The Dark Between The Stars

GLOSSARY

ACADEM: Roamer school inside a hollowed-out comet, near the Roamer complex of Newstation. The school is run by Jess Tamblyn and Cesca Peroni.

ADAM, PRINCE: failed candidate to replace old King Frederick of the Hansa.

ADAR: highest military rank in Ildiran Solar Navy.

AELIN: green priest, brother of Shelud.

AGUERRA, RAYMOND: original name of King Peter.

AHLAR: Ildiran splinter colony, site of an ancient Shana Rei attack.

ALAKIS, ADAM: researcher on Vaconda, father of Zoe Alakis, died of Heidegger’s Syndrome.

ALAKIS, EVELYN: researcher on Vaconda, mother of Zoe Alakis, killed in a flyer crash when Zoe was young.

ALAKIS, ZOE: wealthy head of the Pergamus medical research facility.

ALEXA, MOTHER: wife of Idriss, former ruler of Theroc.

ARAGAO, OCTAVIO: communications officer aboard the Kutuzov.

ARBOR: Rlinda Kett’s restaurant on Theroc.

ARITA, PRINCESS: daughter of King Peter and Queen Estarra, a budding naturalist.

ATTENDER: servile Ildiran kith.

AURIDIA: sparsely inhabited planet over which Newstation and Academ orbit. Auridia contains a Klikiss transportal for access into the transportal network.

AZZAR: Klikiss robot.

BALI’NH, ADAR: historical Ildiran commander, first Ildiran to contact human generation ships.

BEBOB: Rlinda Kett’s pet name for Branson Roberts, her favorite ex-husband.

BEKH: Ildiran curse.

BENETO: green priest brother of Estarra, killed by the hydrogues.

BIG GOOSE: deprecating name for the former Terran Hanseatic League.

BIG RING: Kotto Okiah’s large experimental accelerator under construction at Fireheart Station.

BJORN: spaceship engineer in clan Reeves.

BLACK ROBOTS: intelligent and evil beetlelike robots built by the Klikiss race; most of them were wiped out in the Elemental War.

BLIND FAITH: ship flown by Captain Branson Roberts.

BLOATERS: strange organic nodules found in deep, empty space.

BLONDIE: diner owner in the human enclave in Mijistra.

BO: Teacher compy from Academ, tasked to teach Roamer children from clan Reeves.

BOLAM, DENNIS: administrator of the Eljiid research camp.

BOONE’S CROSSING: former Hansa colony, wiped out by a hydrogue attack in the Elemental War.

BREEDEX: central mind of the Klikiss.

BRIA’NH, TAL: historical Ildiran commander, one of the first to combat the Shana Rei.

BRINDLE, ROBB: administrator of Kett Shipping, married to Tasia Tamblyn, father of Xander.

BRINDLE, XANDER: one of the pilots of Kett Shipping vessel Verne, son of Robb Brindle and Tasia Tamblyn.

BUGBOT: deprecating slang term for a Klikiss robot.

BUZZBEETLE: Theron insect.

CAILLIÉ: generation ship from Earth whose passengers colonized Theroc.

CAIN, DEPUTY ELDRED: former deputy of the Terran Hanseatic League, now an administrator of Earth loyal to the Confederation.

CARII: Ildiran splinter colony, site of an ancient Shana Rei attack during an eclipse.

CARLIN, REESE: Retroamer.

CELLI: green priest, married to Solimar, who tends a terrarium dome in Fireheart Station. Celli is the sister of Estarra and Sarein.

CHAIRMAN: true leader of the Terran Hanseatic League.

CHIAR’H: Ildiran woman of the noble kith, volunteer worker on the Kuivahr sanctuary domes, married to human Shawn Fennis.

CHRYSALIS CHAIR: reclining throne of the Mage-Imperator.

COLICOS, ANTON: historian, known for his work with Ildiran records, first to translate portions of the Saga of Seven Suns; the son of famed xeno-archaeologists Margaret and Louis Colicos.

COLICOS, LOUIS: xeno-archaeologist, husband of Margaret Colicos, specializing in ancient Klikiss artifacts, killed by Klikiss robots at Rheindic Co.

