Star Trek: 10 Times Starfleet Officers Crossed The Line

3. Erica Ortegas Forces A Confrontation With The Klingons - Shuttle To Kenfori

Erica Ortegas is one of the great unknowns from Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. Introduced in the pilot, she flies the ship, don't you know! Other than that, she received little character development until the third season - when it started to arrive in spades.

Her capture and assault by the Gorn clearly left her shaken, which only added to the trauma she felt after the Klingon war. While she had been cleared for return to service, questions began to arise about her fitness, particularly after the events of Shuttle To Kenfori.

Ready and raring to save Pike and M'Benga as she was, she let her emotions get the better of her while the Enterprise was playing hide and seek with a Klingon Battlecruiser. Despite the risks, she edged the speed of the ship up sufficiently so as to be noticed by the Klingons - thus giving her the excuse to mount the daring rescue plan she had proposed earlier.

A happy ending does not grant one immunity from repercussions and Number One was quick to relieve her of duty. While her actions resulted in Pike and M'Benga's safe return to the ship, they could just as easily have led to an armed conflict. Good intentions must be handled with care and for Ortegas this was a hard lesson to learn.