Thomas Walker (Born: Nikael Thomas Walker) was an officer in Federation Starfleet active in the 2350’s and beyond. A Half-Betazoid born to parents aboard Starbase 114, he would later pursue a career in the social sciences where he achieved success in no small measure. Circumstance would continue to bring him back to the trappings of Command, a role for which his upbringing provided a natural bearing. Walker would become one of the youngest Commanders in Starfleet, both in rank and posting, sharing the honor with the likes of Captain Tryla Scott and, later, William Riker.
Demographics
Species: Human
Sex: Male
Birthdate: February 26th, 2334
Birthplace: Starbase 114, Ficus Sector, Alpha Quadrant
Height: 1.78m (5′ 8″)
Weight: 74 kg (163.1 lbs)
Hair: Dark Brown
Eyes: Black
Marital Status: Single
Family History
Mother
Claire Walker
Claire Walker was a human woman living aboard Starbase 114 with her husband, Aras Kaivin. She was born in Columbus, Ohio, Earth and early in her life she worked as a clerk at the Palais de la Concorde, which held the Offices of the President of the Federation, in Paris, France.
Later in her career Claire would work her way up to staff aide. It was in this position she would meet Aras Kaivin. Claire would eventually become a policy advisor.
Sometime after marrying Aras his duties would take him to Starbase 114. With the President’s term ending without seeking re-election she would take a job as a political correspondent with the Federation News Service which would often require travel.
Father
Aras (Kaivin) Walker
Aras Kaivin was born on Betazed and was Claire Walker’s husband. Being from a matriarchal society he would take her name upon their marriage. He worked with the Federation Diplomatic Corps and was first stationed in Paris, France as a Diplomatic Attaché on loan to the Palais.
A younger Aras was noted to be incorrigible by Claire Walker, but he would become more dignified as he grew older; or at least that was the appearance he suggested.
Aras was fond of challenging his son to debate, believing in honed his cognitive skills and aided him with the control needed manage his empathy on a starbase of several thousand (or even hundreds of thousands) of people. His son, Thomas Walker, is not aware of this and has always assumed that his father was just prepping him to follow in his footsteps.
During the year 2360 Aras would become a Federation Ambassador and the family would relocate to Earth. He would be one of the first ambassadors during this time to begin working with the Xindi.
Siblings
Miranda Walker
Born: 2356, 10 Years Old
Spouse
None
Children
None
Pets
None
Service Record
Serial Number: SE-371-225
Status: Active
Academy Entrance: 2351
Graduation: 2355
Major: Science
Minor: Command
Current Rank: Commander
Current Assignment: Commanding Officer, USS Sagan
Service Timeline
2355
Graduated from Starfleet Academy with dual degrees in Sociology and Linguistics, the latter in which he earned a distinction. He is posted as an Ensign at Starbase 12, a location he is already familiar with having served a practical rotation there during his junior year at Starfleet Academy. He is part of a team often deployed to assist planetary and local governments after a disaster with recovery efforts. Thomas, specifically, often serves as a liaison between the civilian government and Starfleet.
2358
Desiring a change of pace Lieutenant Walker transfers to the USS Presage, an Excelsior-class starship, as CONN officer.
2360
The USS Presage answers a distress call from a Ferengi freighter reported to be under attack by an unknown entity near 45 Sigma Aridoni. The Presage and her crew arrived to find the Ferengi freighter caught in an energy field emanating from an asteroid the Presage’s First Officer described as “Far too perfect an elliptical to be an asteroid.”
Lieutenant Walker, on duty at the helm at the time, noted a prominent sentience on the asteroid, describing the mood as angry and disgruntled. Initially sensors picked up multiple life signs inside the asteroid but they were unable to determine any details because of mineral deposits on the outside of the asteroid interfering with scans. However, when the USS Presage was able to compensate for the minerals the scans revealed that the scattered life signs they were reading was a sole life sign and the asteroid itself was alive.
The Ferengi attempted to fire on the asteroid, believing the profit no longer worth their lives, and the retaliation that followed snared the Presage in the trap as well. Lieutenant Walker, pushing the limits of his own empathy, managed to negotiate with the creature for the release of both ships, convincing it to leave the area. The creature, which the crew had nicknamed Snapping Turtle, was powerful enough in its psionic talent that the encounter left Walker severely drained and in sickbay for several days from the stress involved. Awarded the Star Cross.
Early 2361
Transferred to the USS Akagi, an Ambassador-class starship. Lieutenant Walker is stationed in the science department. The Akagi’s mission is one of colonization and, later, scientific study including that of pre-warp civilizations.
