Paula Camarero

Personality

Early Life (2357-2376)

Paula Camarero was born in Madrid in 2357. Both of her parents were in Starfleet, having long since transferred from deep space assignments after almost twenty years on starships, having her comparatively late in life. Her father, a scientist, and her mother, an engineer, served in a variety of roles during her childhood aboard orbital platforms such as McKinley Station and Spacedock, commuting from the planet’s surface daily. Quite frequently, Camarero accompanied her parents into orbit, where she became fascinated with space and the comings and goings of ships.

By age ten, she had resolved to follow in their footsteps to become an explorer. In the same year, she was huddled in a civil defense bunker during the Borg’s attempted attack on the planet. Later, she was on Earth during the subsequent Borg attack and the Breen attacks, which strengthened her resolve to join Starfleet when she thought about the role it played in protecting her homeworld.

Starfleet Academy (2376-2380)

Camarero joined Starfleet Academy in mid-2376, just following the conclusion of the Dominion War. She joined in a time of hope and peace, with the fleet eager to get back to its mission of exploration after nearly a decade of responding to threats from the Borg, the Klingons, and the Dominion. She chose not to directly follow her father (a meteorologist) or her mother (an engineer), instead majoring in astrophysics. Noted early on for being attentive to details and cautious while making her analyses, Camarero thrived in the disciplined, reserved atmosphere of the academy because of the advantage she’d had growing up with two Starfleet veterans for parents.

After two years on Earth, Camarero was selected to join the Fourth Fleet’s officer training program and was transferred to the Fourth Fleet Academy on Mellstoxx III, a Betaozoid colony also home to Starbase 4. As a member of Cadet Squadron Bravo, Camarero received additional leadership and survival training beyond that given to all cadets, as the Fourth Fleet was designated as the Federation’s rapid response unit.

USS Mariposa (2380-2384)

Upon graduation, Camarero was posted to the starship Mariposa, a California-class utility cruiser assigned to missions based out of Starbase Bravo. The Mariposa was configured as a command variant of the class, largely responsible for transporting flag officers and dignitaries between the starbase to frontier bases. For a science officer, it was a sleepy assignment, but the astrophysics department was at least kept busy with charting duties. After two years, she was promoted to Lieutenant Junior Grade, serving as the bridge science officer during Beta Shift. Camarero was well-respected aboard the Mariposa and often was asked to accompany away teams during the scientific missions the ship was sometimes sent on when not serving as a glorified limousine.

USS Midway (2384-2394)

Camarero joined the USS Midway as a full Lieutenant and Chief Science Officer in 2384. This Akira-class heavy cruiser was assigned to border defense roles near to Romulan space, as Starfleet monitored the increasingly chaotic situation unfolding within the Romulan Star Empire during the evacuation effort Starfleet was spearheading. The ship often escorted refugee transports, rotating between that duty and general defense and minor exploratory roles along the border, as Starfleet Science was eager to use the occasion to investigate several curiosities within the Neutral Zone that had been long outside of its reach.

Following the destruction of Utopia Planitia, the Midway withdrew behind the border, no longer escorting Romulans into Federation space but instead ensuring that it remained closed. This effort increased three years later when Romulus was finally destroyed in the hypernova, and the Midway was embroiled in several border skirmishes with rogue elements of the fractured Romulan military. Camarero was promoted to Lieutenant Commander in 2390, serving four more years aboard the ship.

USS Warspite (2394-2399)

Given how little time the Midway spent on actual exploratory tasks, Camarero found herself somewhat bored as Chief Science Officer, so she began taking additional training opportunities to make her competitive for promotion to Commander and an executive officer position somewhere in the fleet. In 2394, her efforts to move into command were successful and she accepted the role of Executive Officer aboard a brand new Inquiry-class ship, the Warspite. The Warspite was assigned on the other side of the Federation, patrolling the Former Demilitarized Zone, with a largely humanitarian mission profile.

Aboard her new ship, Camarero was frequently tasked with leading away missions to both historically Federation colonies and Cardassian colonies that had fallen under Federation influence following the Dominion War, with tasks ranging from fixing water filtration plants to negotiating trade routes and organizing cultural exchanges. Camarero was considered highly effective in this role, applying her scientific attention to detail to understanding nuanced issues and helping parties come to a consensus.

USS Susan B. Anthony (2399-Present)

After five years aboard the Warspite, Camarero was selected personally by Rear Admiral Aubrey Seagraves for promotion to Captain, as well as command of her flagship, the Susan B. Anthony. This Sovereign-class explorer was one of many of these venerable vessels which were now succeeding the long-serving Excelsior-class cruiser as the preferred transport for flag officers within Federation space. Camarero served as Seagraves’s flag captain for the duration of the Archanis Campaign as well as a fleet-wide emergency response effort in 2399, conducting general exploratory and utility duties independent of the admiral when the ship wasn’t needed to transport her. By 2400, the Anthony more often hosted Admiral Liam Dahlgren, the fleet’s Deputy Commander, and Camarero participated in the Echoes of the Tkon and Blood Dilithium Campaigns.