Worlds Apart

Worlds Apart is a twelve-novel series chronicling the voyages of the Pathfinder Ship Pegasus as it rediscovers human colonies lost after the collapse of Galactic Civilization.

Plot Summary[]

Worlds Apart is set approximately 5,000 years in the future. It takes place after humanity colonized thousands of planets across the Milky Way, forming a Galactic Commonwealth, that collapsed somewhere around the year 5000 AD. It is commonly believed that this collapse was due to war with a vastly superior alien species, the Tarmigans, which wiped out most of the Commonwealth colonies.

Each colony was left on its own, to develop a unique culture and society. Two of these planets, Sapphire and Republic, rediscovered the means of faster-than-light travel and have built Pathfinder ships to reconnect to the other lost colonies. It is not an easy alliance. Republic is a world driven by bureaucratic authoritarianism, where collectivism is emphasized and the good of the many always supercedes the desires of the one. Sapphire, in contrast, is a world of fiercely independent free-thinkers, whose people are accustomed to virtually limitless freedom. Their cultural conflicts defy efforts to integrate the crews of their ships, and there remains a high degree of tension and competition between the two worlds. Worse,while Sapphire's agenda is simply exploration and discovery, Republic is seeking to rebuild the Commonwealth, with their world as the new center of power.

Pegasus is the third of these Pathfinder Ships, and the most interesting one. Her quirky, eccentric crew is equal to the strange worlds and bizarre cultures they encounter.

Books[]

Characters[]

Main Characters[]

William Randolph Keeler[]

William "Bill" Keeler commands Pegasus. He is a Sapphirean male, middle-aged, who was chancellor of the University of Sapphire at New Cleveland before being tapped to command Pegasus. He is a trained historian with a vast knowledge of the ancient Commonwealth. At the beginning of the journey, he does not believe the legends that the Commonwealth was destroyed by war with the Tarmigans. He suspects he was only put in command as a figurehead, with the expectation that Goneril Lear would yield the real authority on the ship. In times of crisis, he consults with the ghost of his ancestor, Lexington Keeler, and his talking cat, Queequeg. He also drinks a lot.

Goneril Lear[]

Goneril Lear is Pegasus's Executive Officer. She had previously served for more than 20 years in the Odyssey Project Bureaucracy and was to be rewarded with command of her own ship. She lost her command opportunity when the Odyssey Project was downsized from twelve ships to nine, and instead took a position as Pegasus's first officer. To her supporters, she is a highly capable officer, the real brains of Pegasus command. To her detractors, she is a conniving bureaucrat with her own agenda who undercuts the captain's authority to her own ends. She hails from the City of Alexander on Republic, is married to Augustus Rebbeck Lear, with two sons, Marcus and Trajan. She represents the archetype of Republicker rectitude and authority. Lear is also revealed to be a leader of a cadre of Centurions, members of a secretive order known as The Notorium, who have done the dirty work of the Republic Central Government for hundreds of years.

Philip John Miller Redfire[]

{C}Tactical TyroCommander Redfire is the Second Officer of the Pathfinder Ship Pegasus. He was born in the agricultural province of Graceland on Sapphire. After graduating from USNC with a degree in pyrokinetic art, he achieved the rare title of €˜Master Artist' by blowing up several buildings, bridges and other spectacles, all of which well qualified him for the position of ship's weapons officer. He is a warrior with the soul of an artist, with an equally 'complex private life. Redfire is married, but estranged from his wife, Flight Captain Halo Jordan. Their estrangement probably is related to Redfire's serial infidelities, including an incident involving twins while still on Sapphire (Book 2). Redfire had a sexual encounter with a witch on EdenWorld (Book 2), and an Aurelian on Winter (Book 4). Both occasions were involuntary. He had a sexual encounter with Eliza Jane Change on the planet Dominia (Book 5) when both were facing death. In Book 6, Redfire disappears during an encounter with an alien spaceship, and re-appears with his memories erased. He resigns from his post as Tactical Chief and sets up as a bartender in the Orion Arm Officer's Club.

