Geeva Kalpana
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| Geeva Kalpana |
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Lieutenant Commander Geeva Kalpana, an Iridian, is currently the Chief Operations Officer for Starbase 118.
Stats
- Full Name: Geeva Kalpana
- Khanate/Family Name: Geeva
- Given Name: Kalpana
- Race: Iridian
- Date of Birth: 235503.11
- Place of Birth: Fe'enko Village, Ireane, Iridi System
- Age: 30 T-years as of 2385
- Gender: Female
- Telepathic status: Untested. One incident during her tour of duty aboard the USS Steadfast-A hinted that she may be a very sensitive tel/empathic tactile receiver, nearly sponge-like in her ability to absorb a telepath's projected thoughts. The only other incidents when she has touched a telepath, however, were already so charged with emotion that any she received through the tactile contact went unnoticed.
Appearance
- Height: 6'1" (185.42 cm)
- Weight: 114 lbs (51.71 kg)
- Hair Color: Dark brown
- Length of Hair: Shoulder-length
- Eye Color: Bright blue
- Skin Tone: Dark tan
- Birthmarks, Scars: There is a small scar on her right forearm from when she was in a solar sail accident as a child.
- Tattoos/Body Modifications: Kalpana bears a large Y'm'ae Vrd'fy (a cultural tattoo) in bright blue ink that covers her entire back, the backs of her thighs and upper arms, and down the back of her right arm.
- Build: Inhumanly lanky (because, you know, she is not human), with the entire body looking 'stretched out'. Her limbs and digits and disproportionately long when compared to a terran.
- Carriage: Often strained and sluggish, given her low gravity origins.
- Taste in Clothing (when off duty): Moderately conservative.
- Voice: Sounds fairly normal, even if it does sound weird to her own ears.
- Handedness: Functionally ambidextrous, but favors the right.
Physiology
- Birth Gravity: 0.83 G
- Body Composition: High concentrations of salts and minerals, even for her race.
- Unique Physical Characteristics: Nictitating membrane is clearer than usual, providing no impediment to her vision when closed.
- Senses: Average for her race (compared to terran: weaker eyes, better ears, others normal).
- Physical Limitations: Unable to perform heavy manual labor (running included) for prolonged periods of time in 1 G. She must follow a strict workout regimen to maintain her strength, but her respiratory system just cannot cope with the strain. In environments equal to or less than her native gravity, she is far more agile, with a seemingly innate grace for microgravity.
- Allergies:
- Certain forcefields, such as the annular confinement beam of most Transporters and most selectively-permeable barriers (such as those on shuttlebay entrances or in quarantine labs).
- 'Fresh' water. Too much of it can throw off her osmotic balance, making her sick.
- Artificial gravity gives her a headache. For the most part, it is a dull ache that she is used to, but damaged or mis-calibrated gravity generators can worsen it. The same applies to starship shields, tractor beams, and other gravity-based technologies.
- Resistances: Unusually high tolerance for radiation and most bacteria and viruses.
Personality
Kalpana is a very average person. That is, while she is very capable in many areas, she is by no means the very best (or even one of the best) in any of them. This feeling of mediocrity pervades her view of the world and she can be very tenacious in regards to anything that she considers to be 'her' area of expertise. For example, she has above average skill in piloting a solar sail vessel. If given a position of piloting such a craft, she would work very hard to keep somebody else from usurping her position, especially if she knew the person was less skilled than she.
In social situations, she tends to be friendly, but she avoids getting too close with others. In her mind, she has enough physiological issues to contend with, so she does not need to add personal relationships into the mix. She has recently become closer to Rho Falcon, and while she is willing to allow the other woman into her quarters and other 'personal' spaces, it s not yet clear exactly how she feels in regards to Rho.
Lately, Kalpana has been developing a seeming bias against terrans. It seems to be based partially on how similar her own species and theirs resemble one another, yet their moral and cultural values are vastly different. It doesn't help that she has been presented with many poor examples of terrans (based from her own perspective), but few shining examples.
Habits
Kalpana tends to nod a lot to others, especially superior officers. This seems to be an adaptation of hers, taking a terran gesture and using it in place of her culture's own gesture of respect. As it is an adopted gesture, it tends to get a little overused, mostly due to inexperience with it.
Taboos
Kalpana shares the majority of her culture's views, especially those regarding personal property. In her mind, there is a very clear line between Personal and Communal property, and never the twain shall meet. Things that she owns (such as personal effects, a change of clothes, her personal 'space' in her quarters, etc.) are "hers" and never to be used or entered without her permission. On the other hand, communal items (such as most replicated items, starships, shuttles, etc.) are meant to be used by the entire community; share and share alike. In her limited-resource culture, stealing - from either an individual or from the community - is one of the worst non-fatal crimes that could be committed.
