Copyright Mistress V 2006. Paramount owns Star Trek's trademark and its original characters and I do not intend any infringement therein. All new characters and any characterizations of existing characters created by me belong to me, as well as the universe in which they live. This piece is rated G and is meant to be a guide for those who may not have read my earlier works. Many of these original characters appeared before in prior stories but a few are brand new.

Character and Universe Guide:

Winterludes and Mistress V's Fiction

My universe takes place just after ST TMP. The rest of the films didn't happen. Spock returned to the E from Gol and decided he'd pursue Christine if he ever got the chance again. After the mess with V'Ger, she came back as ACMO, and the ship's on another 5 year mission with the usual characters. Thanks to Jacqueline B(Jackie)'s brownies, Spock and Christine re-connected, fell in love, got engaged and married. They took an extended honeymoon on Terra, then returned to active duty. They've been seconded here at the request of the sports camp's director, and with the full blessing of the Federation and Starfleet.

Spock has re-established his relationship with his father; the marriage has the approval of his parents. He snowboards on occasion and played hockey at the Academy, having served as a referee as well (Vulcan referees are highly sought after in the Intergalactic league). He and Christine are very sports minded and like to participate in many activities (NO, I meant sporting activities! <g>). He now has a subtle sense of humor and has learned to accept both halves of what makes him who he is. When he's alone with Christine or off the ship in certain appropriate situations (i.e. honeymoon or traveling) he lets an entire range of emotion show, and even on board, his demeanor is just a fraction more relaxed, though he is still the Vulcan first officer the crew knows, banters with McCoy and all.

Christine in her youth was a competitive ice skater but she grew too tall ... no matter what, you can't argue with physics (something about the center of gravity, as with gymnasts and divers too). She still skates, though, for fun and is quite passionate about this. Her husband enjoys watching her skate. Occasionally they skate together, on ice or on rollerblades. If you're watching a sporting competition with her, be warned...she's very opinionated and vocal.

Christine has been asked to work as a doctor during the sports camp as she has EMT training from her days at the Starfleet Med School and is also familiar with snowboard injuries, since half the Enterprise, it seems, has hurt themselves on the halfpipe holodeck program. Spock, besides some unusual sportscamp duties, is there to test a new lightweight snowboard designed for use by Starfleet personnel which enables easy traversal of icy and snowy worlds, and there will eventually be a land version for sandy terrain as well. The second week of the camp, a training vid will be shot for distribution to fleet personnel and for the academy. Besides, the Klingon Defense Corps has supposedly started doing the same thing (ho hum) so ... it was only logical... The sports camp is a big thing in the Federation's eyes publicity wise, and after what nearly happened on the Xir Tan, Vulcan also wants it to be a success.

The Organian Treaty is still in force, however shakily. This means that, while no formal hostilities have been declared, it is not quite the universe of TNG or DS9. As in our own history, travel for merchants, diplomats and others can be arranged and occurs on a quasi regular basis. The Ferengi are already part of my universe, as entrepreneurs (well, someone's gotta do that, right?) and help facilitate this. They also run gambling cruisers, like the luxury casino ships that anchored off Southern California years ago.

Vulcan itself was under many years of isolated mourning after the loss of the Intrepid and is now having a cultural renaissance of sorts. Traditional arts are being rediscovered by the younger generation, but that generation is just as curious about offworld cultures too. The concept of working together with the various members of the Federation is the current philosophy; Vulcans now serve in Starfleet and their artists, sportspeople and merchants regularly spend time on other worlds. Vulcan citizens travel offworld for vacation much more readily now. Perhaps due to this subtle paradigm shift, a conservative isolationist (almost xenophobic) movement has begun to take root (because there will always be differences of opinion). In downtown ShiKahr, there's a large new diplomatic zone where offworld businesses flourish for the planet's many guest workers and visitors.

The Olympics as we know them have been replaced by the InterGalactic Winter and Summer Sportsfests, held every four years as they are now. Anyone with a legitimate national sporting association may participate, much as today, no matter what the politics. It's not a Federation only event. The most recent winter games took place at a planet aptly called Polaris; the next will be on Terra in Lake Tahoe.

