Aurellan Markalis

Aurellan Markalis was a human Starfleet medical officer during the late 24th century. Despite poor social skills, she was an excellent medical practitioner who served various civilian and Starfleet positions, including as Chief medical officer of the USS Lambda Paz.

Early life and Family

Aurellan was born to Lorena Markalis in 2344. Given her mother's free-spirited life-style, Aurellan grew up never knowing who her father was.

At the age of three, Aurellan was diagnosed with a severe case of autism. Her mother learned this to be the case because Aurellan failed to respond to her own name and would have temper tantrums for no apparent reason. She underwent a series of genetic treatments, giving her more of a normal life, though she continued to exhibit odd behaviors consistent with Asperger's syndrome. Considered intellectually gifted, Aurellan was able to finish high school and enter college at age 15.

Despite a strong emotional connection to her mother and her half-sister Imogen, she found her mother to be very overbearing and demanding, and too caught up in her career and romantic relationships. Because of this, Aurellan had an innate need to please authority figures, even viewing USS Lambda Paz CO Limis Vircona as a mother figure. (Star Trek: Lambda Paz character biographies, "Moral Dilemma")

Medical and Starfleet careers

Markalis entered medical school in 2363 at the age of 19. She was recruited into Starfleet in 2372 out of a need for field surgeons on the front lines in the preparation of another war with the Klingon Empire. As part of her Starfleet training, she was assigned to the makeshift field hospital on Ajilon Prime, after the Klingon invasion of that world was repelled in 2373. Her work there as a trauma surgeon had many starship captains demanding her services as chief medical officer. Markalis would later call her time on Ajilon an example of "bringing order to chaos" (despite those words being one of the Borg's slogans). (Star Trek: Lambda Paz character biographies, "Divided Loyalties")

By 2374, Markalis was assigned as CMO of the USS Lambda Paz where she had an antagonistic relationship with the ship's EMH Mark II. Though the Mark II had a better "bedside manner", Markalis found it to be just as rude as the Mark I. Markalis even deactivated the Mark II using an encryption that even the chief of security's security authorization could not break. First officer Ronnie Kozar even dressed her down for causing an optronic error in the EMH's program. Kozar even ordered her to try to accept the Mark II as a permanent member of the crew given how understaffed her department was. (Star Trek: Lambda Paz, " Revenge a Dish Best Served Cold", "Divided Loyalties") His services came in handy when the ship was commandeered by Dominion troops in late-2374. ("The Tides of War, Part 2")

Markalis found the idea of a "trick of light" arguing every medical diagnosis insulting, though her relationship with the EMH was just one example of her troubles getting along with colleagues. This often limited her opportunities for advancement. She often had tendencies to speak out of turn and give long-winded explanations. Though she was fully human, Mandel Morrison often thought Markalis had to be at least half-Vulcan, given her tendencies to cite Starfleet regulations word for word. ("Revenge a Dish Best Served Cold", "Moral Dilemma", "The Tides of War, Part 1") She had very rigid conceptions of morality, even refusing to set her phaser on kill, even though the stun setting could not incapacitate a Jem'Hadar soldier in one shot. That decision led her to be taken hostage. Even after having almost died during that ordeal, she became consumed with guilt over incapacitating a Jem'Hadar with a phaser set to kill. Kozar reminded her that the responsibilities of a doctor and a Starfleet officer were not always compatible. ("The Tides of War, Part 2")

Affiliation with Section 31

In early 2375, Markalis was contacted by Section 31 agent Cole regarding a group of Human Augments led by Rhys Darcen intending to use a deadly biological agent. Her first test was her willingness to falsify official records into who was responsible for the deaths of the crew of a listening post in the Epsilon Trianguli system. Instead, Markalis reported this incident to her captain, who then ordered her to go along with Cole's offer. It's possible Cole knew she would go this route since he later provided Limis a means of extracting Markalis. ("Midnight Ride", "A Cause of Greater Worth")

After passing Cole's first test, Markalis was then assigned the more complicated task of infiltrating Darcen's cabal to learn the group's plans. This was achieved by posing as a black market dealer in bio-mimetic gel. In this role, Markalis researched the virus and modified it to make human augments fully immune in case of accidental exposure. She was able to form four different variants of the virus, only one of which humans augments were immune. Darcen offered himself and three of his colleagues as test subjects. Despite ethical reservations, Markalis complied in order to learn Darcen's next plans. ("Midnight Ride", "Religion To Do Good")

Upon learning of Darcen's plan to target the Cardassian settlement on Ventani II, she contacted the Lambda Paz before being taken hostage. She was eventually able to persuade Grimaud to prevent Darcen from carrying out Darcen's plan. Despite receiving high praise for standing by her moral principles and displaying courage she did not believe herself capable of, this mission left Markalis with deep emotional scars. It is uncertain whether she would accept future missions from Section 31. ("Religion To Do Good", "A Cause of Greater Worth")