Kate offers him a means to gain success. Success brings a second term. Success makes for a good presidency. History looks back on success with smiling happy faces. Kate provides success in a number of areas . She has absolutely no hesitation in calling him to do her bidding and uses his agenda and the promise of success to motivate him. She is results driven. He can be one of the team to ‘make things better’ or he can miss out and suffer becoming irrelevant. His only issue is to make his problems, Kate’s problems.
Kate is too perfect, too invincible!
Yes, you got me with that one. She is.
However she needs absolutely every advantage she can get. She is small, young, a woman and not ‘impressive’ in any visible way. How on earth would she achieve her goals unless she had kick-ass powers?
The real problem is that Kate has huge adversaries and history is the strongest. It holds the human race back and provides excuses for its excesses. Old hatreds, scores to settle, any number of grievances are based in history. How can she move past this to create a future she wants?
Then there is the problem of her being a woman, an American and small. Three serious disadvantages that in many places some would claim are insurmountable.
She needs every advantage she can get.
Super powers! Pah!!
I can almost hear the complaint, “OK Richard, you’ve given your protagonist stupid super powers. It feels out of place. Silly.”
Sure. This is science fiction after all.
One thing. You sit down in public. Something ‘tickles ‘ your consciousness. You look around. Someone is looking at you. You sensed them. How? Why? You/we/I have that in small measure. Kate has it in buckets. For her it becomes a ‘super power’ and central to her life.
May I divert for a moment? In the early 1900’s, the concept of space travel, computers, antibiotics, flight, and so many things we take for granted was viewed as impossible. In the 1980’s I was employed in the electronics industry. I promise you that the smart phone of 2018 was a leap too far to believe. My point is that technology moves forward, rapidly.
Why not people? That is after all, the whole premise here. A new genus.
What of Resident and Kate and their ability to ‘step’ from one space to another? What of Kate’s super power of being able to project her reality onto the reality around her? What of her ability to sense emotions and to create them in other people?
They are super powers of course.
One at a time.
My own belief is that with the vastness of space, traveling through it will never get us to the stars (and back). The best we can hope for by traveling through space is the ‘Generation Ships’ that take maybe 100 years to reach a star at a small fraction of light speed. That feels ‘doable’ but not practical.
I enjoyed the movie ‘Passengers’ - that kind of thing.
My feeling? The only way is to bridge two spaces together. Maybe cosmic strings and wormholes are options, maybe something quantum-ish. Quantum lends credence to things because it is so unbelievably complex and odd. Look up Quantum Entanglement, Spooky Action At A Distance (Einstein) and make what you can of it.
There are a few science fiction concepts that have been used over the years. One is to fold space, another is the hyperspace option of Star Trek. Another is to make one piece of space equivalent to another then step between, choose a destination. This latter option I’ve chosen as the technology of The Stellar Universe.
Now Kate. She is brave and fearless. Why? She’s been shown the alternative, the ass blown off the planet if she can’t get a grip on technology and make sure it is released in its own and right time. Imagine releasing humanity now into interstellar space with faster than light drives and energy conversion technology. It would end badly.
Kate is different, her brain works differently, her body is vastly different. She has evolved. She is a different genus of the human race, as different as Paleolithic man is to the modern human. Her connection to space gives her the ability to interact with the fabric of space. Sure, we can’t do it and may never have that ability, but going to the moon in the early 1900’s was science fiction too.
What about the energy required for her super powers? Where does it come from? Simple. From space itself. She harnesses and channels the same way you do when you turn on a light switch. The energy flowing through the switch does not go through you. The energy to interact with space does not come from or go through Kate. She ‘instructs’ space to do her bidding. She commands it.
Sounds far fetched! Yep. It’s science fiction.
Making Resident look human feels wrong!
No, I disagree. In 2017 we can 3D print human organs. How long till we can print a human body? Not long! Transferring a consciousness is an issue, but I doubt it will be a serious problem in the coming centuries. It of course raises so many theological questions.
Now. Think about it. If you were going to visit another race on another planet, you would, if you had the option, go as yourself or as a being that looked normal to them? Pretty simple choice that.
Companion. A Panther. Odd!
Sure. I developed Companion (and Resident) in 2009 as a pair. Companion is a warrior, a traveler, a best friend and someone to ease the loneliness. He is right at the top of the apex predator pinnacle for his planet. He has nothing to prove, nothing to worry about.
Not speaking means he doesn’t have to interact when he doesn’t want to. He really does get bored easily. Choosing this shape, something obvious and something formidable gives Companion an instant respect. Messing with him is a bad idea just from looks alone.
Spoiler. I wanted a protector and a companion for Kate, so she gets her own companion. Next book. Kate is only little and vulnerable as she develops, her companion will provide the protection and diversion away from herself that she needs. A little girl with a panther; what will people focus on?
Kate is violent. More violent than would be expected. Why?
Yes, absolutely, she is violent. She is unpleasant, she is direct and rude. She is results driven and fabulously impatient. Do Not Get In Her Way.
She makes a point in another book about a dirty bomb going off in Washington;
“As to what happens when or if a dirty bomb goes off, yes, sure it’s extreme but I have my priorities. If I get them wrong it won't be an annoyance, it will be the end of the species I can promise you. That's been my focus all these years, that’s what I'm working toward."
Why didn’t Kate ‘dispose’ of Raymond?
