Flight Control/Helm

While at the academy, Deborah had been drawn to that esoteric field called stellar cartography, which was part art and part science, particularly on the known edges of space. True, each new generation of explorers was equipped with the latest software and hardware to chart the great galactic unknown. But the anomalies that existed in the cosmos made stellar cartography as dependent on a cartographer's instincts as it did on a starship's sensors.

Deborah was the junior officer assigned to the Potemkin's Stellar Cartography section, whose members floated between the Helm and Science Departments. The ship's stellar cartographer, Lt. W'kil'ith, was a male from an avain race known as Wolligans, whose ancestors had been raptors. Lt. W'kil'ith was a slender, seven-foot being of golden feathers whose wings were still very useful in zero-gravity situations. Lt. W'kil'ith was a stern but fair officer.

 Lt. W'kil'ith commended Deborah on her exemplerary academic record before giving Deborah her first assignment.