Characters / Arrivals from the Dark

List of major characters from Mikhail Akhmanov's Arrivals from the Dark and Trevelyan's Mission series.

Warning: Spoilers will be unmarked.

Human

Note: This list includes Half Human Hybrids.

Pavel Litvin

Main character in Invasion. A Russian United Space Forces officer, marine, and combat pilot during the pre-Invasion era. At the rank of Lieutenant Commander served on the First Fleet cruiser Lark. Along with Lieutenants Abigail McNeil and Richard Corcoran was captured by a Bino Faata starship in order for the aliens to learn more about humanity. Post-Invasion, continued to serve in the USF, eventually reaching the rank of Commodore before his abrupt death several decades later.

• Boldly Coming: Takes a fancy to a Faata female named Yo. During her monthly arousal period, they end up having sex, something her people hadn't done in centuries, preferring artificial insemination instead. After the destruction of the Faata starship, Litvin took Yo back to his hometown in Smolensk Oblast, Russia, and married her (under the name Yolanda).
• Heroic Sacrifice: Was willing to give his life to save Earth from the Faata by utilizing a Metamorph Grey Goo machine to destroy the starship's living brain. Subverted since the Exile was able to save him.
• The Lost Lenore: Yo died only 6 years after arriving to Earth, since lower-class Faata are genetically-engineered to live brief, useful lives. Her death devastated Litvin, possibly hastening his own death.
• Parental Substitute: To Paul Richard Corcoran, since Paul grew up without a father.

Paul Richard Corcoran

Main character in Counterstrike. A human-Faata hybrid, created as a result of Lieutenant Abigail McNeil being artificially inseminated aboard the Faata starship. Fully identifies with the human race and despises the Faata for what they've done with his mother. Named after his mother's late Love Interest Lieutenant Richard Corcoran, who is officially listed as his father. Enlisted in the USF and eventually reached the rank of Captain, before being given command of the frigate Commodore Litvin as part of Task Force 37. Participated in the assault on the Faata colonies in the Orion Arm, where he confronted his biological father Dyte. The majority of subsequent main characters are descended from Paul. Over the following several decades, Paul advances in rank to Commodore and then Admiral of the Frontier Fleet, defending human colonies from Faata incursion in the Void Wars. He is killed in battle during the Second Void War at the age of 79.

• Half-Human Hybrid: Paul is the biological son of a Bino Faata named Dyte and Lieutenant Abigail McNeil via the use of artificial insemination. His existence was a test by the Faata to see if humankind was genetically compatible with their race and to create a new servant subspecies. Paul has inherited Dyte's psychic abilities and would pass them on to his descendants. Bino Faata longevity also means that by the time of Paul's death at the age of 79, he still looked to be in his late 40s. Externally, he appears to be fully human with no exotic features. Emotionally, he identifies with humankind and hates the Faata. His vocal cords, however, allow him to fluently speak human languages as well as Faata'liu.
• Psychic Powers: Some of Paul's Faata-inherited abilities manifested at a very young age, allowing him to subconsciously feel other people's emotions. Under Klaus Siebel's tutelage, Paul learned to get greater control over his abilities, allowing him to see genetic memories, passed on from his Faata parent. During his time at the USF Academy, his squad was dropped in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh to help deal with a group of violent separatists. His squad took losses, but he used his ability to sense the separatists to lure them into an ambush. His part-Faata physiology also allowed him to pilot a Faata combat module in order to infiltrate their colony on Ro'on.

Sergey Valdez

Main character in Fighters of Danwait. Great-grandson of Paul Richard Corcoran and a retired Commander in the Earth Federation Fleet. He signed on to serve as a Defender in the Blue Zone of Lo'ona Aeo space, having been given command of a three-man patrol craft called the Lancelot and based on the planet Danwait. A veteran of the Fourth Void War, Sergey used his combat experience to protect Lo'ona Aeo trade ships and to patrol the border for Dromi pirates. When the Human-Dromi War broke out, Valdez was recalled to active duty along with many of the other fleet officers. He was killed in battle many years later at the age of 82 at the rank of Admiral, while defending Danwait from the Dromi.

