Star Trek: Dauntless

Star Trek: Dauntless is the overall title to a series of science-fiction short stories written by members of the fan club chapter USS Dauntless which take place aboard the Federation starship USS Dauntless (Intrepid-class NCC-74658, Sovereign-class NCC-75310) in the fictional Star Trek universe created by Gene Roddenberry. The stories were first written between 1996 and 2000 (corresponding to Earth Years 2372 and 2375 or Stardates 49200 and 53938 in the Star Trek universe, during and following the events depicted in the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager) and resumed in 2003 (Earth Year 2380 or Stardate 57001, a year after the events portrayed in the motion picture Star Trek Nemesis) to the present and which depict the adventures of the crew of the USS Dauntless. Some of the stories feature appearances by famous characters from Star Trek, including the crews of space station Deep Space Nine, the USS Enterprise-E and USS Voyager. The stories are first published in the monthly club newsletter, Subspace Chatter, before they are posted on the club web site story archive several months later.

Each year’s worth of stories is considered a ‘season,’ similar to a season of a television series, with each season consisting of an average of ten stories. Not all the stories specifically concern the starship Dauntless directly, as some of the stories concentrate on one specific character, usually at a point in that character’s ‘life’ before they joined the Dauntless crew (often titled Star Trek: Personal Logs) or on other starships those characters have served aboard (often titled Star Trek: Arcturus for adventures based upon either the USS Arcturus NCC-1807 or NCC-1807-A or Star Trek: Sarek for adventures taking place aboard the USS Sarek NCC-72075). Star Trek: Dauntless is currently in its ninth year of stories or ‘Ninth Season.’

Major Characters (Past and Present)


 * Captain Peter J. Koester – Originally placed in charge of the small Federation Preliminary Survey Vessel USS Hudson NCC-72075/01, which was nearly destroyed in an attack by the Jem’Hadar, Peter Koester became Commanding Officer of first the Intrepid-class starship USS Dauntless NCC-74658 and later (at the rank of Fleet Captain and soon afterward Commodore) the first CO of the Sovereign-class starship USS Dauntless NCC-75310. Returned to the command of the Dauntless at the rank of Captain once again in 2380 after resigning from Starfleet for almost two years.


 * Captain Virgil Dylan Kane – Transferring to the Dauntless-74658 with Captain Koester after the near-disastrous end of the USS Hudson, Kane was First Officer of two of the starships named USS Dauntless (both 74658 and 75310). A human whose parents had been killed during the Cardassian border wars, he resigned from Starfleet to join the Bajoran Resistance and considers himself ‘Bajoran by Choice.’  Kane was appointed as science officer and second in command aboard the USS Hudson under Captain Koester at the rank of Lt Commander following Cardassia’s withdrawal from Bajor and Kane’s subsequent return to Starfleet and promoted to First Officer and Chief Science Officer when transferred to the new Intrepid-class starship.  Eventually rose to the rank of Captain in 2376 and command of the USS Dauntless-75310 in 2377.


 * Commander Jeffery Bloom – Chief Engineer of the Intrepid-class Dauntless and later Chief Science Officer of the Sovereign-class Dauntless, Bloom was a full-blooded Vulcan orphaned shortly after birth and adopted and raised by humans. As a result of his upbringing, he experienced and displayed normal human emotions.  Bloom was also among the crew of the USS Hudson when it was nearly destroyed in the Gamma Quadrant.


 * Dr Sir Azriel Dourden – Chief Medical Officer and fourth of the five original members of the USS Hudson crew transferred to the commissioning crew of the USS Dauntless NCC-74658. A native of the colony world of Avalon, Dourden spoke with a medieval Earth accent and detested the sickbay EMH program, which he referred to as a ‘soul-less demon,’ in spite of the fact he alone was responsible for downloading the program and rescuing it from destruction when the Dauntless was lost in 2374.  Dr Dourden, whom the majority of the crew simply referred to as ‘Doc’ only because it annoyed him, transferred to Station Diego Garcia after the loss of the Dauntless-74658.


 * Commander Lotus Q – Assistant Chief Science Officer and Head of Stellar Cartography aboard the Dauntless-74658, assigned as Chief Medical Officer aboard the Dauntless-75310. While appearing to be a joined-Trill female, Q was actually a member of the powerful Q Continuum, a fact known only to Captain Koester, with an actual Trill symbiont implanted within her.  Commander Q appeared to have been killed during the final battle of the Dominion War, but in actuality she was recalled back to the Continuum and used the battle as a convenient was of leaving the Dauntless without too many questions being asked.


