Deneva de Sousa

Born aboard the ECS Garatéa  on the way to Deneva colony, her mother thought it would serve as a blessing to name her second child after their distant destination, just as she had with Deneva’s older sister Vega four years earlier. (Thank goodness they weren’t headed for Draylax I guess.)

Perhaps she was right, as Deneva had a fairly safe and stable childhood as far as space boomers go. She and the other dozen kids on the Garatéa were homeschooled via United Earth Standardized Distance Learning. On top of this, the adults placed a special emphasis on physical education, a necessity for any body in cramped quarters during long distance space travel, but especially so for little ones full of energy. All the ship’s children grew up fit, but none grew quite as much as Deneva, much to the chagrin of her parents; both were of average height, but her father had a very tall extended family–back on Earth, where there’s room for that sort of thing.

But Deneva was an amiable and adaptable child, and she learned to live with the growing pains, as well as the fact that she was always going to be “it” in hide-and-seek, always the attacking monster when playing pretend, always the reacher of high objects and defender of the smaller kids. This role was only enhanced by the reputation for fearlessness she earned after everyone stayed up late at a sleepover to watch Event Horizon without permission and she was the only one who didn’t have nightmares.

She was also larger-than-life when she sat in the pilot’s seat. All children on the ship learned the basics of each crewmember’s position, but as a pilot Deneva excelled beyond the basics: her reflexes and coordination were excellent; she did not spook or startle; she seemed immune to panic; she seemed to embody that old cliche of becoming one with the ship. Perhaps learning how to navigate the tight quarters of the ship in her ungainly frame had improved her awareness of her body in relation to her surroundings.

The whole crew was a little surprised when she decided that she wanted to attend college on Earth. In person. She was capable and well-liked on the Garatéa and seemed poised for leadership. No one seemed to notice that she found the constant attention to be just plain tiring.

Nonetheless, they gave her their blessing, and she left to study applied mathematics at the University of Brazil; the structure of her college schedule and the support of extended family in the area helped her adjust to life on solid ground.

Deneva’s physical presence and stories of space were handy conversation starters, and she found that her social life flourished as she set out to meet as many new people as possible. After four years of university she decided to travel around the Sol system, working as a pilot-for-hire as she took classes and explored local culture, and most of all tried to figure out where and how Deneva fit into the whole wide world where there was more than enough space for her.

Then, in 2153, the Xindi attacked, and she lost patience with the idea of trying to find herself. All she could think about was doing something to protect her home and her family, so she joined Starfleet with the understanding that they could always use a pilot or two.