The Val Jean was a Condor-class raider which was in service to the Maquis in the 2370s. (CCG set: Energize)
Service history and disposition[]
The Val Jean was purchased by the Maquis from a Ferengi merchant, at an inflated price, shortly after the creation of the Demilitarized Zone in 2370. (VOY novelization: Caretaker)
In 2371, whilst under the command of Chakotay, the Val Jean was pursued by the Cardassian Galor-class warship, Vetar as she attempted to return to the Maquis base in the Terikof Belt. Gul Aman Evek was able to chase the Val Jean into the Badlands, but the Vetar herself became damaged in the plasma storms.
After escaping the Vetar, the Val Jean was scanned by a coherent tetryon beam and transported over 70,000 light-years into the Delta Quadrant by a being later identified as the Caretaker. Shortly after arrival, Chakotay and his crew were transported to the Caretaker's array and subjected to medical tests to determine their biological compatibility with the Caretaker. While the bulk of the crew were transported back to the Val Jean, engineer B'Elanna Torres was transported to the planet Ocampa.
In order to rescue Torres, Chakotay decided to team up with Captain Kathryn Janeway and the USS Voyager, who had similarly been drawn into the Delta Quadrant. Thankfully, the two ships were able to rescue Torres from the Ocampa. However, both vessels were later engaged in battle with a small fleet of Kazon-Ogla ships, including a large Kazon carrier vessel. Because the carrier outgunned both Voyager and the Val Jean, Chakotay had his crew beamed aboard Voyager and then performed a ramming maneuver, beaming out seconds before the Val Jean was destroyed. (VOY novelization: Caretaker)
Val Jean personnel[]
- Ayala
- Kurt Bendera
- Kendrick Biessman
- Chakotay
- Chell
- Mitch Csatlos
- Kenneth Dalby
- Mariah Henley
- Hogan
- Jackson
- Jarvin
- Kenn Lathrop
- Telsia Murphy
- Jeffrey Nelson
- Gerron Ral
- Tom Paris (2370)
- Seska
- Setonak (-2370)
- Lon Suder
- Yuri Terikof
- B'Elanna Torres
- Tuvok
Appendices[]
Background[]
While the Val Jean itself was given as the name in the VOY episode: "Repression", many other names have been suggested for the ship. A cut line from "Parallax" gives the name of Zola, Liberty was given in Pathways, Selva was given in The Badlands duology, and Double Helix: Quarantine gave the name as Spartacus. Geronimo was also suggested for the mirror universe version of this vessel in "The Mirror-Scaled Serpent".
A possible reason the ship was given different names was mentioned in Quarantine. It stated that Maquis ships often had to change the names and warp signatures of their vessels in order to appear they had more ships than they actually did.
While the vessel was ostensibly named for the character of Valjean from Les Miserables, the Star Trek Encyclopedia calls the parsing of the name as "Val Jean" a "typographical error". Since that was the way it was displayed onscreen, it is shown as such for the purposes of this wiki.
Appearances and references[]
External link[]
- Val Jean article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.