#and his occupation as head of the science division on the enterprise very often

[adarkroomandawallflower]

I hope you don't mind OP, but I was inspired:

The cold water that rushed against Data's ankles and shins as he stepped into the tidepool did not deter or stall him. The sensors on his bioplast took only 0.37 seconds to determine the temperature of the water, and another 0.12 seconds to send that information to his brain. The information was barely even acknowledged by his positronic net, as a good portion of his mental processing was currently focused on the bright object just a few meters away from him.

As Data made his way closer to the mysterious object, he realized it was a small, slug-like creature that was bright yellow with irregular black stripes. "Curious," he said to himself as he cautiously bent down to get a closer look. He did not recall ever seeing this creature before, nor did he have a record of it in his memory banks.

"Intriguing," he marveled, and removed his tricorder from his utility belt. His tricorder beeped and lit up as he meticulously took readings of the lifeform, which was now undulating slowly against a large rock in the tidepool. He briefly glanced away from his tricorder to watch its movements in wonder.

A few seconds later, his tricorder chirped to signal that it had completed collecting its readings, and displayed those readings on its small screen. He reverted his attention away from the creature and back to his instrument, reviewing the findings:

Type: Invertebrate

Habitat: Marine

Diet: Carnivorous

Lifespan: 4 weeks to 1 year (species dependent)

Species: Insufficient information; unable to identify

Both surprised and further intrigued by these readings, his fingers elegantly tapped several buttons on his tricorder to request further readings and analysis. This time, his tricorder was able to identify the species.

"Commander," Data back called to Commander Riker, who was several meters behind him, "I believe I have found something."

A few moments later, Riker appeared beside Data, while Geordi and Worf appeared directly behind them both, "What is it, Data?"

"Notodoris minor," Data spoke, nudging his head slightly towards the direction of the marine organism. "It is a species of shell-less, marine gastropods known as nudibranchs."

Geordi and Worf kept their distance, but continued observing. Worf's hand brushed the holster of his phaser when Riker bent down slightly to get a better look at the nudibranch, "Could one of these little guys be responsible for poisoning those villagers?"

Data blinked, turning his head slightly to face Riker, "Actually, Sir, nudibranchs are hermaphroditic: they produce both male and female gametes."

Riker smiled, "I see; my apologies, Mister Data. Could one of these little hermaphrodites be responsible for poisoning those villagers?"

Data nodded once, signaling his approval of Riker's rephrased question, before he tapped away on his tricorder once again, searching for more information on nudibranchs.

After a moment, his gaze returned to Riker and he spoke again, "Some species of nudibranchs possess venomous appendages called cerata, which they utilize for self-defense," Data inhaled sharply, "However, this species does not appear to possess such cerata. I do not believe it is responsible for the villagers' poisonings."

Riker sighed, "So, we're back to square one."

Data took a moment to internally review the connotation of that colloquialism before answering. Once he realized its meaning, he continued speaking, "Not necessarily. This discovery does present the possibility of a potentially 'natural' source of poison."

"But you just said this species isn't poisonous?"

"No, I said that this species did not appear to be venomous, meaning that it does not inject venom into potential predators, or other organisms that threaten its existence, through a bite or sting. A poisonous organism is one that releases toxins when consumed, touched, or inhaled. The notion that the terms 'venomous' and 'poisonous' are interchangeable is a common misconception, Sir."

Riker and the rest of the Away Team were still confused, "What are you getting at, Data?"

"I am merely hypothesizing that there could be natural sources of poison in this village that are being used to poison the villagers. If there are poisonous lifeforms present, the perpetrators may have used them to poison their weapons, for example. This was a common practice employed by Native Americans of the former regions of Central and South America, who would poison their blowdarts by dipping them in the secretions of poison dart frogs," he paused, "Alternatively, the perpetrators may have intentionally fed poisonous organisms to their victims. In either instance, further research on the organisms residing in this region is necessary to test the validity of my hypothesis."

Riker nodded, "Very well. You and the rest of the Exobiology Department can get to work on researching what friends this nudibranch has here."

