El-Aurian
From Hidden Frontier
A humanoid species of "listeners" originating from the El-Aurian system, El-Aurians appear to have an awareness that supercedes the normal flow of time and space.
The El-Aurians are a widely traveled people who have spread themselves across many parts of the galaxy. It is known that at least one El-Aurian visited Earth in 1893, before humanity had any official knowledge of alien species ("Time's Arrow," Parts 1 and 2, TNG). In 2265, the Borg launched a major attack on this species, assimilating all but a handful, and destroying their homeworld. The survivors scattered throughout the galaxy, finding homes amongst many races.
In 2293, the Federation tranported a group to El-Aurian refugees to Earth following their escape from the Borg. The two ships transporting the refugees, the SS Lakul and the SS Robert Fox, were caught in and destroyed by the Nexus near the Sol system. The starship USS Enterprise-B was able to save some of the refugees.
El-Aurians pride themselves on being a race of listeners, and appear to have a form of limited empathic ability. Some have used this to help others, acting as advisors or confidants. A few have turned their talent to more dubious pursuits, becoming con men and tricksters, or, like Dr. Soran, outright criminals. He used his abilities to help bring his genocidal plan to re-enter the Nexus to fruition. (Star Trek: Generations)
Much of their seeming reticence comes from the El-Aurian racial character. They appear to be natural lore-keepers, and use their phenomenal lifespans and memories to collect the stories and experiences many times the lifespan of most sentient beings. They preserve this knowledge for their own kind, and only occasionally share it with non-El-Aurians. They are a highly personable and empathic race, and as such are very willing to help other sentients work out their problems. It is possible as an offshoot of their prodigious memories and mental facilities that El-Aurians are extraordinarily sensitive to the space-time continuum itself. In 2366, Guinan was able to perceive an alternate timeline which occurred because of a disruption in the starship USS Enterprise-C’s history. ("Yesterday's Enterprise," TNG)
Similarly, Commander Tolian Naros, was apparently able to sense the activation of tetrahedron keys in 2379 when they were retrieved by the USS Independence ("Heroes"), and successfully sought reinstatement of his Starfleet commission. Starfleet, aware of his abilities and long history with the Briar Patch, assigned him to gather intelligence about a tetrahedron discovered by the Cardassians and being studied by them at a secret facility within the Briar Patch. ("Modus Operandi")
Externally, El-Aurians are physically identical to humans, in structure and range of ethnicities. The only significant physical difference between humans and El-Aurians is in the aging process, as the extremely long-lived El-Aurian lifespan covers several centuries.
This article incorporates material from Memory Alpha, the free online Star Trek reference.
