Sanders ( Captain ) Sanders was a Human male who served as a Starfleet officer during the late - 24th century . In 2373 , Sanders held the rank of captain and served as the commanding officer of the Federation starship . Due to the maquis conflicts that year , the " Malinche " was patrolling the Demilitarized Zone when they were requested to assist Captain Benjamin Sisko on the during pursuit of a Maquis raider commanded by Starfleet defector Michael Eddington . Captain Sanders agreed to assist Sisko in cutting off the raider , preventing his escape into the badlands . Though the plan seemed to be working , during the battle , Eddington attacked and disabled the " Defiant " with a computer virus he had previously hidden in the ship ' s systems . Following Eddington ' s escape , Starfleet assigned Sanders responsibility for apprehending him , believing that Sisko had become too personally involved . During his search , Sanders ordered the " Malinche " to the rescue of a Cardassian freighter in distress but when he instructed the shields be lowered for transport , the maquis attacked , seriously damaging the " Malinche " with by a booby trap . Sanders and the crew were then left adrift in space . Fortunately Captain Sisko received his distress signal and was able to provide assistance . As Sisko left to continue the pursuit of Eddington , Sanders asked only one favor : that Sisko save him a seat at Eddington ' s court martial . He then wished Sisko " good hunting " . ( ) Appendices . Background information . Sanders was played by recurring " Star Trek " guest actor Eric Pierpoint . The script for describes Sanders as , " " a human male in his forties , a thoughtful and deliberate man , he ' s not prone to snap decisions . " " The idea to cast Pierpont as Sanders came from Executive Producer Ira Steven Behr . He knew of the actor from his time as a regular cast member on the 1982 series " " on which Behr served as a producer . " " I thought he did a great job . " " Behr said of Pierpont ' s performance in " For the Uniform " . " " We always talked about bringing him back , but we never did . " " ( " " , p . 420 ) Pierpont had previously auditioned unsuccessfully for the roles of William T . Riker , Benjamin Sisko , and Kathryn Janeway ( before it became a female role ) and was excited to be able to play a Starfleet captain . " " I think that was a gift that they gave me for not being the captain . I think they just threw me that one , " " he joked in a 2013 interview with StarTrek . com , " " It was cool to play the captain of a starship . Then it was interesting to think that if your ship wasn ’ t the one that was shot down you might still be circling in space somewhere , right ? So you could have the demeanor , but the authority and the sense of humor are essential , I think . That ’ s a la James Kirk . Those are the best because then you ’ ve got a guy who ’ s always trying to figure something out , who ’ s really , really smart , but has a side to him that ’ s also really human . So I would have liked to have explored that had I not had my ship shot out from under me . " " When asked which of his characters he would like to have played again , Pierpont replied , " " I feel like a lot of the characters had a full arc , even if it was just one episode . The one that didn ’ t , or that had the least was Captain Sanders . So I would say Captain Sanders , because it was abbreviated . He didn ’ t get to fully form because he was only in it for a couple of scenes . I ’ d like to have seen how I ’ d have played this leading man captain and where they might have taken that . " " Apocrypha . The " " novel " The Buried Age " gives Sanders ' first name as " George " and reveals that he is captain of the " Malinche " in the year 2363 , when the ship is part of a task force organized by Captain Jean - Luc Picard that travels into Carnelian space in order to stop the ancient Manraloth people from gaining access to their civilization ' s database , which is stored in the event horizon of a nearby black hole . Part IV of the " " novel series is set immediately after the events of " For the Uniform " . After the capture of Michael Eddington and several other Maquis prisoners , Sanders volunteers to transport them to Earth on the " Malinche " . In the " " novel " A Singular Destiny " , set during a Borg invasion of 2381 , Captain Sanders orders the " Malinche " to engage a fleet of six Borg cube s in sector 22093 , " en route " to the Andorian system . The " Malinche " is destroyed and Sanders is killed in action , which is later confirmed in a casualty report . Sanders is also mentioned briefly in the " " eBook " Here There Be Monsters " and the novel " Articles of the Federation " . Decipher ' s " Starfleet Operations Manual " gives Sanders ' first name as " Harlan " .