Crew Biography For ORyan, Thomas Charles

Full Name:	Thomas Charles ORyan
Current Rank	Commander
Position(s) held	Chief Intelligence Officer
Species	Human
Gender	Male
Age	38
Height	5'8
Weight	160lbs
Appearance	His eyes change color with his mood, ranging from deep blue when sad to steel grey when angered to vibrant green when mischievous. There is also a small acid burn on the inside of his right index finger. In overall appearance, he is on the handsome side (though not stunning in appearance by any means), slender limbs which can exhibit a wiry strength when needed, and a barrel chest. His glance takes in everything around him, his intelligence showing clearly through the intense gaze
Personality	Thomas conceals his sharp intellect behind a carefully assumed air of inanity (one which Spock tried without success to remove). He frequently makes non-sequitor or nonsensical comments to put people at their ease. When under stress, he is also known to cover that by punning outrageously. Either because of his base personality or his experiences, he is a peculiar blend of a Sherlock Holmes, an explorer in the mold of Lewis & Clark, a scientist, and an adventurer. He will sometimes perform an experiment for two reasons: two see what happens, and because it might be fun.
Background	Thomas Charles O'Ryan was born 19 April 2244 on the Deneva colony to Starfleet Commodore Thomas Bright O'Ryan and Dr. Margaret Goetz O'Ryan. His father was a distinguished Starfleet officer, graduating from the Academy in the same class as Robert April and serving over a young Christopher Pike. Dr. O'Ryan, though not in Starfleet, was a noted biochemist. Young Thomas displayed a very precocious intellect, demonstrating advanced skills in deductive logic at a surprisingly early age; by the age of 10, spherical trigonometry was a toy for him. His mother managed to obtain permission for him to be schooled on Vulcan, hoping that he would then enter the Vulcan Science Academy. Instead, he chose to follow the O'Ryan family tradition and enter Starfleet. He passed the entrance exams early, entering the Academy at age 17. He attended Navigation Branch School, but also excelled in studies in the Security Division as well as many science classes. He graduated as the Va ledictorian of the class of 2265, and was assigned to the USS Lexington as Navigator. He was not on board the Lexington for even a year before he was transferred to USS Enterprise at the request of James Kirk, an old student at the Academy of Commodore O'Ryan. On board the Enterprise, Thomas soon established a niche for himself, befriending many of the younger officers. Uhura and Sulu, especially, took pleasure in teasing him in calling him by the nickname "Sherlock," a tribute to his deductive skills. His reputation took firm root following his solution of the murder of the Andorian Ambassador, a patriarch of keth Uvar. In time, he developed a reputation for being a kind of modern day detective, frequently compared to Science Officer Spock in terms of reasoning powers. He was known to be one of the few officers who could hold his ground against Spock in debates and in three-dimensional chess. Of his closest ties, he naturally developed one with an officer junior to him in the Navigation Department, Pavel Chekov. Because of their close affiliation, Chekov suddenly received a nickname of "Watson," and eventually the two friends shared quarters like the famous fictional friends of the 19th century. By the end of the 5-year mission, Thomas was a full Lieutenant and it was planned that he should oversee astrogational system refits to be the Enterprise's next Chief Navigator. To enhance his skills to the utmost, he took advantage of the extra time to pursue some studies at the Academy, spending 4 months on Vulcan at the Vulcan Science Academy as a transfer student. Over the 18 months of Enterprise's refit, he took advanced courses in Astrophysics, Stellar Cartography, Warp Field Dynamics, as well as basic studies in cryptography and transporter theory. By the end of 2271, he had achieved his promotion to Lieutenant Commander. He served with distinction during the V'Ger incident of 2272, earning a recommendation from Admiral Kirk to be promoted to Captain. Starfleet, while sharing Kirk's views of the young man\'s worthiness for promotion did not agree with a two-step increase, and so promoted him to Commander. By 2280, he joined his former CO as an Instructor of Navigation at Star Fleet Academy. While there, he became involved in the early computer simulations for Project Transwarp Drive. He was assigned to the Farstar Project, an early prototype of the experimental USS Excelsior. Upon completion of the Farstar, he was to be assigned to her as Captain of Navigation. The CO of the Farstar, however, was an old classmate of Kirk's. Jealous of the success enjoyed