“The sunlight network told us about it.”
“Tell the spill mountain protectors they’re in charge of the rim. Mean it.”
Acolyte was closing the lid on the big box. Louis laughed suddenly. “Hey. Remind you of anything?”
He heard the voice of Louis Wu telling a hairless face with red skin, “We’d like to talk to a protector, please. We want to propose a contract.”
And the lid closed and he could rest.
Glossary
ARM: once the Amalgamated Regional Militia, now the United Nations armed forces.
antispin: direction opposite the Ringworld’s direction of spin.
collier: 1. A ship used to carry coal. 2. A merchant who transports or sells coal.
cziltang brone: alleged to be a device to allow solid objects to penetrate scrith.
cruiser: a Machine People vehicle.
elbow root: ubiquitous Ringworld plant, a kind of natural fence.
daywalk: varies by species, but usually means a serious effort consistent with foraging and health. One daywalk for Machine People is about ten miles; for a Grass Giant, less, but they can keep it up forever. Gleaners can do one and a half Machine People daywalks for a couple of hours.
Fleet of Worlds: the homeworld of the Pierson’s puppeteers, and four worlds sequestered for farming.
flup: seabottom ooze.
Outsider hyperdrive or hyperdrive: a means of faster-than-light travel, common in known space.
Patriarchy: the kzinti empire.
Repair Center: ancient center of Ringworld maintenance and control housed beneath the Map of Mars.
payload shell: the locked iron housing on a Machine People cruiser.
rishathra (reshtra): sexual practice outside one’s own species but within the intelligent hominids. Not a useful term beyond the Ringworld.
scrith: Ringworld structural material. Scrith underlies all of the terraformed and contoured inner surface of the Ringworld. The rim walls are also of scrith. Very dense, with a tensile strength on the order of the force that holds an atomic nucleus together.
spill mountains: mountains standing against the rim wall, the outflow of the rim spillpipes. One stage in the circulation of flup. The spill mountains have their own ecology.
spin or spinward: in the direction of rotation of the Ringworld (against the rotation of the sky).
star or starboard: to the right as one faces spinward.
stet: leave it alone, no change, that’s exactly right.
tanj: an expletive. Initial slang for “There Ain’t No Justice.”
thruster: reactionless drive. In known space, thrusters have generally replaced fusion rockets on all spacecraft save warcraft.
vishnishtee / vashnesht: wizard or protector.
weenie plant: ubiquitous Ringworld plant. Edible. Grows in damp areas.
webeye: puppeteer technology, a multisensory probe.
Ringworld Parameters
30 hours = 1 Ringworld “day.”
1 turn = 7.5 thirty-hour days = 1 Ringworld rotation.
1 falan = 10 turns = 75 days
Mass = 2 x 10^30 grams
Radius = 0.95 x 10^8 miles
Circumference = 5.97 x 10^8 miles
Width = 997,000 miles
Surface area = 6 x 10^14 square miles = 3 x 10^6 times the surface area of the Earth (approx)
Surface gravity = 31.7 feet/second/second = .992 gee
Rim walls rise inward, 1,000 miles
Repair Center = 40 miles high by 0.56 x 10^8 square miles area = 2.24 x 10^9 cubic miles
Near Great Ocean = 600x surface area of Earth
Star: G1 or G2, barely smaller and cooler than Sol
Cast of Characters
Valavirgillin (Vala, “Boss”)—hired the caravan. Represents Farsight Trading
Foranayeedli (Forn)—Barok’s daughter. Kaywerbrimmis’s crew
Sabarokaresh (Barok)—biggest male. Kaywerbrimmis’s crew
Kaywerbrimmis (Kay)—Valavirgillin’s Wagonmaster
Anthrantillin (Anth)—wagonmaster
Taratarafasht (Tarfa)—female, Anth’s crew
Whandernothtee (Whand)—wagonmaster
Chitakumishad (Chit)—Whandernothtee’s crew
Sopashintay (Spash)–Whand’s crew
Himapertharee (Himp)–Anthrantillin’s crew
High Rangers Trading Group–died but for Valavirgillin, forty-three falans ago
Tarablilliast (Tarb)—Valavirgillin’s mate, taking care of their children, far to starboard
Paroom—male sentry
Thurl—alpha male, the Bull
Moonwa—female, the Thurl’s primary wife
Beedj—male, the Thurl’s probable heir
Tarun—male
Wemb—female
Makee—male, Wemb’s son
Heerst—male
Twuk—small Grass Giant female
Perilack—female
Silack—beta male
Manack—alpha male, hairier
Coriack—female
Tegger hooki-Thandarthal—ambassador
Warvia hooki-Murf Thandarthal—ambassador
Anakrin hooki-Whanhurhur—messenger
Chaychind hooki-Karashk—messenger
Wurblychoog—female
Borubble—male
Rooballabl—speaks trade language
Fudghabladl—old one, remembers
Louis Wu
The Hindmost (the Web Dweller)
Chmeee
Parald
Strill
Sawur
Kidada
Shans Serpentstrangler
Hishthare Rockdiver
Wheek
Kazarp
Tunesmith
Harpster
Grieving Tube
Acolyte—Chmeee’s eldest son
Kathakt—a lord of the Map of Kzin
Saron—older woman
Deb—middle-aged woman
Skreepu–bird, belongs to Deb
Harreed—Deb’s younger son
Barraye—Deb’s older son
Jennawil—younger woman mated to Barraye
Cronus
Bram
Anne
Lovecraft
Collier
King
… and others, nameless.