| “ | Doctor Taylor: Let me guess, you're from outer space! Kirk: No, I'm from Iowa. I only work in outer space. |
„ |
| ~ Kirk revealing his true identity. |
Doctor Gillian Taylor was a supporting character in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. She was portrayed in the film by Catherine Hicks.
Born in the mid 20th century Taylor studied marine biologist at the undergraduate and graduate levels. She attended a conference in Rome, when she met a disguised Roberta Lincoln, who was investigating the disappearance of a group of geneticists.
By 1986 she had a doctorate in marine biology and was working as the assistant director of the Cetacean Institute, where she helped care for the humpback whales George and Gracie. In that year she met James T. Kirk and Mr. Spock, who had traveled back in time to bring humpback whales back to the 23rd century to answer the call of an alien probe that was seriously damaging Earth. The two arrived at the institute. To Kirk's horror Spock jumped in the tank and initiated a mind meld with the whales. He learned the whales were unhappy how humans were treating their species, but they agreed to help Spock and the Enterprise crew when Spock explained the situation to them. Taylor was less than pleased about Spock jumping into the tank and demanded the two leave the institute.
Later that day she happened to see Kirk and Spock walking along the bay back to San Francisco, and offered the two "hard luck cases" a ride back to San Francisco. Dropping Spock off at Golden Gate Park Kirk and Taylor went to dinner where Kirk was forced to reveal his true reason for being there. Learning that the whales were due to be shipped out to Alaska the next day Kirk had Taylor take him back to the park. When she refused to give him the radio tag frequency to track the whales Kirk walked off, however Taylor caught sight of the transporter effect beaming Kirk back on board his captured Klingon ship. Looking back she saw the park was empty.
The next day Taylor went to work and found the whales gone and the tank empty. Furious at her boss Bob for lying to her Taylor sped off to Golden Gate Park where she yelled out to Admiral Kirk for help. She then saw Montgomery Scott appear out of thin air at the top of the ship, while a helicopter lowered a panel of some sort into an invisible ship. Seeing her, Scott yelled down to Kirk, who then beamed her aboard the bird of prey.
Meanwhile, Nyota Uhura finally tracked down the missing Pavel Chekov at Mercy Hospital, in critical condition. Taylor helped Dr. McCoy and Admiral Kirk infiltrate the hospital, heal Chekov's severe head injuries, and extricate him from the hospital. Beamed back to the park Kirk finally got Taylor to provide the history and was preparing to leave her behind. She tried to argue that all she had was the whales and she was going with them. When Kirk signaled for transport she jumped in his arms and was beamed aboard as well. Kirk tried to get her to leave but she refused, saying that if by some miracle they did make it back to the 23rd century they would need an expert on humpback whales, and with humpbacks being extinct in the 23rd century she would be the best choice.
Kirk's crew managed to track down and beam the whales on board before they could be killed by a group of whalers. During the trip back to the 23rd century she kept the whales company, both of whom seemed happy to see her. When the ship arrived back on 23rd century Earth, Kirk risked drowning to free the whales. Taylor and Kirk watched along with the rest of the senior Enterprise staff as the whales began singing to the whale probe, convincing it to leave.
Taylor then attended the Federation council hearing that was convened to decide the fate of Admiral Kirk and company. Due to their actions in the crisis nearly all the charges were dropped, except for an insubordination charge against Admiral Kirk. Kirk was "punished" by being reduced in rank to Captain, then rewarded by being placed back in the Captain's chair. After the session Kirk and Taylor said their goodbyes. Taylor left on a science vessel for the planet Mer, planning to do 300 years of catch up learning and recruit divers to help the whales. Returning to Earth she went to work at the New Cetacean Institute off Australia's Great Barrier Reef. She and Kirk witnessed the birth of Gracie's calf Harpo, the first humpback whale to be born on Earth in over 200 years.
In 2293 she attended Kirk's funeral at Starfleet Academy after his apparent death in the Nexus, and met many of his other female friends from over the years. A few years later she wrote a book on her experiences with the Enterprise crew. Then in 2311 she traveled to Pacifica with Harpo to conduct scientific research.
