Though of Irish-Terran descent, Lieutenant Kevin Riley is born and spends his early life on the colony planet Tarsus IV. When Riley is a child, the colony is struck by a severe famine that endangers the lives of all 8000 colonists. The colony governor, Kodos, makes the decision to execute half the colony in order to save the other half. Riley's parents are among those killed, although Riley himself somehow survives and is one of nine people to distinctly see Kodos' face. Kodos himself is subsequently overthrown and allegedly killed, though no positive identification is made on his body.Riley's adolescence, subsequent entry into Starfleet Academy, and early Starfleet career remains undocumented. When next seen, he is a navigator aboard the USS Enterprise under the command of Captain James T. Kirk--ironically, another survivor of the Tarsus IV massacre--and a close friend of chief helmsman Hikaru Sulu. It is also known that he has served at least one stint in the ship's engineering corps.Riley almost singlehandedly destroys the Enterprise when, infected by the madness-inducing polywater of Psi2000, he shuts down the ship's engines at a critical time.Not long after the Psi2000 incident, Captain Kirk encounters the actor Anton Karidian, and comes to suspect that Karidian is really Kodos. By this time, Kirk and Riley are the only two people left alive who can positively identify Kodos; the other seven are dead, and, as Science Officer Spock discovers in his research, Anton Karidian's acting company was nearby when each of the seven died.As a precaution, Kirk transfers Riley back to Engineering in an attempt to protect him should Karidian turn out to be Kodos (while it is mentioned that Riley is serving in the ship's Communications section at this time, it is far more likely that Kirk makes a mistake and Spock, given the severity of the situation, chooses not to correct him). However, the attempt proves unsuccessful, and Riley is poisoned. It is only because he is speaking with other ship's personnel on the intercom that he survives.While recovering in sickbay, Riley discovers that Kodos/Karidian is aboard the ship. He steals a phaser and heads for the ship theater to kill Karidian, but Kirk intercepts him and convinces him to return to sickbay.Riley's career from this point is unknown. It has been theorized that he was court-martialed and discharged from Starfleet after the Karidian incident, but this is highly doubtful, since the only officer in a position to bring charges, namely Captain Kirk, would have been unlikely to do so. Show less «