Caelene Tam
Male

Place of Origin: Trill

Caelene is 5’6” and weighs 122 lbs. She has coffee colored eyes and light brown hair that she sometimes wears as a dark blonde color. As is typical with Trills, Caelene has two rows of spots which go down each side of her body from head to toe.

Prior to being Joined – While Caelene has a natural gift for understanding how things work and how to fix them, her social skills are severely lacking. She prefers to be by herself and is generally awkward around others. After being promoted into more of a leadership role, she improved her ability to work with others, but is still somewhat uncomfortable in social situations.

After being Joined – Being joined with the Tam symbiont has left Caelene somewhat confused and uncertain of herself. Having not had the chance to acquaint herself with the previous host, Milara, before the host’s death, she is struggling to incorporate the two personalities. While still awkward socially and tending to be a loner, at times she finds herself being much more boisterous and outgoing. She has been taking up some of Milara’s hobbies via her time in the holodeck, which makes her feel a little more `whole`.

Hobbies & Interests
Caelene enjoys tinkering with various technologies as well as solving puzzles. She likes reading and spending time on the holodeck, though most of her holodeck time involves visiting outdoor places on her own. While not her strong suit, Caelene also experiments with cooking and baking, from what she learned from her mother and brother.

Bachelor’s Degree in Physics
StarFleet Academy Major: Engineering

Previous Hosts of the Tam Symbiont:
Tam Born: 2343
Milara (Soret) Tam – Female – Archaeologist
Joined: 2364-2388 (Cave-in at dig site necessitated saving the symbiont)
Hobbies, Interests: Hiking, rock-climbing, spelunking, photography
Personality: Outspoken, fun, open-minded, hands-on
Career History:
Bachelors in Geology, Masters in Anthropology, Doctorate in Archaeology

Caelene Rennir was born on April 12, 2361 to Kauven and Lenra Rennir on the Trill homeworld. She was the youngest of the Rennir children; her brother Voris was six years her senior and her brother Azorn was a year older than her. The Rennirs lived modestly in the Teloril province; Kauven was a Chemistry professor at the local university and Lenra was a chef specializing in pastries. By the time Caelene was born, her father already had a strong bond with his eldest son and regularly encouraged Voris to challenge himself. Kauven seemed at a loss as far as how to handle his daughter, but tried his best.

With most of Kauven’s attention turned towards Voris, and due to their closeness in age, Azorn and Caelene were the closest of the siblings. They were much more reserved than their older brother, but were at least as intelligent. Of their parents, it was Lenra who spent the most time with them. She encouraged them to be creative and taught them that they could do whatever they could think of. Many times, the three would cook together, put together puzzles, and play other games. While still rather young, Caelene showed an aptitude for understanding how things worked. It was she who would fix their toys if they weren’t working.

Voris spent most of his time learning from Kauven and taking extra classes in school – both he and his father wanted him to have a good chance at being selected for joining. When Caelene or Azorn were finished with their schoolwork, they usually visited their mother at the bakery she owned. Azorn showed a real flair for cooking and baking; Caelene was less successful in those areas. Instead, she seemed to have a natural talent for fixing the bakery’s equipment when it malfunctioned. Still, the three enjoyed their time together. The entire family spent time together as well, but it was always obvious which child Kauven’s favorite was. It didn’t seem to bother Azorn very much, but Caelene sometimes wondered if she was missing out on a relationship with her father.

Caelene didn’t have many friends, other than Azorn. While she could easily comprehend the inner workings of many devices and systems, she simply couldn’t relate to her peers and generally avoided dealing with them. Her classmates weren’t exactly sure how to deal with her either – while not a genius, she excelled in her studies and skipped two grades. Being in classes with others older than her did not help her social skills.

By the time Caelene graduated from high school at age sixteen, Voris had applied and been rejected for joining. Both he and their father had taken it hard; Voris instead threw himself into his studies at medical college. While Azorn had expressed no interest in being joined, Caelene was intrigued by the idea.

