In a parallel universe, Paula Zarlenga was a human female in the mid-23rd century. She was an archaeologist and a doctor.
In the late 2260s, Doctor Zarlenga was a member of an archaeological team under Professor Jefferson Whitmore, investigating an abandoned relay station on the planet Aprilia III. They spent several months studying the technology of the relay station but found it incomprehensible and inoperable. At some point, Cybermen infiltrated the facility and mind-controlled Zarlenga and the other researchers, making them unemotional and docile.
After the archaeologists missed making three scheduled reports, the USS Enterprise was sent to investigate on stardate 3368.5. Whitmore introduced Doctor Zarlenga to Captain James T. Kirk.
The away team and the Fourth Doctor later returned to the station and discovered Zarlenga and the archaeologists under Cyberman mind-control. They freed them from the effects and evacuated them while the Cybermen were destroyed. Zarlenga later spoke to Montgomery Scott and the team returned to their work. (COMIC: Assimilation²)