Christopher Charles Stephenson (Born October 23, 1979; Age 29) is the current Tribune and Wing Commander of the U.S.S. Maximillian as of November 11, 2008.  He has been a member of the U.S.S. Maximillian since February 1997.  He has served in various functions during that time, including Transporter Chief, Operations Chief, and most notably as Captain of the Maximillian for 4 years, longer than any other Captain in Maximillian history.  He is the author of several Maximillian short stories, and released his first novel: Star Trek: Maximillian: Beyond the Final Frontier, in September of 2008.  His persona on board is the Marconian Critch Starblade.

Life Before Trek

Stephenson was born in Columbus, Ohio of unknown ancestry to Diane Stephenson and Howard Stamm.  Thanks to a strange set of circumstances, his name remained Stephenson and does to this day. 

For the first eight years of his life Stephenson grew up with his grandparents, Ray Stephenson and Evelyn Stephenson, while his parents worked.  After Evelyn entered a nursing home, his parents reclaimed him and moved him across town from his home in Gahanna, and he went to various schools and lived in various locations until his sixteenth birthday, when he returned to live with his grandfather.

The Kittyhawk

While attending a local dollar movie showing of Star Trek: Generations, Stephenson encountered a large group of fan organizations, including the U.S.S. Maximillian, U.S.S. Columbus, and U.S.S. Kittyhawk, as well as a Klingon chapter.  As he was an avid sci-fi fan, he wished to join one, but due to his age and inability to drive, he could only pick one.  The Maximillian was too far away, and the Columbus would be too much to spend as it was a Starfleet Chapter.  The Kittyhawk was based in Gahanna, where Stephenson now lived, and so he joined that ship under Captain David Lape and Commander Thomas Patton in 1996.  He joined as a Petty Officer Third Class and met such officers as Terry McPherson and John Upp, both of which would end up as Maximillian members later.  While serving on the Kittyhawk he attended his first conventions including Marcon, where he won an Star Trek 2 era Ensign's unform formerly worn by Admirals Robert S. Lyon and Matthew Morris.  He was promoted to Petty Officer First Class in late 1996.  Soon after, Captain Lape stepped down to concentrate on his real life, and Commander Patton assumed command.  It was at this point that Stephenson met Admiral Lyon and was persuaded, along with many others, to join the Maximillian.  Stephenson officially signed aboard the U.S.S. Maximillian at the recruiting drive for the rerelease of The Empire Strikes Back in February of 1997.

The Maximillian

Stephenson joined as Petty Officer First Class, and was witness to a few quick changes, as it was the Maximillian's fifth anniversary and they were secretly launching as a Sovereign-Class vessel.  As one of his interests was computers, he went before the Command Staff and was approved to head up the first Maximillian website.  Over the next few years, Stephenson moved up in ranks, eventually becoming Operations Chief, and serving on the Command Staff during Captain Sidley Howard's administration.  During that time, the International Federation of Trekkers were pushing for the fifth series of Star Trek to be a take on Captain Sulu's life on the Excelsior.  Unimpressed, Stephenson went to a rally held at the local station that was showing Star Trek at that time, and found very few people there.  Reporting on the Maximillian website that the rally had "Tanked", he quickly found the damage that words on a website can do.  The report was repeated on sites such as Trekweb, and Stephenson was ordered to take down his comments.  After doing so, he was called before a review board, and he was demoted to Lieutenant from Commander.  Around that time, Stephenson was also instrumental in starting up a Putt-Putt Star Trek tournament in the area called "Trek Putt".  While doing this he had met Admiral Rod Hammond of the U.S.S. Lynx, and eventually he joined Admiral Lyon as part of the Lynx-Kittyhawk Task Force.

The Lynx-Kittyhawk Task Force

As part of the Task force, Stephenson was assigned the rank of Lieutenant, and was assured that in this organization, 'rank meant something'.  The U.S.S. Lynx had recently absorbed the Kittyhawk and Captain Patton, and was attempting to be a sort of corporate charity organization with a serious science-fiction bent.  Admiral Hammond would frequently call Stephenson, sometimes at work and ask for "Lieutenant Stephenson", and stress the urgency of whatever he happened to be working on at the time, which included advertising and a website.  A few months later, Admiral Lyon died.  Soon after, stressed due to the workload of what felt like an unpaid job, Stephenson left the organization.  Admiral Hammond, who insisted that he be called Admiral at all times, attempted to enforce a 'non-compete' order on Stephenson, afraid of secrets of his organization being reported, even though Stephenson could not imagine what was so secretive.  Hammond also insisted that now he owned the name of "Trek Putt", despite never having a Trek Putt happen while Stephenson was a member of the Task Force.  Stephenson shortly thereafter rejoined the Maximillian.

