An Adventure of
Claire and Laser
Claire Goldstar tinkered with her personal transmitter as she paced about the sun deck, nearly tripping over Laser, her dear old Korgian sand cat. Laser backpedaled away from her careless momentum. His alert yellow eyes watched her curiously. Either he was watching to see if she would walk into him again, or sensed she was unhappy about something.
She was attempting to discern why she had missed so many calls during the last couple of days, and feared the worst. "Bloody vortexes," she said, narrowing her eyes at her transmitter, "I dropped it from the control tower during that ridiculous arms smuggling incident at Bad'qarah... didn't I? I think it's broke."
Laser made an odd trilling sound, finding her talking stimulating. His ears perked forward as she continued, "How could I have been so reckless? It's going to take days to get this dumb thing fixed. I'm the administrator of this rock and I won't have a decent P.T. for days." She jutted out her jaw. This would no doubt prove to be another one of those things that made her briefly wonder why she left the lavish security of the Imperial court to become the mishap-wrought administrator of Terix 7.
In the heart of the Empire, a dignitary's broken personal transmitter would be nothing to fret about. But here, on this factious planet, matters like this could take awhile to resolve. Part of her problem would be simply scheduling someone to fix it. Important designations, government data, and personal files were on her transmitter; not just any technician could work on it, and sadly, trustworthy top-security-level technicians were in short supply on the planet, even for its administrator.
She glanced out towards the ruggedly beautiful scenery, but did not "see" it at the moment. Her mind remained focused on her transmitter, and on how a tiny bit of technology could ruin her day.
Endless miles of deep golden sands met the horizons around where she was, dotted with salt-water pools, and crater-like marine polyp formations. The formations were slightly reddish, and very porous. A few were impressively tall, but most were shallow. The terrain was both desert and ocean, and yet neither; there wasn't a "true" deep blue ocean to be found for miles, nor was there dry desert anywhere nearby either. The landscape was constantly at the mercy of tides coming and going, and as one might expect, the air was dreadfully muggy.
Claire tossed a strand of humidity-victimized hair over her shoulder, deciding she'd had enough sun for the day. She was about to stride off the deck and into the compound when a menacing-looking flying beast abruptly landed nearby. 
Her eyes turned intensely fierce, and her hand went down towards her particle disrupter gun. But then she relaxed. The creature was one of her political aids. She gave Laser a light tug on his chain to let him know he wasn't allowed to attack the aid either.
"Forgive me, Your Excellency," the creature said. Disgusting greenish drool lopped towards the ground from between its razor-sharp teeth. It tossed its head up, flinging the drool in an arc to the golden sands below the deck, and then continued, "I didn't mean to alarm you. Your administration has been urgently trying to contact you. A first-class Imperial battleship is nearby, and its captain would like to... have a word with you." The creature's voice was so raspy, she had to really focus to understand it.
"Do you have open contact now?"
"Yes, my lady."
"Very well then, I'm running up to headquarters. My personal transmitter is broken. Find me something to use until we can get it fixed. Please."
Moments later, Claire breezed into her administration's offices, Laser faithfully tagging along. Almost everyone in there was alerted to their arrival by the sweet tinkling of his collar bell, and looked up from their work. Only a couple of entities in the office were human-like. The rest were an outlandish variety of alien species.
"Miss Goldstar!" one of them exclaimed, "You are alive! We were beginning to wonder if you had been kidnapped by a gang of titanium thieves."
"I'm fine. I'm ready to talk to this battleship captain."
"Good. The frequency is open."
The aid led Claire and Laser to a small hi-tech room full of control panels and flashing lights. They walked in together, and the room's automatic doors shut with a soft hiss behind them. Claire inhaled deeply, and then boomed, "Administrator Goldstar here."
There was a moment of dead silence before a beautiful female voice with an unusual accent replied, "This is Captain Wolf of the Imperial battleship Soulfire." Laser's ears perked up at the captain's voice as she continued, "How are you, ma'am?"
"Good. To what may I owe this rare honor of talking to a first-class battleship captain?"
