Boq'ta was a male Bolian who served as a Starfleet crewman and engineer during the late-24th century.
History[]
During the 2370s, Boq'ta was stationed at Deep Space 9, under Chief of Operations Miles O'Brien.
In 2373, fellow Crewman Pechetti convinced Boq'ta to volunteer for a salvage operation on the abandoned Cardassian station of Empok Nor, though neglected to inform him that the station would be booby trapped.
During the away mission, Boq'ta identified a biogenic compound while ascending the station's Promenade with Elim Garak. From there, they noticed the infirmary's door was open, and went to investigate. Inside, they found Cardassian stasis tubes, one of which was damaged. From the body found inside the damaged tube, Boq'ta collected a military regimental badge of the Third Battalion, First Order much to the delight of Pechetti who collected such items.
After their runabout was inexplicably destroyed, O'Brien teamed Boq'ta up with Amaro, a security officer, and assigned him to realign the magnetic flow field in conduit G4. When he was finished, O'Brien sent them to the auxiliary control center to reconfigure the pulse generator. He was subsequently killed by a Cardassian soldier who was under the influence of a psychotropic drug.
Postmortem, Boq'ta's body, along with the others, were hung alongside a corridor by Garak, who also became infected with the psychotropic drug, as part of the "loyal team to cheer [O'Brien] on" in the final confrontation between Garak and O'Brien. (DS9: "Empok Nor")
Memorable quotes[]
"Booby-traps? I can't believe I let you talk me into volunteering for this."
- - Boq'ta, to Pechetti
"We're going to split up?"
"We have to. If we don't send out a signal, we're never going to get off this station."
"But chief, what if we can't–"
"I need you, Boq'ta. You can do this."
- - Boq'ta and Miles O'Brien
"You know, I once bought a suit from Garak. Turns out the sleeve was a little long. I remember being angry when I brought it back to be fixed."
"Is there a point to this story?"
"If I had known he was so dangerous, I never would've complained."
- - Boq'ta and Amaro
Appendices[]
Background information[]
Boq'ta was played by actor Andy Milder, who later went on to voice the roles of Bolian crewmembers Brex and Chell in the video games Star Trek: Bridge Commander and Star Trek: Elite Force II, respectively.
The script for "Empok Nor" gives the pronunciation of Boq'ta's name as "BOKE-tuh" and describes him as simply, "a Bolian engineer". He wore no rank insignia, and was described in the script simply as a "crewman". [1]
For the scene where Boq'ta's body is hung from the Promenade, Milder and the other actors were placed in flying suits similar to parachute harnesses and suspended about a foot above the set. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion (p. 462))