Photos by SAM DEAN The Roanoke Times

Reginald Collins (left) and John Martin take a break at the annual SheVaCon on Saturday at the Holiday Inn Tanglewood.

SAM DEAN The Roanoke Times

Rita Overstreet seizes her chance to clean a Holiday Inn Tanglewood men's room Saturday after Aidan Arriola, 5, playing a Sith lord from the "Star Wars" movies, marches out into the SheVaCon action proudly wielding his light saber.

Two Klingons and a girl in a black hooded cape walked into the bar at the Holiday Inn Tanglewood.

"If this was an Empire bar, the first thing we would ask for would be a keg of blood wine," one of the Klingons, Reginald Collins, said as he checked out the place.

Instead, Collins and John Martin, also dressed as one of the villainous warriors from the "Star Trek" movies, settled for a Heineken and a Guinness.

Such was the scene Saturday at SheVaCon, a science fiction and fantasy convention where more than 700 people, many of them in costume, invaded the Holiday Inn and imposed their own out-of-this-world order.

In a crowded hallway, Imperial Stormtroopers rubbed shoulders with Klingons and the occasional Darth Vader as they made their way to seminars and presentations that filled five boardrooms over the course of three days.

Among the educational offerings: "Down and Dirty Costumes with Bambi"; "Beam Me Up," a discussion about quotes from science fiction movies and books often used in real life; "Yoga With Yoda"; a video game tournament; the basics of robot building; and a writing seminar titled "Death and Destruction, Why Are They So Popular?"

Sooner or later, it had to be asked: Is this a gathering of nerds?

Yes and no, SheVaCon Chairwoman Gina Adler said.

"Yeah, I'm really a big-girl geek," said Adler, a mother of three who was decked out in a Stormtrooper outfit.

"I know everybody looks at us as people living in their parents' basement," she said. "But we have a lot of professionals. Doctors, lawyers, even CIA agents. This is their time out. This is where they come to relax.

"It's almost like extended family. We all have the same interests."

Those interests can add up, financially.

"I've got about $3,000 invested so far," John Mayes of Richmond said of his Darth Vader outfit, a realistic rendering with details down to the evil commander's heavy, mechanical breathing that came from a MP3 player concealed beneath his cape.

Whenever Mayes attends a science fiction convention, he's reminded that the money is well spent.

"Every time I see a kid's face light up when they see Vader or another costume, that's just awesome," Mayes said. "It's like reliving my youth through them."

And it's more than just a fantasy world; many science fiction enthusiasts don their costumes to visit sick children in hospitals and support groups such as the Association for Support of Children with Cancer and the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Now in its 18th year, SheVaCon has seen its followers multiply like tribbles.

The convention began in Staunton (the name is short for Shenandoah Valley Convention) but moved to Roanoke about 10 years ago to accommodate fans who came from all over the United States and as far as Canada.

Many of the costume-wearing attendees relish the strange looks they get from passers-by when they stop to pump gas or take a cigarette break outside the hotel.

"For me, I like to scare the normal people," said Collins, the Klingon who wandered into the Holiday Inn lounge, which at times resembles the famous bar scene in the first "Star Wars" movie.

"It's interesting," bartender Tammy Abel said of the crowd she sees once a year when SheVaCon comes to town. "You don't get bored."