Array, the
The Caretaker Array
A huge craft built by the "Caretaker" aliens to protect the Ocampa in the Delta Quadrant, consisting of a central cylinder with projecting arms at the midpoint, each tipped with a fin-like panel at the extremity whose plane lies perpendicular to the central axis. The Caretaker uses the array to scan the galaxy with a coherent tetryon beam for a likely mate and successor , then abducts the targeted crews for about three days of medical testing for DNA procreation compatibility. The Caretaker's own self-destruct system to ward off a Kazon-Ogla takeover was outpaced when a Kazon mothership was pushed into it after a suicide run of Chakotay's Maquis fighter, also captured. To finish the job and keep the status quo, Janeway ordered tricobalt bombs to finish the destruction. Tuvok could have accessed its system to send the U.S.S. Voyager home, but it would have taken six hours unaided.
