Freelance Traveller

Bouvier “Bouv” Kaldehar

profiled by Timothy Collinson

This article originally appeared in the July/August 2024 issue.

Background

Bouvier “Bouv” Kaldehar matured early and was one of the larger lads at the orbital boarding school he attended. His parents placed him there because they were moving around a lot by virtue of his father’s service in the marines; not to mention that he was something of a handful for his mother. His behaviour during holiday periods at home left a lot to be desired. It is true that the boy matured early; matured physically that is. Emotionally he vented anger on others at the school, smaller than he. He had little patience with formal lessons and even less patience with anyone not in his immediate circle of comrades. Those junior to Bouv who fell afoul of his bullying gave him as wide a berth as possible al-though teachers applauded his enthusiastic role in the school’s small cadet force. He enjoyed the power a stripe on his arm gave him and didn’t hesitate to use it reinforce his control over those he saw as weaker than himself. Having said that, he responded well to the training and the discipline and began to develop abilities that would stand him in good stead in the future. It was no surprise when he graduated at 18 that he attempted to follow in his father’s footsteps and sought out a marine recruiting office.

The Marines wouldn’t have Kaldehar however. Perhaps their psychometric testing revealed something untoward. Perhaps they had filled the quota for the duration. Perhaps he rubbed the recruiting sergeant up the wrong way with his brashness. In any case, others of the same age had long since matched him for height if not for his broad shoulders. The planetary army took a look at him and after some initial basic training put him in a support role where he worked in the stores – a position he could use to continue to bully those with less status, size or confidence. He wasn’t well liked, but his commander, Captain Trilbon, used that ostracism and hooked him into a scam involving selling off military equipment that Kaldehar would write off for one reason or another. Rather sure of his situation and overly confident, he let too many people know what was going on. One of these happened to be a former school chum. One who had been at the rough end of Bouv’s violence on more than one occasion. Nate Yerrin saw the same cycle repeating in the battalion and after one too many run ins with Kaldehar reported the dodgy bookkeeping. After some acrimonious investigation both Bouv and his commander were discharged from service.

Trilbon, now styling himself as Major Trilbon, set up Bratom Solutions, a security specialist company. He took on Kaldehar as his first employee because he found his loyalty both valuable and unwavering. Bratom provides personal and business premises security and has developed a reasonably good reputation in its key operation areas. Bouv provides his commander with dogged support and a willingness to do the jobs no one else is willing to do. Dirty or underhanded, he is often able to get results that might not be possible legitimately or ethically. Both Trilbon and Kaldehar have learned from their previous experience however and keep such activities very tightly compartmentalized from their colleagues and their public facing persona. Which is why, thus far, their reputation remains unsullied and although other employees in Bratom may have certain reservations about the men, do not know the details of anything underhanded.

One example was a ticket to provide security for a concert tour. Corneliana Braztine, a laserharp performer of some note, employed Bratom to help manage the vast crowds which would attend each venue. Credible death threats from an obscure group who made ridiculous assertions about Braztine’s public statements meant that a heavier presence was required than simply a few guards and some crowd control barriers. Bouv was tasked with liaising with Braztine’s PR minder, Kathee Adirondack, to find out the source of the threats. Kaldehar and Adirondack had a very brief fling whilst working together but the PR woman never connected a small, tucked away news report detailing the serious injuries and probable long hospitalization of a small-time conspiracy theorist.

Kaldehar favours a Nefertem energy pistol (3D, 50m, Field Catalogue, p.117) which is not standard issue to Bratom Solutions personnel. He will have it on him in addition to any kit issued for a particular detail or mission. In his downtime, Bouv tinkers with a vintage Gamlabil ground car which was a coming-of-age gift from an aunt and requires a lot of work to maintain. He enjoys classical laserharp recordings which he claims he finds calming.