Aranimas is the youngest member of one of the larger, more powerful Erani clans, which are organized into trading groups. Aranimas is a perfect exemplar of one of his race’s most important traits: he is a technical genius. He invented the hyperdrive that powers his patched-together mega-vessel. Due to the politics of Erani, he didn’t share his invention with other Erani clans, or even within his own clan. He kept it to himself in hopes of enriching his trading house and enhancing his personal prestige. Aranimas is also a gifted astronomer. His invention of a special long-range telescope helped him discover the asteroid where he encountered Derec.
Physically, Erani are tall and slender with pale, hairless skin. Their eyes are large, set in the sides of their heads, and are capable of independent functioning, like a chameleon’s. Their voices are high-pitched, and when speaking Galactic Standard they trill their “r”s.
CARGO “PORTER” ROBOT: There are various classes of non-supervisor robots within the asteroid community. The one shown here is the basic porter, a large, wheeled robot with a forward cargo platform and articulated loading arms. Their intelligence is limited and non-positronic.
AUGMENTED WORKSUIT: This is a self-contained field-reparable hardsuit for humans working in hostile environments. The suit sports high-intensity worklamps and a radio equipped with an omnidirectional antenna. The suit systems are completely computerized and include diagnostic computers for on-the-spot trouble-shooting and field repairs.
The name derives from the fact that the suit augments the worker’s movements. In addition to greatly amplifying human strength, the suits are extremely flexible. They carry extra “hands” for the tips of the extensors, which are stored in re-sealable pockets on the thighs of the suit. The basic “hands” are multi-purpose grapples, but the suit also comes equipped with illuminated micro-manipulators, for fine work in darkness, and laser spot-welders, among others.
THE KEYS TO PERIHELION: The Keys are transport devices capable of transporting the user to Perihelion, the place nearest all other places in the universe. Keys are metallic silver in color, mirror-smooth and seamless. They are operated by pressing each of the four corners, one after another, which makes the operating button appear in the last corner touched. When used properly, the Key will first transport the user to Perihelion, then to the selected destination.
Rather than being preprogrammed for different species, the Keys are “initialized” when first used, and thereafter will only work for that type of organism, although it is possible to “reset” a key to an “uninitialized” state. The Keys can be used by any species, even robots, so robots don’t need a “robot specific” Key.
BREATHER: These masks are made of gray plastic and designed to fit over the middle third of the face, like a pair of wraparound sunglasses. The breathers’ straps are hollow elastic tubes that meet behind the neck. A flexible gas delivery tube leads from the back of the neck to the cartridge pack, which is small enough to strap to the upper arm. The bottom edge of this particular style of mask does not fit flush with the wearer’s upper lip, creating an imperfect seal that allows outside atmosphere to mix with the pure oxygen flow produced by the cartridges. This arrangement not only reduces the size of the cartridge pack, but leaves the wearer’s sense of smell unimpeded.
MASSEY G-85 SURVIVAL POD: This is a limited-duration, self-contained emergency survival pod equipped with a positronic companion.
The G-85 provides a complete environment for stranded survivors, including food, water, oxygen, a viewing screen, and entertainment facilities. The positronic companion is programmed to act as a therapist and ensure the best chance of survival for a space-wrecked castaway, even to the point of sedation.
Massey survival pods are not equipped with windows. Instead they have a limpet pack, a disc-shaped sensor array capable of sliding across the outer surface of smooth-hulled spacecraft. The G-85 does not have a full environmental recycle system, and its resources are limited to approximately two weeks. They are also equipped with locator beacons, which broadcast the pods’ locations constantly. Massey survival pods are the primary safety system on most of the large commercial carriers, the equivalent of the lifeboat.
MONITOR 5: Supervisor robots are marvels of simplicity and elegance of design. Their structure is composed of flexible, inert, non-organic duodecahedral fragments capable of directed rearrangement (morphallaxis). These fragments contain kilometers of circuitry and megabytes of programming. With the right command codes the forms of these robots are infinitely malleable.
Supervisor robots are an infinity of specialized forms with one generalized package. Their skin is a metallic pale blue. The supervisors Derec encounters lack the customary red tracking marker that telegraphs the direction of the robot’s visual sensors. Like all robots, they are incapable of violating the Three Laws of Robotics. Their positronic brains are incapable of forgetting.
ALPHA: This robot is constructed by Derec from salvage aboard Aranimas’s ship. The basic data library is contained in five removable memory cubes in a compartment located in the chest area.
Its extensive positronic memory is reserved completely for the business of learning from experience. Its artificial intelligence is expandable and flexible. The positronic brain is a three-pound lump of platinum-iridium that is the repository for the fundamental postitronic potentials governing its activity, for the temporary potentials representing thought and decision, and for the pathways representing learning.
Like Derec, Alpha is an amnesiac, though in this case its memories were wiped when it was destroyed. As an essentially new construct, it has been reprogrammed. Alpha’s new arm comes from a Supervisor robot and is constructed of the same infinitely malleable material that all supervisors are composed of.
MICHAEL P. KUBE-McDOWELL
Michael P. Kube-McDowell was raised in Camden, New Jersey. He attended Michigan State University as a National Merit Scholar, holds a master’s degree in science education, and was honored for teaching excellence by the 1985 White House Commission on Presidential scholars. Kube-McDowell’s stories have appeared in such magazines as Analog, Asimov’s, Amazing, and Fantasy and Science Fiction, as well as in various anthologies published in the U. S. and Europe. Three of his stories were adapted as episodes for the TV series Tales from the Darkside. He is the author of a highly praised future-history trilogy consisting of the novels Emprise, Enigma, and Empery.