Samok

Samok was a Vulcan scientist and Starfleet officer in the late 24th century.

Early life
Born on the Nisus colony (aka Vulcan Colony 9) on 24 November 2363 to T'Paar and Savokel, Samok spent his earliest years on a half-dozen various worlds where his parents were assigned as cultural observers.

His mother was killed in 2374 when the Jem'Hadar took over Neural for use as a cloning facility.

Following the Dominion War, in 2376, Samok and his father Savokel joined the cultural observation team on Mintaka III. It was during this period that Samok's curiosity about other races was truely awakened. Free to interact with the Mintakans, since first contact had been made a decade before, Samok spent time in the villages, and made friends with several of the local children.

When Savokel's pon farr came the following year, he bonded with Rykora, a Mintakan villager who served as a kind of liason with the Federation team. Months later, Jareth, Samok's half-brother, was born. Growing up on Mintaka, surrounded by emotional Vulcanoids, Samok became more comfortable with expressing his emotions, though he still kept them supressed most of the time.

Starfleet
Samok left Mintaka in 2380 to join Starfleet Academy. He majored in Anthropology, with minors in Astrophysics and Xenobiology. Assigned to Nebula Squadron, his primary field instructor was Commander Tuvok. Two of his squadmates were Jeff and Tyler Sinclair, who first gave him the nickname "Sam" and introduced him to many aspects of human culture. Samok graduated with honors in 2384.

As an ensign, Samok served for two years on the USS John Burke as a junior science officer. He was promoted to Lieutenant junior grade in 2386 and assigned to the USS Robert Crater as senior anthropologist. During his three years on the Crater, Samok participated in eight first contact missions.

Following that tour, he was offered a position with the Vulcan Science Academy's Anthropology Department, and he accepted, putting his commission on reserve. After a year's internship at the Science Academy, Samok joined a special team assigned to Ekos and Zeon, on a joint diplomatic/scientific mission.

Samok found the history of the Ekosians and Zeons to be fascinating, and he soon developed a burden to see peace restored to the once-again warring planets. After several months on Ekos, Samok met Arryn, a young orphan, the son of an Ekosian soldier and a Zeon prisoner, both of whom had died in a bombing in 2385. Samok became friends with the boy, and eventually adopted him in 2395, just before renewed conflict forced the team out of the system.

"Sam" returned to Mintaka III with Arryn, and they spent a year there, with Jareth. In 2397, all three of them joined the Non-Observable Team on Amerind, where Samok continued his research into the Preservers. Eighteen months later, Jareth left to study anthropology at the University of Aldebaran, and Sam and Arryn followed the trail of the Preservers to Omega IV, where they spent another 18 months with a NOT.

After Omega IV, they again returned to Mintaka. When new evidence was discovered that showed a possible link between the Preservers and Iconia, Samok requested a return to active duty with Starfleet, and a billet on the first available ship assigned to the Iconian region. As soon as a post on the USS Odyssey became available, Samok and Arryn departed for the Typhon Expanse to join the ship.

Psychological profile
Stoic and seemingly unemotional, on the surface Samok's personality does not stray too far from the Vulcan psychological norm. However, whereas some Vulcans can be condescending in their relations with humans and other "emotional" races, Samok's view is one of acceptance and curiosity. While Samok does adhere to the teachings of Surak, he also came to the realization that logic is only the beginning of true wisdom, and has been known to express emotion on rare occasions.

He is probably the closest thing to an outgoing Vulcan that one would ever meet, and indulges social activities among his collegues and crew nearly as much as he spends time meditating.

Pendragon
In the Pendragon timeline created in 2372, the Dominion War never took place. Hence Samok's mother was not killed in 2374, and the remainder of his life took a different course.

Living on Vulcan in the late 2370s, Samok met Timothy Sinclair and his sons Jeff and Tyler while they were on an archaeological expedition at Gol. Samok became friends with the young Sinclair boys and they maintained correspondence over the next several years.

The Sinclair twins stayed with Samok and his family on Vulcan in late 2378 and early 2379 while on a field assignment for the Starfleet Academy preparatory program. (Star Trek: Pendragon: "True North")

Later in 2379, Samok provided Tyler Sinclair with key information on the ancient Forgeman killer. (PDN: "The Forgeman")

He entered Starfleet Academy in 2380, and along with the Sinclairs, was assigned to Nebula Squadron under Commander Tuvok. (PDN: "Wanderers, Seekers, Warriors, Thinkers")