The Crew Of Starshatter: Kera ("Part of my life is saving life")

I’ve always liked the “doctor” character in any work of fiction. Their burden and challenges have always been unique. The stalwart professional whose nemesis is death.

Such a character doesn’t have a cause and they often find themselves isolated from the people they work or fight alongside. Or at least they don’t have a cause in the traditional sense. The doctor doesn’t believe in whatever other people are fighting for – a political or religious belief, they don't see comrades but people, with all their virtues and flaws. What makes the doctor different is that they already have a cause - it is life itself. The fight to save and preserve it is what drives such a character. That gives them a different perspective.

Which brings me to Kera. She is different than other doctors in fiction in number of ways. She is fighting alongside people who share her goal. They fight for freedom in all things. They fight for the inherit right that every living creature should have – live and do so freely. When you think about it, terrans go even further. They fight for a galaxy where living freely isn’t a right but…..something that just….is. Kera knows this well. So she doesn’t foolishly try to stop her friends from what needs to be done but supports and helps them in her own way. And where other characters might become weary and jaded at times, she doesn’t seem to lose this inherit thirst for life. Relishing this gift, this opportunity she has been given. There is only one other character that has this true understanding of life and understands what is at stake and her mission(it’s not hard, you can guess who it is).

What strikes me the most when I think about Kera, it is her faith. In recent times it has become “cool” to make fun of and bash religion, especially christianity. Not just the institutions that have been created, but also that most fundamental and private pillar in many people’s lives. Is it really so wrong when you are in your darkest hour, when you are at your weakest to believe there is someone to talk to, someone to listen? To believe that you have the strength to go on, the belief that things can be better? To believe there is an inherit and undefiled goodness in the world? If you were to ask Kera these questions I think you would receive a warm, reassuring smile. Because when she was at her weakest she never stopped fighting, never stopped searching for a way forward. Maybe that is what makes her so strong. Not her belief that something will happen but her belief that she will find a way to make it happen. Kera is the living embodiment of the proverb: “Where there's a will there's a way”.

And despite all this she never seeks power, never tries to preach or elevate herself above others. Not only because of who she is, as a person, but also the fact that she is a healer, not a leader. Being a healer of both mind and body is not her calling, it is simply part of who she is. In Kera we can see the strength of a character that is often praised on paper but it has rarely been pulled of,  much less with such finesse. Kera is a mother. Not just the cardboard cut out that has been propped up to support someone's agenda, but a genuine character. One who knows what is worth valuing and is ready to fight for. Her Link, the Universe, it all comes down to one thing. Family. Children. Life.

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You can also read blogs about other characters of the Starshatter crew here, here, here, here and here.