This week, I’m talking about two of my more informal characters.
These are the ones that don’t have any definite projects. There are no novels or series featuring them. They just pop up now and again, with a short story or two.
This doesn’t mean that I don’t value them, or enjoy hanging out and writing about their adventures. Far from it, in their own way, they fulfill a very important function. They give me a place to experiment with things that don’t necessarily fit in anywhere else. They can tackle the subjects that I wouldn’t otherwise consider giving much time to.
As you will see, both of them have a slightly unusual backstory and take on life.
Let’s meet them.
First of all, there’s Raf. And Cat.
Raf’s a bit of a lad, a Galactic explorer with a warped sense of humour and a chilled attitude that belies his story. Cat is his sidekick, she’s the A.I. computer that runs his ship. She comes complete with the voice and personality of his deceased wife. There’s a dynamic between them, one that you can imagine being the same as it was when Cat was alive.
She’s the boss, always ready with a quick riposte or put-down. They bicker like an old married couple. Which in a sense, they are. In doing so, Cat probably keeps Raf sane.
Here’s one of their adventures.
“Morning, Raf,” said Cat as I staggered into the messroom. My head ached, and her voice was just a little too loud and cheerful for my liking. Ignoring her, I went to get a coffee pack from the dispenser and hit the self-heating contact. Clutching my drink, I slumped into the nearest chair.
“I said good morning,” Cat tried again, “are you alright, Raf?” This time there was concern in her voice and less volume.
“I’m OK,” I said. “I’ve got a headache. I had the strangest dream.”
“That’ll be the beer,” said Cat, “I told you to stop after three.”
“No, it wasn’t the beer, that’s not the sort of dream I get after beer.”
“Too much information,” she said. “Tell me about it, as much as you can remember. Anything and everything. The more details you give me, the more chance that I can find a reference or meaning.”
Cat was good at that sort of thing, a voice-activated computer; she had the personality of her namesake. As well as an encyclopaedic memory, she had a pretty good grasp of what made me tick.
At the time, fitting her on my ship had seemed like a good idea. Occasionally I wanted to strangle her electronically. She was probably the one thing keeping me sane out here.
My coffee cup split open at the top, and I caught a whiff of steam and neat caffeine. It perked me up. I took a sip.
“I was in space,” I said. “Without a suit, but I could breathe. At first I thought that I was in orbit, but I didn’t feel any vertigo. Then I looked down and saw that I was hovering just above the ground.”
“Hmm,” she said, “what planet, was it Earth?”
I thought back and tried to see it again in my mind’s eye.
“No, Earth was in front of me, a long way away. Like looking at a Moon from a planet’s surface. I could tell it was Earth and that it was where I should be, but I had no way of getting to it.”
Cat thought for a moment, or at least was silent as her algorithm worked. “You know what that means, don’t you?”
“That I want to go home but can’t, because of my lousy job?”
“It’s not just home, Raf. You saw the Earth of our past. You want to go back.”
“Why do you say that? I’m quite happy out here.”
“Are you?” she asked. “Or are you just saying that because you don’t want to admit that you’re not?”
“You’re sounding like a shrink, Cat,” I said, “that’s the kind of language they used on me, after…” I couldn’t speak as the memories came back. All of them, in one rushing swoop of emotion. I was right back in the centre of it, feeling useless. Just like I had then, I was powerless to stop what had happened.
All I could do was feel the numbness of loss and the guilt. I’d been wishing I could turn the clock back ever since. Cat had spotted it, even though I’d tried to hide it.
“After I died?” Cat said. “In the accident that wasn’t your fault?”
“That’s right.”
“But you still have this version of me. I’m the same, I have all the mental attributes of the original, all the memories, the intellect. Even the warped sense of humour.”
“But you’re not her.”
She made a noise, like a cross between a huff and an exasperated sigh. “I’m as near as I can be, going back won’t change anything. If you went to Earth now, I wouldn’t be there any more than I am here.”
“But I miss her.”
She sighed again. “You’ve missed the point, more like. I’m always here, which means she is too. And not just in the computer. You carry her around in your heart. Everywhere you go.”
As I sipped my coffee, I realised that one way or another, she was always wherever I was. Cat was right.
I smiled at the sudden memory. Being right had always been one of the more annoying things about her.
Then there’s Captain Starlight.
As a young girl, Winona was given her superpowers by a mysterious old woman who lived deep in the Louisiana swamps. She was made to promise to help people in need and never reveal her secret. As her life developed, she learned more about what she could do and what the responsibility she had been given meant.
Being married to Jervis is a complication, he harbours a secret crush on her alter ego, yet he must never know the truth.
Here’s one of her adventures.
Winona finished washing up and set the dishes to drain. Her husband, Jervis, hadn’t offered to help her; as far as he was concerned, his work had finished when he’d left Johnstone’s Widgets for the day.
To him, cooking and cleaning were Winona’s jobs. As he said, when she suggested that a little help would be appreciated, he had been working hard at an important job while she had nothing else to occupy her day except keeping the house nice and cooking his dinner.
It might have been the 1950s, and everything was supposed to be modern and progressive, but in Winona’s opinion, a lot needed to change before true equality was achieved.
As soon as he finished eating, Jervis went to sit in front of their television set, catching up on the day’s news.
“Come and look at this,” he shouted excitedly. “Captain Starlight has been busy today.”
Winona sighed. Captain Starlight was all he thought about these days. The last thing she wanted to have to do was watch it all again. It was all too fresh in her mind.
She might be a superhero, but her lungs ached, and it had taken ages to get all the weed out of her hair. Worse, she was sure she could still taste the filthy water.
She reminded herself that she had to keep the pretence up. “Coming, dear,” she said.
“You know,” Jervis said as she got comfortable in her favourite armchair, “the city feels like a better place now that the Captain’s looking out for us.”
That remark made her feel better. If other people thought she was doing well, then Mother Thibideaux’s gift had not been wasted. It reminded her that it was a full moon tonight. She needed to be outside, under the moon’s glow, or her powers would fade.
She could see herself on the screen, clad in the blue suit and mask that were presently hidden in the basement. The reporter gasped as she dove into the river again and again, each time emerging with another child or two from the bus that had left the road.
When the last victim had been saved, the Captain flew off before she could be questioned.
“We don’t know who she is,” said the female reporter, “but the whole city owes her a huge debt. Just see what these people think.”
“She saved my children,” shouted a distraught mother, holding tight to two soaking youngsters.
“She’s amazing,” said another.
“She gave me the kiss of life,” added the bus driver.
Winona recalled the tickle of his moustache. She glanced across at Jervis. He had the look of jealousy that she hated. Inwardly, she laughed. It was her job; he was the only one for her. He didn’t need to be drowning to get a kiss.
“Isn’t she something?” Jervis’s voice was full of awe and a certain amount of desire. “I wonder how she does it. And who is she under that mask? What do you think, honey?”
“Goodness, I have no idea.” Winona hoped she sounded convincing. “I’m exhausted just watching that.”
You can catch up with them on Medium.
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