Trade
The Kiint show a large demand for human data, with emphasis on scientific papers and xenobiology reports. To purchase this they supply, in return, commercially valuable information to corporations and individuals. This information exchange is enough to provide an indicator to their own industrial past, as there seem few products regarding which the Kiint are unable to offer some suggestions for improvement. However, they will not supply any information on weapons, nor will they help initiate a completely new product or area of activity, but only upgrades for existing items and technology.
The Kiint undertake no trading with the Tyrathca. And, as far as is known, the Tyrathca merchant council has never approached Jobis with a view to trading either.
Communication
For conferring with Adamists, the Kiint use a vocalizer of their own manufacture, which speaks human languages fluently. When conversing with Edenists, they use affinity.
Defense
There are no visible defense mechanisms either on the planet itself or orbiting it, although the Confederation makes no attempt to downplay the errant-aggressive behavior patterns of its human members. There is a standard 100,000km exclusion zone in operation around Jobis, and spaceflight traffic is serviced by a human company.
It must be assumed, however, that any species capable of building the triad moons is fully capable of defending itself. Certainly no pirate has ever been rash enough to attempt an assault within the Jobis system. Although Confederation Navy and national navy vessels are permitted in the Jobis system, the Kiint have requested that no military exercises be conducted within one light-year of their star.
The worst-case scenario, which the Confederation Assembly dreads, is that a pirate will one day attack some ship carrying a Kiint passenger. It is not known how the Kiint would react to the killing of one of their citizens, although realistically there seems little they could do about it. They are strong supporters of the overall policing-role concept of the Confederation, and obviously recognize the flaws of other species it contains.
B. From Post–2611 Information
It eventually became known that the actual Kiint homeworld is not even inside the Confederation galaxy. Jobis was simply a scientific outpost used to explore this galaxy.
The extent to which the Kiint had concealed their true abilities and culture from the Confederation is quite extraordinary. Hiding behind their claim of disinterest, they were able to promote the notion of their being a species concerned only with cerebral enhancement in a post-technological era. In fact they are—and all the time have been—very much at the height of their technological powers, having a teleport facility which does away with the need for starships, and they are actively and vigorously exploring this entire region of space. Their own homesystem does not have a single homeworld, but rather a ring of planets orbiting their sun (which is assumed to be their original sun). This system acts as a meeting point for all the sentient starfaring species in their galaxy (and presumably others), where knowledge and ideas can be exchanged.
That the Kiint are able to manufacture planets on such a scale is an indication of their awesome technical prowess, although the triad moons did hint at such an ability. As previously suspected, they have developed a perfect replicator to supply all their physical requirements.
Their government is referred to as the Corpus, which does seem analogous to the Edenist Consensus, although it is apparently more active and universal.
They have been observing the human race for at least 2,000 years. Humans with modified genes were specially bred to act as an observer team, and have been quietly watching and recording Earth’s history for them. Apparently they followed the same policy for every other pre-spaceflight species, and observed many xenoc species in a similar fashion. Their non-intervention policy is enforced quite rigorously by the native observers.
Only two true humans, Joshua Calvert and Jay Hilton, have visited the Kiint homesystem. It seems that when the Confederation develops a stardrive capable of reaching their galaxy, humans will be permitted full access to the Kiint database.
3. Jiciro
This was the first sentient xenoc species to be discovered by the Confederation. A scoutship entered their system (180 light-years from Earth) in 2301.
At this time the Jiciro were a pre-technology civilization that was just moving into an agricultural age. It was therefore decided that no further contact should be made, so allowing the Jiciro society to develop without “contamination” by human concepts and technology.
The Confederation Navy maintains a station in the Jiciro system to ensure that no unauthorized starship flights are made to the planet. This station also houses a xenoc-monitoring team whose members are drawn from several participating universities. There are several sensor satellites in orbit above the Jiciro homeworld, and smaller spy systems disguised as local animals and insects roam the surface. This close-proximity observation will have to come to an end when the Jiciro reach a level of technical competence that would allow them to research such a monitoring device should they capture one.
As of 2611, some of their larger national groupings were beginning to experiment with the concept of steam-powered machinery.
Physiology
The Jiciro are bipedal hominids (a fact which caused a great deal of excitement at the time of discovery). Their average height is 1.5m, and they are thinner than terrestrial humans, possessing a different basic skeleton. Their legs are shorter in proportion, and their arms emerge slightly further down the side of the torso. Their skin is a pale cream in color, and they have no facial or bodily hair. Their hands have seven fingers, each ending in a thick horn-like nail. Their facial arrangement is the same as a human’s except for the nose, which is a horizontal gash above the mouth, with a bulbous lip below. The Jiciro have two tongues in their mouths, one on either side, and only a few teeth at the front, so they are limited to eating pulpy food. Their vocal range is wider than for humans, allowing them to produce high-frequency notes above human hearing capacity. Their life expectancy is ninety years.
