John Harriman Captain John Harriman was a Human male who served as a Starfleet officer and captain of the during the late - 23rd century . History . As a child in grade school , Harriman read about the legendary missions of the crew of the original Federation Starship " Enterprise " , a fact which he related to James T . Kirk , Montgomery Scott , and Pavel Chekov during the " Enterprise " - B ' s christening ceremony in 2293 , where the three were guests of honor . During the " Enterprise " - B ' s shakedown cruise , the crew received a distress call from the transport vessel " Lakul " , which was carrying El - Aurian refugees to Earth . Initially , Harriman was slow to respond and reluctant to attempt a rescue , aware that the " Enterprise " did not yet have a full crew complement and that several key systems were not installed ; however , he was forced to respond as they were the only ship in range . The crew discovered the " Lakul " and another vessel trapped in a severe gravimetric distortion which was threatening to destroy the ships . As the crew of the " Enterprise " could not move into transporter range without becoming trapped in the distortion itself , Harriman suggested a number of courses of action . These suggestions included generating a subspace field around the ships and venting drive plasma from the warp nacelle s in an attempt to break them free . Use of a tractor beam was impossible because the system had not yet been installed . These efforts met with failure , and given it was obvious Kirk was barely restraining himself from intervening , Harriman swallowed his pride during this crisis to ask for the veteran ' s advice . At that consent , Kirk suggested moving the ship into transporter range that they were able to rescue the surviving passengers . Harriman was initially skeptical of this plan , observing that the gravimetric distortions had the potential to destroy the ship , a claim to which Kirk simply responded , " " risk is part of the game , if you want to sit in that chair " . " Although the effort was successful and the El - Aurians were beamed aboard , the " Enterprise " did indeed become caught in a gravimetric field . With no photon torpedo es aboard to generate an antimatter discharge , Scott suggested that a resonance burst from the main deflector might simulate the effect and disrupt the field ' s hold on the ship long enough to break away . As performing this procedure required a modification to the ship ' s deflector relay s , Harriman granted command to Kirk as he prepared to leave the bridge and perform the modifications . After only seconds in the captain ' s chair , Kirk maintained that Harriman ' s place was on the bridge of his ship , so he volunteered to perform the modifications himself . It was during his efforts to modify the relays that an immense energy surge struck the ship , causing a hull breach on deck fifteen , where Kirk was working . After the ship broke free of the field due to Kirk ' s actions , Harriman , Scott , and Chekov traveled to deck fifteen where they discovered that the room in which Kirk was working had been completely destroyed , apparently resulting in Kirk ' s death . ( ) Memorable quotes . " " I just want you to know how excited we all are to have a group of living legends with us on our maiden voyage . . . . I remember reading about your missions when I was in grade school . " " < br > " " How big is your medical staff ? " " " " The medical staff . . . doesn ' t arrive till Tuesday . " " " " Captain Kirk , I ' d be honored if you ' d give the order to get underway . " " < br > " " Thank you very much . I . . . " " < br > " " Please , sir . " " < br > " " No . " " < br > " " Please , I insist . " " < br > " " Captain Kirk , . . . I would appreciate any suggestions you might have . " " < br > " " First . . . move us within transporter range and beam those people aboard the Enterprise . " " < br > " " What about the gravimetric distortions ? They ' ll tear us apart . " " < br > " " Risk is part of the game if you want to sit in that chair . " " < br > " " You did it , Kirk ! " " Appendices . Background information . Harriman was played by actor Alan Ruck . The script for " Star Trek Generations " describes Harriman as , " " young , confident , eager - - this is his first command and he takes it very seriously . " " Regarding why the clearly inexperienced Harriman was given command of a state of the art starship , Ruck speculated that Harriman had come from a privileged family who had pulled strings to get him the assignment as a stepping stone to a political career . In early drafts of " Star Trek Generations " and various merchandise released before the movie , the commanding officer of the " Enterprise " - B was called " Harry Johnson . " In the " " , the computer refers to him as " James Harriman . " Apocrypha . Captain Harriman and the " Enterprise " - B are featured in the 1995 novel " The Captain ' s Daughter " , in " Shakedown " , a short story in the 2000 anthology " Enterprise Logs " ( both of which were written by Peter David ) , and in the novels " Serpents Among the Ruins " and " One Constant Star " , both by David R . George III . He makes an appearance early in the of the " " comic , showing Spock the place , now adorned with a plaque , where Kirk was pulled into the Nexus – Harriman was distraught that he ' d lost James T . Kirk on his first command , but Spock , reminding him of the 47 El - Aurians saved by the " Enterprise " , insisting that he had nothing to be ashamed of . Harriman featured prominently in the 2010 comic book issue , detailing his struggle to overcome his guilt and his doubts in the aftermath of the shakedown cruise and Kirk ' s " death " . " Captain ' s Daughter " introduces Harriman ' s father : Admiral John Harriman , Senior ( nicknamed Blackjack ) . " Serpents Among the Ruins " indicates that Harriman , working with Starfleet Intelligence , was the main architect of what became the Tomed Incident ; the effort was intended to diffuse tensions with the Romulan Star Empire by forcing them to stand down when the Klingons sided with the Federation after the Romulans destroyed a series of Federation border outposts . The outposts were revealed to be completely empty , with false sensor readings indicating life signs . After the signing of the Treaty of Algeron , Harriman steps down as captain of the " Enterprise " - B and turns it over to his first officer , Demora Sulu . The novel gives his full name as John Jason Harriman II . In " One Constant Star " , eight years later , Harriman is assigned as " admiral - at - large " of Helaspont Station , commanded by his wife , Captain Amina Sasine ; they team up with Demora and the " Enterprise - B " to rescue Demora ' s father , Captain Hikaru Sulu , and the survivors of the destroyed . This novel reveals that Harriman had a sister named Lynn who was murdered in 2275 . The short story " Full Circle " in " Strange New Worlds VII " shows Harriman at the rank of admiral and serving as Starfleet Command ' s liaison to the Starfleet Corps of Engineers in 2371 – the year Kirk emerged from the Nexus and was killed on Veridian III . He turns the job over to Montgomery Scott , remarking that a real engineer could make something of the job – setting the stage for the " " series . The " " novel " Raise the Dawn " mentions that Harriman is still alive in the 2380s . The personnel file created by Michael Okuda for the video game " " includes several connections to Ruck ' s role as Cameron Fry in the movie , including a wife named Sloane and a son named Ferris who both live in Chicago , as well as an interest in 20th century Italian sports automobile s .