2162
Sh'laran's father got his way in the end, as Andorian fathers usually did, and when the boy was fourteen, his education was formalized with his entrance into the Andorian War College.
Four years later, after graduating in the middle of his class, Sh'laran was assigned as a helmsman aboard the Andorian Imperial Vessel Tenori. His performance was lackluster at best, and he was never promoted above the grade of Warrior.
In 2159, two months before the outbreak of war with the Romulan Star Empire, Sh'laran resigned his commission and went to Vulcan, almost entirely on a whim. The Vulcan distrust of Andorians was something that Sh'laran had to cope with from the moment he arrived, but nevertheless, he still somehow managed to get himself accepted to the Vulcan Science Academy - the first non-Vulcan to ever do so - and threw himself into the study of Astrophysics.
He remained at the Science Academy until 2162, a few months after the founding of the Federation, and despite job offers from the Vulcan Science Directorate, whose trust he had finally gained, Sh'laran decided that the Federation's newly-reorganized Starfleet would be the best place to utilize his talents. Heading to Earth, Sh'laran joined Starfleet, and was given the rank of Lieutenant (junior grade) due to his prior experience.
Assigned to the starship Miranda, NX-07, Sh'laran found Captain Seamus Murdock's vessel to be an excellent setting in which to continue his research.
Though there were fewer than a dozen Andorians in Starfleet, Sh'laran's "disgraceful" conduct in leaving the Andorian fleet to go to - of all places - Vulcan was bound to draw the attention of the few other Andorians, and at his very first shore leave on Starbase 3, he had a run-in with one of them. Taking great exception to certain slurs against his parentage, Sh'laran started what could only be described as a bar brawl in the station cantina, and was arrested and reprimanded.
The reprimand didn't seem to affect his career to a great degree, for when the Miranda's Chief Science Officer transferred to a new vessel, Sh'laran was the one who Captain Murdock chose to replace her. He was also promoted to Lieutenant to more accurately reflect his new position.
The position of Chief Science Officer aboard a Federation starship suited Sh'laran, and over the course of his mission onboard, he became rather more mellow than the average Andorian. By 2166, he had been promoted to Lieutenant Commander, and at his recommendation, Starfleet Command assigned the Miranda to a mapping mission of the Mutara Nebula the following year.
The ship and her crew never returned from that mission.
The Miranda's fate remained unknown for 223 years until, in 2380, the USS Miranda, NCC-77000-B, under the command of Captain Eliathin Jii, discovered the vessel while on a mission in the Gamma Quadrant. Incredibly, the ship was not only intact, but her crew was still alive. During their mission in the Nebula, the original Miranda had encountered a temporal wave-front, and had been transported to the location where the newer Miranda discovered her.
After returning to the Alpha Quadrant, most of the crew of the Miranda found themselves entirely out of place. Over two centuries behind the times socially and technologically, and entirely without any surviving family from their own era, many of them resigned their commissions to search for descendants, pursue new endeavors, or, in many cases, simply wander aimlessly. Sh'laran was one of very few exceptions, opting instead to remain in Starfleet.
Those crew who chose this path joined retraining programs, and where then assigned to posts within the fleet that would be best suited to their particular talents. Doctor Hendershaw was assigned as a medical officer aboard the USS Arizona, and Captain Murdock himself was assigned command of the Pathfinder-class starship Anduril, sister ship of the current starship Miranda.
Sh'laran, however, was finding it rather more difficult to find a suitable position. Medical technology had changed and new diseases had cropped up,but being a doctor was always pretty much the same, and the type of man who could command a Federation starship could do so in any era. However, over two centuries of scientific progress was far more than Sh'laran could pick up in a matter of a few months. Realizing that he missed being on active duty far too much, and that it would take him literally years to catch up to his peers, he opted to return to duty as a flight controller, reassuming duties that he hadn't had since he was in the Andorian fleet. In the meantime, he would continue to pursue his scientific endeavors privately, to await the day when he could return to the position he truly loved.
Due to the rather drastic change in duty assignments, Sh'laran was willing to accept anything to return to active service, including a three grade demotion to Ensign. He accepted such a consequence, though not entirely without some perturbation, and was assigned to the USS Galaxy in early 2381.
Typically seeming a tad pre-occupied, his mind generally filled with some new scientific problem, Sh'laran is distant from his peers. While likable enough and friendly enough, he never takes the time to become close to them. Until he begins to consider himself a part of the twenty-fourth century, rather than the twenty-second, he is not likely to change his social interactions.