Six: Principal Characters
A. The Main Protagonists
Joshua Calvert
Born in Tranquillity. His father, Marcus Calvert, was the owner and captain of the starship Lady Macbeth. Marcus died from organ failure due to substance and neural-stimulant abuse following a long term of depression after his last flight in the Lady Macbeth , during which the ship was damaged. Joshua was ten years old when Marcus died, and inherited his starship. His mother subsequently remarried.
Joshua has considerable geneering in his heritage, since the Calverts have been involved in the space industry for centuries, and have been modified accordingly. They do not suffer from free-fall sickness, and their bones and internal organs can withstand relatively high acceleration.
Joshua raised enough funds to repair the Lady Macbeth by scavenging the Ruin Ring for xenoc artifacts. The starship is now flown as an independent trader, traveling from system to system with commercial cargo.
Liol Calvert
Joshua’s half-brother. Born in Ayacucho asteroid, in the Dorado system, he was conceived just before his father Marcus took Lady Macbeth on her last flight. Liol founded and has built up his own astroengineering company, Quantum Serendipity.
Ashly Hanson
Born in 2199, a one-way time traveler. At thirty years old he put his inheritance money in a trust fund managed by the Jovian Bank, which supplies him with long-term maintenance for a zero-tau pod. He remains in stasis for fifty years at a time, then spends five years looking around the Confederation before going back into stasis again. He is an excellent pilot, qualified for both atmospheric and spaceplane craft. A crew-member on Lady Macbeth .
Syrinx
Edenist captain of the voidhawk Oenone . She underwent a typical Edenist upbringing, although she was the most wilful of her ten siblings. This may be due to one of Oenone ’s pattern energizers being the Udat , a blackhawk that would have a more l
iberal outlook than a voidhawk. Since a newly hatched voidhawk and its captain grow in physical symbosis for the first year, her personality would be forged in this time, and with that lingering influence.
She and Oenone took an early duty tour with the Confederation Navy, during which time she lost her brother Thetis and the Graeae during a mission to capture ships smuggling antimatter. After this time Syrinx became suspicious and mistrustful of Adamists in general.
Ione Saldana
The Lord of Ruin, a title which derives from her total command of the independent habitat Tranquillity. Technically the habitat is a duchy of the Kulu Kingdom, though in practice it has been an independent state since the abdication crisis of 2432.
As her embryo was brought out of zero-tau just when her biological father, Maurice, was dying, her only true “parent” is the habitat personality. They have an emotional bond remarkably similar to that of a voidhawk and its captain.
Rubra
Originally an Edenist Serpent, he germinated the independent habitat Valisk as a base for his company, Magellanic Itg. Upon his death, he transferred his personality into the habitat’s neural strata, from where he continues to dominate his descendants. Regarded as mentally unstable by Edenists.
Dariat
An eighth-generation descendant of Rubra. Once considered the most promising of his generation by Rubra, he was quietly being groomed for leadership of Magellanic Itg through subtle psychological manipulation via affinity. When he was fourteen he fell in love with Anastasia Rigel, a member of the Starbridge tribe, who live inside Valisk. He killed a man he thought was a rival for her affections, and Anastasia subsequently committed suicide. Dariat erected an emotional block across his affinity link with the habitat, and refused to communicate with Rubra or his family ever again. He became a recluse for thirty years, plotting his revenge against Rubra, whom he held responsible for Anastasia’s death.
Louise Kavanagh
Eldest daughter of Grant and Marjorie Kavanagh, and heiress to the Cricklade estate on Norfolk. As the wealthy provincial heir of an established landowning family, she was raised in considerable comfort. Educated as well as Norfolk and her class would permit, she is intelligent enough to question the political structure of her world. A keen horsewoman.
Quinn Dexter
A follower of the Light Bringer sect, he joined the coven in Edmonton as a teenager, coming directly under the influence of the High Magus, Banneth. No information exists on his life before this time. One of Banneth’s favorites, and reasonably intelligent, he was promoted rapidly through the ranks, and became a devout believer in the Light Bringer.
Caught by Govcentral police carrying illegal nanonics into Edmonton, he was sentenced to Involuntary Transportation and sent to Lalonde. On arrival at Lalonde, he was assigned to assist a group of pioneers, and was shipped upriver to a new settlement called Aberdale.
Gerald Skibbow
Married to Loren, with daughters Marie and Paula. A Govcentral civic worker, he lived in the Brussels arcology, but emigrated to Lalonde, bringing his family with him. They were upriver to Aberdale, and established a homestead for themselves on the nearby savannah, raising cattle.
Ralph Hiltch
Kulu ESA, a career agent, appointed head of station on Lalonde.
