Star Trek: Deep Space Ninesecretly tried to save the USS Voyager from being stranded in the Delta Quadrant, even though Starfleet was fighting the Dominion War. The USS Voyager couldn’t tell Starfleet they’d been lost untilStar Trek: Voyagerseason 4, episode 14, “Message in a Bottle”, whenVoyager’s holographic Doctor(Robert Picardo) transmits his program to the Alpha Quadrant using an abandoned Hirogen subspace relay station. After fending off a Romulan plot aboard the experimental USS Prometheus, the Doctor gets in touch with Starfleet Command, who promise they’ll do all they can to bring Voyager back home.
Captain Benjamin Sisko’s (Avery Brooks)USS Defiant crewtakes a break from active combat inStar Trek: Deep Space Nineseason 6, episode 14, “One Little Ship”, when they’re assigned to investigate a subspace compression anomaly that shrinks anything it comes in contact with. Lt. Commander Jadzia Dax (Terry Farrell), Dr. Julian Bashir (Alexander Siddig), and Chief Miles O’Brien (Colm Meaney) send a runabout into the anomaly, to study the principles behind its spatial distortion. Theoretically,understanding how the anomaly shrinks things could also help Starfleet create transwarp corridors, which would give the Federation a tactical advantage against the Dominion.
Star Trek: DS9 Could Have Saved The USS Voyager
The USS Defiant Helped Starfleet Research Transwarp Corridors
Star Trek: Deep Space Ninecould have saved the USS Voyager if the USS Defiant’s research into the subspace compression anomaly had actually led to Starfleet being able to create transwarp corridors.DS9’s “One Little Ship” aired just a month afterStar Trek: Voyager’s “Message in a Bottle”, soStarfleet already knew that Voyager was lost in the Delta Quadrant, and was actively researching ways to bring them home. While Captain Sisko is told that creating transwarp corridors will help Starfleet beat the Dominion, bypassingStar Trek’s warp speed limitwould also bring the USS Voyager home quickly.
Every 1990s Era Star Trek Crossover
The 1990s were a golden age for Star Trek as crossovers between TNG, DS9, and Voyager formed a vast fictional universe that was ahead of its time.
The USS Voyager’s predicament doesn’t have to be specifically mentioned inStar Trek: Deep Space Ninefor the Defiant’s scientific mission to relate back toStar Trek: Voyager. Starfleet’s promise to recover Captain Kathryn Janeway’s (Kate Mulgrew) lost starship only matters to the USS Voyager crew’s loved ones or officers involved in bringing Voyager back, likeStar Trek: The Next Generation’sLieutenant Reginald Barclay(Dwight Schultz).
Instead,Sisko’s orders realistically reference Starfleet gaining a tactical advantage over the Dominion instead ofVoyager’s Project Pathfinder, which keeps Captain Sisko—andDS9’s ongoing storyline—singularly focused on the Dominion War.
Star Trek: DS9’s Plan To Bring The USS Voyager Home Never Would Have Worked
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’s plan to bring the USS Voyager home from the Delta Quadrant has merit, but it wouldn’t have worked. In “One Little Ship”, the Jem’Hadar attack the USS Defiant, leaving Dax, Bashir, and O’Brien responsible for saving their compatriots. TheDS9episode’s drama comes from the tiny runabout cleverly foiling the full-sized Jem’Hadar, which can’t happen ifDS9’s subspace compression research is actually successful.The Defiant’s success inDS9season 6 also would have meant the end ofStar Trek: Voyagerafter only 4 seasons, andVoyager’s best years were still to come.
InStar Trek: Lower Decksseason 5, episode x, “title”, the tiny Intrepid-class USS Endeavor shows what could have happened to the USS Voyager if Starfleet had been able to bring Janeway’s crew back home usingDeep Space Nine’s research in “One Little Ship”.
With this pair of 1998 episodes,Star Trekpulled off a seemingly impossible stealth crossoverbetweenStar Trek: Deep Space NineandStar Trek: Voyager.The Doctor’s visit to the Alpha Quadrant inVoyager’s “Message in a Bottle” revealsDS9’s updated Starfleet uniform on the EMH Mark 2 (Andy Dick)—and more pressing news about theFederation’s war with the Dominion.
At the same time,DS9’s “One Little Ship” shows how the USS Voyager’s contact with Starfleet Command hasn’t gone ignored, becauseStar Trek: Deep Space Nineis unknowingly researching a way to bring the USS Voyager back home.
