Star Trek: mirror universe

Dec

2012

Trek United Adult Trek Anthology – From Quadrant to Quadrant and Person to Person

It’s been a labor of love as well as a bit of lust. The Trek United Adult Trek Anthology is finally out! Travel with us, From Quadrant to Quadrant and Person to Person, and prepare to be seduced by Star Trek.

Trek United Adult Anthology – From Quadrant to Quadrant and Person to Person

With 315 pages of content, punctuated with beautiful sketches and gorgeous screen captures, not to mention a breathtaking photo manipulated cover, the Anthology is a feast for the eyes and can put you, the reader, right into the action. Let’s look at the individual contributions.

The Alabax 9 Affair

Madison Bruffy‘s newest contribution asks a question about the Prime Directive. Does it cover a, shall we say, delicate diplomatic situation? Or has Captain James T. Kirk really overstepped his bounds this time?

Last Full Measure

For Lil Black Dog, when does duty end? In the face of impossible adversity, what more can a First Officer do, but show the last full measure of his devotion to his captain?

You Make Me Want to Scream

Who’s got a secret powerhouse lover at home? jespah reminds us that sometimes our expectations are unfounded.

One Night on Terok Nor

Rush Limborg follows Garak as he and Ezri Dax work through some difficult memories and, along the way, a state of grace is achieved.

What Lies Within Lies Between

For Jonathan Archer and Trip Tucker, lost memory means that something else bubbles to the surface. How can T’Pol make sense of it all? Pauline Mac explores this fascinating dynamic.

D’Storlin

When a hybrid child is pushed to the limit, a careless mistake, made in a fit of rage, changes his and his tormentor’s lives forever. jespah brings the ugliness of bullying to the Trek universe.

A Drone’s New Life

When 7 of 9 and the rest of the crew of Voyager make it to Earth, life changes. And, for her, as writer Laura McBride shows, those changes are for the better.

Ripples

What if the events of Amok Time didn’t go the way we all know they did? Lil Black Dog returns with an exploration of how things would unfold if Dr. McCoy had not been there.

Milk

Scotty’s got a date. And, according to jespah, it’s going really, really well.

Anvil of the Gods

Jean-Luc Picard makes the Dominion War come alive as a Vorta learns what some true believers do – that sometimes heroes have feet of clay.

Sorrow, Shared

In the E² universe, a widowed T’Pol finds herself with a visitor who shares her grief. Honeybee gives readers something to think about.

Artwork

Fantastic artwork graces the Anthology. Bluetiger has captured the true essence of characters, from T’Pol to Scotty. Madison has added a number of promotional materials which have helped to round out this issue and create even more visual appeal. And then there’s the cover. ENTAllat‘s lovely photo manipulated cover brings together disparate elements and conveys the overall theme of the Anthology.

Feedback

We are writers and we are artists and we do it all for your feedback. Did we succeed in our mission? Is there something we missed? We would love to hear from you! Feel free to comment here, or on Issuu itself.

Looking to the Future

Will we do the Trek United Adult Anthology again? I don’t know. A lot of that will depend upon the reception that this, the first edition, garners. But if we do, would you like to write for us? Take a look at our selection criteria. If you’d like to try for a spot – and inclusion is not guaranteed – follow our submission guide. Plus I can be reached here if you have any questions. Onward, to the stars, and the stars in your eyes, from quadrant to quadrant, and person to person!

Dec

2012

Portrait of a Character – Michelle (Shelby) Pike

Origins

Keiko Ishikawa O’Brien of TNG and DS9 is a Botanist. Because the NX-01 has real food cooked by a real chef, and it is out there far earlier in time, I figured they had to have someone growing food plants. And, perhaps, studying alien vegetation. Hence I decided there would be a Botanist on board. In my older story, If You Can’t Stand the Heat, the Botanist is named Naomi Curtis. But that is intended to be a different person, and that story has been reworked in order to fit into my regular universe. It now takes place not too long after the initial launch of the Enterprise, and Naomi is meant to be a character replaced at the start of the Xindi war, much like Lili is brought in, to replace Chef’s three helpers. You need room for MACOs on the NX-01, and more skilled people need to be brought on so that there can be fewer of them. Hence Naomi leaves.

As for her name, Shelby’s name is a perfect blending of two canon characters (Commander Elizabeth Shelby from TNG and Captain Christopher Pike from TOS). However, I didn’t name her because of that. It’s just a happy coincidence.

Actually, Shelby was a part of a small universe of original stories I worked on over twenty years ago, which were murder mysteries set in and around Boston. Shelby was supposed to be our heroine’s boyfriend’s impossibly beautiful ex. She was also supposed to be darker-skinned, but was still African-American. And she was a ballet student. Hence the Shelby Pike of my Star Trek: fan fiction is a former ballerina in the Prime Universe.

Portrayal

Portrait of a Character – Michelle (Shelby) Pike

Young Shelby (Erica Gimpel)

Unlike most characters, Shelby is portrayed by two separate people. As a young girl, I see Erica Gimpel from Fame. I well recall seeing this actress – this was the first time I had ever seen a ballerina who was not Caucasian, and she stuck with me.