Caelene, wanting to better understand the theories behind her natural talent, chose to pursue a degree in physics. Many of the extra classes she had taken during high school applied to the degree and she took as many classes as possible, so she was able to earn her Bachelor’s degree in two years. At this point, she submitted her application to be joined, but chose not to tell her family yet.

Her time at the university helped her come out of her shell to some extent and made her all the more curious about other species. She had seen some, of course, as visiting professors, StarFleet officers on leave, and even tourists. Caelene got the feeling from her experiences with them that there was much more for her to learn and that it would require leaving Trill. For this reason, she decided to join StarFleet.

Academy History:
StarFleet Academy: 2379-2383

Academy was something of an overload for Caelene. The sheer number of cadets and different species there seemed to make her social skills revert back to their levels prior to her time at university. For the first several months all of her time was spent either in class, in her dorm room, or in the library, where she could be left alone. Caelene even avoided her advisor for quite some time, putting off their initial meeting.

When she finally did meet her advisor, the El-Aurian encouraged her to concentrate in engineering or science, based on her background. Upon further review of her records and comments from her Academy instructors, he recommended engineering due to her seeming aptitude in that area. Caelene readily agreed with the recommendation and chose to major in Engineering. Realizing how much the Trill was isolating herself, he suggested that she attempt to start a study group with her peers.

Although initially reluctant to participate in any kind of group, Caelene came to acknowledge that it was what she needed; she had come to Academy to learn and gain new experiences, but she wasn’t accomplishing that by hiding herself away. Slowly she began approaching her classmates and by the end of her first year, had a close-knit study group. Not wanting to have attention on herself all the time and knowing that she was not as strong in some of the subjects – particularly ones involving command or diplomacy – Caelene’s study group partners each excelled in different areas.

Caelene missed her family while at the Academy, but did her best to keep in touch. Azorn was attending a premier cooking school and Voris had become a skilled surgeon. She found, though, that her father had taken a little more interest in her since she had gone to Academy. He still didn’t know quite what to make of her, but there was a bit more pride in his eyes when he spoke with her. Her mother, of course, was ever supportive and wanted to hear all about her time at Academy.

During her second year at StarFleet Academy, Caelene received word from the Symbiosis Commission – her request to be joined had been denied. She hadn’t fully expected to be accepted into the program; she knew that only the best were and that she was lacking in some areas that they likely found important. The rejection hurt nonetheless, but Caelene went on with her education. She did finally tell her mother that she had applied, but asked that she not share the news.

Her remaining years at Academy were largely uneventful. A few others joined the study group she had put together and she remained friendly with them. They did sometimes coax her to join them for what they considered `fun` activities, and Caelene found herself enjoying that time with them, though she didn’t always feel she fit in with them and their personalities.

Graduating from StarFleet Academy in 2383 with a concentration in Engineering, Caelene was in the top ten of her class.

Career History:
Fresh out of Academy Caelene was assigned as an engineering officer aboard the USS Sumer, a Nebula class starship. Somehow she found it easier being on a starship than it had been at Academy. She got her assignments from one of the higher ranked officers in the engineering department and completed them to the best of her ability as quickly as possible.

On one of the Sumer’s patrol missions, the ship took heavy damage after travelling too close to a spatial anomaly. All engineers were called to duty stations at that point to get the damage fixed as soon as possible. Caelene acted quickly and helped troubleshoot several issues, saving the team several hours of investigative work. After witnessing her abilities first hand, the Chief Engineering Officer reassigned her to be a damage control specialist.

Caelene made something of a name for herself after that. The longer she was aboard, the better acquainted with the ship’s systems she became. At times she could `feel` that something was off with the engines based on a slight change in their sound. Others could tell too, but she seemed to notice it first in many cases.

