The Alien Within: Cast of Characters--Parker Redux

Imagine you're a fly inside Parker's house on a Saturday afternoon. Through your faceted eyes you watch him putter about, wiping down the kitchen counters, now hauling a load of dirty laundry to the basement, then heading back upstairs to pay some bills, maybe stopping by the refrigerator to grab a beer first. What's the first thing you notice? The man talks to himself a lot, doesn't he? Seems that way--nobody's around but him. But you'd be wrong. Parker's not talking to himself. He's talking to his wolf. And it talks back.

Imagine another scene. You're that fly again, this time clinging to a trunk of an oak tree in the wee hours of the morning. Parker sits at the tree's base, his right ear a mere inches away from where you crouch. He's watching someone walk along a path, wondering why they're out so early. The person is abruptly pulled off the path and into a stand of trees. Both of you hear the sound of flesh being roundly beaten. Parker jumps to his feet and suddenly you realize you can hear his thoughts:

Oh, no. Don’t let this be what I think it is.

The victim hadn’t cried out when he’d been pulled from the path, but someone was screaming now. Parker had just taken a step to run towards the commotion when his wolf’s hard mental shove threw him off-balance. He stumbled and almost fell.

And you're going where? it growled.

But—

Stop acting like a damned human. It ain't our problem.

But—

No dice.

Parker wavered. His wolf was right. He’d been about to break a cardinal pack rule: whatever’s happening, don’t get involved unless directly threatened. The rule was callous, but practical. Getting involved might lead to a discovery of what he was, which could be fatal—for him and the pack. But what if it wasn’t an ordinary mugging?

Seems the wolf has more sense than Parker does, right? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. The truth is that they need each other, brothers against the wind fighting to survive the storm of humanity that wants them dead because of what they are. Hardly seems fair. But then life isn't fair. And nobody knows that better than the zots.

My World And Welcome To It, VIII

Humans and zots have been warring with each other for as long as humans and zots have been around. It's always us against them, whichever side you're on. But just as always, there are exceptions to the rule. Witches and scrum are proof of that.

I'm a witch. That means one of my parents was zot and the other human. My mother's an elf. She didn't have to be, but she is. Anyway, human divided by zot equals witch. Sometimes. More likely the kid'll be scrum. Human and zot genes don't always mix very well. A good mix will get you a witch. A bad mix gets you scrum. And a really bad mix is better off dead.

So...witches. Too zot to be human and too human to be zot. Witches consider themselves zots, but other zots don't see it that way. To them, we're half-breeds. To humans we're zots, half-breed or not. Whatever. Anyway, since zots as well as humans consider us suspect, we answer to neither. Witches answer to the ONE, the Source of All Things. And the ONE guides us in everything we do. 'Course, some of the ONE's ideas don't go over too well. Like the deal we cut with humans wa-a-ay back when. "Humans, if you'll stop killing us witches because we're zots, we'll protect you from other zots." It wasn't exactly like that but that's how other zots saw it then, and that's how they see it now. Anyway, I could give you the gory details about why our protecting humans serves the ONE's purpose, but I won't. If I did...Mother, we could be here for days.

Blessed be, my Sisters and Brothers. We witches are the cats who walk by ourselves.

The Alien Within: Cast Of Characters, IV

Last but not least, the fourth hero in this story--Melera Shen'zae of Xia'saan. Xia'saan was a warrior planet in the Maqu Galaxy, one of the Fifteen left standing after the first interstellar wars ended. It was destroyed in a surprise attack by the Akkad, the opening salvo in another galaxy-wide war that grows ever more complicated as factions switch sides with the ease of a laser shot. Oops, wrong book.

But that space opera going on in Maqu is the reason why Melera's on Earth. She's hiding from the Vst and the Akkad (they both want her bad) so she can work in peace on cracking the code her now-dead father left for her to solve. After that, she has to find the Xia'saan battlefleet he hid somewhere in the furthest reaches of our solar system. But she's got a bigger problem besides trying to crack a code without a key. While in Maqu she'd been captured by the Akkad and tortured until she managed to escape. Now she has these painful, unpredictable seizures that cause temporary amnesia--so far, anyway. It's during one of these episodes that Parker accidentally runs her down with his car. Not a great beginning for a beautiful relationship, huh? Of course it is. Parker gets to rescue a damsel in distress.

