An Excerpt from Janeway: The Unauthorized Biography:

"What is the explanation for Janeway's behavior?

"Certainly the woman possessed traits that stood her in good stead for starship command: extremely intelligent, forceful personality, dry sense of humor...

"Yet, while she often shone as an inspiration to her officers and crew, there were times she failed spectacularly in her responsibilities, or exhibited an appalling hypocrisy that threatened to invalidate her worthiness to command.

"I believe the incredible pressures of her situation, and the manner in which she chose to cope with them, affected her progressively more often and more intensely, until by what has been labeled 'The Equinox Incident,' her overweening pride and sense of self-righteousness had so taken hold of her that she on occasion acted not like a starship captain, but a sovereign lady—brooking no opposition to her agenda and very little to her opinion.

"Now this was not the sum total, or even the predominant portion, of her personality/character. Janeway was often personable, cooperative, empathetic, motherly, brilliant and decisive; it is obvious that most of her crew was devoted to the point of zealotry.

"Yet one can examine certain incidents during that seven-year odyssey wherein her decision-making was so skewed it was a wonder her first officer and chief of security didn't settle their own myriad differences and remove her from the center seat.

"Circumstance did not aid her mental health. The aforementioned X-O, Chakotay (see Chapter Seven: Forbidden Love) was a former Maquis officer. If he'd chosen to act, it was entirely possible his support from the Starfleet crew would have fallen away, especially in the early years of their journey. Additionally, it was clear he was romantically interested, and Janeway, whether consciously or not, parlayed that into extra slack when she strayed (or galloped) past the edge of proper behavior into a land we'll call 'Auburnia.' Thus, he was no threat to her 'reign.' I could add 'of terror,' there, but it's a much more complex issue than that.

"Her chief of security was a close friend, also inclined to allow her massive amounts of leeway in the execution (as pertains to Tuvix [cf. Chapter Four: Judge, Jury and Executioner], no pun intended) of her responsibilities.

"The chief medical officer was a hologram, and possessed no legal authority—except that which she had allowed him so as to function. He was dependent on her for his continued existence, in many ways. The popular perception that the humanist in Janeway considered him an actual person (and, as a result, had allowed him room to expand the parameters of his 'life' beyond sickbay) was in part (but not entirely) contravened by the fact that she swatted him down whenever he attempted to assert the legitimate power of his position, as any sentient individual would—especially when related to his specific function of serving as check and balance to a distraught or disturbed commander.

"At least 20% of her crew were former members of the Maquis. These probably didn't bat an eyelash at certain of Janeway's actions, believing firmly that the ends justify the means and that results count more than ideals—both concepts completely antithetical to a good Starfleet officer. There is no question, ironically enough, that the aforementioned Chakotay exhibited greater restraint and a superior understanding of just how far one could go than did his captain.

"They were 70,000 light years from home as the journey began, with no visible means of support and little prospect of getting where they were going in what anyone would consider a reasonable amount of time. She'd gone in a few instants from starship captain to President, United Federation of Planets, Delta Quadrant Chapter, with the launch of two tri-cobalt devices.

"Any one of these factors would probably have had negligible effect. Two or three might have caused a few hiccups. All of them together combined to leave Janeway with a breadth of discretion (or lack thereof, depending on how we use the term) unparalleled in Starfleet history.

"She handled it better than many, but not as well as some others. I have no doubt that it appealed to her always substantial ego and ever-burgeoning hubris to possess such authority. Certainly she rarely failed to exercise it in moments of conflict, whether appropriate or not.

"Janeway was The Virgin Queen of the Delta Quadrant... the Mother Superior of Voyager Abbey... Woman of the Year for seven straight years... and a person whose grip on sanity was neither as tenuous as her detractors have asserted...

"...nor was it, especially in later years and at certain times, as firm as those who were beguiled by her beauty and power have tried to believe. She was, like Galadriel, 'eager to be gone... to rule a realm at her own will.'

"For seven years, she did just that."

Diane Dell

[About the author: Diane Dell's books include A Gentleman and a Scholar: The Biography of Hardesty B. Grover and the Pulitzer Prize-winning expose Swords in Shadows: The Secret History of “Section 31.” She is currently on an undisclosed assignment for the Federation News Service.]