BEYOND YESTERDAY

Maya Davis

Since the starship New Horizons returned from Gliese 581, Commander Davis has served in the Interstellar Expeditionary Force for ten years. After foiling an alien race's attempt to destroy a deep space colony, Maya is promoted to captain, given command of the space-time vessel Yesterday, and assigned a one-way mission to the past.

Personality-wise, Maya is an optimist and a dreamer, although experience has tempered her outward display of such things and led her to become more pragmatic. Moral, noble, and a little bit self-righteous, Maya faces situations where doing the right thing and doing what's necessary are at odds with each-other, creating a great deal of internal conflict for her.

As if that's not bad enough, her allergies are constantly flaring up. One would think that medical science would've cured such a trivial condition by the 23rd century, but no such luck.

Maya was raised by her aunt Brooke and uncle Kevin after her mother died when she was a child. When lost in thought, Maya often taps her cheek or bites her lip.

Brooke Davis-Sommerfield

Since the New Horizons mission, Brooke has risen to the rank of vice admiral. She is the head of the IEF Aerospace divison and second only to the IEF High Admiral. Assigned to protect the prototype interstellar phase (hyperspace) gate connecting the Sol and Alpha Centauri systems, she uses her combat experience to repel an attack that almost takes out the gate.

While age has seasoned her, Brooke's bad attitude is still very much at the forefront of her personality. She's outwardly abrasive at times, but that's because she cares too much. The things that she can't change bother her. She rarely smiles, and can often be seen scrunching her nose or scowling. The things most likely to improve her mood are Maya (her niece), Fruity Planets cereal, and flying a phase fighter.

But lately, finding her way into a cockpit has proven problematic. Brooke's health has seen a steady decline in recent years due to the sparks (drugs) she took when she was young. Her husband, superiors, and doctors all insist she stay grounded, but Brooke refuses to accept her condition. She'd rather die than give up what she loves most, flying.

Kevin Sommerfield

Brooke's husband and the inventor of the faster-than-light phase drive. Kevin is now the director of the scientific society of the Interstellar Alliance, the human race's top scientific mind.

Bob

No sci-fi story is complete without a loveable robot/AI, and Bob fits the bill here. After helping New Horizons to avert disaster, this AI-turned-sentient now inhabits an android body full-time. Bob is very logical in how he thinks and acts, but he's grown to include human feelings and concepts in his programming.

Zeke

Once an exochild (alien kid) rescued by Brooke, Zeke has grown into a young man. Zeke is a member of a powerful race of exobeings that the IEF has yet to track down.

Josephine (Jo) Ryder

Lt. Commander Jo Ryder has become one of the brightest minds in history and archeology. Recently, she's been heading up the project to excavate the ruins on the Penphins' home world. Jo likes to tell jokes and quote historical figures whether you like it or not. Having grown up in San Diego, CA, her dislike of the sun is something of a mystery.

Erik Maxwell

Lt. Commander Erk Maxwell has risen to become one of the IEF's best pilots. Born and raised in Toronto, Canada, he's a friendly, easy-going guy, which is something of a miracle given his dysfunctional childhood upbringing. Erik has grown a green thumb in his spare time.

Trevor Young

Commander Trevor Young has been serving in the armed forces of the American Colonies since the New Horizons mission. He's a bit surprised when Maya asks him to be her first officer aboard Yesterday but accepts. When not questioning her orders, he enjoys hunting with his father back home in Texas.

Shin Saito

Once (or still?) a Vril agent, Shin went from missing in action to the Vice Administrator of the Interstellar Alliance in only three years.

Eve

The product of two merged human minds in a state-of-the-art android body, Eve is the Vril's chief field agent. Somehow, she's become a special advisor to the Interstellar Alliance administration. Much to Brooke's chagrin, Eve surfaces again to simultaneously torture and save her. Eve terrorized the New Horizons mission, and the safe bet is on her hatching a similar plan during Yesterday's visit to the past.

Takashi Katayama

Mr. Katayama is a wealthy and powerful businessman and also Maya's estranged father. Maya loathes the man for telling her straight to her face that he wanted nothing to do with raising her. Despite his absence from her early life, he likes to show up from time to time to challenge her view of the world.

Enki

A brilliant geneticist. He's a member of a curious exospecies, the Onaki, that travelled a long way to settle the Earth in the distant past.

Gemekala

The leader of the Onaki colonists. She's quite pragmatic and imposing.