I had a vision of a stick thin young girl dedicated to her craft.

Adult Shelby (Aesha Ash)

But then personal disaster strikes, and she blows out her knee, and has to quit dancing. What to do? Shelby goes back to college, and gets hooked on plants. She becomes a Botanist, never dreaming that that would get her into space. For an adult Shelby, I chose ballerina Aesha Ash.

Either way, Shelby is delicate and beautiful.

Personality

Friendly and smart, Shelby keeps to herself quite a bit of the time. It’s a necessity when your closest companions, most of the time, are living things that cannot speak. She is unused to formal meetings, so she ends up embarrassingly raising her hand during the meeting shown in Shell Shock. She is more than competent, and Malcolm brings her on board the USS Bluebird where she continues to work as a Botanist.

Relationships

José Torres

During Temper, it’s revealed that they dated. Due to the height difference, Malcolm and Lili joke that the mechanics are somewhat confusing. At the end of the E² stories, José reveals that he’s considering asking her out.

Travis Mayweather

In Fortune (and earlier, in Apple, which takes place during Reversal), Shelby makes the first moves with Travis. However, by the time of the events of Equinox, he has instead married a woman named Ellen Warren (also referenced in Day of the Dead).

Andrew Miller

In the E² stories, because the kick backs in time occur before Lucy Stone joins the crew, Andrew and Shelby get together in both iterations. As two mid-level Science people, they have a lot in common and are thrown together quite a bit whenever the full senior staff meets.

Doug Hayes

In the Mirror Universe, Doug reveals Shelby’s background to Lili, and notes that, while he often had girlfriends during the time he knew her (including the Redheaded Bombshell, Jennifer Crossman), he would inevitably cheat on all of them with Shelby, and that there was just something about her that appealed to him, and he was incapable of staying away.

Francisco (Frank) Ramirez

By the time of The Point is Probably Moot, they are together and are trying to figure out how to get away from the Empress Hoshi Sato. For that couple, they cannot be open about their relationship, so life is filled with stolen moments. In Bread, they’re almost caught.

Mirror Universe

Mirror Shelby (Erica Gimpel)

For the Mirror, I’m back to Erica Gimpel portraying Shelby. Because no one cares about Botany, she works as a pilot. And because no one cares about ballet there, her earlier profession was far different.

Doug confirms that she worked as a prostitute, and more or less still did, when he knew her.

Doug notes that there were ways to see her without really being with her, and is essentially describing the future Mirror Universe take on phone sex.

Quote

“I have pumpkins ripening in the Botany Lab. They’re so pretty. Would you, uh, want to see them some time?”

Upshot

I was thrilled to be able to reuse this character and change her up. I like that she brings a little art and culture to the NX-01 (much like Chip Masterson does) and the USS Bluebird (like Declan Reed‘s drawings do, too). I’m also enjoying getting to know her as a person, and giving her more dimensions than she had in my failed fiction from two decades ago. I’m sure I’ll continue to learn more about Shelby.

Dec

2012

Portrait of a Character – Francisco (Frank) Ramirez

Francisco is a kind of hero character.

Origins

For Reversal, I liked the idea of Jenny Crossman having a solid, stable relationship. Here she is, the Redheaded Bombshell, yet she stays at home most Saturday nights. Aidan MacKenzie, in particular, is frustrated by this. But she hasn’t told him how serious things are with Frank, although Lili does acknowledge that the picture of Francisco that sits on Jenny’s desk is “huge”.

Portrayal

Portrait of a Character – Francisco (Frank) Ramirez

Frank Ramirez (Freddie Prinze, Jr.)

I wanted an actor with a Hispanic background to play Frank. He had to be good-looking but intelligent, and maybe a little goofy. I decided on Freddie Prinze, Jr.

Frank is a planetary geologist on Enceladus in Reversal. Jenny Crossman describes him as just, she knew he was the one. He visited her on a blind date, she explains to Travis in Together, and then Frank didn’t leave for several days afterwards.

Personality

Kind and sensitive, Frank is Jennifer’s rock. When she has to tell him what happened during the course of Together, he forgives her immediately and without reservation. All he wants is for her to be happy.

Furthermore, he becomes a father. His daughter, Ines, takes up with Melissa and Doug‘s second son, Neil Digiorno-Madden, and they have two children together.

Relationships

Jennifer Crossman

This is his main, defining relationship and he is never seen, in our universe, with anyone else. Frank is the quintessential good guy and there is no doubt that Jennifer has made the best possible choice.

Empress Hoshi Sato

Frank is a designated bed mate in the Mirror Universe, and there exists the very real possibility that he is her third child, Arashi‘s, father. However, since Arashi does not have the Y Chromosome Skew, and José Torres does not, either, it’s far more likely that José is the lucky fellow. He does not have much of a relationship with Hoshi and she chides him, during The Point is Probably Moot, for being a lousy performer. However, this is his ace in the hole, so to speak. He wants to be thought of as inadequate in that department, so that he can get out of it most of the time. All he wants to do is work in Engineering. He doesn’t have time for the Empress’s bedroom games.

