Alexander Richards/Personal History

Lt. Commander Alexander Richards Science Officer USS Gemini NCC-80564 Species: Human Gender: Male Born: 236111.06 Age: 40 Birth Place: Tycho City, Lunar Colonies View Template User Page

Childhood

Alexander Richards was born to Harriet and Gary Richards on S.D. 236111.06 on the Tycho city Lunar colony. From an early age he, like his wife Marissa Richards showed an aptitude for learning. However, unlike his wife he was very much an introvert. He found socialising with others in his peer group very difficult and preferred to keep his head in a PADD reading various children's tales. At the age of 2 his parents decided that they should seek counselling for their son to try to help him with his social interactions. At first he rejected the idea but after six months, he began to show rapid progress. By the age of 5 Alexander had started school and found making friends much easier than he had during his time in preschool.

Whilst at primary school, Alexander met and befriended a young boy by the name of Michael Hollins. The two developed a very strong friendship over the following years, often finding themselves partners on assignments at school. The two enjoyed participating in many extracurricular activities together including climbing, a form of exercise Alexander would enjoy well into his adult life. Working together, Michael and Alexander quickly rose to the top of the class excelling in every subject they took. Both picked up a more than casual interest in the sciences.

At the age of 9 both Michael and Alexander sat the Tycho Institute of advanced learning entrance exam. Whilst Michael passed, Alexander missed out by a few marks. Although Michael did his best to reassure his friend, Alexander was crest fallen. Worse than that, he rebuked his friend's attempts to console him as worthless cocky put downs and grew jealous of him. This ended the first major friendship of Alexander's life and to the present day remains one of his biggest regrets.

The following year, Alexander began his studies at the Tycho school of science. Although it was not as prestigious as the institute of advanced learning, the quality of teaching was still excellent and Alexander began to expand his knowledge of the Universe. By the age of 12 Alexander knew the periodic table off by heart and was a dab hand at chemical experiments. On the weekends and during school holidays his parents would often take him to their labs where he could see what he was learning at school put into practice. He continued to make friends, although he preferred a close circle of friends to having a large number of acquaintances.

Teenage Years

Alexander's first place trophy at the Vulcan junior rock climbing championships.

During his early teenage years Alexander continued to study hard and socialize with his friends. By the age of 14 he had become an accomplished rock climber and regularly travelled to Earth, Vulcan and Risa to participate in junior rock climbing championships. On one such trip to Vulcan in 2366, he won first place. Unfortunately his celebrations were short lived as he collapsed due to exhaustion soon after reaching the summit. His trophy was presented to him in his hospital bed.

In early 2376 Alexander applied to the Daystrom Academy of science. By the June of that year he learned that he had been accepted. At first his parents were worried about how he would cope with being away from home but they soon realized that given his many trips to other worlds to compete in rock climbing events. In September 2376 Alexander began his studies at the academy and knuckled down hard. At first everything was going well and his professors had nothing but praise for him. However, slowly but surely, the adulation started going to his head and he began to become arrogant and at times, reckless.

At the age of 16 Alexander had begun studies into warp mechanics. During an experiment in one of the institutes laboratories a catastrophic failure occurred in a scale model of a type VI Warp core that caused an explosion destroying the lab and surrounding classrooms, injuring 25 students and professors. When the accident was investigated, it was discovered that several safety protocols had been disengaged in an attempt to increase the efficiency of the matter anti matter reaction. Although the results had at first looked promising, the reactor soon went critical and was unable to be stabilized. For his part in the ill fated experiment, Alexander was expelled from the academy and warned that he may have jeopardised any future career or education ambitions he might have had.

Alexander returned to the Tycho City colony dejected. He felt himself a failure and found his only solace in the fact that nobody had died during the ill fated experiment. To his surprise, he found his parents supportive of him despite his mistakes with his father even making reference to the Manhattan project of the mid twentieth century. Despite his parents reassurances that accidents were still a fact of life in science, even in the twenty-fourth century, he considered giving up on academics and joining the merchant navy. It wasn't until six months before his 18th birthday that he reconsidered academic study. He applied late that year to Oxford University and to his surprise was accepted on merit based on his aptitude test scores and his interview. Despite the accident and his lack of qualifying school grades, the dean and board of governors had decided everybody deserves a second chance.

Pre-Academy Years

Oxford University.

Alexander's first year at university was quite difficult. His fellow students knew of the accident at the Daystrom Academy and looked down on him. He was fortunate however in that a few of his fellow students chose to look past his history and saw him for who he was. One of these students was Adam Tanner, a young go getter from Cornwall who was studying applied fusion mechanics at the University. It was Adam who suggested Alexander attend the seminar on the dangers of interspecies relations where he first met Marissa, his future wife.