Eliza Jane Change[]

LIEUTENANT NAVIGATOR CHANGE is the senior officer of Pegasus's small cadre of Navigators. The ability to navigate in hyperspace is a rare talent possessed by few humans and is related to the High Gift of Precognition.€€ Eliza was born and raised in the Mining Guild, the consortium responsible for extracting minerals from the asteroids, comets, and outer planets of the Sapphire and Republic systems. She is an excellent navigator, but her interpersonal skills leave much to be desired. Originally, she was part of a furtive love triangle with Flight Lieutenant Matthew Driver and Technician Eddie Roebuck (Books 1 and 2). Ultimately, she rejects Driver when her gift of precognition showed her they would have a doomed and miserable life together. Afterwards, she had a brief love affair with Eddie Roebuck (Book 3), then rejected him as well. After being marooned on an ice planet with Redfire (Book 5) and having an affair with him, she falls in love with him. He rejected her out of loyalty to Halo Jordan, but later (Book 7) pursued a relationship with her when he re-appeared from an encounter with an alien ship with his memories erased.

Halo Jordan {C}[]

light Captain Jordan commands Pegasus's Flight Group Beta, the Burning Skies, and pilots the Aves Basil. She learned to fly from her parents back on Sapphire's remote settlement Running on the Rocks, Boreala, and subsequently enrolled in the Sapphire Permanent Defense Situation (SPDS) Flight Core as an Interceptor Pilot, and served on bases in the remote moons of the planet's Rook and Gigantor. She is described as an outstanding beauty, tall, lithe, and blonde. She is married to, but estranged from, TyroCommander Redfire. She is the object of an unrequited infatuation from Flight Lieutenant Paul Ironhorse. She specializes in leading rescue missions, including the rescue of the first landing team to Meridian (Book 1), the recovery of the Beta Team from the far side of EdenWorld (Book 2), and the evacuation of Tobias and Pieta from Bodicea (Book 3). During that last mission, her Aves was shot down, and she spent the equivalent of 16 years on the planet, during which time, she became the mother to Max and Sam Jordan. Upon her return, she was retasked to Flight Commandant, in charge of training flight cadets for Pegasus's Flight Core. Her final mission took place on the planet Crucible, where she and TyroCommander Redfire disappear during an encounter with an alien ship

Matthew Driver[]

{C}Flight Lieutenant (later Captain) Driver is a very talented pilot in Pegasus's Flight Group Gamma known as the Quicksilver Angels. He was born in Republic's City of Progress, but spent most of his life in the remote outpost of Midlothian. His sister serves a Climatology Specialist in Pegasus's Science Core. He would like to be romantically involved with Eliza Jane Change. He is a straight-up, honest, competent, good-natured guy who unfortunately expects everyone else to be the same way. This is his downfall. Driver has displayed hints of precognitive ability. On Meridian (Book 1), he had a dream in which he saw his landing party in danger and took steps that later helped save their lives. On Bodicea (Book 3), he foresaw that the landing party would be taken prisoner, and took precautions that helped secure their freedom. In Book 2, he jokingly told Redfire that he would meet a strange, mysterious woman and fall madly in love with her, which sort of happened. He has also saved the life of Trajan Lear on at least two occasions, by aborting his launch when Trajan fell on his canopy (Book 2), and by rescuing the boy from Bodicea (Book 3). Since disappearing into a StarLock with Trajan Lear (Book 5), he and Trajan have developed a powerful bond with each other. His sister Kayliegh Driver serves in Pegasus's Planetology Core and Exo-Botany Research Group.====

David Alkema[]

