Laine Rael

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Dr. Laine Rael was the Bajoran chief medical officer for the USS Defiant and the wife of its commanding officer, Captain Jeffrey Bridges. She was rather protective about her husband. (Star Trek: Defiant)

Relationships

With Her Superiors

Jeffrey Bridges

Friend, lover, partner, companion, crewmember: all of these words describe Laine Rael's relationship with the commanding officer of the Defiant, Jeffrey Bridges. Bridges had the support, trust, and confidence of every crewmember aboard, but the bond between her and Bridges goes much deeper. When Bridges was arrested on charges he murdered the Borg Bishop, he trusted Laine and Ry Emeras to find and free him. They determined he had been secretly moved from Starbase 417 to an unknown location, later identified as the Romulan high security prison Zy'yd on the planet Yggrassil. With the help Ry's business partner Rentor Kendrick, they picked a fight in one of the local establishments and were incarcerated in Zy'yd's minimum security section. After a successful break-out, the three of them proceeded to carry out the biggest jailbreak in the history of the Alpha and Beta Quadrants. Over one million prisoners were freed simultaneously.

Dreschik

Following the successful rescue of Captain Bridges, Laine, Ry, and Rentor returned to Federation space aboard Rentor's transport ship, the Moon Six, bringing with as many escapees and refugees as the ship could carry. During the transit, a Romulan sought them out and introduced himself as Senator Dreschik, of the Romulan Senate, who had been a prisoner for 8 long years.

Raine healed Dreschik's disfigured and marginally functional hands, which had been broken by pounding on the walls of his cell during his confinement. Her kindness and care engendered immeasurable appreciation in him, resulting in a timid compliment; Bridges quelled the senator's interest by informing him Laine and he were married.

Truen

Truen, formerly first officer of the Shin'Aqi under Commander Mnet, later her Commander herself, was adopted by Senator Dreschik and made his heir before he passed away. As such Truen inherited his seat, and all of the power that came with it. Following the end of the Romulan War, Defiant made a diplomatic visit to Romulus, carrying the new Federation Ambassador, Anuka Bavrotti, to her new post. Senator Truen was the only Romulan that asked to meet with her. Laine asked to come along. Like Bajoran medicine, Romulan medicine preferred to keep the body healthy rather than react to disease. Like the Bajorans, the Romulans preferred herbs and natural healing to synthesized medication. All of this 'directness' was new to Truen, as Romulans preferred circumspection. Part way through the meeting, Ambassador Bavrotti, Dr. Laine, and the Ambassador's Political Attache were poisoned as they drank tea. It turned out that the Ambassador's attaché had poisoned the tea, as he was part of an "Earth First" faction in the Federation. Both the Doctor and the Ambassador made a full recovery.

With Her Peers

Kit Barton

During one ship engagement with a Romulan warbird, Commander Kit Barton suffered an abdominal wound due to shrapnel from an exploding ODN junction in main engineering. Dr. Laine needed to temporarily remove the symbiont in order to perform the surgery to save his life. There were a handful of compatible donors onboard, among them Captain Bridges and Commander Backus. Laine didn't want Bridges to do it as the procedure had a small measure of risk to it, and she didn't want to use the captain, if at all possible. Backus volunteered, and the procedure was a success. Kit made a complete recovery.

Judah Friese

Laine, after seeing the plight of the Romulan populace following the end of the Romulan conflict, felt she had to act. She hijacked the shuttlecraft Yerba Buena for a trip to planet Veridian IV, an iron age civilization protected by the Prime Directive. The planet grew grain that was compatible with that was grown on Romulus. It could help feed the starving population. Her plan was cut short when Captain Bridges intercepted her and ordered Lieutenant Magus Brel to remote power-down the shuttlecraft. Bridges was apoplectic. "Rael, what are you doing? I can't help you if you don't talk to me!" Rael explained that she had to do this. After discussing it with the crew, not to mention a bit of soul searching, Bridges authorized Rael and Judah Friese to go down to Veridian IV. They stopped in a port tavern where they met a purchasing agent, Raven, who offered to set them up with what they needed for the right price. After Raven and Rael haggled a bit, the deal was set, and Friese took samples back to their room to test. Raven caught them, and Rael tried to explain without compromising the Prime Directive any further. As Raven and Rael made their way to another bar to talk, Rael noticed they were being followed. After a brief scuffle, they learned that "Strangers from the sky" had arranged to have them tailed. Raven then noticed the hand weapon that Rael used. "What's that?" "Vulcan expandable fighting staff." "What does a girl need to do to get one of those?" Raven was hoping Rael could arrange a date with Friese. She did join him in the moonlight, though it's unknown if anything happened after that.

