The Mind of the Dolphins

The Cast

As it may have been some time since you read Barefoot Times and Call of the Delphinidae, I thought I'd take this opportunity to reintroduce some of the characters you might be meeting again in The Mind of the Dolphins.

** CAUTION **

The following material contains spoilers for Barefoot Times and Call of the Delphinidae.
Do not proceed if you haven't yet read those books!

Damien
At thirteen years of age, he and his twin sister Lorna arrived on the planet Bluehaven with the settlers from Meridian and made first contact with the Dolphins, Bluehaven's sentient species. From them he received the gift of autothermia, a genetic trait allowing his body to draw energy from subspace, however that trait was copied under force by the military in an attempt to create an army of super-soldiers but which instead led to the race of Barefooters, so-called because their autothermia made it impossible for them to wear shoes or anything more than a minimal amount of clothing.
    Cursed with extraordinarily long life and blaming himself for the troubles spreading through his galaxy, Damien fell into a black despair at the height of the War of the Barefooters and disappeared into Sheol.

Morgoth the Enlightened
Born to high-ranking Barefooter parents on Cornipus, after completing his military training he journeyed to Bluehaven where he studied Delphinidae history under the tutelage of Damien. After a falling out with the Temple, he went to Meridian where, with the aid of his Barefooter friends, he overthrew the government and installed himself as Emperor. He married, fathering two sons, Martyn and Gallad, but soon after the birth of Gallad an attempted assassination left Morgoth infertile and his wife dead. This had a profound effect on Martyn, who shunned his father and instead turned to music and poetry. Forced to flee to Bluehaven after refusing to accept an ultimatum from his father, Martyn met and fell in love with Loria, the daughter of the Delphinidae High Priestess, and they conceived a daughter. When Morgoth found out he had them arrested and bound to the rocks below the Temple, to be drowned by the incoming tide.
    Martyn's death drove a wedge between Gallad and his father, and while Morgoth was busy taking over the Delphinidae Temple and converting it into his palace, Gallad fled to Meridian and formed an Assembly of Barefooters to oppose him. Ultimately tensions grew, leading to the War of the Barefooters which cost the lives of billions and left Gallad fleeing in an intergalactic ship that ultimately crash-landed in the Milky Way on a planet near the Pleiades cluster. Gallad perished in a skirmish with Morgoth's pursuers, his body falling into a rock pool where it was consumed by an underwater vine.
    Morgoth ruled virtually unchallenged for a million years, until Mark Collins, genetically the son of Gallad, appeared on the Meridian space station and ensnared him in a trap, killing him by setting off a subspace pulse that destroyed both their Barefooter genes.

Dr Billy Collins (born 14th September 1974)
The son of Tom and Sarah Collins, he attended Brisbane University from where he obtained his doctorate in Physics. Always one to go barefoot, he discovered he was the carrier of his people's Emu spirit which later turned out to be that of Dromaius, a descendant of the Barefooters who fled with Gallad to the Milky Way galaxy at the height of the War of the Barefooters.
    After completing his doctorate, Billy was employed by AusScience at the Narrabri Radio Telescope where, in collaboration with Peter Thorpe, he discovered subspace and subsequently made first contact with the Eridanians. He married Julia Myers, the sister of his friend Todd, in 2001. In 2026 he was appointed head of AusScience but resigned in 2027 and moved to Coolum Beach, establishing his own research company where he remained until his retirement in 2043. He continues to enjoy surfing and bushwalking, and is an Aboriginal adviser to the National Parks and Wildlife Service.

Dr Peter Thorpe (born 15th September 1974)
The son of Michael and Rachel Thorpe and another keen barefooter, he unknowingly carried the Dodo spirit, later revealed to be that of Raphus, the twin brother of Dromaius.
    Peter attended Sydney University from where he obtained his doctorate in Physics before joining Billy Collins at the Narrabri Radio Telescope. Acclaimed for his theoretical work on intergalactic subspace in 2017, he published many papers on the physics of subspace and Sheol. He left AusScience in 2027 with Billy Collins and worked for the Coolum Beach company until retiring in 2043. He remains active in the local environmental protection society.