COLICOS, MARGARET: xeno-archaeologist, wife of Louis Colicos, spent much of Elemental War as prisoner of the Klikiss. She and her son Anton collated the only known Klikiss history, The Song of the Breedex.

COLLIN: young green priest, friend of Arita’s.

COMPETENT COMPUTERIZED COMPANION: intelligent servant robot, also called a compy, available in Friendly, Teacher, Governess, Listener, Worker, and other models.

COMPY: nickname for competent computerized companion.

CONFEDERATION: new human government replacing the Terran Hanseatic League, loose alliance among Roamer clans, independent planets, and remnants of the Hansa. Ruled by King Peter and Queen Estarra, capital on Theroc.

CORRIBUS: colony where Orli Covitz once lived, devastated by Klikiss robot attack during the Elemental War.

COVEN, MARY: former pilot of the Proud Mary.

COVITZ, ORLI: compy scientist, strong advocate for compies, married to Matthew Freling. She is the owner of DD.

DANIEL, PRINCE: former candidate to replace King Peter in the Hansa.

DARO’H, PRIME DESIGNATE: successor to Mage-Imperator Jora’h.

DAYM: blue supergiant star, one of the “seven suns” in the Ildiran sky.

DD: Friendly compy owned by Orli Covitz.

DENVA, MARIUS: line supervisor at Del Kellum’s distillery on Kuivahr.

DETEMER: Roamer clan.

DHULA: gas-giant planet on the edge of the Ildiran Empire.

DOBRO: Ildiran splinter colony, former home of the secret breeding program where many humans were held captive.

DOLUS: famous twenty-first-century Earth artist.

DREMEN: cloudy planet, former home of Orli Covitz.

DROGUE: nickname for hydrogues.

DUGGAN, ANDREA: artist suffering from Heidegger’s Syndrome.

DUGGAN, JAMES: husband of Andrea Duggan.

DURRIS: trinary star in the Horizon Cluster, three of the “seven suns” in the Ildiran sky.

DYVO’SH: young Ildiran rememberer, assistant to Anton Colicos.

EARTH DEFENSE FORCES (EDF): former military for the Terran Hanseatic League, precursor to the Confederation Defense Forces.

EKTI: exotic allotrope of hydrogen used to fuel Ildiran stardrives.

EKTI-X: stardrive fuel with higher energy potential than traditional ekti.

ELEMENTAL WAR: conflict across the Spiral Arm involving the human race, Ildiran Empire, the hydrogues, faeros, wentals, verdani, as well as the Klikiss and their black robots.

ELJIID: abandoned Klikiss world where Margaret Colicos is buried.

ENDA’F: Ildiran autopsy specialist.

ENTURI, ELISA: wife of Garrison Reeves and mother of Seth, deputy of Lee Iswander at the Sheol lava mines. Also goes by her married name of Elisa Reeves.

ESTARRA, QUEEN: ruler of Confederation, married to King Peter, with two children, Reynald and Arita.

EXXOS: leader of surviving Klikiss robots.

FAEROS: sentient fire entities dwelling within stars.

FENNIS, SHAWN: human born on Dobro, volunteer worker at the Kuivahr sanctuary domes, married to Ildiran woman Chiar’h.

FILMGOGGLES: eye protection used on Ildira.

FIREHEART STATION: Roamer research and industrial station at the heart of a nebula, specializing in energized films. Site of Kotto Okiah’s current large-scale experiment.

FITZKELLUM, KRISTOF: thirteen-year-old son of Zhett Kellum and Patrick Fitzpatrick III, also called Toff.

FITZKELLUM, REX: two-year-old son of Zhett Kellum and Patrick Fitzpatrick III.

FITZKELLUM, SHAREEN: seventeen-year-old daughter of Zhett Kellum and Patrick Fitzpatrick III.

FITZPATRICK III, PATRICK: husband of Zhett Kellum, one of the managers of the Kellum skymine on Golgen.

FREDERICK, KING: predecessor to King Peter, killed by hydrogues.

