World building June - Day 27 - Major Figures
(See also day 5, history)
Fitzroy Acker - Fitzroy Acker was the second master of the Spero. Miressan, he was born on Grendan and even before they left, he was a larger than life person - a big man, with light skin, light blue eyes and a shock of dark curly hair. The man who had been the master before him had been an engineer. He had not really understood the reality of creating the society. Acker, on the other hand, understood what was going to happen. He understood that they were in it for the long haul. He understood that things would go wrong and things would go right. He would ask his staff for the good news and the bad ALL the time. To the point where the F/A report became the “good/bad” report.
When something is “Fitzed” it is in good shape. “Ackered” is in bad shape. Laurette Coralie Schuchard - Coralie Schuchard was a Rendann who had washed out of her apprenticeship. She blamed racism for it. Coral was a charismatic speaker, attractive, outgoing. She appealed to the non-crew, especially the non-crew who did not have successful careers. She spoke to the crew who had the shit jobs and the lowest pay. At the time, security and the master was on a less ruthless, more reconciliation style trend. They tried to talk with her but it did no good. They tried imprisonment, her movement grew. About ten years before the Dying (generation 50), she led a general strike Her followers walked out of work. They held a peaceful protest, blockading the entrances to places of work for people who were not participating. For days, nothing happened and command fretted and bit their nails, worrying about the maintenance that was not happening. Finally, one thing led to another. There was damage that needed to be repaired immediately and the master had security act in brutal and decisive way.
For years after, whenever something went wrong, it was blamed on the rebellion and the work that was not done during those days. Their existence is so fragile, so precarious, that this underscored a need for decisive action and led to a lack of tolerance for any sort of rebellion. People are free to express themselves in art, in writing. But once you interfere with the operation of the ship, or even threaten to, the response is immediate and brutal.
Someone who “talks like Coralie” is a good talker, good at convincing people to do things, even when it is against their best interests.
Some current Important People Latina Seldon - The 247th master of the ship. Latina Seldon had come through ops to command. She is not Rendann, at least not sufficiently Rendann that it shows, but she speaks the language. She worked outside maintenance for a decade, before entering command and working her way up through the ranks to command first a tender and then into Homeship’s command structure. She is tall, wiry and amazingly tough. (Rendann’s perform a disproportionate amount of the outside work and tender crews, so she is unusual. That she was promoted to master and not any of the Rendanns that came up through the ranks with her has been a point of contention and grumbling)
She held the title of master for longer than average - nearly 12 years. She is now old - in her mid sixties - and the years of outside work have taken its toll on her body. She failed her physical six months ago when it was discovered that she has an aggressive form of cancer and is not expected to live much more than a year. She stepped down as master at that time.
Raltar Brin -Raltar Brin is the current master of the ship, having taken it over from Seldon a month ago. Unlike most of the recent masters and much of command, he did not come through Ops. He is a pilot. He was a scout, then a tender pilot, and, briefly, he even has piloted Homeship. He spent some years training pilots, and also working with them when they returned from difficult or dangerous missions. He has learned caution and patience, though at his heart he is still a scout. More than anything, he wants to find a home. He spends countless hours, holed up with the astrometrics, studying the stars and planets ahead.
Bobbi Seldon - Bobbi Seldon is Latina Seldon’s approximately 30 year old daughter. Latina washed out of Ops and now writes music. Her songs are bright, upbeat and catchy. She puts on a good show and her shows are always packed. She also will just show up places and busk, because she loves it. She and her mother have reconciled in recent years. Bobbi was raised as a ship orphan as her father (also an exterior ops worker) when she was a baby, and Latina was off ship so much during Bobbi’s younger growing up years. By the time Latina was on homeship full time, Bobbi was a teenager and did not want much to do with her mother. Ariana Montelay - The current head of Dispatch/Control, Ariana Montelay is a member of the Ops Command structure. She has worked dispatch for years - first for her best friend Morgan, who was a scout, and later for tenders and as a relief worker for others. She has grey hair that she wears pulled back in a bun. At work, she is formal and stiff, but she cares deeply about every one of those pilots. She is a hardass in public and cries in private for every loss. She is Meredith’s teacher/coach.
Protagonists/POV characters? - Skylar - Pilot who will find a homeworld. Reckless, aggressive, competitive. Although her skin is darker, she has the Mirrassan blue eyes and lighter hair, which is unruly and curly. - Meredith - Skylar’s best friend and control for Skylar’s. She is an ops trainee. Very smart, strong coder. Reserved and careful. - Avery - Skylar and Meredith’s friend. He is a ship orphan with a mother who died a long time ago, and a father who is in Command, so works irregular and long shifts. He tests into ops - more of a hands on maintenance guy, but he is really an artist at heart. - Quinn - another friend, tests into medicine. - MRGN - The AI for Skylar’s ship. MRGN is based on Morgan who as Ariana Montelay’s pilot. See Day 5 - history.