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CHAPTER 23 - CASTING 

Humans

Major General Virginia "Jinjur" Jones—

Commander of Prometheus and entire mission. 158.5 cm (don't neglect that half-centimeter!) (5'2"), 61 kg (135 lbs), 42 years old at start of mission. Short and solid with dark-black skin and a no-nonsense black pixie Afro haircut. Graduated high in her class at the U.S. Naval Academy, chose the Marines. Distinguished herself in the Greater San Diego tourist riots in 2009 during her first tour of duty with the Marine Recruit Training Command. Became commander of a fleet of lightweight solar sailcraft that kept the spacelanes swept of debris, inspected new foreign spacecraft for compliance with the Space Treaty, and resupplied and protected the Laser Forts. Jinjur's nickname comes from the spicy female general that conquered the Emerald City in one of the lesser-known Oz books. Virginia does not mind reference, feels it is a sign that the troops have accepted her (which it is).

Colonel George G. Gudunov—

Second-in-Command on mission, commander of surface exploration mission on Roche World, and Copilot of Magic Dragonfly. 185 cm (6'1"), 100 kg (220 lbs), 51 years old, he is the oldest person on the mission. He has a Ph.D. in physics and is a writer of science fiction and popular science articles. Air Force ROTC commission from University of Maryland and first in class in flight school. Worked on the Air Force Space Command Laser Forts project. In 1998, when a twenty-three-year-old Captain, he suggested testing the laser fort system by using them to send interstellar probes to the nearest star systems. When a number of space laser forts suffered catastrophic failures under this two day test, he was commended by Congress for exposing the problems, but the military brass never forgave him. They shunted him off to be a permanent Flight Instructor, and he was promoted as slowly as they could legally do it without raising the ire of Congress. When the positive reports from the Barnard probe came in twenty-four years later, he had just made Lieutenant Colonel. He was promoted to Colonel and sent on the expedition.

Dr. William Wang—

Surgeon and Leviponist. 175 cm (5'9"), 60 kg (132 lbs), 41 years old. Chinese-American with thin black hair, friendly face, and large ears that make him look harmless. By the age of twenty-eight, he had obtained Ph.D.'s in both leviponics and organic chemistry. Spent four years at Goddard station doing levibiology research in the huge free-fall hydroponics tanks at the Leviponics Research Facility, then went back to Earth to obtain an M.D. in aerospace medicine in order to qualify for the interstellar expeditions.

Colonel Alan Armstrong—

Astroplanetologist and Optoelectronic Physicist. 187 cm (6' 2"), 85 kilograms (185 pounds), 33 years. Very handsome, well built hero type with the face of a movie idol, charming blue eyes, welcoming smile, and curly blonde hair. Football hero, most popular boy, and valedictorian in Hollywood High School, he broke two dozen hearts when he left for the Air Force Academy. First in his class and first string on almost all the Academy sports teams in his plebe year, he remained preeminent during his entire stay and was naturally first in his class standing upon graduation. He won a Rhodes scholarship and studied mathematics and astrophysics at Cambridge. While there, he developed new signal processing techniques that were used to build a large optical interferometer antenna array that could obtain detailed images of planets in other nearby star systems.

Richard Redwing—

Planetary Geoscientist. 195 cm (6'4"), 110 kg (225 lbs), 34 years old at start of mission. Very large, very strong outdoorsman of American Indian heritage. College champion weight lifter and black-belt karate expert, won a gold medal in the 2012 Olympics. Got his B.S. in geophysics in 2014 and started work for a mining company in the Alps, where he was also a part-time mountain-climbing guide. Distinguished himself in a mountain rescue that cost him his two little toes. He grew tired of the lack of mental challenge and returned to school to get his Ph.D. in planetary physics and geophysics. Did his post-doctoral field training on the Moon and Mars, then joined the Ceres and Vesta expeditions. Was part of Callisto field crew when he was accepted for the Barnard mission.

