Backgrounds of the Crew of the Ace of Spades part 4

Danica - Venetian Scout aged 56.

Thetira Kykeke Danica was born on Delton 6i, a moon of the gas giant Delton 6 in the Praespe starsector, where the Venetian homeworld, Vendalyr, is situated. She was an only child and joined a martial-based Chishik (school) at an early age. As a pre-adolescent Shurim, she studied first as a psychic and then as a battle-psyche. She was 85 years old when she left her homeworld for the first time, gaining employment as a merchant on the trader starship - The Misha Opus. For the next twenty years she learned a variety of skills useful skills and it was here that she discovered her love of travel, visiting new places, adventuring and enjoying the quiet solitude of open space from one place to the next. At the age of 105, she was considered to be an Isoshiru, or adolescent, in the Venetian life cycle. Being a merchant had considerably changed her outlook on life. Travel among the diverse crush of galactic marketplaces had brightened her typical Venetian solemnity, burnishing it to a good-natured shine. Wishing to expand her wanderlust, she gained a post as a scout on board the Magellan's Folly, a Class VI 80,000 ton Survey Scouts starship. She shared a cabin with a young female human scout called Katja Sondquist. They quickly became close friends and then lovers, a fact that they somehow kept secret from their colleagues. Katja was a natural outdoors-woman and taught Danica a lot about survival techniques. Danica thrived at being a scout and soon realised that this was the career she wanted to pursue. Danica and Katja made a vow to stick together as long as possible. So, when their three year tour of duty was over, they looked around for jobs as scouts on board an independent scout ship with laxer rules and regulations about them being lovers.
They soon found one docked in their starport. It was called The Ace of Spades and its captain, Kimberley Wells, was hiring new crew. After running a background check on them, Kimberley was impressed enough to hire them both. Danica was welcomed on board by the rest of the crew, who were very curious about her. She was one of only two non-humans amongst the small crew of 13 (Celeste the android was the other) and she was the only psyker on board. She promised not to read any of their minds. She quickly settled in and was readily accepted as one of the girls. Rather unusually, the crew was made up entirely of females. Danica is not at all like a typical Venetian. Whereas most Venetians are noted for being aloof and ascetic, Danica is more impious and she has a cheeky sense of humour. Because Kimberley runs her ship in such a casual and carefree manner, Danica's relationship with Katja is openly accepted and supported. Outside of Venetian space, she remains very secretive about her real name, preferring to just be called Danica.
Typical Quotes
"Perimeter is secure. I'm moving in now."
"Tell me everything you know about this place... and don't even think about lying to me."

Katja Sondquist - Human Scout aged 27.

Katja was the youngest of four children born to Bjorn and Gunilla Sondquist, who both worked in the only starport on the desolate world of Halliwell (Prokshow 4) in the Byte starsector. They ran a tour company. Katja had two sisters - Anna-Marie and Sveta, and the eldest child was her brother, Lukas. They are one, two and four years older than Katja respectively. Katja was by far the most adventurous of the siblings and she longed to explore the stars. She was also the most athletic and was a gifted all-round sportswoman at high school. Unlike the rest of her family, Katja preferred life outdoors and couldn't imagine being stuck indoors everyday. Upon leaving school, Katja got a job as an intelligence officer for the Transwide Enterprises Corporation. This involved a lot of travel to various planets, which Katja loved. However, she resented all the paperwork she had to file, so she quit after three years and joined the Department of Interstellar Survey as a scout onboard the Spartius, a 50,000 ton Islander Class scout ship. This was much more to her liking, as she had found her true calling. Four years later, she enrolled with the Survey Scouts aboard the Magellan's Folly, an 80,000 ton Magellan Class scout ship. Due to the cramped conditions onboard, she shared a cabin with a young Venetian scout called Danica. Danica was two years younger than Katja and this was her first tour of duty as a scout. They soon bonded and became firm friends, which blossomed into true love. They agreed that when this tour of duty they would stick together. Both of them wanted to leave the Survey Scouts and find employment with a crew of independent explorers.
As luck would have it, they found just such a ship docked at their starport, The Ace of Spades, who were advertising for new crew members. They offered their services to the ship's captain, Kimberley Wells, and were hired almost immediately. Katja and Danica make a good team and often go out on scouting missions together. They are both highly skilled combatants and survival experts. Katja and Danica have very different personalities. Katja is the more extroverted and outgoing of the two. She is cool under pressure, very loyal to her friends and incredibly energetic. When The Ace of Spades is travelling through space, you will most likely find Katja in the ship's gymnasium, working out. She keeps a diary, which she updates whenever she can. Working for Kimberley, she has found an awful lot to write about!
Typical Quotes
"Hmm, I'll just make a note of that in my diary."
"Last one to the top of the hill is a dreg head!"

Rebecca Faye Ellington - Human Burglar aged 23.

Rebecca Faye Ellington is a native of the planet Redugun (Torsk 1) in the Byte starsector. Redugun is heavily forested with giant trees and is prone to extreme seasonal weather conditions. The planet is divided into duchies, counties and baronies, each with its feudal lord. Local wars are perfectly legal and acceptable under Redugun law, as long as they don't constitute a rebellion against the King or one of his Grand Dukes. Rebecca's parents, Baron Cornelius Ellington and Baroness Faye were killed in a local war with a neighbouring county when Rebecca was 4 years old. She was placed in an orphanage and although well looked after, she hated it. At age 10, she was adopted by a middle class couple, whom she despised. A week later, she ran away from them and never looked back. She spent the next two years living on the fringes of society as a street thug in a small gang. It wasn't a life, it was an existence. Still, it toughened her up and helped her to stay hidden from the authorities. She eventually made her way to Castle Stark, the capital city of Redugun, where one of the planet's three starports were located. She managed to find a job on a small starliner, The Moody Pearl, as a space jockey, doing menial tasks. For the next three years, she kept a low profile and did whatever was asked of her by her commanding officers. What they didn't know was that whenever the ship docked at a starport, Rebecca would go off on her own on thieving missions, picking a pocket here or stealing an unattended suitcase there. She found this a very lucrative sideline. After her three year tour of duty was over, she quit and decided to make a full-time career of being a burglar. It sure beat working for someone else... and she was very good at it. She never stayed long on any one planet and she travelled far and wide, living off the profits of her thievery.
Her luck almost ran out two years ago when she was caught red-handed breaking into a hotel room she thought was unoccupied. It wasn't. Staying there was Kimberley Wells, captain of an independent scout ship called The Ace of Spades. Kimberley persuaded Rebecca to sit down with her and tell her life story. Rather than turn her in to the authorities, Kimberley offered Rebecca a post on her ship. Officially, her role is as a scout - she is especially good in urban environments, but she is still a thief and Kimberley happily turns a blind eye to Rebecca's illegal activities, just as long as she doesn't steal from her crew or get caught. At long last, Rebecca feels like she has a home and she is eternally grateful to Kimberley for giving her a chance to do some good. Rebecca has a devil-may-care attitude to life and is quite boisterous and isn't afraid to speak her mind. She tries to avoid combat whenever possible but will have no hesitation in defending herself when necessary.
Typical Quotes
"Hmm, that's a nice necklace she's wearing. I'm sure it would look a lot nicer around my neck."
"Wassamatter? You never seen a woman without a bra on before?"