WHAT IF: A STAR TREK SERIES - [DRAMATIS PERSONAE] STARFLEET OFFICER EVA FERRARI

«I’m a pilot, not a Cupid’s Arrow!»

    - Eva Ferrari to Doctor Julian Bashir, 2372 (“Finally Rejoined”)

Eva Ferrari was a 24th century Human Starfleet officer, most noted for serving as Flight Controller and Ops Manager aboard the U.S.S. Europa NCC-1648-E; as Security and Tactical Chief aboard the U.S.S. Prometheus NX-59650; as XO, under the command of Kathryn Janeway, aboard the U.S.S. Voyager NCC-74656; and as Commanding Officer of the U.S.S. Excalibur (NCC-82603), one of the first Vesta-class starships operating from the 2380s.

Early years

Born in Italy, from Edoardo Ferrari and Sofiè Leclercq around the late 2348, Ferrari grew up between Italy and France since her father was a Starfleet Officer assigned to the Palais de la Concorde in Paris as one of the liaison officers and attaché of one of the Admirals working side by side with the President of the Federation, and her mother was a Starfleet instructor at the Academy in Paris.

As daughter of two enlisted Starfleet officers, she was given a tough education both at home and at school, due to the fact she was sent to the military schools Starfleet offered for its officers’ children. While at the Academy, she briefly met a fellow cadet, Harry Kim, right before she graduated and decided to go to the Zefram Cochrane Space Flight Center as test pilot. During her years at the Academy, her father was sent, with Admiral J. P. Hanson, with the 40-ship force that tried, and failed, to face and stop a lone Borg Cube sent to destroy Earth (with the unwilling help of Jean-Luc Picard, then turned to Locutus of Borg).

Starfleet Academy

Ferrari attended Starfleet Academy from 2365 to 2369. During her Academy years, in which she had followed the command curriculum and had taken a pilot’s license, Ferrari excelled in many courses, obtainings honors in Advanced Navigation, Tactical Analysis and Command and Control. Thanks to the fact that the woman had graduated from the Academy as a valedictorian of her class, and that she had been assigned for a while as test pilot, she earned the rank of Lieutenant JG and a posting aboard a Sovereign-class starship, the U.S.S. Europa (NCC-1648-E), as helmsman and flight controller.

During the years spent at the Academy, she obtained many awards in both melee combat sports and cultural academic competitions. During the second year, she undertook a romantic relationship with Theo Madalore, assistant to Professor Gregorio Bardoni of Advanced Space Flight Techniques. Mandalore, formerly a test pilot of transatmospheric vehicles, introduced Ferrari to the Test Piloting School and was soon passed over in skill, after only a year. The competition between the two led Mandalore to sabotage a test shuttle assigned to Ferrari and later deny the fact, placing the blame on Ferrari herself. After six months of flying suspension, the matter was cleared up and Ferrari was rehabilitated. This event instilled in the woman a strong rejection for sentimental implications, leading her to be very wary of those who manifested any kind of love feelings.

First years: the test piloting at the Zefram Cochrane Space Flight Center

After graduation, she spent almost two years planet-bound, during which she had been among the best test pilots that the Federation had had at its disposal, granting her a field promotion to Lieutenant JG.

At the beginning of the 2370s a new class of starships was ordered and, finally, in 2371 was commissioned the U.S.S. Europa NCC-1648-E, where Ferrari was assigned as helmsman and flight controller, obtaining the posting alongside the position of Chief Conn Officer, with the permanent rank of Lieutenant JG. Their first mission: the exploration of the Gamma Quadrant.

Aboard Europa and Deep Space Nine

2371-2372: the Sovereign-class project and the Gamma Quadrant exploration

On stardate 48467.3 (2371) Eva Ferrari is stationed aboard the newly commissioned U.S.S. Europa (NCC-1648-E), a Sovereign-class starship that will be sent to explore the Gamma Quadrant a few months later, on stardate 48498.4 (2371), for a 18-month-tour. The mission would lead the ship and its crew into unknown space, to gather as much information as they could about the Dominion and the other species of that sector of the Milky Way.

On stardate 49195.5 (2372) the Europa is ordered by Starfleet Command to return from her exploration of the Gamma Quadrant before her tour is completed, due to the escalation of the tension between the UFP and the Dominion.

