by Steve White
CNEN—Confederated Nations of Earth Navy; the CNE’s space fleet and principal military service.
Corvette—Small space warship, the largest capable of landing on a planetary surface.
Cruiser—The primary combatant ship of space navies, typically carrying a complement of fighter craft. The largest variety, the “strike cruiser,” is the true “capital ship’ of space. Until recent years, cruisers were the only warships capable of performing transition (q.v.) independently of transition gates.
Frigate—A warship smaller than a cruiser. In recent times there has been a trend toward equipping frigates with integral transition engines.
Gevahon (singular “gevah”)—Lokaron interstellar “nations,” normally with limited, decentralized governments. Each gevah comprises a subspecies gengineered for colonization of a particular planetary environment.
Gev-Harath—The richest and most powerful of the Lokaron gevahon; on friendly terms with Earth since 2030.
Gev-Lokarath—The Lokaron gevah centered on the race’s original homeworld and inhabited by its original, unmodified genotype. Tends to look down on the other gevahon, which in turn regard it with a kind of overcompensated inferiority complex.
Gev-Rogov—Lokaron gevah, large and powerful but in somewhat bad odor with the other gevahon because its subspecies (more divergent from the original genotype than most) is regarded as physically unappealing, and because its centralized, authoritarian governmental system is repugnant to Lokaron norms. The object of bitter human hatred since 2030.
Gev-Tizath—Lokaron gevah, originally a secondary colony of Gev-Harath and inhabited by essentially the same subspecies. Home of the original Lokaron discoverers of Earth, with which it is now on good terms. Regarded as a bumptious newcomer by the older-established gevahon.
Gig—A small craft carried by a large spaceship that cannot itself land on a planetary surface.
Harath-Asor—Capital planet of Gev-Harath (q.v.).
Hovahon (singular “hovah”)—Lokaron megacorporations which wield the real power within the gevahon (q.v.).
Hov-Korth—The wealthiest hovah of Gev-Harath (q.v.); a close trading partner of Earth, with which it has enjoyed a special relationship since 2030.
Lokaron (singular “Lokar”)—Nonhuman race, similar in many biochemical respects to humanity but with numerous differences, most notably a three-gender reproductive pattern. The most widespread, advanced, and powerful race in the known galaxy, differentiated into subspecies originally gengineered as colonists for various planets, each with its own politically sovereign gevah.
Overspace—A dimension congruent with normal space, in which points corresponding to points in normal space are vastly closer together. This makes it possible to evade relativistic limitations and effectively exceed the speed of light.
Tizath-Asor—Capital planet of Gev-Tizath (q.v.).
Transition—Convenience label for the act of entering or departing from overspace (q.v.) by creating a multi-dimensional “tunnel” in the space-time continuum, by means of either a ship’s own internal “transition engine” (typical of warships and exploration ships) or external “transition gates” (which make interstellar commerce economically viable).
Upload—A digital copy of a brain’s memories, which can be run as a self-aware computer program. Cutting-edge technology even for the Lokaron.
Table of Contents
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
GLOSSARY