While Kalpana can intellectually understand the occasional necessity to steal something that does not belong to you, it is extremely distasteful to her. She tries hard to understand the terran viewpoint, but they seem, to her, as if they do not care about such things, just smashing and stealing to suit their own needs. This kind of attitude and the mindless property damage inflicted by any number of Starfleet vessels appalls her at times. She's not about to give up her commission, but she did have a bit of a reputation in the Academy for submitting a fairly large number of formal protests concerning actions she was ordered to undertake.
In terms of her professional career, Kalpana is enthusiastic and inquisitive. Rarely does a new finding come out that she does not double-check and try to pick apart, looking for where the researcher might have made any sort of mistake. One misgiving that she has, however, is that her choice of speciality (astrometry) plays into what she views to be a stereotype: "Iridians can feel stars, so of course they like astrosciences!" The stereotype is largely within her own mind, but even so, she tries to work against it and prove that she is an astrometer because she loves stars, not just because her race is more sensitive to gravity.
Phobias
Kalpana is terrified of holodecks. There is no logical, rational basis for this fear that Federation psychologists have been able to unearth, yet it exists all the same. She has a prescription for a concoction of anti-phobic drugs to fight the symptoms and she uses it whenever she has to enter a holodeck, but every sojourn into those grid-walled rooms is a harrowing ordeal for her.
Religion / Spiritual Devotion
Like most of her people, Kalpana participates in a form of ancestor worship, particularly on special holidays and during stressful parts of her life. This devotion is largely private, however, and falls into the category of 'personal property'.
Hobbies and Pastimes
- Science
- She keeps up with most academic journals and any new advances in science, especially those in the astrosciences.
- She has a special interest in the formation and lifespans of stars and other celestial bodies. It is likely that she has the largest collection of simulations and information about them in the sector. She's regarded as something of an overzealous pupil by her peers, however, but she doesn't seem to have noticed.
- Piloting
- An avid pilot, she tries to keep up with the latest in small craft advancements, but this hobby often falls by the wayside.
- She is an experienced solar sail astrogator and pilot, and while she would love to go out sailing now and again, such trips require days or weeks to complete, a time span that is extremely difficult to fit into her schedule these days.
- Robotics
- She has a second side-interest in robotics and cybernetics (since most 24th century robots use at least some organic components), especially in regards to their construction, for which she has a number of 'innovative' (read: impractical) ideas.
- This really is a hobby, as it has almost no useful applications, especially because she is truly an amateur when it comes to building and programming them.
- Sving-meh
- Kalpana is an amateur sving-meh player, practicing on a weekly basis and at other times that she needs to calm herself down.
- A sving-meh is an iridian instrument that is closest in form and function to a terran fiddle. Physically, it resembles a skinny stringed instrument made of polished wood and natural strings, no longer than the length from an iridian's armpit to wrist. Rather than being anchored near the musician's neck, however, it is designed to tuck under the arm, running in the space between arm and torso.
- The sving-meh produces a sound that is higher-pitched than a terran fiddle, and in iridian culture it has been used not only for entertainment, but also as a means to comminicate between ships on Ireane's oceans.
- Miscellaneous
- Lastly, she seems to have a completely out-of-place curiosity about various shielding and cooling techniques, looking into the technologies of races that come from, or live on, abnormally hot worlds.
Languages
Kalpana, unlike the majority of the officers in Starfleet, does not speak Standard (the Federation's "official" language for internal business) with the greatest of ease. She has almost no natural aptitude for languages and, in fact, speaks only Iridian, Standard, and a smattering of Ferengi. She just barely passed the fluency test that allowed her into the Academy and, despite her best efforts, she has not improved nearly as much as anybody had hoped. While understandable, her grasp of the language is not, strictly speaking, grammatically correct. Of especial note are the lack of contractions (a personal choice, not a lack of knowledge) and her tendency to speak words that are normally implied. (Example: Rather than pointing at an individual and saying, 'Open the door, please,' she would say, 'If it does please you, you will do open the door.')
Ambitions and Goals
One day, Kalpana would like to see the inside of a star. She would love to physically dive within the nuclear furnace of a star's heart and see what might be lurking there. She would also love to finish any number of papers that she started and get them published, but it seems as though every time she gets one almost done, something more exciting or worrying comes along and forces her to shelve the discourse for another day.
Personal Achievements and Disappointments
She doesn't talk a whole lot about her life prior to the Academy, but probably her biggest disappointment / achievement combination came when she failed her Academy entrance exam the first time, only to pass it four T-years later.
Family
Kalpana's family has managed to stay fairly connected, despite the busy lives of almost all its members. While complete gatherings are rare in modern times, they regularly exchange messages and packages.
