Taban Seltok Brook

Authored by Amdirgol S

Character Biography

History: Taban is a Bajoran/Cardassian Hybrid born in the aftermath of the Dominion War. He was found wrapped in a blanket in a half-collapsed home on Cardassia Prime by a Starfleet officer named James Brook, who took the infant and adopted him. Taban grew up on Earth, and was raised by James and his wife Erin to judge based on personality, rather than cranial ridges or pointed ears. He was occasionally bullied due to the recent hostilities with the Cardassian Union, but learned to just ignore those who refused to accept him on his own merits. When he reached the age at which he could apply to the Academy, he did so immediately, wanting to follow in his adoptive father’s footsteps.
He went into the sciences, having an interest in cultures and xenobiology due to his hybrid nature, but also studied quantum mechanics to broaden his skillset. During his time there, he finally found a group of people he fit in with, all of them having the desire to boldy go where no one has gone before. He spent many nights working on one project or another in one of the on-campus labs, both assignments for his classes and personal projects he’d gotten approval on. During his 3rd year in the Academy, he got very close to dropping out after burnout hit, and he subsequently pulled back from many of the extracurricular projects he had previously been working on. He continued to enjoy doing them in moderation, but was careful to avoid massive burnout again. Overall, those 4 years were likely the most enjoyable of his life to that point, and it was bittersweet when he finally graduated.
After graduation, he was stationed on the USS Baum for around a year. He was posted primarily as a junior officer in the Xenology department, but rotated around to learn how to work in other science divisions, and frequently applied to be included in landing parties on unexplored planets. One such trip included an incident where his away team was stranded and were unable to contact the ship. Despite his superior officer’s orders, Taban made contact with and rescued a (pre-warp) native of the planet who was trapped under a rock near them, reasoning she would die if they did nothing. The woman ended up being able to help them get the technology they needed to reestablish contact with the Baum. He received a verbal reprimand for failing to follow orders, but due to the results of his actions, the away team leader chose not to place it in his official file. Shortly afterwards, Taban requested a transfer to a deep-space exploration vessel, wanting to find things and peoples nobody had ever seen anything like before. He was assigned to the Europa, and is hoping to work with people with the same outlook and values as him.

Physical Description: Taban is slightly shorter than average, and fairly skinny. He has pale skin, blue-grey eyes, and medium-dark brown hair. He has Cardassian cranial ridges, though they are subtler than a full blooded Cardassian’s, and he has the ridged nose common to Bajorans. He is slightly more muscular than his slight frame would imply, but tends to solve problems with his brains rather than brawn if at all possible.

Medical History: He has no major past injuries or illnesses. He does, however, have a tendency to overwork himself to the point of exhaustion if he becomes interested in something.

Psychological Evaluation: “Ensign Brook is an interesting young officer. He may be the singular most idealistic Starfleet Officer I have ever met, and is driven by those ideals. Although he is extremely devoted to Starfleet, if his values are at odds with his orders, he is inclined to follow the values rather than the orders. But when they are in harmony, he is extremely dedicated, so much so that he’s had to be gently reprimanded for not going off-duty. He is also generally a warm and caring person, and often neglects his own needs to help someone else with theirs. Honestly, I think he’d make a great counselor, if he wanted to pursue that path. He keeps to himself or buries into work when everyone seems happy, but the second he notices something wrong, I’ve heard he quite literally has dropped what he’s doing to help.
Overall, I don’t find anything that would prevent him from duty, and so officially declare him fit for duty.” - Lt. Commander Alarion Ross, Chief Counselor, USS Baum.

Myers-Briggs Type: INFJ

Date of Birth: 2375, exact date unknown. Taban celebrates his birthday on December 12th, the date he was found and adopted.