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Why did Dax remove her spots?

Hoshi3

Lieutenant Commander
Red Shirt
In Trials and Tribble-ations, Dax removes her spots to make her look like human. Later on, Dax said that she met McCoy when he was a student. So if humans met Trills before, why did Dax remove her spots?
 
There were probably no Trills in Starfleet, or at least not in service aboard the Enterprise. Humans were the majority there, so she wanted to be as incognito as possible.
 
Because there probably wasn't a Trill assigned to the Enterprise during Kirk's time. As a Human, she would have blended as just another member of his crew.
 
^Agree with above. I think Trills in Starfleet were something of a rarity in Starfleet or the Federation during Kirk's time. Curzon is the only one I know of for sure. Jadzia probably didn't want to arouse suspicion by showing off her spots. Same with Worf. Klingons were around, but one sitting by himself on a Federation space station would have raised too many questions. And no, I don't believe those questions would have had anything to do with his improve make-up and ridges.

--Sran
 
Four hundred and thirty crew sounds like a lot of people, enough for four to hide among, yet wouldn't someone notice that there are four new faces (or at least two, since O'Brien and Bashir worked together, and Sisko and Dax were the other team), wandering around all of a sudden?

I mean, I've never known everyone at my workplaces, yet I knew everyone's face and generally knew when new people were brought in, so I wouldn't get suspicious that there was someone hanging around who shouldn't be. But here are four people who shouldn't be there, and just because they're dressed in the right uniform, no one questions it.

I suppose the same thing happened with Norman the Android in "I, Mudd". How many days was he there, wandering around in a uniform but generally being odd and suspicious? Was it three days? And only McCoy complained!

I get the feeling that anyone who wants to serve on a starship or hijack it need only put the right tunic on.
 
I mean, I've never known everyone at my workplaces, yet I knew everyone's face and generally knew when new people were brought in, so I wouldn't get suspicious that there was someone hanging around who shouldn't be. But here are four people who shouldn't be there, and just because they're dressed in the right uniform, no one questions it.

In the novelization, Kirk actually wonders about Sisko after meeting him, remarking to Spock that he didn't carry himself like a lieutenant (Sisko's faux rank while wearing TOS gear). Given Kirk's penchant for being thorough, one wonders if he went back through the duty roster or personnel files to look for someone who wasn't there.

--Sran
 
I would think that Kirk would be particularly suspicious - as CO, wouldn't he have final approval for personnel transfers and assignments? Certainly Spock would notice a new face and a lack of paperwork. I guess Sisko and Dax did a good job of keeping out of view from the one person who would be most difficult to fool.
 
^Here's Memory Alpha's blurb about the added scenes from the novel:

As well as additional scenes from "Trouble with Tribbles", the novelisation includes scenes showing DS9 crewmembers interacting with Enterprise senior staff or Enterprise crew reacting to them that the episode could not have included; this includes Dr. Julian Bashir briefly encountering Dr. Leonard McCoy while searching for Darvin, Captain James T. Kirk and Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Scott speculating on Chief Miles O'Brien and Dr Bashir's identities after Kirk sees them following the fight, and Kirk reflecting on his encounter with 'Lieutenant' Benjamin Sisko- incorrectly remembering his name as 'Brisko'- with Spock as the lieutenant didn't carry himself as such, although in all cases the Enterprise crew dismiss their lack of recognition as irrelevant or unimportant.

--Sran
 
Four hundred and thirty crew sounds like a lot of people, enough for four to hide among, yet wouldn't someone notice that there are four new faces (or at least two, since O'Brien and Bashir worked together, and Sisko and Dax were the other team), wandering around all of a sudden?

Didn't Lt. Watley, the one who flirted with Bashir in the turbolift, say she'd just recently transferred aboard? Maybe folks just assumed these others did too. Although there might've been some suspicion when they weren't seen again.

Anyway, my thinking is that the DS9 crew's interventions were minor enough not to make any substantial alteration in the timeline, so the variant branch they created would've re-merged with the original timeline after they left, and people's memories of the modified events would've faded or been blurred with their memories of the unaltered events. So time travelers who are only around for a brief period and don't have any substantial impact might tend to be forgotten.
 
Didn't Lt. Watley, the one who flirted with Bashir in the turbolift, say she'd just recently transferred aboard? Maybe folks just assumed these others did too. Although there might've been some suspicion when they weren't seen again.

Yes, she did say that. And aside from Bashir freaking out being his own great-grandfather, there were no lasting repercussions.

--Sran
 
As many redshirt casualties that were taken every week, there was always an influx of new faces. ;)
 
And I doubt it would have been too hard to have faked the 'appropriate' transfer paperwork, given the resources they had on the Defiant before they boarded K7 / Enterprise.

One would also have to assume that lifesign detectors were not s advanced either, otherwise, the Dax symbiont lifesign may also have been picked up, and aroused suspicion.
 
Yeah.. Dukat was able to invent and hack Sisko and company into a Klingon unit of elite warriors without much effort. Doing it to your own people that are a hundred years behind you would seem easier.
 
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