Rachel Garrett Rachel Garrett was a 24th century Human female who served as a Federation Starfleet officer and , by 2344 , had attained the rank of captain commanding the . Biography . In 2344 , the " Enterprise " - C , under Garrett ' s command , responded to a distress call from the Klingon outpost at Narendra III , which was under attack by four Romulan Warbird s . Garrett ordered the " Enterprise " - C to engage the attackers . While defending the outpost , the weapon s discharges resulted in the creation of a temporal rift , through which the badly damaged " Enterprise " - C drifted , arriving in the year 2366 . Garrett had been badly injured , but managed to send a distress call . To her surprise , a Federation ship did answer the call – the ship ' s immediate successor , the . Garrett was taken to its sickbay while Lieutenant Richard Castillo managed repairs . As she recovered , Jean - Luc Picard informed her that the Federation was at war with the Klingon Empire , and on the brink of defeat . Initially , Garrett was prepared to remain and assist the Federation ' s war efforts , but it was eventually discovered that the " Enterprise " - C ' s journey through time had resulted in the creation of an alternate timeline , and that , if they wished to restore the proper flow of history , the " Enterprise " - C would have to return through the rift , in the middle of the battle with the Romulans . Garrett initially balked at this idea , noting that they were hopelessly outmatched by the Romulans , but Picard pointed out that , if a Federation starship were to sacrifice itself in defense of a Klingon outpost , such an act would be seen as extremely honorable by the Empire , and perhaps avoid the war altogether . Garrett eventually conceded , and prepared to take her ship back through the rift . However , before the " Enterprise " - C could depart , both ships came under attack by a Klingon Bird - of - Prey , resulting in Garrett ' s death . The timeline was eventually restored when Lieutenant Richard Castillo took command of the " Enterprise " - C , and returned the ship through the rift . ( ) Memorable quotes . " " The war is going very badly for the Federation , far worse than is generally known . Starfleet Command believes that defeat is inevitable . Within six months , we may have no choice but to surrender . " " " " Are you saying all this may be a result of our arrival here ? " " " " One more ship will make no difference in the here and now , but twenty - two years ago , one ship could have stopped this war before it started . " " " " To be honest with you , Picard , a significant number of my crew members have expressed a desire to return even knowing the odds . Some because they can ' t bear to live without their loved ones , some because they don ' t like the idea of slipping out in the middle of a fight " . " " " Mr . Castillo ? " " " " Yes , captain ? " " " " Inform the crew - we ' re going back ! " " " " We ' ll make it one for the history books . " " Appendices . Background information . Rachel Garrett was played by actress Tricia O ' Neil ; stunts for Garrett ' s death scene were performed by stunt double Donna Garrett . According to the " " , the last name " Garrett " was chosen by story co - writer Trent Christopher Ganino , who took the name from a pizzeria in San Diego , Ganino ' s hometown . In an early draft of the script , the captain was named Richard Garrett . Captain Garrett is the only canon female captain of a USS " Enterprise " . ( Demora Sulu was captain of the in " Star Trek " novels . ) In the final draft of the script , Rachel Garrett is described as " a tall , handsome woman that commands respect instantly . " A biographical readout , written by Michael Okuda , in the PC game " " stated that Rachel Garrett was born in 2300 . If so , and the date is taken along with her history from the novels , she was admitted to Starfleet Academy at a very young age . According to Rick Sternbach , the fatal shrapnel was a wing from a VF - 1 Valkyrie . Apocrypha . The Lost Era novels – " The Art of the Impossible " and " Well of Souls " – and the " The Haunted Starship " , add the following non - canon details : According to the video game " " , Rachel Garrett was born in Madison , Indiana to parents Judith and David Garrett . She has a brother named Robert James Garrett .