Fotsev

Fotsev (d. 1964) was an infantrymale of the Race's Conquest Fleet. After seeing action in the Race Invasion of Tosev 3, Fotsev was stationed first in Argentina immediately after the Peace of Cairo, and then in Basra, Iraq in the 1960s. Like most of the Race, Fotsev had a difficult time understanding the "Big Uglies" under their authority. He often shared his frustrations with both Big Uglies and his superiors with his fellow infantry male Gorppet.

Basra was a restive city, made more so by the majority of the populations' devotion to Islam. Fotsev participated in his fair-share of riot-control and putting down uprisings, particularly as the Race's Colonization Fleet arrived in 1962. Much of the anti-Race sentiment in Basra was attributable to one man: Ruhollah Khomeini. Fotsev and his fellow infantry males were soon assigned the task of capturing Khomeini after a particularly violent round of rioting. He was soon also assigned the task of protecting colonists who'd decided to settle in and around Basra. Fotsev and Gorppet both were horrified by the decision to settle colonists in the region, and found many of them exasperating.

After a period of relative peace in Basra, Fotsev inadvertantly helped touch off another round of rioting when a Muslim man demanded that Race females should go clothed, as commanded by Allah. When Fotsev thoughtlessly dismissed Allah, the citizens again rose in anger, and the Race responded violently.

When it was learned that females of the Race went into heat after tasting ginger, Fotsev and his unit had one more weapon to fend off, as the citizens of Basra began tricking females into ingesting ginger. With the odor of a female's pheromones in the air, Fotsev and his comrades frequently had a difficult time maintaining vigilance as they were overpowered by the urge to mate. In one instance, the unit safely, if publically, mated with a female who'd been fed ginger in a drink provided by a human.

With time, Fotsev, who'd rather liked Basra when he first came, grew to hate Basra. A period of leave in a newly built Race city helped emphasize his growing alienation. He turned to ginger himself to help cope with his growing alienation. Nonetheless, he was convinced that Basra would be the death of him.

This proved true in 1964, when he and his unit were attracted to the pheromones of a female. When they approached, they realized she'd been kidnapped and used as bait for an ambush. Fotsev was killed, the words "Allahu akbar" being the last thing he ever heard.