- For information on the traditional naval and Starfleet title, see: Number one.
- For the mirror universe counterpart, see Number One (mirror).
Number One (also known as Una, Lefler, Robbins or Leigh Hudec) was a 23rd century Human female. She was best known for serving as first officer of the USS Enterprise under Captain Christopher Pike. (TOS episode: "The Cage")
Early life
Number One was born on the planet Illyria in the early 23rd century. (TOS novel: Vulcan's Glory)
During her formative years, Number One was raised in the Illyrian colonies alongside her brothers, Hudek and Leighton. With her given Illyrian birthname considered to be all but impossible for outsiders to pronounce, she adopted the name "Una" (signifying the concept of "one") at least as far back as her Starfleet Academy days, always having been first in her class regarding academics, athletics, intellect, and accomplishments, subsequently being dubbed "Number One" as a variation on this by her classmates. (TOS novel: The Children of Kings, TOS - Legacies novel: Captain to Captain)
In the late 2230s, Number One studied at the Illyrian Cultural Academy in order to be invested as a citizen of Illyria. Following her graduation as first in her class in 2240, she was awarded a plaque recognizing her achievement, at a ceremony which was attended by her brothers. (TOS novel: The Children of Kings)
Starfleet career
Starfleet Academy
By 2245, Robbins had entered Starfleet Academy and had specialized in engineering. In this year, Robbins and a large group of cadets were assigned to the newly-built Constitution-class starship, NX-0002, which would become the famous USS Enterprise, for her shakedown cruise, under the command of Admiral Charles Rasmussen. For the duration of the cruise, Robbins was assigned to engineering, under the direction of Lieutenant Cho. (EV - Crew comic: "Shakedown")
USS Fortune
In the mid-to-late 2240s, Robbins, with the rank of ensign, served aboard the USS Fortune in the engineering department. During an attack by an unknown alien vessel, she was instrumental in saving 27 of the crew from the ship's destruction while in orbit of Tau Alpha III. (EV - Crew comic: "The Bottle")
USS Ventura
By 2248, Robbins had been promoted in rank to lieutenant, junior grade and was serving aboard the USS Ventura. Following a mission to Beta Eridani III, she accepted a transfer to the Enterprise and a promotion to lieutenant. (EV - Crew comic: "Ghosts")
USS Enterprise
Almost as soon as she arrived on the Enterprise, Robbins came to Captain Robert April's attention and earned herself a position as part of a landing party, led by Lieutenant Commander Christopher Pike, to planet Alpha Tau IV. (EV - Crew comic: "The Ends of Eternity")
In October 2249, a routine followup survey expedition to the Libros star system by the Enterprise discovered an extradimensional incursion by a hostile alien species (the Jatohr) who had enslaved the indigenous population of planet Libros III (called "Usilde" in the native tongue). A disastrous landing party expedition commanded by Una resulted in the entire party (except for Robbins/Una) being sent into a parallel universe with little hope of rescue, although the Ptaen incursion was repulsed and the sluglike aliens likewise exiled back to their native reality. However, a piece of technology known as the Transfer Key was recovered by Captain April, and Una resolved to eventually rescue her comrades, despite potentially taking decades to do so. (TOS - Legacies novel: Captain to Captain)
By 2250, Robbins was the Enterprise's helmsman, and part of the senior staff. She had served aboard the Enterprise for three years, refusing every promotion that was offered to her. (EV - Crew comic: "Shadows of the Past")
USS Yorktown
In 2250, she was posted to the USS Yorktown as executive officer, under Christopher Pike, who called her "Number One" as a sort of joke; it being an old term for executive officer (TOS episode: "The Cage"). She transferred with him to the USS Enterprise in 2251, even though she had hoped for command of a science vessel or medical frigate (EV comic: "Flesh of My Flesh")
- According to Vulcan's Glory, the two had served together for four years as of 2254. The short story "Chaotic Response" suggests that she did not become first officer until sometime after 2252, before which time she was called "Number Five".
