The Dying Light (47 page)

Sciacca’s World
—the only habitable world of the Hutton-Luu System; once an agricultural planet of the Dominion, now a desert penal colony of the COE (Sciacca Penal Colony). Its ring of moonlets—the Soul—is owned and mined by DAOC Inc.

Scion War
—the war in which the Sol Apotheosis Movement met its downfall at the hands of the Dominion, the Ataman Theocracy, and the COE, among others. The war was brought to an end in the 37th Millennium (‘577 EN) when the leader of the combined military forces ordered an attack on the headquarters of the Movement, provoking their explosive suicide. See
Sol Apotheosis Movement
.

scutter
—a small, swift spacegoing vessel with many uses,
 
both military and civilian.

Sebettu
—Dictatrix who, in ‘173 EN, briefly unified the Kesh Caste.

Sebettu,
SRF
—Kesh destroyer.

Shadow Place—
the temple-like quarters in which the Olmahoi
irikeii
is housed.

Shak’ni, Field Officer
—a Kesh officer subordinate to General Darkan.

slow-jump
—a common alternative to the anchor drive that utilizes similar technology. Most ships with an anchor drive can slow-jump if necessary. It is essentially a jump through hyperspace from any point in real space. A certain degree of kinetic energy is required before translation can be achieved, so ships must accelerate for some time beforehand. Even then, the hyperspace jump is short-lived, and the vessel emerges soon after (typically less than a light-year away from its departure point) with significantly less kinetic energy. The process must be repeated from scratch if another slow-jump is required. As a means of crossing interstellar space, it is inefficient and time-consuming, hence its name. Slow-jumping becomes increasingly nonviable closer to a gravity well, but more efficient as mass (of the traveling object) decreases.

Sol Apotheosis Movement
—a quasi-religious organization devoted to the pursuit of Transcendence via genetic manipulation and biomodification that reached its peak and was destroyed in the 37th Millennium. Its fanatical followers were a source of unrest for decades, until an alliance was formed among their neighbors dedicated to putting a stop to them. In ‘577 EN, at the climax of the Scion War, a flotilla of allied forces encircled their base, which the Movement destroyed in order to prevent its capture. The resulting explosion annihilated them as well, of course, but also decimated the flotilla. Of the four stations involved in the battle, only one survived, and that was severely damaged. So embarrassed was the alliance that the leaders of the day ordered the event stricken from history. They even closed the anchor point leading to the system to keep anyone from learning what occurred there. Nothing survived of the base, and the rest of the system is an unsalvageable ruin.

Sol System
—an uninhabited system in a nonaligned region near the Dato Bloc, one known for its antiquity. Former home of the Sol Apotheosis Movement.

Sol Wunderkind
—genetically modified clone warriors designed and bred by the Sol Apotheosis Movement.

Solar Envelope
—a device designed by the Johak Corporation in 38,138 EN, intended to provide a jump shield large enough to enclose an entire solar system. Two prototypes were built in ‘211 EN by an early Kesh Government, which held them in storage until the Great Embargo of ‘221 EN. Asha’s Gauntlet was used on one system at this time, with disastrous results: the system’s primary sun, modified to power the Envelope, was exhausted within two months; the entire system collapsed shortly thereafter, and is now known only as B’kan’s Folly. Of no use as a defensive weapon, and outlawed by the Convention on Extraordinary Weapons in ‘254 EN, the second Gauntlet has remained in the hands of the N’kor Republic since then.

spine
—the collective noun used to describe a loosely linked group of outriggers; from their means of traveling between systems, on the back of a naked real-space drive known as the spine.

Starburst, COEA—
COE frigate.

Surin
—a relatively minor Caste found in the regions surrounding the COE. They exist in isolated clusters overseen by a governing body that guides rather than rules. They are social beings, yet are fond of isolation, giving them a reputation for occasional aloofness. They are technically accomplished, especially in the biological sciences. In stature, they tend to be slight and have hair covering much of their bodies. It is occasionally speculated that they have re-evolved from Low Caste status.

Surin Agora
—the ruling body of the loosely knit Surin nation.

Synnett, Torr
—security guard on Galine Four.

Temoriel
—a COE Armada trainee port not far from Bodh Gaya.

Thin Trunk
—an outrigger spine known to Long Span.

Tipper-Linke Conduit
—a specialized form of chaos-lock, combining tuned circuits with quantum encryption: the chaos-locked signal is broadcast along a beam of polarized light, with digital data represented by 90-degree separations in polarization; without knowing which polarization angles to look for or which angle is 0 and which is 1, the signal will be garbled. By the uncertainty principle, any incorrect attempt to measure the polarization of the light will result in interference, which will alert the users of the Tipper-Linke Conduit, who can then change the angle of polarization, leaving the hackers exactly where they started.

Toma, Professor
—a scholar based at the Cornilleau University of Antiquities.

Tongue, the
—how the Kesh refer to their own language.

Transcend
—to break free of the constraints of mundane Humanity. A being or Caste that has Transcended typically has an extremely long life span and spreads its consciousness across a number of primary containers—such as neural nets, quantum data vats, and the like. Transcended entities, singular or collective, are referred to as High Human and accorded the highest status.

Transcendence
—the state of being Transcended. Usually achieved when consciousness research and computer technology overlap, allowing an organic mind to be downloaded into an electronic vessel, thereby gaining the potential for unlimited growth.

Tretamen
—a region on the fringes of the COE.

Trinity
—the world on which AIs are made in the region dominated by the COE. The AI factory was founded and is overseen by the High Human known as the Crescend.

Veden, Makil
—an Eckandar Trade Axis citizen and Commerce Artel ex-delegate; deceased.

Vereine, Ataman Ana
—the last leader of the Ataman Theocracy and founder of the Andermahr Experiment.

viridant
—a reptilian creature found on Ascensio.

Void
34
—a cyborg duelist on the COE fighting circuit.

Voloras
—the eighth and outermost planet of Palasian System; a gas giant with three major satellites. (Mean distance: 13.0 PAU; diameter: 40,000 km; relative mass: 0.33.)

vukh
—a hot alcoholic beverage enjoyed by members of the Kesh Caste.

Walan Third
—a COE world leased to the Commerce Artel.

Warfare Protocol
—the code by which war is conducted within and between those nations that trade with the Commerce Artel.

Warrior’s Right
—the right of a Kesh to challenge by physical combat a superior’s decision.

Wide Berth
—an outrigger spine.

Wight Station
—the automated solar research station on Cartha’s Planet, Palasian System.

Xarodine
—an epsense-inhibiting drug.

Yarrow—
an outrigger belonging to Wide Berth spine.

Yul
—an outrigger belonging to Long Span spine.