Keli

Family

• Mother: Karev
• Father:  Malco
• Sister: Kylieev

Biography

Early Life

Born and raised on Coridan Prime, Keli was the eldest daughter of Karev and Malco, who ran the family business of a multi-generational dilithium mining operation. Though her family was prosperous due to their business, Keli was brought up to be humble for her privileged life. Her mother instilled this element in her and her sister when they were teenagers. As part of their business’s outreach work after the end of the Dominion War, Karev would take her daughters to accompany her in leading relief efforts to the worlds devastated by the former conflict. Most of them were Cardassian worlds left to ruins in the war’s closing days. Supporting refugees by setting up camps and providing food and medical aid made the right impact that Karev wanted for her daughters. Between school and her charity work, Keli would spend time helping and getting to know the ins and outs of the family-owned business at the ground level. Mining was nothing exciting, but Keli found the entire process of digging fascinating.

Interested in geology, Keli planned to pursue this further after finishing school; however, she decided to undertake a job within her family’s charity organisation, working with those worlds along the Federation-Cardassian border. What was meant to be a three-month trip turned into two years. While on Minos Korva with friends, she was starting to reconsider her life choices at the age of 20, and when she walked past a Starfleet recruitment booth along the town square, she was intrigued by the prospect of joining. It took her a fortnight to finally decide that joining Starfleet was something she wanted to do. After passing the entrance exams and other tests, she left Minos Korva and was sent to the campus on Mellstoxx III.

Starfleet Career

Early Career

Her first year at Starfleet Academy was pretty standard, just like every other cadet past and present. She excelled in small unit tactics, was a natural with her sidearm training and took an interest in forensics. She had planned to take on geology as her field of expertise, but with some convincing from her professors and instructors, she focused entirely on forensics. Keli performed well in all areas of her study and found a good balance between work and play—something she would maintain for the rest of her career.

USS Themis (NCC-76554)

After graduation, Keli joined the recently launched Ross-class starship, USS Themis, as an ensign within the security department. Her main line of work was as an investigation officer, but when not required for such assignments, she was often assigned to various other duties. This varied work for the next three years worked to her advantage as she gained a more comprehensive range of experience. While in this role, she undertook further post-graduate courses in starship operations and often volunteered to take extra shifts in other departments as a helping hand or cover for other security officers. Her generosity would become well-known among the crew, but others would lean on it too much. Eventually, she realised this, and when the opportunity to move on came up, she decided to be a bit selfish and apply for a new ship.

USS Odyssey (NCC-80000)

In 2393, she joined the USS Odyssey after a promotion to lieutenant junior grade. Due to her completion of training and experience, she became the relief officer at the security and tactical position during the gamma shift. Though she had to restart her career again on the Odyssey to get to know a whole new (larger) crew, it was the correct type of challenge she had longed for. The Odyssey was one of Starfleet’s premier vessels and was doing a lot of work along the former Romulan Neutral Zone, which Keli was more than happy to be involved with and fall back on her own experience with when called upon for away team missions.

She learnt a lot under her new department head, Cline Lenjir, who ran daily meetings with his shift leaders. The two developed a sort of brother-sister relationship. When the opportunity arose for them to develop their own Hazard Team on board the ship, Cline selected Keli to lead the alpha team. A few months later, he required a new deputy and chose Keli. She remained in this position for the next five years, and during this time, she attended the advanced tactical training course. Come 2400, she was surprised when Lenjir decided to leave the ship to join her old ship, the Themis. After serving seven years on the Odyssey, she was honoured when Captain McCallister called her into his ready room and offered her the department head job. She accepted the job on the spot.

By 2401, she had shown McCallister that his decision to promote her to the senior staff was further solidified with her work while they were in the Delta Quadrant. On numerous occasions, she proved to take the ship’s security seriously. This was particularly true during its mission to stop the Borg from regaining control of an unfinished Transwarp Hub. Supporting Commander Grey, a former drone himself, her actions in developing an attack plan ensured that no one was injured and their mission was successful. For this, and after she finally completed the Starfleet Advanced Tactical Training Course, she was later on in the year and made a lieutenant commander.