Limit
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O’Keefe, Finn Irish actor, became global superstar with Perry Rhodan. Critics’ favourite, sex symbol, solitary and shy, with a reckless past. Nurtures his rebel image. Member of moon tour group.
Omura, Momoka Japanese actress, art film star, eccentric and arrogant. Wife of Warren Locatelli. Member of moon tour group.
Orley, Amber Tim Orley’s wife, teacher. Capable and uncomplicated, tries to act as go-between for Tim and his father. Member of moon tour group.
Orley, Crystal Julian Orley’s late wife, spent the last months of her life in a state of mental derangement.
Orley, Julian Former film producer, founder and CEO of technology empire Orley Enterprises and wealthiest man in the world. Unconventional, charismatic, with a pronounced instinct for power and a demonstrable dislike of nation states. Inventor of the space lift and host of moon tour group.
Orley, Lynn Julian Orley’s daughter and CEO of Orley Travel, the tourism group of Orley Enterprises. Perfectionist, psychologically unstable, architect of the Gaia moon hotel and member of the moon tour group.
Orley, Tim Julian Orley’s son, teacher, at loggerheads with his father. Tries to protect Lynn from collapse. Member of moon tour group.
Ögi, Heidrun Photographer, albino, former stripper and porn actress, calls a spade a spade. Wife of Walo Ögi and member of moon tour group.
Ögi, Walo Swiss investor, architect, man of the world and epicurean with a weakness for the music of the 1990s. Lovable, with tendency towards self-dramatisation and grand gestures. Husband of Heidrun Ögi. Member of moon tour group.
Palmer, Leland Commander of the American Peary Base, lunar North Pole.
Palstein, Gerald Head of strategy at EMCO oil company. Aesthete, numerate, spent years fighting for his company to switch focus to alternative energies. Narrowly escaped attempted assassination.
Parker-Edwards, Mimi Fashion designer and founder of the Mimi Kri label producing intelligent fashion. Diver, extreme sports fan, creationist views. Wife of Marc Edwards. Member of moon tour group.
Reardon, Mickey Ex-IRA man, specialist in alarm systems.
Rogachev, Oleg CEO of the Russian steel giant Rogamittal, with links to the Kremlin and the Russian Mafia. Martial arts and football enthusiast, places great stress on self-control, courteous, sometimes seems distant. Member of moon tour group.
Rogacheva, Olympiada Member of the Russian Parliament, daughter of the former Russian President Maxim Ginsburg and wife of Oleg Rogachev. Inconspicuous and dejected. Unhappy in her marriage, drinks. Member of moon tour group.
Ruiz, Alejandro Strategy manager of the Repsol oil company, vanished in South America in 2022.
Shaw, Jennifer Head of the central security division, Orley Enterprises. Competent and authoritarian, with a dry sense of humour.
Sina Editor, Society and Miscellaneous, at environmental broadcaster Greenwatch. Helps Loreena Keowa with her research.
Song, Joe Strategy manager of the Chinese oil company Sinopec, Beijing.
Sung, Tony Student, member of the internet dissident group ‘the Guardians’ and of the City Demons motorcycle club.
Tautou, Bernard CEO of the Franco-British water company Suez, politician. Charmer with a tendency to complacency. Member of moon tour group. Tautou, Paulette Foreign language correspondent, wife of Bernard Tautou, condescending, weak stomach. Member of moon tour group.
Thiel, Sophie Deputy director of the Gaia moon hotel, responsible for housekeeping and life-support systems. Cheerful and open, detective instincts.
Thorn, Vic Commander of the first crew of the American Peary Base, lunar North Pole. Capable astronaut and playboy. Lost his life in an accident on Orley Space Station (OSS) in 2024.
Tu, Joanna Painter, ex-girlfriend of Owen Jericho and wife of Tu Tian. Elegant and urbane, observes the world with sardonic detachment.
Tu Tian Founder and CEO of Tu Technologies, a Shanghai company producing holograms and virtual environments. Skilled golfer and businessman, with unparallelled self-confidence. Confidant of Yoyo, companion of Chen Hongbing and close friend of Owen Jericho.
Vogelaar, Jan Kees Mercenary, sometime member of the government of Equatorial Guinea under General Mayé. Extremely cunning. Special characteristic: glass eye.
Voss, Marika Director of the Institute of Forensic Pathology at the Charité Hospital, Berlin.
Wachowski, Tommy Deputy commander of the American Peary Base, lunar North Pole.
Wang, Grand Cherokee Student, Yoyo’s flatmate, self-dramatist, weak character. Operates the Silver Dragon ride at the Shanghai World Financial Center (WFC).
Winter, Miranda Ex-model, inheritor of billions and occasional actress. Naïve and uneducated, warm and strident. Has names for her breasts. Member of moon tour group.
Woodthorpe, Kay Director of the bioregenerative systems research group, Orley Space Station (OSS).
Xiao ‘Maggie’ Meiqi Student, member of the internet dissident group ‘the Guardians’ and of the City Demons motorcycle club.
Xin, Kenny Agent, aesthete and neurotic.
Yin Ziyi Student, member of the internet dissident group ‘the Guardians’ and of the City Demons motorcycle club.
Zhang Li Student, Yoyo’s flatmate.
Zhao Bide Acquaintance and occasional helper of Owen Jericho from Quyu, like Jericho in search of Yoyo.
Zheng Pang-Wang Founder and CEO of the Chinese technology company Zheng Group, great hope of Chinese space travel.
Zhou Jinping Crew member of the Chinese helium-3 extraction station, Sinus Iridum, Moon.