Pamela Hudson

In the first alternate timeline at the end of Temper, Pamela, Blair and Karin are all freed. Blair ends up with Doctor Morgan and Karin ends up with Josh Rosen. Pamela, however, gets right to business and goes after the highest-ranking available man on the ship. Chip Masterson is the new captain but he is taken by Lucy Stone. Hence she goes after Frank.

Shelby Pike

On the other side of the pond, in the prime timeline, Frank and Shelby end up together and are first seen as a couple during The Point is Probably Moot. Like most couples comprised of senior staff on the ISS Defiant, they must keep their relationship under wraps, and they very nearly blow it during Bread.

Theme Music

He shares two songs with Jennifer during Together. Their long-distance relationship is evoked with Maroon 5’s This Love. Then their wedding song is Dusty Springfield’s I Only Want Be With You.

Mirror Universe

In the Mirror Universe,

Freddie Prinze Jr. (Mirror Frank)

there is no room for planetary geology when there are worlds to conquer. Hence Frank is an engineer. But unlike Tucker and Crossman, he isn’t, initially, looking to get out.

At the end of that story, with Crossman and Tucker gone (and José Torres is not an engineer in that universe; Frank fulfills that role on that side of the pond), Francisco gets a promotion from the Empress to run Engineering. This he does without concern for further promotions and glory. His lack of further ambition, and his true competence, keep him alive.

Francisco eventually gets where he needs to be, but only by the time of He Stays a Stranger.

Quote

“You can always tell me what’s going on. Always. When I asked you to marry me, I didn’t mean it was just this one-time offer that could be rescinded at any time.”

Upshot

Frank is as much of a fantasy fulfillment character as Doug is. In fact, he’s more, for he does not have the violent streak that Doug is saddled with. It would be a far better world if more men were like Frank.

Dec

2012

Portrait of a Character – Lucy Stone

Lucy Stone serves a lot of purposes.

Origins

The Mirror Defiant needed a Science Officer after T’Pol‘s death. And the Prime Universe NX-01 needed someone who could fill in at Science during the evening shift. Plus Jennifer Crossman needed a bridesmaid in Together. And so Lucy was born.

Portrayal

I wanted a strong but very lovely woman, so went with Alyssa Milano. Lucy is smart but she is also quite the looker.

At the start of Day of the Dead, Chip Masterson in particular is checking her out, until Tripp Tucker reminds him that he (Chip) is now married to Deb Haddon. And she is liable to take action if she feels their relationship is at all under threat.

But Chip has only a mild interest. This is because – unbeknownst to any of them – his and Lucy’s counterparts have a future together. But that doesn’t happen on our side of the proverbial pond.

Personality

Smart but serious, Lucy also is, at times, a bit careless. Neither of her two pregnancies are planned.

Relationships

Ben Collins

He’s only seen on a communications screen during Take Back the Night, when she contacts him in order to speak with their daughter, Gina. Lucy reveals that they haven’t been in love for years, but she appreciates Ben, who makes it possible for her to be out there at all. If Ben did not want to be essentially a stay at home father to Gina, it’s likely that Lucy would not have gone into space at all.

Andrew Miller

Their relationship takes flight during Take Back the Night, when she finds out she’s pregnant. He vows to her that he will stand by her decision – whatever it is – with respect to her pregnancy. She decides to keep the baby, who is a daughter. They name her Vanessa. By the time of Fortune, I reveal that they are still together.

Mirror Universe

In Throwing Rocks at Looking Glass Houses, Andrew Miller ends up working to get Lucy on board the Defiant. He refers to her as the top of his science class, so Empress Hoshi is interested. Normally, the Empress doesn’t like to have any female competition on board.

Mirror Lucy

Unlike Pamela Hudson, Blair Claymore, and Karin Bernstein, Lucy isn’t a man’s plaything. And unlike Melissa Madden, she isn’t carrying on a betrayal of the Empress.

However, the Empress makes it clear that Andrew is off-limits.

Chip Masterson

In the Mirror, Lucy ends up with Chip (Chip cannot be with Deb Haddon, as she is dead). First shown as a couple in Temper, they conspire in order to get away. As the first alternate timeline plays out to its end, Chip proposes via communicator, in front of everyone. In the second alternate timeline, and in the prime timeline, they escape together, with his children, Takara and Takeo. And in Fortune, she breaks her leg. In order to make contact with a doctor, Chip sleeps with his arm on rocks that are embedded with callidium, the ore that allows for psionic amplification. He thereby makes contact with Lili, who in turn contacts Miva, who takes care of Lucy.

Quote

“She’s actually a little less peeved when she’s pregnant. Usually.”

Upshot

I think Lucy needs a bit more detail to her, and more depth. She is instrumental in a lot of ways, but I don’t really feel like I know her yet.

Nov

2012

Portrait of a Character – Richard Daniels

Richard Daniels has more from me than he ever got in canon.

Origins

This character is, of course, Star Trek: Enterprise canon, but he does not have a given name in canon, or even a first initial. Nothing is known of his inner life or personality. In the series, he’s just a time traveler and does not seem to have emotional reactions to much of what happens, except when his own time period is threatened.

Portrayal

As in canon, Richard Daniels is played by actor Matt Winston.

