Katar MacKintosh

Name: Katar (KAY-tar) MacKintosh
Race: Romulan
Gender: Male
Age: 31
Date of birth: 2804
Place of birth: Venaedar, Praetoria Province, Romulus
Parents:
Deceased; Adopted parents: Captain Edward MacKintosh and Dr. Heather MacKintosh
Siblings:
Derissia (older sister)
Marital status: Single
Children: None
Hair color: Dark Brown with copper tint
Eye color: Green
Height: 6' 2"
Weight: 220lbs

Education / Service Record:
2822-2827: University of Edinburgh, Earth (One-year study leave at the Vulcan Science Academy)
2828-2832: Starfleet Academy

Physical description:
Katar has a lithe frame that belies impressive physical strength. His eyes, though friendly, have the look of an "old soul". He has somewhat pale skin, though with the greenish tint that is common to many of his people. His hair is a bowl cut that is short enough to easily reveal his pointed ears. He has a small greenish scar on the left side of his neck.

Personal history:
Katar was born in the dawning years of the 29th century, a time when reunification between the peoples of Vulcan and Romulus has been a reality for well over 2 centuries. His parents were quite prosperous in the making and selling of Romulan Ale, attaining success by using traditional brewing techniques. This prosperity came to an end when the family was aboard one of their transport ships when raiders attacked it. This happened when Katar was nearly four. His sister, Derissia, older by 4 years, had taken ill with Regulan flu, and was in the care of relatives when the family left on what was supposed to be a pleasant business trip. The ship crashed on a marginal class-M world populated by humanoids of roughly Bronze Age technology. The natives found the young Katar, and took him in, considering him to be sent by the Star Gods. Eight months later, the USS Nautilus, near the end of a 20-year mission under the command of Captain Edward MacKintosh, arrived to set up an observation post. An away team discovered the child, and brought him aboard. MacKintosh and his wife, Heather, also the Medical Officer aboard the Nautilus, had been unable to have children and had put it off adoption in light of their chosen careers. Finding little evidence as to the boy's origin (The natives had scuttled what was left of the crashed transport), the couple decided to adopt the boy as their own. They kept his name, as it was one of the few things that the boy could remember about his old life.

Captain MacKintosh and his wife soon returned to Earth, where they retired from Starfleet. The family then relocated to Caldos (see TNG episode "Sub Rosa") where the Captain became colonial governor. Growing up in that environment, Katar quickly became immersed in Scottish culture. The people generally embraced him, though there were occasional bullies who teased him about his Romulan heritage. At first he tried to hide his nature, growing his hair long enough to cover his pointed ears. Then one year he met T'lara, a Vulcan girl whose parents were meteorologists helping to upgrade the planet's weather control system. With her help, Katar took interest in the heritage of his people and their cousins the Vulcans. In grade school, he showed a particular strength in history and the sciences. When he was 17 terran years old, his adopted father died, and Dr. MacKintosh relocated back to Scotland on her native Earth. At age 18, Katar attended a gathering of the Clan MacKintosh. While there, he saved the Clan Chief's twin son and daughter from a plasma fire that erupted near a generator. The grateful chief made Katar an official member of the Clan MacKintosh as a result.

A year later, Katar enrolled at the University of Edinburgh, earning a doctorate in psychohistory. Katar's grades were such that he was awarded a one-year study exchange at the Vulcan Science Academy. There, he learned to develop some of his psionic skills, and studied xenoarcheology. While on Vulcan, his path again crossed with that of T'lara, who had recently accepted a position as associate professor of meteorology. The two friends, now adults, found themselves attracted to one another, and carried on a brief, though passionate love affair. This came to a painful end when T'lara's betrothed, a spice merchant named Soral, returned from a two-year business sojourn. Katar was prepared to fight for T'lara in the ancient Vulcan tradition of the Koon-ut-kal-if-fee, but T'lara chose to perform her duty to her family rather than risk Katar's death. Heartbroken, Katar returned to Earth and completed his doctoral studies.

In the last semester of Katar's doctoral work, he received disturbing message: Derissia, a Romulan businesswoman, had seen Katar's name mentioned in a scientific journal. Given his unusual background, and the fact that she had lost a brother by that name, she was curious if he was indeed her lost sibling. She included a DNA sample, and it matched his. Katar was overjoyed, and left two days after graduation for Romulus, a homeworld he had never really known. Derissia had grown up to inherit the family Ale business, and had built it up to an impressive size. She offered Katar a chance to be a part of the company, and at first, his heart jumped at the chance. After a year's time, however, he realized that he was in many ways an alien among his own people. His doctorate served him poorly in the day to day running of a Romulan Ale brewery, and he decided to return to Earth. This decision did not sit well with his sister, and the two have spoken little to each other since that time.

Katar felt little direction in his life at this time. He was an alien figuratively among his native people, and literally among his adopted people. Then one day, a chance encounter with Commodore Hanover Bendi, a friend of his adopted parents, got him to thinking. Sure, he knew about the great men and women of history, but wouldn't it be something to have a chance at making history? This prospect gave him the direction he was looking for, and Katar applied and was accepted at age 24 to Starfleet Academy, the fifth Romulan in its history to attend there.

Katar chose to specialize in the sciences, excelling in the areas of temporal physics, xenobiology, and computer science. While at the academy, Katar's best friends included By'rrn, a Caitian, and Shalamaar, an Andorian woman. Four years later, Katar was assigned to the USS Cousteau as Assistant Science Officer and ship's historian. Shalamaar was also part of the Cousteau's crew, serving in astrophysics. Katar and her relationship was just moving beyond the platonic stage when she was killed in a senseless manner by a seemingly harmless lifeform on an expedition to planet Scorpio 298. This was devastating to Katar, and when the Cousteau's captain recommended him for assignment to a new ship, the USS Helios, as Science Officer/Ship's Historian, he decided that it was a chance to get away from painful memories.

He didn't know it at the time, but Katar MacKintosh's new assignment was going to afford him a whole new look at history.

Personality profile:
Katar is in many ways an Earthman in a Romulan's body. Although he feels an obvious physical similarity between himself and other Romulans, he feels a far stronger kinship to the people of Earth, particularly those of Scottish ancestry. (He is even known to sport a kilt at formal functions). While on duty, he has a cool, efficient demeanor common to Romulan officers. While off duty, he is much more laid back, though he has never quite shaken his own perception of being an outsider. He enjoys nothing more than a good philosophical debate over a drink of whisky or Romulan Ale. The chance to travel into the past via the Helios is a dream come true for an historian such as himself. In truth, he prefers dangerous situations where action and risk are involved as compared to running sensor scans and other routine science officer duties. He enjoys the mysteries one can encounter in space, and has been known miss sleeping 2-3 nights while working on their solution. Katar is proficient with melee weapons and is an unusually good brawler. Although he lacks the years of discipline necessary to perform Vulcan psionics such as a mind meld, Katar does have limited ability to implant suggestions in weaker minded individuals. He also has the Romulan ability to enhance emotional experiences between himself and those he is close to.

Hobbies / Interests:
History (particularly the era of the Scottish Clans, early Federation history, the time before the Vulcan/Romulan Schism, the Romulan War with Earth in the 22nd Century, and the Dominion War), xenobiology, archeology, Medieval Earth weapons, swordfighting, time travel theory and application, philosophical debate.