 * Captain Kethry Sutherland – Ship’s Counselor and later Chief Medical Officer upon the loss of Commander Q, Sutherland was first created as a character for the Star Trek: Sarek stories in 1994 and transferred to the Dauntless-74658 when the new ship was launched in 1996. Like Troi on TNG, Sutherland was a half-Betazoid woman with empathic abilities.  Sutherland returned to the Sarek in 2377, promoted to the rank of Captain and appointed as First Officer of the refitted starship by Fleet Captain Kalin Kale.


 * Lt Commander Carrie Kloberdanz/Commander K’danz – Security Officer aboard the Dauntless-74658, promoted to Chief of Security upon the launch of the Dauntless-75310. Like Sutherland, Kloberdanz (as the character was originally named) was created for the Star Trek: Sarek stories, first appearing in 1995.  A human woman, Kloberdanz changed her name to K’danz upon becoming engaged to and marrying the half-Klingon engineer Dar.  K’danz was chosen as First Officer by Captain Koester upon his return to the Dauntless-75310 in 2380.


 * Master Chief Petty Officer Pono R. Kyman – An El-Aurian who spent many decades on Earth during the 19th and 20th centuries (where he first unknowingly encountered members of the Dauntless crew in 1996), he survived the destruction of his home world by the Borg when he was trapped within the Nexus energy ribbon in the 22nd century. Inadvertently rescued by the Enterprise-B in the late 23rd century, he later joined Starfleet as an enlisted man, eventually being assigned as the senior enlisted crewman aboard the Dauntless-74658 in 2372, becoming advisor and father-figure to the starship’s commanding officer, a position he continued aboard the Dauntless-75310 until 2377.  He retired from Starfleet shortly after Commodore Koester transferred off the Dauntless, settling among the Ba'ku in the Brier Patch, living a simple life until 2383 when he received word his former command was in need of a new Command Master Chief.  Leaving the simplicity of the Ba'ku behind, he returned to Starfleet and his position of Chief of the Boat aboard the USS Dauntless NCC-75310 in 2383, once again under the command of Captain Peter J. Koester.


 * Major Sean Elliott McIntyre – A Starfleet Officer who went missing in the year 2302 and found alive amidst the wreckage of an alien starship in the Gamma Quadrant in 2370, virtually the same age as when he disappeared. McIntyre accepted a Starfleet Marine Corps commission after attending the Academy for retraining and assumed command of SFMC Special Contingent 41, a small force of troops assigned aboard the Dauntless-74658 during the Dominion War.  Promoted to Chief of Security aboard the Dauntless-75310 when the departments were re-organized in 2377 and Security fell under the authority of the Marine Corps Special Contingent.


 * Commander Kevin Fry – Chief Helmsman assigned to the USS Dauntless NCC-75310 in 2374. Promoted to Second Officer of the starship upon the return of Captain Koester in 2380.  Fry was promoted to the position of First Officer aboard the USS LaSalle in early 2383.


 * Commander Alasdair Myrddin Wallace – Scottish Chief Science Officer aboard the Dauntless-75310, he was originally assigned as a member of the crew of the Dauntless-74658 in 2374. He was promoted to full Commander and ship's Second Officer while the starship was in drydock during the first half of 2383.  An avid historian proud of his Scottish roots, he spends much of his free time on the holodeck, recreating battles of the past.


 * Lt Commander Phillip Winters – Chief of Operations aboard the Dauntless-75310 and friend and past crewmate of the commanding officer, Winters is often regarded as a mysterious figure who is never seen without his tan satchel hanging from his shoulder, even while on bridge watch. For reasons known only to himself, Winters has repeatedly declined promotion since becoming Chief of Operations in 2375.


 * Lt Commander Dar – Half-Klingon engineer assigned to the Dauntless-74658, where he met his future wife, Carrie Kloberdanz. The two were married aboard the Dauntless-75310 in 2375.  Returned to the Dauntless as Chief Engineer at the same time his wife became First Officer in 2380 when Captain Koester managed to call in a few old favors.


 * Rear Admiral Penji Fil – Assigned to the Dauntless as Federation Ambassador-at-Large in 2382, the Catullan character was originally created as a member of the crew of the USS Arcturus NCC-1807 and 1807-A in the late 1980's, eventually moving on to both the USS Sarek NCC-72075 in 2370 and the USS Besiege NCC-74326 in 2372 before becoming trapped for four years on a planet with a pre-warp society he had originally been sent to observe.