Keyla Detmer

Warning! This page contains information regarding Star Trek: Discovery, and thus may contain spoilers.

Lieutenant Commander Keyla Detmer was a Human female Starfleet officer who lived during both the mid-23rd and late 32nd centuries.

Early life[]

Detmer earned her pilot's license at age 12. (DIS: "New Eden")

Starfleet career[]

Detmer attended Starfleet Academy in San Francisco, and had fond memories of studying under a particular tree. (DIS: "People of Earth")

USS Shenzhou[]

As a lieutenant junior grade, Detmer served aboard the USS Shenzhou under Captain Philippa Georgiou as the starship's helmsman in 2256. (DIS: "The Vulcan Hello") She was injured at some point between the Battle of the Binary Stars and Michael Burnham's arrival on the USS Discovery. (DIS: "Context Is for Kings")

USS Discovery[]

Six months after the destruction of the Shenzhou, Detmer was promoted to full lieutenant and was assigned to serve as helm officer under Captain Gabriel Lorca on the USS Discovery, by which point she appeared to have cranial and ocular implants. Upon seeing mutineer Michael Burnham for the first time on the Discovery, she chose not to speak to her. (DIS: "Context Is for Kings")

Detmer was responsible for initiating the Discovery's spore drive, and was at the helm when the ship made attempts to reach Corvan II, both an initial abortive attempt, which saw her maneuver the ship out of the gravity well of an O-type star, and a second attempt, during which Detmer brought Discovery to a halt over the mining colony. (DIS: "The Butcher's Knife Cares Not for the Lamb's Cry")

After Discovery found itself in the mirror universe, Lt. Detmer was left in charge on the bridge while Lorca, Saru and Tyler participated in a briefing in engineering. Detmer called Lorca to the bridge when Discovery was approached by the ISS Cooper. After Lorca had the crew to assume their mirror identities, an alternate helmsman took over on the bridge, as Detmer's mirror counterpart was not aboard the Discovery, but the ISS Shenzhou. (DIS: "Despite Yourself")

In 2257, in recognition for her role in ending the Federation-Klingon War, Detmer was awarded the Starfleet Medal of Honor along with the Discovery's senior officers at a ceremony in Paris. (DIS: "Will You Take My Hand?")

Detmer was at the helm when Discovery responded to a distress call by the USS Enterprise. She was among the bridge officers present to witness the transfer of command codes when Captain Christopher Pike took command to investigate the red bursts, and identified herself as part of a bridge officer roll call Pike ordered. She and Joann Owosekun advised the away team's course piloting the landing pods, and their EV suit thruster packs. (DIS: "Brother")

When Burnham decided to take the Discovery forward in time to the 32nd century with no chance of return, Detmer was among the officers who volunteered to accompany her and leave behind her former life. (DIS: "Such Sweet Sorrow")

Afterwards, Detmer, along with the rest of the volunteering Discovery crew was presumed dead by Starfleet, based on the testimonies of the USS Enterprise senior officers. (DIS: "Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2")

After arriving through the wormhole following Michael Burnham, Discovery entered the atmosphere of a planet. Detmer and the rest of the crew were awoken by Commander Saru. Detmer and attempted to soften the landing of the ship on the planet but it still crashed hard. The crash sent Detmer tumbling over her helm controls and landed in front of the viewscreen. She came to and had a large gash on her head just above her cybernetic implant. She was sent to sick bay by Commander Saru where she was treated for her injury but still remained in a dazed state as she went back to her station on the bridge. After Saru and Ensign Tilly returned to the ship, she still showed signs of confusion and fear as she attempted to pilot the ship out of the parasitic ice that was overtaking the ship. She was relieved when the ship was picked up by a tractor beam and saw that it was Michael Burnham who had rescued them. (DIS: "Far From Home")

When Discovery returned to Earth, Detmer continued to show signs of anxiety and hesitation while on duty. Following their departure for Earth and arrival at Trill, Detmer agreed to talk with Dr. Culber her problems. When she and Discovery's crew found Federation Headquarters, Detmer was surprised hear that Admiral Vance was breaking up the crew due to the Temporal Accords. Detmer was able to continue on as Discovery's helmsman when Vance allowed them to find the USS Tikhov to retrieve seeds to help them find a cure. (DIS: "People of Earth", "Forget Me Not", "Die Trying")

During Discovery's mission to Kwejian, Tilly and Saru allowed Detmer and Ryn to fly Booker's ship. With Ryn's help, Detmer was able to use Booker's ship to disable the Viridian's weapons and stop Emerald Chain Minister Osyraa's bombardment of Kwejian. Following Discovery's initial investigation into The Burn at the Verubin Nebula, Detmer, the senior staff and Ryn were kept as prisoners by Osyraa, Zareh, and their Regulators as they took control of Discovery. Detmer, the others and later Booker were held at gunpoint until they got a drop on their guards. Detmer and the senior staff were able to escape the regulators by going through the Jefferies tubes. With assistance from the DOT-23s, Detmer and the others attempted to retake the ship. (DIS: "The Sanctuary", "Su'Kal", "There Is A Tide...")

As they fought the Regulators, Osyraa cut off life-support in their part of the ship. However, Detmer was able to assist Owesekun by placing a bomb in one warp nacelles in order to drop Discovery out of warp. Due their actions, Burnham was able to restore life-support and save Detmer and the staff. Detmer and the others went along with Burnham's plans to drop their warp core and use Booker to operate the spore drive. The plan was a success, Discovery was able to rescue Saru and his away team from Theta Zeta, and return to Federation Headquarters

By 3190, Detmer had replaced her original cranial implant with a smaller unit. She was also promoted to Lieutenant Commander. (DIS: "That Hope Is You, Part 2", "Kobayashi Maru")

Personal relationships[]

In late 2256, Detmer was dating a Human male Discovery crewmember. (DIS: "Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad")

Detmer was having a meal with R.A. Bryce in the mess hall when Ash Tyler entered. Though the entire mess hall was initially cold towards Tyler– revealed to have been a hybrid of the Klingon Voq with the memories of the real Tyler– Detmer and Bryce soon followed Cadet Sylvia Tilly's lead in accepting and speaking to Tyler. (DIS: "The War Without, The War Within")

Detmer considered Tazzy her best friend. She claimed that Tazzy helped her with all the tests she failed, as well as adjusting to her implant after the injury. (DIS: "Such Sweet Sorrow")

She was friends with Sylvia Tilly, Joann Owosekun, and Airiam on board the Discovery, and often shared a meal with them. She was also known to play kadis-kot with Tilly and Airiam. (DIS: "Project Daedalus")

Detmer was present at Airiam's funeral and delivered a short speech, claiming that Airiam helped her to cope with her feelings of loss when she received her implants. (DIS: "The Red Angel")

Appendices[]

Appearances[]

Background information[]

Keyla Detmer is played by actress Emily Coutts.

The name "Keyla Detmer" was conceived by Star Trek author David Mack. [1]

According to AT: "The Butcher's Knife Cares Not for the Lamb's Cry", Detmer was a conn officer aboard the Discovery. She is hailed on the comm line with that title only by Captain Pike from his ready room, when tracking of Spock's stolen shuttlecraft is obtained from the Sphere records. (DIS: "An Obol for Charon")

Apocrypha[]

According to the Gallery DIS novel Desperate Hours, Detmer is from Düsseldorf, Germany.

External links[]

• Keyla Detmer at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works