In fact, NGC 4755 did have Terralike worlds, at least five of them circling five different G and K class stars. Current speculation suggests that these star systems, far older than the young, hot suns of the cluster, were swept up and carried along by the cluster's gravitational field in the course of the cluster's movement through the Galaxy.
Alba and Skye were the first two worlds colonized. Stratham, Pomona, and Ulst were secondary colonies explored and colonized within the next few generations. It was discovered that both Alba and Skye were poor in certain natural resources, especially heavy metals, a fact that led to the civilization's ultimate collapse.
Whether the loss of contact with Terra was deliberate or the result of the outbreak of an interstellar war, the Gael colonies proved to be too small and poor to sustain themselves as industrial civilizations without outside trade. By the 30th or 31st century at the earliest, ravaged by starvation, plagues, and the endless wars arising over dwindling factories and stockpiles of heavy metals, technic civilization throughout the cluster had collapsed.
Humans survived on all five worlds. In some cases, isolated bands evolved entirely new cultures in the process of adapting to harsh environments. (Glacier-locked Pomona, especially, presented a challenge to Human survival and inventiveness.) The dominant cultures on Alba, Skye, and Stratham, however, maintained their identity and their cohesion by preserving many of the traditions and ideals that had kept them a distinct people through at least 2,000 years of Terran history.
The Gael Cluster's barbarian period lasted nearly 4,000 years. The rebirth of industrial civilization on Alba was slow, due to limited resources. Finally, however, drawn on by the realization that necessary metals might be found elsewhere in the star system, the primitive Alban space program succeeded in reaching the planet's moon. Not long after, an intact starship from the years before the fall was discovered. Rechristened Longluath (Swift Ship), the vessel allowed Albans to re-establish contact with the other four worlds. Over the next century, ties among the Five Worlds were strengthened. Stratham and Skye joined Alba voluntarily in creating the Gael Confederation. Ulst and Pomona resisted what they considered to be invaders from space, but by 6800 a.j. all five worlds were members of the Gael Confederation.
An interesting footnote to Gael history lies in the uneven loss of their own history. Though records had been preserved of the flight from Terra and the loss of contact with the homeworld that had led to the collapse of Cluster civilization, basic astronomical data was completely lost. Bound on all sides by the thickly strewn masses of the cluster's stars and nebula, the Gaels had forgotten over the course of 4,000 years just how large the universe truly was. Astronomy as a science was not rediscovered on Alba until after the 65th century (Imperial). As a result, Gaels believed the universe to be composed of only what they could see: an ovoid mass of stars and glowing gas roughly 50 light years across.
The truth was not discovered until Longluath passed the boundaries of the cluster in 6907 a.i That voyage wrought profound changes on the shape of Gael civilization, for in that year, Gaels discovered not only the size of the Universe, but the fact of the TOG Imperium.
Gaedhlig
The Gael's Old Tongue is a direct descendent of Scots Gaelic, an ancient and difficult language that had been preserved by Scots nationalists on Earth during the revival of Scottish nationalism there in the 21 st and 22nd centuries. Though Anglic is still spoken by many, the common language on each of the Five Worlds is Gaedhlig.
Various Gaelic consonant groups have different sounds, depending on the letters they precede or follow. Though a complete Gaelic pronunciation guide is impossible here, a few examples follow:
bh: At the beginning or ending of a word, it is pronounced like the v in van. In the middle of a word, it is pronounced like a w or a u or it is silent.
c: Always pronounced as hard c, as in capture.
ch: Never pronounced as in cheer. Ch has no exact Anglic equivalent in Gaelic. When it appears next to a broad vowel (a, o or u), it is similar to the German Nacht. When next to a slender vowel (e or i) it is like the German ich.
chd: Pronounced as a very hard German ch, or chk.
dh and gh: When next to a broad vowel (a, o, u), it is pronounced like the Gaelic ch, or the German Nacht. When next to a slender vowel (e or i), it is pronounced as y in yes. At the end of the word, it is silent, or very, very softly voiced as an h.
g: Hard g, as in gear. When preceded by a slender vowel (e or i) or between two slender vowels, it is pronounced k.
mh: Either v as in van, or silent.
nn: Stressed n, like the n in onion.
s: When next to a broad vowel (a, o, u), it is pronounced s as in soon. When next to a slender vowel (e, i), it is pronounced sh as in shine. (Note the Gaelic name "Sean," which is pronounced "Shawn.")