During his second year at Oxford, Alexander 'accidentally' bumped into Marissa in one of the common rooms. Being the gentleman he was, he offered to pick up her books which had been scattered across the floor. Having accomplished the task, he asked the young lady on a date and she graciously accepted, much to the displeasure of her friends. The couple continued to court for the rest of the year, including over the summer break. Alexander also focussed hard on his studies during the year and passed all his course work with firsts, placing him in the top percentile of his year group in the entirety of England.

In late 2382, Alexander proposed to Marissa in front of a large number of students at the university. Although embarrassed at first, Marissa accepted and the pair married in a quiet private ceremony on S.D. 238301.01. The pair postponed their honeymoon until after their graduation later in the year so that they could focus on their final year of studies. For his dissertation, Alexander wrote a piece on 'Warp mechanics past, present and beyond' which was not only published but, along with his previous grades earned him a first in applied Warp Mechanics and brought him to the attention of Starfleet. He applied to Starfleet Academy in the April of 2383 and was accepted in the June of that year. He would have liked to have said that the offer was unconditional however, the commandant of the Academy made it quite clear that any repeat of the incident at the Daystrom Academy would result in immediate court martial and a minimum of five years in a Starfleet prison. That summer, Marissa and Alexander enjoyed a brief two week vacation in San Francisco before they both started their new journeys in life.

Academy Years

Starfleet Academy.

Alexander was pleased when he learned that Adam Tanner, his best friend from university had also successfully applied to Starfleet Academy. The two opted to share a bunk together whilst at the Academy and to help each other with their studies. The first year almost seemed to breeze past Alexander who found the workload to be intense but stimulating. When he wasn't busy studying, he spent the majority of his time with his wife, Marissa off campus. Although slow to make friends, with the help of Adam he quickly found his feet and could often be found telling anecdotes in one of the common rooms. At one point during the telling of one of the aforementioned anecdotes, he noticed a first year cadet, much like himself having troubles with some third year Tellarite cadets. Without even thinking, he moved from where he was an interrupted the exchange by insulting the loudest of the group. After a few minutes of insults being thrown back and forth, a loud bellowing laugh was heard coming from the Tellarite Alexander had initially insulted. Impressed with his knowledge of their culture, the Tellarite group brought Alexander a bottle of Saurian brandy and became good friends with him.

During his second year Alexander continued to study hard and help Adam with his studies. Whilst sitting in on a seminar regarding the four Quadrants, Alexander began thinking about why he joined Starfleet. In the April of 2385, Alexander had a conversation with his wife regarding their future and his desire to serve out on the frontier. Marissa gladly accepted Alexander's proposal and suggested he talk to the Academy administrators about it. By the end of his second year, the Academy agreed to grant Alexander a one year leave of absence to transfer to the Academy satellite on Starbase 118.

Whilst travelling to Starbase 118, Marissa fell pregnant with the couple's first child, John. Thankfully the journey between Earth and the Starbase was uneventful despite the political events occurring at the time. John was born on S.D. 238605.22, just two months after the couple arrived at the base. Until the start of the new term in the September that year, Alexander worked as a barman for a shady Ferengi named Grek. Alexander got to know the regulars quite well and kept himself out of the managements business to avoid any problems with Starfleet security. His thought process on the matter was simply: "What I don't know, can't hurt me."

In his third year, Alexander began the process of making new friends. He found this difficult at first as he found little time to socialize outside of the classroom due to his parental commitments. He found the work load had increased two fold over the second year and his LOA left him a little rusty on his study habits. Thankfully, the commandant was understanding of the mitigating circumstances and pointed him in the direction of a group of fourth year cadets who helped students with their studies. Before long Alexander was once again back to his old studious habits and passed his third year with flying colours.

Alexander's fourth and final year at the Academy included a six month cadet cruise that took him away from his family. Although he missed them deeply he focused on his tasks with diligence and dedication. His primary role was as a communications officer although he spent a fair chunk of his time in Engineering. Unfortunately, Alexander found himself becoming quite arrogant amongst his peers. It would later be discovered that this was due to feelings of inadequacy. Although he was very good at what he did, he was beginning to feel like others were far more competent at his job than he was. This arrogant persona would haunt him all the way until his transfer from the USS Mercury to the USS Drake. Upon completion of his finals, Alexander (with his family in tow) was packed off to Deep Space 17 to begin his service career on the US independence A.

Post Academy

Soon after arriving on Deep Space 17, Alexander found himself thrust into an unfamiliar environment. The USS Independence A was due to have an unorthodox promotions ceremony involving beach volleyball. It was during this event that Alexander met and befriended Eyas Wulfantine who would become one of Alexander's closest friends in Starfleet. The two often have a laugh when mentioning the exact circumstances of their meeting. During the Volleyball match, Alexander went to spike the ball but instead connected with the rather large Pythron's nose, breaking it. The young ensign was very apologetic insisting that it was an accident. Thankfully the man was very understanding of the situation.

