Quest, Sarah
PRC 
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STAR FLEET PERSONNEL COMMAND FILE |
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| RETIRED[2] | |||
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| Sarah Quest | |||
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| Career Occupation | |||
| Position: | Counselor | ||
| Assignment: | USS Dauntless, BC-1553 | ||
| Rank: | Lieutenant Junior Grade | 
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| Biographical Attributes | |||
| Species: | 1/2 Vulcan, 1/2 Human | ||
| Gender: | Female | ||
| Height: | 178 cm (5 ft. 10 in.) | Weight: | 53.5 kg (118 lb.) |
| Eye Color: | Dark Brown | ||
| Hair Color: | Also light brown; it almost perfectly matches her skin colour which at first glance can give her a slightly odd appearance. | ||
| Hairstyle: | Changes almost every day! About an inch off shoulder length. | ||
| Physique: | Down-right skinny, beyond slim. Physically fairly frail, only just managing to scrape through her Star Fleet physical. | ||
| Complexion: | Light brown, somewhere between that of her two brothers. | ||
| Voice: | Sarah has excellent control of her voice, naturally it is high pitched and a little erratic, but she can make it calm and soothing, bold and inspiring, or sensually erotic with practised ease. | ||
| Affiliation: | United Federation of Planets | ||
| Born: | 17808.12 | Age: | 32 |
| Familial Relationships | |||
| Father: | Karl Quest | ||
| Mother: | T'ril | ||
| Status of Parents: | Mother: Deceased, Father: Living on Earth (not remarried) | ||
| Siblings: | Marlu Quest 30, James Quest 40 | ||
| Marital Status: | Single | ||
| Children: | None | ||
Personal History
Sarah never knew her mother, so like her brother Marlu she did not develop the Vulcan discipline or philosophy that she, and indeed their older brother James held (and holds) so dear. However, their mother’s absence hit Sarah more than it did Marlu. She really needed the presence and guidance of another woman in her youth, but found it lacking.
While Marlu responded well to encouragement and praise offered by their father, Sarah did not. This was not because of a sexist bias of Karl, but more a defensive rebellious stance that Sarah took towards him. She became argumentative, unruly, and started to grow out of control. This was not helped by the fact that her father (possibly because he saw some of T’ril in her) did not insist on discipline as strictly as he may have. Of the three children she was the most spoilt.
This attitude spread into her school and her marks and report quality started to plummet. The culmination of which was a situation in which - failing to get her own way (she wanted the PINK-skinned Bolian doll!) - she stamped her foot and grasping the child’s head compelled her to hand over the object she desired - through sheer force of will. It was then that it became apparent that Sarah was Gifted.
At first her father was stunned, and her brother and friends were jealous. But the attitude of all of them gradually began to shift to that of her teachers - worry and suppressed fear. As her brothers and friends (and eventually teachers and father) began to distance themselves from her, she became a loaner. No one picked on her or bullied her - they were to terrified for that - they merely let her be, which was a much worse form of emotional hurt. This was heightened by the fact that she could from time to time pick up thoughts, even from across the other side of the school playgrounds, and those she picked up about herself were never good!
As Sarah withdrew inside her own little shell she became very depressed. James had his Vulcan control, Marlu had an aptitude for technology and study, she had the gift of strong mental prowess. On the face of it, it would seem that she had got the better deal of the siblings. But at that time in her life she didn’t think much of her “Gifts” at all! Especially as how, lacking the traditional Vulcan discipline, they were completely beyond her ability to call upon ninety-nine percent of the time. Only surfacing when she least expected it, when particularly angry or feeling some other powerful emotion.
This situation continued for a period of two or three years, until Sarah had reached the ripe old age of fifteen years. That was when her father finally got a backbone and plucked up the nerve to deal with his vixen daughter, who had got through a whole heap of home-schooling teachers (she had been expelled form the state school she was attending some time ago), or looked at another way - decided to take the cowards way out. He set out on a journey to Vulcan, Sarah in tow.
Sarah’s mother T’ril had been a capable telepath, but would not be considered one who possessed “strong” telepathic ability. Her mother (Sarah’s grandmother and Karl’s mother-in-law) was however. Remembering back to tales about her that T’ril had passed on before her passing he saw a glimmer of hope. Saranel was a priestess in the high-temple of Amonak, and was extremely capable. It seemed that in her line the gene for extraordinary mental prowess had skipped a generation, something not uncommon.
