Mary Barranco

Mary Barranco was a Starfleet officer in the late 24th Century. She was the Operations officer of the USS Pendragon from 2379 to 2382. She then served on the Pendragon as First Officer until 2385. (Star Trek: Pendragon)

Early Life

Mary Leigh Barranco was born on 10 March 2340 on Pacifica, the third of six children. Her parents were Salvatore Barranco, a Starfleet Judge Advocate General and Sandra Barranco, a school teacher. She is of Sicillian, Irish and Jewish descent.

When Mary was seven years old, her family visited relatives on Luna. While onboard a lunar shuttle, Mary met a young boy and helped him evade men who were chasing him. They never spoke, but she never forgot the incident, and would remember the boy's face.

Mary and her siblings grew up with a great love for the water. She became a champion swimmer and served as a lifeguard on the beaches of Pacifica's eastern continent. At the age of 15, she competed in the Federation Olympics, taking the silver medal in the high dive, and gold in the 500 meters.

Academy

At the age of 18, Mary entered Starfleet Academy, following in the footsteps of her older brother, Tim. At the Academy, she was assigned to Nebula Squadron, where she recognized her squadmate Timothy Sinclair as the boy she had helped eleven years before, and they became close friends.

Mary graduated with honors in 2362.

Career

Early Career

One of Mary's early assignments was as junior operations officer on Starbase 211 near the Cardassian border.

In 2371, she was serving on the USS Gandhi as a Lieutenant.

Wartime Service

During the Federation Civil War, Mary was a Lieutenant Commander and Chief Operations officer on the USS Endeavour. She participated in the defense of Earth during the Borg incursion of 2373.

Next Assignments

Following the war, Mary took a post with Starfleet R&D.

In 2377, she was assigned to Project Restoration and helped execute the warp-speed towing of Empok Nor to the Bajoran system.

Pendragon

Mary joined the crew of the USS Pendragon as operations officer while the ship was docked for the commissioning ceremony of the new Deep Space 9 in January, 2379. It was the first time she had seen Tim Sinclair since their days at the Academy. (PDN: "Restoration")

Following the the departure of Russ Twining for the USS Avalon in June 2382, Mary was promoted to Commander and assigned as the Pendragon's first officer. (PDN: "Avalon"; "Tabula Rasa")

During the Pendragon's extensive refit in 2385, Mary was promoted to Captain. She turned down command of a Vesta-class starship, instead choosing to oversee Pendragon's overhaul. She was awarded command of the Pendragon upon the ship's relaunch late in the year. (PDN: "Crosses & Crowns"; "Moments of Transition"; "Starkindler")

Under Captain Barranco's command, the Pendragon was instrumental in defending the fledgling Colonial Alliance from a Romulan invasion. (PDN: "Promised Land"; "Above the Wrecks of Time"; "The Hand of God")

Relationships

Romance

At Starfleet Academy, Mary frequently rebuffed other cadets' attempts at a romantic relationship (including those of Benjamin Bartholomew), preferring to devote her time and energy to her immediate goals. She especially railed against her friends' attempts to set her up with dates. Years later, she would look back and realize that a part of her was waiting for Timothy Sinclair to make the first move.

In the "pocket universe" created by Darrum, Mary and Sinclair began courting after they graduated from Starfleet Academy, assigned to the USS Challenger. By 2382, they were married and had two teenage sons, Sean and David.

After graduation (and Sinclair's marriage to Jean Brennan), Mary again found herself with little time for romantic entanglements. It wasn't until her assignment on Starbase 211 that she allowed herself to become involved with someone. That man was Corbin West, a half-Cardassian/half-human privateer. Their relationship ended when he was captured by the Cardassians and believed to have been executed. It was years before Mary allowed herself to become close with anyone else.

On the Gandhi, she was briefly involved with Lieutenant Thomas Riker. That relationship ended when Riker deserted the ship to join the Maquis.

Some months after Ben Bartholomew returned to duty and joined the crew of the Pendragon, he once again reached out to Mary. Unlike her reaction to him at the Academy, she agreed to have dinner with him, and the two began to grow closer. Their relationship progressed until the Pendragon's encounter with the galactic barrier in 2383 and Bartholomew's subsequent withdrawal and growing depression following those events. When a mission in early 2384 required them to go undercover as husband and wife, their relationship remained purely platonic, despite some renewed tension. (PDN: "Not Home Yet"; "Whispers As Loud As Thunder"; "Charade"; "The Utopia Syndrome")

After Captain Sinclair's return from Vega in late 2383, he admitted his feelings for Mary. However, neither was ready to pursue the relationship at that time, and things developed slowly over the next year. (PDN: "Angels With Broken Wings"; "Dragon's Gambit")

While the Pendragon underwent major refit in early 2385, Mary and Tim began to more actively pursue their relationship. Within two months, Sinclair proposed, and Mary accepted. They were married on 12 April 2385 (stardate 62278). (PDN: "Land of My Sojourn"; "The Significance of a Single Day"; "The Captain's Table: Cloud of Witnesses")

Interests & Hobbies

In addition to her love of swimming, Mary was also quite fond of the old Earth game basketball, and competed on teams throughout her adolescence. She would continue to play at the Academy, and tried to teach Tim Sinclair the fundamentals. Sinclair would later recall that "Mary was extremely patient with me, even though I was an uncoordinated and unmitigated klutz." She would continue to play after her assignment to the Pendragon and frequently competed one-on-one with Commander Russell Twining.

Barranco's athletic interests were broad, and also included volleyball, Parises squares, Velocity and other team sports. On the Pendragon, Russ Twining taught her the Bajoran game of springball, which she enjoyed greatly.

Background information

• Star Trek: Pendragon is a fan fiction series written (primarily) by T.L. Morgan. Images of actors are used in photomanipulations to simulate the "cast" of the series. In these photomanipulations, Mary Barranco is "played" by Kelly Rutherford.
• Claudia Christian and Marjorie Monahan were previously considered for the role. Early promotional shots were taken with Christian as Barranco before the part was recast.