DR. ZACHARY SMITH


Zach Smith was born in 2287, in Washington, D.C., Earth. His mother was a great fan of ancient entertainment programs from the 20th century, and one of her favorites was Lost in Space. She especially liked Dr. Smith, and while that didn't really have anything to do with her choosing to marry the man she did, it didn't hurt, either. However, it definitely did have something to do with the name she chose for her son.

Zachary learned when he was 10 where his name came from, and began watching his mother's holos of the old show. He quite liked the character too, though he felt it needed just a few minor adjustments. He spent his life trying to become as much like that character as possible, but better. He studied hard for many years, and earned many degrees on a wide variety of subjects. He got so many titles, eventually, that he just decided to forget all about them and simply call himself "doctor" to cover them all.

But that wasn't all he did. He made investments in all sorts of businesses all over the Alpha and Beta quadrants, and generally they paid off big. He was an incredibly good businessman. He was also superb at making contacts who would prove to be invaluable. Finally, when he felt he was ready, he staged takeovers of a good number of companies on many worlds, and officially announced the formation of his own corporation, JupiterCorp, in 2323.

Over the years, JupiterCorp continued to grow and prosper, opening branches in market after market, expanding not only its territory but its services: There was eventually virtually no area of business that JupiterCorp didn't cover. And it continues to grow to this day.

But amidst all this success, Dr. Smith secretly built his criminal empire alongside his business empire. Oh, lots of folks know about this. People in his criminal empire, some of the people in his business empire, some law enforcement officials, lots of independent operators like merchants, smugglers, criminals of every sort. Oh yes, there are plenty of people who know the truth, but they can't do anything. Dr. Smith himself is always extremely cautious in making sure that there is never any proof; he also hires only the best people, people who are at the top of their fields, people who are entirely trustworthy...for the right price.

And so, Dr. Smith just gets richer and more powerful, all across the galaxy. And no one can stop him. Lots of other folks are getting richer because of him, and hardly anyone suffers because of him. He is a great philanthropist, contributing to practically every major charitable organization, as well as several smaller ones. He gives incredible bonuses to all his employees, both legitimate business employees who know nothing of his criminal empire, and criminal employees. These bonuses are on top of the best regular pay for their job descriptions to be found anywhere in the galaxy. And those bonuses...wow. For instance, sometimes he'll give "wishes" to employees...little things they want that they can't get anywhere else.

for example, when i was still involved with Leviathan, i intended at the end to explain Smith's efforts against the vessel thusly: one of his minor employees, perhaps someone in the mailroom of some small office somewhere, asked at bonus time for Dr. Smith to make life difficult for an old enemy of his (the mailroom worker's) from school. this old enemy was now some ensign or perhaps petty officer on Leviathan, who'd have to log a lot of overtime due to all the trouble Smith's agent, DeTalian, was going to make for the ship. and that was all.

JupiterCorp