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PERSONNEL FILE: Dax, Jadzia
Played By: Terry Farrell
Rank: Lieutenant Commander
Current assignment: Science officer, Deep Space Nine;
H helm officer, U.S.S. Defiant
Full Name: Jadzia Dax
Year of birth: 2341(Host)
Place of birth: Trill Education: (Host)
Starfleet Academy, 2359-63
Marital status: Married to Worf, 51247.5
Children: None (current host)
Year of death: 2374 (Symbiont survived)
Place of death: Deep Space 9 Quarters: Deep Space Nine,
Level 6 near Corridor 1 U.S.S. Defiant, Deck 3
Starfleet Career Summary
2369 -- As lieutenant, posted to DS9 as science officer
2372 -- Won promotion to lieutenant commander
2374 -- Combat promotion to commander, U.S.S. Defiant,
during DS9 occupation
Psychological Profile:
Report of Starfleet Counselor Telnorri, Bajoran Sector
The eighth eventual Trill host of the symbiont Dax is the discover
of the Bajoran wormhole to the Gamma Quadrant, which catapulted
the area into the galactic hotseat. The perspective of seven previous
lifetimes has left her with an extremely broad view of life which
surprisingly skews to the unpredictable and even mischievous rather
than the staid and conservative, while symbiosis itself at times
has proved to be problematic in her off-world career. Jadzia has
two parents and one sister, all still alive by 2372. Although
she was not above breaking windows at night as a crack shot with
rocks when younger, the quiet, shy and naive young woman had worked
hard since childhood to qualify for the Trill hosting program
and received academic degrees in exobiology, zoology, astrophysics
and exo-archaeology at Starfleet Academy, although at the time
of her DS9 posting at age 28 as a lieutenant she has never served
on a starship. In 2367 at age 26, Jadzia made history as the only
rejected Trill initiate to return successfully and pass the program.
She had spent three years in all as an initiate and hardly ever
left its complex; she didn't receive basic flight experience certification
of Level 3 until her last year of training. Ironically, after
acceptance she chose the Dax symbiont previously hosted by Curzon,
her harsh field docent. He had rejected her in the first place
after only two weeks of field training as unmotivated and unfocused
-- an act which dogged Jadzia for years, despite her success;
she had studied his infamous record and was already nauseated
with the pressure, crying herself to sleep each night until she
was dropped. It was only later, after she redoubled her efforts
and passed the training with his approval, that she learned he
had really rejected her only out of misplaced guilt due to his
sexual attraction to the attractive young woman. The Joining was
completed as Curzon neared the end of a slow, lingering death
in mid-year. Such a turbulent relationship with the previous host
of the symbiont she now carries has haunted Jadzia, who has found
herself in a love-hate relationship with his legacy that at times
has bordered on sheer competiion. In addition, due to her off-world
posting Dax has probably endured more conflict due to symbiosis
than the typical Joined Trill. Accused of Curzon's alleged murder
of Klaestron IV's General Tandro by the general's zealous son,
she had preferred a death sentence rather than expose Tandro's
role as a rebel collaborator and Curzon's affair with his wife,
both eventually revealed. In 2370 she supervised her own first
initiate trainee, Arjin, only three years younger than she, and
came to grips with some suppressed bitterness about Curzon's treatment
of her. Curzon figured again weeks later when she swore to uphold
a blood oath of his on an unauthorized quest with Klingons Kor,
Kang and Koloth that could have cost her life, much less her Starfleet
career. Dax has also been forced to reintegrate memories from
two unexpected hosts. One, in 2370, was the once-rejected host
candidate Verad who hijacked the symbiont from Jadzia. The other
came a year later, when a failing memory block revealed in series
of nightmares the onetime murderer Joran Belar and the yet-unrevealed
Symbiosis Commission cover-up of the error 85 years earlier. After
years of procrastination due to her uneasiness at confronting
Curzon again, she underwent her first Trill zhian'tara Rite of
Closure to meet all previous hosts; ironically, the uniquely melded
Odo/Curzon reincarnation almost decided to stay in that form permanently.
The eventual return of Curzon's memories to Jadzia allowed her
the additional experience of a changeling's perspective. Dax's
personal as well as professional reunion with Curzon's old protege
Ben Sisko at DS9 is unique in some ways in light of the Trill
taboo against reassociation. Even more so, in 2372 she had considered
remating with former host Torias' widow's symbiont Kahn in its
current host, Lenara -until Lenara succumbed to the social pressure
and broke it off. Earlier, her only romantic encounter since ca.
2270 had been a bittersweet encounter with a resident of planet
Meridian, a dimension-shifting world destined to appear in solid
form in this universe once every 60 years. Despite this rarity
of outward sexual intimacy, Dax's long life as both genders has
if anything broadened her perspective on romance, sex, and multiculturalism,
not diminished it. She generally enjoys the attention shown her
by men overall and is tolerantly amused by the crushes of Bashir
and Quark, actually enjoying the Ferengi oddities that turn Kira
off. She's been studying up on the Rules of Acquisition and had
always wanted to see a Ferengi in Starfleet but like Sisko was
skeptical of Nog's Academy application. Dax even thinks Morn was
cute, but once turned down his dinner invitation; she later accepted
one from the clear-skulled Gallamite Capt. Boday. Still, her longevity
has fostered a cavalier attitude about others' privacy and secrets:
she is somewhat jealous that Sisko willnot share his personal
side as much as he did with Curzon. Actually, her relationship
with Bashir has matured from his puppy love to a deep friendship.
