David Gold

David Gold
Full name:	David Gold
Species:	Human
Gender:	Male
Affiliation:	Federation Starfleet
Career
Previous Assignment:	Commanding officer, USS Progress
Assignment:	Commanding officer, USS da Vinci
Rank:	Captain
Insignia:	File:Red Capt 2373.png

David Gold was a Human in Starfleet in the 24th century.

Early Career

Gold attended Starfleet Academy, and while a cadet, he ran on the Academy track team. While an upperclassman, he was beat in the Academy marathon by a young cadet named Jean-Luc Picard. In 2321, during a competition against Columbia University, he met a Columbia student named Rachel Gilman. After Columbia won the meet, Gold and Gilman began dating, and married a year later, in 2322. In 2324 they moved into a house in the Bronx, in New York City, which they continued to call home for over fifty years. (SCE eBook: Breakdowns)

Gold graduated in 2323, and was assigned to the USS Gettysburg, under Captain Mark Jameson. Friend and classmate Augustus Bradford was assigned to the Gettysburg as well. (SCE eBook: No Surrender) Another of Gold's Gettysburg shipmates, supposedly, was a man named Abraham Silver. (short story: "An Easy Fast")

In 2328, Lieutenant Gold was part of an assault team from the Gettysburg against a secret Cardassian spy base on the moon of Delavi III. The mission was led by Lieutenant Commander Dilat th'Sena, and included Lt. Augustus Bradford, Lt. Mairin ni Bhroanin, Ensign Jolev, and Ensign Rha-Teramaet. The team was eventually successful in securing the base, though th'Sena was killed in action. Gold and the other four team members remained fast friends for many years to follow. (CoE eBook: Turn the Page)

In 2355, he sent a message of condolence to Jean-Luc Picard after Picard lost his vessel, the USS Stargazer, at Maxia Zeta. (TNG/TLE novel The Buried Age)

Captaincy

David Gold in 2376.

Gold's first command was the USS Schiaparelli. After it was decommisioned, he served in an administrative post on Earth for six months, after which he returned to space duty. (SCE eBook: War Stories, Book Two)

By 2369, Gold commanded the USS Progress. Near the end of that assignment, he visited planet Drema IV. He was on the surface during a mining accident, and spent several hours underground, helping other trapped Dremans, before being rescued. (SCE eBook: Progress)

War Stories seems to imply that Gold commanded the Schiaperelli during the period after the Klingon Empire withdrew from the Khitomer Accords in 2372, which would be contradicted by the dating of his command of the Progress. However, the references to Gold's first command are vague enough to place them at an earlier, unspecified point in his career.

The Progress was reassigned to supply runs within the Sol system in late 2369, at which time Gold relinquished command. (SCE ebook: Progress) By late 2373, he was in command of the USS da Vinci, an S.C.E. ship. (SCE short story: "An Easy Fast")

Though it may be assumed Gold took command of the da Vinci at the same time it was assigned to the S.C.E. in 2370 (established in the ebook Security), this has not been stated explicitly.

In mid-2376, the da Vinci was caught and nearly destroyed in the atmosphere of a gas giant planet, Galvan VI. Gold was nearly killed by collapsing beam on his bridge, but was saved when Lieutenant David McAllan pushed him out of the way, sacrificing his own life. Gold lost his left hand in the accident, which was later replaced with a biosynthetic prosthesis. After a brief period of recuperation in New York, he returned to the da Vinci. (SCE eBooks: Wildfire, Breakdowns, Aftermath)

In December of 2376, Gold returned to Earth to preside over the wedding of his granddaughter, Esther Silver, and Khor, Son of Lantar. (SCE eBooks: Creative Couplings)

Later that month, an alternate universe version of Gold tripped an Androssi security device which created havoc across several universes. This alternate Gold was a widower in command of the USS Gettysburg, searching for the yet-undiscovered Celestial Temple at the behest of Kira Nerys. Learning the damage he was doing to space-time, Gold sacrificed his own life to repair the damage. (SCE eBook: Lost Time)

Gold resigned from Starfleet in 2380, following the Borg attack on the Sol system. He returned to Earth to become a consultant on planetary defenses. (ST novel: A Singular Destiny)

Family

Gold had five siblings, including a brother, Adam. He and Gilman had six children together, nineteen grandchildren, and (as of 2377) sixteen great-grandchildren. (SCE eBooks: Wildfire, Book Two; Breakdowns)

See also: Gold-Gilman Family.