Gaeriel has always been a mystery, even to herself. Orphaned in her early childhood she remembers little of her parents, mostly just feelings really. Shuffled from planet to planet, her life quickly became just another statistic. As soon as she was able she signed on a cargo freighter and began her exploration of the universe. She took an almost systematic interesting in behavior and sentient interactions. She particularly enjoyed covert jobs like the time she was working a mining operation. The planet's main inhabitants were pre-warp and the boss preferred not to 'get any trouble from the locals,' as he put it. She found it so natural to blend into the crowds and find out whatever she needed to know. She even developed a kind of reputation in certain circles for her talents. Barely over adolescence and already her career was a success- as far as she was concerned. But that was a long time ago�
 

Gaeriel soon decided she needed to get a way for a while and so when one of her missions took her to a little blue planet in an obscure part of the galaxy she knew what she would do. Leaving her employer and crew behind to be discovered by the 'locals,' she set out to make a new life. (As it turned out, the locals were almost as good at her job as she was and nothing ever became of it as far as she could tell.) She fell in love with the culture, the music, the food- the diversity! There was so much to learn about and all on one planet. She could definitely spend a long time here. When the vulcans came she was almost sad, things would never be the same. But if they hadn't come when they did, that might have been the end of the culture she loved. When they formed their Federation, she set out on her own again for a while. But she knew she'd come back some time and now she found herself in Starfleet of all places. Who would've guessed? Nilia would have guessed. Shikara Nilia was probably the only true friend Gaeriel had ever had. They met on Earth while Nilia was vacationing in Europe with her family. Gaeriel had been wandering around the galaxy and found herself back on her adopted home world again. Their relationship was an accident; Gaeriel had never intended on spending as much time on Earth as she had and wouldn't have even been on that lonely cobblestone street if it hadn't been for that random malfunction on the guidance system of her ship. As usual, fate had intervened and changed Gaeriel's life forever. Gaeriel took on a sort of teacher role with Nilia but in this case the teacher learned much more that the student. If Nilia hadn't come along, Gaeriel would still be wandering aimlessly across space, or even worse, she could be dead.