Christina Curtis


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Basic information
Assignment
Captain Christina Curtis is a noted Starfleet command officer from the 22nd century, best known for her assignment as commanding officer of the fourth of Starfleet's warp five starships, Discovery, launched in 2155.

Christina has never agreed with the hardliner attitude of many of the older COs in Starfleet or of the commanding officers in the various militaries of Earth, and prefers a much more causal approach with her crew. In her eyes, Starfleet is in no way a military organisation, and the crews of the newest starships are going to have to live and work together for extended periods, and so a little freedom in that regard would be more than warranted.

Though she makes sure that it is established amongst her crew that she is the commanding officer and they her subordinates, she will openly seek and welcome their opinions and invites them to speak freely often, and relies upon their experience and viewpoints. She will often socialise with her crew as well, and invite each of her senior staff to join her in the captain's mess often.

Childhood & Early Life

Born to Frederick Curtis and Carla Juarez in Boston, North America, Christina was the product of a relationship that would not last longer than two more years; her parents were not married at the time she was born, and so she was given her father's last name, and her mother's last name was incorporated as her middle name. Once her parents separated, Carla returned briefly to Portugal before eventually travelling to England and becoming married to the father of Christina's eventual half-brother, Jason Vaughn. Frederick retained full-time parentage of Christina, and moved to Los Angeles with her, buying a house on the seaside which forwent a back yard in favour of direct access to the picturesque beach.

Christina had a rather privileged upbringing, and was largely unaffected by the split of her parents, as they both tried their best to remain amicable for their daughter's sake. As a result however, there was no strong female presence in her home life, and she developed to have various tom-boyish tendencies. She visited her mother regularly and took an active interest in both sides of her family, but 'home' was always the house that she and her father lived in.

Ever since she was a little girl she dreamt of going to the stars, and watched the news intently every time there was a mention of Earth's developing warp program or a new species joining in with the Vulcans' various species exchange programs, such as when Denobulan doctors began participating in the medical exchange. Though neither of her parents worked with Starfleet in any way, she was able to see the Starfleet Headquarters complex once on a school visit as a teenager.

It was during secondary school that Christina developed most of her hobbies that would continue to remain prevalent throughout her adult life. She began participating more in sports, and though most of the sports she enjoyed were often solitary or required only small groups, she became very adept at challenges, her favourite activity being rock climbing on genuine features of the landscape rather than the artificial indoor climbing walls. She also began learning various mixed martial arts styles, winning various championships for her school's local club. It was around this time that she began joining her father in his avid following of motorsports; particularly the kind that evolved from the open-cockpit, four-wheeled racing in Earth's past, such as Formula One.

Starfleet Career

Christina entered Starfleet at the age of 18, as soon as she was out of school, and was straight away swept up in the excitement filling the Training Complex. As Starfleet was commissioning more and more survey ships such as the Intrepid and Neptune classes, Starfleet was rapidly growing in size, with ever more recruits passing through the Complex year-in, year-out. Christina's grades were good enough to get her in even under the stricter requirements before the expansion, and so she was proud to take her place amongst the other cadets in her move to San Francisco. She worked hard throughout the four years of training, eventually gaining a posting as an ensign aboard the Republic as a relief helm officer.

Christina worked under Captain Jennings on the ship for four years, having many chances to take over from the chief helm officer during their missions and she became known as one of the better pilots in the Intrepid-class fleet. Unfortunately due to her low rank and relatively low experience, she wasn't given the chance to participate in the NX Project during the 2140s, which was to go to produce faster warp drives, including the Warp Five engine that was to be the heart of the future ships of Starfleet. Christina was even commended in her record when the ship's warp core began to de-stabilise whilst the chief helmsman was aboard an alien vessel to provide assistance. As the controls became erratic, Curtis was able to keep the ship close enough to the alien vessel to maintain contact with the helmsman and chief engineer without colliding, which would have destroyed both vessels. She also managed to pilot the ship through the atmosphere of a gas giant one one occasion in order to avoid a group of Nausican pirates.