"Aye, Sir."

"Geordi, Worf, let's see if we can talk to some of the villagers about the kinds of food they eat and weapons they use," Riker, Geordi, and Worf trudged their way out of the tidepool, and headed back towards the village.

Data returned his attention to the little nudibranch. There was something so...delightful about this organism, although he couldn't pinpoint what specific aspects of the nudibranch brought him to that conclusion. Its striking coloration, which somewhat reminded him of himself, as well as its somewhat mysterious nature were intriguing to him, and he found himself strongly motivated to learn more about nudibranchs.

Luckily for him, he had the entire Enterprise Exobiology Department available to help him in this endeavor.

"Data to Science Division," his lips curved upwards ever so slightly, "Prepare to beam down Exobiology Teams 1-5 for organismal research."

all I want to see is Data seeing a cute yellow nudibranch and then researches everything there is to know about them !!!!

[theprocrastinatingalien]

Battle of Star Trek - Batch#8 Heats (featuring Picard, Tilly, Kim & Kira!)

The Battle of Star Trek continues, but the end is nigh, as we enter our final batch of characters for you to whittle down to your favourite.

We started with 128 characters, and here we have the last batch of 16.  Head over to twitter, add procrastinalien and get voting!

DEANNA TROI

Half Human, half betazoid, Deanna is an empath - meaning she can sense emotions in others.  She was Picard's trusted counsellor on the USS Enterprise-D (and E), and eventually married his first officer Will Riker.  Throughout seven seasons of STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION, four movies, and some guest spots on VOYAGER and ENTERPRISE, Troi was played by Marina Sirtis.

TORAL ZIYAL

Ziyal spent much of her life as a slave, neglected by her father Dukat due to being half-Cardassian but also half-Bajoran... something his people would never have accepted.  She ended up on DEEP SPACE NINE, where she was taken under the wing of Kira Nerys and started developing a romantic relationship with Garak until she was killed by Damar.  An act which sent her father a little crazy.   A supporting role, Ziyal was played by a number of actors - Cyia Batten, Tracy Middendorf, but most notably Melanie Smith.

DATA

Lt. Commander Data was the first android in Starfleet, and served aboard the USS Enterprise D & E, under Picard, where he spent much of his time studying, and endeavouring to become a part of, humanity. He built up great friendships, in particular with Geordi La Forge.  He was an asset to Starfleet, until his sacrifice in STAR TREK: NEMESIS.  Data was portrayed by Brent Spiner throughout seven years of THE NEXT GENERATION and four movies.

LORE

Lore was, essentially, Data's evil twin. Unlike Data, he was equipped with an emotion chip from the beginning, but sadly his personality wasn't as promising.  He did may evil acts throughout a number of guest spots, particularly when he took control of a dysfunctional faction of the Borg, and tortured Geordi in the process - or worse, got Data (mind controlled) to for him.  Like Data, Lore was played by Brent Spiner.

JEAN-LUC PICARD

Arguably the best commanding officer in STAR TREK.  Some might argue (and there are certainly arguments for the likes of Kirk or Janeway etc) but Picard - as played by Shakespearean actor Patrick Stewart - is easily the most commanding.   At first he was uptight and offish, but surrounded by a warm crew, Picard softened over the years... especially after he was assimilated by the Borg as Locutus.   Stewart played Picard for seven seasons of THE NEXT GENERATION, four movies, and a guest spot in the pilot of DEEP SPACE NINE.

HIKARU SULU

The very first time we met Sulu, he was in the science division, but for the rest of his time in THE ORIGINAL SERIES (and THE ANIMATED SERIES), we was the ship's helmsman.  He remained at the helm through three seasons of the live action series, two seasons of the animated, and five movies, until he was finally given his own command.  Captain Sulu appeared in charge of the USS Excelsior in STAR TREK VI: THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY and again for a guest spot on VOYAGER.   He was played by George Takei in all of that, with John Cho playing the character for the Kelvin timeline appearances since 2009.

