Laura Blake

Laura Blake was a human Starfleet officer and captain of the USS Ellesmere (NCC-21464) in the mid-24th century. In 2339, she was killed after her ship accidentally entered the Romulan Neutral Zone and was attacked. It was initially believed she had been killed by being struck by a falling bulkhead as a result of the ship taking damage. However, an autopsy later revealed that she had actually been strangled to death and the blunt force trauma inflicted postmortem.

An investigation further revealed that she had been killed by a Romulan spy posing as a Vulcan operations officer, who had engineered the ship's crossing into the Neutral Zone as part of an effort to steal valuable sensor and deployment data.

Blake had planned to retire from Starfleet soon and had already recommended her first officer, Lieutenant Commander Alison Lewis to replace her as the Ellesmere's commanding officer.