Sam Houston—

Planetary Geoscientist. 200 cm (6'7"), 80 kg (176 lbs), 45 years. Very tall, very thin, with pale face and skin, long bones with knobby joints, gray-blue eyes and long greying hair. Does not have a doctorate, but has years of field experience. He started field exploration in 2003 on the Canadian shield with Exxon. By the next decade, he had worked on all the continents, both poles, and the continental shelves of five of the seven seas. One of the first full-time geologists on the Moon, he spent 2015 making a preliminary geological map of the backside, then spent two years on Mars with the first Mars colony. His experience made him the lead geologist on the 2018 "Big-Four" asteroid mapping expedition. His experiences on Ceres, Vesta, Pallas, Juno, followed by the two moons of Jupiter—Ganymede and Callisto—made him an obvious choice for the Barnard expedition.

Elizabeth "Red" Vengeance—

Asteroidologist and Lander Pilot. 178 cm (5'10"), 70 kg (154 lbs), 38 years. Tall, thin, with an aristocratic nose, a short, straight cap of red hair, green eyes, and the typical redhead complexion with freckles from an Irish heritage. She has over 150 hours of credits in mineralogy from University of Arizona but no degree. Elizabeth was one of the first independent prospectors in the asteroid belt. She struck it rich, became a billionaire, and then realized that there were more interesting things to do than loafing for the rest of her life. Her extensive space experience as an asteroid prospector and heavy-lift asteroid-tug operator got her onto the Barnard expedition.

Arielle Trudeau—

Aerodynamicist and Chief Pilot of Magic Dragonfly. 165 cm (5'5"), 50 kg (110 lbs), 35 years old at start of mission. Thin, delicate, beautiful, shy, fair-skinned, with short, curly light-brown hair and deep-brown eyes. She was born and raised in Quebec, Canada before succession of Quebec from Canada. She emigrated to the United States and became an American citizen after the absorption of the rest of the Canadian provinces into the Greater United States of America in 2006. Her father taught her how to fly at an early age and she has hundreds of hours experience in a glider. She obtained a Ph.D. in aerodynamics at CalTech and entered the space program as a non-pilot Mission Specialist. On her first flight into space, there was an explosion that killed both Super-Shuttle pilots. Single-handed, encumbered by a spacesuit, she brought the crippled Super-Shuttle safely down in the smoothest landing ever recorded on the shuttle program. Arielle was given special dispensation to take Super-Shuttle pilot training after public acclaim, later became one of the best Shuttle pilots. She was training for Lunar Pilot status when the Barnard expedition let her travel to the stars.

Shirley Everett—

Chief Engineer and Astronaut Aerospace Pilot. 190 cm (6'3"), 85 kg (185 lbs), 33 years old at start of mission. A tall, strong, tanned, blue-eyed, blonde-haired "California Surfer Girl." Obtained B.S. in electrical engineering with minors in nuclear engineering and mechanical engineering from USC. Played on both women's and men's basketball teams in college, and was top scorer in women's collegiate basketball. She became the third woman to play on a men's professional basketball team, but gave up her pro-basketball career as a second-string forward for the Los Angeles Lakers to return to USC to get an Engineering Doctorate. After learning to fly, she went to work for the company that designed and built the Magic Dragonfly aerospace plane. With her eidetic memory, Shirley knows everything about the spacecraft they fly, except details of the computer software programs, where David Greystoke takes over. She can fix anything, not with the proverbial kick and a hairpin—she is too well trained and equipped for that—but could if she had to.

Captain Thomas St. Thomas—

Astrodynamicist and Lander pilot. 188 cm (6'2"), 85 kg (187 lbs), 33 years. Good looking, clean-shaven, light-brown skin, with Air Force trim short black hair, and a light-brown skin from a Jamaican heritage. Graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, he became a Rhodes scholar in 2014 and obtained his Ph.D. in astrodynamics at Oxford in England. Went into Air Force pilot training and became a heavy-lift rocket pilot in 2019. He had over five years of experience raising and lowering the heavy, cumbersome rockets in Earth's gravity before joining the Barnard expedition. He is also an amateur photographer who takes strikingly artistic photographs of the terrain.

David Greystoke—

Electronics and Computer Engineer. 158 cm (5'2"), 50 kg (110 lbs), 35 years old at start of mission. Short, thin, red-haired, quiet young man. He has perfect pitch and perfect color sense and can see color differences in the flouwen that others cannot see. An undergraduate at the prestigious liberal arts college at Grinnell, Iowa, he went on to Carnegie-Mellon University for a Ph.D. in robotics and computer programming with a minor in music. He wrote most of the programs used on the computers operating the various vehicles. David's hobby is computer generated animated art-music forms, somewhat similar to, but much more sophisticated than, Walt Disney's Fantasia.

