Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor). Bajoran freedom fighter who served as first officer and Bajoran liaison to station Deep Space 9 after the Cardassian withdrawal from Bajor in 2369. (“Emissary” [DS9]). Kira’s family was part of the Ih’valla D’jarra, which in earlier times would have required her to take up an artistic occupation. (“Accession” [DS9]). Kira was born in 2343 in the Dahkur Province and spent the first 26 years of her life under Cardassian rule. (“The Maquis, Part I” [DS9], “Shakaar” [DS9]). Stubborn and independent, she joined the Shakaar resistance cell of the Bajoran underground in 2355, when she was 12 years old. (“The Circle” [DS9], “Shakaar” [DS9]). SEE: Shakaar Edon. Kira was recruited into the Shakaar group by her friend, Lorit Akrem. (“Indiscretion” [DS9]). Kira was interned at the Singha refugee camp during the Cardassian occupation. Although conditions there were brutal, she was able to play springball with her brothers. (“Shadowplay” [DS9]). Her mother, an icon painter from Dahkur Province, died of malnutrition in the Singha refugee camp in 2343. (“Second Skin” [DS9]). Kira spent much of her childhood as a freedom fighter for the Bajoran movement, although Cardassian intelligence reported her as “a minor operative whose activities (were) limited to running errands for the terrorist leaders.” (“Battle Lines” [DS9]). In 2365, Kira was assigned to obtain a list of Bajoran collaborators from a chemist shop on station Terok Nor (later Deep Space 9). The chemist, Vaatrik, discovered Kira during her search, and she was forced to kill him. Although she was a suspect in the killing, an investigation by station Security Chief Odo found her innocent. It was not until 2370 that Odo learned that Kira had deceived him. (“Necessary Evil” [DS9]). As a member of the Bajoran Shakaar resistance cell in 2357, Kira helped liberate the notorious Gallitep labor camp at which thousands of Bajorans had died under Cardassian bondage. (“Duet” [DS9]). Kira knew noted terrorist Tahna Los when she fought in the Bajoran underground. (“Past Prologue” [DS9])  In 2369, Kira opposed the Bajoran provisional government’s decision to enlist Federation assistance in maintaining Deep Space 9, but nevertheless worked with Starfleet personnel on the station. (“Emissary” [DS9]). Kira had a deep, abiding faith in the Bajoran religion, and was personally struck by the tragedy of Kai Opaka’s death in 2369. (“Battle Lines” [DS9]). Her beliefs held that Benjamin Sisko was the Emissary of Bajoran prophesy, but she sometimes found it difficult to reconcile the fact that her commanding officer was a religious icon. (“Destiny” [DS9]). In 2370, she became romantically involved with Vedek Bareil. (“Shadowplay” [DS9]). At Vedek Bareil’s invitation, Kira was given the privilege of encountering an Orb. This encounter had a profound effect on her life. (“The Circle” [DS9]). Kira’s involvement with Bareil ended tragically in 2371 when he died during Cardassian peace negotiations. (“Life Support” [DS9]). In 2371 Kira was kidnapped and taken to Cardassia, where she was surgically altered to look like Iliana, a Cardassian operative from the Obsidian Order. She later discovered that her transformation was part of a plot to expose Legate Ghemor as a member of the Cardassian underground movement. (“Second Skin” [DS9]). In 2372, Kira became romantically involved with Shakaar Edon, longtime friend and former leader of the Shakaar resistance cell. (“Crossfire” [DS9]). Kira served as surrogate mother to Kirayoshi O’Brien, son of Miles and Keiko O’Brien. The surrogacy became necessary when Keiko was severely injured aboard the Runabout Volga during a botanical survey mission to Torad IV. Dr. Julian Bashir, fighting to save both mother and unborn child, found it necessary to implant Kirayoshi’s fetus into Kira’s body, else Kirayoshi would have died. Upon returning to Deep Space 9, Kira accepted an invitation from Miles and Keiko to live with them in their quarters, so that they could care for her while she carried their child to term. (“Body Parts” [DS9]). Kira’s surrogate pregnancy was devised by the show’s writers in order to deal with the fact