Welcome back to Character Insight! This week, we review Captain Rudolph Ransom, a memorable character from the two-part episode Equinox in Voyager.
Captain Ransom is the captain of science vessel USS Equinox, and he earns his command after making first contact with a species called the Yridians. However, this Captain was not as well suited to the rigors of command as others, as became apparent when he and his crew were stranded in the Delta Quadrant by the Caretaker, the same entity that pulled Voyager to the Delta Quadrant.
The Equinox found themselves in a part of the Delta Quadrant controlled by the Krowtonan Guard, a territorial species that did not take kindly to others being in their space. As Ransom wanted to avoid being stranded for the rest of his life, he makes the command decision to try and go through the Krowtonan space to head back towards Earth. This decision was costly, as the Krowtonans attacked frequently and ended up killing 39 of the crew members on board Equinox.
This put the Equinox on a much poorer path than Voyager was on during the first 5 years after both ships were pulled away from home. The crew was starving and the ship's dilithium was drained, and they found themselves desperate to reach an M-class planet to try and survive. The planet they go to has an inhabitant race called the Ankari, who introduce the Equinox crew to nucleogenic lifeforms. The Equinox crew discovers that these lifeforms emit antimatter that could be used to modify their warp drive to get home faster.
Thus, Captain Ransom and his crew make the decision to begin murdering these lifeforms and converting their remains to augment the Equinox warp drive. They begin to come under constant attacks from the nucleogenic lifeforms, at which point Voyager discovers this other Starfleet ship and rescues them from destruction. When the actions of the Equinox are discovered, needless to say that's not copacetic for old Captain by-the-book Janeway.
This put the Equinox on a much poorer path than Voyager was on during the first 5 years after both ships were pulled away from home. The crew was starving and the ship's dilithium was drained, and they found themselves desperate to reach an M-class planet to try and survive. The planet they go to has an inhabitant race called the Ankari, who introduce the Equinox crew to nucleogenic lifeforms. The Equinox crew discovers that these lifeforms emit antimatter that could be used to modify their warp drive to get home faster.
Thus, Captain Ransom and his crew make the decision to begin murdering these lifeforms and converting their remains to augment the Equinox warp drive. They begin to come under constant attacks from the nucleogenic lifeforms, at which point Voyager discovers this other Starfleet ship and rescues them from destruction. When the actions of the Equinox are discovered, needless to say that's not copacetic for old Captain by-the-book Janeway.
QUOTE
"Starfleet Regulation 3, Paragraph 12: In the event of imminent destruction, a captain is authorized to preserve the lives of his crew by any justifiable means."
"I doubt that protocol covers mass murder."
"In my judgment, it did."
"Unacceptable."
"I doubt that protocol covers mass murder."
"In my judgment, it did."
"Unacceptable."
We find out the history of Captain Ransom and the Equinox in this encounter, and Ransom proves to be someone who favors misdirection over direct confrontations. That gives Janeway and her crew the advantage when the Equinox and Voyager face off with one another over this mass murder issue. Seven of Nine saves the day by encoding the power relays to prevent the Equinox crew from using them. Ransom even goes so far as to order torture of Seven of Nine before he relents under the guilt of all the actions he has taken. When he finally decides to surrender, his crew mutinies and it leads him to transport all his crew to Voyager before going out on his ship in a warp core breach blaze of glory.
The character of Captain Rudy Ransom provides an interesting comparison or look in the mirror for Janeway and the Voyager crew. While Voyager did tend to bend the rules to survive in the tough environments of the Delta Quadrant, they never got so desperate as to lose their core principles, as Ransom and his crew do. It's a really dark two-part episode, but one of the best in Voyager thanks to this leader of the Equinox.
Captain Ransom was played by John Savage, who had breakout moments as a Vietnam war prisoner in the 1978 film The Deer Hunter and as Claude in the 1979 film adaptation of the Broadway play Hair. He continues to act today, including in the recent movie The Last Full Measure.
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