Spouse
- Marital Status: Single.
Children
N/A
Parents
Mother: Geeva Nitya is an experienced immunologist currently teaching at the Veem Institute of Medicine in the Iridi system. Outsiders have been known to say that Kalpana is the spitting image of her mother, leaving both to wonder who is doing this 'spitting' and why. The two keep very open lines of communication, and Kalpana often calls on her mother for medical advice, much to the chagrin of her shipboard doctors. She has a near-perfect grasp of languages, speaking over three dozen fluently.
Father: Geeva Vivek is the kind of man you would not want to meet in a dark alley, late at night. He stands close to seven feet tall (2.13m) and has a fair bit of muscle on him. He is a geologist by trade, specifically dealing with planetoids, which keeps him out in space and away from home most of the time. Still, Kalpana learned a lot from her father about living in the universe, so she goes out of her way to say hello every now and then, or send him any interesting specimens that she comes across.
Siblings
Brother: Geeva Ananta is two T-years younger than Kalpana, but he also has about two years' more experience with the universa than she does, as he went right to work after graduating from the Keepiru Culinary Institute. Within six T-months, he had a position on Aryuntia Station in the nearby K'enp system (Benke 36D-14). In return for turning the communal mess hall into a low-G environment, he dutifully serves up four meals a day and coordinates the efforts of two dozen kitchen personnel. In all, they serve some six thousand miners and engineers.
Personal History
The Early Years
Kalpana's early years were spent shuffling between her home world and her father's small survey vessel, taking trips with him to investigate the various planetoids mucking about the system. This was her first taste of exploration and it got her hooked for life. Her planet-side life, while exciting, was nothing compared to the joys of sailing about on the very edge of explored space (the edge as far as she was concerned, at least).
Secondary School
As she grew older, her responsibilities and obligations increased and her trips out with her father became fewer and farther between. She still got into space regularly, but there were no more week-long excursions to the edge of the solar disc. During this period, she also began looking into what to do with her life. An uncle pointed her towards Starfleet and, in a bout of exuberance, she applied. A few weeks later, she learned that she had failed the entrance exam, showing that sheer desire cannot get you everywhere. Trying to take things in stride, she reevaluated her goals and took a slightly different track.
University
Intending on pursuing a civilian career, Kalpana enrolled the in-system Venek Science Institute and began studying a number of general science courses, with a specialty in astro-sciences. During the course of her four years spent studying here, her uncle and parents convinced her to try again with Starfleet Academy. Far more mature and prepared than she was four years prior, and bearing a fresh degree in astrophysics, Kalpana passed the entrance exam with above average scores. Not perfect, but then, not everybody can be top of their class.
Academy
At the Academy, Kalpana spent a fair bit of time acclimating herself to the rigors and changes that come with being an iridian in Starfleet. Through all of this, she pursued courses in the sciences, and passed with above average grades in nearly all of her classes. Rarely the 'best', she tended to fall into the upper ten percent, though. It seems to be her lot in life to always be second best.
Professional History
- Date Graduated from Academy: 238209.07
- Major Degree: Science
- Astrometry and Astrophysics
- Minor Degree: Helm / Communications / Operations
- Current Rank: Lieutenant Commander
- Current Assignment: Starbase 118
- Starbase 118 Operations Duty Post: Chief Operations Officer
Awards & Commendations
StarFleet Assessments and Records
"Geeva Kalpana is an apt pupil, an adequate officer, and refreshingly average. She shows some amount of promise, although an unhealthy adherence to the precepts of her birth culture is sure to hold her back in the future. She has a definite conflict with what she perceives to be 'illegal' actions regularly undertaken by modern Starfleet crews, and her superiors are advised to keep a close eye on her for just such a reason. I, for one, would rather watch and be impressed, than not watch and be surprised." -- Admiral Jane DuGalle, Academy Mentor.
Timeline
- 237801.12: Entered Starfleet Academy.
- 238209.07: Graduated Starfleet Academy.
- 238209.09: Assigned to the USS Wallace as the HCO Officer.
- 238209.11: Assigned to Deep Space 17 as a Science Officer in an unusual double-appointment.
- 238304.18: The USS Wallace is decommissioned.
- 238304.18: Assigned to the USS Morningstar as the Helm / Communications / Operations Officer.
- 238304.20: The USS Morningstar is decommissioned.
- 238304.23: Assigned to the USS Steadfast-A as the Helm / Communications / Operations Officer.
- 238305.04: Re-assigned as the USS Steadfast-A's Chief Science Officer.
- 238312.17: The USS Steadfast-A is decommissioned.
- 238312.19: Assigned to the USS Constitution-B as the Senior Science Officer.
