Ashton Ledbetter

Name: Ashton Charles Ledbetter VII
Rank: Temporal Investigations Captain, USS Serendipity Observer
Age: 42
Marital Status: Single. Confirmed bachelor
Species: Human
Birthworld: Earth, Maidenhead England
Homeworld: Earth, London England
Current Position: Operations Observer, USS Serendipity

Physical Characteristics
Height: 5'8"
Weight: 160 lbs.
Hair: Dirty Blond
Eyes: Brown

Born on the mean streets of Maidenhead, to lowly parents only considered to be middle upper class in British society, Ashton’s life was a struggle from the very beginning. At the age of two, he forced his parents to fire their maid of seven years for her inability to furnish him with oatmeal at the proper temperature. Finding “competent help,” was an ongoing travail for Ashton throughout his adolescent years.



As if the lack of qualified servants in Maidenhead were not enough, Ashton was forced to deal with unrelenting teasing from his peers due to the poor conditions in which he lived. His dearest companion Garrison was fond of reminding Ashton at least once a day that the Westerly Estate was located upon no less then seven acres more than the Ledbetter estate. Nine, if one were to count the servant’s quarters and polo grounds, which of course, one should. To make matters worse, Ashton’s father was the senior partner at the law firm where Garrison’s father was principal and owner.

Despite Ashton’s failings, Garrison saw fit to allow young Ledbetter to furnish gifts for his birthday parties, and the two shared a friendship that endured throughout their childhoods. The two would part ways however during their college years.

During a friendly between Oxford and Farnham Royal, Garrison and Ashton were fielding at Mid-on and Mid-wicket, respectfully. The batsman delivered an aerial on-drive, which Ashton and Garrison converged upon quickly. They collided and fell to the ground, Ashton’s nose bloodied and Garrison’s shoulder irreparably bruised. The ball fell to the ground as well, allowing Farnham Royal to break a late stalemate and emerge victorious over Oxford for the first time in twenty-seven years.

Each man blamed the other for not conceding the catch. Ashton, in a fit of unbridled fury, called his friend an incompetent featherbrain and Garrison retorted by questioning the sanctity of the marriage of Ashton’s parents. The two decided there was no point in continuing to associate with each other, and went their separate ways.

Perfect grades and dates with a different member of the female Crew team each night, soon were not enough to satisfy Ashton, as he blossomed into manhood. Oxford, he suddenly realized, was beneath him as long as Garrison Westerly was on the roll with him.

Growing tired of limiting his conquests to human females, he decided it best to give Starfleet, and its cadets, a chance. He left Maidenhead and Oxford behind and enrolled at the age of nineteen.

The Academy proved fruitful in satisfying his ambitions. Like Oxford, he found the coursework unchallenging, but the Vulcan cadets proved to be a test worthy of his abilities.

At twenty-two, with credits transferred from Oxford, he graduated the Academy and received his first posting on the patrol vessel Citadel. Apparently the staff at the Academy had taken notice of his propensity for wooing the opposite sex however. The Citadel, he discovered with unabashed horror, had an all male crew. The ship was apparently where Starfleet sent chauvinism to die, or at least, in Ashton’s case, be repressed. And no, there were no holodecks either, not that Ledbetter would be caught dead wasting his significant charms on a hologram.

Advised that promotion was the only way off the vessel, Ledbetter was suddenly inspired to become the very model of Starfleet efficiency and duty. He spent his days serving the Chief of Operations and his nights tinkering with temporal anomalies and theory, just for extra credit.

His first paper, A Study in High Energy Plasma Discharges and Their Effects on the Temporal Barrier filtered through Starfleet, from the Citadel, to Starfleet Science, to Starfleet Security, and finally to the desk of Gemini Lassiter.

It taught her nothing new, but it was certainly something new to those in this time. Working behind the scenes, she engineered his transfer from the Citadel to a research vessel and then to a capital starship. She watched his career with great fascination, and at age thirty-one she called him in to Temporal Investigations for his first interview.

Lassiter was somewhat taken aback by the man behind the personnel file, specifically by his immediate attempt to flirt with her. There was no doubt in her mind that he had the technical and theoretical knowledge one would need to serve as support staff on a Jump ship. The problem was placing him.

She decided Ledbetter would only work with two other members of TI effectively. Keiran O’Sullivan, because he was the only male with the restraint not to hurt Ledbetter, and Zanh Liis, because she was the only female with the restraint to not sleep with him.

Ledbetter would serve each Captain for countless years of non-linear time; as a competent officer, trustworthy associate, and voice of reason during times of chaos, especially where it came to Zanh Liis. The woman, however, nearly drove him to madness. In his own words:

Zanh Liis is an impetuous, irrational and unscholarly whirling dervish of a woman whose imprudent nature is surpassed only by her zeal for her work. Despite it all, she somehow manages to ‘get the job done,’ as she is fond of pointing out to me. I fear however that someday her tactics will lead to my untimely demise, depriving Starfleet of my wealth of knowledge and indisputable charisma.


Recently, with the retirement of Keiran O’Sullvan and Zanh Liis from TI, Admiral Lassiter concluded it was time for Ashton Ledbetter to be given a command of his own.

He was assigned the TI Jump ship USS Consequence, which met its untimely demise in the late 2388 battle to save Lair Arie from the Romulans, before Ledbetter could even depart in the newly christened ship for its first jump.

USS Consequence, Circa 2388

In the wake of the loss of the Consequence, and with no other ships to assign Ledbetter to as Captain, Admiral Lassiter decided to place Ashton as an observer on the USS Serendipity. His stated assignment is to look in on the daily operations of the ship and her crew to ensure Zanh Liis is running a 'ship-shape ship'. Off the record, Admiral Lassiter is secretly concerned her recent marriage to Keiran O’Sullivan may affect the judgment of Zanh Liis, and vice versa. She is hoping Ledbetter can help her root out any issues before they can put The Alchemy Project in danger.

Quotes from Former/Current CO's and colleagues:

"I’m happy Ashton is moving on to bigger and better things. He has served this ship well. When properly motivated, his skills are significantly above average. Can I come with him?" ~Captain Anderson, USS Citadel

"He exhibits remarkable efficiency and knowledge for a member of his species. I find his fascination with the female Vulcans to be beyond the boundaries of acceptable behavior, however." ~Captain T’Mara, USS Memphis

Vulcan Soprano T'Lara starred as Japanese Empress Go-Sakuramachi in the critically acclaimed Chrysanthemum at the Grand Opera House of Vulcan Circa 2388

Ashton was the first Terran male ever to earn a court-mandated restraining order on the planet Vulcan. He is required to remain at least one kilometer away from reknown Vulcan Lyric Soprano T'Lara and was forced to relinquish his season tickets to the Opera house, after proof was given that he'd sent no less than 342 fan mail letters to her in which he referred to her as "The Future Mrs. Ashton Ledbetter".

"What can I say; the man is a lifesaver. Which is fortunate for him, because I’m going to kill him." ~Captain Zanh Liis, Temporal Investigations: CO USS Polaris

The Song That Defines Ashton is...

An Englishman in New York, by Sting