Melera is a study in contrasts. A brazen warrior and consummate assassin, she seems to be made of cast iron. But when we meet her, she's wracked by fear, loneliness and self-doubt. And when she loves, that cold exterior disappears--she's cuddly as a tame crocodile and loyal beyond sense. (Of course, the flip side is betrayal equals dead meat.) Her favorite place to sit is on Parker's lap and when he tells her how badly he'd been used by Garrett and Kurt, she offers to kill both for him.

She's also quite the Wonder Bitch, Kurt calls her. Seems Melera can do anything any zot can do, only better. And then she has her own alien skills on top of that. On the other hand, she's allergic to Earth. Like her seizures, her allergy attacks turn her to jelly. Hard to be Wonder Bitch when your nose and eyes are running like faucets and your head feels like it's about to explode. The cure? Cigars. Weed works too, but smoking it makes her lose control in a way that leaves Parker begging for more. She can't get the hang of the English language (Parker translates for us) and she lisps. Perfection does have its price.

A last thing: one of my beta readers commented that Melera is "royalty but she comes off as Mae West." I wouldn't have said Mae West, but right on target. Aliens don't do things the way humans do.

My World And Welcome To It, VII

"My cell--my world, my hell."

--unknown Vst POW.

The Alien Within: Cast of Characters, III

Ah, Kurt. That sadistic, s.o.b. vampire regent with a twisted sense of humor. The Master of Seattle. And a serious control freak. But that's understandable. Before his rebirth into a vampire, Kurt ruled an entire country instead of a tiny slice of a mid-sized city.

Kurt's not your ordinary vampire regent. Oh, he can read minds, morph, and stuff like that. But he likes to eat and drink (red wine is his thing), and hanging out on the beach under a hot summer sun is pretty close to heaven. No wonder humans don't know he's a vampire. And his human abilities are particularly useful in keeping his colony and the rest of Seattle's zots in check.

So if Kurt's all that and a bag of chips, why's he bothering with Garrett's obsession to turn Seattle into Zot Paradise? To share his powers with her and Parker? Well, anyone can see the benefits of having a zot haven. But where Garrett sees a utopia, Kurt sees an opportunity. He already controls the zots. Why not humans? Call it a bold new era in zot/human relations.

And maybe a bold new era for him and Parker, too...


P.S. The most fun thing about working with Kurt is weaving him into the fabric of the past to make an alternate present. For example, Kurt's ruling over Seattle's entire zot population isn't typical of the relationships in other cities between vampire Masters/Mistresses of colonies and the rest of the zots. Kurt's unique position stems from his being one of the founders of Seattle in the 19th century (though you won't see his name on any memorials). Migrating zots of whatever stripe had to either submit to his rule or take a hike. Many chose to submit. Why? That's another story...

My World And Welcome To It, VI

(Two young men walk into a restaurant with a cozy, homey feel to it.)

“Well, hello there, Vince. I was wondering when you’d get here. Who’s your friend?"

“Hey, Tina. This is Jack. Tonight's his first time.”

“Hello, Jack. Hmm, Jack the Shark. Has a nice ring, don’t you think?"

“Yeah, real funny, Tina. Can we get something to eat now?”

(Tina laughs and walks away.)

“Dude! She’s knows I'm a wereshark. She's a sniffer--I'm outta of here!”

“Yeah, and she knows I'm a weretiger, too. I--"

"What? Aw, Vince--now we're really in deep...come on, let's go!"

"Chill out Jack, will you? Relax--Tina's one of us.”

“Uh?”

“One of us. I mean, you’re always going on about how humans treat zots like shit and all, right? And they do. But not all humans feel that way. Sniffers like Tina and like those plain, everyday ones over there. Humans like them think we zots deserve to be treated...well, like humans. And between them and us, we're doing something about it." (Vince waves at the restaurant crowded with zots and humans.) "Look around you. Every single one of us here tonight is doing something about it.”

(Jack looks stunned. Vince smiles.)

“Welcome to the revolution, Jack.”