Dimitri Valtane Lieutenant commander Dimitri Valtane was a male Human Starfleet science officer in the 23rd century . From 2290 to 2293 , Valtane served on the under Captain Hikaru Sulu for its three - year mission cataloging gas eous planetary bodies in the Beta Quadrant . His living quarters was on deck 7 , along with bunk - mate Ensign Tuvok and two others , who all worked during the gamma shift . ( ; ) On their return , the " Excelsior " was hit from a shockwave while Valtane was on duty . He located the source , Qo ' noS ' moon , Praxis , and found it had exploded . ( ) Later , he learned along with all the others that Captain Kirk and Dr . McCoy were imprisoned on Rura Penthe for the murder of Chancellor Gorkon . As an eager young officer , Valtane expressed both approval and surprise regarding Captain Sulu ' s recklessness in attempting to rescue the two officers . He observed Tuvok ' s objection to Sulu ' s decision as well . Later , privately , Tuvok expressed his negative outlook on Human s to him . Valtane did not take any personal offense , however , and , at the end of the conversation , merely remarked that Tuvok ' s determination to resign his commission in the future would be " his loss " . Following Captain Sulu ' s abortive attempt to rescue Kirk and McCoy , the " Excelsior " came under attack while attempting to enter Klingon space . Gravely injured during the attack , Valtane , while in a state of clinical death , unwittingly transferred a memory virus to his attendant crewmate Tuvok . ( ) Appendices . Background information . Valtane was played by actor Jeremy Roberts as an adult and an unknown actor as a child . This character had no first name in ; it wasn ' t established as " Dimitri " until " Flashback " . The name wasn ' t included in the first draft of the episode ' s script , but was in the final draft of that teleplay . The spells his first name as " Dmitri " . In the script of " Flashback " ( both the first and final draft of the teleplay ) , the adult Valtane was consistently referred to as a lieutenant . The costume worn by Roberts as Valtane in " Flashback " was auctioned off in the It ' s A Wrap ! sale and auction on eBay . Valtane , Lojur , the Borg Queen and Admiral are the only characters to debut in a " Star Trek " film before appearing in a " Star Trek " television series . Apocrypha . He was called Masoud Valtane in the of " Star Trek VI : The Undiscovered Country " , as well as the novel " The Fearful Summons " ( which was written by " Star Trek VI " screenwriter and character co - creator Denny Martin Flinn ) . Peter David ' s novel " The Captain ' s Daughter " stated that Valtane was the " Excelsior " s first officer ; the also stated this . However , DC Comics had a story arc , collected in " Tests of Courage " , by Howard Weinstein in their second TOS volume that instead had Rand as first officer . According to his biography in the video game " " , Valtane was the son of Nikolai and Larisa Valtane . He was born in 2259 on the Beta Niobe colony , and entered Starfleet Academy in 2277 . In 2280 , while serving aboard the USS " Malinche " , he rescued two wounded crewmen from a pack of Denebian slime devils , armed only with a stick . In 2281 , Valtane was assigned to the USS " Gallipoli " as a junior astrophysicist . In 2284 , he was promoted to lieutenant and assigned to the USS " Lamneth " as chief stellar cartographer on a mission of exploration in the Gurava sector . In 2289 , Valtane transferred to the USS " Churchill " as science officer . In 2291 , Valtane wrote a scientific paper titled " Methods for Stabilizing Protomatter in High - Energy Matrices . "