Lieutenant (Junior Grade) River Alaska Kyle

River is an Engineer’s Engineer.  She is a hands on type who prefers to take the thing apart and find the problem rather than rely on tricorders and other diagnostic tools.  Not the most diplomatic person, River is a professional officer and carries herself as such when the situation arises, but more often than not she is ‘one of the guys’.  River is quite imaginative and uses this in her work to sometimes dream up some rather effective, if unorthodox, methods of solving problems, particularly in a crisis.  The Cairo is still a painful thing for her, and it becomes obvious anytime it is mentioned.  Her expression clouds and she becomes uncharacteristically quiet.  Under normal circumstances, River is charming and amiable, with a rather odd sense of humour (something she got from her older sister).  She is quick with a smile and a kind word to a fellow crewman.  Her history of relationships is something of a legend.  She calls herself the ‘relationship killer’ because she has  had such a bad run of luck with them.  None have lasted longer and a few months, though no one has ever been able to figure out the reason why.  Like her older sister Ocean, River has strong opinions and will make them WELL known.

River Kyle was born on January 18, 2355 in the city of Vancouver, Canada.  She is the younger sister of Dr. Ocean Kyle, the Chief Medical Officer of the USS Aquarius.  Her father was a prominent medical researcher whose projects often brought him in contact with Starfleet Medical.  Her mother Grace was a successful mystery holowriter.  River was born into a loving family and developed a very close relationship with her older sister from very early on, a relationship that remains close to this day.  Unlike her older sister who for a while could not find her place in the world, River knew from an early age what she wanted to be – a Starship Engineer.  She loved starships and mechanical things of all kinds, usually found up to her elbows in some dismantled device or another.  The young girl read book after book on starship design and operation, hoping that the knowledge gained would give her an advantage in the Academy.  River built model starships and displayed them around her!
 room.  By the time she was fifteen, she could identify nearly any type of Federation space vessel.  The young woman was supported in this by her parents and older sister.  They provided anything they could find for her from books, to models to holovids of blueprints.  It made River happy, and that’s what was important to her family.

When her older sister Ocean decided to enter Starfleet, River offered to help her study, knowing that this would give her some primer for when she would apply.  The two girls worked together, and the older Kyle states to this day that it was River’s help that got her into the Academy.

Finally the time arrived when young River could apply to the Academy.  She worked herself nearly to exhaustion, but realized this mistake and stopped it before it became a major problem.  In 2371, to the delight of both River and her family, she was accepted into Starfleet Academy.  River’s childhood passion served her in good stead during her time as a Cadet.  She excelled in her Engineering theory courses, allowing her the time she needed to apply to the other courses that she found more difficult: diplomacy, tactical operations and even the more physical courses.  While she had always been an active child, she found the physical strain of the self defense training very demanding, though satisfying.  After nearly four years of work, River Kyle graduated from Starfleet Academy in the top 20% of her class.  Her parents and older sister Ocean (who had taken leave from the Hippocrates) were on hand to see her graduate.  It was a wonderful time for the young woman.

Sadly, this euphoria would be short lived.  Her first assignment was as an junior Engineering Officer aboard the USS Cairo.  It was a great position, and she made many friends among the crew in the short time that she was there.  Barely three months into her assignment, the Cairo was sent with many other ships to engage a Borg cube that threatened Earth.  The cube was subsequently destroyed with the help of the USS Defiant and USS Enterprise, but not without the loss of several ships, including the Cairo.  Nearly three hundred of her four hundred and fifty person crew were lost when the ship was overtaken by the Borg.  The Captain ordered the destruction of the Cairo, and River was one of the few who were able to make it to a lifepod.  She and her crewmates were rescued by the USS Okinawa after the battle.  The loss of so many of her friends, seeing many of them assimilated, tortured River deeply.  She had counseling sessions for a time before being cleared for duty, but to this day she still suffers from occasional nightmares due to the incident.  She and the Cairo survivors have remained in contact over the years.

Upon her return to duty, River was awarded the Bronze Star for bravery, of which she is very proud.  However the award carries with it the weight of memories and pain, and it is something she rarely speaks of.  She was immediately assigned as an Engineering Officer on the USS Monitor.  Her time there was quite positive, and went a long way toward healing the pain she suffered.  Being back in the job she loved, with people she liked was the best therapy anyone could have prescribed.  River quickly distinguished herself as a top-notch officer, and her easy-going personality gained her many friends.  While the young woman was somewhat lacking in diplomatic areas (She is a very ‘to the point’ person, and doesn’t believe in couching anything in euphemisms), her skill at Engineering and professionalism allowed her to move up in responsibility and gain the attention of the Command Staff – and Starfleet Command.

In 2377 River was given what she considered a golden opportunity – the chance to work with the Starfleet Corps of Engineers Starship Design Bureau.  During her years on the Monitor, she had been quietly working on several new theoretical designs for Starship power systems in her spare time.  The Chief Engineer was impressed by the simple efficiency of the designs, and he made some calls to friends he had in the SCE.  River couldn’t believe what she was hearing when the offer came to her.  Knowing that it was a once in a lifetime experience, the young Engineer said yes and immediately was transferred to the Deimos Shipyards to become part of the ‘Nautilus Class Development Project’ as a ‘Design Consultant, Propulsion Systems’.  River was in her element and stayed with the project until it concluded in late 2381, eventually working her way up to Lead Designer, Propulsion Systems.  She made many contacts and friends in the SCE and occasionally has the opportunity to be involved in new projects for the SCE on a consultant basis.  With the conclusion of the Nautilus project, River knew it was time to return to Starship Engineering.  She needed to increase her ‘real world’ experience, and the best way to do that was on a Starship.