In Judgment on Tartarus, Rona Scott's experience is a perfect example of how differently Cythereans and Tartarians are regarded and treated by Terrans. Rona's best friend aboard Astrella is Tiko of Cytherea; she's fun to be around, easy-going, attractive, and graceful. She has a good sense of humor and tends to laugh a lot. She likes Rona immediately, even gives her a "heads-up" about both Malkis of Tartarus and Kalom of Eris---for very different reasons of course! And Tiko is obviously one of those aboard Astrella who think Rona is "involved" with Captain Hughes. ( And may have shared her suspicions? )
As far as Rona's relationship with Malkis goes ( and he happens to be the one and only Tartarian aboard, and in fact the only one serving aboard a Terran-based ship! ) it doesn't take her more than a few minutes to realize she can't stand him! Rona finds him cold, abrasive, smug, acerbic, and pretty darn annoying! He has no sense of humor, enforces regulations to the letter, and he's weird-looking! Despite her aversion to him, she tries valiantly to maintain an open mind, to be tolerant of other cultures.
Perhaps you've had a similar experience: you have no particular animosity toward a race or ethnicity---until you run up against a representative of that group whom you can't stand! It's a frustrating, exasperating, embarrassing, and humbling experience! Fortunately for my story, Rona Scott manages to remain fair, to do her duty no matter what, to be as truthful as possible---without getting herself into too much difficulty! And the result of all her struggles, if you've read Judgment, is a destiny beyond her wildest dreams!
All for now,
MRTighe
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