BEM

Abbreviation for "bug-eyed monster": Dairine uses this not very complimentary term to refer to the aliens who chase her through the Crossings. These aliens are Satrachi, as Nita and Kit later discover while following Dairine's trail.

Apparently coined by Martin Alger, the term has a long history in the science fiction field, harking back to the early days of the printed genre -- when aliens were routinely seen and depicted as ugly weird creatures usually bent on world domination, and often (to judge by early "pulp" covers featuring distressed human heroines) on cross-species dating. Dairine is almost certainly using the term in this more perjorative sense: since the aliens in question are shooting at her at the time, and it's her first time out on the "High Road", this is possibly understandable. (HW)