"I am afraid I bring a disturbing tip, ma'am. The Soulfire has been patrolling the Great Void near this region. Some illegal aliens have crossed into this region of space. We suspect they may pose a threat to your planet."
Laser made his funny trilling noise. Claire looked at him, hoping he'd pipe down, and asked, "May I enquire as to the nature of this threat? What would they want with this planet?"
"I am really sorry, ma'am. At this time we regrettably know very little. All we can tell you is this: be on high alert for any small suspicious activities on your planet."
Oh, that's just great, Claire thought to herself, trying to surpress a laugh, What isn't suspicious on Terix 7? Spinning vortexes... this place is practically a colony of outlaws. Heck, I only trust three individuals in my own administration.
Laser trilled again, this time stretching a paw towards one of the sound emitters, as Captain Wolf continued, "If you see anything, please report to this ship immediately. I am downloading a secure shadow frequency to your personal transmitter. Use it, if you must contact us. Your planet has a Level 12 communications facility, correct?"
Claire turned her eyes towards the window, and focused beyond a good distance of the soupy, sandy terrain. There, near the horizon, stood her planet's largest communications facility. It was comprised of rows of spherical shapes stacked on top of one another, which formed columns. The spheres gleamed a deep reddish copper under the sun. Needle-like spires rose from the top-most spheres in the columns, pointing towards the heavens. Bright lights sparkled garishly at the tips of the spires, making them more visible to starship pilots. The detail at the base of the massive facility appeared to fade out to her eyes, due to humidity vapors rising from the ground between her and the facility.
"Ah... yes, we do," she replied, pulling her personal transmitter out of its old beaten silver case. She examined the transmitter. Surprisingly, it had received the captain's shadow frequency without a hitch. She only hoped the frequency file wasn't corrupted.
"Super. We will be out in deep space, so you'll have to use all your facility's power. If you can't reach us immediately, keep trying, lest we are in a temporary dead-zone."
"Thank you, Captain. Hopefully we shall not be in further contact over this matter."
"Indeed, ma'am. I sorely regret not having the time to come down and visit with you in person on a social note. Soon enough I will." Claire raised a quizzical brow. Captain Wolf continued, "I knew your father, Miss Goldstar. Few have fought so hard to make things right in the galaxy as he did, and even fewer have carried such a strong bearing of The Divine with them as he did. It is evident you have his knack for taking on difficult enterprises. If you have half his spirit, Terix 7 is going to receive some phenomenal changes because of you."
Claire was stunned into silence.
Not too long after talking to Captain Wolf, Claire left her busy administration area, with the intention of going to a quiet office where she could work while Laser took a nap.
For a moment she hesitated, wondering if she should go back and demand that temporary transmitter she'd asked of the flying creature, but then decided to continue on, down a vast lonely hall. That's when Laser made a deep rumbling sound. He flattened his ears, and hissed at a blank wall. Then he growled at the ceiling, and then at another bare wall, as though seeing things she could not. She smelled something strange. The hall became permeated with the smell, making her cough. What was wrong? A shiver ran down her spine. Was it poisonous gas? Laser looked up at her, and then looked back down the hall. Now he had a distinct ridge of hair going all the way down his back, to his tail, which was fluffed up.
She suddenly felt as though something demonic was calling her name. It was a morbid feeling she'd never experienced before, and for the first time ever, she felt as though it would be the end of her life.
Leaning down, she put an arm around Laser. A blast of power hit the wall where she had been standing upright. She looked up at it. The starburst-shaped blast mark glowed an icy fluorescent blue color. It then darkened, losing its light, and became black as night. She turned to look at what was trying to kill her.
An enormous translucent-white alien beast loomed down the hall, hovering high above the ground on eight spindly legs. At the end of each of its legs were small bird-like claws with razor-sharp nails. Some of the floor tiles fractured under its monstrous weight. Curved barbs covered its legs, and much of its body. They protruded through its sparse silky coat, and also formed a ring around its ice-colored eyes. There were six eyes, every one piercingly intense. Moving in unison, its black pupils narrowed into slivers as it passed through a ray of light, and then widened again as it left the light. The eyes had to peer through the bottom row of its long interlocking teeth. There had to be close to a fifty teeth, all perfectly aligned. Some of the teeth were longer than her body, but none thicker than her arms. As it came a little closer she could see its intestines showing through its transparent belly, and the strange smell became unbearable.
