Man In The Bar, the

The Man in the Bar might have looked something like this

During Dairine’s flight from Earth in High Wizardry, her bacon is very conclusively saved in a Crossings bar by a stranger who helps Dairine escape from the BEMs who are chasing her.

“So rattled was she that though she stared right at the person who was steadying her, it took her precious seconds to see him. He was built slight and strong, wearing a white shirt and sweater and a long fawn-colored jacket; a fair-haired young man with quick bright eyes and an intelligent face.” Dairine is very surprised to discover that he’s English-speaking.

There has been considerable speculation about this person’s identity. If the description is correct, he might look something like the man in the image to the right. He is described as being “telepathically sensitive”. But beyond this, the man is not further described in the HW text except as “just one more of the billions of hominids moving about the worlds.” However, his quick and resourceful response to Dairine’s problem suggests that he was a person with considerable experience in dealing with situations like being chased around by heavily armed aliens.

After the scene this man stages to help Dairine escape – thoroughly trashing one of the Crossings’ many bars to slow down the pursuing Satrachi – he apparently spends some hours in the custody of Crossings security before being released. HW