Shelly Marsden

Shelly Marsden was the Chief Engineer of the USS Anomaly.

Marsden was the only child of Harold and Ann Marsden, two xeno-archaeologists. When she was a toddler, the Marsdens were working at a dig site on Pyadall when they were attacked by Whurakan raiders. They were saved by a ship commanded by Reginald Bain, a fact that Marsden never shared with her future captain (Primary Sources [BG]). In her teen years, she attended the Federation Magnet High School, where she became friends with Natalia Kasyov.

Lieutenant Shelly Marsden worked in Starfleet Special Projects, where she developed the anti-singularity drive, which combined elements of Federation and Romulan technologies to achieve incredible speeds. She was unable to stabilize the system, though, until she took the unorthodox step of funneling the drive energies through a piece of space debris that was discovered by the USS Secondprize over a century earlier. This debris was actually part of an advanced culture's starship and served as the housing for the sphere-encased brains they used to regulate their engine systems. Marsden's use of housing attracted Cabral, who phased through the hull of the Hermes-7 prototype containing the housing and took over control of the ship, taking Marsden and Hector Arroyo along for the ride. Once Captain Reginald Bain was able to intercept the Hermes-7 and befriend Cabral. Cabral elected to remain aboard the ship, which was renamed the USS Anomaly. Bain was made Captain and Marsden ordered to serve as his Chief Engineer. (If I Only Had a Brain [BG])

Marsden was upset that Bain took command of the Anomaly away from her (and also that he changed the name to the Anomaly), so she attempted to get a transfer rather than serve as Bain’s chief engineer. Admiral Kristen Larkin denied the request and threatened to bill Marsden for all of the destroyed prototypes if she resigned from Starfleet. (One Track Mind [BG])

After the Anomaly was damaged in the Andromeda Galaxy, Marsden signed up for a credit account at Gyjik's Galaxy Gateway and used it to get parts for repairs, narrowly avoiding being killed by a particularly angry clerk droid in the process. (Yes, We Do Indeed Have Something To Declare! [BG])