She submitted Bashir's Carrington nomination through an old friend
of Curzon's and throws him a surprise birthday party each year;
he, in turn, has risked his life and career on more than one occasion
to save hers, usually due to a quirk of her symbiotic state. Thanks
to Lwaxana Troi's Zanthi fever - which only acts in case of latent
relationships already perceived - Bareil pursued her and she Sisko
during the 2381 Gratitude Festival. Dax remains in superior physical
condition, enjoying Galeo-Manada style wrestling as well as the
more well-known Klingon marital arts, which she began studying
after her Joining thanks to Curzon's extensive contact with the
culture. A nea- match in combat expertise for Worf, she became
his unexpected confidant when the Klingon signed aboard the station
in early 2372, searching with he and Kor for the Sword of Kahless
and intercepting his brother Kurn's Mauk-to'Vor ritual suicide.
Personally, Dax is a self-professed a "night owl" and hates to
be "appropriate" - thus explaining her interest in forgotten composers
like the Romulan Frenchotte, Yridian symphonies and Klingon opera
as well as interstellar gourmet and Klingon food. She is better
at poker and Tongo than Curzon ever was, but she and Sisko are
an even match at traditional 2-D chess. She also inherited a love
of steamed azna from prior hosts, along with the Altonian brain
teaser puzzle some 140 years before her Joining - when either
Emony or Audrid were Dax's host. A Black Hole is one favorite
drink, although on duty she usually prefers an iced raktajino
with extra cream. Her quarters are heavily decorated with small
sculptures, knick-knacks, and scientific antique tools; circa
SD 48212 she briefly coifed her hair in a more matronly style
before returning to her former look.
Performance Review: Report of Starfleet Science Division
In her Starfleet career she was decorated on her first mission,
aided Kira and Sisko in the put-down of Jaro's would-be Bajoran
coup, but was at odds with the late Capt. Keogh over "mutual arrogance"
in a well-known and unresolved spat. Despite their dissimilar
services, she is second in command to Major Kira on DS9 and has
had command in Ops on the night shift, while on the U.S.S. Defiant
she usually crews the helm and has served admirably in its combat
and exploratory missions, per Captain Sisko's reports. Actions
by Dax also figured prominently in restoring the damaged time-line
regarding Earth history's Bell Riots, caused by the accidental
temporal displacement of the Defiant. In securing a public access
for the aggrieved residents at the heart of the riots, she had
explained that her name was Dutch while her Trill markings were
tattoos applied in Japan.
Psycho-Medical File Update:
SD 50500, CMO J. Bashir reporting
I have assumed responsibility for this task for the first time
since my posting at this station. The past year has been one of
relatively quiet jeopardy for Jadzia Dax, which may explain why
she now seeks her bumps and bruises as Lt. Cmdr. Worf's Par'machkai.
I have watched as their mutual affection grew into full-blown
romance, thanks to Worf's one-time attraction to Grilka, and consider
it a new twist and a challenge on all the more mundane romances
Dax has seen in its prior six lifetimes as Telnorri has noted
above. While her abandon seems to run counter to his renowned
Klingon conservatism, the formula seems to be a perfect yin-yang
match of opposites, with Worf showing only occasional bouts of
jealousy over past lovers, such as Risa's facilitator Arnadis
(with Curzon) and Capt. Boday, the Gallamite. One wonders, though,
how long her Trill superstructure can withstand the ongoing punishment
of Klingon passion. Officially, so far the relationship has not
affected their job review -- aside from a small amount of duty
time missed for recuperation. Dax returned safely from both the
mission to retrieve the downed Jem'Hadar ship and her experiences
in the past aboard Kirk's 23rd century Enterprise. Although Jadzia
speaks rarely of her family and homeworld, I understand she regularly
writes to her mother back on Trill; she still is a night owl and
often runs anomaly scans in Ops at night to relax. With her longevity,
saving and acquiring do not register with her, so it is not surprising
she has no more than two bars of gold-pressed latinum when three-time
Tongo champion Capt. Ramirez beats her in a no-limit game at Starbase
63.
FINAL ENTRY
Capt. Benjamin Sisko
I am always steeled to the possibility that at any time I will
be compelled to make a final entry into the personnel files of
those under my command, especially in the midst of war. Somehow,
with her having survived seven lifetimes, I just thought it would
not be for Jadzia Dax -- at least not so soon. In hindsight, I
knew the eighth Dax host for only a fraction of the time I knew
Curzon Dax, her predecessor. But this is different -- perhaps
because that was a mentoring relationship for me and this was
one of near-equals, even my subordinate when it comes to rank.
She was so happy with her marriage to Worf. She was so happy at
the prospect of having children. I know he grieves, as do I in
an odd way, that she did not meet her fate in "glorious battle."
Somehow,ending this life in the Promenade's Bajoran shrine as
the victim of a pah-wraith -- a cast-out Bajoran Prophet -- inhabiting
a humanoid form (Dukat, of all things) is so .... unfair. Unsatisfying.
Useless. And not to mention troubling, especially for one supposed
to be cast in the role as Bajor's Emissary from its Prophets.
Very troubling, in fact -- it is part of a situation that has
my soul in a death grip I fear I may not shed for some time. Commendations
-- personal if not official -- to my CMO Julian Bashir for saving
the Dax symbiont, who is already en route to Trill on life support.
Whomever its new host will be is a matter for the Symbiosis Commission,
but I find myself wondering if I shall ever see Dax again. It
is not a thought I ever pondered after Curzon's passing, but after
working alongside two of these Daxes -- one Joined for nearly
a century, one all too brief -- I am struck by the fact that the
symbiotic Trill are supposed to outlive their more pedestrian
humanoid companions -- and not the other way around. I do not
know if I could bear to go through this again.
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