Number One


 * For information on the traditional naval and Starfleet title, see: Number one.

Number One was a Human female in the 23rd century who served in Starfleet. She was best known for serving as first officer of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) under Captain Christopher Pike.

History
Number One was born on Ilyria IV. 

The Yorktown
In 2250, she was posted to the USS Yorktown (NCC-1704) as executive officer, under Christopher Pike, who called her "Number One" as a sort of joke; it being an old term for executive officer. She transferred with him to the USS Enterprise in 2251, even though she had hoped for command of a science vessel or medical frigate
 * 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, at which time she was called "Number Five".

The Enterprise
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. One 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. 

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. 

Not long after, Pike left Number One in command of the Enterprise while he lead 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. 

She was offered command of the USS Nelson (2250s) in 2255, but turned it down, preferring to remain under Pike on the Enterprise. 

By 2264, Number One still served aboard the Enterprise under Pike. Following Pike's decision to accept promotion to "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. Boyce but her long recovery meant that she couldn't serve as Kirk's first officer. 

Following her recovery, Number One finally received a command of her own. 

Relationships
In 2254, her father died; she was consoled by Spock on her loss.

She harboured fantasies for Pike for some time, and these were exposed to him by the Talosians in 2254. 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 computer upgrades that made it voice-interactive. They used her voice as a base pattern, something which later carried over to all Starfleet computers.

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 her name actually is "Number One."
 * In The Rift, Pike states her name to be unpronouncable.
 * 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 and, and visually confirmed by Morgan's identical appearance to Number One in the.
 * 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 time frame, 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--".
 * 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 comic Assignment: Earth there is a woman called Diana Winters, who works as agent "Number One" to forces unknown, and she looks similar like our Number One.

Alternate universes
In one alternate timeline, Number One died tragically in 2254, injured so badly she could not even beg to be put out of her pain. 

Appearances

 * TOS episodes
 * The Cage
 * The Menagerie
 * TOS novels
 * ''Enterprise: The First Adventure'
 * The Rift
 * Where Sea Meets Sky
 * Burning Dreams
 * ''EV comics
 * "Flesh of My Flesh"
 * "The Fires of Pharos"
 * "Our Dearest Blood"
 * "Nor Iron Bars a Cage"
 * "The Flat, Gold Forever"
 * "Immortal Wounds"
 * "One of a Kind"
 * "Futures"
 * "Futures"
 * "Now and Then"
 * "Thanatos"
 * TOS comics
 * "To Walk the Night"
 * "Alien Spotlight: Vulcans"
 * "Now and Then"
 * "Thanatos"
 * TOS comics
 * "To Walk the Night"
 * "Alien Spotlight: Vulcans"
 * "Alien Spotlight: Vulcans"