In 2145, Christina received a promotion to Lieutenant and a posting aboard the Shenandoah as chief helm officer. The Shenandoah was a brand new ship of a similar type to the Republic, and the captain wanted a pilot who knew the ship inside and out. Though the ship's missions largely consisted of colony runs and patrols of space close to Sol, Christina was once again in receipt of numerous commendations from her commander, and would remain with the crew until construction on the first of the NX-class of starships began with the Enterprise in 2149.

With construction beginning on Enterprise, Christina received her first chance to work with the NX Project, as she was offered command of one of the divisions of construction workers operating on the vessel. Accepting a position as head of all workpod and shuttlepod-based workers, she was responsible for all activity conducted in the small craft around the ship, and in ensuring that any personnel working on extravehicular activity were safe or were recovered if they lost their tether.

After construction on the Enterprise was completed and the ship was launched, Christina was temporarily without an assignment, as the ship had been due to remain in spacedock for a while longer and only left due to an emergency situation with the Klingons. Officially posted to Starfleet Headquarters, unofficially Christina was on leave, and took the time to visit her father in Los Angeles and go climbing in Yosemite National Park.

After her original assignment to the Enterprise construction team was due to come to an end, and thus her unexpected assignment to Headquarters, she was requested for by Captain Brody of the Saratoga to serve as his new chief helm officer and executive officer, wanting to use both her piloting experience and work with her to develop her command experience following her assignment to the NX Project. She would remain with Captain Brody until the starship Discovery was entering the final stages of production, and she was selected to be the vessel's captain, after receiving a glowing recommendation from Brody. In 2155 she was reassigned to oversee the ship's completion before she was officially granted her promotion to captain before the vessel's launch.

Personal Relationships

Family

Christina's closest family relation is her father, who she has lived with ever since she was a child, and even after getting her own place in San Francisco after joining Starfleet she often goes back to visit him. The two of them are very close and share almost everything with one-another. When Christina takes shoreleave on Earth, she will always make sure that she visits her father on the first day she touches down.

Though she lives with her father, Christina does still regularly talk to and visit her mother, now married and living in England. The two aren't anywhere near as close as Christina is with her father, but there is no real wedge between the pair of them, the separation of her parents having been when she was too young for it to make any real impact on her.

She has also become somewhat of a role model to her half-brother, Jason, who has entered Starfleet himself to follow in his big sister's footsteps.

Relationships

Christina has had numerous relationships over the years, though none of them have ever been of the kind that they might have lasted forever. The reason that she always gives when asked how she is still single is that she is married to Starfleet, with all her love going to the stars. She knows that it is an overly poetic way of putting things, but she quite enjoys the reaction it tends to engender in those who ask.

Chronology

Year Placement Rank Assignment
2137 Starfleet Training Command First Year Cadet
2138 Starfleet Training Command Second Year Cadet
2139 Starfleet Training Command Third Year Cadet
2140 Starfleet Training Command Fourth Year Cadet
2141-2145 Republic NV-02 Helm Officer
2145-2149 Shanandoah NV-06 Chief Helm Officer
2149 - 2151 Enterprise NX-01 Construction Project Junior Construction Manager
2151 - 2152 Starfleet Headquarters Undefined Posting
2152 - 2155 Saratoga First Officer & Chief Helm Officer
2155 Discovery NX-04 Construction Project Construction Manager
2155 - Discovery NX-04 Commanding Officer


Preceded by:
None
Commanding Officer of Discovery NX-04
2155 – Present
Succeeded by:
Incumbent
Preceded by:
Unspecified
Construction Manager of the NX-04
2155
Succeeded by:
None
Preceded by:
Unspecified
Junior Construction Manager on the NX-01
2149 – 2151
Succeeded by:
None