Local Star
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G
Galactic Web: A network of populated worlds and Habs, nearly all of which count themselves as members of the Confederated Worlds.
* * *
Ganit's Pantry: A beloved drinking establishment on Vivik Hab, albeit one that takes full advantage surge pricing on its menu.
* * *
Gnosseo: Not a member planet of the Confederated Worlds; considers itself highly civilized, which it probably is as long as you have a lot of money and a couple of well-armed bodyguards.
* * *
Golros: The home planet of an alien intelligence, the target of Ceebee shotgun-style terraforming, and the location of the battle that made a name for Casne Vivik Veling.
* * *
Gonmate: One of two or more members of a platonic, romantic, and/or sexual relationship, around which most households are built.
* * *
Greasehead: Nickname bestowed (affectionately?) on certain mechanics, especially by those who have opted into less greasy professions.
* * *
Greenwork: The cultivation and upkeep of oxygen-generating algae and other microbiota, required for the preservation of human life in space but which smell like a tree shat itself to death.
* * *
Guttergirl: A deprecating term for the unfortunates who are forced to survive on recycling pit scraps by the uncaring Hab where they live.
* * *
Gyrax: A type of bomber by the Fleet, mostly deprecated but with a few still lingering on in service.
H
Hab: A Habitation Environment; a space station where human beings reside, many serving as waystations between farflung inhabited worlds.
* * *
Hask: Nantha's home base, not far from Centerpoint.
* * *
Hedgehome: A populous system with a large Arcology and two nearby Habs, all of which were destroyed in the fighting between the Confederated Fleet and the Cyberbionautic Alliance.
* * *
Heliodrome: A banked arena for exercise. Where space jocks go to get their sports on.
* * *
Hideslug: A nonsentient cultivated for the production of fine leather goods; happens to look like a legless cow got sucked halfway into a wormhole and then spat back out inside out.
I
Interior Watch: The branch of the Fleet tasked with enforcement of its own internal rules and regulations.
* * *
Issam: The Sanctuary World, said to be the first settled after humanity left its forgotten home planet; makes a good story, anyway.
* * *
Iuelo: A CFS ship lost with all hands in spite of the valiant efforts of her sister ship, the CFS Graithe, to buy time for her escape.
J
Justice: An important social role in Confederated World arcologies and Habs, the members of which work to adjudicate disputes and legal proceedings and to ensure that Distribution proceeds fairly among all members of the local population. The success of these efforts is highly relative depending on the Hab in question.
L
Light Attack Craft: The varied assortment of fighters, bombers, and other small, more-or-less maneuverable vessels attached to the Fleet.
* * *
Lithogrunge: A percussion-heavy, bass-dense, lowkey musical style; great for kidney stones.
M
Mealcase: A personalized serving size of the Hab meal being distributed for any given meal.
* * *
Metal Reclamation: A typical Hab facility; waste not, want not, especially when the hull needs patching.
* * *
Mirede: Proprietor of a tearoom on Vivik Hab and a very pleasant busybody.
N
Nav: Shorthand for Navigation, often used by people too busy making Navigation calculations to say the whole word.
* * *
Nullgrav: A zero-gravity recreation environment; waivers required.
P
Pairhome: Hab-allocated housing optimally sized to a two-person pair, with or without children.
* * *
Parallax: A heavily-armored Fleet advance ship meant to draw fire from enemy forces (and withstand it).
* * *
Photosnap: Like a selfie, but in space!
* * *
Plastiglass: A synthetic, durable glass substitute that patches itself on impact, a highly desirable quality if you want to have windows and also breathe in space.
* * *
Plastiprint: Synthetic plastic-based fabrication printed to specification: mealcases, benches, accessories, and more. Please recycle.
* * *
Plastisteel: A very strong synthetic metal substitute with steel-like durability and plastic-like mass.
* * *
Portlounge: A small area in many living quarters based around the port, the source of news, music, and entertainment. Smaller Habs or arcologies may have a single larger portlounge where families can gather.
* * *
PubWel: Public Welfare; the elected representatives responsible for enacting policies to uphold eusocial ideals, safety, and equity in the Hab.
Q
Quadborn: A child born to any member or members of a particular quadfamily. In a healthy quad, a child born to any member is treated as the child of all members, though most children are aware of who their biological parent or parents in the quad are.
* * *
Quadfamily: A family unit based around a four-person platonic, romantic, and/or sexual relationship, with or without children.
* * *
Quadhome: Hab-allocated housing optimally sized to a four-person quad, with or without children.
R
Recycling Engine: A massive composting container for organic waste generated by a Hab or Arcology; generates fertilizer for the environment's Terraria and mushroom farms; the warmth generated is often used to heat adjacent housing.
* * *
Roia: The minimally-settled planet that houses a number of nonsentient species, including the Roian hideslug, and the type of humans who don't mind or even enjoy living in an environment that is actively trying to murder them all the time.
* * *
Rydoine: The type of Hab where Justice's attentions are not entirely evenly distributed; Triz's Hab of origin.
S
Sanishar: The site of a newly discovered extinct alien-intelligence civilization; exciting stuff if you're into it.
* * *
Scalecloth: A decorative fabric hand-sewn with the scales of Emperor Lizards native to Roia. Emperor Lizards are neither emperors nor technically lizards; they are, however, sparkly.
* * *
Scooper: An ore-mining vessel employed in asteroid mines. Slow, sturdy, and reliable.
