In a galaxy overcrowded with alien cultures (some of them so different that communication between them is forever impossible), three things are required for these cultures to productively interact.

A FASTER-THAN-LIGHT PROPULSION UNIT

You would be surprised how many of these there are.

AN ALL-PURPOSE TRANSLATION DEVICE

Such a device was achieved nearly a century ago with the development of the Beal Vocoder Unit (popularly known as a xeno-coder). This device not only modulates sound waves, but includes a full range of sensory functions (light, olfactory, subsonic vibrations, magnetic and gravatic pulses, and some new models even feature quantum motion sensors).

THE ABILITY TO COMPREHEND TOTALLY ALIEN THOUGHT PROCESSES

This is the most important thing of all. Communication is easy; understanding is hard. (How can a human really understand the urge to spin that is experienced in the third season by the Nirrur slimemold that grows on the fusionballs in Frolix 8?) The ability to think like another species is a rare and galactically valuable gift. Those who are capable of it are called XENOTECHS.

KEIF LLAMA is a young woman who works for Confed, the galactic government, as a xenotech. While Keif is a talented xenotech, but she is still quite inexperienced. The fascinating backdrop of intrigue and corporate self-interest results in some serious situations, and some insanely ridiculous encounters.

Howarth's first Keif Llama strips appeared in his SF anthology magazine PARTICLE DREAMS. Then Keif received her own comic book series KEIF LLAMA: XENOTECH (which ran for six issues). During this period in the later 1980s, Howarth did two other Keif Llama strips: 'Thicker than Blood', a 4 page B&W strip for ANYTHING GOES 6; and 'Treaty', a 7 page full color strip for DOOMSDAY SQUAD 7.

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All images copyright © Matt Howarth. Used by permission. All rights reserved
Everything else copyright © 2003 Matt Howarth and Craig Smith unless otherwise noted.