Jilla Majiir was born Jilla Costain on the homeworld of the Epsilon Indi Star Empire. She's the daughter of the Ambassador-at-large from Indi for the Federation, Jole Costain (Epsilon Indi was one of the founding members of the Federation). Her mother's name is Natira. For reference sake, she's just under five feet tall, has burgundy-colored hair (yes, like the wine) and her skin is very pale. Indiian (pronounced in-DEE-an) blood is mercury based, so her skin shimmers a kind of silver, especially when's she gets over-heated or over-emotional. Indiians have a seventh sense; one that detects emotion as sight detects light waves and hearing detects sound waves. This seventh sense is called 'sensitivity,' so Indiians are 'sensitives.' In Indiian, it's called tia. Jilla got married very young to a Vulcan scientist named Selar (see Selar). He was killed in a lab explosion about four years into their marriage. She had been studying engineering on Indi before her marriage (and on Vulcan after it), and so she joined Starfleet as an engineer. The story of her marriage is long and complicated and has to do with Indiian religion and Vulcan customs and pon farr. Suffice it to say that her beliefs mandate fidelity forever, NOT simply until death do you part; the punishment for violating it is eternal damnation. And Indiians mean it literally, not in the figurative sense most Terrans use the term. The Indiian Goddess (Aema, pronounced ay-EEM -ah) is very literal and very present. (For more information on Indiians, see Epsilon Indi).
Added to that religious tidbit was the fact that because of her sensitivity, Jilla couldn't help but feel all the emotions all those logical Vulcans constantly suppress - and react to them. Which didn't go over too well with the Vulcans. Living on Vulcan was driving her mad. So her husband (who was a geneticist) tried to alter her genetically to either reduce her sensitivity, or at the least give her a buffer zone so she could think before she reacted. She ended up being the only female in the galaxy (until her children were born) who experiences pon farr. When Selar died, she left Vulcan and joined Starfleet and went through the Academy and got assigned to the Enterprise. She went into pon farr. Spock (see "Spock") saved her life (i.e. mated with her - a female in pon farr has a very strong effect on Vulcan males - who could have guessed that?). She also ended up forming a quasi-telepathic/empathic bond to Sulu (see "Sulu Takeda"). Which is how they got together, though neither one of them knew what it was that was drawing them together, exactly. Sulu was 25 at the time. He spent over a year convincing her to disregard her religious mandate against infidelity. She insists that it was her decision and Sulu didn't 'convince' her of anything. They have been together (not legally married since by Indiian law she cannot marry again) since then. She is, in the eyes of Indi, a non-person, damned and shunned by all members of that race except her father (who couldn't bear it).
After Sulu's affair with LiLing, she and Sulu realized they were bonded, which is what had been keeping Jilla alive, despite her damnation. Sulu also accepted Indiian damnation, and Jilla gave him her culturally sanctioned forgiveness, which allowed him to live. Her proto-bond with Spock was severed by a Vulcan healer, though she and Spock both still consider one another kindred.
She was assigned to the San Fran shipyards to complete the installation of the engines on the Class Two Heavy Cruisers, also known as the Nest ships, when Sulu got promoted to the captaincy of the U.S.S. Drake. This necessitated a year-long separation - not easy on either of them. She is currently assigned as the Chief Engineer on the U.S.S. D'Artagnan, the Nest ship of which Sulu is the Captain.
Jilla is very quiet, very shy. She's emotional, which seems a contradiction at first, but her artificially induced Vulcan nature usually takes precedence over her more fiery Indiian one. However, when she does let go of her control, watch out! Her birthday is March 12. If she'd been born on Terra, she would be a Piscean.
NOTE: All information current up through Standard Year 2253
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