A Cast of Characters – Volume 1 of the Kirsten Chronicles
| "Kirsten"
– Kirsten Amelia Carlson. Born
in Chicago, Lake Michigan Province, NorAm Federation. Started Space Academy on
Lyceum 4 at age 16. Took college-level math and physics courses, and graduated
high school two years early. Winner of an Earhardt Scholarship. Bonded to
skeecat Silver on her first day at the Academy when he broke free from the
breeding lab and went to find her. Protagonist of all the Space Academy novels.
"Dad" – Jason ‘Jack’ Matthew Carlson. Born in Thunder Bay, Lake Superior Province, NorAm Federation. Father of Kirsten, Karrie and Katey Carlson. Employed by Interplanetary Harvester as senior sales representative. "Mom" – Sonja Lynn (Anderson) Carlson. Born in Duluth, Lake Superior Province, NorAm Federation. Mother of Kirsten, Karrie and Katey Carlson. Employed by Terracomm Systems as data analyst/troubleshooter. "Karrie" – Karolyn Alysha Carlson. Born in Chicago, Lake Michigan Province, NorAm Federation. Elder of Kirsten’s two younger sisters. Not sure she wants to be a spacer like her big sister, but keeping her options open. "Katey" – Katerina Annette Carlson. Born in Chicago, Lake Michigan Province, NorAm Federation. Youngest of the three Carlson sisters. Had very little interest in Space Academy, until Kirsten brought Silver home. Now it looks like a much better idea to her. "Silver" – A skeecat, the extra-terrestrial life form first discovered on a planet in the Procyon sector. Skeecats resemble housecats, but are larger, have long, multi-hued coats, and tiny, clawed fingers rather than paws. Silver was bred in a lab at Academy Base near the campus and was to have bonded with a student from the next graduating class. Instead, he broke free from his isolation cage, where he was placed when technicians detected his bonding pheromone, and bonded with Kirsten. "Cindy" – Cynthia Mai Ling Tuan. Kirsten’s first friend aboard the D’Artagnan, the ship that took them from Sol 3 (Earth) to Motherlode, the Academy planet. Born in Hong Kong, Maritime Province, New China. Started Space Academy at 17. Graduated high school in Boston, Northeast Province, NorAm Federation, a year early, with honors. Fraternal twin sister of Po Li (Prune) Tuan. "Prune" – Po Li Patterson Tuan. The more rambunctious of the Tuan sisters. Graduated high school with her sister, but not without a lot of help from their mother, a math professor at MIT. The sisters’ father is a career diplomat with New China’s Inter-Federation Service. Their mother was born and raised in Chicago. "Cherise" – Cherise Elliot Higgins. She is the third friend Kirsten met on their voyage to Motherlode. One of the first children born in New London after the city was moved to a super-raft anchored in the English Channel and surrounded by electronic weather-barriers. Frequent floods of seawater due to melting polar icecaps had inundated the old city. Physically, Cherise resembles Kirsten, but takes a much more active interest in young men. "Andy" – Andreata Corrinne Robinson. Born in Terminal City, New Haven Colony, Tau Ceti Sector, age 17. She was Kirsten’s first roommate at Space Academy. They were psychologically matched by Academy profilers, and should have been good friends, but Andy was found to be allergic to skeecat fur. Illogically, Andy resents Kirsten for the fact that she never can bond with a skeecat. "Smitty" – Petty Officer Elihu Brown-Smith. Born on the island of Barbados, age 20. He enlisted in the FP Navy at age 17, and served aboard The Baltimore when it crashed into a comet fragment. Most of the crew escaped but not all. Smitty was assigned to campus security for a year to give him time to recover from the trauma. He is easy-going, almost always happy, and is Kirsten’s best male friend. "Miranda" – Miranda Giselle Foxworthy. Daughter of Ambrose Foxworthy, principal shareholder in Pan-Galactic Fox, an interstellar freight and passenger shipping line. She runs over Kirsten in her hurry to find her berth on the D’Artagnan, then blames Kirsten for getting in the way. She later becomes Kirsten’s roommate, much to Kirsten’s dismay. "Chief Reilly" – Deborah Ashley Reilly. Chief Petty Officer in Federated Planets Navy. She is the first person to welcome Kirsten aboard the D’Artagnan, and is bonded to Pepper, a skeecat. Chief Reilly has served on spaceships for over ten years. "Doc Beckman" – Cmdr. Teresa Luisa Beckman, MD, FP Navy. Born in Munich, Alps Directorate, European Union, age 49. Senior medical officer assigned to Campus Health Services at Space Academy. She holds primary and advanced medical degrees from universities in Berlin, Stockholm and New York. The textbook she wrote, The Care and Feeding of the Common Trauma, is required reading in many university emergency-medicine courses. She served for fifteen years at four FP bases before coming to the Academy. |
"Commandant
Modugu" – Capt. Margaret Mandela Modugu, FPN. Born
in Johannesburg, age 58. Graduated Massachusetts Institute of Technology
(Boston) with a Primary Degree in Astrophysics. Four years later she was a
member of the first class to graduate from Space Academy. Bonded to
skeecat Vector upon graduation. Served on two vessels prior to her first
command, The Esperanza; promoted to captain ten years after she took her
commission; commanded two other vessels before Vector’s death due to a
viral infection. Modugu suffered the same illness and was considered ‘critical’
for three weeks. After an intensive course in education management, she
took the Space Academy Commandant’s position two years later. As they
would any FPN commanding officer, subordinates, including cadets, address
her as ‘sir.’
