Cadet Senior Grade James Anderson
Name James Logan Anderson
Position Cadet
Second Position Flight Operations Officer
Rank Cadet Senior Grade
Character Information
| Gender | Male | |
| Species | Human | |
| Age | 21 |
Physical Appearance
| Height | 5'9" | |
| Weight | 155 lbs | |
| Hair Color | Brown | |
| Eye Color | Blue |
Family
| Father | Mark Anderson | |
| Mother | Jennifer Sanderson (Deceased) | |
| Other Family | Simon Anderson (Paternal Uncle) |
Personality & Traits
| Personal History | EARLY LIFE ABOARD USS ROANOKE James Logan Anderson was born to Jennifer Sanderson aboard the deep-space vessel USS Roanoke on 8 March 2370. Jennifer served as a Damage Control Officer and Control Systems Specialist with the Roanoke's Engineering Department. The identity of the boy's father, a Starfleet officer named Mark Anderson, remained unknown to everyone but Sanderson herself. In the months leading up to her assignment aboard the Roanoke, Sanderson had been involved in a romantic relationship with Anderson which she unexpectedly broke off before specifically requesting a deep-space assignment. There were many times growing up when James would ask about his father, but every time, his mother would abruptly find something else to talk about. Eventually, the boy gave up asking and seemed to forget about the whole notion entirely. Because Sanderson's work with the Engineering Department often kept her elbow-deep within the ship's operating systems, James spent much of his early childhood interacting with a relatively small group of other children. Although Saber-class starships were never intended to regularly support crew members' families, there were just enough children aboard the Roanoke that certain special accomodations were made, given the duration of their mission. One childhood education specialist was added to the crew manifest while one of the science labs was reconfigured to serve as a childhood education center. While members of the crew were busy cataloguing phenomena, running experiments, or tending to the operating needs of the ship, the children took advantage of their makeshift education center for entertainment and learning opportunities. It was clear from an early age that James demonstrated a notable sense of initiative. On one occasion, the Roanoke encountered an ion storm while mapping a class three nebula that knocked out main power for nearly twelve hours. Trapped in the education center, James and the other children were understandably frightened, but James took the initiative and pulled out one of the architectural puzzles. He soon drew the attention of other children who, one by one, began to join him in playing with the architectural puzzle. By the time main power was finally restored, the education center had been transformed into a small, wooden town. Perhaps the greatest influence upon James' early childhood was the outbreak of the Dominion War in 2373. Within the first few months of conflict, the Roanoke was ambushed by Jem'Hadar attack ships and sustained moderate damage before fending off the attack with assistance from the Ambassador-class USS Hiawatha, which had responded to their distress call. Although the attack showed just how dangerous life could be even aboard a deep-space science vessel such as the Roanoke, it did not convince Sanderson to send her son away. This may have had more to do with the fact Sanderson did not feel as if she had anywhere she could send the boy. Life for James continued with much the same general routine for the next two years despite the sudden upheaval that came from unexpected engagements with Cardassian and Dominion forces. Being only three years old when the war began, however, James really did not seem to mind all that much. Things took a dramatic turn in the final days of the Dominion War when the Roanoke came under fire from three Jem'Hadar attack ships while patrolling a large asteroid field not too far from Deep Space Five. Sanderson had been assisting an Engineering team in repairing the navigational deflector after a previous attack and was working in deflector control when the ambush began. The assault nearly crippled the Roanoke. Of the three people who had been working in deflector control, Sanderson was the only one to survive when ionized gas and plasma flooded the compartment. Medical personnel spent nearly eighteen hours treating burned throat and lung tissue as well as an additional twelve hours attending to the burned tissue across other areas of her body. Knowing she could never continue to serve in Starfleet with her condition, Sanderson returned to Earth with her son and tried to restore some semblance of order to their lives. POST-WAR EARTH The initiative James had shown in early childhood soon developed into an anticipatory style of learning. While many of the other children seemed content to accomplish only that which had been assigned to them, James insisted on going above and beyond expectations simply because he wanted to. Such behavior was not lost on his teachers. They began providing James with all sorts of material in hopes of nurturing the young student's sense of curiosity and