FRELING, MATTHEW: compy scientist, husband of Orli Covitz.

FUNGUS-REEF: large inhabited fungal growth on the worldtrees of Theroc.

GALE’NH, TAL: halfbreed son of the green priest Nira and Ildiran war hero Adar Kori’nh, a tal in the Ildiran Solar Navy. Gale’nh is the captain of the exploration ship Kolpraxa.

GANN, HENNA: mistress of Matthew Freling.

GARDENERS: ancient, original tenders of the worldforest.

GOLGEN: gas-giant planet, home of the Kellum skymine.

GREAT KINGS: the Kings of the Terran Hanseatic League, figurehead leaders.

GREEN PRIEST: servant of the worldforest, able to use worldtrees for instantaneous communication.

GUIDING STAR: Roamer philosophy and religion, a guiding force in a person’s life.

HALL OF REMEMBERERS: headquarters and historical archives of the Ildiran rememberer kith, where the Saga of Seven Suns is maintained.

HANDIES, ADMIRAL EDGAR: CDF Admiral, head of Grid 0, one of the “Three H’s.”

HANDON, TERRY: one of the pilots of Kett Shipping vessel Verne, partner of Xander Brindle.

HANNIG, KLAUS: medical researcher on Pergamus.

HANSA: Terran Hanseatic League.

HAPPINESS: closed-off former Klikiss planet, inhabited by neo-Amish settlers.

HAROUN, ADMIRAL SHIMAL: CDF Admiral, head of Grid 6, one of the “Three H’s.”

HARVARD, ADMIRAL PETROV: CDF Admiral, head of Grid 11, one of the “Three H’s.”

HEIDEGGER’S SYNDROME: fatal degenerative neurological disease, thought to be incurable. Adam Alakis died of Heidegger’s Syndrome.

HORIZON CLUSTER: star cluster in which the Ildiran Empire is located.

HUMMERS: voracious locustlike insects from Vaconda.

HYDROGUES: alien race that dwells within gas-giant planets, the main destructive antagonists in the Elemental War.

HYRILLKA: Ildiran planet, site of several battles in the Elemental War; the Klikiss robots were originally discovered on one of Hyrillka’s moons.

IDRISS, FATHER: former ruler of Theroc, father of Estarra.

IKBIR: Confederation colony world.

ILDIRA: home planet of the Ildiran Empire, under the light of seven suns.

ILDIRAN EMPIRE: large alien empire, the only other major civilization in the Spiral Arm.

ILDIRAN SOLAR NAVY: space military fleet of the Ildiran Empire, commanded by Adar Zan’nh.

ILDIRANS: humanoid alien race with many different breeds, or kiths; they are able to interbreed with humans.

ISWANDER, ARDEN: thirteen-year-old son of Lee Iswander.

ISWANDER, LEE: Roamer industrialist with numerous operations, including the Sheol lava mines.

ISWANDER, LONDA: wife of Lee Iswander.

ISWANDER INDUSTRIES: company owned by Lee Iswander with numerous high-risk operations, including the Sheol lava mines.

JAZER: energy weapon used by Confederation Defense Forces.

JORA’H: Mage-Imperator of the Ildiran Empire. He is the father of numerous important Ildirans, including Adar Zan’nh and the halfbreed telepath Osira’h. His consort is the green priest Nira.

JUGGERNAUT: largest battleship class in the Confederation Defense Forces.

KANAKA: one of the old Earth generation ships, origin of the Roamer clans.

KEAH, GENERAL NALANI: commander of the Confederation Defense Forces.

KELLUM, DEL: former Speaker of the Roamer clans, successor to Cesca Peroni. Father of Zhett Kellum. He now runs a distillery on the Ildiran ocean planet of Kuivahr.

KELLUM, ZHETT: daughter of Del Kellum, married to Patrick Fitzpatrick III. She runs a large skymine on Golgen. She and Patrick have three children, Shareen, Kristof, and Rex.

KENNEBAR: leader of an isolationist faction of green priests on Theroc.

KETT, RLINDA: trader and former trade minister of the Confederation, now owner of Kett Shipping. She also owns several high-end restaurants.

