James Howard

Doctor James Howard was the chief medical officer aboard the USS Nautilus in the early 25th century. (Star Trek Online: Valkyries)

Early Career
In 2374, Howard, along with Sokar, was part of the first group of Starfleet ground forces to land after the First Battle of Chin'toka. He witnessed Cardassian asymmetrical warfare practices, including the use of hand-cranked civil-defense alarms to summon Jem'Hadar guards. ("Survivors of Yamatai")

Aboard the USS Nautilus
By 2405, Howard was serving as chief medical officer aboard the USS Nautilus under Sokar, who served as the ship's Captain. In May of that year, Howard received an assistant in the form of Ensign Carlin Agran. While she was competent in her work, Howard could tell that her real interests lay elsewhere and repeatedly requested that first officer Antori Drel have her reassigned. Before she was, however, she and Howard spent two days running microcellular scans on all members of the Nautilus crew in order to verify their identities, following the detection of an Undine infiltrator in their midst. ("The Best Revenge")

In 2407, Howard accompanied a rescue shuttle to the planet Yamatai, hoping to retrieve survivors of the first Nautilus away mission to the planet. The mission was a disaster, however. The shuttle was brought down by a storm caused by a powerful native entity. The shuttle crew managed to beam out on time, but polaric radiation scattered them across a large area. Their pilot, Crewman Maiava, was killed and the remaining crew members, including Howard, were captured by the Solarii. The Solarii killed the commanding officer of the away mission, Rejes Joslin, when she fought back, imprisoning Howard and Ensign McKensey in the hulk of an old shuttlepod.

Howard and McKensey were rescued later that day by Lieutenant Carlin Agran. They then made their way through the chaotic Solarii shantytown to rendezvous with Commander Antori Drel and the other survivors of the first away team. After they made it, however, they were beamed up by Orion raiders aboard the OSS Cluros. The Orions began escorting Howard, along with the other survivors, to the brig, but were interrupted when their ship was attacked by the same entity that had brought down the rescue shuttle. As the ship began to go down, Howard, and Lieutenant Sam Hayashi managed to make it to the forward section, just before the ship performed an emergency separation and both halves crashed.

In the aftermath of the crash, Howard performed two field surgeries. He treated the Orion Commander, Ursan, for a punctured lung, saving his life. Subsequently he discovered Antori Drel dead in the arms of Carlin Agran. Howard found that Antori's symbiont was still alive, however, and--in accordance with Antori's will and Carlin's wishes--he transferred the Drel symbiont to Carlin. When the newly-joined Carlin Drel awakened, Howard administered a brief cognitive exam and declared that, under the circumstances, she was fit for duty.

Howard then joined the other survivors in searching for Alex McKensey, who had gone down with the other half of the OSS Cluros. When they found the other half of the wreck, Howard helped fight the Solarii in order to board it and, once aboard, attempted to fire on the ship's insane Gorn engineer when he attacked. Howard's fire was ineffective, though, and he received a mild concussion after being hit in the head by an object thrown by the Gorn. Howard was able to regain his senses in time to escape the wreck with the other survivors aboard Orion Syndicate agent Atria D'blae's shuttle. There he helped treat Alex McKensey's crushed legs after Sam Hayashi's unconventional rescue. He declared that both Sam and Carlin had earned his respect on the mission and were heroes as far as he was concerned.

Howard continued to treat McKensey's extensive leg injuries for most of the day, but did take time out to administer apolinaride to himself and the survivors, to counteract the effects of Orion pheromones. When the shuttle was ambushed and badly damaged by the Solarii, Howard hailed Carlin and the other survivors, warning them not to return. Once the Solarii withdrew, Howard beamed Atria and Carlin back to the shuttle. From there, they went to the Oni monastery to rescue Sam, who had been captured by the Solarii. Howard fought alongside the other survivors to hold the Solarii back in the subsequent ground battle. He was later rescued from Yamatai by Sam aboard an ancient starship. He then returned to the Nautilus where he helped to treat the injuries of the survivors. ("Survivors of Yamatai")