PERSONNEL FILE: CARDASSIAN

NAME: Garak, Elim
RANK: Intelligence Agent
BORN: not on file
PLACE OF BIRTH: Cardassia
ORIGIN: Cardassian
ASSIGNMENT: Former Cardassian Obsidian Order
LAST SHIP: U.S.S. Defiant
ACADEMY CLASS: not on file
BIOGRAPHICAL DETAILS: Former agent of the powerful Cardassian Obsidian Order intelligence service until he was exiled to space station Terok Nor in 2368. Garak was the only Cardassian citizen left on the station after the Cardassian retreat from the Bajoran system in 2369, at which time the station became known as Deep Space 9.  While in exile, Garak opened a clothing shop on the stations Promenade and worked as a tailor. Garak made no references to his past, calling himself just plain, simple Garak, but some people on the station still regarded him as a spy, including Dr. Julian Bashir, although the two eventually became friends. Despite his protestations to Bashir, Garak maintained some contact with Cardassian intelligence. Garak enjoyed raising Edosian orchids as a hobby. His experience with plants proved to be of value when he served as a gardener at the Cardassian Embassy on Romulus. Oddly enough, there were an unusual number of accidental deaths among high-ranking Romulan officials while Garak served on Romulus. While still a member of the Obsidian Order, Garak had volunteered to have a cranial implant placed into his skull, to help him resist torture if captured by an enemy. Garak found exiled life on Terok Nor (later Deep Space 9) to be intolerable, so he activated the cranial implant and left it on. The implant served as a powerful narcotic on which Garak became physically dependent until 2370, when the unit malfunctioned, nearly costing Garak his life. Dr. Bashir was able to remove the device. Even in exile, Garak never gave up hope of eventual political rehabilitation. Although Tain had been responsible for Garak's exile and even tried to have Garak killed, Garak found isolation so bitter that in 2371 he jumped at the opportunity to serve again with Tain. Garak participated in Tain's disastrous joint attack by the Obsidian Order and the Romulan Tal Shiar against the Founders of the Dominion. Garak was the only Cardassian survivor of that battle. Elim Garak distrusted Gul Dukat because Garak had played a part in the downfall and execution of Dukat's father. Garak nevertheless fought alongside with Dukat to defend the Detapa Council in 2372, when Klingon warriors attempted to abduct the Council. Even more ironically, Garak found himself attracted to Dukat's daughter, Tora Ziyal, when she took up residence on Deep Space 9 in 2372. Garak returned briefly to Cardassian in 2371 to help rescue Kira Nerys, who had been taken prisoner by the Obsidian Order .As a passenger on the Defiant while the ship was at the Founders' homeworld in 2372. Garak attempted to obliterate the planet by overriding the launch controls for the ship's quantum torpedoes. Had Garak been successful, he would have killed all of the Founders. For his actions, Captain Sisko ordered that Garak be imprisoned for six months in a holding cell. Garak was the son of Obsidian Order chief Enabran Tain. Ironically, it was Tain who gave the order to have Garak exiled to Terok Nor. Garak spent much of his life desperately trying to please his father, although Tain kept his son at arm's length. It was only in 2373, when Tain was on his deathbed in a Jem'Hadar prison camp, that he confessed to Garak that he was proud of his son. Garak's quarters on DS9 are Chamber 901, Habitat Level H-3.
ACHIEVEMENTS, AWARDS: not on file
FAMILY: Father, Enabran Tain, deceased.