'''Tal Celes''' was a [[Bajoran]] crew member who served aboard the [[USS Voyager|USS''Voyager'']],astarshipthatbecamestrandedinthe [[Delta Quadrant]] in [[2371]]. Tal was assigned to [[Astrometrics]] under [[Seven of Nine]]. By [[2376]],Celeswasagradethree [[sensoranalyst]].
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| actor= [[ZoeMcLellan]]
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'''Tal Celes''' was a [[Bajoran]] [[Starfleet]] [[crewman]] who served aboard the [[Federation]] [[starship]] {{USS|Voyager}}, which became stranded in the [[Delta Quadrant]] in [[2371]]. By [[2376]], Celes was a grade three [[sensor analyst]] assigned to ''Voyager''{{'}}s [[astrometrics]] department under [[Seven of Nine]], the department's head.
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In the [[Starfleet Academy|Academy]],Tal had great difficulty with [[Starfleet]]training courses, and worked three times as hard as everyoneelse in order to keep up with her classmates. She believedthatshegotintoStarfleetbecauseshewasBajoran and that her instructorsmadelifealittleeasierforherforthesamereason,ashaving Bajoran [[officer]]s in Starfleet was in the [[Federation]]'sbestinterest.
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At [[Starfleet Academy]] Celes had great difficulty with her enlistee training [[Starfleet Academy courses|courses]] and worked three times as hard as herclassmates in order to keep up. She frequentlyhadtospendallnightcrammingtopass her training.Shebelievedthatshewasgraduatedfromtrainingduetosympathyoverher [[homeworld]]'s [[Bajoran Occupation|conflict]], and the desire of Starfleet to have Bajorans in the service.
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Duringher time on ''Voyager'', Celes had severedoubtsinherabilitytoperformherassigned tasks, and her work wasbeingcheckedandrechecked by her co-workersandsuperiorsduetohermanymistakes. As a result, sheoftenworkedthroughthe night in order to complete her duties. Her best friend on ''Voyager'' was [[William Telfer]], whomsheoften helped with his[[hypochondria]].
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Celesespecially had difficultywithsensordataanalysis.Asasensoranalyst, her work hadtobeconstantlydouble-checkedmuchtoSevenofNine'simmenseirritation. Often, Celeshadtocallupon her closest friend on ''Voyager'',crewman [[William Telfer|William "Billy" Telfer]], tohelpher with theanalyses. ({{VOY|Good Shepherd}})
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In [[2376]], SevenofNinesingledoutCelestoCaptain [[Kathryn Janeway|Janeway]] asoneofthreecrewmemberswhowereunable to meettheirdutiesto the requiredlevels. Since''Voyager''wasunable to rotatethesecrewmembers to anotherstarshipwithlesschallengingdemands, aswouldnormallybethecase, Janewaydecidedto have the threejoinheraboard the ''[[Delta Flyer]]''on a surveymission. When the ''Flyer''cameunderattack, Celeshelpeddeterminethesourceandcauseoftheattack, and remainedaboardthe''Flyer'', ratherthanabandon the captain. ''([[VOY]]:"[[GoodShepherd]]")''
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In [[2376]], ''Voyager''wasboardedbyan[[ClassJnebula lifeform|electromagnetic lifeform]]. The [[lifeform]]'shome,a[[ClassJnebula]],haddestabilizedand dissipated due to ''Voyager''miningitfor [[deuterium]]. Shortly after the lifeformsarrival, Celes was about to run a diagnostic on a circuit panel when Seven of Nine stopped her. Shemovedasideas Seven began to runherown diagnostic to findafaultwhichshethought Tal had caused, andwhichhadcutpowerto Astometrics. She was surprised when Tal told her she had not even started as yet, thusthefault could not have been hers as the aliencausedship-widepower outages and system malfunctions, including power loss. Later, with the ship's lights out, Celes wandered the [[corridor]]sof the ship alone for a numberof hours, looking for other crewmembers. Terribly frightened, she believed the shiphadbeentaken over by hostile [[alien]]s, suchas[[Hirogen]]or[[Borg]].Sheeventuallyraninto[[Ensign]] [[Harry Kim]], who was looking for other crewmembers, and attackedhimonseeing his shadow, believinghimto be an alien intruder. She struck Kim in the stomach with the equipment case she was carrying. Kim managed to calm her down and took her with him to a temporary command post that had been set up in [[mainengineering]].({{VOY|The Haunting of Deck Twelve}})
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Later that year, the USS ''Voyager'' was accidently boarded by an [[electromagnetic life-form]], which caused many power outages. Tal Celes was accused of causing apowershortage in astrometrics by performing a flawed [[diagnostic]] by Seven of Nine. The power shortage has actually been caused by the electromagnetic life-form. Later she was left wandering the corridors of the ship alone for "4or5 hours". While wandering alone in the dark she became paranoid and started to believetheship had been taking over by hostile [[alien]]s. She eventually ran into [[Harry Kim]] whom she mistook to be either a [[Borg]] or a [[Hirogen]]. Kim calmed her down and thetwo of them walked to the temporary command post in [[main engineering]]. ''([[VOY]]: "[[TheHaunting of Deck Twelve]])")''