Karl had no delusions about their chances of Sarah being accepted as an acolyte at the Temple of Amonak, but he thought that perhaps one of the smaller, less prominent temples would be receptive to the idea, out of generosity if nothing else!
The first three temples they tried refused outright. Under no circumstances would they accept someone who was not a full Vulcan. The next one had a strict “arrival at birth” doctrine. The fifth and six were both receptive to the idea, but only accepted those who had so far shown a “deep level of control potential”.
Just when Karl was about to give up hope, and begin preparations to return to earth, he struck gold - or rather, gold struck him. Somehow the priestesses at the temple of Sarmeth had heard of Karl’s search, and for some reason that was beyond Karl Quest (and indeed Sarah herself), were eager to meet with her.
Out of pity, or so Sarah’s father thought, they agreed to take her in. A hug, a forced kiss and an attempted pat-on-the-head later and Karl had left, praying for the safety and good fortune of his only daughter. Sarah was once more left alone - this time in company of total strangers, and the priestesses she was to discover, were most certainly strange.
The priestesses treated her perfectly. Of course, Sarah would not have agreed with that statement at the time. She was not spoilt by them like her father had done, but neither was she mistreated or ignored. She received instruction, every day, for many hours. After each lesson, whether she did well or struggled she was not chastised, but praised and encouraged. But should she even once break any of the long list of rules she would be punished - sometimes quite severely.
At first she rebelled, just as she had done at school, and deliberately broke all of the rules. However she soon realised that this tactic really wasn’t working out for her - so she changed tact. Instead of breaking all of the rules completely, she tested the limits, came as close as she could to the line as possible, and then poked one tentative toe over it. The one rule that was strictly enforced at all times with no exceptions however, was that she was under no circumstances to attempt to use her mind to communicate outside of her control lessons; this struck her as odd however, as anyone else there would easily have been able to guard their mind from probing, and keep their surface thoughts focuses and disciplined. None the less, she obeyed.
Trying to push the rules to their limits without breaking the boundaries became as a game to her, and after a year she was a master. Never after this time was she punished (sometimes she’d admit because they did not catch her) for breaking rules, although she was as outrageous as possible in every way she was permitted to be (and actually did break the rules at every opportunity she got). Fortunately for her, this was sufficient, and her studies with the priestesses progressed well, exceptionally well in fact, although she was never as strong as the priestesses themselves, and telekinetic talents were always just beyond her ability to manifest.
Her stay at the Temple of Sarmeth lasted for exactly five years, as was traditional - a relatively short time for Vulcans. It was this long that it was written that the period of introduction should last, and only after this amount of time did the initiate have the opportunity to become a full-time member of the temple (as a mere Acolyte, naturally, full priesthood coming much later on). The decision to stay had to be unanimously decided upon by all three parties involved; The current priestesses, the initiate’s father, and the initiate themselves. In Sarah’s case, all three were in agreement - She would leave.
Karl, who had been receiving regular reports and updates on Sarah’s development in the temple, but who had never visited or made contact (at the priestess’ insistence), was desperate to see his daughter again, and could not bear to have her remain there for over a decade longer, or even another year.
The priestesses, though accepting that she was very talented, keen to learn, developing stronger control, and indeed finally following the rules; had voted to release her by a narrow margin, the primary argument for doing so being that she was too undisciplined and in general day-to-day life not able to follow logical doctrine.
And Sarah herself could no longer stand to be cooped up. She was able to take walks in the temple grounds, and had complete freedom to roam the temple itself. But she none the less felt trapped, and was still somewhat alone. She only had the priestesses to talk to, although did occasionally get to meet Vulcan visitors to the temple who had made something of a minor pilgrimage. But even these people were somehow boring - she wanted human company. Even the youngest and least Vulcan-like acolyte, who had only just been accepted - was aloof and distant; Though Sarah did consider this person (T’ral) a friend.
Above all else however, what Sarah really wanted was the chance to meet with boys; having missed out on such pairing throughout the entirety of her latter teenage years.
Her father collected her, she bid farewell to the priestesses and T’ral, and bummed around at home for several months, planning what to do with her life. The freedoms granted to her by her father (compared with those in the temple) were immense. But her new found sense of rule-following meant that from Karl’s perspective Sarah was now behaving like an angel.
He had no reservations at all about using what influence he had and pulling what strings he could to get her into the Academy. Her training at the temple had included some general studies - not merely focusing and meditation to control her Gifts - and she was able to just scrape her way past the entrance exam.
