Zachary 'Zack' Dare

portrayed by Michael Rosenbaum

Standing at just under six feet, Zack is heavily build and has a bald head due to a childhood illness.

Little is known about Zachary or 'Zack' as he prefers to be known upto the age of around three. He was adopted at that age by the Dare family, who having been informed that they could not conceive children looked to adoption. Commander Daniel Dare was a Starfleet officer stationed on Kritarus at the time and it was therefore logical to adopt a child through the local agency. They found Zack, who had been put up for adoption a year earlier and instantly fell in love with the small boy. All the orphanage knew about him was his name and when he had been put up for adoption. Soon after the Dare's adopted Zack, the orphanage closed and all the records vanished.

Zack had a fairly normal Starfleet 'brat' childhood and through his parents movement within Starfleet, he got to see a great deal of the galaxy. At the age of nine, Zack started to lose his hair, leaving him completely bald by the age of eleven. As well as the hair loss, Zack's physical development also appeared to slow down at around the same time. Although there were extensive medical examinations, the cause of Zack's hair loss and the halt in his development were never discovered. Although his physical development appeared to halt, his mental development increased and Zack started to show that he was highly intelligent.

Losing his hair made Zack an even bigger target for the school bullies, who had already started to pick on him because of his small size. This all changed when at the age of thirteen Zack fought back, attacking three eighteen year olds. All three bullies suffered major injuries, including broken limbs and one a broken back. Zack however walked away without a scratch and when the incident was reported and investigated, Zack denied everything. The fact that this underdeveloped thirteen year old had taken on three older boys, almost twice his size gave favour to his story and even his parents and the school principal agreed that there was no way Zack could have fought the boys and caused their injuries.

At school, Zack continued to show an extremely high level of intelligence and by the age of sixteen had already taken the Starfleet entry exam and been accepted. By this time, he had also caught up and passed his fellow school mates physically. As he was ineligible to attend the academy until he turned eighteen, his parents managed to secure him a place in the Vulcan science academy on Vulcan for the intervening two years.

Whilst there, he was learning with Vulcan children and adults upto twice his own age and keeping up with them. As well as his academic studies, Zack learnt about the Vulcan Institute of defensive arts and attended many of the public demonstrations held there during his two years. He also managed to get onto the alien exchange programme run by the institute and learnt many of the basic self-defence techniques practised by the Vulcans.

In 2372 he finally reached the academy and started his Starfleet career. He majored in command and flight control, but also found he had a taste for medicine and science. During his time at the academy, he did additional course in field medicine and stellar cartography. His first love during the academy however was to fly, something which he seemed to excel at, gaining the highest marks in all the piloting course he took.

In 2376 he graduated from the academy and was immediately assigned to the USS Appalachia as a junior helm officer. In 2379, he was at the helm when a Romulan warbird suddenly de-cloaked in front of the ship and started to attack. It was only due to his quick reactions that the Appalachia survived with only minimal damage and they were able to escape. For his skill and bravery during the battle, Zack was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Junior Grade and promoted to be one of the senior helm officers. He continued to serve on the Appalachia until in 2380 he suddenly resigned giving no valid reason to either Starfleet, his commanding officer or his own mother. His mother believed that it had been the recent death of his father, now Admiral Dare in mysterious circumstances that had caused Zack to resign, but only Zack knew the real reason.

He disappeared off the face of the universe, occasionally contacting his mother from time to time until in 2385 he returned to Earth and asked to be re-instated as a Starfleet officer. After completing a physical and being debriefed, he was assigned to the USS Taurus as their helm officer and regained his rank of Lieutenant Junior grade. Initially he was to be assigned to another vessel, the USS Comfort, a medical vessel but at the last minute he was switched to the Taurus.

Zack is a highly intelligent man, with strong views and opinions on the universe. Many have described him as being someplace else for a great deal of the time, but he is punctual and disciplined in his work. He also appears to have a 'knack' for getting his own way.

High level of intelligence. Ability to perform several tasks at once. A natural ability to fly. He is also knowledgeable in the Vulcan arts of self-defence, having studies at the Vulcan Institute of defensive arts whilst on Vulcan in his teen years.