Captain Don Davidson
Davidson is the commander of Smith Camp and the main antagonist in the story. As the story begins we are reminded of the captain’s past mistakes: he once raped an Athshean woman who later dies. It is later revealed that the woman was Selver’s wife.
Davidson is portrayed as a ruthless, unrelenting, and racist character. He believes that anyone born of a different race is neither human nor a being that deserves any respect. His hate for the Athsheans grows by the day. After camp Smith is attacked by Selver and his army, Davidson is captured. However, Selver decides to spare his life. After his release, Davidson gathers an army and attacks the Athsheans going against the truce between humans and Athsheans. He is later captured and abandoned in a lifeless, treeless part of Athshe.
Selver
Selver is an Athshean leader and main protagonist in the narrative. As the story opens up, Selver and his wife Thele are among the first Athsheans to be enslaved by humans. Unlike his nemesis, Selver is portrayed as an intuitive and highly sensitive character. During his capture, he meets a young anthropologist named Lyubov who takes him on as an interpreter. The two become close friends after learning each other’s language.
After Thele is raped and killed by Davidson, Selver escapes from his captors and organizes his people against the humans who have invaded their planet. After he succeeds in driving the humans out of his home planet, he worries about his clan’s future: Athsheans were once peaceful people but were forced to become murderers to save their homes.
Raj Lyubov
Lyubov is an Indian anthropologist who has a high rank in the colony. Despite his position in the colony, Lyubov is remorseful of the pain his race has inflicted on the Athsheans. Lyubov and Selver become close friends after Lyubov takes him on as an assistant. After Selver’s wife is raped and killed, Selver attacks Davidson who nearly kills him. Lyubov saves him and nurtures him back to life.
When Selver and his army attack Smith camp, Selver orders his men not to touch Lyubov’s house. However, Lyubov leaves his house and is accidentally killed. Before he dies, Lyubov warns Selver of the impact of his actions on his people’s peaceful nature. Selver is deeply saddened by the death of his friend. Lyubov was the only individual in the colony who treated Athsheans as human beings.