Acknowledgements
Various textbooks, documentaries, photographs and films were a great help to me when I was writing this book – so many that it would be impossible for me to list them all here. I should like to thank the authors, journalists, scientists, photographers and directors whose discoveries flowed into my research all the more emphatically for their work.
But Limit would not have come into being if some remarkable people hadn’t given up their time to me.
My knowledge of astronauts, space stations, spaceships, moon bases, satellites, interplanetary communication, the incidence of lunar helium-3 and the technology required for its extraction, space law, the Moon itself and the future of manned space travel was considerably enriched by:
Thomas Reiter, ISS and Mir astronaut, Chairman of the German Aerospace DLR Porz
Kerstin Rogon, Thomas Reiter office, DLR Porz
Dr Wolfgang Seboldt, Space missions and technology, DLR Porz
Dr Reinhold Ewald, Mir astronaut and physicist
Professor Ernst Messerschmidt, astronaut and physicist
Dr Eva Hassel-von Pock
Dr Paolo Ferri, head of solar and planetary missions, ESA Space Operations Centre, Darmstadt
Dr Frank-Jürgen Dieckmann, Spacecraft Operations Manager for Envisat and ERS-2, ESA Space Operations Centre, Darmstadt
Dr Manfred Warhaut, Head of Mission Operations, ESA Space Operations Centre, Darmstadt
Professor Dr Tilman Spohn, Head of the Institute of Planetary Research Management, DLR, Berlin
Dr Marietta Benkö, specialist in space law, Köln
Ranga Yogeshwar, physicist and presenter
The oil and gas sector, business structures and prognoses, but also the growing market in alternative energies, was brought closer to me by:
Werner Breuers, Chairman of LANXESS AG
Wahida Hammond, Skywalker, Köln – with extra thanks for contacts and simply being Why
I learned a lot about modern communication technology, the internet of tomorrow, IT security, holography and virtual environments from:
Dr Manfred Bogen, Head of Virtual Environments at the Fraunhofer Institute for Intelligent Analysis and Information Systems, Sankt Augustin
Paul Friessem, Head of Department, Secure Processes and Infrastructures, at the Fraunhofer Institute for Secure Information Technology, Sankt Augustin
Thorsten Holtkämper, Project Manager, Virtual Environments, at the Fr
aunhofer Institute for Intelligent Analysis and Information Systems, Sankt Augustin
Roland Kuck, Project Manager, Virtual Environments, at the Fraunhofer Institute for Intelligent Analysis and Information Systems, Sankt Augustin
Thomas Tikwinski, Project Manager, NetMedia, at the Fraunhofer Institute for Intelligent Analysis and Information Systems, Sankt Augustin
Jochen Haas, Simply Net Data Services, Köln
I was able to deepen my understanding of architecture and urban planning, particularly about urban development in China, but also about slums, thanks to:
Professor Dr Eckhard Ribbeck, City Planning Institute, Stuttgart University
Ingeborg Junge-Reyer, mayor of Berlin and Senator for Urban Development
The present and future state of forensic medicine were brought to life for me by:
Dr Michael Tsokos, Director of the Institute of Forensic Pathology at the Charité, Berlin
I was given information about the past, present and future of China, about Chinese manners and names, and the status quo of Chinese pop music by:
Mian Mian, author and scene icon, Shanghai
Wei Butter, Master of Arts, Asian Languages, Bonn
Facts about mercenaries, private security services, arms technology, police and detective work were communicated to me by:
Peter Nasse, Head of Personal Security Management Services, Köln
Uwe Steen, Public Relations, Köln Police
Special thanks to:
Gisela Tolk, judge and passionate sinologist, who tirelessly collected material about China for me
Maren Steingross, who summarised my Chinese research and thus got it into my head
Jürgen Muthmann, who read more newspapers in a week than I do in a whole year, and drew my attention to a lot of things that I would otherwise have missed
Larissa Kranz for being such a great dining companion
You can get a bit unsociable when you’re writing fat books, which is down to a perceived distortion of space and time. For example, you could swear you’d been out with your best friend only the previous week, until he points out on the phone that you haven’t seen each other in six months. Dear people who are important to you engage in dialogue with each other about the question of which galaxy their physically and mentally absent friend, relation and husband may currently be travelling in. In fact I did go missing for a long time, but never heard a word of reproach. Instead I enjoyed two years of sympathy, support and patience. I owe my friends and family a debt of gratitude for that! More than anything else I’m glad to be able to spend more time with you all again – particularly since I hate sitting alone at my desk! If there were no laptops, high-performance batteries and extension leads, author would be the worst job imaginable for me. I like being around people too much, so I’ve got used to writing in public, surrounded by music, street noises and conversation. As a result, large parts of Limit were written in the establishments of restaurateur friends of mine, whose ministrations had considerable influence on the result.
I am particularly grateful to Thomas Wippenbeck and his great team at Restaurant Fonda in Südstadt, Köln, where I spent so much time that in the end I risked being mistaken for part of the furniture and stacked up with the chairs at night. I was also well looked after in the Spitz, whose friendly staff defended my regular table with knife and fork against all other guests. I was always given a welcome by the Sterns in the Vintage and Romain Wack in Wackes. Sometimes I simply had to get out of Köln and headed for the island of Sylt, where I received perfect treatment both from Johannes King and his team at the Söl’ring Hof and from Herbert Seckler, Ivo Köster and their team at the Sansibar.
I would like to thank the brilliant, committed staff at my publishing house, and quite particularly you, Helge, for your friendship and invaluable confidence.
But my ultimate thanks is for you, Sabina. However much I may have enjoyed travelling to the Moon in my mind – the best thing was always looking back at the Earth. Because that’s where you are.