KETT SHIPPING: Rlinda Kett’s shipping company, managed by Robb Brindle and Tasia Tamblyn.

KHANDUL: colony planet near Vaconda.

KIRAE: intoxicating drink enjoyed by Ildirans, although humans find it distasteful.

KLANEK, TONY: space traffic controller at Newstation.

KLEE: a hot beverage made from ground worldtree seeds, a specialty of Theroc.

KLIKISS: ancient insectlike race, long vanished from the Spiral Arm, leaving only their empty cities. After their resurgence in the Elemental War, they departed through their transportal network and are considered lost or extinct.

KLIKISS ROBOTS: intelligent and evil beetlelike robots built by the Klikiss race; most of them were wiped out in the Elemental War. Also called black robots.

KOLPRAXA: new-design Ildiran exploration ship to go beyond the Spiral Arm, led by Tal Gale’nh.

KORI’NH, ADAR: great Ildiran military hero from the Elemental War, father of Gale’nh.

KO’SH, REMEMBERER: Ildiran historian assigned aboard the Kolpraxa.

KUIVAHR: Ildiran planet with shallow seas and strong tides, site of Tamo’l’s sanctuary domes for misbreeds and Del Kellum’s distillery.

KUTUZOV: flagship Juggernaut of the Confederation Defense Forces.

LENS KITH: one of the Ildiran breeds, religious philosophers.

LIGHTSOURCE: higher plane of existence above normal life, an Ildiran version of heaven.

LU: Listener compy at Orli Covitz’s compy laboratory.

LUBAI: green priest serving at the Lunar Orbital Complex.

LUNAR ORBITAL COMPLEX: military and civilian base established in the rubble of Earth’s Moon.

MAGE-IMPERATOR: the god-emperor of the Ildiran Empire.

MANTA: cruiser-class battleship in Confederation Defense Forces.

MEDUSA: large cephalopod from Rhejak; its meat is considered a delicacy.

MIJISTRA: Ildiran capital city.

MO: Domestic compy at Orli Covitz’s compy laboratory.

MOSBACH, PROFESSOR MICHAELA: one of Shareen Fitzkellum’s teachers on Earth.

MUREE’N: halfbreed daughter of Nira and a warrior kithman, a skilled fighter, student of Yazra’h.

NADD: green priest serving aboard the Kutuzov.

NEW PORTUGAL: Confederation planet, home of a university and also known for its wines.

NEWSTATION: large orbiting station above planet Auridia, the new Roamer center of government. The Roamer school Academ is also nearby.

NIGHTSHADE: Shana Rei occultation barrier.

NIRA: green priest consort of Mage-Imperator Jora’h, mother of five halfbreed children: Osira’h, Rod’h, Gale’nh, Tamo’l, and Muree’n.

OK: compy owned by Xander Brindle.

OKIAH: name given to derelict space city inhabited by clan Reeves.

OKIAH, KOTTO: renowned but eccentric Roamer scientist.

ONTHOS: alien race, builders of derelict space city claimed by clan Reeves.

ORBITAL RESEARCH SPHERE (ORS): isolated medical research satellite orbiting Pergamus.

ORFINO: architectural specialist working on Eljiid.

OSIRA’H: daughter of Nira and Jora’h, bred to have unusual telepathic abilities.

OSQUIVEL: ringed gas giant, former site of Kellum shipyards.

PANNEBAKER, ALEC: one of Lee Iswander’s deputies at the Sheol lava-processing facility.

PAOLUS, DR. BENJAMIN: foremost neurological researcher on Earth.

PASTERNAK, SHAREEN: lost love of Del Kellum, killed by hydrogues on a skymine. Shareen Fitzkellum is named after her.

PATTON, DILLON: weapons officer aboard the Kutuzov.

PELLIERI, KAM: desert geologist working on Eljiid.

PEPPERFLOWER TEA: Roamer beverage.

PERGAMUS: secure medical research facility owned and managed by Zoe Alakis.

PERONI, CESCA: former Roamer Speaker, wife of Jess Tamblyn; together they run the Academ school complex for Roamer children.

