Christine Barnes

She was schooled at home by her mother, for most of her grade school years. A younger brother followed in 2367, and a sister in 2369. Her free time after ‘school’ was spent learning the trade from her father, with whom she has a close relationship. Throughout her childhood and teen years, she traveled throughout France and later the world with her family, promoting the ‘Descharmes Vintage’ wines. She went to public high school when she was fifteen, and as her first language was French, with only a little bit of English, still retains a bit of an accent when she speaks Federation standard. She has since strived to learn other languages and cultures. She graduated high-school with average marks when she was 18.

After high-school, she became involved in a relationship with an older Starfleet officer, much to the disapproval of her parents.[He was ten years older] He broke it off a year later and returned, breaking all ties with her and returned to his assignment. Because she was young, Christine was devestated. She went through a period of depression, then decided she was going to join Starfleet too and go after him. She had stubbornly refused to realize that it was over, and kept up the pretense that they were still ‘together’ and that he still loved her. Christine never had a strong relationship with her mother and was really close to her father, and when she told them she wanted to join Starfleet, they refused to let her go. Fights ensued, and after one huge argument, she packed up and left, effectiviely running away from home. She eventually found her way to San Fransisco from France, where she intended to enlist in Starfleet.

After successfully enlisting, she underwent basic training for six months, but after barely passing, her superior officer in a not so kind way, said she would be better off serving Starfleet in another capacity. She was forced to take stock of her options and decided that serving on board a starship in a civilian capacity would be better for her. After hearing stories about one “Ivan Pakarilov” and the USS Andoria, she applied to the ship as a morale officer, though at the time she really didn’t have an idea about what she was supposed to do. At this point she had spoken to any member of her family for seven months and not speaking to her father hurt her, but she was too stubborn and still stinging from her mother’s last words to her: “You will never be welcome back into this house if you leave.”

Her attempt at locating Lieutenant Alex Kenny proved fruitless and she set that on the back burner, finally coming to the conclusion it was never meant to be. She left San Fransisco in a shuttle for the Andoria, determined to start all over again and swearing off men in Starfleet uniforms altogether.

While the Andoria was in orbit of Earth, newly returned from a mission, Christine received news from home that her father passed away due to an accident with one of the distillers at the winery. He was crushed, suffering massive internal injuries, and was found by his son, Eduard. Christine was in shock and took the news hard, as she and her father were close. It was the first time her mother tried to contact her, and she jumped at the chance to be able to speak to her family again. Christine regretted not being on speaking terms with them, as the last words she had spoken to her father were said in anger.

A few months aboard the Andoria serving as a civilian Morale Officer, Christine then transferred to the USS Shanghai after the Andoria was mothballed. She was a bartender, but not long after, the USS Shanghai was destroyed in battle. At the urging of her friend and mentor (the former Chief Counselor) she entered the University of Andoria to pursue a degree in Psychology. Shortly after she began the program, she found herself back in Starfleet at the request of one Admiral Hart and was posted to the USS Shanghai-A.  She finished the four-year program in two, all the while getting first-hand experience onboard the Vesta-class Shanghai-A. Christine served as Chief Counselor of the Vesta-class Shanghai as it spearheaded the Rimward Initiative from 2387-2391. She was reunited with Lieutenant Commander James Barnes upon his return from his deep-cover assignment and they married in 2389, taking leave for a few weeks when their first child was born in 2391. She was made Second Officer on the Shanghai until the ship was destroyed in a conflict with the Sovereignty of Kahless near the end of 2391.

After the destruction of the Vesta-class Shanghai in 2391, Christine returned with her husband to Earth as he was assigned to Intelligence where she took advanced command training courses, finishing her training as a temp XO onboard the USS Coventry in March of 2393. After a separation of nearly a year due to conflicting schedules and perhaps a slight resentment over feeling like she had to give up her career, her second child was born in the winter of 2394. She was on leave from 2394 to 2395 during and after the birth of her second child. From 2395-2397, she worked out of Starfleet Medical in the psychology department before accepting the position as Executive Officer of the USS Shanghai-A in 2397 at the behest of Captain Sun Mei Xiang.