LIST OF CHARACTERS

BENITO

    It's tough enough being Mexican--torn between warring identities of ancient Native Americans and European conquerors. But for Ben Ochoa, it's much worse. His father came to Mexico from The Sky--outer hyperspace. And he plans to change Earth around to suit his needs and ideas. And elects his son Ben to help him do it. It's a big jump from ignorant Third World street trash to President of Earth, but Ben has a few hole cards: like being able to study in the colonies of The Sky without aging while he's up there learning everything from languages to advanced technology to voodoo combat.

KAIROS

     He may be out of favor and hunted up there in the far reaches of galactic civilization, but on Earth he can pass as a God if he wants. He needs to makes some changes like moving pyramids before he can establish a power base here, but he's done it before. And unlike others of the Sky race, he likes it down on planets: mostly because of the women. Which is where Ben came from in the first place, and Kairos seems to feel he owns his son. Is he an exploitative conquistador, or a powerful loose cannon helping the less advanced peoples for all the wrong reasons? Ben and Cielo are hot to find out. But what can they do it about it?

CIELO

      On the cusp of her teens when Kairos comes back into the life of the family that never knew him, Cielo is steadfastly her mother's daughter, rejecting the powers and claims of the whitest gringo she ever met. But she's getting older and falling in with men: some of them dangerous leftist radicals who use her singing for their own ends. It's a good thing she has Nabo to protect her...but then he disappears off into space. And when he returns, she's older and more experienced. Can she be a woman to the friend she's loved since childhood? And can her singing and healing do anything to balance her father's power...or worse, the power of his enemies from beyond The Sky?

NABO AND MONKE

    Ben's childhood amigos from the streets, and partners in the border-running criminal interprises they turn to, these guys are standup sidekicks. Hothead athlete Nabo has a lifelong love for Cielo and the clowning Monke knows he does better when Ben takes charge. But when Ben goes off to American colleges, intergalactic schools, and international politics, they wonder if there's a place for them in his future. On the other hand, he's opened up some new worlds for them to traffick and hide out. Literally new worlds, that is: the sprawl of planets where The Sky people put in systems of transportation and exploitation.

LIBERTAD

    As Mexican Indian as they come, and as classic a nurturing, healing Earth Mother as you'd ever want, Libertad's exotic beauty and banked sexuality lured Kairos when she was just sixteen: and he lured her into having his children before he left for planets unknown. She has little use for the world of The Sky, except in whatever ways it can help her heal and comfort her people. When Kairos returns for Ben, she wonders what sort of deal she struck with life, and saves her hopes for her daughter, Cielo.

MINOTAUR

      It's just a way he's learned to project the residual personal image people carry with them through the hyperspace tunnels of The Sky, but it's disconcerting to be taught by an eight foot tall half bull/half man. Especially since he teaches martial arts far beyond anything on earth and is the last warrior of his race.

ERIN

    If the world spawned dark pre-humans who were then humanized and molded by the blond Sky race...where do redheads fit in? Ben is warned about them, but can't stay away from Erin. She thought she was getting involved with a foreign-born whiz kid more interesting than the other Yale guys, but found out she'd signed on for more than she bargained for when her first night with Ben turned into an explosion of death and freaky revelations that challenge everything she believes about history, race, and human life.

TULLIO

    His father's party has outlawed Kairos and when Tullio meets Ben he shares the antipathy. But he's a disaffected scion himself, bored with the effete perfection of the Sky world. So when Ben abandons the interplanetary smuggling business, Tullio jumps in and partners up with Nabo and Monke. It's a perfect blend of Sky knowlege and Earth savvy until Tullio's father makes his move to eliminate Kairos, and possibly the Earth along with him, bringing Tullio to the same conflict affecting the other characters: choosing sides between the ties of one's blood and one's heart.

BAMBINA

      Raised alone on a tropical island to be the toy of a powerful Sky lord, Bambina speaks no language and has no name until Monke and his pals stumble onto her while smuggling interworld, name her and take her along. Cheerful, affectionate, undefended, and oblivious to clothing, the beautiful nature nymph showers her newfound love on Monke and Ben, creating tension between friends already at odds. Choosing Monke and the smuggling life, she quickly becomes a seasoned trouper. But with worlds at her fingertips, she might prefer going back to live on her island planet. And Monke just might go with her.