Scribbling Saturday: Tobi Enns, Trainee on the Kestrel

Tobi Enns is a young man from the first Earth colony, Alpha. The gravity there is twice that of Earth, so the first colonists had to wear powered exo-skeletons, but over the generations the people have adapted by becoming short and stocky. This means they are fast and strong in Earth-normal gravity. Over the years the colony has become insular, having little to do with other humans or alien races.


Enns grew up in a rough area and learned to fight out of necessity. He always wanted to see the rest of the galaxy, but it took a long time to persuade his father to let him apply to PACT. He joined the PACT Training School on Alpha and his enthusiasm quickly took him to the top of the class. He was about to transfer to the main training facility on Earth to do his last year of advanced training, when the Kestrel arrived at Alpha looking for a top student as an emergency replacement crewman.

Before he knew it, he was on board, excited but scared stiff he would do something wrong. Andrew Chambers took him under his wing, and apart from an initial bout of space sickness caused by lack of acclimatisation training, he settled in very well and proved to be a useful addition to the crew. Instead of dropping him off, Captain Martin allowed him to stay, and arranged for him to complete his training on board. He even had a remarkable skill which would prove useful in the future.