| Lieutenant Ayala | |
| Gender: | Male |
| Species: | Human |
| Children: | At least two sons |
| Actor: | Tarik Ergin |
Ayala was a Maquis who served as Chakotay's right-hand man aboard the raider SS Val Jean. When he became stranded in the Delta Quadrant aboard the Starfleet starship Voyager, he joined its crew as a security officer. He returned to the Alpha Quadrant with Voyager in 2378. (VOY: "Caretaker", "Endgame")
Stranded in the Delta Quadrant
In 2371, Ayala was one of Chakotay's crew aboard the Val Jean. When Gul Evek's ship, the Vetar, attacked the Maquis vessel in the Badlands, he attempted to make repairs to the bridge. After the Val Jean was transported to the Delta Quadrant by the Caretaker's array, Ayala was brought aboard the array for testing by the Caretaker. He was returned to the Val Jean unharmed. He later boarded Voyager along with Chakotay and Tuvok at Captain Kathryn Janeway's invitation. When it was revealed that Tuvok was a spy for the Federation, Ayala attempted to attack him, but was held back by Chakotay. He was issued a compression phaser rifle and beamed to the array with an away team to scout for Harry Kim and B'Elanna Torres with Tuvok, but was soon returned to Voyager by the Caretaker. The Val Jean was later destroyed after it rammed a Kazon warship, and the Maquis were forced to join Voyager's crew for the journey home. (VOY: "Caretaker")
Ayala was transported aboard Voyager with B'Elanna Torres and at least two other Maquis crew. In an alternate timeline created several years later by a spatial rift, he was trapped in the transporter room with the Maquis. Chakotay, who originated from the time period where Voyager encountered the rift, injected Torres and Ayala with a chroniton-infused serum which allowed them to move between the time periods, to retake Main Engineering from Seska. This alternate timeline was later erased when a chroniton field brought Voyager back into temporal sync. (VOY: "Shattered")
Aboard the USS Voyager
Duties and responsibilities
The bridge
Ayala at the conn in 2378.
Ayala was awarded the rank of lieutenant junior grade, initially in the engineering and operations divisions, but eventually in security. (VOY: "Faces," "The 37's") He was generally assigned to the bridge as a relief tactical officer. (VOY: "Cathexis") He also served as operations manager at various points in 2371 and 2372. (VOY: "The Cloud") Ayala was left in command of the bridge when the ship was affected by a distortion ring being. (VOY: "Twisted") By 2378, shortly before Voyager returned to Earth, Ayala had switched to the command division, and was assigned to the conn. (VOY: "Renaissance Man")
Security detail
Ayala took part in several away team missions as a security guard. (VOY: "The 37's", "Threshold," "Unity") He was sometimes assigned to guard prisoners in the brig, such as Lon Suder (VOY: "Meld"), Seven of Nine (VOY: "The Gift"), Dala (VOY: "Live Fast and Prosper"), and Gar. (VOY: "Critical Care") Ayala also escorted guests aboard Voyager to sensitive areas such as the bridge or the briefing room. (VOY: "Blink of an Eye," "Ashes to Ashes")
Other activities
Tuvix, an individual created after a transporter accident fused Tuvok and Neelix together, tried to gather support from Voyager bridge crew, including Ayala, after Captain Janeway decided to restore Tuvok and Neelix. His pleading went unanswered. (VOY: "Tuvix")
Along with the rest of the Voyager crew, Ayala was stranded on Hanon IV when the Kazon took control of the ship in 2372. (VOY: "Basics, Part I") He was initially part of Chakotay's team, searching for food and water. Along with Lieutenant Torres, Ayala created a diversion to move the Hanonians away from a cave which trapped several Voyager crew members. (VOY: "Basics, Part II")
He was one of the excited bridge crew hoping to receive a message from home when Voyager used an ancient Hirogen relay network to communicate with the Alpha Quadrant in 2374. (VOY: "Hunters") Ayala was on the bridge when the Pathfinder Project established realtime communication with Voyager in 2376, and he attended the party in the mess hall following the historic event. (VOY: "Pathfinder")
Ayala worked at the Mission Ops I station on the bridge when Voyager returned to Earth in 2378. (VOY: "Endgame")
Loss of identity
Ayala in Maquis fatigues.
In 2376, when the Tarakis memorial began transmitting telepathic memories to Voyager, Ayala was one of the crew members stricken by visions caused by the memorial. (VOY: "Memorial")
In 2377, he was attacked by Tuvok, who was under the mental control of a Bajoran vedek named Teero Anaydis. Tuvok mind-melded with Ayala, and other Maquis, inciting them to mutiny and overthrow Captain Janeway. He once again served as Chakotay’s right-hand man, and guarded him in the captain's ready room. He was present when Chakotay tested Tuvok's loyalty by ordering to fire a phaser at Captain Janeway. He then surrendered, once Tuvok was back to normal. (VOY: "Repression")
Later that year, his identity was reassigned to that of a laborer working for the Quarren when nearly the entire Voyager crew was abducted by Dr. Kadan. He worked at the same power plant as Seven of Nine, Janeway, Torres, and Tuvok. Ayala's personnel file at the plant was one of many Voyager crew files accessed by Tuvok, whose memory was still partially intact. (VOY: "Workforce, Part I" and "Part II")
Medical record
The Q known as Quinn temporarily caused all male crew members of Voyager to disappear when he encountered the ship in 2372, including Ayala. (VOY: "Death Wish")
Tuvok, driven mad after a mind-meld with Lon Suder, knocked Ayala unconscious in order to free Suder. (VOY: "Meld")
Ayala was in the mess hall when a macrovirus was released aboard Voyager in mid-2373, and was one of the first crew members to succumb to infection. (VOY: "Macrocosm")
Seven of Nine stunned Ayala during her escape from Voyager in early 2374, after she was drawn to the wreckage of the USS Raven. (VOY: "The Raven")
Ayala guarded the Species 8472 individual stranded on Voyager, but was shot by the Alpha-Hirogen when he broke free of sickbay to pursue the creature. (VOY: "Prey")
In an alternate timeline created after Voyager crash landed on a planet after using a quantum slipstream drive, Ayala was killed with most of the crew. In 2390, his frozen body was found by Harry Kim in a Jefferies tube, shortly before the timeline was erased and Voyager's destruction averted. (VOY: "Timeless")
Ayala with another security officer.
