star trek in between days

Jul

2013

Portrait of a Character – Sandra Sloane

Sandra Sloane is a bitch with a long history.

Origins

I wanted a Star Trek fanfiction crew member who would be bitchy and nasty and, at times, crossing the line into prejudice. Say hello to Sandra.

Portrayal

Sandra is played by Leighton Meester.

Barking Up The Muse Tree | jespah | Janet Gershen-Siegel | Leighton Meester | Sandra Sloane

Sandra Sloane (image of Leighton Meester is for educational purposes only)

I wanted an actress who doesn’t look like she’s mean on the outside, someone who seems to be keeping it together. After all, if Sandra’s nastiness was obvious from the get-go, Starfleet never would have hired her in the first place.

Personality

Brittle, impatient and trying, Sandra does not suffer fools gladly. In There’s Something About Hoshi, she loudly and rudely complains that the Arisians won’t ask for directions or help and just take things – like, in her opinion, typical males. The others may be thinking it, but she’s the one who says it.

In Demotion, she nearly has a midday encounter, but rejects the fellow when she sees and hears him being dressed down by Jay, his superior officer.

E²

During the first kick back in time, she becomes clinically depressed. But in her, the manifestation is of an increase in aggression. When Malcolm comes onto her, she loudly and angrily declares him to be closeted and, as a result, he loses a great deal of his confidence. She also creates and passes along a number of rumors, enough so that Frank Todd feels the need to publicly come out, in order to assure the other gay crew members that they are not alone and should not be afraid.

Her increased aggression also leads to a significantly increased sex drive, and she ends up essentially seeing a demand and fulfilling it, as a kind of ship’s comfort woman. Even though she’s on the birth control shot, she becomes pregnant, but does not know who the father is until Phlox performs an amniocentesis test.

In the second kick back in time, she heads her own depression off at the pass, at least at the beginning. Also, she reveals her stepfather had been racist and homophobic. Hence she had picked up on that as a child, and that it had an influence on her behaviors.

Relationships

Daniel Chang

When her unborn child is revealed to be Dan‘s, they somewhat reluctantly end up together. They marry in order to raise the child, Kimberly, but Dan is not only untrue – he ends up committing a foul act. Dan and Sandra are both found guilty and are both sent to Paradise to work. When Sandra’s sentence ends (hers is shorter than his), she gets a divorce.

Brooks Haynem

During incarceration on Paradise, Sandra and Brooks bond. Brooks had been married to Sandra’s only friend, Sophie Creighton, but he and Sophie had gone through a divorce by then. With Brooks, Sandra has a better life – probably the best possible life that she can have during either kick back in time.

Tristan Curtis

When Brooks prematurely dies during the second kick back in time, and Tristan does not, they end up together. They have a daughter, Penny, but things are not right and they separate before Sandra’s own untimely death.

Mirror Universe

Barking Up The Muse Tree | jespah | Janet Gershen-Siegel | Leighton Meester | MU Sandra Sloane

MU Sandra Sloane (image of Leighton Meester is for educational purposes only)

There is no reason why Sandra would not exist in the Mirror Universe.

Given her nastiness here, it’s entirely possible that she’s the opposite there. And she may even be as kind and moral as anyone can be there.

I don’t know; I never wrote a Mirror Universe version of Sandra.

Quote

“I won’t pretend that I’m Miss Congeniality or anything. That I’m nice. ‘Cause God knows I’m not. I don’t suffer fools gladly. But I didn’t know what they were really being used for, the anonymous messages. Now you can believe me, or not. I only care insofar as I’d rather not be kicked off the ship. Even Paradise is a problem ‘cause there’s no medical care and no entertainment.”

Upshot

Someone has to be the bad guy, and Sandra is always a delight to write, as she often says and does the things that everyone else is thinking. I know this is not the last of her.

Jul

2013

Spotlight on an Original Planet – Paradise

Paradise is a lovely original planet.

Background

In the E² Star Trek fan fiction stories, it becomes obvious very quickly that the Enterprise needs a planet.

