Willard Decker

Willard Decker (known familiarly as Will), was a Human Starfleet officer. He was the son of Jane and Matthew Decker. (TOS comic: Who's Who in Star Trek, and TOS episode: "The Doomsday Machine")

Early in his career, Lieutenant Commander Decker was stationed on Delta IV where he had a romantic relationship with the Deltan, Ilia. (FASA RPG: Star Trek IV Sourcebook Update.) The relationship came to an end when Decker departed Delta IV without saying goodbye. (TOS movie: Star Trek: The Motion Picture)


 * The timeline in the FASA Star Trek IV Sourcebook Update gives Decker's posting to Delta IV as 2267 when he held the rank of lieutenant commander.

As of 2266, Decker held the rank of commander, and was stationed to Starbase 6, where he served as adjunct to Admiral Borck. Following this assignment, he was offered the first officer position of a starship. (TOS novel: The Brave and the Bold)


 * The novel states only that Decker's transfer was expected in the near future; however, given what's known of Decker's career path, it's probably safe to assume this offered assignment did in fact happen as planned.

Following the end of the USS Enterprise's historic five-year mission in 2270, Decker, then a Captain, was given command of the ship, and oversaw her eighteen-month refit. (TOS comic: "The Final Voyage")

As the Enterprise neared the completion of her overhaul, the entity V'Ger was approaching Earth. The then Admiral Kirk returned to the Enterprise and took command of the ship, temporarily demoting Decker to Commander and first officer. Decker resented Kirk using the emergency to retake the Enterprise and didn't believe Kirk, unfamiliar with the vastly redesigned Enterprise was the right man to be in charge.

Decker's suspicions turned out to be true at first when the Enterprise accidentally entered a wormhole at warp speed and was almost destroyed when Kirk ordered use of the phasers (now with power channelled from the warp engines) to escape. Fortunately Decker was able to prevent this and Enterprise escaped using photon torpedoes.

This voyage of the Enterprise also saw Decker reunited with Ilia. Unfortunately it was all too short a reunion, as shortly after Ilia was digitized by V'Ger. V'Ger later replaced Ilia with its own probe in her form. The Ilia probe not only mimicked her appearance but also had Ilia's memories. Decker's previous relationship with Ilia was subsequently key to understanding V'Ger and establishing first contact. Two of his best audio/visual re-association techniques (with help from Doctors McCoy and Chapel) were playing a game she almost always won on the recreation deck. The other was an ornamental headpiece Ilia wore when they first met on Delta IV.

As V'Ger approached Earth it demanded to meet its creator or destroy the planet. Decker and the probe Ilia joined an away team to the heart of V'Ger where they discovered its true origins; an old Earth space probe; Voyager VI. V'Ger was hoping to evolve by merging with its creator. Having lost his love and his ship, Decker volunteered and joined with V'Ger becoming a glowing entity: a new non-corporeal lifeform.

Following the incident Kirk officially listed Decker as "missing in action". (TOS movie: The Motion Picture)

Trivia
William T. Riker and Deanna Troi were based upon Decker and Ilia by Gene Roddenberry, when writing the characters for TNG.