Retribution

A. Octavius Catto- Main Protagonist. 31 yo. Wants order, intelligent, honest to a fault, can be diplomatic and charming when he wants to be. Fear of public speaking, loses himself in EM because he loves the subject, deliberate and objective, lack of social and emotional intelligence (rough, curt, abrupt, too direct). Father was a draftsman / civil engineer; qualified to be the city’s civil engineer but only paid as a draftsman because he is black and bosses city government was racist (it was the times?). Octavius’ grandfather was not allowed to go to school – had to walk from James Island to downtown to get to the only black high school around (approx. 4 hr. walk each way. Resource: Slaves and Descendants). Therefore, Octavius’ father values education and so does Octavius. Octavius’ father dies when Octavius is young…age?… Octavius becomes somewhat insensitive and aloof as a coping mechanism; he is afraid to improvise: forced to overcome this fear by circumstances in story = character growth. Mother never trusted her reality due to her schizophrenia (which became bad when her husband died) therefore Octavius has trust issues with his own ability to improvise based on the facts as he sees them at that moment (prefers time to do research prior to making a decision). Believes in his work, but not in himself. People in his childhood neighborhood think he looks down on them (cause he has a doctorate). Burdened by mother and lack of confidence. Responsible. Disciplined (martial arts background which his mother signed him up for when he was in high school – he got beaten up and his father died when he was 13, depriving him of a male role model and someone to teach him to fight. Also, he needed discipline and confidence – and she was unable to provide those things to him. He is unwilling to stake his intellectual flag in the ground for fear of being wrong or humiliated. He answers questions early in the story with “according to so and so…

B. Olivia Daugherty – 32 yo. journalist, lies, manipulates to get the truth. Intelligent, action oriented, hunter, truth at any cost. Military brat. Seeks father’s validation (needs to be best student, only has small amounts of time to impress him; he was always busy, track and field star at every school she went to). Seeks justice; first woman into some university, uncovers deceit and fights unfairness. Hunted with her father as a child and teen. Ends justify means, flexible morality, judgmental, disciplined, well dressed always, needs validation: looks for validation from Rhys as an adult. Beautiful, confident, but needs to be the center of attention. Intellectual equal of Octavius (both believe they are intellectual superiors of most people).

C. Kamran Dahoud- late 20s. Close friend to Azad and dedicated soldier. Battle hardened and never wavering in the chlorine attack on America. Suffered many losses, including a chemical attack by turkey which has left him disfigured and a physical, as well as intellectual, reminder to Besde and Azad of how America must pay and must never come back to the Middle East. When Besde looks at Kamran she is reminded of the little boy that used to have a crush on her. That was the last time she saw him, but she sees how disfigured he has become and blames America (and everyone else).

D. Azzad Shaddad- late 20s. more positive than his sister. Raised by his mother. When Kamran, as an adult is burned, he finally turns to accept terrorist measures as a means to retaliate against the Americans. He loved America for much of his life – or at least the idea of it. SDF member, and also YPG.

E. Besde Shaddad- [last name of husband?] Main Antagonist. – As an 8 yo child she wants to find her mother and brother. As an adult she wants revenge for lifetime of loss and being repeatedly deserted by the U.S. She blames the U.S. for provoking Kurdish uprisings with promises of help and then deserting the Kurds to deal with the bloody aftermath of these revolts.

F. Rhys Gould- 60 yo. wealthy, celebrity journalist. Now Chief Editor at ANN and Olivia’s mentor and boss. Doesn’t like the limelight anymore, prefers to focus on the story not his personal life. Despises social media and how everyone thinks that if they post on social media, they are journalists too (he does pay someone to publish stories on ANN’s social media page however). Refuses to acknowledge Olivia’s success as a journalist. Values and loves Olivia, but refuses to inflate her ego any larger than it already is. Tells Olivia “you only know success, and that makes you weak. One day you will fail, publicly, and miserably. All great journalists do. I worry you won’t be able to handle it and it will destroy you.”

G. Jennifer- Senator McKinley’s Aide who wants to job at ANN with Olivia. Early 20’s.

H. Senator Johnathon Tradd- Used to be pro-Kurd, but changes opinions with the winds. A weasel. 60s.

I. Senator McKinsley- knowledgeable and honorable senator. On the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

J. President Recep Erdogan – wants to keep his people safe by slaughtering Kurds. Liar and dictator.

K. Russian Operative1 (on Tanker)- spy, skilled, and closed lipped.

L. Syrian Operative 1 (In Turkey; go between foe Besde and Russia). Cocky, over confident, slimy.

M. Termixa Shaddad (Azad and Besde’s mother)

N. Qenco Shaddad (Azad and Besde’s father)- good man, dead.

O. Kagul Dahoud – dead son of Kamran

P. Hacker – hacks into Lanxess (overrides safeties, builds pressure to overload systems)

Q. Fire Captain Mark McCloud (aka Captain Cloudy or just Cloudy) At Kinder Morgan, takes control of situation there: protecting guys from complete annihilation, establishing medical care for the guys, and advising them to prepare their air packs and spare cylinders for the looming chlorine explosion because he can see the tanker with his binoculars and is able to see the tell-tale white and black tank markers on the ship which almost always means chlorine is contained within. He searches near the water line for an identification number which is required to be on all shipping containers and finds the number. He punches the number into his Emergency Response Guide (ERG) app and finds his assumption is correct. Instantly he remembers his morning briefing from the CFD Special Operations Chief advising him that the largest chlorine tanker to have ever sailed the seas was scheduled to dock in his jurisdiction later that day to offload its massive amount of 95% chlorine solution to be stored in at Lanxess, decreased in purity and mixed into new solutions, then transported by rail, trucks, and ships across the eastern seaboard and mid-west for everyday industrial uses.