Gage Whitney

Authored by Andrew Robinson

Character Biography

Character Biography

Name: Gage Whitney
Rank: Lieutenant
Current Assignment: USS Chernov, Chief Engineer

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

Species: Human
Height: 5‘11”
Weight: 170lb
Hair: Dirty Blond
Eye Color: Blue

Place of Birth: Springfield, Illinois, Earth.
Date of Birth: Stardate 0716222.2
Age: 46
Starfleet ID: US-071619-82

Mother: Maureen Whitney, Chef (Deceased Stardate 0705225.1, Age 68)
Father: Harrison Whitney, Architect, Retired, Age 82
Siblings: Two Sisters
Marital Status: Single

PERSONAL HISTORY

Gage Whitney was born in July 2222 at the Central Illinois General Hospital on Earth. His parents were Harrison Whitney, a structural architect working for Wolfestar Systems, and Maureen Whitney (nee Porter) (deceased), a chef de cuisine at a bistro in the city of Chicago. Initially, not a particularly interested student, with a mediocre academic record, Whitney developed an interest in structural mechanics during High School. After graduation, he was accepted into the Cochrane School of Engineering, achieving a masters degree in structural and mechanical engineering, with a focus on structural warp field dynamics. Graduating from the Cochrane School in 2247, he was immediately hired to work in the fledgeling engineering division of the contractor Wolfestar Systems, the company his grandfather had helped found in the early 22nd century.

With a booming business constructing freighters for the Space Merchants association, Whitney excelled at the company, his skills and abilities allowing him to rise rapidly to become a department supervisor.

After the destruction of Vulcan in 2258 and the heavy losses suffered during the Nero incident, Starfleet contracted Wolfestar to develop a new cruiser class capable of better responding to such events in the future. Whitney became a project supervisor on what had been Starfleets Governor Class explorer vessel and was quickly retooled to become the Kurtzman class battlecruiser based upon Whitney’s own concept for a heavy civilian craft capable of defending cargo convoys from pirates and Orion raiders.

After the Kurtzman was launched in 2260 and its shakedown was completed, Whitney moved into coordination with Starfleet to scale production at their newest facility on Utopia Planitia. There, he found the most rewarding experience of his life. The difference between the corporate politics of Wolfestar and the ordered and efficient world of Starfleet was sufficient that despite being significantly older than most applicants, at 39, he applied to Starfleet Academy. A letter from Admiral Holson at Utopia Planitia was sufficient to grant him acceptance into the academy despite being nearly 20 years older than most cadets. He excellend and was granted early graduation and a field commission as a Lieutenant Junior Grade in 2263. Assigned back to Utopia Planitia, Whitney spent the next five years happily engaged in overseeing the completion of seventeen more Kurtzman Class ships, leading to his promotion to full Lieutenant.

In mid 2267, after a heated exchange with the Chief Engineer of the USS Orci, Whitney realised that without seeing active duty aboard one of these ships, he was missing out on a vital opportunity to review the quality and durability of the class. What he had never considered was that there was a significant difference between building a ship and daily operation of one. With that in mind, he asked Admiral Holson for a transfer to one of the Kurtzman ships in order to get some field time in spec as they geared up for a refit of the class after nearly a decade in service. Whitney was granted the request and promptly assigned a position aboard the only Kurtzman with an opening for a Chief Engineer, the USS Chernov.

SERVICE HISTORY

2361 - Entered Starfleet Academy
2363 - Granted special dispensation to be graduated early from Starfleet Academy
2363 - Granted a field commission as Lieutenant Junior Grade and assigned to Utopia Planitia Shipyards as construction supervisor for the Kurtzman Class.
2366 - Promoted to Lieutenant
2368 - Transferred to the USS Chernov, assigned as Chief Engineer