Gannet Brooks

Gannet Brooks was a Human news reporter who lived on the planet Earth in the mid-2150s.

Travis Mayweather
Gannet Brooks had been romantically involved with Travis Mayweather prior to the launch of the. In an attempt to keep Mayweather from accepting a position aboard Enterprise, Brooks claimed that space exploration was the "last vestige of colonial impulse". Eventually, she and Mayweather made a mutual decision to end their relationship.

Brooks was present at one of the initial talks for the formation of the Coalition of Planets. When she met Ensign Mayweather at the ceremony, she claimed that she had been busy reporting news since the Xindi attack in 2153.

When Brooks stated that she wanted her relationship with Mayweather to continue, the Starfleet officer was initially hesitant. However, Brooks commented that if she and Mayweather waited another four years to resume their relationship, they would have too much catching up to do. Mayweather agreed and Gannet Brooks soon joined the ensign aboard Enterprise, claiming that she had been assigned to do a news story about the starship. The report would include an insight into the missions which the crew were assigned, their life in space and the perils they met there.

Brooks interviewed Mayweather, who gave her a guided tour of some locations aboard Enterprise, including the launch bay and the interior of a shuttlepod. She revealed that she had learned that one of the starship's shuttlepods had penetrated a sphere in the Delphic Expanse, and commented that the shuttlepods were beautiful.

In Shuttlepod 1, Brooks revealed that she was still attracted to Mayweather and began kissing him. After the couple spent a time in the shuttlepod, they returned to Mayweather's quarters. There, Brooks revealed that she would never "settle down", although she would not be averse to entering a serious relationship under the right conditions.

Suspected Terra Prime involvement
The crew of Enterprise later discovered that Brooks had reconfigured her universal translator at the conference on Earth to record messages from all the other translators and had been spying on the delegates there. Ensign Hoshi Sato claimed that Brooks had accidentally triggered an identification protocol in the network, which Sato had tracked back to the source. Most of the Starfleet officers suspected that Brooks was a member of the xenophobic organization Terra Prime. However, Ensign Mayweather believed that Brooks may have simply been doing undercover research for a news report.

Captain Jonathan Archer argued that Brooks had recently made several visits to the Orpheus Mining Colony on Luna, the headquarters of Terra Prime. Brooks claimed that she had been assigned there by her news agency and knew nothing about two officers from Enterprise who had disappeared on Luna.

Realizing her predicament, Brooks demanded to speak with a lawyer, shortly before Captain Archer impatiently accepted her request and ordered her arrest.

Starfleet Intelligence
In Enterprise's brig, Brooks requested to speak with Travis Mayweather. When the ensign arrived, she complained that she had not yet spoken to her lawyer. She also revealed that she was actually working for Starfleet Intelligence, not Terra Prime. Mayweather found her story hard to accept, however. He believed that Brooks would be able to quickly arrange her own release if she were employed by Starfleet Intelligence. In an attempt to explain why she had not already done so, Brooks replied that she was aware that a Terra Prime agent could possibly be operating on board Enterprise. Her own identity would be compromised if she were to attempt to contact the head of her division.

Mayweather warned Brooks that he would inform Captain Archer of her true identity. However, she and Mayweather speculated that the captain would probably not believe Brooks' story.

Brooks knew that Captain Archer was planning to find the leader of Terra Prime, John Frederick Paxton, on Mars. She worried that if a Terra Prime agent was working aboard Enterprise, Paxton may have already prepared for the arrival of the Starfleet officers.

Mayweather refused to accept Brooks' story and continued with the mission without informing any of the other officers about her claim.

Earth
Shortly thereafter, Paxton was arrested and the Terra Prime spy aboard Enterprise, Ensign Masaro, committed suicide. Brooks was released from imprisonment and learned that peace conferences were continuing on Earth. She believed that, due to the work of Mayweather and others, the Coalition of Planets would eventually be formed. Mayweather agreed with her that, like him, Brooks had just been doing her job. She suggested that she and Mayweather should learn to "get along" like the Vulcans and Andorians, two members of the potential Coalition of Planets who were renowned for their discordant relationship. Mayweather commented that he and Brooks had much to discuss and accompanied her back to Earth in a shuttlepod.

Background information
Brooks was played by Johanna Watts. The surname of the character is taken from the script, where she is described as "an attractive woman in her mid-20s".

The character's name may have been a homage to the, a North American news syndication service. According to the audio commentary of, she started out as a man (with the same name), associated to Hoshi rather then Travis. The writers also were not sure if she was really with S.I. until writing the end of the episode.

As shown in the It's A Wrap! sale and auction, Watts' costume was composed of earrings by Kenneth Cole, a waist belt by Eddie Rodriguez, a Carlson brand blue blouse, and black leather heel boots by Franco Sarto.

Appearances


Gannet Brooks