Stephen April

For the mirror universe counterpart, see Stephen April (mirror).

Stephen Boone April was a 24th/25th century Starfleet officer. Among several assignments in a diverse and illustrious career, he was perhaps best known as the commanding officer of the starship UFS Arcadia. (Star Trek: Arcadia)

Origins

Descended from Robert April, captain of the first USS Enterprise, Stephen April was born 2335 in Earth's New England community of Wormwood. Traveling extensively during his youth instilled in April a love for exploration; from an early age, he wanted to join Starfleet, inspired by stories of ancestors who had been career officers. Despite exceptional intelligence, April was also a loner and spent much of his time growing up personally isolated. His younger brother, Kevin, was lost and presumed dead in 2352 (although he later resurfaced). That same year, April joined Starfleet Academy.

Academy

Several incidents plagued April at the Academy, including a second-year (2353) flight training accident that took the life of a fellow cadet. He avoided expulsion and nearly resigning thanks to Admiral T'Urla, a Vulcan woman who had a significant impact on his life; however, he was forced to repeat his entire second year. That same year, while awaiting his first deep-space assignment, he saved a Rigellian ambassador from an assassination attempt, earning the first in a series of merit decorations throughout his career. During his time as an Academy trainee, romantic and sexual involvement with several female cadets--including one Lacy Lomupo, who almost bore a child by him--gained April a "Casanova" reputation, a stigma which embarrassed him in later years. Although an intelligent student with keen insights, he graduated with only average marks.

Starfleet career

In 2362, while serving on the USS Michigan, April was briefly involved with Ilona, the daughter of a Khalindarian dignitary. Unknown to him at the time, Ilona mothered a daughter by him, Neria April, whom he met in 2379. April served on a handful of ships, mainly in the Operational and Flight Control divisions, taking time out to attend Command School before becoming first officer of the USS Freedom. In 2370, the captain's death during an alert condition forced April to take charge, after which he was awarded captaincy. In 2373, he received command of the USS Questor, a ship testing an experimental "wormhole drive". Although the project was deemed a failure, the Questor served as a standard Starfleet vessel until its destruction in 2375 during the final days of the Dominion War.

April's career turned to politics after the war, landing him an assignment as Admiral T'Urla's attaché, serving in the Starfleet Diplomatic Corps as a liaison to the Federation Council and advisor to the Federation President. April learned much in the art of interstellar diplomacy and politics but longed to resume starship command. In 2378, he got his wish as commanding officer of another Starfleet experiment, the UFS Arcadia. April participated in several historical events as captain of the Arcadia, including forging peace with the Borg.

In 2382, an incident involving Romulans and an alien species called "the Usurpers" paralyzed April from the neck down, prompting his early retirement from Starfleet. April "found God" for a time, joining a religious revival movement on Earth, but grew disillusioned and in 2385, underwent restorative surgery and utilized a reactivation clause in his Starfleet contract, regaining his old job.

The death of April's daughter later that year impacted April deeply, forever altering his personality. In 2386, he accepted a promotion to admiral when he was placed in charge of Starfleet's slipstream exploration program. April married and tried to settle down while working at Starfleet Command. Unable to resist the "call of the stars", however, he returned to space once again and resumed command of Arcadia, using the vessel as his personal flagship.

Later in 2386, a temporal anomaly concerning subatoms (and possibly the Shapers) caused nanomods to mutate April's body, affecting his mind and judgment, making him hallucinate. During the Arcadia's mission to Memiklon, he departed the ship, disappearing into a temporal phenomenon known as "The Loop". It was later believed that this constituted a physical end to his life.

Unknown to those he left behind, this was indeed the case. April's soul was thereafter trapped in the "Soul Bank" at the end of time. For more details and April history after 2386, see Arcapedia 

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Education and service record

• 2339 - 2349 Orchard Ridge Education Center
• 2349 - 2352 Lily Sloane High School

Starfleet

• 2352 - 2357 Starfleet Academy
• 2357 - 2360 USS Constitution - Operations and Tactical Officer
• 2360 - 2366 USS Michigan - Conn, Second Officer
• 2366 - 2373 USS Freedom - First Officer (2366-2370), CO (2370-2373)
• 2373 - 2375 USS Questor - Captain, Commanding Officer
• 2375 - 2378 Attaché to office of Admiral T'Urla, Starfleet Command
• 2376 - 2378 Starfleet Diplomatic Corps
• 2378 - 2382 UFS Arcadia - Captain, Commanding Officer
• 2382 - 2385 Retired
• 2385 - 2386 UFS Arcadia - Captain (reinstated)
• 2386 - 2386 Admiral, Starfleet Command / Sr. CO - UFS Arcadia

Background

• April's middle name, "Boone", was his mother's surname. The name was inspired by that in a list of potential names for Gene Roddenberry's captain-character in TOS pre-production notes, as detailed in The Making of Star Trek.
• On Star Trek: Arcadia, images of real-life actors are used to simulate characters. In this sense, Stephen April is "played" by actor Mel Gibson.

Not to be confused with Russell Twining, who bears an uncanny resemblance.

External link

• Stephen April at Arcapedia 
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