Darren Vol

Species: Human
Age: 30  Symbiont: 325
Height: 6′ 0″
Weight: 175 lbs
Hair: Blonde
Eyes: Blue

Darren Damian Peters was born in 2359 on Rigel VII or Aulia. His mother and father were part of a diplomatic entourage, present to usher in a smooth transition for the planetary system as a Federation member. Not all were in favor of their home-world into a militarized affiliation, most notably, the Kalar. The Kalar were a warrior class and their opposition to joining the Federation went back to at least 2254 when the Constitution-class Enterprise first visited this world.

Never the less, the Peters family was there for the duration. Once an armistice between the Kalar and the Federation was signed, Darren’s father and mother decided to relocate the family there permanently and dwell in the Federation city of New Comstock. Life for Darren was relatively care free and enjoyable until 2373 when a surprise attack by the Kalar overwhelmed everyone from the Federation Council down to Starfleet Command. Darren’s parents were killed in the attack and the 14 year old went to stay with his paternal uncle, Byron Danforth on Deneb Kaitos II.

Darren and Byron did not like each other. Not one bit. His father’s brother was cruel to the boy at every chance available. Danforth had long held a grudge against his brother for marrying Stephanie, whom he had secretly been in love with. He had used the occasion of their deaths to spirit their child to him and began to punish him for being born. Darren could do nothing legally, but two years later upon reaching the age of sixteen, Darren hopped a transport to Earth and joined Starfleet.

Upon becoming a Cadet in 2375, Darren at once began to excel in the normal environment of the Academy. He was finally getting his life on track, healing his body and mind of the previous two years of beatings and disdain. Impressed by the boy’s academic prowess, the commandant secured the boy a slot in Starfleet’s  Tactical War College upon his graduation from the Academy in 2379.

The War College taught Darren that he was good at something. Tactical and critical thinking combined with ingenuity graduated him at the top of his class and he was assigned to a training cruise as his final assignment. Things did not go as expected. Aboard the SS Palomino were Darren and four other cadets when the baffle plates ruptured on the old CY class freighter. The ship crashed on a planetoid three light years off course. The only survivors were Darren and a Trill by the name of Torlan Vol. Vol had been severely injured and was bleeding profusely. Darren did not expect him to survive.

***THE FOLLOWING IS CLASSIFIED***

The planetoid, later identified as AG-6744, was inhabited. The Douwd known as Kevin Uxbridge had relocated to AG-6744 following his 2366 encounter with the Enterprise-D. Uxbridge located the crash survivors and demanded to know why Darren and the Trill were on his planetoid. Upon explaining their presence, Uxbridge took them to his his home and treated them as guests, but told Darren up front that he could not save the Trill who was close to death.

Darren argued that there must be a way and Uxbridge admitted there was something he could do, but it would be of great cost. Darren agreed and Uxbridge used his vast array of powers to implant the Vol symbiont into Darren Peters, forever altering his life. The Douwd altered Darren’s DNA to more closely resemble that of a Trill and allowed the symbiont to permanently reside and bond with Darren.  Almost at once, he adopted the surname of the Vol symbiont. It took Starfleet ten days to find Darren, recover the wreckage of the Palomino and note the rediscovery of Kevin Uxbridge.

For the next two years, Darren Vol was sequestered at Starfleet’s Medical Headquarters on Earth. Tested, poked and prodded, Darren put up with it all. Resigned to spending the following ten years of his life being a lab rat…until the Trill Government intervened. As Darren now carried one of their citizens, the Trill demanded the immediate release of Vol and his Human host. Rather than start an interstellar incident, Starfleet complied and upon Vol’s requested, reinstated him to active duty.

***

In 2383, Vol was promoted to junior lieutenant and assigned to the USS Intrepid as an Operations officer. Vol began at a run aboard the Intrepid. Drawing on three centuries of accumulated knowledge from his symbiont, he was insightful and knowledgeable about the workings of a starship.  More than most, actually. His commanding officer was impressed and Vol received several commendations for his time aboard the Intrepid.

2385 saw his assignment to the USS Yorktown as Operations officer. Two years of intense duty along the Romulan Neutral Zone culminated with a disaster. In 2387, the Hobus star inside the Neutral Zone exploded and destroyed the Romulan system. The Yorktown assisted Romulan refugees by transporting survivors off of damaged ships and ferrying them to safety. Vol received the Starfleet Meritorious Service Medal for his work that day.

Vol was reassigned to the USS Ticonderoga after his tour of duty aboard the Yorktown in 2387, where he continued to serve with distinction for two years. The Ticonderoga was tapped to ferry Federation Councilor T’Los to Earth where she introduced the Federation Council’s investigation results regarding the Vulcan Science Academy’s research of red matter and the Hobus supernova were released.

T’Los gave a speech afterwards, expressing regret if the Federation was harmed and promising that there was to be no further red matter research without the council’s permission. To the Romulans, she said, “We grieve with thee.” The councilor also chose to resign from the Federation Council as she felt inadequate to continue the job.

In 2389, Darren Vol was offered the position of Executive Officer aboard the USS Palatine.

***Classified Starfleet Addendum: Uxbridge, Kevin – Encounter, 2381.

Service Member is the only known Human host for Trill Symbiont. This makes him a valuable asset to Starfleet as the symbiont inside him brings over three centuries of experience with it.
***