After the match Alexander got the grand tour of the USS Independence A from the ships then first officer Commander Karynn Ehlanii Brice who also gave him his first official psychiatric evaluation. He was cleared fit for duty and joined his crewmates as they set off on their mission. During this first mission, Alexander came under telepathic attack from what was later discovered to be a Pagh'Wraith. This left him with a intense psychiatric trauma and confined to sickbay following his actions on the influence of the alien. However, it wasn't all bad. Whilst in sickbay, he met the also freshly minted Ensign Velana who nursed him back to health. At the time Alexander remarked how her bedside manner was impeccable. By the end of the mission, Alexander realized just how dangerous life in Starfleet was on the front line and decided that he did not want his family to serve with him under such circumstances.

Alexander's friendships with Eyas and Velana continued to grow upon the crews safe return to Deep Space 17 culminating in Alexander helping the Python male up a sheer cliff during a crew bonding session on the holodeck. However, the fun times were not to last. During the holodeck adventure, Deep Space 17 was put on high alert and the crew set about their duties. It was eventually revealed that the alert had merely been an exercise to test the competency of the crew of the USS Tiger orchestrated by Starfleet Intelligence. Alexander immediately resigned from Starfleet in a fit of anger and moved his family back to Starbase 118 where he took up work as a barman at Grek's for the next several months.

When the Klingon situation erupted in 2389, Alexander reapplied to Starfleet and was immediately placed into the returning officer program at Starfleet Academy, Starbase 118. When he passed out, he was assigned to the USS Mercury where his arrogance would once again get the better of him. He instigated a fire fight between the crew of the Mercury and the Klingons on the planet who had captured several key members of the crew. Disgusted at himself, he was about ready to throw in the towel when Captain Aron Kells offered him an alternative. At the time Alexander could not understand the Captain's reasoning, especially when his good friend Eyas had been punished for his transgression but, it later dawned on him that the Captain was giving him an opportunity to show his truth worth. During the mission, Alexander befriended Roshanara Rahman the ships chief engineer who saw Alexander's potential.

In early 2390 tragedy struck Alexander whilst on an away mission to Deep Space 10. The away team he was a part of had been investigating a part of the possibly ancient station when he activated the stations dormant defences. An attack by one of the defences left Alexander paralyzed from the waist down. Starfleet are still unsure as to whether the condition is treatable. Confined to a wheelchair, Alexander once again began to question his worth and whether to resign from Starfleet. Thankfully his friends and his wife stuck by him and he worked at regaining his health.

Alexander got his first taste of command and the responsibilities therein soon after. Word had reached the USS Mercury that Eyas Wulfantine's mother was to be put to death on Pythro for crimes against the state. Captain Kells not wanting the Pythron male to risk rescuing his mother alone rallied the crew around to assist. Alexander was crest fallen that his disability meant that he could not go but soon perked up at the news he would be left in command as the highest ranking senior officer left on board the ship. Soon after the departure of the senior staff, the USS Mercury received a distress signal and investigated as per standard Starfleet protocol. The mission was almost a disaster and left Alexander once again feeling as if he was not cut out to be a Starfleet officer, let alone in command. This would have near fatal consequences on the ships next mission.

With the senior staff reunited, all be it minus the departing Eyas Wulfantine and Doctor Velana, the ship set out on its next mission to investigate a possible ancient library. Commander Rahman had been assigned to Deep Space 10 temporarily to oversee the final reconstruction efforts. She left Alexander in charge of Engineering on the Mercury as it's acting chief engineer. Oozing with newfound confidence Alexander helped prepare the Mercury for the effects of the star system the library was located in. Everything went fine until a defence system on the planet's surface attacked the USS Mercury and a nearby cloaked mercenary vessel. Alexander was tasked with leading an away team to the other vessel to try to save it. The away mission was a disaster with Alexander's arrogance nearly costing the lives of the entire team. Although he was absolved of all blame, he decided that for the sake of his family it was probably safer to move back to Starbase 118. Saying his goodbyes, Alexander put in a transfer request and was promptly reassigned as a science officer on the USS Drake.

Upon arrival at Starbase 118 Alexander once again found himself in a situation where he was confronted by a group of officers he didn't know in an unusual situation. His new Captain, William Rogers had decided to host the USS Drake's promotion ceremony in a bar dressed up like a speak easy from early twentieth century Earth. The only person in the room he did know was Lieutenant Pandora, the USS Drake's Engineer whom he had met in one of the many arboretums on Starbase 118 whilst on a walk with his family. He adapted to the situation faster than he thought possible and was amazed when his new crewmates rallied around to help him when his wife had been for all intents and purposes assaulted by the very people who had been employed to make sure the occasion remained private.

Over the following months, including the crews transfer from the retired USS Drake to Starbase 118 operations Alexander has made very few friends, although he has earned a deep respect for the skills and dedication of those he works with. He is also aware that he is a valued member of the crew and that his opinions are respected, even when he is wrong. His arrogance has begun to tail off as his career progresses and he is happy that he can live with his family when his shift is finished. He is coming to terms with his disability and adapting well to life in a wheel chair.