Great Divine, please protect us, she prayed silently, pulling out her particle disruptor gun. We won't make it through this without you. She fired at the alien beast, but it was too quick for her aim, and dodged to the side. It seemed horrifically fast and agile for something so large. She fired and missed again. It was getting too close too fast. So she turned around and sprinted away, after giving Laser a light pull to let him know they were retreating from this foe.
Shoving her gun back into its holster, she pulled out her personal transmitter; she would call Captain Wolf, if it were the last thing she did, and then she'd call her military. Without success, she tried using the shadow frequency Captain Wolf had sent her, with the intention of routing her message through the big communications facility. Desperately, she pulled out the transmitter's little antenna, hoping that would make it work, but it did not; she would have to go to the facility and plug the device in there.
She ran through a door, outside the compound, assuming the alien would be stuck inside. It crashed through the wall, still hot on her trail. Another of its power blasts barely missed her. Terrified, she ran even faster, across a small parking lot, and jumped into someone's flying transport, but found it to be securely code-locked. She jumped back out, just as another one of the alien's blasts hit the transport. The transport exploded, sending debris everywhere. A panel whizzed past her face, barely missing. Without hesitation, she dashed into a rickety open-air government transport, fired it up, and flew down towards the communications facility, nearly colliding with another transport operator on her way there.
The alien chased after her, dashing across the terrain on its eight legs, covering an incredible amount of ground. As she was getting close, it managed to blast at her transport, as it had the other one.
"Come on Laser! This is going to blow!" she exclaimed, leaping off with him into deep sand. He landed a lot more gracefully than she did. The transport exploded.
She rose to her feet, finding herself near a sign. The sign had an Imperial seal on it. Below the seal read, Terix 7 Primary Communications. Opposite that read, "Where Understanding One Another Is Made Possible". A blast hit the sign, leaving a black starburst.
Knowing she wouldn't outrun the beast to the facility by a long shot, Claire removed her coat, pulled out her gun, faced her foe, and said, "So this is how it ends."
Yes, Claire Goldstar, the creature replied, not in a physical way, but rather inside her head, as though through telepathy, this is your end.
The alien opened its jaws very wide. Inside its mouth was a surgically implanted gun. She had the feeling that gun wasn't the only implant it had received; she could now see faint lights flashing from within its belly.
Laser was prepared to attack it, his teeth fully bared. She knew this was his end as well, and at the moment, that bothered her more than her own prospective end.
Don't worry, the alien replied, as though hearing her concerns, your father's old beast will be taken care of. He's far too precious to harm. For because of him, the Emperor will be overthrown, and my kind shall rule this galaxy.
"W-what?"
The alien laughed, and told her, What do you think your father has trained this creature to do? Why was it to be destroyed by the Imperial Guard for being a danger to the Empire, before the Emperor displayed disgusting, weak pity, and intervened on its behalf, allowing it to retire with you instead? It knows how to pass through the great Imperial shield.
The kitty is mine, Claire Goldstar.
Laser exploded forward, displaying speed he hadn't since he was much younger cat, tearing his chain from Claire's hands. He ran under the alien, and tore into its belly, pulling out a box-like implant. The implant was connected to tubes going deep into its body. The tubes burst with a frightening hiss, releasing a steady stream of white vapor into the air. Laser backed away just as quick as he'd run in, pulling the box back with him. He then dropped the box onto the sand, his spotted coat was slimy from the alien's blood. The alien made a ghastly shriek and begin convulsing, its legs thrashing about wildly. Claire vaulted over the sign to get away from it.
The alien became still.
Was it dead? For good measure, she shot it in the belly, where Laser had pulled out the box. The alien convulsed again, and she saw many dark wraith-like entities pouring out of its body. They looked at her with awful, distorted faces, and started slowly floating towards her. She felt that morbid feeling again: that it was the end. Afraid, she glanced up at the sky, and whispered, "Please, help."