"Mr. Morgan" – Lt. Sean Michael Morgan, FPN. Born in Edinburgh, British Islands Directorate, European Union. Enlisted in the FP Navy after receiving a Primary Degree in Law Enforcement from Belfast University. Graduated from Officers Candidate School two years later. Current head of security for the Space Academy campus. "Cooky" - Brian Hudson Briggs. Chief Petty Officer in the FP Navy, Retired. Born in Phoenix, Southwest Province, NorAm Federation, age 52. Cooked in galleys aboard eleven FP ships for over twenty years. During a firefight with Kalaxian rebels, an implosion missile detonated less than a kilometer from his ship and directly abeam of his post as spotter for a maser cannon mount. The resulting radiation nearly killed him, and the deeper scars have never disappeared. Upon his retirement he took a job as cook at the Space Academy. "Mrs. Johnston" – Tiffany Anne (Knight) Johnston. Born in Tupelo, South Province, NorAm Federation, age 45. Married Clayton Rolfe Johnston (deceased) at age 20. Six children. Clayton Johnston died in a spacer accident while working for Pan-Galactic Fox Passenger Lines. Their youngest children, boy twins, were not quite two years old at the time. Three years later, Mrs. Johnston applied for a position as housemother at Space Academy. She got the job and left her eighteen-year-old daughter, Angie, in charge of the other children and their home in Washington, D.C. (which, along with Mexico City, D.F., is joint capital of the NorAm Federation). She is very friendly and helpful to all the cadets in Kirsten’s residence building, and keeps order amongst over a hundred teenaged women. "Angie" – Angela Maree Johnston. Born in Roanoke, Mid-Atlantic Province, NorAm Federation. Eldest of Mrs. Johnston’s six children. Attends Washington East University and works part-time at Terracomm as a microwave commlink technician. When her mother disappears, she welcomes a visit from Kirsten. "Tammy, Lisa, Suzie, Brian and Todd" – Mrs. Johnston’s other children, all of whom are under Angie’s care while their mother is working at Space Academy. "Master Vang" – Professor Vang Kao Le. Born in Jakarta, Indonesian Federation. Primary degree in sports medicine, primary and secondary degrees in physical education instruction from University of Melbourne. Black belt in kem-po, third degree. Kirsten’s karate teacher. "Ensign Benson" – Ens. Lysander Euripedes Benson, FP Navy. Born in Boise, High Desert Province, NorAm Federation. First space assignment after graduation from Space Academy, passenger vessel D’Artangnan. Helped Kirsten and her friends gain access to zero G handball court. "Chief Hernandez" – Rosarita ‘Rita’ Guadalupe Maria Hernandez, Chief Petty Officer, FP Navy. Born in Madrid, Iberia Directorate, European Union. Communications officer aboard the D’Artagnan. Kirsten’s ‘host’ on her first trip home for the holidays. "Captain Conroy" – Capt. Elizabeth Colleen Conroy, FP Merchant Fleet. Born in Dublin, British Islands Directorate, European Union. Skipper of the general cargo vessel Honshu Maru. She encourages Kirsten to spend time learning bridge operations on her trip back to Academy Planet. "Lt. Yang" – Lieutenant Yang Qing Yun, FP Merchant Fleet. Born in Lhasa, Himalayan Protectorate, New China. Operations officer aboard the Honshu Maru. Bonded to skeecat Mercury upon graduation from Space Academy. He tells Kirsten about the bonding ceremony, which she missed because Silver couldn’t wait four years for her. "Captain Grayhorse" – Capt. John Grayhorse, FP Navy. Born in Green River, Great Plains Province, NorAm Federation. Commands exploration vessel Ranger on the search for the missing interplanetary shuttle. "Chief Pritchard" – Karl Frederick Pritchard, Chief Petty Officer, FP Navy. Born in Tampa, Gulf Province, NorAm Federation. Quartermaster chief aboard the Ranger. Helps outfit Kirsten and Silver’s pressure suits.
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