When her mother was killed in 2350, after the research submersible carrying her survey team was caught in the collapse of a marine trench during a seaquake, Donaldson went to live with her maternal grandparents in Point Buchon, San Luis Obispo County, California, the United States. She applied to, and was accepted by, Starfleet Academy Sciences in 2354.
It was during her second year at the Academy that her ethics professor, Lawrence Stafford (See Stafford, Lawrence, Capt., Ret., pp. 917-18), encouraged her to apply for the command track. Stafford, a retired Starfleet captain who'd taken up trial law after his medical discharge, was impressed with her natural leadership ability. "It's not that she's a brilliant tactician, but she's bold and innovative, even, maybe especially, under duress. And she's a keen judge of others' merits, even when they're not sure of themselves. She believes in them, and they, in turn, believe in her."
Throughout her early career (aboard the Vindolanda as Chief of Sciences, then the Hawking as Executive Officer), Erika Donaldson was considered an officer with astonishing potential. All those around her spoke of a bright, highly competent officer who had great things ahead of her.
Then it all fell apart.
Little concrete detail is available on the courts martial of then-Commander Erika Donaldson and Captain Ronald Eagen. What information is available in the public record tells us that while on a mission near the Romulan Neutral Zone, Donaldson removed Eagan from command during the rescue of a Romulan civilian transport.
While most of the transcripts and supporting documentation from the trial are now sealed away in Starfleet classified files, protected from press or public scrutiny under the broad umbrella of the Federation Security Act of 2247, there is some indication that Captain Eagen may have refused to assist the transport, and was summarily relieved of command by Donaldson, who ordered that the rescue move ahead, despite the transport's position in Romulan space.
In the end, both Donaldson and Eagan were charged with conduct unbecoming, insubordination (in Donaldson's case) and a host of other offenses. After a lengthy and bitter legal battle, Donaldson was acquitted.
Eagen was not.
But from the beginning, Donaldson's efforts to defend herself were dogged by misfortune, and, some have accused, a Starfleet vendetta: The pertinent Hawking log files (the cornerstone of her defense strategy) were, supposedly, inadvertently corrupted by an unskilled technician. Two of her lawyers withdrew after proceedings were already underway: one, the first week, the other at a critical moment two months into the trial. At that point, Donaldson's case was taken up by Lawrence Stafford, who took a leave from his Academy teaching post to handle the defense of his former student.
After critical details, such as the presence of the Romulan Praetor's nephew on the transport, were leaked to the public, the entire affair became a circus. While the public - led by FNS investigative reporter Diane Dell - rallied behind Donaldson, proclaim her a hero for her role in averting what could have been a political and diplomatic disaster, certain elements in Starfleet Command seemed determined to destroy her career.
Most vocal was Admiral Gerald Meznarick, who went as far as claiming that Donaldson was, for all intents and purposes, a traitor. And it seems likely that, had the aforementioned details of the event not been leaked to the public (or been, in some instances, fortuitously uncovered by Ms. Dell), Donaldson would have been convicted. Meznarick, according to rumor, was so enraged that he actually accused her of arranging the leak (which would have, of course, brought additional charges to bear), but was unable to find any evidence to back his allegations; both she and Eagen were under house arrest for the duration of the seven month trial - under very close scrutiny - and her opportunities to do so were essentially non-existent.
After the verdict, Starfleet Command promptly sealed the trial transcripts and has repeatedly refused to release them, despite various legal attempts and journalistic appeals. The principals have been of no help either; neither Erika Donaldson nor Ronald Eagen have spoken of the events that drastically changed both their lives.
Eagen went to prison for five years, and Donaldson received a controversial promotion and a command. By all accounts, neither was happy with the outcome.
If her promotion seemed out of character, given the circumstances, her command assignment was even more puzzling. While Starfleet Command attempted to paint the assignment as "a challenging post for a determined and skilled young captain," many even in the officer corps, including members of the Admiralty, acknowledged that it was, as then-Rear Admiral Alexander Pierce said, "The worst 'good-looking' assignment I've ever seen." (cf. Jane's Fighting Ships Special Report: The Curse of the "Auspicious"-class)
Donaldson commented on none of it. Not to the press, not to her colleagues, not - by all accounts - even to her friends. She turned her back on the recriminations and accusations and set about doing her job.
Her detractors, though, have continued to speak (mostly off the record, of course) about Erika Donaldson as a woman who is, by turns: ruthlessly ambitious; blatantly insubordinate (a charge that even her friends and allies will not deny has some merit); disloyal; heedless of Starfleet protocol or sensibilities; and, most damning of all, not at all competent or deserving to have her own command.
Her supporters, however, are vocal, and describe her as: forthright and intelligent; eminently capable as a commander; a deeply loyal friend; scrupulously fair; and an officer who holds her oaths to Starfleet in the highest regard - despite all that has happened.
Perhaps the most telling comment on her character is that, to this day, Erika Donaldson and the ship with which she is inextricably linked, the USS Adventurous, still serve Starfleet.
Indeed, in the years that have followed the trial, her record has been filled with more commendations than condemnations, due in large part to her deep commitment to her vessel and crew, her tempered recklessness and her uncanny ability to take whatever is handed to her and make the best of it - the very definition, according to some, of a great starship captain.