Ediz Winters

Ediz’s place of birth and family are both unknown. He was found abandoned as a baby at the medical facilities of Starbase 72 in late 2375, presumed left by war-displaced refugees when the station was embroiled in a particularly chaotic period of relief work for civilians and Starfleet task groups returning from the front of the Dominion War. Ediz was rapidly relocated to an inner systems orphanage, in a time when many records that could have shone a light on his origins were either lost or so rapidly outdated that to this day he knows nothing of his birth family or where he came from.

When the war ended, the Federation made a large push to encourage its citizens to pull together in healing and recovery, with the idea those who had suffered the most should receive the most support. This PR campaign inspired the Winters family, two civil architects who already had children of their own, to adopt a war orphan, and soon Ediz came into their lives. There was never any pretence about his background; he had been adopted, but was part of the family and was much loved. Ed Winters was thus brought up in New York with a comfortable life. In the heart of the Federation, neither he nor his family wanted for anything, and he was at every turn encouraged to follow his natural curiosity. A bright child, he excelled academically, though was often socially outshone by his more rambunctious and confident elder siblings.

The difference between them was irrelevant to everyone until Ed was twelve years old and fell seriously ill. What was assumed to be the flu quickly transpired to be something more serious: a metabolic disease. The illness itself was known to Federation doctors, but difficulty arose in treatment. The cure included an enzyme replacement therapy, where the creation of synthetic enzymes usually involved the study of adult relatives of the patient. Ed’s parents reached out for the first time to try to trace his biological family, but to no avail, and only with more complicated genetic and enzymatic medical analysis of Ed could the treatment plan be developed. This was a long-term process which kept Ed in the hospital and, while he made a full recovery, had an indelible impact on the boy.

The mysteries of his origins loomed large, and he knew the gaps in his knowledge about his past had almost killed him. It might have cast a shadow over his relationship with his adoptive family had it not been for their unwavering love and support. While the event drove home to Ed that he was different to his siblings, the most important lesson he learned was that these biological distinctions were irrelevant: the Winters were his family. But it had taken more than love to overcome the mysteries of biology; it also took medical science. The brilliance and dedication of the doctors and researchers who cured him left a huge impact on young Ed, and as he recovered, he declared he would study to become a doctor.

This was not much of a surprise; what shook his family was his decision to go to Starfleet Academy. That would unavoidably take him away from Earth, away from them, away from the happy lives they all lived at the heart of the Federation. It was only after Ed’s first year at the Academy that he understood himself enough to explain. Not only did the unknown loom large in his life, but he knew there were many war orphans who had not enjoyed the happy upbringing he had. Joining Starfleet demanded he step into mystery, and even if he could not solve that of his own life, he could solve others. It also would allow him to bring some measure of balance to the galaxy, to give back to those in need some of the kindness and love that he had been lucky enough to receive.

Ed Winters excelled at Starfleet Academy, at least in his medical studies. He took the eight-year specialist officer track, developing a speciality in xeno-medicine, inspired by the dives into the mysteries of genetics that had started his journey. At first, he struggled to make friends or connect with others, so committed as he was to his learning. After a difficult semester, he was urged to reach out by his academic supervisors and, in typical, socially-awkward fashion, decided this meant he should start a xeno-medicine study group. Mercifully, this attracted people just as driven as him who were perhaps less socially-inept, and Winters developed a tight-knit group of friends who were as supportive as they were competitive in driving each other on. While Winters never doubted his bond with his family, he – a man who did not know where he came from – felt like he had truly found his place in life as he connected with people from a hundred ways of life across the galaxy.

After four years, he earned his degree in xeno-medicine and was commissioned as an ensign, proceeding to study for another four years to earn his medical doctorate. From there he entered active duty as a Starfleet doctor, finishing his studies at the rank of lieutenant junior grade. It was a big step for him to be immediately assigned to the USS Pathfinder as the Chief Medical Officer, with his expertise in xeno-medicine playing a large part in earning him such a prestigious post out of the gate. In his initial months of service, he demonstrated his mettle to his commanding officer, and when she and many of the crew soon moved on to become captain of the larger USS Endeavour, he chose to follow her and the shipmates he had begun to bond with. The galaxy had many mysteries to solve and many people whose lives he could ease, and he could do that in a thousand places. But for Ed Winters, belonging matters more than place, and it is with those people he’s forged friendships with at the dawn of his service that he feels he belongs.