Dr Jason Collins (born 23rd April 2002)
The son of Billy and Julia Collins, he first came into the public eye at the age of fourteen when he led the successful defusing of the Pleiades supernova. While on the planet Genesis, he fell into a rock pool where a vine injected him with some of Gallad's DNA that then fused with the Barefooter genes he'd inherited from his father.
    He attended Brisbane University and, after marrying fellow student Jennifer Simpson in 2023,  obtained his doctorate in Physics in 2027. He joined his father's company after graduating and became a director following Billy's retirement in 2043. Although he still has a passion for supernovas, his work is now mostly focussed on the design of efficient subspace transport drives.

Dr Jennifer Collins (born 14th August 2002)
The daughter of William and Melissa Simpson and a distant descendant of Gallad's wife Marinda, she lived in suburban Brisbane while studying at Eatons Hill High School and then Brisbane University. Although seriously injured in a motor vehicle accident in 2019, with Jason's help she made a full recovery, marrying him in 2023 and obtaining her doctorate in Physics in 2027. She moved to Coolum Beach with her husband that year as part of her father-in-law's subspace research company, before becoming Managing Director in 2043 following his retirement. Her business skills and negotiating prowess have seen the company flourish under her leadership.

Mark Collins (born 27th August 2027)
The son of Jason and Jennifer Collins and, from their respective Barefooter heritages the genetic son of Gallad and Marinda, at the age of seven he journeyed to Meridian where he overthrew Morgoth, briefly becoming Mark the Bewildered before standing down as Supreme Ruler or whatever and freeing that galaxy from a million years of dictatorship.  He returned to that galaxy in 2044 where he defeated Brett Farley on Bluehaven, at the same time meeting Lorina whom he married in 2048. They established the Delphinidae College in Coolum Beach where he is now the College Director.

Ron Simmons
Born in Bringal Vale on Bluehaven, he joined the Delphinidae at the age of seventeen and was ordained as a Priest a year later. He was engaged to Mary Anderson who bore him a son, Kevin, just prior to her departure for Earth, and was then assigned to Sontar to work with Priestess Hilda in the establishment of a Delphinidae school and hospice. He later married Hilda, but following her death in the Farley uprising, he travelled to Earth to take on the role of manager at Mark and Lorina's Delphinidae College. After a lifetime of separation, he finally married Mary in a simple ceremony amongst the Dolphins of Earth.

Mary Simmons
Born to Ryan and Tanya Anderson in Bringal Vale on Bluehaven, at the age of sixteen she was arrested by Morgoth's agents following a school excursion to the imperial palace, but escaped and fled to Sontar before returning to the Delphinidae Temple on Bluehaven, where she fell in love with Ron Simmons. Receiving her calling from the Dolphins, she journeyed through Sheol to Earth soon after the birth of her son Kevin. There she met and married Bobby Smith and lived in Narrabri with him and their son Aaron before moving to Coolum Beach in 2035. After the death of Bobby in 2050, she married Ron and is currently employed as Librarian in the Coolum Beach Delphinidae College.

Kevin Simmons
The son of Ron and Mary, he was raised on Sontar and educated in the Delphinidae school run by his father and step-mother. There he met Lorett, daughter of High Priestess Loral, and duly married her, moving to Bluehaven to take up his role as her consort. He developed an interest in politics and was elected Bluehaven Head of State following the demise of Morgoth. He is currently Bluehaven's representative on the Galactic Council and a candidate for the position of Supreme Councillor.

Lorina Collins
The daughter of Kevin Simmons and High Priestess Lorett, she was educated in the Delphinidae Temple on Bluehaven before journeying to Earth to study at Brisbane University with Mark Collins. She became High Priestess following her marriage to Mark and is currently based at the Delphinidae College in Coolum Beach.