Ceti Alpha V

Because, in Reflections Down a Corridor, they have gone back in time, to 2037. So the Delphic Expanse is not like it was. They learn from a Xyrillian, Tre’ex, that there are a few planets which no one has claimed yet. One of them, known in the prime timeline alternate (the ENT episode, Twilight) as Ceti Alpha V, they claim and hold a contest to name it. The top vote-getter is José Torres‘s choice, Paradise.

In Star Trek canon, the planet is barely habitable. But that serves the prime timeline and an alternate. I like to think that, a good century before, things may have been better.

The planet is also, in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, as being the exile location for Khan Noonien Singh and his followers, during the prime timeline.

Paradise in the Delphic Expanse

There is no reason why the NX-01 can’t have a beautiful planet. It does work out a lot of plot points. This includes how to get the crew and their descendants to survive for the ensuing century. And also how to get them to live, and live well. This is without detection by either the people on Earth or the aliens of the Delphic Expanse and elsewhere.

The planet has to be habitable in case the ship becomes overcrowded. It has to be arable. And it must be the kind of place where you can grow a lot of different kinds of foods. But I didn’t want things to be too easy or perfect. Hence the Enterprise needs to claim a second planet, Amity. But Paradise works out well just the same.

Highlights of Living and Working on Paradise

Of course, crops are grown there. Malcolm gets his pineapples. And Shelby grows oranges, too, which Will wants. An elaborate tree-planting ceremony happens on August 29th of 2037. The participants dig holes in the ground. They plant an orange tree and a coconut palm. This is amidst slips of real paper on which the crew write their anonymous wishes.

During Entanglements, T’Pol suggests that more permanent settlements might be desired on Paradise, as the male to female ratio remains uneven and it might alleviate some of the sniping.

The Three of Us opens with a baseball game on Paradise, and then, eventually, it becomes the location of the first phase of criminal punishments. In Everybody Knows This is Nowhere, Paradise cannot be visited too often, as that would interfere with the NX-01 from the first kick back in time. But there is one secret mission there, all the same.

By the end of Everybody Knows This is Nowhere, Paradise survives. But there is no more evidence of civilization. This protects the prime timeline rather neatly.

Return to Paradise

Because of the connection with the Augments, and the eventual damage to the planet, there can be no return. At least, not unless a lot of terraforming work happens. In the Times of the HG Wells, Admiral Carmen Calavicci and Rick Daniels do talk about Ceti Alpha V, so it is not completely gone. Perhaps, by then, there is repair and restoration.

Jul

2013

Portrait of a Character – Craig Willets

Craig Willets has various fates. It depends on the timeline.

Origins

I needed a character in my Star Trek fan fiction who would be a little lovesick, a little nerdy and as young as Brian Delacroix. Enter Craig Willets.

Portrayal

Craig Willets is played by Michael Cera.

Michael Cera as Craig Willets

He is believably nerdy, and very young. He looks like the lowest-level Engineering crewman, easily the kind of guy you could see scrubbing plasma conduits.

Personality

Shy and withdrawn, Craig is in danger of being completely left out of the E² genetics sweepstakes. It does not help his cause when, in The Three of Us, he commits a mildly disturbing act.

So in the prime timeline, he rooms with Richard Daniels until Daniels reveals that he is a time traveler and leaves the ship. In November 13th, a far older Craig reveals in his memoirs that Daniels accidentally ended up with a pair of his (Craig’s) boots. This was due to Craig (this is canon!) being a rather messy roommate.

Relationships

Trenia

So in the first kick back in time, he and the Ikaaran engineer end up together. But I mention very little about their relationship.

Dakiza

During the second kick back, he marries Dakiza, who is also an engineer. They have a son, Jeris. But this marriage is a little less happy. So Craig very nearly strays.

Mirror Universe

Mirror Craig

While I have never, specifically, written a Mirror Universe version of Craig, there are no impediments to his existence. So I believe he would be considerably more assertive.

Or he might still be withdrawn. But I don’t know yet.