Katrina Kauffmann—

Nurse and Biochemist. 150 cm (4'11"), 45 kg (99 lbs), 40 years. Small, compact, efficient no-nonsense scientist with short cap of straight brown hair. Trained in Europe, she had started out in a nursing school, but after getting her R.N. she found she liked working more on scientific problems that working with sick people, so switched professions. Received a Diploma in Biophysics at the University of Frankfurt a.M., Germany in 2010, went on to get a Ph.D. in Biochemistry. Came to the Greater United States on a post-doctoral fellowship and stayed.

Captain Anthony Roma—

Lightsail Pilot. 168 cm (5'6"), 70 kg (155 lb), 30 years. Small, very handsome, with a dark complexion, dark eyes, dark wavy hair and a neat mustache. Was a cadet in the first class at the Space Academy and went directly into lightsail pilot training. Was assigned to the Space Marines Interceptor Fleet where he invented a number of new lightsail maneuvers.

Nels Larson —

Leviponics Specialist (Height and weight not relevant), 33 years old at launch. Very muscular arms and barrel torso, large head with a strong jaw, light-blue eyes, and long yellow-white hair that he combs straight back. When Nels was born without legs, his parents quit their jobs on Earth and moved to Goddard Station where Nels grew up. He took college courses by video and apprenticed in levibotany and levihusbandry at the Leviponics Research Facility on Goddard. He initiated the famous Larson chicken breast tissue culture ("Chicken Little" to most astronauts) and many new strains of algae with various exotic flavors.

John Kennedy —

Mechanical Engineer and Nurse. 183 cm (6'0"), 80 kg (176 lb), 32 years old at launch. Bears a striking resemblance to his distant relative. Tried the premed curriculum at USC, but gave it up in the sophomore year and went on to get a Ph.D in mechanical engineering. Didn't feel satisfied working solely on machines and went back to get his R.N. His strange mix of talents just fit a slot on the Barnard expedition.

Caroline Tanaka —

Fiber-optics Engineer and Astronomer. 165 cm (5'5"), 60 kg (132 lb), 33 years old at launch. Long dark hair, brown eyes, and light-brown skin from a mixed Hawaiian heritage. Intense, hard-working engineer who pays no attention to her looks.

Linda Regan —

Solar Astrophysicist. 155 cm (5'1"), 55 kg (121 lb), 31 years. Short, stocky, bouncy "cheerleader" type, with sparkly green eyes, curly brown hair, and lots of energy. Took physics at MIT, went on to get a Ph.D. in astronomy at CalTech, and earned her way to a position at the solar observatory around Mercury.

Carmen Cortez—

Communications engineer. 165 cm (5'5"), 80 kg (176 lbs), 28 years. Youngest person on expedition. Chunky, very feminine Spanish senorita, with black nearly-afro curly hair. Always wears makeup and tightly tailored uniform. She went to University of Guadalajara in 2015, and became president of the College Radio Amateur Club. She was in charge of the generator-powered base station during a moto-cross radio transmitter hunt, when the 9.1 magnitude earthquake struck Salamanca, Mexico in 2018. For 48 hours she ran the only operational emergency communication services in West Central Mexico. Obtained her B.S. in Engineering from the University of Guadalajara in 2019, then a Doctor of Electrical Engineering magna cum laude from University of California, San Diego in 2022. Applied for the Barnard mission upon graduation and placed third. Was in training for the Alpha Centauri mission on Titan when called to replace a primary crew member who had to resign for health reasons.

Beauregard Darlington Winthrop III—

Eldest son of ex-General and ex-Air Force Chief of Staff Beauregard Darlington Winthrop, Jr., and cherished grandson of Governor Beauregard Darlington Winthrop of South Carolina. Sent by his father to the Air Force Academy, he graduated near the top of his class. He used his father's influence to get assigned to a post in the Pentagon bureaucracy, and then rose rapidly to Air Force Chief of Staff. After a four-year tour, he resigned and easily won a seat as senator from South Carolina.

