Born the only child of Lt. Charles 'Chuck" Widdlestein and his lovely wife. Samantha knows no other life that that of a Fleet Brat. She has only been on a planet five times in her whole life (six if you count the Planet of Doom), and will tell anyone all about those experiences.
At age eight, Samantha decided she was going to marry a Starfleet Officer to augment her chosen career of journalist and started looking more closely at the available candidates. Luckily (in her view) a new transfer meeting all her and her Mummy's requirements came to the Galaxy Tactical Department and moved in right across the hall from her parents on Deck Five. She began a clandestine campaign to win the heart of one Lieutenant (jg) Lysander VanderPuls-Hawksley of Alpha Centauri from the moment she laid eyes on him. Unfortunately (in her eyes) everyone though her decision was 'cute' and didn't realize that she and Lysander (again, her opinion) were PERFECT for each other. He was exceedingly rich (more so later), Suave (to eight year old eyes) and debonair, glibly charming (when not making an ass of himself) and on the 'Fast Track' to command (Thanks to an idiot-savant ability to do High Level mathematics in his head) Their patronization only fueled the girl's determination.
During Samantha's ninth Birthday, she was one of the few children cast down to Planet Doom by the Hirogen for their hunting pleasures. Sam, ever a resourceful child, soon linked up with idol Lt.(jg) Arel Smith of the Galaxy's Security Department and the duo spent many an informative hour together. Sam showed Arel how to correctly hit execute a plie' from the passe-deux position in ballet, and Arel showed Sam how to gut an opponent from the side. Other 'girlie' exchanges soon followed, with Arel receiving (unsolicited) hair, makeup and Romance tips from the precocious child, and Sam receiving Klingon Warrior philosophy and Tactics from the moody 'Princess of Angst.' They racked up quite an impressive number of kills between them, and it is a sticking point to the 'Little Targ' that she and Arel never got credited for their record.
After the 'lanjep' Diplomatic Mission's failure, Sam's parents were transferred to Starbase 212 while Galaxy underwent mandatory refurbishment. Sam, increasingly withdrawn and sullen, consoled herself with Long Distance Comm calls (actually call and hang-ups) to Hawksley (aboard the IKS Firestorm) and Arel Smith (Visiting Family and Friends in the Klingon Empire) Until her "mummy' received the bill.
Several hysterical temper tantrums and weeks of sulking later, Samantha announced that she had a new mission in her newly celibate life. She was going to become the youngest entrant to Starfleet Academy and become the Youngest Starship Captain ever. Her indulgent parents laughed it off, but they don't know the steely determination of their own offspring. They also didn't know that Samantha had been looking over the Personnel records of Galaxy crew and the case notes she purloined from one 'Kit Jordan' a Pulitzer wining journalist who had been aboard the Old Galaxy as a 'frontline' observer. Using these two sketchy resources, Samantha had a plan. . . .
In 2379, shortly after Sam's tenth Birthday, her parents were surprised to get orders sending them back to the new Galaxy. They should have had a clue that Sam had already packed her bags two days before the notice arrived.
As a small child, Sam's mother repeatedly tried to 'bring her up right' but Sam is one of the most headstrong young ladies you will ever meet. Her 'Mummy' knows everything, and prior to last year, Sam would tell you EVERYTHING her Mummy had ever said on any subject relating to her audience and their problems as perceived by Miss Widdlestein, Aged (9). Now advanced one whole year, Samantha has substituted the phrase "Arel Says. . ." to replace Mummy. Arel Smith, the former Federation Security Officer raised on Qu'oNos by her father and more used to Klingon ways than Federation is now Sam's shining example of womanhood.
Sam's IQ is very high... and her grasp of inter-personal relations (while slightly skewed by her age and experience and exposure to the more marginal personalities around her) is advanced beyond her years. She's learning to project an air of sickly sweet "butter wouldn't melt on her tongue" innocence to the universe, while inside plotting exactly what she needs to do to get her desired result. There are five people in the Universe that Sam Widdlestein would move mountains for: Her Mummy and Daddy, Arel Smith, Lysander, and herself. Everyone else had better not get in her way. Sam also helped Hawksley in the programming of his "holo-Personality" Matrix endeavor (in which he 'accidentally' married a Holo version of his nemesis Rebecca Von Ernst.) Unbeknownst to Hawksley, Sam has a copy of his prototype of his own 'personality' template program and has 'tweaked' it with a few of her own additions and touches. It figures prominently as most of the 'Fairy Tale Princes' in her personal Holo Deck collection, and the ever-resourceful Miss Widdlestein is considering publishing them for the mass market.
She has horrid taste in reading materials, which she devours as quickly as she can access them. Favorites are 'gloppy' Holo-Romances (the more saccharine and plot-stunted the better!) She has a guilty pleasure in 'Kids' Holo-Fairy tales as well but would deny indulging now that she's at the advanced age of ten. She is a rabid fan of the long-running Holo-Soap Drama "As the Universe Unfurls. . ." mostly because of the tenuous connection that Lysander's mother, Dame Estella Hawksley was a star on it before her death (and Sam's birth!) The more lurid the plot developments on the saga, the more prone Sam is to share them with everyone around her. She is also trying to develop an interest in Klingon culture, the gorier the better.
Arel Smith trained Sam perhaps a bit TOO well in unarmed combat. While she hasn't actually used any of the skills since the Planet of Doom, Sam would surprise anyone she ever tangled with. She practices every morning before going to school, and her Hirogen Stiletto is usually not too far from her hand.
