The Voidstrider Saga is a sweeping epic ranging from Earth and the Moon out to Mars, the Asteroid Belt, the moons of Saturn, and beyond. Numerous characters and personalities are swept up in the action.
These are some of the primary personae central to the story.
Aurora (Rora) Dane – daughter of the legendary test pilot Gerald Dane, who perished aboard the experimental FTL vessel Hyperion five years earlier, Rora is captain and owner of the sloop Eos. She operates the vessel with her partner, Martine Antoinette. They both possess a genetic modification which strengthens their muscles and bones, allowing them to withstand higher g-forces than baseline humans. The couple make ends meet doing cargo runs and taking on the occasional passenger. Rora has also been working for the Voidstrider Institute, covertly delivering supplies to an illicit research facility hidden beyond the orbit of Saturn.
Francis Drake – Drake was an investigative reporter for the feedsite Jagged Orbit. Unbeknownst to the publisher, Drake received tips from a mysterious hacker known only as “The Djinn.” The Djinn led Drake to several big scoops, but the last assignment went badly wrong and Drake ended up at Darkside, the private prison on the Lunar Far Side. Five years later, Drake is free and on the run. He finds his way to Titan Station, in the moons of Saturn, and decides to keep his head down and his throat wet. He is drinking away the last of his savings on Titan Station when our story begins.
Roger Jon Grey – harbormaster of Vesta Station, Grey is in his early fifties and has a suite of cybernetic body modifications. He got his first implants as a teenager. In addition to all the standard mods, he possesses an advanced neural lace that allows him to directly access local data networks with his mind. Of course, this also leaves his brain vulnerable to transmissions coming the other way…
Ekarerina (Katia) Miranova – Katia Miranova is the granddaughter of Miranov Interplanetary CEO Valentin Miranov; as the story opens, she is also the Executive Director of Vesta Station. She has served in that position since the death of her father. Katia is extremely proud of Vesta and regards it as her father’s legacy. She has lived on Vesta all her life, and has only the vaguest connection to Earth and the rest of her family. She is one of the wealthiest individuals in the solar system, and has used that wealth to protect herself. Katia possesses enhanced muscle fibers grown from chimpanzee stem cells, a skeletal system reinforced with tissue derived from a rhinoceros, and feline-derived ligaments. She is stronger, more durable, and more flexible than any baseline human. She has also recently decided to grow a bushy tail.
Shan Taishan – Shan Taishan is a scion of one of the Hundred Families, the ruling class of Mars. It was his destiny, as the elder child, to take his family’s seat in the governing council when he came of age. Instead, Shan left politics to his younger sister Meredith Taishan and joined the Martian Fleet instead. As the story opens, Shan is a lieutenant of the Fleet. He is assigned to the cruiser Belerophon and commands a small squad of elite troopers including Kemal Gomez and Wen.
Winter – Winter is a bounty hunter. Very little is known about him. He wears full vacuum armor at all times. He never removes the vac suit helmet, and seldom even takes off his gray-white cape. His only adornment is a stylized snowflake embossed on the breast of his armor. He is heavily armed and an apparently formidable warrior.
Catalina Hao-Quan Gandara – the civilian head of Martian Planetary Security (the domestic security agency, as opposed to Mars Central Inelligence), Gandara is also the longest serving member of the Ministry of the Hundred. She has been a minister for over 60 Martian years, and has grandchildren old enough to retire. Her political positions often straddle the aisle of Martian politics. She maintains the appearance of a kindly elder, but in fact is one of the most cunning and dangerous operators in the System!
Michaela “Mick” Cross – much like Katia Miranova, Mick Cross is fantastically wealthy. She inherited control of Cross Industries from her late father, Ezra Cross – who made a deal with the Angel. Mick is petty and vindictive, a spoiled brat who never grew up but who knows how to use power and leverage both for corporate success and personal gain.
Danior Petrakis – Petrakis is the commander-in-chief of United Earth’s combined Peacekeeper service – a service which has combined elements of traditional armies, navies, and marine corps. As C-in-C, he oversees the three main branches of the service. As a man of conscience, and aided by his staff members Cass Miklos and Ekisha “Kish” Prashad, Petrakis has been investigating signs of corruption and conspiracy in the United Earth Government for the past five years.
Col. Paul Johnson – commander of the Peacekeeper Marine detachment sent to Vesta. Like Petrakis, he is a man of conscience who finds that his duty may not always align with the orders of his superiors.
Emilia Grushytskaja – born on Luna, Grushytskaja worked for Cross Industries for years before she was recruited by the mysterious Djinn. Now, she uses her coding and hacking skills to combat the menace of the Angel.
Sadira – first name unknown. Sadira is known as a “fixer.” Currently living as a woman, she keeps to herself in her private yacht docked at the asteroid Eros. She is an associate of the Djinn. Sadira lives and works with her Companions, publicly a group of courtesan-like individuals whose time and company may be purchased for astronomical sums. Privately, Sadira’s Companions take assignments as an extralegal team of operatives in the vein of the IMF or A-Team.
John A. Underwood 