(Side note: Certain characters disappeared from the "Star Trek" franchise-- from Yeoman Rand (Grace Lee Whitney) to Ensign Sonya Gomez (Lycia Naff) -- only to re-emerge many years later.

As the quasi-military arm of the United Federation of Planets in the "Star Trek" franchise, Starfleet uses a military ranking system for its officers. And as with most organizations, everyone has ...