A Starfleet commodore who in 2267 told Kirk that the momentary winking out of existence had been felt across the galaxy and ordered the Enterprise to stay and face a possible invasion alone.
Commodore Barstow appears in the episode The Alternative Factor. After the Enterprise, orbiting a barren planet, feels space itself blink out twice, Starfleet Command sends a top-priority Code Factor One signal and Barstow comes on the viewscreen.
He tells Kirk that the effect was felt in every quadrant and far beyond, and that the Enterprise's position seems to be its centre. Command reads it as the possible opening move of an invasion. Barstow is pulling every other ship and unit out of the area, leaving Kirk's vessel as the only one on the spot.
When Kirk asks what happens if the invaders prove too strong, the commodore can offer little more than his good wishes. The true cause turns out to be Lazarus and his counterpart. Barstow was played by Richard Derr.