Summary
Odalys Zamora is the chief engineer aboard the USS Babylon, and frequently the helmsman as well. She was born and raised on Tellar Prime, and though she didn’t fully fit in, she finds herself irrevocably tied to the Tellarites no matter how widely she travels or how many cultures she encounters. Her long career began in Starfleet Auxiliary. Later, she became an enlisted officer and eventually completed officer candidate school. She’s an avid weightlifter, a Dominion War veteran, and a mother of three, but good luck getting her to talk about any of that. Blunt and reticent, she’s not what one would call “warm”, but she’s capable, dependable, and often willing to lend an ear (especially over drinks).
Appearance
Zamora is built like a brick– well, you know. She has a lifetime of dedicated weightlifting to thank for that. If her height of 168cm (5’6”) isn’t particularly imposing, her biceps certainly are. And at age 70-something, she also has her share of padding over those muscles. Although her usual gait is best described as “stompy”, she can move very fluidly when the situation calls for it.
She has long black hair, slightly wavy, and even now only with touches of gray. It’s usually pulled up into a bun. Her dark brown eyes are her one true vanity point, and she will go to the trouble of applying eyeliner daily. She has a light brown skin tone, and sports two tattoos: gears on her left shoulder with her husband’s name, and flowers on her right shoulder with her children’s names.
When off duty, she usually sticks to casual wear: comfortable slacks and sneakers, a tank top, and a loose unbuttoned shirt over that. She’ll occasionally wear a piece of jewelry or two (all gifted to her by her children).
Appearance inspired by the late, great Shelley Morrison.
age 27
Personality
Zamora will be the first to tell you that she’s not caught between two cultures; she’s comfortably ensconced between them.
Zamora is often described as “blunt”, as one would expect of someone born and bred on Tellar Prime. However, she is also a woman of few words who fully embraces the utility of communicative gestures and grunts. Arguing is not something she does for fun, it’s something she does because she genuinely thinks the other party is wrong. She prefers to win arguments before they even start whenever possible.
She will go on for a bit if she has something important to say, or if the topic is of interest to her. Or if she’s had a few. Furthermore, she is a fantastic listener. She’s not a particularly active listener, but even when she seems disinterested or distracted, she’s usually taking in everything around her. This is made easier by the fact that she can adjust the sensitivity of her auditory implants at will (and that does include shutting them off on occasion).
Her reticence combined with her general lack of effusiveness can give the impression that she’s quite prickly and grumpy. And she is, to an extent: she’s got so much work to do, and her back hurts, and no one gets her like her beloved husband. But on a deeper level, she’s working very hard to temper her emotions. Zamora had a serious anger management problem as a youth, and it took her a long time to grow out of it via therapy and basic lived experience. She prefers to fully acknowledge her emotions and their origins and to experience them purposefully, so they appear a bit muted once they reach the surface. They are anything but.
Zamora is hard-working and genuinely enjoys what she does, and this plus her experience makes her very capable and dependable. She loves being capable and dependable, and has to make an effort to not let it affect her ego. She’s better now than she was twenty, ten, even five years ago at asking for help if she needs it, but only from a truly trusted source.
History
Early Life
Odalys Zamora was born in the capital city of Shirgat on Tellar Prime. Her parents both worked in the Federation Diplomatic Mission: her mother as a cultural attaché, her father in communications and records. The Zamoras had originally considered having several children, but Odalys was a spitfire from the start and they eventually decided that one was plenty. Although she had occasional contact with other humans at the diplomatic mission and via visits from extended family, most of her peers were Tellarites.
Zamora had a strong sense of self as a child and socialized well with her Tellarite playmates. Her parents had initially considered relocating to Earth for her primary school years at least, but she pitched such a fit when she heard the idea that they decided it might do more harm than good. Young Zamora proudly shared this story with all her peers, and this early show of loyalty to her Tellarite friends cemented her in their social circles.
As a teen, she was a holy terror, arguing with her parents at the slightest provocation. Arguing may be a way of life for Tellarites, but as a young human, Zamora struggled to separate her anger and other emotions from the practice. Some guidance from her Tellarite friends and mentors helped her identify it as a problem. Human-oriented anger management classes helped, as did an increased focus on exercise, but by the end of secondary school she felt so frustrated by the problems she’d caused with her mismanaged anger and confrontational behavior that she just wanted to get away. So she did.
