Sergeant Sparkson is the third shift (0000-0800) Signal Intelligence Operator (SIO) aboard the Sabrosa. As third shift SIO on a training boat, Sparkson spends most of his time looking busy, trying to look busy, taking extended bathroom breaks or doing crossword puzzles. He’s lucky if he logs more than sixty hours of Real Work during a cruise. It’s a boring, boring job, but hey- SigInt is a pay grade above SigComms, dammit. And despite the tedium, it looks great on a resume.
A seasoned ICG cartographer, Samantha has spent virtually her entire adult life in ICG ships and chart rooms, running various types of observation equipment and collating massive amounts of observation data to help humanity get a better picture of the galaxy it inhabits.
According to ICG doctrine, as senior cartographer and senior crew member Samantha can override Captain Spenc. Along with the captain, she is second to Greg Auriga regarding Heirotus directives. While Jo Young is technically in the Heirotus chain of command, she works under Samantha and heeds her expert advice and guidance regarding DR-HRD imaging results.
Punk Steve is an art student and a friend of Jason Whitehouse. Hobbies include video games and general mischief-making with Jason and his roommate Ryan.
Punk Steve enjoys punk music.
In late 1997 through 1999, “Ryan” and “Mike” were the most common male names in the art school and student apartments – there were so many of them that when a new one popped up he was immediately given a nickname to distinguish him from the others. Examples include Big Ryan, Little Ryan, Big Mike (6’6″, ~300lbs), Tall Mike (6’5″, ~200lbs), Spiky Mike, and Scary Mike.
In Dead City Radio, all Mikes and Ryans (except for Ryan) are Steves. All Steves are also Steves.
Sven figured working as an orderly in a pocket-universe mental hospital would be a nice, quiet way to pay for college.
Boy was he wrong.
Wangfish are astral objects perceived by Aleksis Murnau during her attempt to access the mind of Annathena Val. She got Dyluck instead, and a heaping dose of Thad‘s gender identity issues on the way in.
Which end is the front end is left as an exercise for the reader.
The Heirotus Mission Specialist assigned to the Hemera, Jo Young is an expert on the operation of Holt-Rischmann sensor equipment, specifically the Deep Range Holt-Rischmann Device installed aboard the Discovery-class vessels contracted by Heirotus. The hardware has a lot in common with standard deep-range optical telescopes, so Jo splits her time between the Mission Package and assisting Spokes with astrometrics.