Personality

Portrait of a Character – Richard Daniels

Richard Daniels (Matt Winston)

Smarter than anyone else in the room, Rick is a natural for time travel. But he’s also a bit bored, and is jaded by constantly putting things back. This includes allowing people to die who seem to be innocents. In order to comfort himself, and to keep himself occupied, he begins bedding women in time.

All goes along fine until one of the women ends up pregnant. This would not matter so much to history (although it matters to Richard), except that the pregnant woman is the Empress Hoshi Sato.

He has a good relationship with his sister, Eleanor. For a long time, she is the only person he confides in.

Rick’s Conquests

Rick is a womanizer at the start of A Long, Long Time Ago. Here are his known conquests, in the order of the conquests (his perspective in time):

His Time	Her Name	Her Time
3101	Lucretia Crossman	1699
After 3101	Betty Tyler	1929
After 3101	Phillipa Green	March, 2763
After 3101	Empress Hoshi Sato (mirror)	January 30, 2156
After 3101	Dana MacKenzie	2380
After 3101	Irene of Castile	1417
May 5, 3104	Carmen Calavicci	May 5, 3104
March 27 – August 25, 3109	Tina April	March 27, 3109 – August 25, 3109
September 7, 3109	Annette (Windy) Bradley	May 3 – 4, 1970
3109 – 3110	Sheilagh Bernstein	September, 3109 – March 3110
March 3110	Milena Chelenska	July – August, 1968

Relationships

Tina April

Unlike his temporal conquests, Tina is a real-live girlfriend for Richard. They check each other out in A Lesson. Then Eleanor introduces them at the start of Temper. But at the end of A Long, Long Time Ago, he ends it, although he contacts her a few times, during both Ohio and The Point is Probably Moot.

Milena Chelenska

They meet during the events of Spring Thaw. They enjoy each other’s company and are intellectual equals. They’re also both suffering from some melancholy. Hers is more significant than his, as she is a Holocaust survivor. Perhaps in part because he isn’t supposed to have her, Richard finds himself falling for her. It isn’t until He Stays a Stranger that he does anything about it.

Missions

Richard Daniels goes on several missions for the Temporal Integrity Commission. He isn’t just fooling around. Here the only missions of his I know about (so far) –

His Time	Mission Locale	Mission Time
3096	NX-01	2152
After 3096	NX-01	July 10, 2154
After 3096	Boston	January 1, 2000
Between 3096 & 3101	American Colonies	1757
Between 3096 & 3101	Pompeii	AD 79
Between 3096 & 3101	Rome	44 BC
Between 3096 & 3101	Rome	450 BC
3101	Pennsylvania	1699
After 3101	New Jersey/New York	1929
After 3101	Unknown, somewhere on Earth	March, 2763
After 3101	ISS Defiant	January 30, 2156
After 3101	USS Enterprise-E	2380
3104	Mirror Universe, Dawitan	November 3, 2012
March 27, 3109	Lafa II	2161/2166/2178
August, 3109	Clear Lake, Iowa	1959
September 7, 3109	Kent State, Ohio	May 3 – 4, 1970
3109	Rome, Pompeii and Naples	May, 1960
3109	Prague	July – August, 1968
3109	Oklahoma City	April, 1995
3109	Egypt	October, 1981
3109	Florida	January, 1986
3110	Mirror Universe/Earth orbit and Rura Penthe/Prague	May 20 – 25, 2192/June 21, 1964/July 19 – 20,1969

Personal Reactions

As I explain in the HG Wells series, a lot of temporal alterations are minor (otric), and don’t affect the overall timeline. In the E² stories, Archer and others open Richard’s cabin more than once, as the displaced NX-01 attempts to reach him so that they can get back to their correct time period. While it’s difficult for him, Rick ends up having to ignore them. This is because the Enterprise, in two separate iterations, is meant to be in the 2030s and beyond.

Theme Music

In Temper, his music is The Records’ Your Starry Eyes. But in the HG Wells stories, his themes are Andrew Gold’s Lonely Boy and then, finally, Secret Agent Man by Johnny Rivers, which was the original inspirational music for the series itself.

Mirror Universe

So Rick does not have a Mirror Universe counterpart, and explains the reason for that to Sheilagh Bernstein during Ohio. In First Born, because Rick has fathered a temporally incompatible child, he and his boss, Carmen Calavicci, have to negotiate in order to allow Rick’s son, Jun, to live. One of the conditions of allowing Jun’s survival is that Rick can’t return to the Mirror Universe during the Empress’s lifetime. However, he can go to the Mirror during other time periods and, when he does, in a kind of salute to her, he calls himself Ritchie as she called him that (the nickname is a reference to Ritchie Valens, and A Long, Long Time Ago). An earlier Mirror Universe mission is a part of Pat the Bunny.

Quote

“I’m sorry, but no, though I have never forgotten you, either of you. And I love my, my child, but I know that I have never been a father to you. I wish I had been.”

Upshot

For a guy who doesn’t even have a first name in canon, I think I’ve given Richard Daniels a pretty wild life. Hopefully, readers find him as fascinating as I have.