* * *
Sei Worldhold: A system of three planetary systems and one Hab located just outside the fringes of the Confederated Worlds. A strongly hierarchical society; though their relations with the Confederated Worlds are friendly, both sides are rather bewildered by the other.
* * *
Seventh God of Issam: Patron deity of Navigators and engineers; avatar of human ingenuity; a holy math nerd.
* * *
Sidorrey: A small Fleet-operated Hab located not far from Vivik. Organized around preventing and intercepting piracy.
* * *
Simek green wine: An unusual vintage originating in the Armward Bands; a typical drink order for a nervous recluse trying to look at least a little sophisticated.
* * *
Skimmer: A speedy and highly maneuverable variety of Light Attack Craft; the preferred starfighter of those who like to live fast, die young, and leave an incinerated corpse.
* * *
Starslicers: A vintage model of Light Attack Craft; named by someone with a lot more enthusiasm than their janky handling and ugly fuselage warrants.
* * *
Sugarpips: The seeds of a particular fruit; a delicacy whose subtle flavors are difficult to perfectly capture via food printer, except pe
rhaps to the undiscerning palate of a kid who grew up eating garbage for breakfast.
* * *
Swalen: The Third God of Issam; a jock, brawler, and all around good-time girl who would probably be delighted to find that her name was regularly invoked as profanity.
T
Technosurgeon: A medical professional trained in both human anatomy and physiology and exogenous implant technology.
* * *
Terraria: An area of Habs and arcologies built around green plants and trees; supplies oxygen, fresh fruits and vegetables, and a bit of mental health.
* * *
The Cosset: A Vivik Hab venue for upscale sex work; the most famous on the Hab and also the most expensive. The locals tend to choose other establishments.
* * *
Tiresh: A four-person gunship that under no circumstances should be flown with a misfiring injector.
* * *
Tolvian: Mendicant monks and far-travelers, followers of the philosopher-poet Tolvia, devoted to her creed of lifting up the least and lowest in the Galaxy.
* * *
Tunnelgun: A quantum-effects-based weapon that can cut through any material by, on a fundamental physical level, convincing the atoms involved that they simply do not exist.
* * *
Tunneltech: The hardware involved in the deployment of a tunnelgun.
U
Upclass: Fancy; elegant; perhaps even snooty.
* * *
Uphab: Habs with artificial gravity enjoy perpetuating the notions of "up" and "down"; uphab levels are those at the imaginary top, downhab at the imaginary bottom.
* * *
Urnok: An unaffiliated Hab: unaffiliated with any major governments, trade organizations, or indeed laws.
W
Webward Pearls: A string of several unaffiliated planets, most of which don't mind housing pirate swarms (some of which function as essential privateers on behalf of Pearl-based interests), nor Ceebee fleets as well as broader human supremacy movements.
* * *
Whaleships: The biggest ships in the Confederated Fleet, which house Light Attack Swarms, heavy artillery, and a great deal of officers. Built to take a hit. Built to take several.
* * *
Wrenchworks: A ship repair and general mechanic facility located on any Hab and in some arcologies as well.
* * *
Wristfob: A communication, scheduling, and technology-interface device typically worn on the wrist.
Acknowledgments
Sometimes books just want to have fun. It's amazing how liberating (I won't say easy, because writing is never quite easy) it can be to let loose and write the book that just wants to be a big queer happy space romp—not to mention discovering that other people want in on that party, too. I'm so grateful to the wonderful team at Interstellar Flight Press, editor extraordinaire Holly Lyn Walrath and Michael Glazner, for embarking on this trip with me and for doing the hard work of providing a flight map along the way.
There have been so many people who helped with reads and critiques along the way, including the wonderful Codexians (go team BB-8!) who read the first draft; my VP22 classmates Alice Towey and Kaitlyn Zivanovich, who helped me wade through rewrites; Julia Patt, and of course the splendid Bennett North, who is a thoughtful external editor as well as a reliable voice reminding me when to turn off the internal one.
I also owe big thanks to the proofreading crew at Interstellar Flight Press—Joanna Velez, Kaylee Craig, Jeremy Brett, and Corey J. White—who had a mighty big job text-wrangling the kind of messy . . . er, sprawling world-building that I tend to generate on the fly, and to cover artist Oleg Tsoy for a fun wrapper that I hope will catch the eye of anyone judging this book by its cover.
And finally, thank you to Mr. Shakespeare, who I think would not object to a remix of this nature: thanks for these dollies to play with! It was a lot of fun to dress them up in space suits and fling them around for a bit.
About the Author
Aimee Ogden is a former science teacher and software tester; now she writes stories about sad astronauts, angry princesses, and dead gods. Her short fiction has appeared in venues such as Analog, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, and Fireside, and another novella, Sun-daughters, Sea-daughters is forthcoming from Tor.com. She also co-edits Translunar Travelers Lounge, a magazine of fun and optimistic speculative fiction. Find her online at aimeeogdenwrites.wordpress.com.
About the Cover Artist
Oleg Tsoy is a freelance 2D illustrator, comics artist, and gamer from Almaty, Kazakhstan. His work appears in Russian and Ukrainian comics and magazines. Find him online at Artstation or on Instagram as MasterOfSpirits.
Interstellar Flight Press
Interstellar Flight Press is an indie speculative publishing house. We feature innovative works from the best new writers in science fiction and fantasy. In the words of Ursula K. Le Guin, we need “writers who can see alternatives to how we live now, can see through our fear-stricken society and its obsessive technologies to other ways of being, and even imagine real grounds for hope.”
* * *
Find us online at www.interstellarflightpress.com.
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