Starfleet Auxiliary
When Zamora turned 18, she joined Starfleet Auxiliary as an engineer on a tug and salvage vessel. Being able to problem solve and work with her hands all day proved a great outlet and distraction. She had the comfort of working with many Tellarites while also being able to interact more often with other cultures. The distance helped her improve her relationship with her parents.
She made her way through the ranks of petty officer, acting ensign, and ensign, and shortly after making lieutenant in 2358, she met a Tellarite named Krog Charev who worked in the deck department. They initially bonded over a shared love of shot put and weightlifting, and after connecting with each other on a series of gym dates, the romance bloomed. Five years later, they surprised each other by proposing on the same day: the day that she was promoted to chief engineer and he was promoted to master.
The next nine years went well for them. They made plenty of trips back home to Tellar Prime, and in their free time they traveled to whatever planets in the Federation their work had not yet taken them to. They had the occasional tiff–Zamora still being prone to anger and Charev being prone to clamming up–but they worked on their issues together over the years with both a Federation counselor and a Tellarite counselor.
Professionally, Zamora found herself taking more shifts at the helm to get a better feel for the ships she serviced. She began to realize that engineering had gone beyond a vocation and become a passion, and the desire to challenge herself grew. Enlisting in Starfleet was an idea she floated now and again to Charev–who was always encouraging–but it wasn’t until the Klingon Empire declared war against the Federation in 2372 that she was finally compelled to go through with it.
Starfleet Enlistment
Zamora served aboard the Excelsior-class USS Tecumseh (NCC-14934)–first as a crewman and then as a petty officer–for the duration of the Federation-Klingon War and the Dominion War as an engineering specialist. She was frequently deployed on away teams to help repair Federation assets, or occasionally to dismantle Dominion assets. [One mission] saw Zamora trapped in a cave for days after most of her away team was killed. On another mission, a nearby explosion cost her her hearing. She wears implants now, but has also learned Federation Standard Sign Language AND Tellarite Sign Language. As an engineer, she knows all too well the necessity of back-up systems, but she also finds that she sometimes simply prefers signing to verbal speech.
Raising a Family
The physical and mental damage she sustained during the war took its toll, so she left active service once the war ended. Her husband took some time away from work as well, and after a few months of planning and discussion, the two of them decided that they wanted to be parents. They adopted three Tellarite war orphans: siblings Glora, Gavreet, and Ghemir Dleg, aged four, five, and also five, respectively.
She and Charev were Tellar-bound for the next 15 years; she continued taking engineering courses at the local Starfleet Academy campus and technical services academy, and was on file as a reservist. Charev also took courses at home so that he could eventually return to captaining in Auxiliary. Both volunteered a lot of time at the kids’ school and the community garden, and generally focused on giving their children the best childhood they could possibly have.
All three of their children opted for a grand tour of the Federation upon graduation of secondary school. Zamora and Charev accompanied them for the first leg of this journey, and then Charev returned to active service in Starfleet Auxiliary. Zamora, aged 61, enrolled in Starfleet Academy’s Officer Candidate School.
Starfleet Officer
She graduated at the rank of lieutenant junior grade and served as an engineering officer on the New Orleans-class Tegucigalpa for eight years. Her combination of book learning and extensive practical experience made her a stand-out officer, and many were surprised that she chose a small Grissom-class surveyor like the Babylon for her first posting as chief engineer. And furthermore, why waste so much time taking shifts at the helm? Zamora’s answer is always the same, if somewhat cryptic: she’s still on the lookout for what’s next.
Service Record
Date | Position | Posting | Rank |
---|---|---|---|
2399 - Present | Chief Engineering Officer |
USS Babylon Grissom-class |
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2393 - 2399 | Assistant Chief Engineering Officer |
USS Tegucigalpa New Orleans-class |
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2391 - 2393 | Engineering Officer |
USS Tegucigalpa New Orleans-class |
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2391 | Starfleet Cadet | Officer Candidate School - Starfleet Academy |
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2376 - 2391 | Reservist | Starfleet Technical Services Academy | |
2373 - 2375 | Engineering Specialist |
USS Tecumseh Excelsior-class |
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2372 | Technician |
USS Tecumseh Excelsior-class |
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2348 - 2372 | Engineering Crewmember | Starfleet Auxiliary |