- For other uses, see Selena.
- See Karras for other articles with titles that contain, either by relationship or by coincidence, this character's surname.
Selena Karras was a 23rd century Human woman. She was a science officer who served for a month aboard the Federation starship USS Enterprise in the 2260s under the command of Captain James T. Kirk.
Biography[]
She was described as attractive and slender, with blonde hair, green eyes, and full lips. She felt she had a poor directional sense.
At Starfleet Academy, Karras completed curricula for both command and sciences. In 2267, she applied for postings on the Enterprise and USS Horizon.
After graduating in 2268, she was posted to the Enterprise. One month later, she was a member of a landing party to survey Octavius IV. She was one of four caught in a cave-in and temporarily marooned there. The survivors found themselves trapped in a hollow depression, where she discovered hieroglyphs on rocks that she determined to be a Dombraatu map indicated sites of mammoth-sized native creatures. After escaping from the hollow, injured Owens and Autry remained there while she and Kirk searched the original beam-down site. She deciphered enough of the glyphs to learn that a person stung by poison from one creature could be cured by a sting from a second creature, actually part of the lifeforms' reproductive process. While returning to the hollow, Karras was stung by one creature, and Kirk hurriedly carried her back to the beam-down site to be stung by another, saving her life.
Following the experience, Karras accepted a transfer to the USS Horizon, whose next mission was a research assignment in the Soolahn system, working with Doctor Erdel. She and Kirk shared dinner and a romantic evening together, now that she no longer served under his command. (TOS novel: Legacy)