The Academy was good. For the first time in life she found that her Gifts were a boon, a special advantage that made everything easier for her than it was for the other students there. She still had to put in a lot of effort, and she had to learn proper forms of etiquette and guidelines (which as far as she could tell were rules she was actually permitted to break!) about her telepathic talents. Her studies were good, dating was good; in general - life was good!
She passed out of the academy with flying colours in her two majors, and reasonably high scores in her other subjects of study.
She had not made any plans for what to do after leaving the Academy, but she had become so used to academic study by now, and so enthralled by the Academy’s enrapturing environment, that she decided to just stay there! She applied for (and got) an assistant researcher/instructor job, which involved preparing things for the full-instructor’s classes, participating in the larger research programs, and writing up reports and analyses. Each of which was something she enjoyed for a different reason. But best of all was the times when one of the elderly full-time instructors, who was also a part time therapist invited Sarah to come with him to perform note-taking and write ups.
Cornelius Nix took each opportunity to discuss his patients with Sarah, and she was amazed to find that his analyses which were based on body language and what was said only, was as exact as her own telepathically provided insight. Not only that, but he could describe feeling in much greater detail than she could. An emotion which to her was “anger” was to him something more along the lines of “a deep-down longing for commitment to a lost loved one which he is insisting (and unhealthily) burying behind a superficial interpersonal feeling of feminine directed rage.”
She was impressed, and had finally realised what she wanted to do with her life!
Personality Profile
Academy Major(s): Psychology and Psychotherapy
Academy Minor(s): Diplomacy, negotiations and neurology
Hobbies and Pastimes: Writing papers and reports, or even just jotting down notes on the discussions she has had with patients (or even friends/acquaintances). Other than this, Sarah is willing to have a go at anything someone else might suggest, for the social opportunity if nothing else
Short-Term Goals: Adjust to life on a starship, as this will be her first deep space assignment
Long-Term Goals: Has none! Sarah takes things as they come, without planning ahead. If she gets along well onboard the Philadelphia she might try transferring to a larger ship. If she struggles, perhaps return to Earth
Personality: Lively, frisky, somewhat rebellious, flirtatious, and audacious - But all necessarily within the limits. Deep-down she has a very good level of control, the former merely being how she chooses to come across. This is both personal preference, and because it helps with her job
Sense of Humor: Crude / Risqué when appropriate (if such humour can ever be thought of as appropriate?) - When she can get away with it in any case!
Phobias: Solitary confinement - She does not like being alone
Likes: Getting to know and helping people, especially those who do not yet realise that they are in need of aid
Dislikes: People following non-crucial (read: non-life-guarding) rules too rigorously
Pet Peeves or Gripes: People that never change their appearance, who always look the same - day in, day out
Bad Habits or Vices: Peeking/eavesdropping on other’s thoughts a little beyond the unavoidable telepathic levels
Achievements: Having published several psychology papers while performing post-graduate work at the Academy
Disappointments: Although at the time Sarah was very glad to get out of the temple, looking back she can’t help but wonder if she would have done better with her life had she remained there
Illnesses: None so far, perhaps minor depression in her youth
Strengths: Strong telepath, understands people, generally well liked by many
Weaknesses: Everything else! Only the very basic knowledge in fields such as medical practises, engineering, and combat skills - as required by Star Fleet
Fears: Being disliked by more than a few people
Off Duty Clothing Tastes: Flamboyant when she can get away with it, overly formal when she cannot.
Distinguishing Features: None, other than the hair issues mentioned above and slightly pointed ears.
Pets: None, though will sometimes borrow her brother’s Grango-orb from time to time
Friends: Cornelius Nix 58
Career History
Stardate 20603.29 - Graduated Star Fleet Academy.Stardate 20603.29 - Promoted to Midshipman, Assigned to Star Fleet Academy.
Stardate 20606.01 - Awarded RPG’er of the Month.
Stardate 20608.01 - Promoted to Ensign, Awarded RPG’er of the Month, Assigned as Assistant Instructor, Star Fleet Academy.
Stardate 20612.01 - Promoted to Lieutenant Junior Grade, Awarded Diamond Star.
Stardate 20707.01 - Awarded Gold Star.
Stardate 20708.01 - Awarded RPG’er of the Month.
Stardate 20711.20 - Assigned as Counselor on the USS Philadelphia FF-6503.
Stardate 20805.01 - Assigned as Ship's Counselor, USS Dauntless BC-1553.
Contact Information
E-Mail: marluquest@gmail.com
