Captain Zaliel Sel is the longest-serving Commanding Officer of the USS Brahe, holding the position since 2409.

Prior to commanding the Brahe, Zaliel served as a scientific researcher, programmer, and data analyst at Starfleet Headquaters, where she received several citations for thoroughness, speed, and ingenuity. Showing considerable skill, she was made to supervise and train new officers entering scientifically technical positions, in addition to her normal research and reporting duties. Dissatisfied writing papers for the discoveries of others, Zaliel made several unsuccessful attempts to transfer to an exploratory vessel. Undeterred, Zaliel enrolled in Command School where she demonstrated satisfactory proficiency.

Graduating in 2405, Zaliel was able to successfully transfer to the USS Atlas (Intrepid class) as their new Chief Science Officer. Shortly after her appointment, conflict on the Klingon boarder with several houses began and Atlas was deployed to support peacekeeping operations along the Federation/Klingon boarder. During her four years aboard the Atlas, Zaliel participated in over 270 missions directly or indirectly supporting the Klingon boarder action including: Combat Support, Supply Escort, Relief Efforts, and Search & Rescue. For her service and dedication, Zaliel was eventually made Second Officer of the Atlas at the close of 2407.

In 2409, Atlas detected a faint power signature orbiting a P-Class world which would be identified as the USS Brahe, reported missing earlier in the year. Acting under the orders of the Atlas’ captain, Zaliel was placed temporarily in command of the Brahe during the return trip to Regulus. While en route to Regulus, Atlas was ordered to return to the Federation/Klingon boarder. Zaliel was granted the provisionary rank of Commander, with orders to return Brahe to port and oversee repairs. For her oversight, diligence, and for want of more experience officers, Commander Sel’s rank and position were made permanent in the last days of 2409.

Following the cessation of hostiles on the Klingon/Federation boarder in 2410, Zaliel retained command of the Brahe, a position she continues to hold. Over the intervening years, Zaliel would oversee hundreds of scientific mission ranging from astrological surveys to xenological sampling. Using the long periods away from port to her advantage, Zaliel completed two Masters courses via the Starfleet Distance Learning Program: Astrophysics and Subspace Theory.

The Spring of 2415 saw the Brahe participating in colonization efforts in the Ponor Sector. Representing the colonial effort was Marc Pradhan, a Colonial Civil Engineer, who was responsible for designing layouts for new Federation colonies. Zaliel and Marc quickly developed a rapport and were married a year later at the ground-breaking ceremony on Idious IV, the first colony they helped found.

For nearly a year, between the later end of 2418 and mid 2419, Marc and Zaliel’s jobs separated the couple while the Brahe was posted to Deep Space 13, a remote facility on the edge of Federation space.

In 2420, the Brahe was placed in Dry Dock for major refits. This gave Zaliel the opportunity to reconnect with her husband and complete her Doctorate in Planetary Science. In 2421, the Brahe was assigned to a year-long deep space exploration assignment.

Zaliel is a bisexual transgender woman who began her social transition at eight years of age, then Trill hormone replacement therapy at eleven under the supervision of her parents, physicians, and therapist. While not the forefront of her experience, it occasionally is a source of anxiety, such as her first contact dealings with the highly matriarchal Kit Commune.

Zaliel married Mallikarjuna-Rakesh “Marc” Pradhan in 2416 a year after their first meeting and what onlookers described as a “torrid” love affair. Both partners often find themselves sectors apart, leading to an arrangement based on the principals of consensual non-monogamy.

Following the unexpected arrival of Vordai t'Krediv on the USS Brahe, the women became romantically involved. Unlike the public, torrid relationship of Malikarjuna and Zaliel, the Vordai/Zaliel relationship is marked by a quiet intensity.