by the maverick Kirk, he strenuously opposed O'Ryan's promotion, and so his new assignment was in his former grade. In February of 2282, Farstar was prepared to launch on her maiden voyage. Admiral Kirk came out himself to say good-bye to his former officer and protegee (though that last title was sometimes in a friendly dispute between Kirk and Spock). O'Ryan was relieved to discover that the Helm officer was another friend of his, Barlo Solo, a comrade on several wild adventures he had had when on loan to Starfleet Intelligence Command. Unknown to all except O'Ryan, Solo was actually a Captain in SFIC, operating under the cover rank of Commander. No sooner had Farstar engaged the new system than things began to go wrong. The transporter system began to overheat. Thomas ran down to Engineering to assist in locking things down. He was working feverishly when the coolant systems ruptured and found himself frozen in time and space. He awoke 98 years later by a small research vessel. Brought up to date, he has accepted a voluntary grade reduction while he relearns the new duty stations. He was assigned to the USS London as Chief of Operations, taking a voluntary grade reduction to Lt. (jg) as he learned the new systems, administrative structure, and technologies. His commanding officer, Thelek Uvar, noticed his scientific aptitude, and in need of a Chief Science Officer transferred Thomas to that position. O'Ryan's delight knew no bounds when he discovered that his replacement in Operations was his old friend, Barlo Solo. They still are trying to piece together what had happened to either delay Barlo's retrieval by 2 years--or what had happened to him in that time. In the meantime, O'Ryan had discovered new odd relationships on board the London. His romantic interest, then-Chief Diplomat Aliera D'Matto, turned out to be Solo's great-granddaughter, and one of O'Ryan's scientists, Michael Wellesley, was his great-great-grandnephew. While Chief Science Officer, he was able to use the facilities to study and experiment with a newfound ability, the result of the Farstar accident. He had always scored high in ESPer tests, and Spock had tried without success to unlock his latent telepathic abilities. The accident, it appeared, had triggered them with startling results. He has identified an ability to generate illusions, and his ability to block other telepaths is startlingly strong. The full extent of his abilities has not been tested to date. He experienced a similar meteoric rise over his first 4 years of service on the London, attaining the rank of Commander. It was at this point that Uvar persuaded him to take on the responsibilities of Executive Officer--with a promotion to Captain. O'Ryan had long known that he was not really command material, and reluctantly accepted the position. For the past 4 years, however, he had been investigating a matter in behalf of the London's first XO, Ephraim Delacroix. Last year, matters came to a head, and it became necessary for the safety of the ship that he depart until the criminal he had been investigating was apprehended by the authorities. Events escalated beyond O'Ryan's control, and a personal confrontation ensued. Preliminary investigations by Starfleet Intelligence indicated that both the criminal, Baron Duvar, and O'Ryan had mutually perished in the encounter. O'Ryan had, however, survived, and Duvar's right hand had witnessed it. O'Ryan contacted Uvar covertly, and both agreed that his greatest chance for safety lay in both remaining in disguise and returning to the London. He was saddened to discover that Aliera had been unable to cope with her supposed loss, and had left Starfleet to join her adoptive brother in the Klingon Empire. Even Uvar was startled to discover that the Bolian scientist Brekk Mott was his XO when O'Ryan at least was able to cast aside his disguise. Events in that year had taken their toll, however, and Starfleet had assigned a permanent replacement for the London. O'Ryan was internally relieved, though concerned that he might have disappointed Uvar in some way. However, his replacement as XO was an old shipmate, Kyle Steiner, and it was with a certain joy that he formally ejected the XO pro tem and turned the position formally over to Steiner. Admiral Uvar, wishing to keep O'Ryan on his ship, offered the detective with a new challenge: Chief of Intel. Starfleet Intelligence had tried several times unsuccessfully to recruit him in the 23rd century; however, with the restructuring of the Fleet, O'Ryan's previous objection, of being removed from opportunities to explore the galaxy, were removed, and he cheerfully accepted the post. He has also, for the sake of the chain of command, accepted a one step grade reduction back to Commander until Steiner's seniority as a Captain exceeds his own.
Member Since	11 October 2005