SPECIALIST (later LIEUTENANT, later Lieutenant Commander) Alkema serves in Pegasus's Operations and Cores. Alkema began the journey as one of Pegasus's youngest crewmen, having lied about his age and stolen an older brother's identity in order to qualify for the Odyssey Project. He is trained in a wide variety of ship's functions, including Primary Command functions, and has displayed a high capacity for analysis and critical thinking. His knowledge of the ship's technical operations compensates for Commander Keeler's complete lack of technical understanding, or even interest.€€ He is the Smithers to Keeler's Burns, but without the homo-erotic tension. Keeler would be totally lost without him. He is very bright and resourceful, personable, and despite all that, well-liked by most of the crew. He was born in the mountain town of Josh-Nation on Sapphire. On the planet Bodicea, he met a little girl named Pieta (Book 3), who developed a little girl's crush on him. When he returned to the planet, he found 16 years had passed, and the girl was now a woman technically older than he was. They eventually married (Book 5) and had children (Book 6).

Eddie Roebuck[]

TECHNICIAN Third Class Eddie Roebuck never expected to be chosen for the Odyssey Project, and signed up for the lottery by which Sapphire's participants were chosen only to impress a girl he was trying to score with. He is the lowest ranking crewman on the ship, and has no commitment to the mission. He is the third leg of a love triangle with Matthew Driver and Eliza Jane Change, in Books 1 €“ 3. In Book 2, he became proprietor of Eddie's Inter-Stellar Slam-n-Jam, a bar located deep in Pegasus's Underdecks, featuring unhealthy food, illicit alcohol, live music, and robot fights (Book 3).

Supporting Characters[]

TRAJAN LEAR []

TRAJAN LEAR is the elder of two sons in the Lear family. He was an unwilling passenger on the Pathfinder ShipPegasus and doesn't want anyone to forget it. His mother hopes he will follow in her footsteps to a command position. Trajan would rather join Flight Core. He's an arrogant pup who needs to be taken down a notch, and in Book Two, EdenWorld, he is. But in Book 5, he undergoes a life-changing experience when he becomes trapped in an alternate universe with Matthew Driver. He emerges more mature than he previously was, but still subject to the occasional temper outburst. As a result of events in the alternate universe, he became inextricably bonded to Matthew Driver, and chose to remain behind on Pegasus when the rest of his family left the ship at the end of Book Six.

BLADE TOTO []

FLIGHT LIEUTENANT BLADE TOTO is a flight core officer, attached to Flight Group Delta, the Doom Patrol (so named for its high rate of pilot fatalities). He comes from the Sapphirean province of Graceland, and has no family on Pegasus. In Book Two, Commander Keeler took a shine to the young pilot, kind of ignoring the warning sign about the Doom Patrol and pilot fatalities, and chose him as effectively his personal pilot. Blade Toto has a knack for hooking up with older women on the worlds Pegasus visits (Book 3, Book 4, Book 5, Book 7) who are drawn to his youth and unsophisticated charm. JOHN SKINNER JOHN SKINNER is a native of Corvallis, the capital city of Sapphire. He studied Medicine at Snodfart University in Sapphire's Arcadia Province, and spent subsequent years practicing in such exotic places as the north of Carpentaria, the Awkward Islands, the Kandoran Outback, and the Arcadian Rainforest, the same places that inspired his father, John Peterman Skinner, to launch a successful line of ethnic clothing, on which the family fortune was built.€€ In mid-life, he was selected for Pegasus's Medical Core, and his reports home are filled with detailed on native dress, color, and fabrics on the lost colonies Pegasus encounters.