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{{bginfo|Theeventsportrayed in "The Haunting of DeckTwelve" aresaid to occurbefore{{VOY|Collective}} and thusalso "GoodShepherd".}}
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In[[2377]], shewasbrainwashedby the [[Quarren(race)|Quarren]] afterthey [[radiation|irradiated]] ''Voyager''andforcedtheevacuationofitscrew.She,alongwith most of the restofthecrew,spentapproximately three weeksinthelargestcity on [[Quarra]], their[[engram|memories]]werealteredandtheywereunawarethattheyhadbeenkidnapped.OnQuarrasheworkedina [[fusionreactor]] with[[Mulcahey]],theydidnotknowtheykneweachotherfrom''Voyager''. ''([[VOY]]:"[[Workforce,PartII]]")''
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Laterthat year, SevenofNineconducted an efficiency analysis of the ship's operations. Her results, presented to the [[seniorstaff]] ina briefing, indicated that Celes, Telfer and a third crewman, [[Mortimer Harren]],werenotperformingatacceptablelevels,andwerereducingtheefficiency of the ship'soperation.CaptainJanewaydecidedto take the three onasimplesurveymission on the ''[[Delta Flyer]]'', hopingtoinspirethemtobetterperformanceandsincetheonlytimetheygotofftheshipwasduring general [[shoreleave]].Themissionwastoconductasimplefieldanalysisofa [[Class T cluster]].Janewayassigned Celes the task of analyzing the sensor data.
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:''SomefansspeculatethatTalCeles was probablyaboard ''Voyager'' when it becamestrandedin the DeltaQuadrant, althoughthisfacthasnotbeenestablishedin[[canon]][[StarTrek]]. Similarly, it is not knownwhether she was aboard ''Voyager'' whenthestarshipreturnedtothe[[AlphaQuadrant]]in[[2378]].''
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During the mission, Celes was quite nervous and obsequious, especially toward Captain Janeway. She noted with depression Janeway'sconstantcheckingofherwork, which to her was furtherproof of her inadequacy. When the ''Delta Flyer'' became severely damaged via an unknown force impacting it,shearingoffpart of the outerhull, Celessuggestedthatthepiecebebeamedaboardtotryto determine the cause of the impact by scanning it for a quantum signature. Janeway approved of the idea and, though it did not offerany conclusive evidence, she applauded Celes for her unconventional thinking, trying to boost her confidence. But this failed, as Celes insecurity was fueled by a very real competence issue, which she was well aware of. She responded by telling Janeway that she did not belong on ''Voyager'';she"justlivedthere".Harren,atonepoint,referredto her as "intellectually deficient."
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:''Celeswasplayedby[[ZoeMcLellan]].ShewasreferredtoasCrewmanCeles(implying'Celes'isherfamilyname),andonly Billy Telfer calledherTal(implying 'Tal' isherpersonalname),thereforehername would be CelesTalaccordingtotraditionalBajorannaming. In"[[EnsignRo]]"([[TNG]]),itwasnoted that someBajoranschanged the orderoftheirnames for the benefitofrelationswith[[human]]s.''
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However,despiteallherdifficultiesCelesprovedherselfnotlackinginbraverylateroninthemissionwhenJanewayorderedher, Telfer andHarrentoabandon the ''Flyer'' whenaswarmofaliensthoughtto be [[darkmatterlifeform]]sadvancedonthe''Flyer''. Shefirmlyrefusedtodoso,stating that,misfitsthoughshe and the otherswere,theywere the crewand"''acrewdoes not abandon its captain.''" ({{VOY|Good Shepherd}})
In [[2377]],Celesand the rest of the crew were [[mind control|brainwashed]] by a species known as the [[Quarren (species)|Quarren]]. The Quarren altered the [[memory engram]]s of the entire crew, replacing their memories with false ones of voluntarily coming to work for the Quarren. They then put the crew to work as industrial workers on their homeworld, [[Quarra]]. Celes and the crew spent approximately three weeks in Quarra's largest city, where she worked at the primary [[fusion reactor]] with Ensign [[Mulcahey]]. The entire crew was eventually rescued and their memories restored. ({{VOY|Workforce}})
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{{featured}}
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==Appendices==
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===Background===
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Tal Celes was portrayed by [[Zoe McLellan]].
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Celes shared her quarters on board ''Voyager'' with an unknown female crewmember, but it was never stated or shown who this roommate was.