• All Your Base Are Belong to Us: Valdez led an assault on the Rathole, a Lo'ona Aeo space citadel, previously taken over by a group of Dromi raiders.
• Love Triangle: Sergey is torn between a more conventional relationship with the beautiful and brave Inga Sokolova and his unprecedented connection to a Lo'ona Aeo female named Zantoo. The situation is resolved after Zantoo gets accidentally pregnant from engaging in a psychic link with Sergey and goes home to her extended family. Sergey returns to Inga and settles down with her on T'har.
• Psychic Powers: Like his great-grandfather, Sergey has inherited some of the abilities of the Faata. He is able to use them to psychically link with a Lo'ona Aeo female named Zantoo, which unintentionally triggers her pregnancy. Later on, he is able to use his gifts to sense that his son Mark and daughter Xenia are still alive light years away on Dromi-occupied T'har.

Mark Valdez

Main character in Dark Skies and one of the main characters in Gates of the Galaxy. Son of Admiral Sergey Valdez. Born on T'har, enlisted in the Earth Federation Fleet. As a Lieutenant, took part in an ill-fated attempt to retake T'har from the occupying Dromi, while flying a fighter based on the cruiser Malta. Mark was the only survivor from that task force, as his fighter crash-landed on the surface of the planet, and his broken body was repaired by La Résistance. Subsequently aided the resistance in fighting the Dromi occupation. During later years, left the military service and was appointed one of the Arbiters of Justice, who were given supreme authority to override anyone's decisions if they went contrary to morality. Participated in an attempt to put an end to the Human-Dromi War with a decisive strike at the Dromi homeworld but used his authority as an Arbiter to call off the attack. Thanks to the longevity granted by his Faata genes, Mark lived to a ripe old age of 172.

• Morality Chain: As an Arbiter of Justice, Mark served this role in the task force sent to wipe out Dromi leadership. He has no qualms about scorching several planets with Anti Matter weapons to stop the war, but when the Dromi brought their orbital spawning stations closer to the surface, Mark gave the order to stop the attack and leave, even though Dromi larvae are a far cry from being "innocent children". Some of the officers suggested mutinying and continuing the attack, but Commodore Trevelyan-Krasnogortsev confirmed the retreat order despite his own desire to wipe out the enemy.
• Sole Survivor: Mark was the only survivor of a task force sent to liberate T'har, Ro'on, and Aezat from the Dromi, as fleet intelligence had severely underestimated the size of the occupying forces. To rub salt on the wound, most of the casualties were from those worlds.

Olaf Peter Carlos Trevelyan-Krasnogortsev

A POV character in Dark Skies and one of the main characters in Gates of the Galaxy, also a key secondary character in the Trevelyan's Mission series. An ambitious Earth Federation Fleet officer, who started out as an Ensign serving under Admiral Sergey Valdez, earning himself the nickname Komandor (after a character in Alexander Pushkin's play The Stone Guest). He participated in the second attempt at liberating T'har from the Dromi and then married the Admiral's daughter Xenia Valdez, transferring to the border service to stay nearby. He had several children with Xenia but eventually grew restless and divorced her, transferring back to the front lines of the Human-Dromi War. There, he married a fellow combat officer, but she was killed in battle. After that, he married a third time, and this wife also divorced him, as his ambitions always stood before marriage. As a Commodore, he took part in an attempt to end the war by wiping out Dromi leadership. However, the mission ended up being canceled by his former brother-in-law Mark Valdez. He met his end on the bridge of his flagship Pallas, while repelling a major Dromi offensive at Betelgeuse at the age of 92. However, his accomplishments resulted in his memories being preserved as an electronic copy of his mind, eventually being given as an Advisor to his descendant Ivar Trevelyan.