- 238403.11: Assigned to Starbase 118 as the Chief Operations Officer.
- 238405.15: Promoted to Lieutenant, Junior Grade.
- 238409.20: Promoted to Full Lieutenant.
- 238508.26: Promoted to Lieutenant Commander.
Past Assignments
- USS Wallace: (2382 09.09 - 238304.18) Being posted to the USS Wallace as the HCO officer immediately after graduating from the Academy was a bit of a shock to Kalpana, especially given that she had fully expected a science position. It was, after all, what all of her training had been aiming towards. Her first captain quickly won her over, however, with his flexibility and willingness to explain the reasoning behind her posting. She was just getting settled and figuring out her place in the ship's community when word came down that the Wallace was to be decommissioned. Partings are not uncommon in her culture, and while she will go on to better and brighter things, she will always remember her first ship and crew with much fondness.
- USS Morningstar: (238304.18 - 238304.20) Life on the Morningstar was... interesting, to say the least. Kalpana had not been on the ship for more than thirty minutes when they were unexpectedly attacked by an alien vessel and, within a day, ordered back to Starbase 118 for decommissioning. The experience of having two of her ships decommissioned so quickly after one another has left Kalpana wondering if maybe there is something wrong with her. It certainly seems as though she is a bad omen to any ship whose decks she walks.
- USS Steadfast-A: (238304.23 - 238312.17) The Steadfast was a new beginning for Kalpana. She was brought aboard as the HCO, but soon found herself where she had always wanted to be: the Chief Science Officer. Intended as a training vessel where new Ensigns could get their 'space legs', as it were, she found her experience in the world and on previous vessels serving her in good stead. Right after the third mission or so, she was finally beginning to feel that she finally had a secure place to serve... and then the powers that be were forced to shift personnel and vessels around to make ends meet and, well... a training vessel is a luxury that not every Fleet can afford.
- USS Constitution-B: (238312.19 - 238403.11) The Constitution marked a turning point in Kalpana's life, or so she thought. Here was a place where she could finally be herself, do her job as Chief Science Officer, and perform the duties that she had trained for. Unfortunately, while her professional life finally started going in the proper direction, her personal life took a turn for the worse. Near the end of her service aboard the Constitution, Kalpana suffered at least one mental breakdown from the near-constant stress of day-to-day living aboard a starship in what was, to her, a hostile and alien environment. She appeared to recover on her own, and only time will tell if she has weather the storm intact.
Living / Working Spaces
- Quarters: Kalpana's quarters on Starbase 118 are in the outer wall of the drydock trunk, giving her a view of the drydock from nearly every room in her quarters. The main room of her quarters is functionally divided into four sections by the standard-issue couch and coffee table taking up the center of the room. To the left upon entering is the standard desk, while a complete (if small) kitchen absorbs the corner to the right from the door. The two distant corners contain large work tables: the left-hand one contains robotics tools, supplies, and PADDs; meanwhile, the right-hand one holds a seeming hodge-podge of science equipment and PADDs, up to and including a laboratory-quality laser.
Her walls are sparsely decorated with a few pictures, mostly of backgrounds that just happen to have people in them: her family and some friends. Her desk and coffee table, meanwhile, are decorated with numerous PADDs, usually reports, and always organized in some fashion or another. She abhors having things out of place if she can avoid it.
Leading off of the main room are two doors. The right-hand door leads to her bedroom and the attached bathroom, the former of which is probably the most-decorated room in Kalpana's quarters. Small, personal items adorn the walls and various shelves and furniture in the room, with the crowning item being a terran-style teddy bear that can usually be found sitting atop the pillows on her neatly-made bed. The left-hand door is usually left closed, as it leads to an otherwise unused room and second bathroom.
Kalpana tends to keep the gravity in her quarters at approximately 0.9 G, a nice mid-point between her birth gravity and that of Starfleet. Also, every other day, the air pressure and composition are regulated to that of her birth world for health reasons.
Subordinates
- Master Chief Petty Officer Isaac Ovloso: Kalpana's Assistant Chief of Operations is a lifer of Starfleet's enlisted corps. The terran is nearing seventy and has turned down no less than a half-dozen offers of promotion from within the ranks, knowing that while he is an extremely competent assistant (even a senior one with a lot of responsibility, as he currently is), at the end of the day, he prefers to have somebody above him to deal with the big picture and to run interference against the brass. He is incredibly efficient, largely through the use of task delegation, knows the system inside and out, and believes with all his being in the dream that is the Federation.
Acknowledgments
Kalpana's headshot and Y'm'ae Vrd'fy pictures are copyright 2008 Stephaine "Oni" Kao.
NPC Listing · StarBase 118 Ops Crew Manifest · Crew History
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