ADRIAN HONEYWELL []

LIEUTENANT COMMANDER HONEYWELL is the ranking Marine on Pegasus.€€ He was born in the City of Light on Republic and served 12 years in Republic's Defense Ministry before joining the Odyssey Project. Despite being a key member of the ship's tactical staff, he doesn't have a really strong personality. He's a good fighter though, and that's more important. He has no family on board Pegasus and is frequently alleged to be in a homosexual relationship with Warfighter Specialist Buttercup, though it's unclear whether this is true or simply a taunt from other characters. PAUL IRONHORSE

FLIGHT LIEUTENANT IRONHORSE is attached the Pegasus's Flight Group Beta, the Burning Skies.€€ He was born in the town of Krockroft on an island in Sapphire's Boreala Archipelago. He is spiritual, and deeply philosophical, a walking guilt-trip in other words, and he has plenty to feel guilty about. Laughs only slightly less often than Executive Commander Lear. He has no family on board Pegasus but is infatuated with Eliza Jane Change. His infatuation is unrequited at the time of his death at the beginning of Book 6, but his death inspires Halo Jordan to pursue vengeance against his alien killers. "JOHN HUNTER"

"JOHN HUNTER'S" real name is unknown. His planet of origin is unknown. What is known is that he is very clever and possibly very dangerous. He is one of a small number of people who illegally gained access to Pegasus prior to launch and remains in hiding in the UnderDecks. The "stowaway community" forms a completely separate culture of which few of the crew are even aware. CONSTANTINE

CONSTANTINE is a Centurion (Tyro Centurion, actually) in the Notorium, Republic's secret police. The Notorium exists to maintain social order through means not available to the open government, including kidnapping, assassination, blackmail, and so forth. The Centurions know about the stowaways, and have been working to eradicate them. MAGNUS MORGAN

LIEUTENANT SCIENTIST MAGNUS MORGAN is the section chief for Pegasus's Science Core and the husband of Kayliegh Driver. In Book 2, he leads the leadt interesting of the three missions, and therefore, doesn't get a lot of page time. Although, in the end, his mission may have more influence on the destiny of the planet EdenWorld than any of the other missions that involve sex and other interesting violence. ROCKY COLLINS

FLIGHT COMMANDER ROCKY COLLINS is the chief Pegasus Flight Core. Born on Sapphire to Republicker parents, she rebelled at a young age, finally finding herself through initiation in the Tactical Flight Core of the Permanent Sapphire Defense Situation (PSDS). Underneath the veneer of her military disciplines pounds the heart of a woman with a hearty appetite for life and adventure. Approach with caution. In Book Six, she announces that she is marrying Flight Captain Ponyboy James. WARFIGHTER LIEUTENANT Anaconda Taurus

Anaconda Taurus is a well-trained and accomplished warrior, tough, skilled and smokin' hot. Despite persistent rumors to the contrary, she has never hooked up with TyroCommander Redfire. €€Instead, she will enter into a passionate affair and subsequent marriage to Johnny Rook, a warfighter twelve years her junior.

PONYBOY JAMES[]

FLIGHT CAPTAIN PONYBOY JAMES is the commander of Flight Group Beta, €˜The HellBlazers.' His family on Sapphire ran a planetary express courier service, and by the age of fourteen, he was already piloting courier ships throughout the Sapphirean system, and more than passingly familiar with the interiors of the less reputable recreational establishments of the Mining Guild. Nonetheless, basically a good guy.€€

Technical Lt. Carlyle Duke[]

Lt. Duke is one of a small number of Mining Guildsmen in the crew, who owe allegiance to neither Sapphire nor Republic. His specialty is battle damage assessment and repair.€€

Max Jordan[]

Max Jordan was born on the planet Bodicea to Halo Jordan and the consort Tobias. Because he spent his childhood in a war zone and was molested by an Aurelian at a young age, he's a little messed up. He is quick to anger, and has difficulty forming relationships with other members ofPegasus's crew. Look for something freaky to happen to Max in Book Seven.

Johnny Rook[]

Warfighter Specialist Johnny Rook was born on Sapphire, and raised on Pegasus, where he was eventually drawn into the ranks of the Warfighters. An outstanding athlete, it was he who invented the sport of Hull-gliding, which involves riding an anti-gravity hover sled over the outer hull of the Pathfinder Ship.

General Kitaen[]

General is a name, not a title. General Kitaen is a Sapphirean Holy Man, who happens to serve inPegasus's Tactical Core.