Nov

2012

Portrait of a Character – Leah Benson

Leah Benson is bigger than I originally planned.

Origins

In The Light, I needed a Rabbi character. Women have fairly recently become Rabbis in all Jewish sects except for Orthodox. And it is highly doubtful that even the most competent Orthodox Jew would go into space during the Star Trek: Enterprise era. So I decided on a female Rabbi.

Portrayal

I decided I wanted a Jewish actress and so I selected Mayim Bialik. This actress is of course famous not only for her child star work, but also for her more recent work on The Big Bang Theory.

Rabbi Leah Benson

I also felt that Starfleet would select someone relatively young to fulfill this role. They would be hoping for someone to stick around for a while. That person would also need to be someone not easy to shock. This would be by things like asking to pray over a dying alien. Or even by something as incredible as a Xindi Reptilian asking to convert to Judaism.

Personality

Friendly, approachable and consoling, Rabbi Benson is not only an expert on Judaism. She’s also something of a counselor. For Ethan Shapiro, Andrew Miller, Josh Rosen and Karin Bernstein, the Rabbi may stand in as a parent when they face difficult decisions. She is someone they can turn to if they are grieving, or unsure of things. This allows Captain Archer and Doctor Phlox more breathing room.

Relationships

Diana Jones

In Bread, I show they wed. This predicts gay marriage will be legal in the United Federation of Planets. Their long-term, loving relationship is sorely tested when Diana becomes gravely ill.

Mirror Universe

Leah’s only known relationship in the Mirror Universe is with Leonora Digiorno. As ruthless as anyone else in the mirror, Leah is not a woman of God. Instead, she is a pilot, and is meant to be somewhat similar to Melissa Madden, who the Mirror Norri never meets.

Mirror Leah

The image is brief but indelible, in Fortune, when Leah murders Norri for the most selfish and trivial of reasons. Nasty, brutal and efficient, Leah steals the meager possessions she can carry and leaves Norri’s broken body without looking back.

Quote

“When Starfleet was established, this question was decided, as Talmudic scholars determined that there could be occasions when Kaddish would have to be said but a Jew would be, perhaps alone, or with no means of communicating with other Jews. So, you can pray with a quorum, a minyan partly composed of Jews who are linked via communications – such as we are linked right now. Or you can enlist the help of non-Jewish friends for this specific purpose. Either way will work.”

Upshot

Leah Benson is about as different as anyone can be when you compare her Prime and Mirror Universe counterparts. I wanted her to be that way, whereas Doug and Jay are, for example, a lot closer. Leah represents just how different the two sides of the coin truly can be, and how a few changes in someone’s life can turn them from a gentle, caring person to a ruthless, cold-blooded monster.

Nov

2012

Portrait of a Character – Daniel Chang

Daniel Chang never gets a break.

Origins

The character is canon, albeit he does not have a first name. Therefore, I selected the actor’s own first name.

Portrayal

As in the original, Chang is played by Daniel Dae Kim.

Personality

In canon, Daniel Chang is a Corporal. But he always rubbed me the wrong way. And so I have added a disobedient streak to him.

Subversive and, sometimes, downright mean, Chang is the villain, particularly in the E² stories. But there is a background to his behavior.

In Demotion, Chang’s mouth and his penchant for going AWOL at the worst of times leads to the action depicted in the title. This story, a prequel, dovetails with the canon Hatchery episode. I also wanted to address how thoughts that Jay Hayes might be gay would affect him and could be spun out as a part of my fanfiction. Plus I wanted Dan to be resentful.

E²

Dan really gets to be resentful in the E² stories. Both kick backs in time occur not too long after the events in Demotion, so he has plenty of reasons to be angry. During both kick backs, he is insubordinate and often gripes about the mistakes that have led to injuries, damage and worse during those two alternate time lines. Furthermore, during the first kick back in time, Dan behaves extremely badly. It would be a major spoiler to reveal what happened, but suffice to say that Dan, while not a killer, is very nearly as bad. Deciding what to do about him is a major issue for Captain Archer.

In the second E² kick back in time, Dan is not as monstrous. But he still behaves in a rather nasty manner. He meets his end in an uncomfortable fashion. However, has a chance to be at least a bit of a hero. In that story, Dan shows he has a heart. He’s not simply a one-dimensional bad guy.

The Shell Shock story also references Demotion. Dan (along with Malcolm, Tristan Curtis, and Josef Kastle and Derek Kelby from the NX-02 Columbia) is suspected of a crime. Dan’s poor behavior comes back to haunt him and he remains under suspicion longer than most because he is so uncooperative and nasty.

Relationships

The only relationship I have written for him is from the first E² kick back in time, when he and Sandra Sloane accidentally conceive a child. Their daughter, named Kimberly, is an eventual ancestor of the people who the people from the second E² kick back meet, including Charlotte Reed-Hayes Archer. Kimberly barely knows her father, but is able to tell him, eventually, that she forgives him. As for Sandra, she barely gives a damn about Dan. And when she takes up with Brooks Haynem, Sandra leaves Dan far behind. She never looks back.

Mirror Universe

I have never written a Mirror counterpart for Dan, but he is not, explicitly, a dead man on the other side of the pond. Hence he may eventually show up there.

