Freelance
TravellerNooni Hendricksonne
This article originally appeared in the November 2013 issue.
Nooni Hendricksonne 38488B Age 46 Cr108,000
7 terms ex-Scout
Skills: Air/Raft-2, Jack-o-T-2, Mechanical-1, Engineering-1, Medical-1,
Navigation-1, Pilot-1, Laser Carbine-1, Vacc Suit-1, Dagger-1
Equipment: Dagger, MilStd Vacc Suit, Cloth (IISS coveralls), Medical
Kit, Mechanical Tool Kit
Nooni is a tall, slim, striking woman of obvious Vilani heritage. She wears her dagger like she wears her clothes: close to her skin. Anytime she is aboard, she wears the skin-tight military standard vacc suit, usually under crew coveralls of some incongruous pastel. She wears her platinum-blonde hair cropped close, and eschews other adornment, with the very occasional exception of body paint.
Her family runs a large merchant line in the Core, but she has made a point of remaining aloof from all this. Coming as far as she has in the IISS, she has lost a lot of friends. She has adapted by studying the Stoics, and also by embracing her faith. She truly believes that she will die as the crew of a starship, and that the only thing left for her is determining whether she will die well. She is at peace with this, and seems the perpetual optimist. While prudent in her dealings, she seems quite fearless.
Nooni is looking for a spot on the right crew which needs her. She prefers to avoid ships with high passengers, but will Steward if necessary. She is probably most comfortable on the black gang of any ship, and is happy to double as a medic. She will take a working passage if it makes sense, but she would rather wait a few weeks or even months than to ship out with the wrong crew. When she’s interviewing for a position, she’s really asking herself, “Would I die for this person without hesitation?” The answer is yes surprisingly often, but this has little to do with considerations of money or prestige; usually it is a combination of character and factors that Nooni herself does not fully understand. She once shipped with a Captain because she had eyes for the gunner. Like so many things in her life, it did not work out quite as she planned, but she is still deciding whether it was worth it—probably not, for the chief engineer whose butch visage was unimproved by the 6cm scar on her jawbone. Nooni likes men; not to unhealthy excess, but certainly enough that women tend to be a distraction that she tries to avoid among a small crew. Women tend to see her as a rival, or occasionally as a prize. Both are predictable, tolerable, and to be avoided if possible as Nooni sees it.
Her laser carbine is only for use in extremis, because of its weight, and her limited strength. Her cloth armor is sewn in a set of IISS coveralls, which she will don either when expecting trouble or for EVA. If a boarding action impends, Nooni will try to go EVA if the crew is uncomfortable putting the ship into zero-G; she figures she has the best chance of remaining unencumbered in zero-G, and the laser carbine can even the odds in the fight. Also, while essentially unafraid of death, she realizes that is not the worst fate that can befall one facing some of the pirates, and so she would prefer to fight in the harsher environment of zero-G vacuum, looking for a flank angle or an opportunity to counterattack.