I am with you, Claire Goldstar, something said as though from deep inside her, like a warm comforting gut feeling. Courage overcame her.
"I am an agent of the Great Divine, you evil things. Your host is gone. You have no hold here. Leave this planet."
At her words of authority, the entities hissed and left, swirling away in a big mass, which became more and more translucent to her eyes, until they disappeared.
She collapsed to her knees, and thanked the Divine for protecting her. Without a doubt, the ordeal was far from over. More sinister aliens would arrive shortly for the corpse... and then some. But she felt stronger now, having been reminded she had a supernatural power watching over her. Plus she now knew what the aliens were after. She looked over to Laser. He trotted up to her, with a twinkle in his eyes, as if to say, Tell me I did good. Do I get a biscuit? He sniffed out her belt pouch. She gave him a biscuit, and then exclaimed, "Ugh, Laser! You STINK!"
About The Doll
Clair Goldstar was formerly a "Pretty Young Thing" MOTM Marisa doll. She stood 11.5 inches tall.
All of her original factory paint had been removed, and she was repainted using quality acrylics, and then finished up using appropriate varnishes. The paint was applied in very transparent washes, and as you can see, it appeared natural and even. Because of the quality and detail level of her repaint, she was fun to take pictures of, and looked alive under any lighting.
Her golden brown irises had no shine marks painted onto them; they had been capped with gloss to create a life-like lens, and all the reflection marks you see came from the gloss. Her eyes could just about have been mistaken for being itty-bitty glass eyes.
(Click on the pictures below, to see them in hi-resolution.)
The Costume
Claire was the administrator of a hot, troublesome planet. Her clothes reflected this. She was dazzling, but also ready for action at a moment's notice. There was so much detail; it would take forever to describe all of it. So the pictures will do most of the talking.
Every piece... her jewelry, her gun, her boots, her beaded belt, her pouch, holster, coat, and so forth... were intricately hand made and removable.
Laser
Laser once worked under Claire's father, and then another member of the Imperial Guard, before he was retired and given to Claire to live out his days. He was a very smart cookie, and had been trained to board suspicious starships, break certain codes, pass through the great Imperial shield, and apparently... even kill evil aliens from the Great Void. After retiring, he rarely left Claire's side, and relished the stimulation her workday provided him.
"Laser" had been sculpted from Super Sculpey over a strong wire armature, and baked according to the clay manufacturer's directions. He was fully one-of-a-kind. No molds were taken from him, nor were any used to make him. As you can see, he's not lacking in regal "cattitude".
His beautiful coat pattern had been meticulously hand painted, and then varnished. It took several days to paint him. The pattern is somewhere between an ocelot and a tiger 's.
To add to his realism, he had been given saran whiskers, as well as mohair for his lush tail-tip.
His collar had been embellished with a little beadwork, and also had an old bell on it; a very sweet sounding bell, perhaps like what you might find in a falconry catalog (to put on hawks' jesses).
The Stand
Claire and Laser came with a little piece of Terix 7 to hang out on. It is the sign where the big showdown with the alien in the story happened. It reads, "Terix 7 Primary Communications, 'Where Understanding One Another Is Made Possible'" (in an alien language, of course!).
The sign also had a black starburst on it, where the alien had taken a shot at Claire. And no, you're not imagining it... the sign was covered in some kind of alien bird-doo. Seemed like a place where bird-like creatures would hang out, so there had to be evidence!
The stand was made of plywood, which had been bolted together with screws. All kinds of polymer clay texturing was then baked over it, like the rocks and the stucco pattern on the sign. A "titanium" chain hangs off one side of it. It appears as though at one time the sign had been part of a fence until something big pulled the chain down (like a drunken transport operator or ship pilot), followed by marine formations growing over the chain.
The little rise in the ground in front of the sign had some secret indentions for Laser to fit on snuggly, and as you have seen in the pictures, Claire could lean against the sign in various poses.
Overall, it was built to be as sturdy as possible, so that it would survive shipping plus years as a treasured collectible. Strong glue backed the screws, and held the sand and plants in place.
Auction
Claire and Laser were sold on eBay in October of 2006.