The Conspiracy was another instance of trying to surprise readers.
Background
In response to a Star Trek fanfiction prompt about the Seven Heavenly (Theological/Cardinal, too; the prompt was not about getting into the minutiae of theology) Virtues (which are the counterpart to the Seven Deadly Sins; I had already written about pride, in Before the Fall), I decided to tackle the somewhat obscure prudence for my next Star Trek fanfiction story.
Hall of Mirrors
To up the ante, I went with a setting where virtues would be all too rare – the Mirror Universe.
While they would probably not mind killing Empress Hoshi, the cabal’s real thoughts are of escape. So as a prelude to Temper, Lucy and Chip mention that an attempt is going to be made to cross over to what we call the Prime Universe, as Hoshi wants another advanced ship. And they also mention that Andy will be sent to Vulcan to pick up slaves who can perform calculations, a neat prefiguring of Fortune and the Mirror Universe‘s Melissa Madden‘s death in a shuttle crash. Hence the story works to mesh those incidents together.
I used this story as a kind of bridge between Together and Temper, but on the Mirror side of things. And I think it works out well and helps to fill in some of the gaps in the Mirror Universe timeline.
Otra goes all the way back to the earlier time travel stories I wrote several years ago.
Origins
Her name goes back even further, to when I was taking Spanish in High School. The word otra means other (female). But the o is long, sounding like oat-truh. I played with the word and liked otra (rhymes with Sinatra) better, although I didn’t vocalize that (correct pronunciation was key to a good grade).
I also liked the idea of someone who could really see the changes in time, and could intelligently comment on them. Canon character Guinan actually can do this, marking her as possibly a four-dimensional being. I didn’t really have anything quite so fancy in mind for Otra. Instead, almost like a fortuneteller or an oracle, she would have visions.
And she wouldn’t have hair. She’d have semi-sentient floral appendages, known as chavecoi (chah-veh-coy). This would mark her as a half-Witannen (wit-ah-nen), a Delta Quadrant species. Except for her mother, Chefra, the only other Witannen shown in my fan fiction is Together‘s Quellata (kell-uh-tuh), although there is a reference to one in the HG Wells series named Paj Terris, and the upcoming Barnstorming series will have a Witannen athlete named Adeel.
Portrayal
Keira Knightley as Otra D’Angelo (image is for educational purposes only)
Beautiful and accomplished, the actress is believably sexy and interesting.
Of course, in Desperation, when Otra is a toddler, Knightley doesn’t play her.
Personality
Smart, funny and patient, Otra is one of the only people Levi Cavendish ever wants to listen to.
Otra
Otra is also shrewd. In You Mixed-Up Siciliano, she is kidnapped. But she makes the most of her time, trying hard to understand where she is, who has her, and whether she can get any help.
In Multiverse II, her chavecoi become possessed by Chilo. This turns her evil for a while. It was great fun to give her awful things to do, including indiscriminate sex, murder and a lot of mayhem. When she meets Colonel Philip Green, she’s just stepped out of a shower. As he stares (for this is the first alien anyone on Earth has ever seen; it’s 2055), she nonchalantly asks him:
“I’m Otra D’Angelo. Would you happen to have a towel, Phil?…A towel. You know, it’s a terrycloth or velvet thing, usually, sometimes linen?”
Bringing her back, eventually, is the realization that, in his own quirky way, Levi loves her.
Relationships
Levi Cavendish
Friends since college, Otra and Levi work together, and he names their temporal alteration theory after her. Hence small changes are known as otric ones. Medium-sized ones are pariotric and large ones are known as megaotric. Otra herself isn’t so sure about how she feels about being an eponym.
Colonel Philip Green
As a part of her possession by evil Chilo, Otra fell in with Green, and they had an affair. When he proposed, she realized that she was not in love with him, and ended up attempting to kill Green, stabbing him repeatedly. This wounded him, and it was significantly enough a wound that he would have died if he had not gotten a bit of her stem cell growth accelerator.
Theme Music
Of course, for someone who has flowers on her head, that would work. And for someone who, briefly, was nonexistent, the idea that there is a light, still, that proved irresistible.
Mirror Universe
Picasso – Hands Holding Flowers
While there isn’t, truly, any reason for Otra to not exist in the Mirror universe, it’s still a highly unlikely proposition.
After all, a combination such as hers is highly unlikely even in the prime universe.
