| Kelly Jenkins | |
| |
| Biographical Information | |
| Real Name | Kelly Ann Jenkins |
| Aliases | Dr. Tachyon |
| Gender | Female |
| Class | Nat |
| Social Information | |
| Place of Birth | Atoka, Oklahoma |
| Citizenship | United States |
| Occupation | single mother |
| Event Participant | Takisian World War |
| Base of Operations | Takis, formerly the Rox |
| Affiliations | Jumpers |
| Relatives | Illyana (daughter), unnamed unborn son |
| Allies | Bloat, Dr. Tachyon, Blaise Jeannot Andrieux, Popinjay |
| Origin | |
| First Appearance | One-Eyed Jacks |
| Final Appearance | Double Solitaire |
Kelly Ann Jenkins is a fictional character from the Wild Cards series of books.
History[]
Kelly was a jumper-wannabe who never received the actual jumper power before the death of Prime. Teased by the other jumpers, she enjoyed the special protection of their leader, David Butler, who claimed to value her innocence. When Butler was killed, Kelly's future seemed uncertain. While living on the Rox, the joker leader Bloat became intensely infatuated with her, but she was more interested in attracting the affections of the jumpers' new leader, Blaise Jeannot Andrieux.
Coerced by Blaise into a triple jump, Kelly's mind was trapped in Dr. Tachyon's body. Tachyon, now trapped in Kelly's body, was raped by Blaise, and Kelly was forced to watch. The teenager realized she was never anything more than a useful tool in Blaise's plan for revenge. Made to masquerade as Tachyon during the "Jump the Rich" scheme, Kelly came to spend most of "his" days in a drunken stupor. Meanwhile, the real Dr. Tachyon was held captive on the Rox, subjected to further sexual assaults, and eventually discovered "she" was carrying Blaise's child. Forbidden any contact with the Takisian, Kelly finally defied Blaise and used the telepathic powers of "his" new form to control, and accidentally kill, the jumper guarding Tachyon's cell. Heavily pregnant by then and desperate to avoid giving birth, Tachyon encouraged Kelly to use his psi-powers to make Blaise reverse the jump that swapped their bodies.
Discovering the pair plotting against him, Blaise viciously beat them both before dragging Kelly away and locking Tachyon back in her cell. Tachyon eventually escaped the Rox, but not Kelly's body, with the help of Bloat and Black Shadow. Shortly after that, the National Guard and NYPD mounted a second assault on the joker stronghold. Forced to flee the Rox with Blaise, Kelly posed as Tachyon once again, this time to steal the alien's sentient starship, Baby. Their new destination was Takis, but Baby quickly discovered Kelly was an imposter and attempted to return to earth. Blaise threatened to kill Kelly, which would trap Baby's master in her new body, and this was enough to subdue the living starship.
On Takis, Kelly became a valuable bargaining chip, helping buy Blaise time to assume control of House Vayawand and begin a war of conquest. Upon learning his grandfather had followed him home, Blaise panicked and nearly killed Kelly in order to permanently consign Tachyon to life as a woman. Durg, Blaise's bodyguard/advisor proposed an alternate plan. Tachyon's male body represented thousands of years of selective breeding by House Ilkazam, so Kelly was soon married off to Princess Mona'ella of Vayawand in the hope of fathering rival claimants to the Ilkazam throne. Drunk most of the time and easily swayed, Kelly obeyed his calculating wife even after she had several of Blaise's pregnant concubines poisoned.
Kelly next saw her original body at Festival, a traditional Takisian armistice celebration. Both Houses Vayawand and Ilkazam attended and Kelly's improved telepathy quickly guided her to Tachyon. With Tachyon's due date soon approaching, Kelly warned the baby's surrogate mother about her many drug allergies. In return, Tachyon gave Kelly some tips on how to hone his telepathy. The brief reunion was interrupted when Blaise announcing Kelly's engagement to Mona'ella. His second announcement, that under Takisian law Tachyon (as the mother of his child) was his property, prompted Tachyon to attack him. The celebration dissolved into chaos and the Takisian World War continued.
Unable to capture Blaise in time, Tachyon finally gave birth to the child of Kelly's body and named their daughter Illyana. Equipped with a pistol and telepathically summoning help in the form of armed guards, Kelly helped to finally capture Blaise. Following the resolution of the Takisian World War, Kelly and Tachyon were eventually returned to their rightful bodies. Feeling out of place on Earth, Kelly chose to remain on Takis to help raise Illyana.
From Dr. Tachyon through Blaise, to Illyana
Appearance[]
Kelly is a Caucasian female with long pale blonde hair and smoky grey eyes. Before leaving Oklahoma, people in her hometown told her she was "model pretty." She has a triangular face with a sharp, pointed chin, and lips set in a perpetual "porpoise smile" due to a short upper lip. On Takis, Kelly's body was considered beautiful enough for her to be mistaken as one of the telepathic ruling class. Kelly also has numerous unspecified drug allergies.
Kelly's height is indeterminate, being described as tiny compared to Blaise, yet taller than Dr. Tachyon. The depiction of Kelly on the cover of Double Solitaire shows her as not much shorter than Blaise.
Telepathic Traits[]
While occupying Tachyon's body Kelly gradually learned to utilize the telepathic powers that are every Takisian noble's birthright. Lacking finesse, Kelly once accidentally killed a jumper under her mind control. Tachyon thought of Kelly's telepathic communications as "MTV" video bursts of thoughts and images.
Conversely, while trapped in Kelly's body, Tachyon was determined to hone the mental connections in Kelly's mind necessary to generate low-level telepathy and rudimentary mind shields. This was made easier by Tachyon achieving mindlink early on with the nascent telepathy of "her" unborn child.
Upon returning to their original bodies, Kelly appeared to still possess some measure of telepathy, Tachyon referring to her as a "telepathic single mom."
Personality[]
A small town girl with dreams of becoming famous and wealthy, Kelly enjoyed all the jumpers had to offer with little to no thought of the consequences for their victims. Even after the triple-jump which put her in Dr. Tachyon's body and vice versa Kelly took no responsibility for her predicament. "He raped me," and "You got me pregnant!" was her response, willfully ignoring the fact that Tachyon was the one Blaise actually raped and forced to carry his child.
In Tachyon's body, Kelly quickly succumbed to the doctor's alcoholic tendencies and, eventually, his hyperactive libido, putting her in the unusual position of having had sex as a man, but not as a woman.
Trivia[]
- Kelly has an extensive rap sheet back on Earth due to her association with the jumpers. She was wanted as an accessory to armed robbery, kidnapping, assault and battery, and murder.