Mark McHenry

Mark McHenry was a part-Human, part-Being Starfleet officer, most famous for his assignment onboard the Ambassador class Heavy Cruiser USS Excalibur and the Galaxy class Battleship USS Excalibur-A.

Early Life & Ancestry
McHenry was the first male descendant of the Being called Apollo, and the first with such lineage to have any extraordinary abilities. He was born in the year 2340 on Inferna Prime to George and Sheila McHenry. Nicknamed "Sandy" (short for Sandman) by his grandparents. Apollo's kinsmen, who called themselves the "Beings", immediately sensed something special about him. The Being known as Artemis took an interest in McHenry and visited him on a regular basis, although only McHenry could see or hear her. She called him "Marcus".

When McHenry was eight, an incident with Artemis caused Mark's father to leave and never return. McHenry angered Artemis in the year 2357 when he rejected her plan to make him an "ambassador" of sorts between the Federation and the God-like Beings, choosing instead to join Starfleet Academy. McHenry barely escaped Artemis' wrath with his life.

Starfleet Academy
McHenry entered Starfleet Academy in 2357. There he met with four other promising cadets and together they formed a group named the "Dream Team". McHenry's squad consisted of himself and Cadets Soleta of Vulcan, Zak Kebron of Brikar, Tania Tobias of Earth, and Starfleet's first Klingon recruit, Cadet Worf.

McHenry had an incredible natural talent for Astronavigation, but his performance was adequate at best in several other subjects. He had no head for deep philosophical discussions because he had trouble concentrating on them. McHenry was not physically impressive and his performance in the Academy's self-defense classes was almost disastrous. He completed all courses, but excelled only in classes such as navigation, astronomy, mathematics, piloting and tactical maneuvering.

McHenry's heritage gave him an uncanny grasp of navigation and Stellar Cartography. In class, he would seem to be barely paying attention to the instructor, but would then be able to answer her complex questions right off the top of his head without the use of, indeed faster than, a computer. McHenry also had the ability to sense his whereabouts anywhere in the galaxy, without the use of instruments. He could also sense the slightest alteration of a ship's heading.

McHenry was part of the Starfleet team that travelled to the colony world of Dantar IV when the Federation/Klingon Empire co-venture was experiencing problems. McHenry and his squad chose to remain behind on Dantar when a Brikar attack forced an evacuation of the colony and the evacuation ships reached capacity.

Early Starfleet Career
McHenry graduated from the Academy in 2361. His first assignment was as navigator on board the USS Valentina. On the Valentina, McHenry quickly gained a reputation as one of Starfleet's best, if most eccentric, pilots. For the next years he was assigned to duty aboard various starships. Although he was naturally talented in astronavigation and piloting, Mark only spent one tour as conn officer. His duty on starships included one tour in engineering, a tour as Junior Science Officer and also as Operations Officer.

In 2368, McHenry was part of a team attempting to design a new navigation system that would allow ships to travel along the event horizon of black holes and other singularities. Unfortunately, only McHenry with his godlike senses could successfully make the run.

In 2369 he was rotated planet-side and spent four years teaching Advanced Astronavigation at the Academy. While on Earth he also found time to do some researches in advanced holographic Stellar Cartography display systems, which later on was the basis for developing the Astrometrics lab as a starship section in succeeding starship classes. In truth, Starfleet Science used him as a guinea pig to create the next generation navigation displays.

USS Excalibur
In 2373, McHenry was assigned to the USS Excalibur under Captain Mackenzie Calhoun. Also on board the Excalibur were Mark's Academy squad-mates Soleta and Zak Kebron.

Mark served as the Excalibur’s Conn Officer until the vessel’s destruction in the year 2376. When the Excalibur’s crew only had five minutes to evacuate the ship before its warp core breeched, McHenry used his powers to somehow slow down time, allowing all hands to reach escape pods.

Soon after, McHenry and Kebron were undercover on the planet Liten when they encountered the omnipotent being known as Q. To Kebron's shock, McHenry was able to resist Q's power. Q then hinted that McHenry wasn't what he seemed. The suspicious Kebron later inquired as to what Q meant, but McHenry denied everything, claiming that Q was simply messing with their minds.

Starfleet Performance Evaluation
Mark McHenry is an ebullient, optimistic, unpredictable, and often inscrutable fellow. He truly seems to exist on a plane apart from the rest of the crew, but he can galvanize into action at a moment's notice when needed. Mark is extremely intelligent, more so than anyone around him would believe, but he has no ego to speak of.

As a navigator, he simply has no equal in Starfleet. Commander Data would be a close second, though. He is also among the best pilots in Starfleet, with an instinct that is impossible to match. In battle situations McHenry can take evasive maneuvers that often belie the size and capabilities of the massive ships being flown. He is especially good at navigating through abnormal space such as near singularities or within dense nebulae. As a person, McHenry is very loyal and he forms easy friendships, but not even his best friends really knows what makes him tick. McHenry often speaks his mind in an almost too naive way, but in his years in Starfleet, his childlike honesty has won over many a hardened personality. His close friends sometimes call him "Mac." He spends much of his off time reading and is a history buff.

Discorporation
Mark was serving on the USS Excalibur-A in late 2376 when the Beings returned. The Beings were offering their ambrosia, the source of their power, to any race that would offer them worship and attacking those that wouldn't. When McHenry refused to join them, Artemis attacked McHenry with a lightning-like energy-bolt, apparently killing him.

In truth, McHenry was in stasis, his astral form unable to affect reality, and only visible to others with Godly powers. In this state McHenry assisted the most powerful of the Beings, Woden, in imprisoning the errant Beings in another plane. The victory cost Woden his own existence.

Before he died (or discorporated), Woden transferred the inner essence of his powers to McHenry. After bidding a farewell to his shipmates, McHenry left the Excalibur-A to walk the stars and act as sentinel against the possible return of the Beings or any other trans-dimensional threat.

The Return
Missing human form and Starfleet life, McHenry returned to his corporeal form in 2380 and relinquished his role as sentinel and Woden’s powers to the son of Woden, Thor, who was more than willing to assume the task. He was reinstated in Starfleet soon after and was assigned back onboard the USS Excalibur-A as First Officer, replacing Commander Burgoyne 172, with the rank of Lieutenant Commander.

Vanguard Command
In 2385, Rear Admiral (upper grade) Jean-Luc Picard convinced him to become part of the USS Invincible’s crew as Chief Navigation Officer, which he accepted.