Further service aboard the Enterprise
Number One leading the rescue party aboard the Ngultor ship
In 2254, following an attack by a mysterious alien race, the Ngultor, Number One led a landing party to rescue Captain Pike from Ngultor captivity (EV comic: "Flesh of My Flesh"). On the Enterprise's next mission, in the Marrat Nebula, Number One led another landing party, this time to investigate a loss in communications at Starfleet's Project Pharos. Shortly after beaming down, the party came under attack from Klingons, Number One used the transporters to beam in behind the Klingon attackers and neutralize them before rescuing a team of Starfleet engineers the Klingons had been holding captive. (EV comic: "The Fires of Pharos")
Following a disastrous visit to Rigel VII, Number One and the Enterprise found themselves visiting the mysterious planet Talos IV where Captain Pike was taken captive by the native Talosians. Determined to rescue the Captain, Number One once again led a rescue party. Unfortunately the Talosians were able to manipulate the Enterprise's transporters delivering only Number One and Yeoman Colt into the Talosian habitat. The entire party later escaped. (TOS episode: "The Cage") Very shortly following the Talos IV incident, the Enterprise was sent to a rift that opened every 33 years into the Gamma Quadrant of the galaxy. The starship received brand-new, highly-advanced computer voice modules, with her own voice-patterns subsequently imprinted upon the Enterprise's computer, which lead to her voice being used in future years. (TOS novel: The Rift)
Not long after, Pike left Number One in command of the Enterprise while he led a landing party to Darien 224. She was forced to take the starship into battle when they were attacked by the USS Cortez, which had been commandeered by a group of hostile Vulcans. The Enterprise stopped at Deep Space Station K-12 to receive repairs following the incident, and Number One was left in charge again when Pike left for Earth after hearing his father was ill. However, it soon became apparent that the message had been faked; unfortunately, the message was too degraded to track it to its point of origin. Fortunately, someone sent a screened untraceable message to the Enterprise informing them of Pike's location, and Number One was able to take the Enterprise to rescue him from his Klingon adversaries who had set the trap. (EV comics: "Cloak and Dagger", "The Flat, Gold Forever")
In 2255, the Enterprise crew became stricken with Rigelian fever, with Captain Pike ordering the starship to Cypria III, location of the rare substance ryetalyn, the only known curative. However, en route, the ship intervened in a pursuit involving the adopted Cyprian daughter of a Klingon general, which threatened to bring down a sizeable military response against both the Enterprise and Cypria III. Planetside, Number One was forced into action to rescue her landing party from a hostile population riled up by opportunistic politicians against them, resulting in a diplomatic incident. However, Number One succeeded in saving her crewmembers and returning to the Enterprise, and both the Rigelian fever and the Klingon situation were soon resolved. (TOS novel: Child of Two Worlds)
She was offered command of the USS Nelson in 2255, but turned it down, preferring to remain under Pike on the Enterprise. (EV comic: "Futures, Part One")
By 2264, Number One still served aboard the Enterprise under Pike. Following Pike's decision to accept promotion to the rank of fleet captain and reassignment, Number One agreed to remain behind and continue as first officer under James T. Kirk. Unfortunately, days before the change-of-command ceremony, Number One had an accident in the ship's cargo hold, where a cargo container fell onto her and crushed both her legs. Thankfully, she received prompt medical treatment from Dr. Phillip Boyce, but her long recovery meant that she couldn't serve as Kirk's first officer. (TOS comic: "All Those Years Ago...")
Following her recovery, Number One finally received a command of her own. (TOS novel: Enterprise: The First Adventure)
Commanding the Yorktown
Number One with Captain Kirk and Spock on planet Usilde, in 2267.
Number One was given command of the USS Yorktown at some point prior to the year 2267. In that same year, following the return of Captain Kirk and his crew from the Mirror universe, Robbins/Una finally discovered the means to reactivate the Transfer Key device (from the ill-fated Usildar mission of 2249) and rescue her former Enterprise crewmates from a hellish alternate universe.