He might be carefree, or even obedient and almost conventional.

Quote

“He was unprepared. And that gets you killed around here.”

Upshot

Bad guys need to exist, otherwise stories aren’t that interesting. There needs to be tension. There must be conflict. For me, Daniel Chang provides it in spades.

Nov

2012

Recurrent Themes – Medical Personnel

Medical Personnel are a must.

Background

Physicians, of course, are Star Trek canon and are absolutely necessary in space. After all, you can’t just grab the nearest ambulance and hotfoot it to a hospital. You have got to have a doctor on board.

I have created quite a few medical characters as I’ve been writing. I think my somewhat ambivalent feelings about medicine often come into play.

Medical Personnel Appearances

There are so many medical personnel; here they are listed by series.

In Between Days

Baden

Baden is a Calafan doctor seen in Reversal, and is a part of the conspiracy.

Blair Claymore

In Intolerance, Blair comes across as more sympathetic than any of the other visiting physicians who in the Immunology rotation. By the time of Fortune, she is Malcolm‘s CMO on the USS Bluebird. In the Mirror Universe, she is some sort of technician and is no doctor.

Pamela Hudson

Pamela makes her first appearance in Intolerance. By the time of Temper, Malcolm tells Lili Pamela (in an alternate timeline) has become the doctor, if not the person, that she was always meant to be. Pamela has more air time in her eventual relationship with the Calafan Treve, in To Wish, To Want, To Desire and The Best Things Come in Pairs.

Bernardine Keating-Fong

Bernie is the lecturer for the Immunology class. Her name helps to amp up some more of the early gender confusion in Intolerance.

Keleth

A Klingon doctor, Keleth is instrumental in fixing what’s wrong in Intolerance. Almost as importantly, he has, perhaps, the most normal and loving relationship in that entire book.

Miva

A Calafan, Miva is Lili‘s obstetrician in Together and Fortune. It is she who tells Lili that sex with Doug during pregnancy is not advisable. And it is Miva who performs the O’Day Reversal again after Lili gives birth to Declan.

Cyril Morgan

A kindly retired orthopedic surgeon, Morgan is Pamela’s uncle and is grandfather to Cindy Morgan. In Fortune, Cindy brings her friend, Jia Sulu, with her to Marie Patrice’s birthday party and therefore, at an extremely young age, Joss meets his future bride.

An Nguyen

Brittle and somewhat condescending, An could use some lessons in bedside manner. He backbites with Pamela but does offer her a place to sleep when Will and Blair commandeer her quarters. As a physician, he treats a Daranaean woman, Libba, in The Cure is Worse Than the Disease.

Will Owen

Will never actually gets to practice. In Together, Pamela reveals he hanged himself a few days after he was expelled, following the events outlined in Intolerance.

Phlox

This Star Trek Enterprise canon physician is the first to prove Doug is real, in Reversal. He finds the cure in Intolerance and treats Lili as an obstetrics patient in Together.

Mark Stone

As the last of the five classmates in the Intolerance Immunology rotation, Mark is a child of wealth and privilege, son of Emily Stone, the new envoy to the Xindi. About the only other thing about him is he is a gay man.

T’Par

A Vulcan doctor, she is instrumental in finding a cure for Doctor Keating-Fong during Intolerance.

Times of the HG Wells

Marisol Castillo

A femme fatale, Marisol gets few chances to practice medicine, although she does provide Sheilagh Bernstein with physical enhancements during Ohio.

Kingston (No First Name)

During You Mixed-Up Siciliano, he is baffled by Christopher Donnelly’s condition, not recognizing that the boy, in 1960, is infected with what would later be identified as the Ebola virus.

Sanchez (No First Name)

He is Malcolm‘s doctor and is never actually seen. Malcolm refers to him in The Point is Probably Moot, as knowing of a traditional Calafan remedy for erectile dysfunction – tofflin root tea.

Boris Yarin

Paranoid, powerful and suspicious, Boris has reason to wonder about Marisol’s intentions. Much like her, he has few chances to practice, although he also works on Sheilagh. In Where the Wind Comes Sweepin’ Down the Plain, his past is referenced, where he treated an injured Klingon rugby player, Kriz, which was how he met his wife, Darragh Stratton.

Yimiva

She is the doctor for the Calafan unit, and performs the autopsy on Anthony Parker. Ebola and stem cell growth accelerator in Parker’s blood reveals he had been an operative for the Perfectionists.

Emergence

An Nguyen

By the time of The Cure is Worse Than the Disease, An is the CMO on Erika Hernandez’s ship, the USS Columbia (NX-02). This is which is where he loses his youthful enthusiasm. This theme is taken up some more in Take Back the Night. An says he would really rather avoid the Daranaeans.

Rechal

First seen during Take Back the Night, Rechal examines the fetus the murdered Inta was carrying. Findingit was a male, Rechal informs Arnis he must conduct an investigation. In Flight of the Bluebird, he is in the Daranaean prison. But he is still helping to try to find a cure for thylacine paramyxovirus.

