( VOY: " Learning Curve") He also served as one of the instructors to Icheb in his pursuits to join Starfleet. Tuvok eventually served as an instructor for thousands of cadets during a sixteen year tenure at Starfleet Academy, a role he resumed aboard Voyager in order to instruct former Maquis crewmen in Starfleet protocols. The final draft of VOY: " Repentance" had Janeway explain that "Tuvok's been a Starfleet Security Officer for the last sixty-seven years, " suggesting he returned to Starfleet by 2310, however, the line was changed to "a very long time ", in the script's final revision. ( Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country VOY: " Flashback") This virus later manifested itself in 2373, when Tuvok served aboard the Voyager, before being destroyed by The Doctor. An alien virus that Valtane was carrying transferred itself to Tuvok, and then disguised itself as a repressed memory engram.
In the subsequent battle in the Azure Nebula with a K't'inga-class battle cruiser, Valtane nearly died in Tuvok's arms. Decades later, however, an older and wiser Tuvok determined that he had not necessarily been right either. Tuvok protested to Captain Sulu about his breach of orders, but to no avail. This was despite a direct order from Starfleet that no rescue attempt must be tried. Kirk and Leonard McCoy from the Klingon penal colony, Rura Penthe. Two months later, Tuvok was present during the Excelsior's attempt to rescue James T. He worked during the gamma shift, and shared common quarters on Deck 7 with Dimitri Valtane and two other officers on the same shift. Early Starfleet career The ExcelsiorĪfter Tuvok graduated from Starfleet Academy in 2293, he was assigned to the sciences division as a junior science officer aboard the USS Excelsior under the command of Captain Hikaru Sulu. In the first draft script of "Flashback", Tuvok's father was cited as being the one who had pressured Tuvok to enter Starfleet, though this was changed to Tuvok's "parents" by the time the final draft of the script was written.