Montaine Buchanan

Captain Montaine Buchanan was commanding officer of Deep Space 3 in the mid-24th century. (Star Trek: Outpost)

Starfleet Career
After graduation Buchanan was assigned to the planet Kalimor. While there, he fell in love with Emily Alkon, daughter of the Colony Governor. Buchanan loved to walk, a habit he developed prior to Kalimor. He would time various routes in the areas where he lived and worked to maximize the time he had available.

In 2239, Kalimor was invaded by the Mahr. They Mahr proceded to kill off the colonists through starvation, slave labour, torture, and eventually medical experimentation. Buchanan assumed command of the survivors following the death of senior Starfleet officer at the colony. His management of their meagre resources was vital to keeping as many of the prisoners alive as possible. Many died nevertheless, including his Vulcan friend Sakor. The Mahr exposed Buchanan to a deadly pathogen that initially caused hallucinations and delirium. Dr Arban Breetal saved Buchanan by smuggling out a small amount of antidote. While he was incapacitated, Emily Alkon was similarly infected; without any remaining antidote, she died two days before Starfleet liberated the camp. The Mahr vanished into the Miragosa Nebula. (Episode 21 "Shadows of Times Past")

Buchanan never quite recovered psychologically from his experiences on Kalimor. He was awarded a medal for his actions but he did not believe he deserved it.

His next assignment was as logistics officer of Starbase 43, which he held for thirteen years, nine with rank lieutenant commander and three as commander.

Buchanan was promoted to captain and assigned to Deep Space 3 in 2351. A driven, heavy-handed martinet, Buchanan's management style was to maximize short-term gains and minimize use of resources, going so far as to power down sections of the station and cannibalise it for parts rather than requisition new supplies. Buchanan was known to take walks all over the station; the crew believed this was one way he could keep an eye on them.

By 2364 he had won an award for Most Efficient Station three times running. Captain Buchanan had been passed over for promotion to the rank of admiral. He was involved in a serious turbolift accident resulting in him inhaling a significant amount of anti-grav coolant. While unconscious he suffered an unexplained out-of-body experience in which he learned that Abar Torvin-Smith's sister had symptoms matching the Mahr pathogen, which he was later able to confirm was true. While recovering, he was relieved of command of the station. (Episodes 23 "Shadow of Times Future", 30 "The Needs of the Few")

With his subordinates
Buchanan is not popular, and morale was low amongst his crew. Some of the less than complimentary nicknames given to him include "Bucky", and "Captain Blue Cannon". Despite his many personal shortcomings, Captain Buchanan had substantial command presence. In the words of Medtech Kell, "Whether you liked him or loathed him, you knew it when he entered the room." He in turn considered the majority of the crew on the station as "spoiled children that cry about what they don't have, and don't know the meaning of genuine hardship" and consistently treated them with varying degrees of contempt and disdain. Buchanan's ambition to succeed was exceeded only by lack of loyalty to the station or its crew.

With his superiors
Though he believed himself a logistical genius in the eyes of Starfleet Command, he was, in fact, the butt of jokes and slurs by the Admiralty because of his incomplete understanding of proper station operation. The reason behind his long tenure in command of Deep Space 3 was unknown, though it was speculated Starfleet wanted to shut the station down and replace it with an automated listening station and the captain was there to quietly expedite the process. Though he was the senior officer onboard, he rarely accepted responsibility for any failures or shortcomings, preferring to blame subordinates.

Dr Arban Breetal
A fellow survivor of the Mahr occupation of planet Kalimor and Buchanan's sole personal friend on the station.

Greg Torkelson
The Captain appears to have a distrust, bordering on paranoia regarding his Executive Officer Greg Torkelson. While he considers him "an undisciplined young slacker with delusions of adequacy," he was convinced that Torkelson was trying to undermine his authority, and steal his command out from under him.

Chronology

 * 2239 Promoted to lieutenant commander and assigned to Starbase 43
 * 2248 Promoted to commander
 * 2251 Promoted to Captain and assigned to Deep Space 3
 * 2364 Turbolift accident

Background
Montaine Buchanan is played by Edward Gore in all his appearances in Star Trek: Outpost.