Joseph Carey

From Memory Alpha, the free Star Trek reference.

Lt. Joseph Carey (2371)
Gender:	Male
Species:	Human
Status:	KIA
Died:	2377
Played by:	Josh Clark

Lieutenant Joseph Carey was a Starfleet officer in the 24th century, assigned as the assistant chief engineer of USS Voyager in 2371. He had a wife and two sons.

After the death of his department head, Carey became the acting chief engineer. (VOY: "Caretaker")

Carey was Captain Janeway's natural selection as the new chief engineer, until former Maquis member B'Elanna Torres was suggested by Commander Chakotay. The suggestion was at first improbable, because Torres had recently struck Carey – at the time her nominal superior officer – in a disagreement. The blow narrowly missed causing Carey brain damage. For a time, tensions between the two were predictably high. While both were under consideration for the job of chief engineer, however, Carey was forced to recognize Torres' superior engineering expertise. After Torres was chosen over him, they quickly made a genuine effort at reconciliation. (VOY: "Parallax") Within a short period of time, he indicated he had been working hard to make himself "a valuable member of Torres' team", while she, in return, had issued no complaints about his performance. (VOY: "State of Flux")

Several months after being stranded in the Delta Quadrant aboard Voyager, Carey, along with Torres and Seska conspired to trade the downloaded Federation library of literature to the Sikarians in exchange for the technology behind their folded-space transporter. Their plan was uncovered by Tuvok who made the exchange himself, in defiance of Captain Janeway's orders. The Sikarian technology ultimately proved incompatible with Federation systems though this proved less important than Carey's discovery that the quartz mantle of Sikaris was a focusing method crucial to the system's function. (VOY: "Prime Factors")

Later that year, Tuvok discovered that someone on board Voyager had secretly given Starfleet technology to the Kazon. To hide her tracks, Seska tried to frame Lieutenant Carey. During the investigation, Carey was confined to quarters. (VOY: "State of Flux")

In 2377, Carey was killed on the planet Uxal while searching for fragments on the Friendship 1 probe, which had irradiated the planet's inhabitants with antimatter radiation. Carey was shot by Verin, who had taken the Voyager away team hostage, demanding that Captain Kathryn Janeway relocate his people to another planet. He was beamed back to Voyager, but arrived in Sickbay dead, having been shot through the heart. After his death, it was discovered he had been building a "ship in a bottle" model of Voyager. There was only one nacelle left unfinished. (VOY: "Friendship One").

[edit] Alternate timelines

In an alternate timeline while Voyager was still in drydock, Carey was working in engineering when he met Seven of Nine, who had been sent back in time by Captain Braxton. Carey tried to engage in small talk, getting to know the new crew, saying they should have lunch sometime, but Seven excused herself by saying she was temporarily assigned to Voyager from Utopia Planitia. Later, while Captain Janeway and Admiral Patterson were conducting their initial tour of Engineering, a malfunction crept up in the EPS conduits. Carey commented he'd run a diagnostic on those systems that morning, and offered to fix it, but Janeway noted that she wanted an opportunity to get her hands dirty. (VOY: "Relativity")

In another alternate timeline, Carey was killed during the so-called "Year of Hell" conflict with the Krenim. (VOY: "Before and After")

[edit] Appearances

[edit] Background

• Carey was played by Josh Clark. Clark had previously played an unnamed tactical ensign in TNG: "Justice". Even though the two roles were many years apart, Clark is very recognizable, so it seems as though Carey may have served on the Enterprise-D earlier in his career.
• Carey's precise position on Torres' team was never explicitly defined. While presumably he remained the assistant chief engineer, Carey's virtual disappearance after the first season might suggest otherwise. Indeed, if he remained Torres' assistant, it is somewhat curious that he was not present at some of the more major accomplishments of the engineering section, such as the debut of the quantum slipstream drive. However, he may have just as likely been assigned by Torres to head the department when she was off duty.
• He was primarily used after season one in time travel and alternate timeline stories which needed to imply the past. VOY: "Friendship One" was his only appearance in the "real", post-season one timeline.