The Klingon hockey team (culled from the Defense Corps) won the gold medal at Polaris. They're modeled after the old Red Army team from the former USSR, a formidable team indeed. Hockey came to the Klingon homeworld quite accidentally, with hugely successful results.

Stark is the current snowboard halfpipe gold medalist, the first ever gold medalist in any winter sport for Vulcan. He's the son of a Deltan ambassador, Da'av, and a Vulcan mother, T'Joan, who met while she worked at the San Francisco Vulcan embassy, and they all live in Lake Tahoe. He's Vulcan on the outside in looks but has a Deltan makeup inside. He walks both sides of the street culturally and is proud of both halves of his whole. He's doing an online business course out of UC Berkeley as he knows he will have a great deal of things to manage and wants to do this correctly. Stark used some of his licensing profits to build an indoor winter sports facility in ShiKahr (much as one has been built in the Emirates for snow skiing recently).This was inaugurated the previous summer, and now will host this very first sports camp, for 60 potentially talented youngsters who might not otherwise have the chance to really partake of these activities. ALL children are welcome and scholarships are generous. It was all Stark's idea and has the blessing of the Vulcan High Council. Stark has a German Shepard named Sierra and his favorite word is "Cosmic!". He shows emotion, though acts entirely appropriately when the need arises. His hair is longer than most and streaked blonde and red (for now). And he markets vidgames, Winter Heat active wear, and, of course, a line of snowboards and landboards. The stores can't keep the merchandise on the shelves. But take all the razzmatazz away and he's just an ordinary athlete and a nice person, if a tad unconventional at times. He's inspired youth all over the quadrant (and way beyond) to take up boardsports. If there's no snow, they're playing Stark on sand, earth or whatever else there is.

T'Lara is a Vulcan ice sailor; she placed third at Polaris in her first major competition. Stark met her there and pursued, at first to no avail, but eventually won the lady's heart. She and Stark are to be bonded on Vulcan, and joined on Stark's homeworld, when they graduate from the Terran Universities they attend in California a year and a half from now. T'Lara's family are vintners; she studies viticulture at U.C. Davis. She and Stark secretly eloped this past summer and married in a Terran civil ceremony but it's not really officially known. T'Lara is all Vulcan in demeanor and action except when she's alone with her husband, but don't get near her if she's got access to a snowball, her aim is deadly. That's how she announced to Stark she really was interested in him, after all.

Sean Pomodoro is the Polaris halfpipe silver medalist and Stark's best friend. He has wild bright orange hair (rather like the "flying tomato" US snowboarder from Torino). Jennifer is his fiancee and they're both from Mojave City, California, a desert town, actually (which really doesn't exist as such a big place right now, but Captain Pike claimed to have been from there and we saw it in "The Cage", so why not?). Sean sandboarded long before he ever got to snow.

Skrav and T'Glad are Sarek and Amanda's next door neighbors. Skrav works for Internal Security Services. They are modeled after the famous couple from "Bewitched" and T'Glad is as true to her namesake as is Vulcanly possible but underneath, she's really all right. Sarek and Skrav often have meaningful conversations while helping each other with the various DIY projects they engage in now and then.

General Stoick is the head of Vulcan Internal Security, a Sean Connery looking type of character, distinguished and slightly older. He is courting the T'sai T'Ser, who is the new minister of sport and culture, but trained as a hassu katra, a soul healer, in her youth. She suffered a terrible loss on the *Intrepid* and has just returned to Vulcan after many years working offworld at the New York Vulcan embassy.

Admiral Tom Jackson is an older version of James Kirk, married to Starfleet, but a very nice and interesting gentleman. He does NOT "kirk around" though. <g>

T'Jen and her husband, S'Rob, run the hotel Tav'Sal'Naya, ShiKahr's finest. T'Jen is T'Ser's niece. S'Rob is quite a chef when he's not in seventeen places at once managing the hotel. T'Jen also helps plan bonding ceremonies for those who ask. (yes, a Vulcan J-Lo...kind of). She's (shhhhh) a killer at poker.

T'Mara is the daughter of Stonn and T'Pring, who reside in Go'An, where Stonn is a solar energy engineer and T'Pring is the local librarian. She is a very talented young ballerina, known as a "turner" in that she can pirouette easily with no dizziness. She's been sent to the camp to see if her future is in ballet, or on the ice. T'Mara suffered terribly at school because of what happened to her parents, but the family is trying to put it behind them and move on. She is enraptured with "Swan Lake" in all ways, shapes and forms. Her favorite holobook is "Madeline", still going strong in the 23rd century; she dreams of studying in Paris.