In an alternate timeline, when Kes returned to seek revenge against the Voyager crew in 2376, Ayala and a security team was sent to intercept her, and he was injured by her telekinetic abilities. This timeline was changed, when Janeway had these sections evacuated. (VOY: "Fury")
Personal life
Ayala was grief-stricken because he was forced to leave his sons in the Alpha Quadrant. As part of his morale officer duties, Neelix often counseled Ayala. (VOY: "Initiations")
A jealous Neelix later worried that Kes was romantically interested in Ayala, along with many other Voyager crew members. (VOY: "Twisted")
Ayala was amongst the group at Kurt Bendera's funeral in 2372 (VOY: "Alliances") and was part of the honor guard during Ares IV astronaut John Kelly's funeral in 2376. (VOY: "One Small Step")
Ayala was at Ensign Ahni Jetal's surprise birthday party in 2373. (VOY: "Latent Image")
He also attended the holodeck luau planned by Neelix later that year. (VOY: "Alter Ego") Harry Kim learned about the Insurrection Alpha holodeck program from Ayala. (VOY: "Worst Case Scenario") Ayala participated in several of Tom Paris's holosimulations, including Fair Haven, and was one of the crew members who was involved in a barroom fight instigated by one of the holographic characters. (VOY: "Fair Haven") Ayala was also present during a screening of "Attack of the Lobster People" at a simulation of the Palace Theater. (VOY: "Repression")
Ayala participated in Neelix's celebration of the 315th anniversary of First Contact, and was amused by Neelix's dancing. He later bade Neelix farewell outside the shuttlebay with the rest of the Voyager crew. (VOY: "Homestead")
Miscellaneous information
Ayala's quarters on Voyager were on Deck 7. (VOY: "Twisted")
Several holographic representations of Ayala have been created. In Tuvok's Insurrection Alpha program, Ayala was ordered to take the helm after the Maquis were successful in commandeering Voyager. If the participant in the simulation decided to help the Starfleet crew, Ayala apprehended the participant and brought them to the brig. (VOY: "Worst Case Scenario") Ayala was seen in the mess hall in the program created by the Doctor in order to improve Seven of Nine's social skills. (VOY: "One") In Maquis garb, he was part of Reginald Barclay's holographic simulation of Voyager, programmed to act as one of Barclay's good friends. (VOY: "Pathfinder")
In the 28th century simulation of Voyager at the Kyrian Museum of Heritage, Ayala was present on the bridge. (VOY: "Living Witness")
- Ayala was played by Tarik Ergin, a regular extra for all seven years of Star Trek: Voyager. He worked in Main Engineering in VOY: "Parallax" but was moved to the bridge by VOY: "The Cloud." He was first referred to by name in VOY: "Faces." He appeared in numerous episodes, usually standing at the master systems display or Mission Ops stations at the back of the bridge. He would generally replace Tuvok at Tactical whenever he left the bridge, and would also replace Kim at the Ops station during the first two seasons. Ayala was also seen often in the mess hall and the corridors. Ergin was only credited twice for the role, as "Security Guard" in VOY: "Fury" and "Tactical N.D." in VOY: "Renaissance Man," even though he worked at the conn in the latter episode. He only spoke in the episodes VOY: "Basics, Part II," "The Gift," "Fury," and "Renaissance Man," and even then, only said a few words. He was called ensign in "The Gift," but lieutenant once again in "Once Upon a Time," so if he was demoted, it was only a temporary reprimand.
See also: List of VOY recurring character appearances, Roll Call: The Minor Crewmembers of Voyager.
Memorable Quotes
- VOY: "Basics, Part II"
- "Yeah."
- VOY: "The Gift"
- "Ensign Ayala to the bridge."
- Kathryn Janeway: "Go ahead, ensign."
- "You'd better come down to the brig, ma'am."
- VOY: "Fury"
- "Stop where you are!"
- VOY: "Renaissance Man"
- "There's some kind of pulse being directed at our transceiver array. It's coming from the Delta Flyer."
- Harry Kim: "Hail them."
- "No response."
Chronology
- prior to 2371
- Father to two sons, joins the Maquis under Chakotay's command.
- 2371
- Presumed killed when the SS Val Jean is lost in the Badlands; actually joins the crew of the USS Voyager in the Delta Quadrant with the provisional Starfleet rank of lieutenant.
- 2374
- Word of Voyager's survival reaches the Alpha Quadrant.
- 2377
- Helps Chakotay commandeer Voyager as part of Teero Anaydis's mind control plot.
- Memory is erased and identity reassigned by rogue Quarren, later rescued.
- 2378
- Transfers to command division.
- Returns to Earth with Voyager.
Revision ID missing! • Date missing! • Blurb