Dr. Alkad Mzu
Garrison national. A physics professor at the capital university, she moved to the Department of Defense when the Dorados settlement crisis with Omuta began to escalate. She developed the Alchemist, a doomsday weapon.
Laton
An Edenist Serpent, and one of the most feared people in modern history. Laton was rumored to be working on a proteanic virus capable of changing both the biological and psychological nature of humans, thus enabling him to subjugate entire planetary populations. When he began his first attempt to take over a habitat, Jantrit, the Edenists and Confederation Navy sent a task force to stop him. He destroyed the habitat with antimatter, and fled with his co-conspirators. A space battle followed in which it was assumed he was destroyed. In reality, he escaped along with most of his group, and landed on Lalonde in the days before it was opened to colonization.
Samual Aleksandrovich
First Admiral of the Confederation Navy. A native of Kolomna, he relinquished its citizenship when he joined the navy as a career officer at twenty years old. He saw active service on several occasions, including Jantrit, before being promoted to command the 2nd Fleet.
B. Other Leading Figures
By Ship
Lady Macbeth
Melvyn Ducharme Fusion specialist
Sarha Mitcham Systems specialist
Dahybi Yadev Node specialist
Warlow Cosmonik
Beaulieu Cosmonik
Oenone
Ruben Fusion systems
Oxley Pilot
Cacus Life support
Edwin Toroid systems
Serina Toroid systems
Tyla Cargo officer
Villeneuve’s Revenge
André Duchamp Captain
Desmond Lafoe Fusion specialist
Madeleine Collum Node specialist
Erick Thakrar Systems specialist / CNIS undercover agent
Udat
Meyer Captain
Cherri Barnes Cargo officer
Far Realm
Layia Captain
Furay Pilot
Endron Systems specialist
Tilia Node specialist
Arikara
Rear-Admiral Meredith Saldana Squadron commander
Lieutenant Grese Squadron Intelligence Officer
Lieutenant Rhoecus Voidhawk Liaison Officer
Kroeber Commander
Beezling
Kyle Prager Captain
Peter Adul Alchemist team physicist
Iles
Auster Captain
On Hellhawks
Rocio Condra Mindori Possessor
Cameron Leung Zahan Possessor
Etchells Stryla Possessor
Pran Soo Varrad Possessor
By Habitat
Tranquillity
Parker Higgens Director, Laymil project
Oski Katsura Laymil Project, Electronics Division chief
Kempster Getchell Laymil Project astronomer
Monica Foulkes ESA agent
Lady Tessa ESA Head of Station
Samuel Edenist Intelligence agent
Pauline Webb CNIS agent
Kelly Tirrel Rover reporter
Lieria Kiint
Nang Kiint
Haile Juvenile Kiint
Parris Vasilkovsky Commercial cargo starship fleet owner
Dominique Vasilkovsky Parris’s daughter, socialite
Clement Vasilkovsky Parris’s son, university student
Sam Neeves Scavenger, pirate
Octal Sipika Scavenger, pirate
Olsen Neale Commander, Confederation Navy Bureau
Valisk
Anastasia Rigel Starbridge tribe member
Kiera Salter Marie Skibbow’s possessor
Stanyon Possessor, Council member
Bonney Lewin Possessor, hunter
Hudson Proctor Possessor, Kiera’s deputy, hellhawk liaison
Tolton Street poet, fugitive
Tatiana Rigel Fugitive
Erentz Rubra’s descendant
Dr. Ratan Rubra’s descendant, physicist
By Asteroid
Trafalgar
Samuel Aleksandrovich First Admiral, Confederation Navy
Admiral Lalwani CNIS Chief
Captain Maynard Khanna First Admiral’s staff officer
Admiral Motela Kolhammer 1st Fleet commander
Dr. Gilmore CNIS Research Division Director
Jacqueline Couteur Possessor
Lieutenant Murphy Hewlett Confederation Marine
Captain al-Sahhaf First Admiral’s staff officer
Koblat
Jed Hinton Deadnight cult disciple
Beth Deadnight cult disciple
Gari Hinton Jed’s sister
Navar Jed’s half-sister
Ayacucho
Ikela Owner of T’Opingtu company and Garissan partisan leader
Voi Ikela’s daughter
Prince Lambert Captain of the starship Tekas
Dan Malindi Partisan leader
Kaliua Lamu Partisan leader
Feira Ile Ayacucho SD commander, partisan leader
Cabral Media magnate, partisan leader
Mrs. Nateghi Lawyer
Lodi Shalasha Garissan radical
Eriba Garissan radical
Kole Socialite
Shea Prince Lambert’s girlfriend
Jesup
Lawrence Dillon Light Bringer disciple
Twelve-T Gang lord
Bonham Light Bringer disciple
Shemilt Light Bringer disciple, SD commander
Dwyer Light Bringer disciple, systems specialist
By Planet
The Confederation Handbook Page 20