Eric Trevelyan

Main character in Good Will Mission. A descendant of Commodore Trevelyan-Krasnogortsev and his first wife Xenia Valdez. Shortly after the war between the Earth Federation and the Haptors, he was assigned as a cultural attaché to the embassy sent to Harshabaim-Utartu, the Haptor homeword. His task was to attempt to bridge the gap between the two races through art, made more difficult by Haptors not being artistic in general. While there, he was abducted by a Haptor, whose ancestor was ruined by Sergey Valdez. The Haptor wanted Eric to contact the mythical Lords of Emptiness. Instead, Eric used his Faata-inherited powers to call for help from the Earth Federation Fleet.

Ivar Trevelyan

Main character in the Trevelyan's Mission series. A distant descendant of Commodore Trevelyan-Krasnogortsev and his first wife Xenia Valdez, although he wasn't aware of the latter connection until much later. A field researcher and operative of the Foundation for the Development of Alien Cultures, frequently working as a progressor of primitive humanoid cultures. Eventually promoted to Consul and given more high-profile tasks.

• Boldly Coming: Ivar has slept with females of many humanoid races.
• The Casanova: If there's one thing Ivar loves it's the ladies. He always treats them with respect, but no one expects him to stick around given his line of work. This all changes after he marries a T'haran Action Girl named Alice Victoria Brown. While the social mores of his time are more in line with a Free-Love Future, Alice is from the conservative world of T'har and insists on exclusivity, something Ivar is more than happy to do.
• Happily Married: To Alice Victoria Brown in later novels.
• Psychic Powers: In a later novel, Ivar discovers his latent psychic abilities, inherited from his distant ancestor Paul Richard Corcoran, a relation he didn't know about. The powers allow him to control an ancient Daskin portal system that let him teleport across the galaxy.

Metamorph/Proteid

The Exile

A POV character in Invasion and a recurring character throughout the series. A shapeshifting alien from a secretive race that observed all known starfaring races and some that had the potential to become starfaring. The Exile was born with a cellular defect that only permitted him to fully shapeshift once before that form became permanent. Slight modifications in appearance were possible, but anything major would be fatal. He chose to leave the homeworld and become an emissary to humankind, arriving to Earth in the 13th century. Over the centuries of observing humanity, the Exile wore many faces and even nudged humans in the right direction several times, while remaining in the shadows. When he detected the arrival of the Bino Faata into the Solar System, the Exile used several of his identities to try to prepare humanity to face them. When that failed, he delivered a Grey Goo machine to Pavel Litvin aboard the Faata starship and instructed him on how to activate it, saving the officer at the last moment. The Exile would continue to secretly assist Earth on its journey to becoming a galactic power, oftentimes staying close to Paul Richard Corcoran and his descendants, specifically becoming good friends with Paul and his great-grandson Sergey Valdez. The Exile even made an appearance centuries later to assist Ivar Trevelyan in dealing with the Nil'hazi.

• Alien Among Us: Given his Voluntary Shapeshifting powers, the Exile can blend in seamlessly. There is no known means of detecting him.
• Been There, Shaped History: The Exile did his best not to interfere in human history, although he did give humanity a few small nudges, like giving Columbus the idea to sail west and even joining his crew. He also financed one of the early printing presses.
• Gaining the Will to Kill: The Exile's people are generally averse to killing, and the Exile was no exception for many centuries of his life. However, being on Earth, especially during the Middle Ages (he'd arrived smack dab in the middle of the Mongol conquest of Khwarezmia), has slowly desensitized him to killing, although he still couldn't bring himself to take a life until the Void Wars.
• Handicapped Badass: Since the original Cro Lightwater lost his arm in battle, the Exile was forced to emulate the handicap (fortunately, it was something he could still do despite his birth defect). Eventually, "Cro" would start using various prosthetic arms, from regular ones to those geared for combat, swapping them out as needed. However, the Exile could always regrow the arm or turn it back into a stump at a moment's notice. He would go on to have a distinguished career during the Fourth Void War, during his time as a Lo'ona Aeo Defender, and during the Human-Dromi War.
• I Have Many Names: Naturally, throughout human history, the Exile has worn many faces and used many aliases. During the Faata invasion alone he used no less than four: a Belgian Intrepid Reporter named Gunther Voss, a Chinese astronomer named Liu Chang, a Free Zulu Territory diplomat named Umkhonto Tlume, and an American soldier named Roy Bunch. In later books, his identities include that of Klaus Siebel, Cro Lightwater, and Ante Branič. The Cro Lightwater identity is the only one known to have been borrowed from that of a deceased Navajo officer, whose body the Exile placed into Klaus Siebel's coffin before shifting into his appearance. Surprisingly, he continues using the Lightwater identity well into the 30th century.
• Mode Lock: Due to a birth defect, the Exile can only fully shapeshift once before that form becomes permanent for him. Attempts to shapeshift out of that form would be fatal. He is still able to make limited cosmetic changes, such as changing his appearance, but any major internal changes, such as turning into a woman, are out of the question. This is one of the reasons for the Exile's attachment to humanity, the race he has chosen to infiltrate and observe, which sets him apart from many other emissaries such as Tihava, his counterpart among the Dromi.
• Really 700 Years Old: The Exile has been on Earth since the 13th century and at least into the 30th. Given that his species has Voluntary Shapeshifting, aging may not even be an issue for them.

