Name: Alejandra "Alex" Salib Adams
Callsign: Peso
Age: 29
Gender: Female
Nationality: American / Egyptian
Ethnicity: Mexican / Egyptian
Rank: Major

Description: Alex is a pretty, athletic woman of mixed descent. Her light but not pale complexion could place her heritage as from somewhere around the Mediterranean or Latin America. Her long, dark brown hair and matching dark brown eyes are unsurprising for her complexion. Her toned body stands 5'6" and has a bit more curve at the hips and chest than when she was younger, now that she's a mother.

While her appearance is hard to place, her languages make things more obvious. She speaks English with an American accent, Spanish with a Mexican accent, and Arabic with an Egyptian accent. She usually wears a smile on her face, though this seems to contrast her no-nonsense persona; somehow it works, though.

Background: Alex was born Alejandra Salib to a Mexican-American mother and a Coptic-Christian father in Queens, NY. Her father was an MD/PhD working at Columbia University Medical Center, who was unfortunate enough to be in the South Tower of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11. Since then Alex grew up with her mother, María, in Queens, with their house and Medical-school bills paid off by life insurance. Egyptian Arabic had been her first language, though Mexican Spanish supplanted it; meanwhile all of her schooling was done in English. Alex attended Stuyvesant High School, already skipping a grade , and was on the swim team, the indoor track team, and the outdoor track team. While she wasn't a star athlete, she was good enough to help the varsity teams. But she did quite well academically, even on the Stuyvesant scale, including placing well with a research project on viruses.

Alex turned 17 on June 29, just after graduating from high school, and just early enough to be able to go straight to West Point Military Academy. The strength requirements were tough for her and almost washed her out, but she was experienced enough as an athlete, between running and swimming, that she was able to squeak through. On the academic end, though, she did extremely well, graduating valedictorian with dual degrees in chemistry and nuclear engineering at the age of 20.

The summer after graduation she married her high-school sweetheart, Tommy Adams, and changed her last name, taking her maiden name as her middle name. Then the two moved to Texas so Alex could study at Texas A&M, where she was admitted to medical school and managed to finagle a simultaneous admission for Texas A&M's Military Officer Graduate School to earn an MS in Kinesiology. Just before her third year of med school Alex gave birth to Mia Adams. Fortunately, Tommy was able to work from home in an IT position so he could look after Mia much of the time. A year later Alex graduated at the top of her class again, and another year later she finished her internship at Walter Reed. Then got set to head to her first posting, later than typical for a West Point grad, but at a younger age than most those who follow it with med school.

Soon Alex shipped out to serve in Afghanistan. As a woman and a doctor, even with her rank she was quietly doubted by many of the soldiers. That changed after a surprise attack on their base, led by a suicide truck bomb. Alex didn't do much shooting then, just enough for some cover as needed. Mostly she dragged wounded soldiers to cover and treated them as fast as she could until she herself passed out from blood loss due to a bullet in her leg she'd been trying to work past. Afterward she was awarded a silver star and a purple heart. Her next tour went about as well. She did so well with so many injured that she earned a bronze star for meritorious service. But eventually the base was going to be overrun so they evacuated. The transport she was on hit an IED. She was taken prisoner along with the other survivors, presumably to be later executed on film. Fortunately a Delta team reached them relatively quickly. During the extraction the Ranger's lead medic was severely wounded, so Alex took over as her wounds still left her able to act. While still in the hospital she learned her husband had died in a traffic accident, just to make matters worse.

After returning home she received her second purple heart and was given a little extra time before her next deployment. Her mother moved to live with her and help with Mia, selling the Queens house Alex had grown up in. They made funeral arrangements for Tommy together. Meanwhile I.C.O set its sights on her. While she wasn't any sort of special forces soldier, she could serve as a medic, had the sorts of specialized training in unusual weapons they needed, had demonstrated her bravery, and held the rank of Major. Having been so personally affected by Sept. 11, Alex jumped at the opportunity when it was offered and started preparing to move her mother and daughter with her to her new base. She earned the callsign "Peso" because her daughter loves the Aquanauts and as a nod to her medical skills.