Ensign Ester Buiate
Race/sex: Human female, African American/Brazilian
Rank: Ensign
Physical attributes:
- 5’3, slim figure
- Tanned skin
- Long, bundled brown hair
Age: 21
Languages: English, Portuguese (native)
Handedness: Left-handed
Place of Birth: New Orleans, Louisiana, Earth
Bio: Ensign Ester is a very young ensign, fresh out of the Academy at the age of twenty-one. The ensign works the newly designed navigational controls at the helm of the Dragonfly. She is highly skilled, intelligent, emotional, and eager, but she is still very much learning on the job. Sometimes, she appears clumsy and makes mistakes, and tests Captain Seth’s patience at times.
Author’s notes: Developing a young character on a Starfleet crew is always tricky. We can see that there was some struggle when it came to Ensign Crusher and Jake Sisko, both of who seemed to develop awkwardly through the shows. Other youngsters like Ensigns Kim and Mayweather didn’t seem to develop much beyond their intended roles. Believe it or not, I felt the most convincing character we saw grow from child to adult was Ensign Nog (DS9), who had a real and compelling reason to be there: he didn’t want to be like his dad.
Ensign Ester is not so complex (yet!), and when I was writing the story I felt it important to keep her a child. She’s in the midst of figuring things out; all she knows is that she wants to be in Starfleet and that she wants to impress her captain. Aren’t we all like this at this age?