Somm and T'Annu are a husband and wife filmmaking duo who recently won an InterGalactic Cinema Award (an Iggy) for the soundtrack they composed to their documentary, "Songs of a Vulcan Spring". They will film the training vid as well as produce a documentary about the sports camp. They have a daughter, T'Ann, and spend half the year on Terra at various projects, as their work is in high demand.

Kala is the daughter of a Klingon merchant father and a Federation protectorate official mother. Until recently she ran the spa on board the Enterprise (as an independent contractor, as in TNG) but has now headed to New York, where her parents reside, to seek her fortune. She was raised on Celeba Colony, a place where no overall jurisdiction is truly in force, and all races live reasonably peacefully. Her parents just opened a nightclub at the New York spaceport called the Klub Klin. Kala is eager to learn about the Klingon side of her background, but she's all Terran in her attitude. She is also a talented seamstress and designer. And she's one of Christine's closest friends, along with Nyota Uhura. The three of them have had many adventures together.

Lt. Greg "Tex" Dillon is assigned to engineering. He is originally from Rockport, Texas, where his family is in the fishing business. Tex loves to play hockey for the Enterprise holodeck team as a wing. Originally, he was attracted to Christine, but backed down as a true Texas gentleman when he saw Spock was there first. Instead, he has fallen in love with Kala, though right now their relationship is decidedly long distance. He and Spock are friendly, as their partners are friends, and occasionally jam together at music sessions on board the ship. Tex is a good dabo player. When he's not busy pursuing Kala or mourning her absence, he may be often found in the company of the "tres caballeros of trouble", Lt. Riley, Lt. Sulu and Lt. Kyle.

Nyota Uhura and Ade/Geoff M'Benga are romantically involved, thanks to Nyota's constant presence in sickbay to dissect the relationship her friend Christine was having with the First Officer. What could M'Benga do? He was a goner long before Uhura even noticed the fact he was right under her nose. Nothing serious, but they do like each other a whole lot.

Ensign Pauulu works with Spock in Experimental Horticulture on board ship and is in charge of helping maintain the extensive arboretum there. Originally from Tahiti, he also plays hockey on the ship's squad and has taken to snowboarding as well.

Worf is the grandfather of TNG's Worf, but lord knows how THAT Worf will make it to Starfleet given my version of his family ;-). He is joined to K'a'tya, the niece to a Klingon high council member's assistant. Both of them are agriscientists. They have two children, Mogh, who's about 10, and a newborn daughter, Katora. Worf met Spock when he was being transported aboard the Enterprise from Ceres, an Organian colony, where he was studying argiscience, to a starbase. They became friends, impossibly, because Spock's father, Sarek, taught him long ago that if ordinary citizens were diplomats, things would proceed much more smoothly. Both are avid snowboarders, thanks to a holodeck program on the Enterprise they tried together to see if the bugs were worked out -- and they got hooked. Worf and his son practice sandboarding on the Klingon homeworld. Mogh, K'a'tya and Worf attended Spock and Christine's wedding on Vulcan (thanks to Sarek) and have become friends with Stark as well. Mogh loves pizza (which is quite unavailable on the homeworld, but his father, who has traveled, introduced him to this dish, as well as others) and makes his own special variety, using a local herb called the klin-ta, to flavor the sauce. The family is not your typical Klingons, in particular K'a'tya, who is quite interested in things ... offworld. Stark knows the family well and hopes Mogh will become an ambassador of goodwill for sport.

Ambassador Kl'o'rox and his wife, Lady Kl'o'rox, head a "for show" embassy on Vulcan, much as many countries do, or have done, on earth. He's an old friend of Sarek's, and both know the diplomatic game is necessary for its unique rewards.

Loki is the son of the Ambassador's widowed niece, whose husband died well, in battle.

Silok, son of Seron, met Mogh at the ShiKahr zoo when the family was visiting Vulcan for the wedding of Spock and Christine. He is a flitter designer wannabee, and sandboards.

