Do you have any heroes you’d like to emulate? Tom Brady? Neil Armstrong? President Kennedy? I think we’ve all wondered how our heroes would handle some of the same life challenges we face. It’s a healthy activity; it means we’re engaged in the serious process of trying to be better — trying to become the best versions of ourselves.
How about fictional heroes?
It doesn’t sound as serious, but these characters can have an even more powerful impact on us than “real” people.
Ever faced one of life’s challenges and asked yourself, how would Jason Bourne handle this? Sherlock Holmes? How about Conan the Barbarian?
My multibook protagonist, Cord Devlin, lives by this kind of introspection. But he always aspires to the same characters; and for him, life tests are hardly ever mundane.
You see, Cord Devlin is an intelligence freelancer. He’s worked for the NSA, the CIA, and he even helped the FSB on occasion. Those students of Cold War history will recognize the FSB as the successor to the Soviet Union’s KGB.
So given Cord’s profession, you’re probably guessing that he’d fantasize about how James Bond would handle his job. A good guess, but it’s wrong.
Cord Devlin is a Star Trek fanatic.
I’ve enjoyed writing a character that does what I do: view the world through a Starfleet prism. Cord enjoyed many of the incarnations of Star Trek, but he paid particular attention to the original series, which he studied for its life lessons. In his dealings with people, Captain Kirk is more likely to be quoted than Socrates or Churchill or Sun Tzu.
I know what you’re thinking: What does Star Trek have to do with national security? Well, the answer is: a heck of a lot more than Ian Fleming’s novels… at least in the most-recent adventure of our hero.
Fortunately for Paul McMaster, Devlin’s CIA handler, Cord’s childish fixation on the iconic TV series is exactly the mindset needed for the bizarre assignment thrust upon him. Any other agent would have their reason blasted by the otherworldly threat — not to just the USA but to mankind.
Because of Cord’s broadminded acceptance of cosmic possibilities, he’s ideally suited to deal with extraterrestrial designs on the human race. Perhaps the wisdom he picked up from following the defenders of the United Federation of Planets will see him through his most- rewarding, most-daunting challenge yet!
The End
For a limited time, visitors to my new website will get a free download of
Cord Devlin uses his fanboy knowledge of Star Trek to help U.S. Intelligence deal with otherworldly threats.
It’s available in any of the formats below at https://michaeljfoy.com/.
