Belt Community. A loose political association of the larger and more sensible governments in the remarkably disorganized Asteroid Belt.
Biosphere. That hollow sphere of space around a star in which a life-bearing planet can survive. Although other variables are involved, the basic constraint is simple: inside a biosphere, solar radiation is neither too strong or too weak, and Earthlike temperatures are possible.
Caller, Caller Ring. Charonian term for the object (or possibly life-form) exemplified by the Lunar Wheel. This form is extremely similar to a Keeper Ring such as the Moonpoint Ring.
Carrier bug. One of the lowest-level Charonian type, capable of only the simplest fetch-and-carry duties. Alternatively, any of the low-level Charonian types.
Central City. The principal city and capital of the Lunar Republic. Formerly called Central Colony.
Charonians. Named for the Ring of Charon, the hypothetical aliens controlling the massive machines discovered after the Earth’s vanishment.
Conner. A citizen of the Lunar Republic. Derived from colonist and/or con artist, in the days when Conners were dismissed as both. Previously a pejorative term, now generally accepted.
COREs, Close-Orbiting Radio Emitters. Any of a large number of identical objects in various orbits around all the worlds of the Multisystem. Their powerful radio signals—emitted over a wide spectrum of frequencies—serve as an effective jamming mechanism.
Dyson Sphere. A huge sphere built entirely around a star, so as to provide huge surface area (hundreds of billions times the surface area of Earth) and/or to capture all of the star’s power. Named for twentieth-century scientist Freeman Dyson.
Earthpoint. That point in space, relative to the Moon and the rest of the Solar System, where the Earth once was. The Earthpoint black hole, also known as the Earthpoint singularity or wormhole, now occupies this space. See Moonpoint.
Event Horizon. The minimum distance from a black hole required before time and/or light can escape—or, to put it another way, the minimum distance required before events are possible. The stronger a gravity field, the slower time moves and the more light is redshifted. If the field is strong enough, time and light are slowed to a complete stop. Also defined as the point where the local escape velocity equals the speed of light.
Event Radius. The distance, usually measured in light-minutes or light-hours, between two points. The event radius is so called because no event can have any effect at a given distance until light (or radio waves or other electromagnetic energy) has had time to cross that distance. Referred to as a “radius” because light expands out spherically. Not related to Event Horizon.
Gee-point object. Any fairly small object emitting modulated gravity power. The term is applied generally not only to Landers, but also to the large objects of similar behavior appearing through the Earthpoint wormhole. See Lander and Worldeater.
Graser. Gravity laser, a focused beam of gravity power.
Heritage Memory. Charonian term for the memories of previous generations of Charonians, together with the experiences of other members of the current generation, downloaded and stored in a Charonian’s memory for reference. Each form of Charonian receives an edited subset of the mass memory appropriate to its needs.
K-Crash, Knowledge Crash. While a massive downturn in Earth’s economy has certainly taken place, no one is certain that it has been caused by a surfeit of information, as suggested in the K-Crash theory. According to the K-Crash idea, Earth’s economy reached the point where the simplest decisions could not be made without massive reference to the various databases. Many jobs became so complex that the training for them could take an entire lifetime.
Keeper, Keeper Ring. Charonian term for the Moonpoint Ring, and for the similar objects that orbit most of the Multisystem’s worlds.
Lander. Huge creatures, long hidden in dormant stages inside asteroids, which move through space under broadcasted gravity power radiated by the Lunar Wheel. Once at their destination in orbit or on the surface of a target world, they merge themselves into larger amalgam creatures of incredible power. See Worldeater and Gee-Point Object.
Lifecode. DNA, or any extraterrestrial equivalent of DNA; thus, any means of passing and storing an instruction set for a making a life-form.
Lunar Wheel. A massive Charonian structure, a huge toroid deep inside the Moon. It circles the Moon’s core and is aligned precisely with the border between the lunar Nearside and Farside. Known to Charonians as a Caller Ring.
Moonpoint. That point in space, relative to Earth, that occupies the space where the Moon once was. The Moonpoint Ring, a massive gravity generator, holds the space now, with the Moonpoint end of the Earth-Solar System wormhole at its center. See Earthpoint and Keeper.
Multisystem. The huge artificial stellar system in which the Earth was placed. At its center is the Dyson Sphere. It includes at least eight G-class stars, around each of which large numbers of life-bearing planets orbit.
Naked Purple Movement. One of a number of odd social and political movements. Also known as the Pointless Cause. Its belief structure is kept deliberately obscure and conflicted. The movement owns the NaPurHab habitat and Tycho Purple Penal on the Moon.
NaPurHab, Naked Purple Habitat. A large and rather shabby orbiting habitat owned and populated by the Naked Purple Movement. As the book opens, it is in a figure-eight orbit between Earth and the Moon. Population: 10,000.
Observer. Charonian term for a semidormant stage of the Caller Ring type. See Lunar Wheel.
Port Viking. Capital and principal city of Mars.
Rabbit Hole. The vertical shaft leading from the Lunar North Pole to the Lunar Wheel, many kilometers below the surface.
Ring of Charon. A huge human-made gravity research tool, orbiting Charon, Pluto’s Moon. In essence, an enormous particle accelerator.
Saint Anthony. The automated relay probe dropped through the Earthpoint-Moonpoint wormhole. Named for the patron saint of lost objects.
Scorpion, scorp. A fairly sophisticated Charonian type, capable of dealing (though not necessarily well) with unexpected situations. The term is applied not only to the scorpion-shaped Charonians, but to all creatures of its approximate ability.
Seedship. A robot starship that carries fertilized ova, or the equivalent, to a new planet around a new star. The seedship lands, grows the ova to adulthood, and thus colonizes a new star system without having to transport a complex life-support system.
Settlement Worlds. Essentially, all the real estate outside the Earth-Moon system. Likewise refers to the now-moribund political alliance of those worlds in opposition to Earth’s rather arrogant policies of the previous century.