For other uses, see Andrea.

Andrea Nyota M'Benga, known to her friends as Bones, was a Human woman who lived in the 24th century. She was a doctor in Starfleet.

Biography[]

She was the great grand daughter of Doctor Jabilo M'Benga who had served on the original USS Enterprise for a period of time. Similar to her ancestor, she learnt several details of Vulcan culture and entered into the medical field where she reached the position of Doctor in Starfleet. By the mid 24th century, she was assigned as chief medical officer on the Oberth-class science vessel, USS Tobias which was captained by Commander Christine MacDonald. The two formed a friendship during their years of service which led to Andrea being given the nickname "Bones".

By the year 2373, Andrea along with the crew of the Tobias were assigned for relief missions during the Virogen crisis that was affecting the United Federation of Planets at the time. Beaming down to the surface, she set up a medical facility to help treat the infected people of the planet Chal. During her time there, a stranger arrived on the world who's actions made Christine MacDonald suspicious and she later voiced her opinion to Andrea after receiving a dedication plaque from the second USS Enterprise. She told Andrea that she believed it was the famous Captain James T. Kirk though Doctor M'Benga was skeptical about this as all reports indicated that he died on Veridian III and that Captain Jean-Luc Picard buried him on that world. They later met the stranger once more who was tending to one of Andrea's patients, a chalchaj 'qmey called Teilani and managed to clear her of her infection through Trannin leaves.

Doctor M'Benga submitted her report to Starfleet Medical about the trannin leaves being an effective cure for the Virogen but stated that this knowledge came to her from a Klingon folk healer as part of the stranger called Jim's request to remain anonymous. Their encampment was later seemingly attacked by Orion pirates and the stranger eventually revealed his identity as being the famous Captain Kirk. Commander MacDonald and Doctor M'Benga along with Tellarite engineer Barc accompanied Kirk on his mission to find out who the attackers were after discovering a Vulcan corpse in one of the fighters. Traveling to Vulcan, they met up with Ambassador Spock and his aide Srell after which the two of them were captured by Vulcan authorities who detained them in holocells. However, by working together, they managed to escape from the cells and reach the Tobias after which they set course for Tarsus IV when the group believed it to be the home of the organization that created the Virogen; the Symmetrists movement.

Once there, they were joined by the crew of the USS Enterprise-E when they beamed down to the surface. Meeting Enterprise chief medical officer Beverly Crusher; they compared notes about the Trannin leaves and that a cure were being developed from the Klingon folk healer M'Benga had learnt of the cure. At first confused, she remembered to keep the truth of the cure a secret at the time. They later confirmed that the tanks present at the underground facility at Tarsus IV contained cultures of the Virogen. After a fire-fight erupted, the Starfleet crews were successful in defeating the Symmetrists and getting the necessary cure for the plague thus ending a threat that nearly caused the collapse of the Federation. (TOS novel: Avenger)

During the events of the Dominion War, the USS Tobias was destroyed by Captain MacDonald in order to save her crew after discovering a Pakled probe that the Jem'Hadar believed was Borg in origin. As a result of this, Doctor M'Benga was temporarily posted at Deep Space 9 by the year 2374. At some point during this posting, she was taken to Agricultural Research Station 51 which orbited Alpha Centauri IV. Once there, she learnt that she was part of a secret group which had previously erased her memories everytime she had accomplished a mission for them. Meeting Commodore Nathan Twining, Andrea was part of a secret genetics project in order to examine a number of children on board a ship that was designed to appear as an old Earth sleeper ship. During her study, she later determined that the children were genetically constructed and had various animal genes grafted onto them as well as were enhanced through various means. During the course of the study, She entered into a debate with the Commodore about the existence of the Preservers and believed that they were a myth. As the genetic project continued whilst Andrea used the Federation Genetic Atlas but during these events, the children attempted to escape and a wildfire code was initiated.

This led to the doctor's memories being wiped once again by Twining and she was placed at the planet Vulcan where she believed she contracted Rudellian brain fever. This was secretly a part of Project Sign's mindwiping program which involved Andrea M'Begna suffering a panic attack everytime someone questioned events that might led to her uncovering the truth about her abductions. A year later, she met with a disguised Captain Picard and Kirk who had arrived on DS9 and asked for her help in scanning them for a mission to the mirror universe. During the encounter, she learnt that Teilani was ill and had been infected with a deadly virus from a genetically engineered child who had a venom secreted from his nails. For a moment, Andrea began to recall her time at the Alpha Centauri research base but the memories faded. After helping them secretly, she returned to her activities. However, Cardassian tailor Elim Garak tricked Andrea into his basement where he revealed to her that he had captured a spy from Project Sign. Through his efforts, he was able to break through her programming and her memories of her last visit to Alpha Centauri came back to her. She thanked Garak for her actions in restoring her memories that were stolen from her before departing. (TOS novel: Dark Victory)

Later in the same year, she was on Qo'noS where she helped Doctor Leonard McCoy to help treat Teilani who had been infecting by a deadly virus which was slowly killing her. After being placed in stasis, they managed to get the details of a cure and Doctor M'Benga helped McCoy in taking Teilani out of stasis in order to treat her. She also attempted to help Kirk in convincing her former Captain Christine MacDonald that she was being manipulated by the Preservers in order to use Halkan to destroy the mirror universe. (TOS novel: Preserver)

Appendices[]

Connections[]

USS Tobias personnel
	Barc • C. MacDonald • A. M'Benga

USS Pathfinder (II) personnel
	Barc • D. Darno • C. MacDonald • A. M'Benga • Pini • T'Rell

Appearances and references[]

• TOS novel: Avenger
• TOS novel: Dark Victory
• TOS novel: Preserver