Some additional characters
I need two characters, brothers, who may be twins. I also want some diversity.
I want them to be of Pakistani descent, but after 100 years in space, their families will be different. I.e., diversity does not mean stereotypical. I do want them to be Pashtun and to be descended from a strong Pashtunwali upbringing. I do want that upbringing to have adapted to not being totally masculine - i.e., I want the sense of family from Pashtunwali to permeate the formation of the Clans, but I still want the Clans to be matriarchal.
Kochai Umarzai will be the older brother (see, no twins!) and he will ship on The Voodoo Lounge. He will be a father figure for Jenny. He will have a large family, larger than normal. It will include his parents, his sister (and her family), and his wife and children.
Dagar Umarzai will be the younger brother. He will be about 16 when he serves in the Interdiction Patrol. He will command a fast attack destroyer, The Khyber Pass, which gets trapped in the corridor because of a possible infection. He will stay there, work hard, and enable his brother to take out more of their family. He in essence sacrifices his chance to go.
For some reason (i.e., I haven’t reconciled his duty and honor in staying in the corridor with why) he ends up on The Dizzy Dean. It has to be family - that ties in with the development of the Clan and allows his brother to finally forgive him. His uncles were on Earth and were used as a bribe to get his help to take and man The Dizzy Dean.
Kochai doesn’t know about the family aboard The Dizzy Dean. This doesn’t come out until the crew of The Voodoo Lounge try to rescue those on The Dizzy Dean. There are some other families down on the planet. Dagar and others are leading a raid with The Khyber Pass to rescue the families. They will find some infected alongside the families and have to eliminate them. There will be a 1 year decontamination period when they get back.
Dagar will also be the commander of the expedition to the first Pandora’s Box. And he will also be the father of Jenny’s twin daughters. I knew I needed twins somewhere. It won’t be until the expedition that Kochai learns that his brother is on the The Dizzy Dean. I.e., Dagar thought they went out on another ship - he wouldn’t have jeopardized their passage - which means that The Dizzy Dean and The Voodoo Lounge have to leave at about the same time. They were supposed to go to neighboring systems, but due to the hijackers not being properly trained, they will end up in the same system.