Raymond tried to have her tortured, raped the murdered. She would have had ample excuse to do away with him.
Why not?
Simple. He is a motivator of people and able to exert control. Sure, she ‘eliminated’ some of his soldiers but that was in pursuit of her goal of dominating him. Raymond knows she has the ability to deal decisively with him should she choose. He knows he cannot succeed against her.
Kate needs Raymond to change and do what she wants. Without him, who would exert control in the way she wants, to change the region the way she wants? Without him she would have to bring someone else in with less chance of success.
Remember, her goal is to convert away from a drugs and violence based region, to change the region for the benefit of all. That Raymond has been a ruthless warlord, criminal, ‘monster’ means nothing to her, it is the past. She looks only to the future. ‘Deal with it’ would be her words, then, ‘move on.’
If Raymond reverts or fails, it would be very bad (for him). She is not a pleasant person when she’s on a mission.
Why did you make Kate small, European and blonde?
She’s also not particularly pretty or anything at all other than small, short and blonde. The reason; she had to be something! Why a she? Why not?
In truth, I wanted her to be the opposite of expectations. She has challenge and the regular dismissal of herself because of her body shape and sex attributes. She does struggle with those comments, but, she also u
ses them to stay incognito.
You used the term ‘Planet Tamer’ - why?
Her strength of character, her ability to create a team of support people, her ruthless approach to ‘making good’ leads to changes for the planet.
She is a planner, a plotter, cunning and capable. She has a goal and she pursues it.
In other books, this is used similarly. Other races who have built a lasting civilization have each had their own Planet Tamers. The process is known.
Without a Planet Tamer, who will lead through the chaos to find salvation?
Give me an example of changes to the planet?
She assembles a team to create a ‘creeping green’ belt of forests that move across desert regions. Using the best of technology, recycling, and the thorough domination of local populations, she begins the reafforestation of places that in antiquity were the birthplace of civilization by virtue of their productive lands. Now they are deserts. They will become green.
Another example. Raymond’s ‘deal’ is that he change from a drugs and criminal based empire into being a regional governor. He must see to the needs of his people whilst creating a self sustaining ecologically sound environment basing their income on tourism, sustainable forest products and agriculture. The SecState negotiates with him a generous aid package that in reality is far less than the cost of the ‘war on drugs.’
She spends a few days time on each. She delegates. She motivates. She monitors and moves forward.
What of other Eras, other protagonists?
Sure. After Kate’s passing there is a progression of Stellar protagonists, each like Kate but also each is very different.
Each is a person of their times (stating the bleeding obvious) and as you would expect, different.
Kate can be truly horrid. She’s born into a time of chaos and violence. She must fight hard, struggle kicking and screaming to create her own infrastructure of support. Worse, there is no inertia for her use to her advantage. She can’t move forward on a wave of expectation that others may or may not have… spoilers! She is the first and must overcome words like ‘you are just one person, what can you hope to achieve.’ Those words set her teeth on edge.
Others build on Kate’s inertia and infrastructure. They have their struggle, their achievements, their own special problems they must overcome.
Minor Spoiler. “Jellz” of the 5th era is vastly different. Gentle, thoughtful, insightful, but must deal with different challenges no less tumultuous than those in Kate’s era. Keeping ‘challenge’ happening for five eras of people with these super powers is no small undertaking.
What is Kate’s strongest weapon?
Her mouth. Her cell phone. She builds a support network that she has no hesitation in calling, day or night, when she wants something done.
Her intelligence, her sharp tongue, her total absence of patience define Kate. Delivering that by cell phone makes for a devastating weapon.
OK. Kate goes up against Iron Man. Who Wins?
Kate is my creation. She wins.
She moves instantly. Gripping Tony Stark’s wrist she links with and projects abject terror into his brain. Game over. Then when he recovers she gives him a tongue lashing that bruises his ego, telling him to pay attention and calling him ‘stupid’ more than once.
Did you catch the reference to the beheaded soldiers of Raymond and Punishment Beating? Kate did that with ‘Snicker Snee’
---oOo---
Appendix-C. Richard’s Ramblings
Done! Perfect is the enemy of ‘done’ and I know ‘The Camper’ is not perfect, if I waited perfect it would never be done. I suspect I’ll edit and release a revised version in a few months when I come back to it with a clear mind. I’ll admit it, I’m a tinkerer.
You’ll probably see differences in the writing in various parts. Some of it is ‘staccato’ style, punchy and short sentences, others longer and more descriptive. The reasons are that some of this was written years ago, some recently, and also perhaps it is nice to have a change in the reading pace.
If you’ve read thus far you’ll have seen the story jumps from person to person, going from the camper to the protagonist of the first era, Kate, more than once.
Writing one story about a camper meeting an alien would end quickly and wouldn’t give the reader much of a dream. I have of course inserted the small ‘vignette’ stories to show the actions of the main protagonist of this era and from her own perspective.
Oh. The ‘AK’ at the start of chapters are abbreviations for ‘Anno Kate’, I’ve taken a liberty with the Latin ‘Anno’ and abbreviated it to ‘year of’ so’ so that “AK” is ‘year of Kate’. For example, AK+0 is her awakening year.
I do hope you have gained enjoyment.
‘Richard
8 February 2018
The Camper: First Contact and the Planet Tamer (The Stellar Universe Book 0) Page 23