Ilia Lieutenant Ilia was a female Deltan Starfleet officer in the 23rd century . She was in the navigation and helm branches of the Command division . In the mid - 2270s , she served aboard the under the command of Captain James T . Kirk . Years before her assignment , she had been romantically involved with Will Decker on her home planet Delta IV . She would meet him again on the " Enterprise " . She did , however , swear an oath of celibacy upon initiation of her service , a requirement for Deltans entering Starfleet . In the aftermath of an attack by " V ' ger " on the " Enterprise " , she soothed the nerves in Pavel Chekov ' s hand and wrist before Christine Chapel tended him . Although Ilia was killed by the " V ' ger " probe , " V ' ger " created another probe that was an artificial near - duplicate of her to collect information and act as a liaison between " V ' ger " and the " carbon units " that " infested " the " Enterprise " . The probe mentioned that the Ilia unit was " no longer functioning " . The duplicated Ilia probe was similar to Ilia down to the molecular structure , as a medical exam later revealed . The probe included both her memories and personality , though both suppressed by " V ' ger " s programming . When Spock entered " V ' ger " s interior wearing a thruster suit , he saw a representation of Ilia floating in the expanse and attempted a mind meld . Kirk later listed both Ilia and Will Decker as missing instead of killed , following the involvement of both in the conclusion of the crisis . ( ) Appendices . Background information . Ilia was played by Persis Khambatta . was originally proposed for " " . The show ' s production materials described the character ' s abilities and background – notably , that she was very intelligent , an " esper " and that almost everything with her people was sex - oriented . Khambatta had been cast in the role for the series , and had done costume and makeup tests which were used for the motion picture . ( " The Making of Star Trek The Motion Picture " ) Ilia , as well as her relationship with Will Decker , was the inspiration for both the Betazoid character Deanna Troi and Troi ' s relationship with the Human William T . Riker . This includes the Betazoid s , like the Deltan s , being named after a character in the Greek alphabet , their relatively very open attitude toward sexual activities , and their ESP ( Extra Sensory Perception ) capability ( manifesting in Troi primarily as empathy ) . In the DVD commentary for the Director ' s Cut , director Robert Wise suggested Ilia was a last - minute replacement for the unnamed transporter accident victim who was killed earlier with Commander Sonak . Decker ' s surprised reaction at her arrival seemed to support this . In the , Ilia ' s rank was Lieutenant junior grade . This rank was mentioned in the Gene Roddenberry ' s novelization of " " . Apocrypha . Ilia can also be seen in the first two story arcs of the " Star Trek " newspaper comic strip . In " The Return " , by William Shatner , it was revealed that " V ' ger " was modified by the source species of the Borg . It was suggested that Ilia and Decker were fused to the Borg Collective , in five - dimensional space , by " V ' ger " and that Ilia might be the Borg Queen seen later . According to the video game " " , Ilia ' s father is named Serilli and her mother is named Cherlas . She has a brother named Senn and a sister named Anya . Her mirror universe counterpart was depicted as being a crewmember aboard the in " The Sorrows of Empire " . She was likewise the lover of Willard Decker . She was killed by using the Tantalus field in 2272 .