Thu Aug 02, 2007 1:35 pm

Did the episode specifically say that the Equonix got there by the Caretaker?

Sionnach Glic · Post by **Sionnach Glic** » Thu Aug 02, 2007 1:59 pm

Perhaps the Equinox's crew panicked and fled? Or maybe the caretaker array was running out of power?
Was it ever stated how long the Equnox was there for?

Monroe · Post by **Monroe** » Thu Aug 02, 2007 2:06 pm

The whole ship being there seemed more of just a way for the writers to continue killing random Voyager crew members and find a way to get replacements onboard to keep doing it.

Blackstar the Chakat · Thu Aug 02, 2007 2:35 pm

Monroe wrote:Did the episode specifically say that the Equonix got there by the Caretaker?

Yes there is a conversation where the crew of Voyager and Equinox were talking and the Equinox crewman mentions that they were drawn there by the Caretaker.

The Wormhole · Post by **The Wormhole** » Thu Aug 02, 2007 9:44 pm

To be fair, the fact that the Cartaker was returning ships after he was done with them wasn't revealed until The Voyager Conspiracy, which was after the Equinox two-parter. So really, this comes down to why did the writers decide in The Voyager Conspiracy to include referances the Caretaker returning ships to their homes, like the Cardassian Galor, when we alredy saw he didn't bother returning the Equinox.

Post by **Teaos** » Fri Aug 03, 2007 3:30 am

Maybe to show the caretaker isnt evil and just needed a mate. Sending them back shows he cared.

DSG2k · Post by **DSG2k** » Tue Aug 21, 2007 6:59 pm

"Caretaker"[VOY1]:

OCAMPA NURSE: The Caretaker's been behaving strangely for the past several months. Abducting people, increasing the power supply.
KIM: Power supply?
OCAMPA NURSE: He's tripled the energy he sends us. They say we have enough stored now to run the city for five years.

"Equinox, Pt. I"[VOY5]:

RANSOM: So, how's Earth?
JANEWAY: I wish I could say.
RANSOM: You weren't sent here to find us?
JANEWAY: I'm afraid not. We've been stranded in the Delta quadrant for five years. We were pulled here against our will by an alien called
BOTH: The Caretaker.
JANEWAY: We'll compare notes later on. Let's get you to Voyager.

"The Voyager Conspiracy"[VOY6]:

SEVEN: In the months before Voyager's arrival, Neelix recorded the appearance of fifty two vessels, including this one.
CHAKOTAY: A Cardassian warship.
SEVEN: A remarkable coincidence. Only days before Voyager's arrival the Cardassians were already in the Delta quadrant.
CHAKOTAY: The Caretaker was trying to find a mate, remember? He was pulling ships from all over the galaxy.
SEVEN: I'm familiar with the Caretaker's actions. In each instance, he would examine the crews' DNA and when he failed to find a genetic match he would release the vessel, but in this instance Neelix's sensors indicated the ship vanished. Obviously, it was returned to the Alpha quadrant. Why?

JANEWAY: A Cardassian warship.
SEVEN: I've analysed the hull geometry and warp signature. It was one of the same ships that were pursuing Chakotay and his crew in the region known as the Badlands. It was pulled into the Delta quadrant by the Caretaker during that engagement. According to Federation records that same Cardassian warship was found destroyed in the Badlands. The investigation revealed that it was attacked by the Maquis.

Notes:

There's no information on exactly when Equinox was pulled across, but the Cardassian ship appeared 2-3 weeks (estimated) before Voyager's arrival and was sent back.

(Seven says the Cardassian ship appeared "days" before Voyager, but we know from "Caretaker" that Janeway was on Earth at a time when the Val Jean had been missing for a week, and we know from DS9 that it takes around a couple of weeks to get to Earth. Indications from the Taylor novels suggest, however, that one can make the ~3000ly crossing in somewhat less time.)

Seven, while in her delusional state, suggested that the Caretaker did not commonly send ships back during the months of his "strange" behavior, though this seems contrary to the Caretaker's behavior in "Caretaker", in which he complains that sending them back is "terribly complicated" and that there's "not enough time!". Given that he is literally very close to death when he grabs Voyager, yet sent a Cardassian ship back beforehand, it is likely he sent most if not all ships back.

Otherwise one might've expected that the Kazon would've been interested in more than just Voyager . . . surely other interesting vessels from around the galaxy would've been pulled in, and Voyager or Equinox ought to have met these or heard of them at some point.

This would mean that he grabbed the Cardassians and the Val Jean around the same time, then Equinox, then Voyager. He kept the Val Jean for some time since he evidently found Torres of interest, and Voyager due to Kim. The Cardassians he discarded, as well as the Equinox, but he was approaching his time limit so he was too busy searching to send the latter back.

Alternately, he'd stopped sending ships back at some point. Then he grabbed the Equinox and released them in the Delta Quadrant. The Cardassians would've been a special exception 'cause they're Kazon-esque buttholes and he didn't want them attacking the Ocampa.

Post by **Teaos** » Wed Aug 22, 2007 2:08 am

That all seems very possible.

The fact that he sent mist ships back but was running out of time latter make s alot of sense also since he was dying.

stitch626 · Post by **stitch626** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 9:13 pm

My question: how could the Equinox, a tiny ship with equal firepower to a shuttle (exageration) survive as long as it did? I mean, Voyager got beatup almost every episode. I highly doubt that the Equinox could survive a tenth of the beating Voyager got.

Sionnach Glic · Post by **Sionnach Glic** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 9:34 pm

Perhaps because the Captain avoided the idiotic fights that Voyager's captain got it into every week?

Blackstar the Chakat · Sat Mar 29, 2008 9:46 pm

stitch626 wrote:My question: how could the Equinox, a tiny ship with equal firepower to a shuttle (exageration) survive as long as it did? I mean, Voyager got beatup almost every episode. I highly doubt that the Equinox could survive a tenth of the beating Voyager got.

Well the Equinox did seem to have stronger sheilds that let it survive in more dangerous locations, where it can hide. This might also lets the sheilds last longer in battle. While the Equinox may have had inferior stats, there's no substitute for a good crew. And it was in pretty bad condition when Voyager found it. Not unlike Voyager in the middle of "Year of Hell" before the crew abandoned ship, so it did get a good beating.