Lark Sage

**Lark Sage** is the Helm Officer aboard the USS Sally Ride. She is portrayed by Bonnie Gordon.

## Biography

Lark was an orphaned baby found by Humans, Kirby and Caroline Sage; members of the Federation Diplomatic Corps who adopted and raised her as their own on Earth. Her only link to her Bajoran parents is a broken d'ja pagh that was found next to her. While growing up she was dissuaded from learning too much about her heritage for as-yet-unknown reasons.

At Starfleet Academy, Lark played trombone in the band alongside Harry Kim who played the clarinet. In an awkward encounter, the two had coffee together which Harry thought was a date, unbeknownst to Lark. Ensign Kim would later disappear along with the USS Voyager on its maiden voyage.

On the day of her graduation, Lark was approached by Bajoran vedek Temmin. He implored her to never stop looking for answers and gave her piece of a d'ja pagh earring that fit perfectly with the one she had. This caused her to further question her origins and her path in Starfleet. Since then she has had the earring fixed and wears it as an anklet under her uniform. ("I Remember (part 2)")

Lark confessed to Commander Rue that she had never been assigned to the USS Sally Ride: Lark was originally assigned to Starbase One in orbit around Earth. However, Lark was so determined to go out and find her birth parents that she doctored transfer papers to the Sally Ride.

She has an affinity for cream soda. As stated by Captain Martinez, "Ensign...nobody in the universe enjoys cream soda more than you."

Despite numerous infractions that would've been grounds for court-martial, Commander Rue had tallied up their commendations for Ensign Sage and determined that the good Lark had done for the Sally Ride literally outnumbered the bad. Thus, Lark was promoted from Ensign to Lieutenant JG after the USS Sally Ride left Dulagai (A Journey of a Thousand Miles...), partially because Rue didn't want to get rid of such a skilled officer, but also because Rue wanted to be able to keep an eye on their unscrupulous "Little Bird".

### Epilogue

Over time, Lark became accustomed to being addressed as either "Lark Sage" or "Razka Annel" (she was alright with whichever name was preferred in conversation). She continued to serve in Starfleet (transferring to Starfleet Intelligence) and rose to the rank of Commander. However, after the Second Federation-Klingon War, she retired from Starfleet: having had more than her fill of conflict.

She held a small grudge against Professor Rafael Martinez: believing that she had been passed over for Captain because Martinez showed favoritism to T'Lan.

## Crew Logs

#### Lark Sage’s Personal Log

I still don’t know how I feel about doing this personal log, but Doctor Sh’shirros said “it might help to talk about it” so I guess I’ll just talk to myself.  The whole incident doesn’t even seem real. I still expect to see Xadas pop up behind a panel every time I walk into engineering.  It all started with that distress signal.

We all suspected it was a trap… the time jumps were definitely an unexpected variable. No amount of training or flying simulations could have prepared me for that. Then we were captured on the Orion ship. I always play back that moment over and over.

When we were asked about our warp capabilities, was there anything I could have said or done to have changed the outcome of Xadas’ death? He and I got along pretty well… I was even beginning to consider him a friend. I think he was the only one on the ship who had an idea of the extent of my engineering background. We had planned to reprogram a few things to surprise some of the crew… maybe I’ll still do it – just because I know how much he was looking forward to seeing the look on the Doctor’s face when she loses at poker.

I guess the one positive outcome of all this is that I seemed to have gained some respect from the rest of the crew. I proved my worth by jerry rigging the medical tricorder to get us out of the cell…. though I may not be much of a fighter, I hope the Captain respects the abilities I do have – Everyone knows I can fly… but I feel like I haven’t shown any of my other talents. That’s a good thing, I guess. Better to keep my head down and just hope no one catches on… I honestly didn’t think my plan would work – I’m shocked I got assigned to the mission as such an inexperienced officer, but I guess my parents’ name has more of a pull on paper than I thought. There I go… rambling again.

I guess I’ve talked enough. I’ll go raise a glass to Xadas one last time. Cream Soda. He didn’t like it much.

## Behind the scenes

* "Lark Sage" is not her real name, but the name given to her by her adoptive Human parents. It is unknown what her real Bajoran name is. It is unknown when exactly her birthday is, but she has always celebrated on the day she was adopted: First Contact Day.
* While everyone else was experiencing memories of the past, Ensign Sage heard a voice call out "Annel". It is unknown at this time who Annel is to Lark: whether it might be her name, the name of her mother, or someone else from her past. ("I Remember (part 1)") "Annel" was later revealed to be Lark's real first name.
* According to Bonnie Gordon, Lark is romantic asexual.