Lo'ona Aeo

Zantoo

A Lo'ona Aeo female, who was exiled from her people for refusing to become infertile. She traveled the space lanes aboard a modified trade ship until she encountered Sergey Valdez. He was the first alien whose presence didn't immediately trigger her people's xenophobic reflexes, probably because of his latent Psychic Powers. She helped him unlock those abilities, and their Mind Link accidentally triggered her pregnancy. Since the reason for her exile was now moot, she was free to return home, which she did, knowing that Valdez wouldn't be able to follow her but knowing that he would find happiness in the arms of a woman of his own race. She later gave birth to a male child named Heeyar, who inherited a number of personality characteristics from his human father.

• But I Can't Be Pregnant!: Zantoo violated a command by becoming a full female, rather than the infertile half-female sex. In order to keep her bloodline, deemed undesirable by her elders, from continuing, she was sent into exile until such time as her fertile period ended, which, given Lo'ona Aeo longevity, was the better part of a century. Away from any other Lo'ona Aeo, it was supposed to be impossible for her to get pregnant. And yet, thanks to Zantoo encountering a human with Faata genes and latent Psychic Powers, the pregnancy was triggered regardless. With the reason for the exile now moot, she was welcomed home, where she birthed her son Heeyar.
• Interspecies Romance: Despite being from two incompatible races, Zantoo and Sergey Valdez ended up finding comfort in each other's company, which eventually grew into something more. Although nothing physical could happen between them, their Psychic Powers allowed them to share each other's memories and emotions and also ended up unintentionally triggering Zantoo's pregnancy, something that normally requires a mental joining between three of the four Lo'ona Aeo sexes.
• Psychic Powers: Like all Lo'ona Aeo, Zantoo possessed the ability to sense a person's thoughts and emotions. She instantly figured out that "Cro Lightwater" wasn't human and that Sergey Valdez himself had latent abilities.

Heeyar

The offspring of Zantoo and Sergey Valdez. Due to the way the Lo'ona Aeo reproduce, Heeyar is physiologically a Lo'ona Aeo, but he has inherited a number of his father's personality traits. Unlike most of his race, Heeyar is restless and doesn't like to spend too much time in his astroid. He travels to the Solar System in order to meet his human half-brother Mark Valdez. Together they participate in the mission to strike at the Dromi homeworld. Several centuries later, Heeyar is kidnapped by a descendant of the same Haptor who tried to capture his mother. Some time later, the Haptors also capture Eric Trevelyan, whom Heeyar recognizes as a descendant of Sergey Valdez.

• Half-Human Hybrid: A unique case. While Sergey Valdez sired him, the conception was telepathic in nature, so genetically Heeyar is 100% Lo'ona Aeo, but mentally he is as much human as he is a Lo'ona Aeo, and his humanity only gets stronger with age.