that Nana Visitor was pregnant with her second child during the latter part of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’s fourth season, and the early part of the fifth. Living in close proximity with the O’Brien family, Kira found herself attracted to Miles, a feeling that he reciprocated. Since neither wished to jeopardize their existing relationships, they decided together not to act on those feelings. (“Looking for par’Mach in All the Wrong Places” [DS9]). Her pregnancy prevented her from taking active charge of the investigation when several former member of the Shakaar resistance cell were murdered around stardate 50416. (“The Darkness and the Light” [DS9]). In 2373, Kira gave birth to Kirayoshi O’Brien in a traditional Bajoran birthing ceremony. (“The Begotten” [DS9]). Kira disliked indulging in holosuite programs. (“Meridian” [DS9], “The Way of the Warrior” [DS9]). Kira first appeared in “Emissary” (DS9).Addendum: Member of the Bajoran militia who served as liaison to the Federation Starfleet on space station Deep Space 9. Her father, Kira Taban, was a farmer who fought against the Cardassian occupation as part of the Bajoran resistance forces. Nerys felt enormous guilt that she was not at her father’s side when he died from wounds sustained in a Cardassian attack. She carried the guilt for years until finding a measure of absolution in 2373 when she stayed with Legate Ghemor, who regarded her as a surrogate daughter, during his final hours. (“Ties of Blood and Water” [DS9]). Kira’s two brothers were named Kira Pohl and Kira Reon. Nerys never really knew Kira Meru, her mother, because she was three years old when her mother left. Her father, Kira Taban, always told Nerys that her mother died in the Singha refugee camp, a story that Nerys believed until 2374 when she used the Orb of Time to travel back to 2346. Nerys, in the past under an assumed name, met Meru, her mother, and was horrified to learn that Meru had served as a comfort woman for Cardassian troops and had become mistress to Gul Dukat. Feeling betrayed that her mother was a Cardassian collaborator, Nerys nearly allowed Meru to die in an assassination attempt on Dukat. Nerys saved her mother’s life (and that of Dukat) when she learned that her father, Kira Taban, was able to find forgiveness for his wife, and that he loved her unconditionally despite what she had done. (“Wrongs Darker Than Death or Night” [DS9]). Kira was the only Bajoran official to remain behind on Deep Space 9—or Terok Nor—after the Federation withdrew from the facility in late 2373 at the beginning of the Dominion war. Kira believed that it was her duty to respect her government’s instructions to work with the Dominion and Cardassian occupation forces. Kira’s feelings changed dramatically in the aftermath of Vedek Yassim’s dramatic suicide in early 2374, protesting the occupation. (“Rocks and Shoals” [DS9]). Kira’s relationship with Shakaar lasted only a year, ending after a visit to the Kenda Shrine revealed that they were not meant to walk the same path. Shortly thereafter, she learned that Odo had been in love with her for years, but had hidden his feelings so as not to jeopardize their friendship. (“Children of Time” [DS9]). Odo found it difficult to express his feelings for her until several months later, when a self-aware hologram named Vic Fontaine brought the two together. (“His Way” [DS9]). Kira Nerys was promoted to the rank of colonel in the Bajoran Militia in early 2375. (“Image in the Sand” [DS9]). . During the final days of the Dominion war in 2375, Kira once again became a resistance fighter, this time ironically leading the battle to liberate the Cardassian homeworld from Dominion occupation. For the purposes of this assignment, Kira accepted a Starfleet commission making it easier for her to work with Damar and other Cardassians. (“When It Rains...” [DS9]). After the end of the war, Kira was heartbroken when Odo felt compelled to leave her so that he could return to the Great Link of his people. Kira subsequently returned to station Deep Space 9, serving as its commander after the departure of Starfleet captain Benjamin Sisko. (“What You Leave Behind” [DS9]).