Hoshi Sato
played by Korean American actress Linda Park, is a fictional character in the science fiction television series Star Trek: Enterprise.
In the show Sato, born in Kyoto, Japan on July 9, 2129, is the communications officer aboard the starship Enterprise (NX-01), and a linguist who can speak more than forty languages (polyglotism),[1] including Klingon. She is an acknowledged linguistic genius and expert at operating the universal translator, a key instrument in allowing the crew to communicate with alien cultures.
Relatively little of Sato's background was explored in the series. She briefly suffered from space sickness and claustrophobia. The fourth season episode "Observer Effect" revealed that she was once dishonourably 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 reenlist because of her exceptional linguistic skills.
Before posting to the Enterprise, she taught linguistics in Brazil; it is not known whether she was an active Starfleet officer at the time, or was reactivated to serve under Jonathan Archer. She later (also in "Observer Effect") expressed regret at leaving without saying goodbye to her students.
She appears to be very close to Captain Archer—he is often protective towards her and they appear to have a history that predates her posting to Enterprise, but the full nature of their relationship was not explored further.
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. As noted in the records aboard the USS Defiant, Sato eventually achieved the rank of Lieutenant Commander.
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