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STARFLEET PERSONNEL FILE -- LaForge, Geordi
Played By: LeVar Burton
Rank: Commander
Current assignment: Chief engineer, U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701/E
Full Name: Geordi LaForge
Date of birth: Feb. 16, 2335
Place of birth: African Confederation, Earth
Parents:
The late Captain Silva LaForge and Commander Edward M. LaForge
Education: Starfleet Academy, 2353-2357
Marital status: Single
Office: Enterprise: adjacent to Warp Core, Deck 36 Main
Engineering
Starfleet Career Summary
2357-63 -- As ensign, aboard U.S.S. Victory under Captain
Zimbata
2364 -- As lieutenant junior grade, named chief con officer,
U.S.S. Enterprise under Capt. Jean-Luc Picard
2365 -- Promoted to lieutenant, transferred from command
to operations division and named chief engineer, U.S.S. Enterprise
2366 -- Promoted to lieutenant commander
2372 -- Transferred with remainder of Picard's senior staff
to Sovereign-class U.S.S. Enterprise
2373 -- During attempt to repair Borg temporal sabotage
with Earth first contact, acted as replacement flight crew for
Zefram Cochran's Phoenix warp test
Psychological Profile:
Report of Ship's Counselor Deanna Troi Excerpts,
Starfleet Biographical File
The outstanding characteristic LaForge shows is his longtime adaptability
to and satisfaction with life, symbolized by the fact that his
birth-blindness until recently was overcome not by direct surgery
but by the unique VISOR instrument - which, though painful allowed
him to "see" throughout the electromagnetic spectrum, from heat
and infrared through visible light to radio waves. It attached
at the temples via implants which connected directly to the brain
and provided such a complex and broad-based input that the user
had to concentrate to focus on one area. It was perhaps this intense
focusing ability that has enabled him to master the complexities
of warp engineering and other starship systems. Since mid-2371,
however, ongoing miniaturization and cybernetic technology have
allowed LaForge to begin using ocular implants, which employ complex
sensors and filters all with the confines of an artificial eye.
LaForge did not yet have a VISOR at the time of his major childhood
trauma: a fire which trapped him for two minutes until he was
pulled to safety. The incident left him with the longtime need
to be reassured of his parents' proximity - a feeling only exacerbated
with the Starfleet couple often being posted in separate places,
requiring LaForge and his sister Ariana to move constantly during
childhood. He was living at home, however, when he left for Starfleet
Academy after graduating from Zefram Cochrane High School, coincidentally
named for one of his heroes. He did have a pet Circassian cat
at age 8. His mother died in 2370 as captain of the lost U.S.S.
Hera, but in grief he disobeyed Picard and nearly died to save
what he thought was her - an image created from his own memory
by aliens seeking rescue. The incident occurred as he tested a
unique remote-control system for a self-propelled robot drone
interfaced with his own VISOR and neural system. As an ensign
he served under Captain Zimbata on the U.S.S. Victory, where a
parasite picked up on an away mission to Tarchannen IV in 2362
nearly led to his transformation five years later into a non-sentient
species. Only his close friendship and trust with former crewmate
Susanna Leitjen saved him. LaForge first met Captain Jean-Luc
Picard sometime before their Enterprise tour, when he impressed
his superior officer so much with his all-night refit of a shuttle
engine after an off-hand comment by Picard during an inspection
tour. Although he has been best friends with Data since they met
aboard ship, he has actually known Commander William Riker longer
- at least since Farpoint Station, awaiting their new ship's arrival.
LaForge's irreverence has been tempered somewhat with his added
responsibilities, but his sense of humor remains strong. His faith
in technology and his ability to master it, normally an inspiration
to those around him, was shaken slightly with the 2370 discovery
that warp drive can harm the fabric of some spatial areas.
In his personal life, LaForge is plagued by a slight insecurity
regarding dating and female relationships, although this has lessened
with time; significant relationship in this regard included Christy
Henshaw, Lt. Aquiel Uhnari, and a passing attraction to Dr. Leah
Brahms, begun as a reconstructed holo-program. He served as best
man for Miles O'Brien at his wedding to Keiko, and allowed Dr.
Crusher to coax him into singing a role in her shipboard troupe's
upcoming performance of "The Pirates of Penzance". He too enjoyed
the senior officers' weekly poker game, and even though his artificial
"eyes" have allowed him to detect bluffing and see opponents'
cards in the ultraviolet spectrum he never "peeked" until a hand
was over. Other hobbies are scale model building of old sailing
ships, chess, swimming, skin-diving, and the history of his profession:
during the Cochran project he recalled the Phoenix test vehicle's
intermix chamber from memory. He holds his own in fencing, but
writing and mandolin playing are not strong suits, despite a preference
for guitar music. Food favorites include iced coffee and pasta
dishes such as fungilli. He is adept at many languages including
Hahlian, owing to his nomadic childhood.
Professional Assessment:
Report of Starfleet Engineering, Dr. Leah Brahms
LaForge's rapid rise during his Enterprise assignment confirms
his no-nonsense talent, skill, insight and administrative ability
- as well as a keen judgment for needed modifications in the field.
Even as a junior officer his specialties included antimatter power
and dilithium regulators, and he was extremely capable in many
advanced systems and repairs, including Holodeck programs and
climate-control computers. In 2365, he butted heads with this
consulting designer when Starfleet wanted his unorthodox jury-rigging
of ship's systems for special missions checked out. After settling
some personal differences which interfered with our work, my initial
doubts about his judgment were more than relieved.
I almost envy LaForge for coming face-to-face with Starfleet legend
Montgomery Scott when the near-mythic engineer was found in a
transporter loop of a downed courier ship in 2369, and the two
joined forces to free the Enterprise from a Dyson Sphere's interior.
LaForge served as a temporary first officer to Cmdr. Will Riker
on the U.S.S. Excalibur during the Starfleet blockade of Romulan
aid to the Duras faction of the Klingon civil war, using his tachyon
system to detect cloaked ships.
Professional review: ibid., SD 50900 update:
I must be blunt. First Scott and now Zefram Cochrane? This
reviewer can only imagine the emotions involved with assisting
a pioneer with making history, thanks to temporal anomalies, but
according to classified files LaForge must be lauded for his personal
work in restoring and overseeing the technical support needed
to overcome Borg interference in human first contact. I must say
-- some guys get all the luck.
Medical Briefing: Report of CMO Beverly Crusher, M.D.
LaForge suffers no ill effects from his lifelong use of the VISOR,
including the ongoing pain suppression that accompanies its use.
Ironically, the direct cortical contacts it employs have made
him a vulnerable target at times, as when the pro-Romulan faction
in the Klingon civil war tried to set him up with unconscious
programming to kill a Klingon and create an interstellar incident.
He nearly died when trapped with a Romulan centurion, Bochra,
on desolate Galorndon Core in 2366 and was given up for dead two
years later when accidentally cloaked by the Romulans' failed
interphasic cloak test.
Update, NCC-1701-E: CMO Crusher:
LaForge seems to realize even less pain with his new ocular
implants. I for one am happy with the change, since there is now
no obvious connection points that injury, infection or even saboteurs
can easily access.
Personnel File Addendum: Report of Captain Jean-Luc Picard
As part of the Q-induced future scenario I was made to experience
in 2370, my chief engineer left Starfleet, became a successful
novelist, and married the onetime Leah Brahms, a Starfleet engineering
design colleague, with three children - Bret, Alandra and Sidney.
As with my other senior officers, I made the conscious decision
to reveal the events of that possible future.
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