Vowel pronunciation is similar to Anglic, with long and short versions of each. I is often pronounced ee as in machine. Dipthongs (two vowels appearing together) have both sounds pronounced, one running smoothly into the next.
A few Gaelic words or phrases that appear in Renegade's Honor are listed below, with their pronunciation and meanings. In this listing, the two Gaelic ch sounds are distinguished as follows, ch*: a soft German ch, as in ich ch+: a hard German ch, as in nacht.
Abu (ah-boo): An ancient Gaelic war cry.
Aichbheil (Aich*-el): Revenge or reprisal.
Claidheamh mor (clay-eh mor): Literally "great sword," the "claymore" is the long, double-edged, two-handed broadsword of Scottish history and legend.
Cridhe (Crih-yeh): Heart. The name of the most prominent of the Gael Cluster's stars, a red giant. The reference is to a constellation named early in Alba's history.
Damadas (da-ma-das): Boldness
Gaidheal (ga-yeel): Highlander and, by extension, any Scot or Gael. Gaidhlig (gay-lik): Gaelic, the "Old Tongue" of the Gaels. Galad (ga-lad): Champion
Iolaire (ee-oh-lair): Red Star, a reference to Cridhe, brightest of the Gael Cluster stars.
Teachdair (teh-ach+-kair): Variously, messenger, reporter, or spy
Taisgealach (tah-ish-geh-al-ach+): Discoverer.
Gael Warrior, incidentally, would be Gaidhealchadh (ga-yeel-ch+ah) in Gaelic. It has been rendered by its Anglic equivalent throughout Renegade's Honor in deference to the reader's eyes and throat.
APPENDIX III
Imperial Calendar and Timekeeping
Local methods of timekeeping vary from world to world, of course, for the length of any given planet's day and year have absolutely nothing to do with the day and year of distant Terra. Man carried certain standards with him to the stars, however, and the continuance of trade and communication between the stars demanded that certain basic standards be maintained.
Those standards were defined by Earth, the Imperial capital. The Imperial Standard Year was the 365.25-day year of Terra, with the Standard Day equal to the traditional 23.93 hours of Terra's day, and so on. The names and lengths of the months, originally Roman inventions, were kept.
One change in the method of dating came with a reform of the Imperial calendar in 3230. The Roman Empire was dated from the founding of the Principate of Augustus Caesar in 30 b.c under the old system. With the reform, the years were dated from the founding of the Empire, and 3230 a.d. became 3200 Anno Imperii. All subsequent dates in the Empire's history are considered to be aj.
Human worlds throughout the Galaxy generally retained the terms "second," "minute," "hour," "day," and "year." Local time standards vary, however, with the actual rotation of the planet. Most Earthlike worlds have rotational periods within 20 percent of the standard values. (Days much longer or shorter than this are likely to produce temperature and ecological extremes that will render the world decidedly un-Terran.) On a world with, say, a 37-hour day (12.5 percent longer than standard), seconds, minutes, and hours are all increased by the same percentage. Thus, an hour is actually 67.5 standard minutes long, there are still 24 local hours in a day, and local noon still o
ccurs at 1200 hours. Timekeeping, generally, relies on the 24-hour clock, with 0600 hours being 6 o'clock in the morning, and 1800 hours being 6 o'clock in the afternoon. Perscomps—personal computers usually worn on a person's wrist—have dual timekeeping functions: local time, keyed to the length of the local day, and Imperial Standard time, as measured in New Rome, Earth.
Imperial years, of course, have nothing to do with local years. Many individual worlds within the Imperium measure time by two standards, with local years (based on their planet's revolution around its sun, and often measured from the time the colony on the world was first founded) distinct from Imperial years (by which all trade and travel through the Galaxy is measured).
For example, the length of the Alban year is 287 standard days, or about 78 percent of the Terran year. In Alban timekeeping, the year 6830 a.i. is 3388 (Alban Local). The Alban Year 1 corresponds to 4188 a.i., the date when a number of scattered tribes on Alba were united under a single government for the first time since the original planetary government had fallen.
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