Aliens 

The aliens, called "flouwen" by the humans, are formless, eyeless flowing blobs of jelly weighing many tons that swim in the ocean on the Eau lobe of Rocheworld. Like whales or dolphins, the flouwen group into social "pods," and use sound to "see." Although they have no eyes, they are sensitive to light, and can "look" at things with that sense, although poorly. Their IQ is many times that of humans, but their only developed science is mathematics. In the following list of individuals mentioned in the story, the human version of their name is in parentheses.

Clear«»White«»Whistle (White Whistler)—

A white, mature elder who is one of the three dominant adults in the pod. Clear«»White«»Whistle is a scientist who is trying to "invent" physics and astronomy. Unlike most of the others, who would rather cogitate than experiment, it has explored the physical world, developed an artificial "eye", discovered the stars, and is starting to develop a theory of gravity. It understands the technologically oriented humans better than any of the other members of the pod, but their way of thinking is still quite foreign to it.

Roaring*Hot*Vermillion (Loud Red)—

A middle-aged, mature elder with a iridescent red color that looks like flame. Very deep roaring voice, boisterous nature, and eager to *Get on with it!* He is nominal leader of the pod, although Warm§Amber§Resonance and Clear«»White«»Whistle are co-equal and Strong‡Lavender‡Crackle is the elder of the pod. One can see that Roaring*Hot*Vermillion will become more and more like Strong‡Lavender‡Crackle as the seasons pass.

Strong‡Lavender‡Crackle (Deep Purple)—

A large, massive purple elder, with thousands of seasons of experience. Has participated in the formation of many younglings including Sweet•Green•Fizz and Roaring*Hot*Vermillion. Spends much of its time as a deep purple boulder—thinking. Sometimes, however, it dissolves and joins in group play as enthusiastically as if it were a youngling. The oldest one of the pod, it is looked upon for advice and wisdom.

Sweet•Green•Fizz (Green Fizzer)—

A bright-green young virgin who has never participated in making a youngling. From an emotional and experience viewpoint is equivalent to a bright, young, nubile, unisex college junior. Has developed considerable mass, and is an innovative thinker, but has not learned how to settle down to concentrated thinking. It would rather laze around, doing nothing, and watching its collection of flitters.

Warm§Amber§Resonance (Yellow Hummer)—

A mature, clear yellow-brown elder. Stable in personality and given to poetry, song, and theater rather than hard logic, although a better abstract mathematician than any human. Warm§Amber§Resonance is the one who organizes and directs the complex plays that the flouwen perform using their own bodies as stage, backdrops, and actors. It also acts as primary parent for Dainty~Blue~Warble.

Dainty~Blue~Warble (Little Blue)—

The youngling of the pod, a light, clear blue in color. The human exploration crew witness its forming by the combined mingling of Warm§Amber§Resonance, Roaring*Hot*Vermillion, Clear«»White«»Whistle, and the virgin—Sweet•Green•Fizz. The four are surprised and pleased by the transparent blue color, the beautiful warbling acoustic sonar note it emits, and the delicate wisps of feeler tendrils. Dainty~Blue~Warble is a very precocious and reasonably massive youngling since it had four progenitors, is very inquisitive and is always asking questions. In fact, it is a real pest, and the others often give Dainty~Blue~Warble tough logic questions to solve so it will rock up to think and stop bothering them.

Sour#Sapphire#Coo (Old Bluey)—

A very old, very massive, deep-blue elder who has spent the last hundred seasons rocked up as a thinking boulder trying to derive an example of the fifth cardinal infinity. The others sometimes pester it, but mostly they leave it alone with its thoughts. It is perched near the eddy point for the seasonal flow, so it doesn't even have to move with the seasons. There are many other colored boulders around, each one some elder thinking through some complex problem. Some have not shifted since anyone can remember. They are probably still thinking, but they could be dead for all anyone could tell. They slowly waste away due to energy expenditure, surface losses, and nibblings of rogues and fauna.

Bitter†Orange†Chirr (O.J.)—

A greenish-orange member of a neighboring pod. It is torn to pieces by a tornado and restored again by Roaring*Hot*Vermillion.

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