Captain John Harriman in 2293
John Jason Harriman II, the son of Starfleet Admiral John "Blackjack" Harriman, was a human male in Starfleet in the late-23rd and early-24th centuries. He rose through the ranks rapidly, in part due to his father's influence, eventually being assigned command of the newly commissioned USS Enterprise-B in 2293. Despite a rocky start, he became one of the most well-regarded captains in the fleet.
Early Life
Harriman was born aboard the USS Sea of Tranquility and lived most of his childhood on a series of starships. Until his entrance into Starfleet Academy, He had never spent more than a few weeks planetside. This was a uncomfortable experience for Harriman as he found the sky in particular to induce agoraphobic reactions. After a few months however, he recovered and excelled in his studies. He studied the Romulan Star Empire in depth, an interest he had maintained after hearing stories of his grandfather's participation the Earth/Romulan War as told by his father. He graduated in three years on an accelerated program. (TLE novel: Serpents Among the Ruins)
Aboard the Hunley
As a Lieutenant, Harriman served on the USS Hunley as the Conn Officer. During a disasterous conflict with the Romulan Vessel Daami and its commander Aventeer Vokar, the vessel was disabled and severely damaged, the majority of the senior staff killed during the attack. With a romulan boarding party on the way, Harriman was able to beam over to Daami and hold Vokar captive at gunpoint. Though Harriman was tempted to kill Vokar for what he had done, he was unable to, but was succesful in capturing the Daami and returning both ships to federation space. This incident would spark a fierce rivalry between Harriman and Vokar for over two decades. (TLE novel: Serpents Among the Ruins)
Aboard the Enterprise
Command Style
Harriman was noted for inviting questions on the bridge and mixing both strength and decisiveness with patience and informality. This duality allowed him to keep a very open but functional relationship with his crew without employing an unnecessary amount of harsh discipline.(TLE novel: Serpents Among the Ruins)
The Shakedown
Still rather young when he took command of the Enterprise in 2293, Harriman was somewhat ineffective in rescuing transports from the energy ribbon known as the Nexus. He was able to swallow his pride and ask James T Kirk, a guest of honor on the shakedown, for advice. Unfortunately, Kirk was apparently killed during this encounter. (Film: Star Trek: Generations)
Askalon V
Several weeks later, while investigating an apparent distress signal on planet Askalon V, Harriman was forced to kill his helm officer, Ensign Demora Sulu, when the young woman appeared to have lost her sanity and attacked the rest of the landing party. An unauthorized investigation by Excelsior Captain Hikaru Sulu revealed that Harriman had in fact killed a clone created by alien technology employed by agents hostile to the Federation.
The Askalon mission marked a turning point in the relationship between Harriman and his father. The Enterprise was charged with enforcing the quarantine of Askalon V, and the admiral ordered weapon's use against the Excelsior when Sulu violated that quarantine. The younger Harriman contravened that order, and had the admiral beamed from the bridge to the brig. Given the discovery of Ensign Sulu and the cloning technology, no formal mutiny charges were initated, but the relationship between the two men remained strained for years to follow. (TOS novel: The Captain's Daughter)
On the Romulan Border
In 2311, The USS Enterprise-B was serving as the federation flagship and frequently patrolled the Foxtrot sector along the Romulan Neutral Zone, this during a time of rising tension between the Federation and Romulans. Harriman was considered an expert on the Romulans and was thus one of the most important people involved with this situation. In particular, he believed Aventeer Vokar to be the most dangerous man in the Romulan Fleet, and the heaviest proponent for war with the Federation. This was due to his staunch chauvanistic nature, the allies he had in the senate, including the praetor, and his position as commander of the entire Romulan fleet. Some of his important missions on the Romulan border included an investigation of Koltaari, Escorting the USS Universe during it's trial run, and delivering the Universe specifications to the Romulans after the destruction of that vessel. (TLE novel: Serpents Among the Ruins)
Special Operations
