Keiko O'Brian

[Tracy Trek]

Was there not a storyline about Keiko working with other botanists on Bajor to try and help the eco-system after the Cardassian occupation. This would have been to explain why she and Molly were absent from the show for a while.

I remember thinking when the show started and she was unhappy she didn't have anything to do (before she started the school), that helping with finding solutions for possible problems with plant life after the occupation would have been something she could use her expertise for.

Also, I recall something about her mother turning 100. Keiko was probably in her 30's. I wondered if that meant in Trek's future women could get pregnant in their 60's and 70's without medical intervention.* Since human life spans seem to have increased in Trek's future, perhaps women could be fertile longer. Or I wondered if they actually meant to say her grandmother.

*I've heard of women who have acted as surrogates after their own menopause for younger women (usually their daughters) who can't carry a child. But they have to take hormone shots and the eggs to be fertilized have to come from another woman. The cases I've read about is where their daughter produces eggs and could conceive but can't carry a child to term.

 

[ozzfloyd]

Or perhaps many of our heroes are much older than they look? I'm sure by the 24th century 100 will be the new 50.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ Indeed. Age 100 is considered to be the prime of life in Trek's time.

 

[Paradise City]

Maybe Keiko was adopted.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

That was odd. Autocorrect just changed Bajor to Vanir. I talk about DS9 way more often than Norse mythology.

There was a story where Keiko spent a few months on a botany expedition on Bajor. When she came back she was pregnant with Yoshi.

 

[Turbo]

Yup, she was written out in "The House of Quark", came back for a visit and got busy in "Fascination", then came back from the expedition in "Accession". (Though we either lost some time here or she was gone on two separate expeditions, as she left at the beginning of Season 3 but didn't come back to DS9 for good until near the end of Season 4.)

 

[Terok Nor]

Yup, she was written out in "The House of Quark", came back for a visit and got busy in "Fascination", then came back from the expedition in "Accession". (Though we either lost some time here or she was gone on two separate expeditions, as she left at the beginning of Season 3 but didn't come back to DS9 for good until near the end of Season 4.)

I think the expedition was extended at some point. Miles visited Keiko on Bajor too. I can't imagine they spent over a year not seeing each other when it only takes 2 hours to get to Bajor by runabout. Not to mention if Keiko became pregnant after Fascination then it would have taken over 2 years for the baby to be born in Season 5

 

[2takesfrakes]

My minimal amount of research revealed the following:

http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Keiko_O'Brien

"It's also interesting to note that Keiko's mother was apparently around the age of 60 when she had Keiko (assuming Keiko was not much older than 40 in 2369)."

I'm one of the few STAR TREK fans, it seems, who loves Keiko, so I found this of particular interest, myself. Rosalind Chao was quite lovely, indeed.

 

[Paul Weaver]

^ Indeed. Age 100 is considered to be the prime of life in Trek's time.

Tell that to the admiral from too short a season! Although he did have a disease.

Picard was 60 at the start of TNG, so mid 70s by nemesis.

 

[Tim Thomason]

Re: Keiko O'Brien

Also, I recall something about her mother turning 100. Keiko was probably in her 30's. I wondered if that meant in Trek's future women could get pregnant in their 60's and 70's without medical intervention.* Since human life spans seem to have increased in Trek's future, perhaps women could be fertile longer. Or I wondered if they actually meant to say her grandmother.

*I've heard of women who have acted as surrogates after their own menopause for younger women (usually their daughters) who can't carry a child. But they have to take hormone shots and the eggs to be fertilized have to come from another woman. The cases I've read about is where their daughter produces eggs and could conceive but can't carry a child to term.

This is something I've never considered, but I take it that Mrs. Ishikawa probably had a child late in life, probably by choice, and used advanced medicine to make it healthy. Nothing wrong with a 60-year-old mother, and something that has happened rarely in the past and is plausible to happen more often in my lifetime. Alternatively, of course, Mrs. Ishikawa could have adopted or had a child via surrogate (like Keiko ended up doing).

I think human lifespans were extended by medical intervention and overall healthier lifestyles in Star Trek's future, but only to their natural conclusions. A 100-year-old man in our time is roughly the same as a 100-year-old man in Star Trek's time, except any internal issues are quickly and efficiently handled.

Picard was (initially) a 59-year-old man played by a 47-year-old actor, but I don't think that was a bit of a stretch. In addition to the top notch health care thing, the character was always portrayed as a very fit man, a one-time athletic superstar who kept himself very disciplined. No offense to Patrick Stewart, but I saw him playing a healthy 59-year-old as realistic.

"To the Death" implies that 140-years-old is a reasonable expectancy for a long human life, and the oldest fully human character we've ever seen onscreen was the 137-year-old McCoy. If 100 was a midlife point, then you'd think we'd have more evidence of older characters.

In fact, it seems that retirement age is roughly analogous to our time (TAS had a mandatory 75-year-old Starfleet retirement).

 

[Terok Nor]

I always thought it was sad that Bones outlived Jim by 8 (?) decades. I know he was still alive in the Nexus but Bones didn't know that. I also felt sad for Scotty when he beamed into the 24th century. All of his friends and whatever family he presumably had would likely be dead or on their way to the grave. Spock obviously prepared himself to deal with the logical fact that he would outlive all of his human friends.

It was a bit of a stretch for me to accept that 4 of the original characters made it to the TNG era alive but it was good to see them. Dialogue from Voyager's "Flashback" episode indicates Sulu died or retired from Starfleet before Janeway joined. Uhura and Chekov were younger than McCoy so could potentially have still be around in the TNG era.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

Time dilation?

 

[Paul Weaver]

I always thought it was sad that Bones outlived Jim by 8 (?) decades.

Bones was born in 2227
Met Jim at some point between 2252 (when Jim enterred the academy) and 2265 (when Bones joined the Enterprise)
Jim "died" in 2293 - Bones had known him for 30-40 years

Bones then spent the next 70 years without Jim, in addition to the first 25-35 -- 80% of his life was spent without James T Kirk

 

[ItIsGreen]

Bones was born in 2227
Met Jim at some point between 2252 (when Jim enterred the academy) and 2265 (when Bones joined the Enterprise)
Jim "died" in 2293 - Bones had known him for 30-40 years

Bones then spent the next 70 years without Jim, in addition to the first 25-35 -- 80% of his life was spent without James T Kirk

Do you judge someone's impact on your life by calculating the percentage of it that you spent with them?

Seems a very odd way to do things...