Erel Otek

During one of Defiant's earlier missions, the ship had suffered multiple shipwide cascade failures. Chief engineer Lieutenant Commander Tom Backus and science officer Judah Friese determined that the ship had picked up a virus and it had spread to every system. While Friese and Backus researched the right delivery system, Dr. Laine, Ry Emeras and Magas Brel searched Bajor for the compound needed to inoculate the ship: a rare material called sedellium. Unfortunately, a Cardassian operative, Gul Erel Otek, while operating in Bajoran disguise, heard about the search and began his own hunt for the compound. Sedellium was a cruicial element in Cardassian weapons production. Their paths crossed at a Bajoran temple in Daikur Province. The local Vedek, a woman named Janu, refused them entry, as she considered them foreigners, despite the fact that they were all Bajoran. An added complication was that Otek had taken Janu as a lover in his bid to illicit intelligence and information. In the end, Otek broke cover and started to ransack the temple for the sedellium. Not finding it his search was cut short when Magas Brel entered the temple and fired on Otek and his partner, Hakaad, gravely wounding him. Despite this, the two made their escape. Their next meeting was when rather than leaving his crewmember to die, he kidnapped Dr. Laine, demanding she treat Hakaad. The procedure was a success, but Magus, following the trail, found Dr Laine, Otek, and Hakaad. Otek warned them to leave if they wanted to save their lives. The Cardassian Union was returning, and their intent was to once again seize Bajor.

Ry Emeras

Ry Emeras was with the Defiant at the beginning. She and Laine have been the closest of friends as long as they can remember. One of their first adventures was the search for sedellium following a series of shipwide system failures onboard Defiant. Their search took them down to the planet Bajor. The local Vedek, Janu, only allowed Rael and Emeras inside the temple where they believed the last of the sedellium was located. It also brought an undercover Cardassian operative, also in search of the Sedellium. His name was Otek. Ry and Rael's next collaboration shortly followed Laine's rescue from the same Otek. He'd kidnapped Dr Laine to perform emergency surgery on his aide, Hakaad. After rescuing Rael, instead of returning to the ship, as ordered, the two of them jumped a ride on Rentor Kendrick's transport ship, the Moon Six. Their objective: rescue Captain Bridges from captivity from within the Romulan prison at Zy'yd. Ry was injured and rendered unconscious during said rescue. Unknown to Dr Laine, Ry had suffered concussive trauma to her head, despite her repeated assertion of "I'm fine". Following her rescue from the clutches of the mad Romulan Commander Mnet, Rael finally lost patience with her friend. "I'm mad as hell at you! Don't you tell you're fine when you're not! You're going through a full workup, and I'd better not hear a peep of complaint from you!" From that moment on, Ry never used "I'm fine" again.

With Her Subordinates

Magas Brel

Not having even reported onboard, new Defiant security chief Lieutenant Magas Brel was drafted for an away mission to Bajor as backup for Rael and Ry Emeras. Magas knew all about Ry Emeras, growing up on her stories in the resistance, and later, a respected and honored colleague in Starfleet. Magas felt more than a little intimidated in the presence of the two women. So much so that she got it into her head that they were treating her like an inexperienced child. Her fear grew to such a point she actually picked a fight. The argument itself was completely one-sided, as neither Ry nor Dr Laine had any clue what Magas was talking about. "Stop it!! Could you be any nicer? Dammit, dammit, dammit!!"

Memorable Quotes

Jeffrey. We'll make the time. Time to mourn, time to heal. Tomorrow you're going to talk to Holubiak, and do what he says

I've lost five people today. I won't lose Kit. Not a brother, not today.'" Episode 39

I'm mad as hell at you! Don't tell me you're fine when you're not! You're going through a full workup, and I better not hear a peep of complaint from you!