Uneasy over the amount of blood that would surely be shed were a Federation/Romulan War to take place, Harriman devised a plan that would lure the Klingons into an alliance with the Federation, therefore forcing the Romulans to stand down. Since the Klingons had declared that they would fight for peace, and thus side against whoever initiated a conflict, all Harriman had to do was fake an attack by the Romulans in Federation Space. This attack would later be referred to as the Tomed Incident. Harriman enlisted the aid of Special Ops Agents Drysi Gravenor and Elias Vaughn and the three of them together infiltrated the Romulan Flagship Tomed. They gained entry onto the ship by stowing away on Enterprise, who was to be escorted out of Romulan space by Tomed They sabotaged the equipment regulating deuterium temperature, and radiation began to leak on Enterprise before the problem was fixed. During this time, Tomed's shields had been lowered in case it was necessary to evacuate Enterprise, and the Special Ops team beamed aboard. Once there, they sabtoaged the containment field around Tomed's quantum singularity warp drive, causing a gradual breakdown in the containment field that would eventually result in the destruction of the vessel. Harriman hoped that the Romulans would all abandon ship as soon as this was discovered, but Vokar suspected Federation treachery and insisted on staying behind with a few other officers. Harriman, Gravenor, and Vaughn were indeed sucessful in capturing the vessel after a lengthy showdown with the Romulan Officers. Harriman was intent on keeping this plan bloodless, as he saw no morality in killing to prevent a war, and thus gave the romulans the option of being taken captive or remaining on the Tomed, where they would be killed when the vessel was destroyed. When two of the officers attempted to defect, Vokar and Akeev killed them. In spite of even this, Harriman found himself unable to kill Vokar and simply left him on the Tomed when his team fled the vessel. After escaping in a shuttle, Gravenor, Vaughn, and Harriman were secretly beamed on board the USS Enterprise.(TLE novel: Serpents Among the Ruins)
Relinquishing Command
He resigned his command in 2311, following the Tomed Incident. Command of the Enterprise was relinguished to Demora Sulu. Harriman then departed the vessel and married Amina Sasine. (TLE novel: Serpents Among the Ruins)
Later Postings
In 2371, Harriman, then an admiral, was Starfleet liaison to the Starfleet Corps of Engineers. (TNG short story: "Full Circle")
Personal Life
Demora Sulu
Harriman and Sulu had served together for many years and thus became close friends. Harriman visted her on a few occasions when he was feeling distraught about the health of his father. Harriman was also a self-proclaimed philophile, having a passion for passions, and thus was intrigued by Demora Sulu's interest in wine.(TLE novel: Serpents Among the Ruins)
Gell Kamemor
Harriman was close friends with Romulan Ambassador Gell Kamemor and the two met frequently on both official and unoffical terms. They together frequently enjoyed a romulan beverage called Carallun. Harriman may have abused his friendship with Kamemor when prior to the Tomed Incident, he warned her that Vokar was planning something drastic to attempt to start a war and asked for her help, when in truth it was Harriman who had secretive plans. (TLE novel: Serpents Among the Ruins)
Blackjack Harriman
Harriman had a rocky relationship with his father at best, and the two only spoke on official terms following the Askalon V mission. Still, when Blackjack died shortly after the Treaty of Algeron was signed, Harriman was distraught, finding it foolish that he, a man of fifty, kept thinking of himself as an orphan. Though Blackjack had told Demora Sulu before his death that he thought of his son as weak and ungreatful, Demora relayed to Harriman that he had said that he loved him, telling a white lie that would give Harriman a little bit of peace. (TLE novel: Serpents Among the Ruins)
Amina Sasine
Harriman met Amina Sasine while she was serving a brief tour of duty on the USS Enterprise. They did not become romantically involved until about 2303 when she was serving as Executive Officer aboard the USS New York. The two frequently vacationed together and also enjoyed watching classic movies such as Mrs. Miniver, Random Harvest, It's a Wonderful Life, and An Ancient Season. Harriman also enjoyed writing poetry for Sasine, and after dating her for six month wrote one entitled "For Now and Ever". The two married in 2311, after Harriman left his post as captain of the Enterprise. (TLE novel: Serpents Among the Ruins)