However, this was attempted by Una stealing the Key from Kirk's quarters under the pretense of a friendly ship-visit — Number One fleeing the starship aboard a high-speed courier vessel; the Enterprise pursuing her back to the Librosian star system, now claimed by the Klingon Empire. Planetside, Robbins/Una escaped from hostile native clutches, only to be saved by Kirk and Spock when attempting to enter the abandoned Jatohr citadel there. With Klingons closing in, Number One used the Transfer Key to enter the home dimension of the Jatohr in an attempt to bring her missing crewmates home; Kirk and Spock barely escaping back to the Enterprise in the nick of time. (TOS - Legacies novel: Captain to Captain)
Upon arriving in the alternate universe, Una journeyed across a massive, burning desert where she ultimately encountered her stranded crewmates from decades earlier. However, in order to attempt an escape from the dimension, an expedition to the Jatohr capital city was necessary to prevent the slug-like aliens from interdicting the Enterprise's extraction-efforts in two months' time, and this resulted in the capture and interrogation of Una, Tim Shimizu, and Lieutenant Commander Raul Martinez by the Jatohr leadership. (TOS - Legacies novel: Best Defense)
At some point after these events, Number One was eventually promoted to the rank of commodore, and resumed command of the USS Yorktown, when, in 2270, she was sent by Starfleet Command to the Romulan Neutral Zone using a cloaking device, under orders to engage the Romulans. While in the Neutral Zone, her ship had power trouble with the cloaking device, and came under attack from Captain Koloth's ship. During the engagement, Number One and the Yorktown successfully disabled the enemy vessel.
The Yorktown was then confronted by a Romulan Warbird. Luckily, she was able to escape by using a plasma field. However, the Yorktown came under fire from a Klingon-Romulan fleet under Romulan Praetor Gaius and Capt. Koloth. Number One, along with members of her bridge crew and Koloth and his bridge crew, were beamed aboard Gaius' ship. On board the Keras, Number One and one of her officers were brutally interrogated by the praetor for information on Capt. James T. Kirk and the USS Enterprise. She was then transported aboard the USS Constitution, of which she then took command. She encountered the Organian Ayelborne, who forced the Romulans to abide by the terms of the Organian Peace Treaty. (TOS comic: "Romulans: Schism")
- In Greg Cox' TOS Legacies novel Captain to Captain, Number One/Una is already in command of the USS Yorktown, which clashes slightly with the implication in John Byrne's various comics that she took command of the starship only after her promotion to the flag rank of commodore. Possibly she held command of the Yorktown up through 2267, only to temporarily lose it after her expedition to the Jatohr universe, followed by her regaining command in 2270. It is actually mentioned in the Cox novel that her promotion to commodore was seemingly imminent, possibly delayed for some years due to her seeming insubordination in that storyline.
Number One was promoted to admiral in the 2270s, and continued to command the USS Yorktown. (TOS comic: "Leonard McCoy, Frontier Doctor")
Relationships
In 2254, her father died; she was consoled by Spock. [citation needed]
She harbored fantasies for Pike for some time, and these were exposed to him by the Talosians in 2254. (TOS comic: "The Cage")
Normally, however, Number One was strictly logical, masking her emotions. One area of obsession for her was computers. In 2254, she assisted Lieutenant Spock in installing upgrades to the computer that made it voice-interactive. Her voice was used as a base pattern, something which later carried over to all Starfleet computers well into the late 24th century. (TOS novel: The Rift)
The Name
Since the character of Number One was never given a "real name" in "The Cage," what her name is has remained a point of inconsistency in the fiction. Several alternatives exist:
- Vulcan's Glory states that she is from Ilyria and she is designated "Number One" as the best of her breed. The Children of Kings and Child of Two Worlds explain that Number One does have a given name, but it's difficult to pronounce for non-Illyrians.
- In The Rift, Pike states her name to be "unpronounceable."