Late 2361
A dissertation Walker wrote on common socio-political threads between industrialized pre-warp cultures is published in the Federation Journal for Sociology. Lieutenant Walker is invited to speak at the Federation’s annual cultural summit, jointly hosted by Starfleet Research and the Federation Diplomatic Corps. The summit was held at the offices of the Sociological Association of Betazed, he was awarded the Colfi Prize for Sociology and Social Sciences by the Section on Political Sociology.
2362
Walker is made Chief Science Officer on board the Akagi. He is promoted to Lieutenant Commander.
2363
The USS Akagi is assigned to survey Camaran IV, former homeworld to a culture who had been on the verge of becoming warp capable approximately two hundred years ago. The initial survey team, lead by Lieutenant Commander Walker, set up base camp. Walker would return to the Akagi some few hours later with intense headaches. Later, the Akagi’s First Officer and a team of security would beam down to the planet to investigate a disturbance reported by the scientific teams. Upon their arrival the second away team would be taken hostage.
Though not quite fully recovered, Walker would later report to the bridge at Captain Bage’s request. Having been in contact with the first away team it became clear that something wasn’t right when they reported that the second away team had never arrived and requested the Akagi send additional personnel. Walker informed Captain Bage that he sensed things on the planet were not what they seemed and that something there caused intense telepathic interference with his own mind while he was present on the surface.
Walker would still be present on the bridge to note a similar shift in Captain Bage’s temperament. Upon questioning it Captain Bage dismissed it and ordered his tactical officer to lock phasers on the away team’s location, claiming that they were compromised and were a danger to the ship. Walker attempted to countermand the order but he, and the remaining unaffected members of the bridge crew, were removed from their posts by officers suffering a similar affliction to that of the captain.
The situation became further complicated when fights broke out amongst the crew on board the Akagi as is two factions were struggling to control the ship. Taking advantage of the confusion Lieutenant Commander Walker and a cadre of unaffected officers (notably those with psionic abilities such as Vulcans, or those who were immune to such species’ powers) led a push to take back the bridge and regain control of the ship. With most of the other senior staff taken hostage or otherwise adversely affected Walker relieved Captain Bage from duty and assumed command.
Through a combination of his own empathic abilities and the ship’s sensors they were able to determine several large constructs, originally believed to be sculptures, were in fact storing and enhancing psionic energy. The constructs allowed the minds of two warring factions, long dead, to exist in perpetuity on the planet. Under attack by a hostile force and unable to see any other alternative Walker ordered his tactical officer to fire on the planet; except instead of targeting the away team they targeted two of the crystalline structures in succession. The resulting weakening of the psionic network disrupted the being’s hold long enough for the away teams to be beamed aboard and the Akagi to retreat to a safe distance.
After the incident Walker was suspended pending a hearing by an Advisory Review Board. The Board, whose members included Admiral Horatio Pike, found Walker to have acted appropriately and in good faith. He was returned to duty with a commendation in his file and the Starfleet Medal of Valor. The Camaran System has been classified by Starfleet and vessels are forbidden to approach. A hazard buoy is present in the system to warn approaching vessels off.
2365
After a year and a half of frayed relations between he and Captain Bage, Walker is promoted to Commander after he accepts a posting to the USS Sagan as her Commanding Officer. The Sagan is part of a group tasked by the Starfleet Exploratory Division with the mapping and exploration of Incandescent-Epsilon 549. The task group is a special project headed by Admiral Pike which re-tasks older vessels toward the end of their service life under the command of, and crewed by, promising young officers.
Awards
- Star Cross
- The Lindstrom Award for Scholarly Achievement
- Colfi Prize for Sociology and Social Sciences
- Medal of Valor
Character Notes
- Asar Walker was a vegetarian, a belief he held despite the existence and nature of replicated food. Thomas’s ultimate guilty pleasure is a bacon cheeseburger from Fat Boy’s Pub on Starbase 12; Fat Boy’s is an eatery famous for using real rather than replicated ingredients.
- Walker doesn’t just not have pets currently, he has never had a pet. The nature of Betazoid empathy and telepathy make them too wary of animals for fear of losing themselves in the creature’s wild mind.
- In social situations Walker is partial to brandy with the Altairian variety a particular favorite. However, he also has been known to partake in the consumption of a spirit known colloquially as Andorian absinthe.
- He cracks his knuckles when he is apprehensive. It serves as a cue to his brain to focus.
- During his time at Starfleet Academy one of his classes took him to the Rocky Mountains in Colorado. It was the first time Walker, who had grown up entirely in space, experienced the concept of snow. As a result he developed an instant fondness for winter climates. An alpine skiing program is listed among his favorites in his holodeck profile.
- There is a model of Starbase 114 in his Ready Room, and placed in a special position of honor in a protective display case is a copy of George Orwell’s 1984. Walker believes the book is an important reminder that a leadership structure must nurture differences, not suppress them; a sense of uniformity can bring a sense of belonging but it must not erase our differences.
A Pen & Paper Jawa 