interest in learning. James would bring many of these texts home where he would read them aloud to his mother. Then he would return to school, go over the material with his teachers, and select something else to read. Despite the support of his teachers, James was at the age where he was starting to understand more about the world around him and he realized his mother was not well. Days moved into weeks and the weeks into months. He could tell that she was getting worse and trips to Starfleet Medical became a more regular occurrence. They soon determined her injuries were worse than they'd initially suspected, that the scar tissue was interfering with the healing process, and her condition continued to deteriorate. Realizing she did not have much longer to live, Sanderson finally broke down and told James the truth about his father as well as where to find him. James was utterly shocked. He was only twelve years old at this point and could not understand the mix of emotions he was feeling: surprise at learning of his father, anger that he hadn't been there, anger at his mother for keeping it a secret, wonder at where his father had been, and sadness at knowing the end was near. Shortly afterwards, Sanderson died and James was passed off to her parents who were not pleased with having a pre-teen unexpectedly dumped upon their doorstep. They had never approved of their daughter's decision to abandon the marriage and having James around the house seemed only to be a reminder of their disappointment. When he could no longer stand the constant atmosphere of disapproval, James ran away and eventually managed to track down Simon Anderson, his father's brother living near San Francisco. Simon was just as surprised to see James on his front porch as Sanderson's parents had been. Unlike the previous experience, however, Simon welcomed the young man into his home and listened patiently as James explained his story. It was Simon who eventually helped James to book passage on a transport bound for Deep Space Nine in time to rendezvous with the Intrepid-class USS Houston aboard which Mark Anderson was serving as Executive Officer. USS HOUSTON Mark Anderson was understandably blindsided by the sudden revelation and it took some time before the two began to grow accustomed to living with one another, much less building their own father-son relationship. This was made even more difficult by the fact Mark could see a little of the boy's mother in his appearance as well as his behavior, which reopened the pain of her departure. James continued to live aboard the Houston with his father where he began forming a closer bond with his father. The young man also continued to excel at his studies. While there was no designated education program aboard the Houston due to its size and the absence of crew families, James received tutoring in the basic courses from various individuals aboard ship including members of the senior staff. He even had time to enjoy extracurricular activities such as piloting lessons, holonovels, and outdoor recreation on the holodeck. USS ENDEAVOUR Orders transferring Anderson to the Sovereign-class USS Endeavour as Executive Officer came down in early 2386. It was around this time that James started seriously thinking about his own future. Both of his parents had served in Starfleet, not to mention he had spent over a third of his life aboard starships, which James took as pretty decent evidence he could probably handle the day-to-day life of a Starfleet officer. The real question James faced was whether he'd rather be a pilot like his father, an engineer like his mother, a diplomat...or maybe something else entirely. James felt very self-conscious about the decision. He tried to never let on that his sole interest was in attending Starfleet Academy, lest his father think the decision too impulsive or merely a desire to follow in his father's footsteps. USS EAGLE Coming Soon!!! STARFLEET ACADEMY Sometime in late 2388, James' father was contacted by Vice Admiral Iluvar regarding a new Starfleet initiative known as Operation Sunrise which was aimed at ensuring diplomatic stability along the Federation's 'northern' frontier. Mark Anderson's experience aboard the Houston as well as his more recent service with the Eleventh Fleet had certainly piqued the attention of Starfleet Command. It was for that very reason the admiral offered Mark command of the Prometheus-class USS Tethys which Mark graciously accepted. Although James would have gladly accompanied his father to the Tethys, the young man received news that he'd been accepted into the Flight Control program at Starfleet Academy not long after his father was reassigned. He chose to spend the remaining time with his Uncle Simon on Earth before his first classes were scheduled to begin that fall. To be continued... |
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| Service Record | STARFLEET SERVICE RECORD *Cadet - Cadet, Starfleet Academy (2388 - 2392) ****Archanis Flight Training Center, Starbase 332 (2391 - Present) TOTAL FLIGHT HOURS LOGGED Auxiliary Craft: 400+ hours Starships: 30+ hours Starfighters: 0 hours |