Garrovick ( Ensign ) Ensign Garrovick was a male Human Starfleet officer who lived during the mid - 23rd century . He served in the operations division aboard the under Captain James T . Kirk , during a historic five - year mission that starship undertook . He served as one of the ship ' s security officer s . was the former commander of the . He and Ensign Rizzo were good friends and Starfleet Academy classmates . In 2268 , a newly transferred Garrovick reported to the bridge of the " Enterprise " and learned of Rizzo ' s death from Nyota Uhura , who was presenting a report on his condition to Kirk at the time . Kirk offered Garrovick the chance to avenge Rizzo ' s death , once he learned of their friendship . Kirk and Garrovick encountered the same dikironium cloud creature on Argus X that killed his father , and two hundred crewmembers from the " Farragut " , eleven years earlier . Garrovick sighted the creature but was temporarily paralyzed and unable to shoot it . Kirk blamed Garrovick for his hesitation , a blunder which caused the death of two security officers . He was subsequently relieved of duty and confined to quarters until further notice , a punishment Leonard McCoy viewed as harsh in light of the circumstances . Guilt - ridden , Garrovick lay around in his quarters , only to be visited by Nurse Chapel , who brought him some dinner as per Doctor McCoy ' s orders . He asked her for an update and she gave him one , adding that he was luck y to not have to deal with the situation . Though Garrovick refused the food twice , Chapel showed him a microtape and told him that it was McCoy ' s officially logged prescription for the man to eat , adding that if he didn ' t comply , McCoy could and likely would have him dragged to sickbay and fed intravenous ly . ( In reality , the tape contained " A Survey on Cygnian Respiratory Diseases " ) . It was later discovered that Garrovick ' s hesitation was unintentional and that phaser fire would not have harmed the creature . When Spock came to tell him that , the creature tried to enter his quarters through the air vent . The first officer ordered him out of the room while he attempted to stop it . Kirk allowed Garrovick to redeem himself upon the ensign ' s request . Together , they set a trap for the creature , which consisted of a container of red blood and a matter / antimatter bomb . The two beamed back to the " Enterprise " , moments before the bomb went off , which at the same time , destroyed the cloud creature . ( ) Appendices . Background information . Garrovick was played by Stephen Brooks . He was the only minor redshirt to survive an away mission in " Obsession " . While the character ' s first name was not established through dialogue , the sign to Garrovick ' s quarters read : " David Garrovick . " The character has appeared in multiple novels and comics , and has variously been given the first name David ( " Star Trek 9 " by James Blish ) , Stephen ( " In the Name of Honor " by Dayton Ward ) and Tom ( " Debt of Honor " comic by Chris Claremont ) . The video game " " calls him Stephen Garrovick and gives his parents ' names as Joseph and Jeanne Garrovick . His mother in named Anne in the novel " In the Name of Honor " .