Gardner Gardner was a Starfleet officer in the mid - 22nd century . History . In 2143 , Gardner was a pilot in the NX test program . Along with Commander s Duvall , A . G . Robinson , and Jonathan Archer , he competed for the position as pilot in the effort to break the warp 2 barrier in the NX - Alpha . Ultimately , however , Robinson was chosen to conduct the flight . ( ) By 2151 , Gardner had been promoted to captain , and was endorsed by Vulcan ambassador Soval for the command position of , Earth ' s first warp five starship . Eventually , the candidates were narrowed down to Archer and Robinson , with the posting ultimately going to Archer . Soval , however , continued to voice his objection to Archer ' s selection , feeling he was too impulsive for such an important mission . ( ) By 2154 , Gardner had been promoted to admiral , and replaced Admiral Maxwell Forrest in overseeing " Enterprise " s mission after Forrest was killed in a bombing of the United Earth Embassy on . In that capacity , he ordered " Enterprise " to return to Earth subsequent to a communication with Administrator V ' Las , who was attempting to remove the " Enterprise " crew as witnesses to a planned massacre of the Syrranite movement . Charles Tucker , in command of " Enterprise " at the time , ultimately chose to disobey this order , however , when he learned of a planned Vulcan invasion of Andoria , and subsequently ordered " Enterprise " to Andorian space in an attempt to warn them . Later , Tucker contacted Gardner , informing him that " Enterprise " had taken up position with an Andorian fleet to combat the invasion force , in hopes that V ' Las would halt his attack , rather than let it be known that Vulcan forces were responsible for " Enterprise " s destruction in the subsequent battle . ( ) Later that year , when Archer came to believe that he was going to die due to infection by a silicon - based virus , he warned Commander T ' Pol , his first officer , to attempt to remain in command of " Enterprise " , and to oppose Gardner if he attempted to assign a new captain . ( ) Also in 2154 , Gardner granted Archer ' s request of the redeployment of every available Starfleet vessel to " Enterprise " s location in an attempt to complete a sensor grid with which to detect and locate a vessel which had been attacking various ships in the area . However , as the Starfleet vessels would have taken a matter of weeks to arrive , Archer was forced to rely on Vulcan , Andorian , and Tellarite assistance to complete the grid . ( ) Later that year , Gardner granted Archer ' s request to embark on a mission to rescue Doctor Phlox , who had been abducted by the Klingon s in an attempt to force Phlox to assist them in creating Klingon Augment s . ( ) When Ensign Hoshi Sato of the " Enterprise " refused to take orders from Minister Nathan Samuels in early 2155 , he requested to open a channel to Admiral Gardner . Sato , however , told the bridge crew to belay that order , too . ( ) Appendices . Background information . The character of Gardner was never seen in the prime universe , but his mirror universe was played by John Mahon , in . Gardner was named by " Shadows of P ' Jem " co - writer Phyllis Strong in remembrance of a friend who died at the World Trade Center during the terrorist attacks on September 11 , 2001 . ( " Information provided by Mike Sussman " ) In the final draft script of " Shadows of P ' Jem " , this character ' s name was spelled " Gardner " . However , in the final draft script of " First Flight " , the name was spelled " Gardener " . In the script for undeveloped Romulan War film project " " , Gardner ' s daughter , Penelope , was the love interest , and eventual wife , of the main protagonist , Tiberius Chase , making him a direct ancestor ( presumably great - grandfather ) of James T . Kirk . Apocrypha . The novel " To Brave the Storm " gives his full name as Samuel William Gardner . " " calls him Avram Gardner .