K'e'flex, Selak and Ajax, a Klingon, Vulcan and Bollian respectively, are diplomatic drones on Vulcan who dream of brighter postings on Terra or elsewhere. All partake of weekly diplomatic staff poker games (similar to that in TNG) with much gusto. Alas, they are seldom big winners, but much discussion floats around the table. They're all friends despite the cultural differences, as often happens in the diplomatic business.

Kaz WAS a British bartender at Stark's facility, but has since moved on to start her own bar in deep space somewhere at a spaceport. Lt. Kevin Riley, who met her on his last visit to Vulcan, bemoans her absence. Kaz, however, was not that enamored of our Kevin. In fact...she was not at all impressed ;-)

Selek and T'Lea are the current intergalactic champions in Ice Dancing, though they placed second at the Polaris Games due to a judging scandal, or so it is claimed. Figure skating has its yearly equivalent of the world championships, in addition to the quadrennial equivalent of the Olympics. The couple is out to win that crown, the only one eluding them at present. They're very talented, though a tad unconventional, in the mode of the Duchesanays (sp?) from the late 20th century. They train in Canada (where they met when their parents were posted to the Ottawa consulate years ago) most of the year but now with the new facility opening, they will spend more time on their homeworld. They hope more Vulcan skaters will emerge and are eager to help train the new generation.

Kanou is the first female figure skater ever from Qo'noS. Her grandfather Kluth is the coach of the current hockey champions, her father died bravely in battle. With Kluth's tutelage and the help of many training vids sent to him by an old spacer friend, Valeri Aleksandrovich Daragan, Kanou learned the basics of figure skating at an early age and has excelled at it despite the fact she's the only one in her sport on the entire homeworld. Kanou has tremendous talent that simply needs to be refined. She's what's called a spinner, in that she can spin and jump without losing her balance or getting dizzy. About 8 1/2 years old, she's roommates at the sports camp with T'Mara, and it's working out just fine. Kanou's older brother Kando, a cadet in the Defense Corps, plays reserve forward on the championship team. I modeled Kanou a bit after the little Turkish skater many folks fell in love with at Torino, named Tugba.

Jimmy Sanchez is from Christine's home town region, Pismo Beach, CA. He's a snowboarder but loves to fly kites in his spare time.

Benny Childress is the eldest son of Evie and Ben Childress, who stayed together after Mudd's Women. Ben now is the chief mining manager at a remote outpost colony called Fuega. Benny sandboarded on Fuega's red earth and dreamed of snow. After a family vacation to a winter resort planet, he applied to the camp and was awarded a scholarship. Evie got a degree via interspace and is now the colony's teacher. She and Ben made a life together and it's working out well. Christine visited the colony for medical checkups back when she and Spock just got engaged and the women kept in touch since. No one knows what has become of Harry Mudd, though the conversation always manages to turn to the rapscallion any time they're speaking.

Elias, the Dauphin of Troyius, known by his self-invented pseudonym Ellat, is the son of, you guessed it, her glory Elaan. Elaan was widowed a few years back and the daughter of her husband's first marriage rules until Elias can ascend the throne. Elias likes hockey and is very tall and lithe with great goalie ability. He applied to the camp, under his assumed name, like any other applicant and Stark had no idea who he was until he'd been accepted. Thanks to Sarek, his highness will be attending and participating the same as all the others will be. Despite the usual royal entourage (who are quartered next door), he shares a room with Jimmy Sanchez, although Spock has been given the task of keeping a special watch on this one (as his eyebrow raises). Elias is not at all like his mother in demeanor. He's shy, studious and almost nerdy in his appearance, wearing glasses he doesn't need because he thinks it gives him that scientific image (he's obviously watched too many old Terran holos, most notably "Independence Day"). His favorite school topic is physics and he studies it ravenously when he has spare time, but he also secretly wants to be Dauphin Elias, Action Prince (rather like Prince Albert of Monaco). He's dying to do a prince and the pauper kind of runner as he hates the entourage that follows him everywhere. Hmm. Is this "Coming to Vulcan" <g> for youngsters, that is?

Ok. That's the cast of characters and the stage on which they'll be playing. Enjoy. If you haven't figured out by now that I do not stick 100% to canon, well, I don't. But I do refer to lots of it here and there.

Dreaming winter dreams (in the L.A. heat!), V