Alika Kai : Geneticist : Female

CHARACTER PROFILE
Name: Alika Kai; Li, Lika, Ali

Age: 32 Terra years, Winter

Gender: female

Distinguishing features: circular scars behind each ear from a prior surgery; there is a burn scar spanning the back of her left hip, part of her lower back, and the top of her bum on the left side; there is also a burn scar about three inches long and two inches wide on the back of her left arm just above her elbow.

Hair Color: dark reddish-brown, unless it is lightened by the sun

Eye Color: brown

Description: Alika is a very slim woman, with the slim curves to go with her lanky build. Her brown eyes are almond shaped and intelligent, framed by dark lashes. Her long nose is slightly lifted at the tip, before her face slopes down to her soft mouth. Alika is a generally healthy woman and only the slightest bit of extra fat softens the curves of her hip from carrying and birthing her first child five years ago. She walks with a natural dancing grace, vestigial from her days dancing on her home island Lānaʻi in the Hawai'ian archipelago.

Personality: Alika is a very grounded and stable woman, able to persevere through any challenges that oppose her with optimism. She possesses a strong will that is not flashy or obnoxious, but that will hold up against anyone who challenges her beliefs. This can also make her very stubborn at times since she is a highly opinionated person. Lika can get jealous at times, especially when someone cuts across a conversation or project she was working on. She sets high standards for herself and those she works with, sometimes pushing people a little over the edge with her dedication for excellence. One of her favorite mottos is 'If at first you don't succeed, try, try again'. If it's not right the first time around, Alika will work at it until it is right.

History: Alika was born on the island of Lānaʻi, an only child to a couple at the later end of child bearing age. She grew up well loved and nurtured. Born deaf, Lika's parents searched for and found a way to give her hearing, utilizing cochlear implants. When she was almost nine, she and her parents went on a trip to one of the bigger islands for a little trip. Unfortunately, magma was slowly pouring from a rift in the volcano making up the island and started a fire that was racing towards the Kais' cottage. Taken by surprise, Alika's father rushed out the back door away from the spreading flames, dragging his daughter by the arm. The small wooden house was consumed by flames just as Alika and her father escaped, her mother burning in the doorway behind them. Alika was burned slightly on her left side, leaving her with scars.

After her mother's death, Alika became quite introverted for a while, though her best friends eventually got her to come back out of her self-made shell. When the Pernese colonist ships were being assembled Alika's father, a geneticist experienced in his field and in frontiersmanship, was eager to leave the planet of his wife's death. Dragging a then 21 year old Alika along, the remnants of the Kai family set of for Pern with the rest of the colonists. In the two weeks prior to boarding the ships, while all of the colonists were being assembled Alika met and began a courtship with kind young man, who gave her the occasional respite from her overbearing father's tirades about the way things were being done. Once they landed on Pern, Alika and her sweetheart decided to get married. On Pern Li joined her father working with the other geneticists and biologists, having finished college shortly before the trip to Pern where she majored in Genetics and Animal Sciences. At age 26, five years after she and her sweetheart were married, Alika bore their first child, a daughter they named Mahina, meaning 'moon'.