2372-2374: the Dominion War and the destruction of the U.S.S. Europa

On stardate 49195.5 (2372) the U.S.S. Europa, back before time in the Alpha Quadrant, arrived just in time to save Dr. Lenara Kahn and her symbiont from certain death, returning them to Deep Space 9, where the starship was due to dock for shore leave and resupply before reassignment.

Post-stardate 49195.5 the Europa is sent to offer medical assistance to a Bajoran colony vexed by the clashes of the Dominion War. Due to the atmospheric conditions, the away team is forced to use a shuttle to arrive on the planet and lend the required help, with Ferrari at the helm. When Doctor Pulaski’s life is threatened by an undercover agent from the Dominion, Ferrari will find herself disobeying her orders in an attempt to rescue the physician.

On stardate 49904.2, following a hit and run attack on Deep Space 9 by a band of rogue Jem'Hadar, the Europa was deployed, alongside with two DS9’s officers, on a mission to locate the rebels, who had discovered another Iconian Gateway, and to save from them Lenara Kahn, kidnapped due to her expertise.

Pre-stardate 51247.5 (2374) the U.S.S. Europa, patrolling a sector of space near the Klingon and Cardassian borders, answered a distress call from a Klingon outpost a few light years from its position. After a fierce fight, the imposing Sovereign-class starship faced its destruction by the hands of the Dominion forces. Only a bunch of people, including Doctor Katherine Pulaski and Lieutenant Eva Ferrari, would be rescued by Federation forces led by the Defiant, under the command of Benjamin Sisko.

On stardate 51247.5 (2374) after the destruction of the Europa in defense of a Klingon outpost during a fight against Dominion forces, the survivors are sent aboard Deep Space 9 to make a better recovery. Due to the tragedy, some of them starts suffering from PTSD, as Eva Ferrari, and the Enterprise is summoned to the base station to provide some help in the matter. In the meanwhile, Commander Dax and Doctor Kahn are ready to make an important step in their life together.

2374-early 2375: aboard Deep Space 9 and the Pah-wraith assault

On stardate 51247.5, during the wedding celebrations between Jadzia Dax and Lenara Kahn, a high-priority distress call reaches Deep Space 9: the U.S.S. Europa, a Sovereign-class vessel under the command of Captain T'Vok, is in serious trouble and requires immediate help. But once the Defiant arrives on the scene along with other federal and non-federal vessels, it finds itself witness to a tragedy. What kind of consequences could there be?

On stardate 51968.5 Captain Sisko is ordered by Admiral Ross to leave the starbase with the Defiant for the Chin’toka system, ignoring a warning from the Prophets, while Lieutenant Commander Dax and the now Lieutenant Commander Ferrari remained aboard Deep Space 9 to oversee and protect the station. Gul Dukat, possessed by a Pah-wraith, boards DS9 and destroys the Orb of Contemplation, almost killing in the process both Starfleet officers. Dr. Bashir, in an attempt to save both the women and the Dax symbiont, is momentarily forced to transplant the latter into Ferrari, an experience to which Ferrari will later refer as particularly fascinating, but possibly not to be redone.

Aboard Prometheus

2375: the Prometheus project

On stardate 51462 (2374) the starship Prometheus is in her early stages of development: an experimental prototype designed for deep space tactical assignments and equipped with regenerative shields, ablative hull armor, and multi-vector assault mode. She was the fastest ship in Starfleet with a warp factor of 9.99 when she was launched from the Beta Antares ShipYards on stardate 50749.5, in late 2373. The vessel was also equipped with holographic projectors on every deck, allowing its EMH Mark II free range of movement throughout the ship. On stardate 52005.8 (2375) Lt. Cmdr. Eva Ferrari is assigned to the U.S.S. Prometheus as Tactical and Security Chief, obtaining also the roel of second officer, under the command of Captain Jaze Taanis, a joined Trill.

2378: the return of Voyager and the Borg assault

On stardate 54973.4, after seven years in the Delta Quadrant, the U.S.S. Voyager (NCC-74656) is finally home, after a close encounter with the Borg and a little help from an alternate future Admiral Kathryn Janeway. Its return, although a happy one, leads to an unforeseen series of consequences for her crew and the Prometheus’.