Elsa Lindgren

Childhood

Elsa Lindgren was born to two Starfleet officers, and only the burgeoning Dominion War meant she wasn’t born on a starship. Her mother took maternity leave and then assignment on Earth while her father remained on active duty throughout the conflict. He saw her for the first time when she was already six months old, and barely again until the end of the war.

Elsa’s parents took a starbase assignment to stay together in the war’s aftermath, and her younger brother Arvid was born not long after. But in 2380, when Elsa was six years old, her parents’ joint ambition was realised when they were both assigned to the USS Columbia, a Galaxy-class starship. Starfleet was returning to its deep-space exploratory operations as the war settled into history, with Columbia given a five-year mission.

It was here that young Elsa met for the first time Leonidas MacCallister, then a commander and the Columbia’s first officer. An devoted family man himself, though his children were adults and teenagers, MacCallister took a particular pleasure in working with the on-board school to make sure the ship’s children could make the most of the opportunities of their situation. The children enjoyed field trips to see stellar phenomena, expeditions to new worlds already thoroughly-vetted by away teams, and the occasionally lonely, isolated experience of being a child on a deep-space mission was turned into a unique upbringing.

Other starship assignments followed for the Lindgren family, though none with the same adventure as Columbia, and when Elsa was fourteen it was decided her schooling would benefit from a return to a more central Federation life. Though devoted explorers, her parents took an assignment at Starfleet Science on Alpha Centauri, and for the first time in her memory she lived a planetside life.

An upbringing with loving parents and an education tailored to her needs – considering she had often been in small, focused, schools on starships – made her a bright, engaged, and bold girl. Moving from place to place had left Elsa accustomed to making friends quickly, and with children from a variety of backgrounds and cultures. She found Alpha Centauri somewhat more staid, structured, and less cosmopolitan than she liked, which only cemented her aspirations: she had spent her life so far in Starfleet, and thus she wanted to join Starfleet.

Starfleet Academy

Her parents were delighted, and made sure she received all possible support to prepare for her Academy application. She was accepted, and at the age of 18 joined the Alpha Centauri campus. With so many foundational experiences on deep space exploration, Lindgren’s initial aspirations of starship command directed her down the traditional command route to train as a pilot. But while capable enough, by the end of her first year she realised that while becoming a captain was still what she wanted, piloting wasn’t how she wanted to get there.

Lindgren graduated Starfleet Academy with a degree in xenolinguistics, and qualified as a communications officer. While her training included use of communication systems, she took a minor in interstellar relations and courses in diplomacy and etiquette. It was her ambition to be more than a linguist or translator, but to keep a career path of diplomacy open as a route to command. With her parents’ respected careers and her own background on many ships, ahead of graduating she reached out to as many possible contacts as she could with the hope of the most exciting assignment.

While she was offered a position as a communications officer on the prestigious USS Potemkin, committed to a deep-space exploration mission, Lindgren eschewed this for a better offer. One of the people she had contacted was Leonidas MacCallister, now a captain assuming command of a new ship, the Manticore-class USS Endeavour. There she was posted as the Chief Communications Officer directly out of the Academy, Endeavour not expected to need an officer of a higher grade in such a post.

USS Endeavour

Lindgren excelled on Endeavour and in returning to starship life, though the generosity of MacCallister had a cost. Wanting to remain loyal to him, she rejected an offer to move on after two years, even at the cost of an advancement to lieutenant, and personnel assessments in early 2399 suggested her initially promising career was in danger of a limping start. Still she remained on Endeavour, even when MacCallister was injured and removed from command and Matt Rourke brought in to replace him.

Knowing everyone on the ship and everyone’s business aboard, Lindgren quickly became a guide and confidante to Rourke as she had been for MacCallister, and her loyalty transferred to her new captain. Continuing to serve aboard Endeavour for years after, it was under Rourke’s command that she quickly advanced to the rank of lieutenant junior grade, and, almost two years later, to full lieutenant.

By mid-2401, Lieutenant Lindgren was eager for new opportunities. However enriching her time as a communications officer had been, she felt her work had plateaued, and time facing the challenges Endeavour overcame reminded her of her original ambitions. There was little path towards command at comms. Feeling she had learnt all she could, when Captain Valance assumed command, she requested a lateral transfer, and was duly granted the position of Chief Flight Control Officer, a role with more responsibility, and a clearer path to, some day, a centre chair.