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Jane Taylor was a Human female who served in Starfleet during the mid-22nd century. Considered a gifted engineer, Charles Tucker III pulled her from the Saratoga to serve on Enterprise's engineering team. Jane died in 2154, after a Xindi attack severely damaged Enterprise.

Career[]

Taylor served aboard Enterprise for three years, presumably from its launch in 2151 until her death in 2154. Prior to this, she served on the Saratoga. When Commander Tucker transferred her to Enterprise, it frustrated Captain Brody to the point of anger. Taylor was considered a gifted engineer, and was particularly adept at repairing fused power relays (especially those which Tucker was unable to isolate himself).

Taylor was one of eighteen crewmembers (affectionately referred to by Captain Jonathan Archer as "the eighteen") who were killed by the Xindi during the Battle of Azati Prime in February of 2154. The section she was in (identified as either section 6 or 7 of C deck) decompressed while she was heading to her station; she died right outside her quarters. It was said that, had she made it "a few more meters," she would have survived the attack.

Personal relationships[]

Taylor served on Michael Rostov's engineering team, and he frequently played practical jokes on her. Tucker maintained that, one day, Taylor would make a fine chief engineer; she once found a glitch in the injector assembly that everyone else had missed.

Upon Taylor's death at the hands of the Xindi, Commander Tucker was ordered (over his objections) by Captain Archer to compose a personal letter to her parents. Tucker had difficulty writing the message and, after at least two false starts, successfully did so only after speaking with Taylor in a dream. The process was emotionally trying but therapeutic for Tucker, ultimately resulting in his coming to terms with his sister Elizabeth having recently died too.

The full text of Commander Tucker's letter to Jane Taylor's parents follows:

Mr. and Mrs. Taylor: By the time you get this, Starfleet will have already told you about Jane. Since I worked so closely with her, I wanted to add my personal condolences. I have to confess, I've been putting off writing this for a while. I convinced myself that my duties on Enterprise took precedence. But the truth is, I didn't want to face the fact that someone so young, with so much promise, could just be gone. But I'm facing it now. And I found myself thinking how important she was to me. She was a great engineer. And she was my friend. She won't be forgotten.

Taylor's photograph

Taylor's photograph

Taylor kept a framed photograph of three people on her desk in her quarters. It was damaged during the Xindi attack in which she was killed. (ENT: "The Forgotten")

The final draft script of "The Forgotten" referred to the three individuals in this image as Taylor herself together with her parents.

Appendices[]

Background information[]

Jane Taylor was portrayed by Kipleigh Brown in her only appearance.

In the final draft script of "The Forgotten", Taylor was described as "an attractive young woman".

Though Taylor was referred to in dialogue as "crewman" and her uniform rank insignia were those of enlisted personnel, she appeared to have her own quarters, which was unusual for noncoms during this period. (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country) In addition, Tucker believed she was on her way to becoming a chief engineer, although this is not entirely impossible for an enlisted person (see Miles O'Brien).

External link[]

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