Morgan in 2379
- The Star Trek: New Frontier character of Morgan Primus, an immortal being, appears to be Number One (ie. Primus = One). The resemblance was hinted at several times by Peter David in the novel series, as well as in NF comic: "Double Time" (in which Morgan's face is hidden, teasingly, by a hand mirror). The resemblance is visually confirmed by Morgan's identical appearance to Number One in NF comic: "Turnaround, Part I".
- Morgan Primus was revealed as the mother of Robin Lefler in New Frontier. Jerry Oltion's stories, Where Sea Meets Sky and "Conflicting Natures," although set in a much earlier timeframe, identify Number One as using the surname "Lefler" in reference to the New Frontier series, although his stories predate the relationship with Robin Lefler's father, Charles.
- According to the Star Trek: Early Voyages comics, her last name is "Robbins." In the first issue Pike starts to say her first name once, but is interrupted, getting as far as "Eure--."
- Conflictingly, in the TOS 50th Anniversary Legacies novel Captain to Captain, Number One's Illyrian birth name is considered to be impossible for outsiders to pronounce, hence her choosing the easier name of "Una" (signifying the concept of "one") during her Starfleet Academy years, followed by her classmates dubbing her "Number One," due to her top-ranking performances in all intellectual and athletic areas at the Academy.
- According to author Brad Ferguson's original manuscript for A Flag Full of Stars, the character of Admiral Timothea Rogers was intended to be Number One, although this is not directly stated in the published version of the novel.
- In the short story Chaotic Response, the character used the name to constantly remind herself how far she had to go in the chain of command, having come on board the Enterprise using the name "Number Five." However, as this part of the story was a part of Spock's dream sequence, it may not actually be applicable to the character at all.
- In the John Byrne Assignment: Earth comic mini-series, there is a woman called Diana Winters, who works as agent "Number One" to forces unknown, and she looks similar to our Number One.
Alternate timelines
In an alternate timeline, Number One died tragically in 2254, injured so badly she could not even beg to be put out of her pain. (Star Trek: Myriad Universes novel: A Less Perfect Union)
In another alternate timeline created when Yeoman J. Mia Colt was sent forward in time from 2254 to 2293 after her tricorder scans released the tachyon energy contained in an Argollian artifact known as a Keepsake, Number One had become captain of the USS Excelsior by 2293. Spock succeeded her as first officer of the Enterprise, continuing to serve in that position aboard the USS Enterprise-A. In 2293, the Excelsior was ordered to prevent the Enterprise-A from entering the Klingon Neutral Zone. However, when she made contact with Pike and learned that he intended to bring Colt to Argol II in Klingon space so that she could return to her own time through the Well of Tomorrows, she allowed him to proceed to the planet. (EV comics: "Future Tense", "Futures", "Now and Then")
Appendices
| USS Yorktown personnel | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| United Earth, Earth Starfleet | USS Yorktown (Daedalus-class) | Albertson • Fleming • Giannini • Krawczak • Mayweather • Mendez • Shosetsu |  
|
| Federation, Starfleet | USS Yorktown (Constitution-class) | Akumi • All'o'polla • Amekentra • Arex Na Eth • Beaujolais • Brian • Carlos • Chapel • Conroy • Decker • D'wara • Espinoza • Fenig • Foster • Gaines • Gauvreau • Gibney • Hax • Hodgkins • von Holtzbrinck • Jarboe • Kovic • Lawford • Mahler • M'Benga • Number One • Oshiro • Pike • Pollard • Randall • Randolph • Sanchez • Sudek • Sunak • T'Ark • Thonen • Thursen • Two Rivers • Vashenka |  
|
| USS Yorktown (Excelsior-class) | Conlon • Ledbetter • Riker | ||
| USS Yorktown (Zodiac-class) | Kentrav • Hawk • Zimmerman | ||
| USS Yorktown (NCC-1717) (Kelvin timeline) |
Isaac Garrett • 0718 | ||
Appearances
External link
- Number One article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.