Carlin Drel

Carlin Agran redirects here.

Carlin Drel was a joined Trill and the third host of the Drel symbiont. She served first as junior medical officer and later as senior science officer aboard the USS Nautilus (NCC-31910). She was joined following the death of the previous host, Antori. (Star Trek Online: Valkyries: "The Best Revenge," "Survivors of Yamatai")

Origins and Early Career
Carlin was conceived in 2383 from the illicit union of Jorel Onx and Lindri Agran. Both were initiates in the Symbiosis Program at the time, and their relationship constituted a violation of the Symbiosis Commission's policies against fraternization between initiates. When the pregnancy came to light, Lendri was removed from the Symbiosis Program while Jorel lied and faked a DNA test in order to avoid the same fate. Jorel went on to be joined with the Quinn symbiont, while Lendri was forced to move to the Beta Rigel colony to make a living and support her daughter.

Carlin's mother eventually told her about Jorel and Carlin developed a deep-seated hatred for him because of his abandonment. She dedicated much of her life from her teens to early twenties trying to prove herself worthy of Jorel and get revenge on him.

She applied to the Symbiosis Commission and enrolled in Starfleet Academy, where she studied Astrophysics and Xenobiology--the latter because it was the degree Jorel had studied at the Academy. She worked hard on her degrees, especially Xenobiology which came less naturally to her and in which she repeated at least one class (Molecular Biology of Humanoids) in order to surpass Jorel's test scores. ("The Best Revenge")

One of the few friendships she developed during this time was with her human roommate Samantha Hayashi. Sam and Carlin were opposites in almost every way, but they helped to balance out each others extremes, with Carlin getting Sam to buckle down and do her homework and Sam dragging Carlin down to Quantum Café to relax and check out the cute guys. ("Survivors of Yamatai")

Carlin graduated in 2405. She was in the top 10% of her class with advanced degrees in Astrophysics and Xenobiology. Unfortunately her plan to use her success to upset Jorel backfired when Jorel Quinn mistook her academic mimicry for a desire to follow in his footsteps and attempted to take her under his wing. Carlin was unwilling to forgive him for his unrepentant abandonment of her and her mother, though, and impulsively chose Drel to act as her field docent, knowing that Quinn and Drel had a longstanding hatred for each other. ("The Best Revenge")

Aboard the Nautilus
Following her graduation and request of field docent, Carlin was assigned to the USS Nautilus (NCC-31910). Although she had the qualifications and aptitude to be assigned to the bridge as a science officer, she instead requested a posting as junior medical officer under the ship's doctor, James Howard, because it was almost identical to Jorel's first posting. She did good work in sickbay, but the work clearly bored her, prompting Howard to privately request she be transferred to the bridge twice.

Her main focus, however, was on impressing her field docent and the ship's first officer: Commander Antori Drel. When Drel requested Carlin's presence at a senior staff meeting in order to observe her character, Carlin was initially intimidated but rose to the challenge, coming up with a plan for rescuing the crew of a Ferengi freighter the Nautilus had found trapped in a protostellar nebula.

She subsequently participated in the rescue effort, taking a shuttle over to the freighter and beaming aboard with Lieutenant Emma Frost in order to set up transport enhancers to beam back the crew. While Frost headed for the bridge, Carlin headed for engineering and found the warp core sabotaged to leak dangerous radiation and the crew viciously murdered. She collected an alien genetic sample from one of the victims before returning to the shuttle. Frost beamed back as well, reporting that she'd been unable to reach the bridge before a hull breach opened it up to the nebula. Frost acted strangely on the return trip however, forgetting or changing details of their previous conversation.

Back aboard the Nautilus, Carlin was haunted by questions about the Ferengi crew's death. She found the only match for the genetic sample she'd taken was Species 8472. Over the next two days, she privately investigated every aspect of the freighter's demise, concluding that it was a case of murder and sabotage. She called Frost to the holodeck late at night to discuss her findings. Frost was dismissive at first, then became agitated, finally revealing herself to be an Undine infiltrator who had killed the real Emma Frost and the crew of the Ferengi freighter in order to assume their identities. The infiltrator then attempted to kill and replace Carlin, but she created a holographic maze between herself and the Undine, hampering its efforts while she reported her findings to Antori and called for his help. When Antori arrived, the infiltrator attempted to deceive him by assuming the form of Carlin. The real Carlin suggested telling them apart by subtle mistakes of personality and memory, then confessed her relation to and hatred of Jorel Quinn as her "most embarrassing secret." She was successful in persuading Drel that she was the real Carlin and the impostor was exposed a moment later when it was discovered to still be wearing the combadge of Emma Frost. Carlin helped Antori fight the Undine until Captain Sokar arrived with a security detail to kill it.

Thereafter, Carlin and Antori talked about her obsession with Jorel Quinn and he persuaded her to give it up and live her own life, pursuing her passions. She transferred to the bridge as a science officer and quit the Symbiosis Program until she could be sure it was what she really wanted. She also gave in to the mutual attraction between herself and Antori and they began a dating relationship. ("The Best Revenge")