Quote

“All I know, is that we’ve been ignoring them. But that damned message it, it brought it all back that they are right there. I got old logs, too, yanno. And I read them sometimes. I wonder – I can’t help it – was I better off with Trenia? I could just reach out – if only I could. If they would only let us!”

Upshot

Whither Craig Willets? I’m unsure. But I think even space travelers can be lacking in confidence. And even the future will have underage crew members. I don’t think we’ve seen the last of him just yet.

Jul

2013

Review – If You Can’t Stand the Heat

If You Can’t Stand the Heat is an old, old story.

Background

When I was first writing Star Trek: Enterprise fanfiction, I began with an idea about writing stories about the five senses.

If You Can’t Stand the Heat

This story covers taste.

I despised the last episode of Star Trek: Enterprise, These Are The Voyages, but I had no problem whatsoever with Jonathan Frakes playing the NX-01‘s chef. An older man seemed right for the job.

Plot

The chef (originally named Paul Mayer – in later fan fiction, I call him William Slocum) starts preparations for dinner like he would any other day, by deciding that he’ll make roast chicken. This is before Lili O’Day is hired and after time traveler Richard Daniels departs, so his main helper is Preston Jennings. The Xindi War has not yet started, so he has a multitude of assistants.

When he can’t find his assistants anywhere, and he needs a lemon, so he contacts the ship’s first Botanist, Naomi Curtis (Shelby Pike, like Lili, is brought in after the start of the Xindi War). She doesn’t know what’s going on, either. Because her own helpers are gone, too. So she heads to the kitchen. And when the door slides open it’s obvious that the hallways are freezing. Plus they smell vaguely of rotten eggs.

What’s going on?

Story Postings

Rating

The story is Rated K.

Upshot

Without giving away spoilers, the story does prefigure goings on in later stories such as The Mess and Reversal. One thing I do like about the story is that, although it’s really an alien of the week one-off, it does introduce Slocum pretty well, and it also provides the reader with some context about how things were before the Xindi. E. g. the Enterprise had unnecessary personnel. Replacing Naomi with the more skilled and versatile Shelby makes sense, as does moving Jennings to Navigation and replacing him and anyone else working for Will, with Lili.

As an older story, I can see the holes in the plot and would have emphasized the cooking a lot less.

Recipe for Roast Chicken

Ingredients

1 (6 pound) chicken
also, 1 bunch of celery
1 small bag of baby carrots or 2 large carrots, peeled and cut into half lengthwise
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Paprika to taste
1 lemon, halved
1/2 head garlic
1 medium white onion, quartered, plus 1 onion, sliced in rounds

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Rinse the chicken with cool water, inside and out. Lay the sliced onion, the carrot and celery on the bottom of a roasting pan. Season the bird all over with paprika, salt and pepper. Stuff the cavity with the lemon, garlic and the quartered onion. Place the chicken, breast-side up, in the roasting pan. Roast for 20 minutes.

Turn down the heat to 350 degrees F. and cook for 20 minutes per pound. Hence for a 6 pound chicken, that’s 2 hours.

Roast chicken

The chicken has finished cooking when an instant-read thermometer reads 165 degrees F when you insert it into the thickest part of the thigh. The legs of the chicken should wiggle easily from the sockets, too. Finally, remove the chicken to a platter and let stand for 10 minutes, so the juices settle back into the meat before carving.

Jul

2013

Portrait of a Character – Sandra Sloane

Origins

Portrayal

Personality

E2

Relationships

Daniel Chang

Brooks Haynem

Tristan Curtis

Mirror Universe

Quote

Upshot

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Spotlight on an Original Planet – Paradise

Background

Paradise in the Delphic Expanse

Highlights of Living and Working on Paradise

Return to Paradise

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Portrait of a Character – Craig Willets

Origins

Portrayal

Personality

Relationships

Trenia

Dakiza

Mirror Universe

Quote

Upshot

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Review – If You Can’t Stand the Heat

Background

Plot

Story Postings

Rating

Upshot

Recipe for Roast Chicken

Ingredients

Directions

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E²