Ariel Tilleran

Most Betazoids train for years to focus their telepathic abilities so they can become useful parts of society and help people. Ariel Tilleran grew up learning how to use it to snoop on people. Tilleran grew up on Betazed, with a uniquely high "psi" rating. She kept humble about her fantastic abilities, but continued to use them to snoop. That snoopiness, and its effect on all her friends on Betazed, naturally led her to Starfleet, specifically, the science division, where her duties categorically included "snooping." She had early on decided to stay out of the Counseling field. Tilleran worked as a junior grade science officer on small cargo vessels, some science ships and starbases, until she recieved a promotion to Chief of Sciences and was transferred to the USS Aerostar. There, she worked mainly in the science department belowdecks until Dan Elton became possessed with godlike powers and tried to take over the ship, during which time she met some of the other senior staff and decided to sit up at the science station on the bridge ("Penguin Dreams And Stranger Things" [VEX]). Later that year, Tilleran was one of few crewmembers unaffected by an evil-infused cloud, and thus had to help save the ship ("Clouded Judgement" [VEX]). In 2375, Tilleran had to rescue a planet, and her away team, from brain eating zombies, and a virus that turns others into brain eating zombies ("If I Only Had A Brain" [VEX]); in the final analysis, it was her telepathic skills that won out. In 2376, Tilleran was visited, surprisingly, by her long-time idol Lwaxana Troi. Troi, her daughter, Deanna, and Lt. Commander Data, had been flung far off-course by a subspace string, along with the Explorer. Tilleran immediately spent extra time with Lwaxana, smothering her like only a mother could, mistakenly picking up on all of the abundant motherly energy rippling off Lwaxana. After Tilleran, with Peterman's help, cat-fought with Deanna, she was able to stabilize hers and Lwaxana's minds and straighten things out, at which point no one involved wanted to be involved with anyone else ("Generation Gap Pt. 1" [VEX]). After the Explorer was temporarily de-commissioned and relieved of its senior staff, Tilleran joined J'hana for a vacation on Earth. During that time, the two became psychicly bonded, Imzadi for lack of a better term. This led to an intimate and confusing relationship between the two that baffled most Explorer crew. When they returned to the ship, they continued this relationship until their "dirty laundry" was aired on Alvin Ficker's talk show ("Talk Is Cheap" [VEX]).