Return to the Maximillian, and Hammond's last gasps

Shortly after rejoining the Maximillian, and taking back over the website and eventually the Newsletter, Stephenson still encountered Admiral Hammond.  He now threatened through a law firm to supoena other Trek clubs and members in the area.  To get him to go away, Stephenson signed a paper relinquishing the name of Trek Putt.  Soon thereafter, the Lynx-Kittyhawk Task force dissipated, and within a year, Admiral Hammond disappeared from science-fiction dealings entirely, and has not been heard from except once, when a convention in Michigan contacted Stephenson for information about Hammond.  Answering truthfully everything that happened, the convention vowed to avoid him entirely.  During this time, Stephenson also created the Marcon-Favorite Cardboard Tube Samurai.  Soon, Captain Charles Connor ended his first and only term as Captain, not wishing to run again.  Stephenson ran unopposed and won, his command staff consisting of First Officer Commander Robin Goldblum, Lieutenant Commander Nathan Cobaugh, and Lieutenant Commander Susan Moran.

The First Term

Stephenson fell into the captaincy with a strong work ethic, working at improving communication and morale.  Under his first term, the popular yahoo group was started, as well as a command counterpart.  For his entire term, he released newsletters and agendas, and worked on personal goals, one of which was Maximillian fiction.  For years, Stephenson had worked on a series of novels, and was sidetracked back into Maximillian fiction by doing a series of short stories, curiously all taking place before Stephenson took command.  His character, Critch Starblade, was inspired partly on Data but with a more emotional twist and a darker past, and Stephenson found the character intriguing to write, as well as the several other Maximillian characters.  Before he was done being Captain, the first Maximillian novel would be released as well as five short stories.  For the thirteenth anniversary of the Maximillian, Stephenson produced and directed a feature-length Maximillian Documentary: Behind the Trek, detailing the thirteen years in the Max's life.  It was well-received, and also alongside it Stephenson released the first edition of "Journey Toward the Stars", a collection of Maximillian fiction from multiple writers.  Confident in the direction the Max was going, he eagerly accepted renomination to a second term, despite the departure of his first officer Robin Goldblum, who had returned to her home in Pennsylvania to become a vet.

The Second Term

Stephenson's second term was reasonably successful, but only just.  His command staff had changed, with new First Officer C.J. Biro, Records Officer Babs "Overload", and Treasurer Susan Moran.  Membership swelled to over seventy people, and morale was very high.  He had designed the first new banner in ten years.  Stephenson at this point joined a local troupe that was putting on the Rocky Horror Picture Show, partly just to see if it was something he could do as it was so unlike his usual self.  While very successful at the part of Brad, eventually performing, real life struggles, and being Captain took their toll.  Stephenson took a hiatus for a month late in his otherwise uneventful second term.  Truthfully, mentally he never really returned from the hiatus, and despite annoucing his intention to return for a third term, he declined the opportunity.  He left the Captaincy in February 2008, singing "My Way" on his way out the door.  He was given a gift of a new jacket by the crew of the Maximillian, a mug by Marcus "Nato" Owens, and the Admiralty changed the regulations to allow him to keep his Commodore rank permanently instead of only keeping it while being Captain.  Captain C.J. Biro was voted Captain in a very big election that among other things had five people running for the first officer position.

What Happens Next

Soon after Stephenson stopped being Captain, he was promoted to Tribune, a special rank of the Maximillian that serves on the Admiralty board.  He is the voice of the crew to the Admiralty, though he has no voting power.  He replaced Admiral Charles Connor upon his promotion at Marcon in 2008.  He finished and published his first novel "Beyond the Final Frontier", and is currently working on this writers wiki, the next edition of Journey Towards the Stars, an original Time-Travel novel "Future Tense", and the sequel to "Beyond the Final Frontier", "The Order of the Sword", due in 2009.  In September of 2008, Stephenson assumed the position of Wing Commander, and oversees the development of the Maximillian fiction.  He was instrumental in the decision to change the ship class to a Luna-Class, and suggested the new NCC number, 82016. 

Completed Works:

A Great Adventure (Located in Journey Toward the Stars)

Home Again (Located in Journey Toward the Stars)

Forms of Life (Located in Journey Toward the Stars)

Needs of the Many (Located in Journey Toward the Stars)

Strength In Darkness (Located in Journey Toward the Stars)

Looking Ahead  ((Located in Journey Toward the Stars)

Star Trek: Maximillian: Beyond the Final Frontier

Trivia

Stephenson was a beta tester on the popular video game "Diablo 2", and his full name is in the credits.

Stephenson won a charity silent auction and had dinner at Mortons of Chicago with his favorite actor, Bruce Campbell.

To impress a girl at his first convention when he was sixteen, Stephenson asked Richard Biggs for a ride to a local gas station to get a rose for Roxanne Dawson.  Later, the girl remarked "You're like a God!"

Stephenson has seen both Howard Shore and John Williams in concert.

Stephenson's favorite movies are Back to the Future, The Incredibles, The Iron Giant, Army of Darkness, and the Shawshank Redemption.

Stephenson has been a member of Starfleet twice.  Neither time did he ever do anything with them.

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