Bobby Smith
The son of Terry and Madeline Smith, he attended Narrabri High School before becoming a trainee computer technician with the Gunnedah colliery. By chance and good fortune he was able to rescue Mary Anderson from a would-be rapist, falling in love with and eventually marrying her. Bobby had two weaknesses though; a friend named Graham and a love for beer. Soon after the birth of their son Aaron his marriage began to sour, but when Bobby found himself in the passenger seat of Graham's car on the afternoon he knocked Aaron off his bike, his life took an unexpected turn for the better.
    When his grandson Christopher was born, Bobby accepted a job offer from Billy Collins and moved with Mary to Coolum Beach. Some fourteen years later, though, while attending his father's funeral in Narrabri, Bobby found himself once more in the passenger seat of Graham's car and lost his life in a collision with a tree.

Aaron Smith (born 7th September 2002)
The son of Bobby and Mary Smith and lifelong friend of Jason Collins, he was an acclaimed junior cricketer until damaging his right arm in a cycling accident in 2019. He graduated with honours in Physics from Brisbane University before joining AusScience as a research assistant in Sydney. He married Maleena, a Delphinidae Priestess from Meridian, after leading Mark Collins to that world in 2034 and aiding in the defeat of Morgoth. Resuming his cricketing career after his return, he became the top-scoring batsman in the Australian team until his retirement after three seasons. He is currently employed as a research physicist at Coolum Beach.

Maleena Smith
Born in Etford on Bluehaven and trained at the Delphinidae Temple, she moved to Meridian and was working for Gallad at the time of the War of the Barefooters. Frozen in time for a million years on board the space station orbiting Meridian, she aided Mark Collins in his overthrow of Morgoth and returned to Earth with Aaron Smith, marrying him soon afterwards.

Christopher Smith (born 6th August 2035)
The son of Aaron and Maleena Smith, at the age of nine he became an intergalactic hero after pushing Brett Farley to his death and ending the uprising against the government of that galaxy. He completed his schooling at Coolum Beach High School before joining the Delphinidae College where he is now a first year acolyte.

Damon Enderling
The son of Roderick and Sophie Enderling and born on Meridian three months after the fall of Morgoth, he attended school in Azarath before meeting Christopher Smith in 2049 and journeying with him to Bluehaven and then Earth, where he discovered his heritage from Damien, the original recipient of the Dolphins' gift of autothermia. Ordained Brother of the Delphinidae, he returned to Bluehaven and toured the galaxy with representatives of the new government before joining Frank Halliday on an archaeological expedition to Meridian.

Pip Ingle
The son of Richard and Patricia Ingle, he was born in Azarath on Meridian nine months after the fall of Morgoth. Attending school there, he befriended Damon Enderling and at the age of fourteen joined him on Bluehaven where he became a Delphinidae acolyte. Suffering a chronic muscular disability, he is currently aiding Frank and Damon in their research on Meridian.

Frank Halliday
A distant descendant of one of the ancient Barefooters, he came to Earth from Cornipus to investigate reports of the Barefooter genes appearing amongst the Aboriginal communities around Narrabri. There he met John Collins and later his son Tom. In collaboration with Elko, a descendant of Gallad's Barefooters who'd first colonised the galaxy, he aided in the fulfilment of the Dolphins' prophecy that led to the demise of Morgoth. He then returned to Meridian to continue his research, endeavouring to trace the many Barefooters who'd disappeared at the time of their war with Morgoth.

Paul Hoskins
Joining the military after finishing school on Nimber, he rose to the rank of lieutenant while serving under Hal Farley. Reassigned to desk duties following Farley's fall from grace, he later found himself serving Hal's son Brett in his push to re-establish military rule after the demise of Morgoth. In the collapse of the palace on Bluehaven following the death of his commander, Hoskins was the only survivor, his gesture of surrender ignored by the Earthlings as they flew off to celebrate their victory. In the eight years that have passed since then, he has been plotting his revenge.

Thus the stage is set, and now the action begins!