Gardner
Gardner was a Starfleet officer in the mid-22nd century.

History 
In 2143, Gardner was a pilot in the NX test program. Along with Commanders Duvall, A.G. Robinson, and Jonathan Archer, he competed for the position as pilot in the effort to break the warp 2 barrier in the NX-Alpha. Ultimately, however, Robinson was chosen to conduct the flight. ()

By 2151, Gardner had been promoted to captain, and was endorsed by Vulcan ambassador Soval for the command position of , Earth's first warp five starship. Eventually, the candidates were narrowed down to Archer and Robinson, with the posting ultimately going to Archer. Soval, however, continued to voice his objection to Archer's selection, feeling he was too impulsive for such an important mission. ()

By 2154, Gardner had been promoted to admiral, and replaced Admiral Maxwell Forrest in overseeing Enterprises mission after Forrest was killed in a bombing of the United Earth Embassy on . 

In that capacity, he ordered Enterprise to return to Earth subsequent to a communication with Administrator V'Las, who was attempting to remove the Enterprise crew as witnesses to a planned massacre of the Syrrannite movement. Charles Tucker, in command of Enterprise at the time, ultimately chose to disobey this order, however, when he learned of a planned Vulcan invasion of Andoria, and subsequently ordered Enterprise to Andorian space in an attempt to warn them. Later, Tucker contacted Gardner, informing him that Enterprise had taken up position with an Andorian fleet to combat the invasion force, in hopes that V'Las would halt his attack, rather than let it be known that Vulcan forces were responsible for Enterprises destruction in the subsequent battle. ()

Later that year, when Archer came to believe that he was going to die due to infection by a silicon-based virus, he warned Commander T'Pol, his first officer, to attempt to remain in command of Enterprise, and to oppose Gardner if he attempted to assign a new captain. ()

Also in 2154, Gardner granted Archer's request of the redeployment of every available Starfleet vessel to Enterprises location in an attempt to complete a sensor grid with which to detect and locate a vessel which had been attacking various ships in the area. However, as the Starfleet vessels would have taken a matter of weeks to arrive, Archer was forced to rely on Vulcan, Andorian, and Tellarite assistance to complete the grid. ()

Later that year, Gardner granted Archer's request to embark on a mission to rescue Doctor Phlox, who had been abducted by the Klingons in an attempt to force Phlox to assist them in creating Klingon Augments. ()

When Ensign Hoshi Sato of the Enterprise refused to take orders from Minister Nathan Samuels in early 2155, he requested to open a channel to Admiral Gardner. Sato, however, told the bridge crew to belay that order on the grounds of maintaining radio silence. ()

Appendices

References

Background information 

The character of Gardner was never seen in the prime universe, but his mirror universe  was played by John Mahon, in .

Gardner was named by "Shadows of P'Jem" co-writer Phyllis Strong in remembrance of a friend who died at the World Trade Center during the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. (Information provided by Mike Sussman)

In the final draft script of "Shadows of P'Jem", this character's name was spelled "Gardner". However, in the final draft script of "First Flight", the name was spelled "Gardener".

In the script for undeveloped Romulan War film project Star Trek: The Beginning, Gardner's daughter, Penelope, was the love interest, and eventual wife, of the main protagonist, Tiberius Chase, making him a direct ancestor (presumably great-grandfather) of James T. Kirk.

Apocrypha 
The novel To Brave the Storm gives his full name as Samuel William Gardner. Star Trek: Federation - The First 150 Years calls him Avram Gardner.

External link 

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Humans
Starfleet Headquarters personnel
Starfleet flag officers