GENE STARWIND

A twenty-year-old jack-of-all-trades on Sentinel III, Gene begins the series taking odd jobs with Jim Hawking while pretending that staying planet-side suits him just fine. In reality, the pirate attack that killed his father left him terrified of space and furious at the people who took his old life away. Hilda blows that routine apart by dragging Gene into a fight over Melfina and the experimental XGP15A-II, which Gene eventually names the Outlaw Star. He is reckless, flirtatious, stubborn and much more frightened than his swagger suggests. Gene's real growth comes from learning to stop treating freedom as running from responsibility. By the Galactic Leyline, the man who avoided space has built a crew he will risk everything to protect.