PETER, KING: ruler of Confederation, married to Queen Estarra, with two children, Reynald and Arita.

PIGEON: small trading ship at Vuoral.

PLUMAS: frozen moon with deep liquid oceans, site of Tamblyn clan water industry.

POWER BLOCK: energy source made of a charged film, folded and packed inside a shell.

PRIME DESIGNATE: eldest noble-born son of the Mage-Imperator, and successor.

PRIMORDIAL OOZE: trade name of one of Del Kellum’s distillations from Kuivahr.

PRISDIAMOND: rare precious gem found on several Confederation planets.

PRISM PALACE: crystalline palace of the Ildiran Mage-Imperator.

PRODIGAL SON: Garrison Reeves’s ship, formerly an Iswander Industries vessel.

PROUD MARY: Kett Shipping vessel formerly piloted by Mary Coven.

QORLISS: Confederation planet.

QRONHA: binary star in the Horizon Cluster, two of the “seven suns” in the Ildiran sky.

RAINDROP: Rlinda Kett’s pet name for Reyn.

RAMAH: Confederation planet.

REEVES, DALE: brother of Garrison, second son of Olaf Reeves.

REEVES, ELISA: wife of Garrison and mother of Seth, deputy of Lee Iswander at the Sheol lava mines. Also goes by her maiden name of Elisa Enturi.

REEVES, GARRISON: Roamer worker at the Sheol lava-processing facility. He is married to Elisa, father of Seth. He is the son of clan head Olaf Reeves, brother of Dale.

REEVES, INDIRA: Retroamer.

REEVES, JAMIE: young son of Dale Reeves.

REEVES, OLAF: gruff clan head, leader of the “Retroamers,” isolationist Roamers who are trying to rebuild the wreckage of Rendezvous. Father of Garrison and Dale.

REEVES, SCOTT: young son of Dale Reeves.

REEVES, SENDRA: wife of Dale Reeves, formerly Sendra Detemer.

REEVES, SETH: ten-year-old son of Garrison Reeves.

RELLEKER: Terran colony planet, home of Orli Covitz’s compy laboratory.

REMORA: small attack ship in Confederation Defense Forces.

RENDEZVOUS: asteroid cluster, former center of Roamer government. Destroyed by the Earth Defense Forces, but clan Reeves attempted reconstruction for years.

RETROAMERS: mocking term for the isolationist clan Reeves.

REYN, PRINCE: son of King Peter and Queen Estarra, in line to be the Confederation’s next King. His full name is Reynald.

RHEINDIC CO: Klikiss world, serves as a nexus for humans using the Klikiss transportal network for travel among planets.

RHEJAK: watery planet with habitable reefs, known for large cephalopods called medusas.

RICKS, SAM: candidate for Speaker of the Roamer clans.

ROAMERS: loose confederation of independent humans, primary producers of ekti stardrive fuel, often disparagingly called “space gypsies.”

ROBERTS, BRANSON: Rlinda Kett’s favorite ex-husband, affectionately called BeBob.

ROD’H: older halfbreed son of Nira, fathered by Dobro Designate Udru’h as part of the secret breeding program.

ROHANDAS, HOWARD: fellow student with Shareen Fitzkellum on Earth.

SAGA OF SEVEN SUNS: historical and legendary epic of the Ildiran civilization.

SALIBA, SHARON: sensor technician aboard the Kutuzov.

SANDOVAL, SHERI: representative from the Roamers to the Confederation.

SAREIN: sister of Estarra and Celli, lives in self-imposed exile in the Wild.

SEPTA: small battle group of seven ships in the Ildiran Solar Navy.

SEWARD, ISHA: retiring Speaker for the Roamer clans, successor to Del Kellum.

SHANA REI: fearsome creatures of darkness that preyed upon the Ildiran Empire long ago.

SHELUD: green priest, brother of Aelin.

SHEOL: binary planet under heavy tidal stresses, site of lava-mining operations led by Lee Iswander.

SHIZZ: Roamer curse.

SKYMINE: ekti-harvesting facility in the clouds of a gas giant planet, usually operated by Roamers.

