Sami Kahl

Early Life

When Krios was invaded and conquered by the Klingon Empire in the mid-twenty-second century, the entire Royal dynasty went into hiding and joining the resistance movement. As a result of this, the Royal family became splintered and slowly the Klingons began to track them down. Samious was born shortly after his mother inherited the title of First Monarch when her brother was killed by the Klingons. Even though she never had her own coronation, she became Queen of Krios while underground. After almost surviving seventeen years hiding from the brutal subjugation of Klingon rule, a plan was hatched by the remnants of the Kriosian Sovereign Guard to safely get the Queen and her young family off from Krios and setup a government in exile far away. It was decided that Samious would leave with his father on one transport while his younger brother would go with his mother on another. Then once they had escaped they would rejoin together as a family. Sadly Samious’ mother’s ship was destroyed by the Klingons and when Starfleet rescued his ship, his father had died after the Klingons attempted to capture the ship. Samious was one of forty seven survivors to make it to the Federation. Even though he was the legitimate heir to the throne of the First Monarch, he refused to take up the position. He was overcome with grief and had lost so much. After his petition to be granted a political asylum in the Federation was granted, he made the decision to remain on the ship that had saved him, the USS Excalibur.

Life on the Excalibur was difficult at first for the Crown Prince. He found it a challenge to adjust to life, especially after his own people had decided to flee to Archer IV to set up their government in-exile from there. He had wished them well, but told them that when he was ready he would return, but for now he needed to figure other things. At the time, Captain Dawson (the Excalibur’s CO) noticed that the young man needed some guidance. Asking her first officer and chief engineer to become a mentor to him, Samious was taking under the wing of Commander Aaron Harris. The two got on very well and Samious felt he was able to open up about his entire childhood and what he had experienced. The trauma was a lot for him to deal with and Harris took leave from his duty briefly to take Samious to see a therapist and to take some time to reflect on what had happened in his life, especially give him the time to grieve for the loss of his family and people. Once he began to feel somewhat better, Samious decided for his own safety he needed to become more Human than Kriosian. After a long discussion with the Excalibur’s CMO, Samious had some of his tell-tale signs of his heritage to be slightly altered. He had his eye colours changed and his hair too. Not wanting to forget his heritage entirely, Samious decided to have the Krios emblem for his family tattooed on his left shoulder. He asked Commander Harris to join him in Kriosian ceremony which was used to bring families together during a loss. Harris agreed and he too has the tattoo on his left shoulder.

Being on the Excalibur was like a fresh start for the young man, who became known as Sam or Sami to most of the crew. Captain Dawson decided to make Sami an Acting Ensign and had him familiarise himself with every department and division on the ship. Eventually he would go on to attend Starfleet Academy.

Starfleet Career

Early Career

Loving his time in engineering under Harris, Sam decided to pursue his career in this area and when he attended Starfleet Academy he placed his efforts in learning everything from warp drive theory to starship systems. He wanted to know everything. Also attending Starfleet Academy was one of the best times for the young man as no-one (beside the Academy Commandant) knew his background. They just knew him as Sam Kahl from the Excalibur. When he was asked about his parents, he would say his family died when their transport was damaged and that he was adopted by Commander Harris. He made some friends, but not many. Keeping his head down and being involved in his studies was important to him, compared to socialising.

At the end of the Academy he was hoping to be posted back to the Excalibur, instead he was assigned to the USS Zhang Qian (NCC-1054).

USS ZHANG QIAN (NCC-1054)

Joining the Zhang Qian in 2253, Sami enjoyed being part of the ship’s engineering crew. He learnt a lot under his chief engineer, however he never truly enjoyed being part of the small ship. There was not much to do besides repairing and replacing older systems. The ship was assigned to patrol the inner core territories of the Federation as well as undertake quite menial tasks for Starfleet Command. So when an opening on the Excalibur finally appeared, he was quick to apply.

USS EXCALIBUR (NCC-1664) 

Returning to the Excalibur was like a welcome home for the newly appointed Assistant Chief Engineer. With the rank of lieutenant, Sami was prepared to deal with any issue that came his way. He was happy to be returning to the ship, especially as Harris was now the Captain.