Mercedes McGovern

**Mercedes** is an old friend of Alasdair Geddes, who used to know him when he lived on Procyon VI.

## Biographical information (original story)

### Place of birth

City Of Glenfalcons, Procyon VI, Procyon System

## Persona

Mercedes is a former friend of Alasdair
Geddes, from the period where he was stuck living on Procyon VI. Originally
putting him up at her place, she later became a sort of housekeeper for him,
after he was forcibly relocated to the wrecked executive corvette.

Mercedes
is a kind-hearted girl, who will always do whatever she can to help out anyone
in trouble. This is best exemplified by the fact that even after Alasdair was
evicted from her home, she still visited his transporter to make sure he was
okay.

However,
Mercedes is also rather introverted, and she will never try to push her own
opinions onto other people, even if they truly are right. She constantly
suggested that it would be better for Alasdair to live with his uncle Stanley,
but she never forced the idea onto him.

Mercedes
is fond of Alasdair, and it's been hinted that she had something of a crush on
him prior to his departure.

## Physical Description

Mercedes is a raccoon who stands at
nearly three feet tall. She has blue eyes, and brownish-grey hair which she
wears in a ponytail. She is reasonably well-built in the chest, but not so much
that it becomes distracting to the onlooker.
Mercedes'
usual outfit comprises solely of a pair of blue denim dungarees (seemingly with
nothing underneath), and matching blue sneakers.

## Background

Mercedes McGovern was born on June 12th
2992. She was born and raised in a terraced house in a decidedly middle-class
district of the City of Glenfalcons, on the planet Procyon VI. At the time, the
planet had been steadily recovering from the Galaxy-wide economical slump of
the 2980s, and so Mercedes was able to live in reasonable comfort.

In comparison to most other characters in the
series, Mercedes lived a very uneventful existence throughout the 2990s and
early 3000s. However, about halfway through the latter decade, she became
acquainted with the Geddes family; a family of travellers whose late patriarch,
Hunter, had originally come from Glenfalcons. In particular she befriended one
Alasdair Geddes, the youngest member of the family, and the two began
corresponding with each other after the family set off again. Sometimes,
Alasdair would return to Glenfalcons on his own, to stay over with Mercedes.

It
was during one such visit in early 3007 that Alasdair received the devastating news
that his mother had been killed under mysterious circumstances, and that their
freighter, the *Hunter* had been
destroyed. This shattered Alasdair's existence; not just because of his
mother's death, but because he realized that he might be permanently confined
to Procyon VI for the rest of his life.

Alasdair's
older sister Valerie was subsequently put up at the residence of their uncle
Stanley. However, Alasdair himself had always despised Stanley intensely, and
with the alternative of a life out on the streets proving out of the question,
Mercedes kindly offered to let him stay at her place.

With
nowhere else to go, Alasdair accepted Mercedes' offer, and for a few months,
this arrangement proved satisfactory. However, her folks soon became dissatisfied
with Alasdair's contributions to the household (very little), and quickly saw
about evicting him with no trial or court order.

That
might have been the last Mercedes saw of Alasdair, until a few months later,
she discovered that he had taken up residence in a wrecked executive
transporter, resting in a vacant lot close to one of the city's suburban
railway stations. Even though she knew that Alasdair would be better off
staying with his uncle Stanley, Mercedes never pushed the issue onto him, only
occasionally bringing it up. She came to become a sort of housekeeper for
Alasdair, doing his cleaning and cooking (both of which being tasks that he was
terrible at), and generally looking after him, as she'd done when he was still
her tenant.

Then
one day in 3009, Alasdair suddenly vanished. He'd gone to work as usual, onboard
the *Midnight Sun*, one of Stanley's
freighters. However, he was not onboard the freighter when it returned to
Glenfalcons. A few days later, his old executive transporter had gone from the
vacant lot as well. Mercedes was naturally concerned for her friend's safety,
and when he still hadn't turned up a couple of weeks later, she inquired with
Stanley as to his whereabouts.

That
was when Mercedes discovered that Alasdair had finally abandoned his life of
poverty on Procyon VI, in favour of a new life in the stars, working for the
infamous space pirate, *Jaws*
MacTaggart. Mercedes was quite shaken by this news initially, but as time went
on, she gradually came to accept Alasdair's departure.

Since
Alasdair's departure, Mercedes has had a lot more time on her hands to do her
own thing. Having taken interest in a position in the catering industry, she has
accepted a job offer as a waitress at a small cafe, close to Alasdair's vacant
lot. She often thinks about her old friend, and is happy that Alasdair is once
again living the travelling life that he'd yearned for since the death of
Morag. They still make periodic correspondence, but Alasdair holds so many bad
memories of Procyon VI that a physical reunion appears to be out of the
question. However, one can *still*
dream...