SKYSPHERE: audience chamber of the Prism Palace.

SOLIMAR: green priest, married to Celli, who tends a terrarium dome in Fireheart Station.

SONG OF THE BREEDEX, THE: Klikiss historical chronicle transcribed and translated by Anton and Margaret Colicos.

SPEAKER: Roamer leader.

SPIRAL ARM: the section of the Milky Way Galaxy settled by the Ildiran Empire and Terran colonies.

SWIMMER: otterlike Ildiran kith that spend most of their time in the ocean.

SWOOPER: small skybike used around skymining operations.

TAIT, MATTHEW: navigator aboard the Kutuzov.

TAL: military rank in Ildiran Solar Navy, cohort commander.

TAMBLYN, JESS: one of the heads of Academ school, married to Cesca Peroni.

TAMBLYN, TASIA: administrator of Kett Shipping, married to Robb Brindle, father of Xander.

TAMBORR’S DEMENTIA: disease being studied on Pergamus.

TAMO’L: one of Nira’s halfbreed children, daughter of a lens kithman. She runs sanctuary domes for misbreeds on the planet Kuivahr.

TARKER: architectural specialist working on Eljiid.

TELINK: instantaneous communication used by green priests via the worldtrees.

TERITHA: Roamer colony, site of a disaster caused by failed life support.

TERRAN HANSEATIC LEAGUE: former commerce-based government of Earth and Terran colonies, dissolved after the death of Chairman Basil Wenceslas at the end of the Elemental War. Also called the Hansa.

THEROC: forested planet, home of the sentient worldtrees.

THERON: a native of Theroc.

THISM: faint racial telepathic network, centered on the Mage-Imperator, that binds all Ildiran people.

THREE H’S: Admirals Handies, Harvard, and Haroun in the CDF.

TOM ROM: guardian and majordomo of Zoe Alakis.

TORA’M: Ildiran swimmer kithman on Kuivahr.

TORINO, MILLI: Garrison’s supervisor at the Lunar Orbital Complex.

TRANSPORTAL: Klikiss instantaneous transportation network.

ULDO’NH, QUL: maniple commander in the Ildiran Solar Navy.

ULIO: large trading complex in open space, frequented by traders of all sorts.

ULIO, MARIA: founder of the Ulio transfer hub.

VACONDA: wilderness planet, site of the Alakis forest watchtower station.

VANH, LARA: Klikiss researcher on Eljiid.

VAULT OF FAILURES: document crypt in Mijistra containing ancient discarded weapons designs developed for use against the Shana Rei.

VERDANI: organic-based sentience, manifested as the Theron worldforest.

VERNE: cargo ship flown by Xander Brindle and Terry Handon.

VOECKS, ALAN: tactical officer aboard the Kutuzov.

VORACIOUS CURIOSITY: Rlinda Kett’s private ship.

VUORAL: small, obscure Confederation settlement on the Klikiss transportal network.

WARGLOBE: crystalline sphere used by hydrogues.

WARLINER: largest class of Ildiran battleship.

WENCESLAS, CHAIRMAN BASIL: former leader of the Terran Hanseatic League.

WENTALS: sentient water-based creatures.

WHISPER PALACE: traditional seat of power in the Terran Hanseatic League, where the figurehead Great Kings ruled.

WHISTLERS: possibly sentient cacti on Eljiid.

WILD, THE: unexplored continent on Theroc.

WINGO, MERCER: first officer aboard the Kutuzov.

WISSKOFF, ZACHARY: manager and maître d’ of Rlinda Kett’s Arbor restaurant.

WORLDFOREST: the interconnected, semisentient forest based on Theroc.

WORLDTREE: a separate tree in the interconnected, semisentient forest based on Theroc.

WULFTON: active star, home of numerous faeros.

YAZRA’H: daughter of the Mage-Imperator, skilled warrior and bodyguard. She is the mentor of Muree’n.

ZAN’NH, ADAR: Ildiran military officer, eldest son of Mage-Imperator Jora’h, Adar of the Ildiran Solar Navy.