BEM

Abbreviation for "bug-eyed monster": Dairine's way of referring to the aliens who chase her through the Crossings.

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 was her first time out on the "High Road", this is possibly understandable. (HW)