| “ | My orders were to disable the Defiant, not destroy her. | „ |
| ~ Benteen, protesting her orders. |
Erika Benteen was a secondary antagonist in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episodes Homefront and Paradise Lost. She was portrayed by Susan Gibney.
Born in Atlanta, Benteen enrolled in Starfleet Academy at the age of 18 and graduated near the top of her class in 2358. Due to her devotion to duty she was promoted quickly. When the USS Odyssey was launched in 2363 she was posted to the Galaxy-class ship. Captain Keogh promoted her to Lieutenant Commander and made her second officer. In 2367 she transferred to Starbase 219 to become operations manager. The following year base commander Admiral Mamoru Nakamura offered her promotion to commander and a posting as his aide, which she accepted. She returned to Earth in 2370 and took up a posting as Admiral James Leyton's aide, becoming a trusted advisor and confidant.
After the Changeling Founders of the Dominion reached Earth and bombed diplomatic talks there, Admiral Leyton decided the civilian government wasn't taking the threat seriously and decided to take matters into his own hands. Working with Benteen and other sympathizers in Starfleet and the Federation government Leyton manipulated Captain Benjamin Sisko into backing his proposal to institute martial law on Earth, and the two convinced the Federation President to sign a martial law decree.
In order to consolidate control over the Federation, Leyton promoted Benteen to Captain and had her take command of the USS Lakota, which had been refitted with more powerful weapons and engines. When the USS Defiant departed for Earth with proof that Leyton was manufacturing a crisis in order to launch a coup of the Federation government, Benteen was sent out to intercept and stop the Defiant from reaching Earth.
Benteen had her crew open fire on the Defiant, telling them that the crew had been replaced with Changeling infiltrators. However the other ship was under the command of Commander Worf, who decided that instead of running or trying to surrender to fight. While Defiant herself was heavily damaged, the Lakota took the brunt of the attack. Benteen contacted Leyton for more instructions only to be told to use quantum torpedoes on the Defiant. Knowing the truth that Defiant's crew had not been replaced, she refused to murder over 50 Starfleet officers and allowed the Defiant to proceed to Earth. Seeing that his most loyal supporter would not support the coup any further, and realizing that moving forward would make the Federation ripe for Dominion conquest, Leyton finally stood down.
For her role in Leyton's attempted coup Captain Benteen was court-martialed by Starfleet. She was acquitted of the most serious charges against her. Benteen, was however stripped of command and busted back to Commander for a period of time. By 2373 she had regained Captain's rank and was the CO of the USS Appalachia. When the Borg sent a single cube to attack Earth in that year, Benteen fought against them in the Battle of Sector 001. Sometime before 2375 she moved on from command of the USS Appalachia and escaped the destruction of her former command at the hands of the Dominion.