Hoshi Sato - Biography

Biography

Relatively little of Sato's background has been explored in the series. It is known that she briefly suffered from space sickness and is also claustrophobic. The fourth season episode "Observer Effect" revealed that Sato was once dishonorably discharged from Starfleet for running a floating poker game and breaking the arm of a Starfleet instructor who tried to break it up (she has a black belt in aikido). She was subsequently allowed to rejoin Starfleet because of her linguistic skills.

Before posting to the Enterprise, Sato taught linguistics in Brazil; it is not known whether she was an active Starfleet officer or was reactivated to serve under Jonathan Archer. She later (again, in "Observer Effect") expressed regret at leaving without saying goodbye to her students.

There have been hints that Sato might be attracted to her colleague Travis Mayweather, and to Tucker too. She also appears to be very close to Captain Archer, and they appear to have some history that predates her posting to Enterprise, but the full nature of their relationship has also yet to be explored.

The series' final episode, "These Are the Voyages...", reveals that Sato remains Archer's communications officer throughout his tenure as captain, and was considering resuming her teaching career in Brazil following the ship's decommissioning. The final episode also revealed that, after serving aboard Enterprise for ten years, she still wore an Ensign's insignia. The reasons for this lack of promotion (or possible future demotion) have not yet been revealed, although it is not unheard of for an officer to remain at a set rank for many years without promotion (examples include William Riker and Pavel Chekov, who remained at the rank of Commander for many years without moving on to become captains, and Harry Kim, who never moved beyond the rank of Ensign during the seven-year run of Star Trek: Voyager). As noted in the records aboard the USS Defiant, Sato only ever achieved the rank of Lieutenant Commander during her Starfleet career, suggesting either a slow rise up the ranks or an early retirement from active duty.