abstract
| - Bruce Andrade was drawn to the stars at a very young age. Distant and aloof most of the time, he did not speak a single word until he was two years of age. For the better part of his adolescence he appeared to be simply listening for something, as if he were attuned to some hidden frequency no one else could hear. Throughout his younger years he was regarded with concern and skepticism by friends and family, and encouraged to simply stop listening. (Star Trek: Frontiers) Eventually he did – or at least, outwardly he seemed to. He graduated at the top of his class from Starfleet Academy, specializing in power grid design, configuration, and deployment. Bruce landed several prestigious assignments, not the least of which was serving aboard the USS Reagan, under Captain J.D. Boddington. After five years, he was transferred to Bajor to assist in deploying a new planet-wide power grid. It was during this mission that he became romantically involved with a Bajoran Vedek named Brea. Near the end of the project, Brea was elected Kai. Assuming that Brea was more interested in her faith than in him, he left Bajor, demanding a transfer. In response, Starfleet gave Bruce command of Deep Space Nine, The station was once a major base of Federation operations, but in the years since the Dominion War its importance had dwindled. Bruce's pleas for a transfer out of the Bajoran system fell on deaf ears. Not only that, but Starfleet continually pulled more of his officers from the station to assign them to the up-and-coming Frontiers Project. Andrade, once a highly motivated officer who cherished the ideals of the Federation, became jaded, bitter, and very cynical. He shirked his duties in the hopes of being discharged, but to no avail. No one cared about DS9, or Bruce Andrade, anymore. Two years later, the Frontiers Project launched and Deep Space Nine was to be the focal point for the mission’s nascence. Due to unforeseen delays, the Nerys Accords – a treaty granting the Federation use of the wormhole – would expire before the USS Enterprise-G could make it through into the Gamma Quadrant. It was Bruce’s job to ensure everything was in order for the ceremonies – but as was typical, he did nothing to prepare. Little did Bruce know how drastically his forthcoming encounter with the Enterprise would change his life – and the life of his onetime lover, Kai Brea, who was assassinated during the re-signing ceremony in a failed Separatist plot. In an ensuing battle with a group of Kumari class Andorian fighters, Andrade was aboard the Enterprise, when it entered the Gamma Quadrant, where he would remain, assisting in engineering. Some months later, Andrade was named a candidate for first officer of the Enterprise, along with Marissa Lightheart. Soon after, however, Andrade discovered via the events during the Enterprise's stay at the Symposia that he was actually an "experiment" sent by beings not native to our universe. He resigned his commission soon afterwards, choosing to remain with his true people. Later, Bruce returned in order to assist his old crew mates in the wake of the Separatist attack on the Frontier transwarp gate in M106 and was named first officer of the newly commissioned USS Enterprise-H.
|