Trinning

First seen as a teenaged boy in Take Back the Night, and then as a slightly older boy in Temptation, Trinning doesn’t start to practice medicine until Flight of the Bluebird, when he works as a medical researcher with his unofficial assistant, Trava.

Varelle

Another Daranaean doctor, Varelle refuses to treat Libba in The Cure is Worse Than the Disease.

Interphases

Andrew Miller

Andy starts off as a science Ensign. However, in the E² stories, it becomes obvious very quickly that more medical personnel are a must. Phlox will need help delivering babies. Andrew studies and, eventually, is Doctor Miller.

Pamela Reed-Hayes (Née Reed)

During the first kick back in time, Lili has three children. Pamela is her daughter with Malcolm, and she succeeds Phlox as the ship’s CMO.

The Mirror Universe

Baden

This Calafan doctor shows, in Reversal, that he mainly just follows orders. This is even if they are, ultimately, immoral. Unlike his Prime Universe counterpart, he actually ends up committing murder.

Miva

Seen only briefly in Reversal, the mirror Miva is really only known as the Prime Universe Baden’s nighttime lover. They met when they made psychic contact. She was, instead of meditating, trying to remember the bones of the hand. This is because she was getting ready for her examinations. Seen again in Fortune, Miva helps by setting Lucy Stone‘s broken leg and offers Chip, Tripp and Beth various odd jobs so they can pay her.

Cyril Morgan

Morgan arrives as a replacement for the canon doctor, the Denobulan Phlox.

The Mirror Morgan is ruthless and probably barely competent. In Reversal, Doug says there is a lot of complicated equipment on the Defiant. But Morgan doesn’t seem to know how to use any of it. It is unclear whether he or Phlox kills Ian Reed, and the ambiguity is carried through Paving Stones Made from Good Intentions and Coveted Commodity. It isn’t until Throwing Rocks at Looking Glass Houses where I show just how Morgan got onto the Defiant, and exactly who ordered, and who caused, Ian’s death.

Mark Stone

Some time after Morgan’s death, in The Point is Probably Moot, Mark is the Empress’s new CMO. For him, his homosexuality is something of a lifesaver, for it frees him from being tempted by her wiles. Even so, he spends some of his time fending off the overly aggressive sexual advances of the Empress Hoshi Sato.

Upshot

I seem to write a lot of monstrous medical personnel, but also a number of heroes. For every nasty Marisol Castillo, there is a romantic Keleth. For every paranoid Boris Yarin, there is a sympathetic Blair Claymore. And for each prejudiced Varelle, there is an open-minded Trinning.

Nov

2012

Portrait of a Character – T’Pol

T’Pol is hard for me to write.

Origins

The character, of course, is Star Trek: Enterprise canon.

Portrayal

As in the show, the character is played by actress Jolene Blalock.

Personality

T’Pol

As a main character, a great deal of T’Pol’s journey was already on the small screen. Because there is limited time for television programs, T’Pol, Archer and Tucker all received significantly greater shares of airtime. This was virtually always at the expense of Reed, Sato, Mayweather and Phlox. Frankly, by the time I started writing fanfiction, I’d gotten sick of her.

Complicating matters was the fact that I have always found it extremely difficult to write wholly unemotional Vulcans. This is a large part of why Eriecho wears her heart on her sleeve so much.

Relationships

Charles Tucker III

The relationship, naturally, is canon. And in canon, it just plain doesn’t work out, despite what fan fiction writers often want. Them’s the breaks! However, it is also canon that they marry in the E² scenario. Therefore, I follow canon and have them do just that. Because my E² scenario contains two kicks back in time, Tripp and T’Pol get two separate chances for love and marriage.

In the first scenario, their wedding is far more traditional, and they later have twins. Pregnancy causes T’Pol to lose her emotional control – a fact that, conveniently for me, makes it easier to write her.

In the second scenario, T’Pol puts the brakes on their relationship. When Tucker presses her, she reveals that she was a widow for a very long time. He correctly deduces that she was horribly hurt by this. She eventually comes around and they wed. But the ceremony is less conventional. In keeping with canon, their only child is their canon son, Lorian. As in the other scenario, she loses her emotional control, but it happens later.

Travis Mayweather

You can scarcely call it a relationship as it is more of a needs fulfillment gone horribly wrong. In the alternative timeline “what if” scenario story, The Black Widow, T’Pol attempts to satisfy pon farr with Doctor Phlox (that’s canon). When he proves inadequate in her eyes, she goes after Travis, and the encounter kills him. Still unsated, she attempts to seduce Malcolm as well (that’s also canon).

Mirror Universe

Mirror Universe T’Pol (Jolene Blalock)

This version of the character is also canon. In Reversal, T’Pol is already dead – an easy way for me to avoid writing a character who I’ve always found difficult. But for the transitional story, Throwing Rocks at Looking Glass Houses, T’Pol is very much alive, although in the Brig and clearly not for long. In that story, the new Empress Hoshi Sato the First personally dispatches T’Pol as a means of continuing to cement her grip on the crew of the Defiant and, eventually, the Terran Empire.

