The Voyager Encounter

The Voyager Encounter was a holoprogram on display at the Museum of Kyrian Heritage in the 31st century. Based on reconstructions from a few relics from the USS Voyager, it depicted the role of the crew of the warship Voyager in the start of the Great War between the Kyrians and the Vaskans in 2374. It was biased in order to show the Kyrians in a positive light but not alienate the Vaskans, portraying the Voyager crew as militaristic, brutal murderers who were prepared to commit genocide to force Tedran out of hiding even against the wishes of Vaskan Ambassador Daleth, and showing torture as routine on the ship. Even beyond the obvious bias, it bore little resemblance to reality; for instance, it portrayed the homeworld of Voyager as Mars, when it was in fact Earth.

The holoprogram was discredited in 3074 when a backup copy of The Doctor, horrified at the way it portrayed Voyager's role in the Great War, revealed what had truly taken place.

Plotline[]

The simulation begins with Ambassador Daleth of the Vaskans making a deal with Captain Kathryn Janeway. In exchange for the location of a cyclic wormhole that would shorten their journey to Mars, Daleth wants Voyager to "intimidate" the Kyrians and capture their leader, so that they can annex Kyrian land.

Amid a futile attack by Kyrian fighter ships, Janeway orders the deployment of biogenic weapons on the most populous Kyrian territories, in order to force their leader Tedran out of hiding. Her brutality shocks even Daleth, whose protests are ignored. The Doctor, an android, configures a bio-weapon to be carried through the ship's phasers. Voyager fires on the Kyrian cities, though Tedran had wisely begun an evacuation, saving thousands of lives.

Three thousand Kyrians are killed in Voyager's initial attack, though Janeway is disappointed by the numbers and orders another, heavier strike. Meanwhile, The Doctor is able to force a Kyrian prisoner to divulge Tedran's location by injecting him with a neural solvent. The Kyrians continue to battle Voyager, even beaming a team into main engineering, though they are quickly neutralized by Seven of Nine and her Borg warriors.

On the planet surface, Tuvok's assault team captures Tedran and bring him to Voyager. Janeway mocks him as "the great Tedran, a man of wisdom and peace. A servant of his people." She demands that he order the Kyrians to surrender but he refuses, appealing instead to Daleth that they could have resolved their differences without her. The program ends with Janeway executing Tedran and his aide. (VOY: "Living Witness")

Revised version[]

Horrified at the wild inaccuracy of what he had seen and the malicious way he and his shipmates had been depicted, a backup of The Doctor created a revised version based on the true course of events, which he showed to Vaskan and Kyrian arbiters to vindicate Voyager, protect himself from charges for the fictitious war crimes depicted in the program, and hopefully diminish the enmity between the two species.

Kathryn Janeway completes a negotiation with Daleth to trade medical supplies for dilithium. Daleth warns Janeway to complete the trade quickly since war with the Kyrians is imminent, and remarks that she might have more success mediating between the Kyrians and Vaskans. Shortly after the medical supplies are transported to Cargo Bay 1, three Kyrian ships attack Voyager and do not respond to hails. Janeway orders Tom Paris to break orbit, but four Kyrians - including Tedran - beam into Engineering, kill three engineering crewmembers, and take Seven of Nine and an injured crewmember hostage, dragging them to Deck 2.

Janeway realizes that she will have to negotiate with the Kyrians and, unaware that Daleth is armed, goes to Deck 2 with Daleth and The Doctor in tow, ordering Tuvok to send security teams to subdue the Kyrians. Tedran, noticing the group, drags the hostages into the mess hall. The Doctor, knowing he is impervious to phaser fire, goes first to draw fire.

Daleth tells Tedran that the conflict is between them and that Voyager does not have to be involved, but Tedran erroneously believes that Voyager and the Vaskans have entered a military alliance to destroy the Kyrians. Janeway tells Tedran that her crew was not aware of the tensions between the Kyrians and Vaskans and promises that the Kyrians will not be harmed if they surrender. A security team arrives, distracting Tedran long enough for Seven to disarm him, but Daleth fires his weapon at Tedran. As The Doctor scans Tedran and grimly declares him dead, a horrified and furious Janeway, well aware that Daleth just ruined any hope of peace between the Kyrians and Vaskans, rises as if to confront Daleth.

How the revised version progressed beyond this point is unknown, as The Doctor paused the holoprogram and told the arbiters, "A tragic, needless death, but as you can see, Voyager was not responsible", and went on to reveal that nine more Kyrian ships subsequently attacked Voyager. Since the EMH backup module was stolen in the chaos, The Doctor could not remember anything beyond this point. (VOY: "Living Witness")

Departures from reality[]

Overall, the ship had a much more utilitarian look and feel than the actual Voyager. The bridge was darker and the warship Voyager was more heavily armed.

Uniforms[]

• The neck piece was black instead of the usual grey
• There were no combadges
• The crew all wore black gloves
• There were no rank pips
• The crew carried phasers routinely

Rooms[]

• The orange lights surrounding the diagnostic bed bay in sickbay were blue.
• Several lights that were normally white, such as the ceiling lights on the bridge and accents in the captain's ready room, were red.
• The overall lighting was darker than usual.

Individual crew members[]

See: The Voyager Encounter holograms.

• Kathryn Janeway sported a very short haircut.
• Chakotay's tattoo was larger, covering the entire left side of his face. Moreover, his name was pronounced "CHE-ko-tay." He also had a Caesar style haircut.
• Tuvok's ears were sharper, and he appeared to be wearing an earring. He also appeared to have emotions, specifically a sense of humor.
• The Doctor was an android, not a hologram; the "Emergency Medical Android" had yellow eyes, much like those of Data.

• Seven of Nine was still a full-fledged drone, and had a complement of three other Borg in the cargo bay with her.
• B'Elanna Torres was the ship's chief transporter operator, not the chief engineer.
• Harry Kim was a lieutenant, not an ensign.
• Neelix was a uniformed security officer who served as Tuvok's relief at tactical, and had a very sarcastic personality.
• An unnamed Kazon ensign was part of the crew.

Miscellaneous errors[]

• Voyager's homeworld was Mars, rather than Earth.