Arla Rees

Commander Arla Rees was a 24th century Bajoran Starfleet officer. In 2374, she was considered by Benjamin Sisko to be exceptionally intelligent, attractive, young, and very serious, with sharp edges that had yet to be blunted by the realities of routine. Arla had almond-brown eyes and olive-gold skin.

Arla's grandparents lived on B'hal Ta, a Bajoran colony world. When the Cardassians annexed Bajor, her family relocated to New Sydney, where she was born. Like many expatriate Bajorans, Arla was considered by many Occupation survivors to be only one step removed from being a collaborator. Unlike many Bajorans, Arla was not a believer in the Prophets, and in fact believed that the Bajorans' "delusional worship of the Prophets turned them into the galaxy's biggest victims."

While at Starfleet Academy, Arla became acquainted with Boothby. Arla also became a by-the-book Starfleet officer, with a firm belief in the infallibility of Starfleet regulations. On the Day of Withdrawal, Arla was serving aboard the Vulcan science vessel Solok, remapping the Praxis Ring near the Klingon homeworld Qo'noS.

During the USS Defiant's mission to escort the PQ-1 convoy to the Vegan system on stardate 51948.3, Arla was unexpectedly assigned as second-in-command of Deep Space Nine to coordinate with Major Kira Nerys. Despite Kira's initial fears that Arla's presence was a gesture of no-faith by Starfleet, it became clear that Arla's assignment was temporary. She was slated for the number-two position on Farpoint Starbase's command staff, and Starfleet felt she could benefit from experiencing life on Deep Space Nine, a "living laboratory of cross-cultural complexity."

One of her initial assignments on Deep Space Nine was to report on Starfleet-Bajoran cultural referents in the workplace. She delivered a 30-minute presentation on her time-and-motion modification studies that arose from observations of Bajoran and Starfleet personnel working together, which she accompanied with unrealistic suggestions to improve efficiency that were rejected by Captain Sisko, including the banning of group religious celebrations during wartime.

Arla's relations with members of the command staff were uncomfortable at best. She was rebuffed after subtly coming on to Captain Sisko. She was barely tolerated by Major Kira due to her absence from Bajor during the occupation. Arla also made known her opposition to Bajoran religion, engaging both Captain Sisko and Chief O'Brien in awkward conversations on the topic.

Soon after the murder of Andorian scientist Dal Nortron, Arla staffed the flight operations console of the USS Defiant and actually crewed the ship single-handedly, a prospect she seemed incapable of coping with, especially since she hadn't piloted anything larger than a shuttle since she'd graduated the Academy. She also held this position during the Defiant's subsequent accidental trip to the year 2400.