Voyager Stranded in the Delta Quadrant

In 2371 the new USS Voyager, commanded by Captain Kathryn Janeway, entered the Badlands in pursuit of a Maquis ship led by Chakotay, on which her security officer Tuvok was serving undercover. Both vessels were seized by a powerful displacement wave and carried some seventy thousand light-years to the Delta Quadrant. The transit killed several of Voyager's senior officers, including its first officer and chief medical officer.

The wave was the work of the Caretaker, a dying alien who had long protected the Ocampa and was searching for a compatible species to continue his line. After his death, his array could have sent Voyager home, but it could also fall into the hands of the hostile Kazon and endanger the Ocampa. Janeway chose to destroy it, stranding her ship an estimated seventy-five years from Federation space.

The Maquis ship was lost covering Voyager's escape, and its crew joined Starfleet's, with Chakotay as first officer. Joined by the Talaxian guide Neelix and the Ocampa Kes, the combined crew began the long voyage home.