After a brief shoreleave at Starbase G-6, Caelene learned that a Joined Trill had transferred onto the ship as Assistant Chief Medical Officer. Doran Lir had been joined six years prior, following his graduation from StarFleet Academy. Though it was against her usual nature, Caelene sought him out, glad to have a fellow Trill on board. The two slowly became friends; their friendship gave Caelene a window into being joined – Doran was the fifth host of Lir. From those five lifetimes, Lir had plenty of stories to share.

Having proven her worth on several occasions, Caelene was promoted to Lieutenant JG and was transferred to the Sovereign Class USS Sonoyta in 2386. Though reluctant to start over again with new crewmates and sad to be leaving Doran behind, Caelene was excited to learn about a different ship class. Despite the larger size of the Sonoyta, there were no fellow Trills on the ship.

Her new crewmates weren’t sure what to make of her; it seemed that her awkwardness towards them was somewhat reflected back in their interactions with her. It hadn’t seemed as pronounced on the Sumer, but with her promotion came additional responsibilities…namely having other engineers reporting to her. It was quite an adjustment for Caelene and there were several times when she wondered if she had made the right choice.

With time, though, her skills did improve. Mostly this was due to the guidance she received from the Chief Engineer, Sean O’Connor. He was a seasoned veteran and well-liked by the others in their department. Sean did his best to take her under his wing and teach her more about being a leader. Caelene was encouraged to take some public speaking and communication lessons, which she did on the holodeck.

Caelene grew more relaxed in her position and was once again thriving. It was then that the unexpected happened. During an exploration mission in 2388 that took the Sonoyta past the Typhon Expanse, the ship received a distress call from a nearby planet, Lurikai II. A team of archaeologists was on the planet’s surface and one, a Joined Trill named Milara Tam, had been injured during a cave-in. Her internal injuries were too severe and there were no un-joined Trills amongst the rest of their team.

With the host and symbiont near death, the Sonoyta’s Commanding Officer, Captain Surak, called Caelene to his office and explained the situation. Given an hour to decide, Caelene contacted Doran to get his advice. He essentially told her what she already felt deep down, that it was her duty to ensure the symbiont survived.

One other Joined Trill was part of the archaeology team – Jurisa Zel. She spoke briefly with Caelene and, as Milara was on the verge of death, agreed that while Caelene was not the best candidate – particularly since she had been rejected by the Commission previously – she would have to do. Jurisa assisted in the procedure of transferring the symbiont into Caelene.

With no Guardian nearby to perform the zhian’tara, Caelene was mostly alone on her new journey as a Joined Trill. It seemed that Milara had been everything she had not – out-going and personable – and Caelene had a difficult time reconciling the two personalities. Doran helped her as best he could and the Symbiosis Commission did follow up with her, but she has been struggling to deal with her symbiont’s previous host since the joining.

After a few weeks off duty while trying to deal with her new status, Caelene eventually returned to work. Her crewmates mainly treated her the same, but when she reacted differently, they weren’t entirely sure what to do.

During a mission a couple months later, the Sonoyta engaged a small band of pirate vessels. In the course of battle, coolant began leaking from the warp core’s main reaction chamber. Caelene detected the issue quickly and brought it to the attention of Sean; working together, they were able to prevent a warp core breach, but the ship was heavily damaged.

Due to her actions that helped save the ship and crew, Caelene received a promotion to Lieutenant. With the Sonoyta needing to undergo major repairs, she was informed that the USS Perseus was in need of a Chief Engineer and was subsequently transferred there.

StarFleet Academy: 2379-2383
USS Sumer (Nebula Class): 2383-2384, Engineering Officer [Ensign]
USS Sumer (Nebula Class): 2384-2386, Damage Control Specialist [Ensign]
USS Sonoyta (Sovereign Class): 2386-2388, Assistant Chief Engineering Officer [Lieutenant JG]
USS Perseus (Galaxy Class): 2389-Present, Chief Engineering Officer [Lieutenant]