Humans
The humans had discovered hyperspace over 3,750 years ago. As the colonized the nearby planets many of them brought their warlike ways with them to space, and in spite of the vast numbers of worlds available to them they still managed to start interstellar war. Finally, about 3,000 years ago, all that ended, with the foundation of the Galactic League. The League let each planet rule themselves without any interference, however interstellar travel was strictly controlled. The founders of the Galactic League defined their mission as having three parts: To maintain interstellar peace, to provide interstellar trade and transportation to all member planets at a fair price, and to explore the stars. (see History of the Galactic League in the Crystal Pyramid section of this website.)
Five years ago, the League's Alpha Explorer Team Eleven discovered the Crystal Pyramid on the moon of Travix Seven was transferred across the galaxy to Beltaria. When Team Fourteen followed them in a rescue attempt, they met the Emperor, a being of vast intelligence who ruled the galaxy on behalf of an ancient race that had left long ago to explore other parts of the universe.
There are a total of seven Alpha teams involved in Star Children, however most of the Human and Ventron characters we meet are from Team Fourteen. Cheri Logan, the captain of Teal Thirty-One also plays a major role, and Alexia, the captain of Team Eleven puis in an appearance.
Click on the blue bars below to see more information on each of the characters.
Jake - Captain of Team Fourteen
(See Crystal Pyramid Characters Team Fourteen or a biography of Jake)
Jake is the captain of Alpha Explorer Team Fourteen, a position he has held since the team was created. He has once more turned down a promotion to Admiral in order to remain on the team and explore the stars. Now 80, Jake has only 20 more years left before he will be forced to retire. Still in top physical condition, he is as tough and bold as ever as he leads Team Fourteen to a region of space never before explored by humans.
Grant - Commander, Team Fourteen Exec Officer and Chief Eng.
(See Crystal Pyramid Characters Team Fourteen for a biography of Grant)
Grant rejoins Team Fourteen after a five year special assignment, where he led a team of the league's best scientists and engineers in an effort to reverse engineer the technology used in the Beltarian ships captured by the league. The result is a new and beautiful Celi, 100 times faster than the teams' old ship.
Grant's brilliance comes into play as he is called on to develop the weapons and the strategy needed by Team Fourteen and their new allies to meet the demands of the Emperor.
Amanda Grame – Lieutenant, Archeologist
(See Crystal Pyramid Characters Team Fourteen for a biography of Amanda)
Amanda is the lead character of the Galaxy Keeper Trilogy. She joins Team Fourteen as an Ensign and a new graduate right out of the Academy at the beginning of Crystal Pyramid. She is captured by the Beltarians along with some of her teammates, including Jake and TJ. It is their concern for her safety that leads to the escape that takes Amanda and TJ across the face of Beltaria as they try to get back to the Crystal Pyramid and League space.
In Star Children Amanda is still on Team Fourteen. She has been promoted two grades since she returned from Beltaria the first time. She and TJ have continued their loving relationship and share quarters on Celi. She has grown a little older and a little wiser, but is just as beautiful as she ever was.
Amanda has become a favorite of not only her teammates, but also the Emperor and Jar'sin, a Beltarian First High Priest. This special relationship becomes a critical factor in Team Fourteen's efforts to save their new found cousins from extinction and the hands of the Beltarians.
TJ - Commander – Medical Officer
(See Crystal Pyramid Team Fourteen Characters for a biography of TJ)
TJ is Team Fourteen's streetwise, card playing doctor. He is tough as nails and bold as brass. He proves however to be very gentle and sentimental when it comes to his relationship with Amanda. He never expected to fall in love. Before he met Amanda he planned to spend his life as an Alpha Team explorer, and hanging out at backstreet bars playing poker whenever they were in port. He enjoyed the risks that came with both exploring the unknown and playing cards with the unscrupulous characters that hung out in the worst dives in port.
TJ plays a key role in Star Children, both as a fighter and as a doctor.