Quote
“Our theor was quite simple. We decided that there are three types of temporal alterations. These are all – it’s a little embarrassing – but they are named after me. I suppose I am an eponym now. The smallest of changes is called otric. Consider if you will, what happens when you wear a yellow shirt, on a Friday, while strolling along a street in the city of Ironville, on Mars. Now consider what’s different – other than color, mind you – when your shirt is, instead, green in color.”
Upshot
At some point, I will undoubtedly get those two crazy kids together. Until then, Otra is a fun addition to my stable of characters and she’ll be seen again.
At first, in the older time travel series I had created on my own, Dan was a survivalist and had something of a romance with Alice Trent. As I moved that series to Star Trek fanfiction, and it became Times of the HG Wells, I decided that Alice would only be brought on during an alternate timeline.
Jason Alexander as Daniel Beauchaine (image is for educational purposes only)
I like this actor’s fussiness and nervousness in portrayals. I feel this works well with Dan, who is a mass of inconsistencies and tics, as would befit someone living more than one life. He’s an employee of the Temporal Integrity Commission. He’s an operative for Section 31.
And he’s a member of the rogue group altering time for its own purposes, the Perfectionists.
Personality
Twitchy, nervous and jumpy, Dan has ample reason to feel like everyone’s out to get him.
That’s because they are.
He is not just double crossing; he’s triple crossing.
Hence it cannot be easy, living a life like Dan’s. He is constantly on the lookout, and he can trust no one. So in Shake Your Body, it all points to one end, and one alone.
Mirror Universe
Jason Alexander as MU Daniel Beauchaine (image is for educational purposes only)
In the Mirror universe, I can see Dan as being much more of a survivalist, without the corruption and double dealings he has resorted to in the prime universe.
However, he is not necessarily more moral; I think it’s more that he would be separate from society. Perhaps he’s even a hermit of some sort.
Quote
“Get a hold of yourself, Beauchaine. No one’s going to fault you for any grammatical errors in your damned suicide note.”
Upshot
I don’t know how well I showed Dan’s motivations; this feels like a character I did not serve well. Plus I kind of fell out of love with him, and that seems to show in the writing of him. So I should rectify that at some point in the future.
Deirdre Katzman comes from older wholly original fiction.
Origins
While writing the HG Wells Star Trek fanfiction stories, I decided I wanted someone who was more or less together, but would be rather young. Furthermore, this person would be a protegé to Kevin O’Connor and would have a mischievous sense of humor. Hence they’d be responsible for naming the time ships. I also loved the idea of a Jewish-Japanese character, and so Deirdre was born.
I like this lovely, petite woman. The actress has actually been in horror pictures. I don’t know too much about her.
Personality
Friendly, albeit a little quirky, Deirdre is probably the most well-adjusted of the engineers at the Temporal Integrity Commission. Kevin is in mourning when the series starts. As for Levi, well, he’s just plain weird.
Because she’s pleasant, Kevin leans on her more than he leans on Levi, but Levi is too oblivious to notice most of the time.
Relationships
Bruce Ishikawa
DuringA Long, Long Time Ago, Deirdre is set up by family members and goes out on a more or less blind date with a fellow Jewish-Japanese person, Bruce, who is a dog trainer. They hit it off and begin dating in earnest immediately, and by Ohio, he is referred to as her boyfriend.
It is the epitome of a sweet, youthful romance. They talk baby talk to each other on their communicators, often saying things like, “No, you hang up first.” She cooks for him. They are inseparable. Their parents push for a wedding.
When, in The Point is Probably Moot, the time change ensures that she’s forgotten him, he sticks it out, and attempts to woo and win her again.
Mirror Universe
Mirror Deirdre (Noriko Nakagoshi)
I haven’t written a mirror Deirdre, but there’s no reason why she wouldn’t exist.
In the Mirror, most of the women are poorly treated, and trade their bodies for favors and privileges. Deirdre would not be any different.
Yet I can see her as being tougher and harder, and possibly using her smarts to further her own agenda. Maybe she’s a revolutionary.
Quote
“You don’t need to protect her. How sharper than a serpent’s tooth it is to have an ungrateful child. That’s from King Lear if you’re unsure. She doesn’t deserve you taking the fall for her.”
Upshot
Dee is a character who doesn’t really get her due. I really should find a way for her to shine.
It’s New Year’s Day of 2161.
