Malcom Reed
Malcolm Reed, portrayed by Dominic Keating, was at different times, the tactical officer and armory officer aboard the starship Enterprise. He held the rank of Lieutenant.
Reed, born 2117, is English. Reed's parents are Stuart and Mary, and he has a sister, Madeline. They appeared on-screen in the episode "Silent Enemy" while communicating with Enterprise. In addition to his parents and sister, other relatives also known are an Uncle Archie and "two spinster aunts."
Reed's great-uncle was in the British Royal Navy on Earth, but was killed in action while chief engineer of HMS Clement (a submarine that struck a mine, a leftover from an unmentioned war). Reed has a strong appreciation for his uncle, not only because of the heroics of this relative, but because they both share a common condition: aquaphobia, or the fear of drowning. He is one of the few men in his family who did not join the Royal Navy, a fact which led to some friction with his father, who is also a Royal Navy veteran. Reed is also an Eagle Scout, obtaining 28 Merit Badges, two more than his commanding officer, Jonathan Archer.
Reed is responsible for the development of or contributing to the development of procedures that are used throughout the Star Trek timeline. In the episode Singularity, Reed develops what would be known as the Tactical Alert which would bring the ship to battle readiness at a moment's notice. This was jokingly referred to by Commander Tucker as the "Reed Alert". Reed initially liked the idea but then decided it was "a bit narcissistic". The Tactical Alert would evolve into the condition "Red Alert" and "Yellow Alert" used in all other Star Trek series.
Reed has an almost suicidal sense of self-sacrifice, and can also be consumed at times with regret over paths not followed in his love life, due to his inability to "get close" to women; he and Charles Tucker III have at least one ex-girlfriend in common. In one alternate timeline seen during the Xindi mission in which Enterprise becomes a generational ship unable to return to Earth, Reed dies without leaving any heirs, having been unable or unwilling to find a mate. The episode "Shuttlepod One" revealed that Reed has an apparent crush on T'Pol, but this was never expanded upon further, he even went as far as to state to Trip that " T'Pol has an awfully nice bum!". It is worth noting that Keating intentionally played him as gay, and stated so multiple times. 2007 interview 2013 interview
The episode "Divergence" revealed that in 2149, Reed, then an Ensign, had been recruited as an operative for a mysterious offshoot of Starfleet Intelligence, which in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine would be identified as Section 31. He believed he had left Section 31 behind when he was posted aboard Enterprise in 2151; however, in 2154, he was reactivated as an agent during a mission to recover Phlox, who had been kidnapped by a group of Klingons trying to stop a genetically engineered virus running rampant in the Empire. Part of his mission involved sabotaging a piece of evidence that might have assisted Enterprise in tracking down the Klingons faster. For this, Reed was temporarily relieved of duty and incarcerated in the brig by Archer, although Archer later reinstated Reed after determining that he had been placed in what Archer called "an impossible situation" by his Section 31 superior, Harris.
Following the Klingon mission, Reed demanded that Harris never communicate with him again. Harris, however, replied that Reed had committed himself to a cause he could never simply walk away from. Indeed, Reed would later re-establish contact with Harris under orders from Archer during the Terra Prime incident.
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