KURN

A proud Klingon, Kurn was Worf's brother, and looked down on his decision to join Starfleet.   The brothers attempted to turn the dishonoured name of their father into something good again... but when Worf went against Kurn (now a Klingon councillor) over the a Klingon invasion of Cardassia, Kurn had his mind wiped so he would feel Worf's fall from grace.  Tony Todd played Kurn in both THE NEXT GENERATION and DEEP SPACE NINE.

CHARLES 'TRIP' TUCKER III

'Trip' was the chief engineer onboard the NX Enterprise. He was a good friend of the commanding officer, Archer, and despite his distrust of the Vulcans, he not only became good friends, but romantically involved with the first officer, T'Pol.  The three would often eat dinner together.  Connor Trinneer played Trip throughout the four seasons of ENTERPRISE.

KIRA NERYS

At the start of DEEP SPACE NINE, Kira resented Stafleet's position on the station.  She'd been a rebel, freedom fighter against the Cardassian occupation of her homeworld, Bajor and felt Starfleet was another oppressing force.  She lightened up though and over the years Kira came to trust and value Sisko and the other Starfleet officers. Kira was played by Nana Visitor over the course of all seven seasons of DS9.

HARRY KIM

When the USS Voyager was flung across to the Delta quadrant, young naïve Harry Kim stepped up.  He was the Operations officer on board and became a valued member of Janeway's crew. He formed a strong friendship with Tom Paris, the two often hanging out in the holodeck.   Harry was played by Garrett Wang for all seven seasons of VOYAGER.

WESLEY CRUSHER

Some people found the Wesley character annoyed, but come on, I dare you not to feel a little bit proud when he first walks on the bridge in his Starfleet uniform.   Wesley, son of Dr Crusher, was a child genius, and applied (but missed) his chance at starting Starfleet courses, so Picard gave him duties on the USS Enterprise.  Wil Wheaton played Wesley for a full three seasons of THE NEXT GENERATION, and left part way through the fourth.  He made guest appearances in the seasons that followed, including a cameo in STAR TREK: NEMESIS.

JANICE RAND

Grace Lee Whitney played Kirk's yeoman.  Despite appearing in a lot of the promotional images for STAR TREK, Janice Rand only appeared in the first bunch of episodes. She did appear in cameos across the movies though, last seen on the USS Excelsior under Captain Sulu, in VOYAGER.

LT. KYLE

Lt. Kyle was one of those rare things in THE ORIGINAL SERIES... A red shirt that didn't get killed off.  He was played by John Winston across the series as well as an appearance in STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN.

SYLVIA TILLY

Tilly could be described as the 'heart' of STAR TREK: DISCOVERY.  A young and hopeful cadet, Tilly is also determined. She found herself bunking with known mutineer Michael Burnham, but whilst nervous, became her friend - and after proving herself to the rest of the crew, was promoted to ensign, and put on the command track.  Mary Wiseman played Tilly during the first season, and will return for the second.

ALYSSA OGAWA

Every good doctor needs good nurses, and Dr Crusher had Nurse Ogawa.  Whilst only a supporting character, we got a few nice moments for Alyssa, including an episode (THE LOWER DECKS) which saw a few ensigns looking for promotion and her starting a family.   Patti Yasutake played Ogawa from the fourth season of STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION, and went onto the first two movies featuring the same cast.

PHILIPPA GEORGIOU

Michelle Yeoh was the first cast member to be announced for the newest of the Treks - STAR TREK: DISCOVERY.  Captain Georgiou (commanding officer of the USS Shenzhou) was killed by the Klingons in only the second episode however, with only a hologram of her, reading a message to her first officer Michael Burnham, to follow.  That was, of course, until the USS Discovery found itself in in the Mirror universe... and we met Emperor Georgiou.   Burnham brought her back to our prime universe, and after pretending to be our Georgiou for a bit, she's disappeared into the shadows.  I think we all expect an appearance from Yeoh in the second season - currently shooting now.

So there you are.  No new names after this point, this is it.  We already have champions from the previous seven batches, and now we need to find one from this batch. You've got three days to pick your favourites - get yourselves to twitter and get voting!