Daniels (Crewman)

AT: "xx" Template:Sidebar character The temporal agent known only as Daniels was an operative from the 31st century and a major player in the Temporal Cold War. Daniels had frequent interactions with the crew of the Enterprise NX-01, and often assisted them in preventing temporal incursions by various factions in the Cold War.

Daniels first came into contact with the Enterprise crew when he infiltrated the ship posing as a crewman. Working undercover as a steward, Daniels had been assigned to Enterprise to capture Silik, the leader of the Suliban Cabal, whom they knew would be boarding the ship at some point. Silik did indeed board Enterprise several months into their mission, posing as a Borothan pilgrim, at which point Daniels revealed himself and the true nature of his mission to Captain Archer. While Daniels and Archer worked together to capture him, Silik confronted Daniels and shot him with a particle weapon, apparently killing him. (ENT: "Cold Front")

Despite this, Daniels reappeared the next year, taking Archer back in time ten months, in order to have a conversation with him in secret from the other factions in the Cold War. When Archer expressed surprise at Daniels's survival, believing that Silik had killed him, Daniels only responded, "he did...in a manner of speaking." Daniels instructed Archer in the construction of two extremely advanced quantum beacons, which the Enterprise crew used to detect a cloaked Suliban stealth-cruiser, and prove that the Cabal had attempted to frame Enterprise for the destruction of the Paraagan II mining colony. Afterward, when Silik threatened to destroy Enterprise unless Archer handed himself over, Daniels transported Archer forward in time to the 31st century, in an attempt to protect him. Daniels's actions had disastrous consequences, however, in that removing Archer from the timeline changed history in such a way as to destroy Daniels's civilization. With no way to return Archer to his own time and restore the timeline, Daniels and Archer were forced to improvise, using Archer's communicator and hand scanner to construct a makeshift temporal communicator, which Archer used to communicate with his crew in the 22nd century. Archer's crew managed to retrieve a piece of technology that Daniels had left in his quarters on Enterprise, and trick Silik into interfacing it with the technology that he used to communicate with the Cabal's benefactor in the 28th century. This temporarily turned Silik's technology into a means by which Archer could return to his own time, defeating Silik and correcting the damage to the timeline. (ENT: "Shockwave", "Shockwave, Part II")

In 2153, Daniels returned to Enterprise, which was in the midst of searching for the Xindi weapon in the Delphic Expanse, to inform Archer that they had detected three Xindi-Reptilians on Earth in the year 2004. As Daniels could not secure authorization from his superiors to travel back in time himself, he offered to send Archer back in time to stop the Xindi, who were attempting to synthesize a bioweapon in secret, with which to destroy humanity. He supplied Archer and T'Pol with temporal tags to mark anything that did not belong in that time period for retrieval, and a temporal beacon with which to signal Daniels when their mission was complete. Daniels returned Archer and T'Pol, along with the Xindi bodies and all of their equipment, to Enterprise, only moments after they had originally been transported back in time. (ENT: "Carpenter Street")

The next year, Daniels returned to plead with Captain Archer not to undertake a suicide mission to destroy the Xindi weapon, explaining that Archer's role in history was too important for him to sacrifice himself. To make his point, Daniels transported Archer to the Enterprise-J, a Starfleet vessel in service during the 26th century, so Archer could witness the historic Battle of Procyon V, wherein the forces of the Federation defeated the Sphere Builders. Daniels explained that the Sphere Builders were attempting to manipulate the Xindi into destroying Earth, so that the Federation would never come into existence, and they could invade the galaxy unopposed. Daniels attempted to convince Archer that the only way to defeat the Sphere Builders was to form an alliance with the Xindi, but Archer refused, unwilling to risk the destruction of Earth. In the hopes that Archer would change his mind, however, Daniels supplied him with a Xindi initiation medal which belonged to one of the crewmembers on the Enterprise-J, revealing that, in the 26th century, the Xindi are members of the Federation. The medal would later prove to be an important component in saving Earth, as Archer used it to convince the Xindi-Primate Degra that humans and Xindi were destined to form an alliance. (ENT: "Azati Prime")

Daniels "dying" in 1944

Later that year, as Captain Archer was preparing to lead a team to board the Xindi weapon and destroy it, Daniels transported him to 2161 to witness the Federation Charter being signed. Attempting to convince Archer to send someone else on the mission, Daniels explained that, without Archer, the Federation would never come into being, and that it was too dangerous to risk his life. Archer refused, however, feeling that it was his responsibility to destroy the weapon. Later, as Archer was trapped onboard the exploding weapon, Daniels transported him and Enterprise back in time to 1944, in an alternate timeline created by multiple temporal incursions by various factions in the Cold War. In this timeline, the Nazis had launched a successful invasion of the American East Coast, and had formed an alliance with the Na'kuhl, a Cold War faction from the 29th century. Daniels appeared in Enterprise's sickbay, dying from a condition which caused various parts of his body to exist in different temporal states. He explained that the Temporal Cold War had ignited into a full-blown conflict, and that different temporal agents stationed throughout the timeline had been given orders to change history. This resulted in temporal anomalies ripping through the timestream, causing Daniels's condition. Before dying as a result of his injuries, he informed the crew that the conflict was initiated when the Na'kuhl launched an attack on the 31st century using a temporal conduit they were constructing with the assistance of the Nazis, and that he transported Archer and Enterprise to this point in time to stop them. Eventually, Enterprise was successful in destroying the conduit before the Na'kuhl had a chance to use it, an action which had the effect of resetting the timeline and reversing Daniels's death. Afterward, Daniels returned Archer and Enterprise to their proper place in time, but not before Archer informed him that he was done being a pawn in the Temporal Cold War. Bidding Archer farewell, Daniels told him that, as a result of his actions, the Cold War was coming to an end. (ENT: "Zero Hour", "Storm Front", "Storm Front, Part II")

File:Daniels rank pin.jpg

Daniels' rank insignia

Background

• While Crewman Daniels appeared to be allied with the United Federation of Planets, the identity of his faction remains unknown, although he might be attached to the Temporal Integrity Commission in his native time period. Regardless, Daniels has explicitly stated that he is not a Starfleet officer. (ENT: "Cold Front")
• Daniels "dies" twice on screen. The first was in ENT: "Cold Front", where he was killed by Silik. The second time was in ENT: "Storm Front", where he dies as his body underwent severe temporal flux.
• During his meeting with Daniels that took place in the past, prior to Enterprise's first launch, when Archer said he thought Daniels had died previously (in ENT: "Cold Front"), Daniels replies that he did die "in a manner of speaking." (ENT: "Storm Front")
• Along with Shran, Ambassador Soval and Porthos, Daniels is one of only four characters, outside of the main ones, to appear in all four seasons of Star Trek: Enterprise.
• In a potential story pitched by Mike Sussman, Daniels would have come aboard Enterprise and brought Chef, played by William Shatner, into the future, making sure history took the correct course by having him pose as Shatner's original character during a significant event. [1]

Appearances

• ENT:
  • "Cold Front" (Season One)
  • "Shockwave"
  • "Shockwave, Part II" (Season Two)
  • "Carpenter Street" (Season Three)
  • "Azati Prime"
  • "Zero Hour"
  • "Storm Front" (Season Four)
  • "Storm Front, Part II"