Karen Austin (born 24 October 1954 ; age 63) is an actress who was according to a January 1995 article by Daniel Howard Cerone of the LA Times one of three actresses who were considered for the role of Captain Kathryn Janeway in Star Trek: Voyager. According to Voyager co-creator and executive producer Jeri Taylor, Kate Mulgrew was finally chosen for the role because she "simply had an ineffable quality that put her ahead of the pack". Austin ultimately went on to play Miral, the mother of B'Elanna Torres, in the Voyager episode "Barge of the Dead" as well as Kalandra in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Nor the Battle to the Strong" .