Jonathan Sparks (Sparky)- Lt. Commander - Com Officer
Sparky joined Team Fourteen replacing Jeremy Hantron as Communications Officer when Jeremy followed Cheri Logan to Team Thirty-One.
Sparky is short for a human male, in fact he is a little shorter than Amanda. He has blond hair, which he keeps cropped very short, and bright blue eyes. Like all Alpha Team Explorers, he is in top physical condition, and if anything, he is a little too muscular for his size. His personality is anything but small, and people often forget how short he really is.
Born with the last name of Sparks, it was inevitable that he would acquire the nickname Sparky at a young age, and with a nickname of Sparky he seemed destined for a career in communications. It helped that he really enjoyed his major at the academy.
Elizabeth (Liz) Jordan – Lieutenant - Science Officer
Liz joined Team Fourteen replacing Cheri Logan as Science Officer when she accepted the promotion to Captain and took command of Team Thirty-One.
Liz is a stunning woman who immediately attracts attention when she walks in a room. She is tall for a human female, almost as tall as TJ. She has long, black, shiny hair that falls straight over her shoulders and down to the middle of her back. Her piercing blue eyes seem to see right through anyone she looks at, and her long, dark eyelashes give her bedroom eyes that she has been known to use to get her way with men.
On the job she is all business. She typically wears her hair tied up and is very good at separating work from pleasure. At the academy she focused on her studies most of the time, and male cadets that attempted to flirt with her were met with icy cold stares from her crystal blue eyes. Few of them tried more than once to approach her at school. That is not to say she did not enjoy dating. She chose who she dated carefully, and she had her choice. She really enjoyed sex, but was not interested in any long term involvement. Instead she sampled from those she found attractive, and left many a broken heart behind her.
Liz is new to Team Fourteen in Star Child and plays only a supporting role in this story. She is however, destined to play a more important role in Amanda's life in Immortal Child.
Cheri Logan – Captain of the Vincent
(See Crystal Pyramid Characters Team Fourteen for a biography of Cheri
Cheri is the former Science Officer of Team Fourteen who is now the captain of the newly formed Team Thirty-One. She is a no-nonsense, by-the-book, tough officer who demands perfection from her ship and her crew and delivers the same. A former instructor at the Academy, she earned the title "Killer Logan" by flunking so many cadets out of school.
Cheri is as tough as they come on the outside, but as we learn in Star Children, she is very human on the inside. She has long held a secret love in her heart for Grant Eaton, Team Fourteen's Executive Officer and Chief Engineer. He too, has dreamed of them being lovers, but has never disclosed his feelings to anyone, including Cheri. During a late night work session in the lab on the Vincent, Team Thirty-one's ship, they discover each other's feelings. Their world will never be the same again.
Jessica Slayton - Lt Commander on Vincent
(See Crystal Pyramid Characters Team Fourteen for a biography of Jessica)
Jessica is a minor supporting character in Star Children.
Jeremy Hantron - Lt on Vincent
(See Crystal Pyramid Characters Team Fourteen for a biography of Jeremy)
Jeremy is a minor supporting character in Star Children.
While Team Thirty-One plays a major role in Star Children, the only character we meet is Cheri Logan, the team captain. Jessica and Jeremy are named only because they are former members of Team Fourteen. The remaining memebrs of the team are not mentioned by name in Star Children.
Alexia Freeman – Captain of Team Eleven
(See Crystal Pyramid Characters Team Eleven for a biography of Alexia)
Alexia plays a smaller role in Star Children than she did in Crystal Pyramid. She is signicant to the story in that she is Jake Tarkman's long time on and off lover.
Gordon Fath – Captain of Team Nineteen
Gordon Fath is a minor supporting character with only one small speaking part in a meeting with Turoc. He is significant to me personally. Gordon Fath was my commanding Warrant Officer in 1967 while I was on duty in the middle east. I grew to respect him greatly while under his command, something I can not say of any other officer I served under in my four years in the US Army.