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She was referred to as Crewman Celes (implying "Celes" is her family name), and only Billy Telfer called her Tal (implying "Tal" is her personal name), therefore her name would be Celes Tal according to traditional Bajoran naming. In {{TNG|Ensign Ro}}, it was noted that some Bajorans changed the order of their names for the benefit of relations with [[Human]]s.
At Starfleet Academy Celes had great difficulty with her enlistee training courses and worked three times as hard as her classmates in order to keep up. She frequently had to spend all night cramming to pass her training. She believed that she was graduated from training due to sympathy over her homeworld's conflict, and the desire of Starfleet to have Bajorans in the service.
Celes especially had difficulty with sensor data analysis. As a sensor analyst, her work had to be constantly double-checked much to Seven of Nine's immense irritation. Often, Celes had to call upon her closest friend on Voyager, crewman William "Billy" Telfer, to help her with the analyses. (VOY: "Good Shepherd")
In 2376, Voyager was boarded by an electromagnetic lifeform. The lifeform's home, a Class J nebula, had destabilized and dissipated due to Voyager mining it for deuterium. Shortly after the lifeforms arrival, Celes was about to run a diagnostic on a circuit panel when Seven of Nine stopped her. She moved aside as Seven began to run her own diagnostic to find a fault which she thought Tal had caused, and which had cut power to Astometrics. She was surprised when Tal told her she had not even started as yet, thus the fault could not have been hers as the alien caused ship-wide power outages and system malfunctions, including power loss. Later, with the ship's lights out, Celes wandered the corridors of the ship alone for a number of hours, looking for other crewmembers. Terribly frightened, she believed the ship had been taken over by hostile aliens, such as Hirogen or Borg. She eventually ran into EnsignHarry Kim, who was looking for other crewmembers, and attacked him on seeing his shadow, believing him to be an alien intruder. She struck Kim in the stomach with the equipment case she was carrying. Kim managed to calm her down and took her with him to a temporary command post that had been set up in main engineering. (VOY: "The Haunting of Deck Twelve")
The events portrayed in "The Haunting of Deck Twelve" are said to occur before VOY: "Collective" and thus also "Good Shepherd".
Later that year, Seven of Nine conducted an efficiency analysis of the ship's operations. Her results, presented to the senior staff in a briefing, indicated that Celes, Telfer and a third crewman, Mortimer Harren, were not performing at acceptable levels, and were reducing the efficiency of the ship's operation. Captain Janeway decided to take the three on a simple survey mission on the Delta Flyer, hoping to inspire them to better performance and since the only time they got off the ship was during general shore leave. The mission was to conduct a simple field analysis of a Class T cluster. Janeway assigned Celes the task of analyzing the sensor data.
During the mission, Celes was quite nervous and obsequious, especially toward Captain Janeway. She noted with depression Janeway's constant checking of her work, which to her was further proof of her inadequacy. When the Delta Flyer became severely damaged via an unknown force impacting it, shearing off part of the outer hull, Celes suggested that the piece be beamed aboard to try to determine the cause of the impact by scanning it for a quantum signature. Janeway approved of the idea and, though it did not offer any conclusive evidence, she applauded Celes for her unconventional thinking, trying to boost her confidence. But this failed, as Celes insecurity was fueled by a very real competence issue, which she was well aware of. She responded by telling Janeway that she did not belong on Voyager; she "just lived there". Harren, at one point, referred to her as "intellectually deficient."
However, despite all her difficulties Celes proved herself not lacking in bravery later on in the mission when Janeway ordered her, Telfer and Harren to abandon the Flyer when a swarm of aliens thought to be dark matter lifeforms advanced on the Flyer. She firmly refused to do so, stating that, misfits though she and the others were, they were the crew and "a crew does not abandon its captain." (VOY: "Good Shepherd")
Celes' personnel file
In 2377, Celes and the rest of the crew were brainwashed by a species known as the Quarren. The Quarren altered the memory engrams of the entire crew, replacing their memories with false ones of voluntarily coming to work for the Quarren. They then put the crew to work as industrial workers on their homeworld, Quarra. Celes and the crew spent approximately three weeks in Quarra's largest city, where she worked at the primary fusion reactor with Ensign Mulcahey. The entire crew was eventually rescued and their memories restored. (VOY: "Workforce")
Celes shared her quarters on board Voyager with an unknown female crewmember, but it was never stated or shown who this roommate was.
She was referred to as Crewman Celes (implying "Celes" is her family name), and only Billy Telfer called her Tal (implying "Tal" is her personal name), therefore her name would be Celes Tal according to traditional Bajoran naming. In TNG: "Ensign Ro", it was noted that some Bajorans changed the order of their names for the benefit of relations with Humans.
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