Quote

“I surmised as much. Petty tyrants are predictable. True leaders are the only ones of interest. If you had remembered Captain Forrest or Soval as well as you seem to remember how to manipulate the weak-minded, I’d say you’d have a chance at a truly great rule. But as it is, you’ll only be remembered as a tin pot dictator.”

Upshot

It continues to be a challenge for me to write T’Pol. and her lines are often a stumbling block in my E² stories especially. However, I’m finding her easier and easier to write as time elapses and, I suppose, we get further and further away from the actual original broadcast of the series. I know I don’t do her enough justice.

Oct

2012

Progress Report – October 2012

October 2012 was a very creative time.

Posted Works

It was another highly productive month. The Mirror Universe contextual collection, Hall of Mirrors, saw the following additions – The High Cost of Dissidence, Paving Stones Made from Good Intentions, First Born, Reversal, Brown, Coveted Commodity, Temper and Fortune.

I also answered a prompt about rituals with the Times of the HG Wells prequel, Candy. Also, I spun out Shake Your Body, the penultimate HG Wells book. I responded to the “hold on” prompt with Souvenirs, an HG Wells story taking place right after Spring Thaw. Then I added Detroit Rock City and A Single Step to In Between Days context. In response to the Burdens of Command challenge, I wrote Day of the Dead, to be posted on Halloween itself.

I had not added anything whatsoever to The Delphic Expanse in a long time, so I decided to float a drabble about Tripp and T’Pol and her pregnancy with Lorian, so I answered a year-old prompt for the word “free”, and wrote Free.

I also had not contributed anything to Trek United in months, so I added Voracious and Harvest.

Fanfiction.net

On Fanfiction.net, I added The High Cost of Dissidence, Onions, Penicillin, Letters from Home, First Born, Throwing Rocks at Looking Glass Houses, Detroit Rock City and Concord.

Concord and Letters from Home got particularly good receptions, so I decided to see if I can post there every Monday and Thursday (I had been posting only on Mondays), schedule permitting.

On Star Trek Logs, because there was a Vulcan/Romulan week, I added Achieving Peace. I also spun out Concord there, as that story had gotten raves on Fanfiction.net. It was also well-received there.

Plus I added stories to the Archer’s Angels board, where they created an official fan fiction forum, Alien Encounter and The Black Widow. Hence I added both of these because of Halloween. Then I added A Single Step, and started a challenge there, called A Thousand Words. My response was an In Between Days extreme prequel story called Detroit Rock City.

For the Trek BBS Nightmares challenge, I added a Wesley Crusher story, Imprecision.

Milestones

On October 15th, Reversal on Ad Astra rang up 10,000 views, the most I have ever had on any given story. That story has been out there since August of 2011, which is part of the reason for the high numbers. I am particularly pleased that there are over 260 views for each chapter, telling me that a lot of people hung in with it until the end.

For overall totals (e. g. adding up view totals for everywhere a story is posted online, Reversal is still the big winner, with over 15,000 views. Next highest is Together with over 12,000 views and then Intolerance with over 8,000 overall views. These are all understandable, as I originally wrote them back in 2010. More interesting is that Take Back the Night has an overall total approaching 4,000 views, and that story is only from late 2011 and is only on Ad Astra.

WIP Corner

I continued working on the E² stories when I could. My plan is to begin spinning them out in January, so I am trying to get a full draft of the fourth story done before then.

Prep Work

I created an HTML version of He Stays a Stranger, in anticipation of spinning it out in November. I created a somewhat bowdlerized version of Fortune for eventual posting on Fanfiction.net.

This Month’s Productivity Killers

I worked on the Trek United Adult Trek Anthology. Plus I also attended five job interviews – more than I had for several months, combined. I am doing a lot of the distribution of work in anticipation of going back to work soon. Furthermore, I continued working on the Adult Anthology, and made a great deal of progress with it.

Trek United Adult Trek Anthology – From Quadrant to Quadrant and Person to Person

The Alabax 9 Affair

Last Full Measure

You Make Me Want to Scream

One Night on Terok Nor

What Lies Within Lies Between

D’Storlin

A Drone’s New Life

Ripples

Milk

Anvil of the Gods

Sorrow, Shared

Artwork

Feedback

Looking to the Future

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Portrait of a Character – Michelle (Shelby) Pike

Origins

Portrayal

Personality

Relationships

Andrew Miller

Doug Hayes

Francisco (Frank) Ramirez

Mirror Universe

Quote

Upshot

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Portrait of a Character – Francisco (Frank) Ramirez

Origins

Portrayal

Personality

Relationships

Jennifer Crossman

Empress Hoshi Sato

Pamela Hudson

Shelby Pike

Theme Music

Mirror Universe

Quote

Upshot

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Portrait of a Character – Lucy Stone

Origins

Portrayal

Personality

Relationships

Ben Collins

Andrew Miller

Mirror Universe

Chip Masterson

Quote

Upshot

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Portrait of a Character – Richard Daniels

Origins

Portrayal

Personality

Rick’s Conquests

Relationships

Tina April

Milena Chelenska

Missions

Personal Reactions

Theme Music

Mirror Universe

Quote

Upshot

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Portrait of a Character – Leah Benson

Origins

Portrayal

Personality

Relationships

Diana Jones

E²