Melissa Scott - Shadow Man

Tatian watched them go, wondering what he’d seen started. It wasn’t over, that much seemed obvious: Warreven’s Agede, the herm Agede, had caught people’s imagination, would become part of that spirit—would, in Warreven’s phrase, Hara’s phrase, open the door. If nothing else came of it, it was a beginning, and Warreven could claim that as a kind of victory, imperfect and uncertain as beginnings always were. And if in the Concord 3e could find the ways to translate the off-world concepts, the five sexes and the process of revolution, then 3e would be the person who remade Hara. Even now, he couldn’t entirely doubt that 3e might do it. One studied people like that at university, discussed motives and tactics and plans; one did not drag them out of riots, or ride with them to the starport, on the way to exile. Except that, this time, he had. Tatian shook himself then. He had done what he could—what he really had no choice but to do—and he had his own consequences to face. But at least he was going back where he belonged. He lifted his heavy carrycase, thinking of Jericho, of Kaysa, of all the sane, ordinary people, and began walking toward the gates that would lead to home.

bi: one of the nine sexual preferences generally recognized by Concord culture; denotes a person who prefers to be intimate with persons of exactly the same and one of the two “opposite” genders.

Big Six: the six major pharmaceutical companies that dominate the Concord Worlds’ trade with Hara.

cd, concord dollar: standard monetary unit among the Concord Worlds; circulates in tandem with planetary currencies.

ColCom: Colonial Committee, agency that represents the Concord Worlds’ interests on former colonies.

creole: the official language of the Concord Worlds.

demi: one of the nine sexual preferences generally recognized by Concord culture; denotes a person who prefers to be intimate with persons of exactly the same and one of the two “like” genders.

di: one of the nine sexual preferences generally recognized by Concord culture; denotes a person who prefers to be intimate with persons of either of the two “opposite” genders.

end-of-season: shorthand for surplus harvest not included in existing contracts; also the period between the end of Hara’s biannual gathering cycles and the beginning of the next, not covered by contracts. Coincides with the Haran holiday periods of Midsummer and Midwinter.

fem: human being possessing testes, XY chromosomes, some aspects of female genitalia but not possessing ovaries; %e, %er, %er, %erself.

Fifty: generic term for the most important pharmaceutical companies that do business on Hara; analogous to the Haran use of “pharmaceuticals.”

FTL shock: collective term for the side effects of passage through jump points, which include disorientation, severe nausea, blurred vision, impaired or oversensitive hearing, diarrhea, and incapacitating headaches. Of human beings, 97% experience at least some of these symptoms for six to nine hours after passing through a jump point; of that group, 47% experience symptoms lasting 24 to 72 hours after passage.

gay: one of the nine sexual preferences generally recognized by Concord culture; denotes a person who prefers to be intimate with others of exactly the same gender.

hemi: one of the nine sexual preferences generally recognized by Concord culture; denotes a person who prefers to be intimate with persons of exactly the same and both “like” genders.

herm: human being possessing testes and ovaries and some aspects of male and female genitalia; 3e, 3er, 3im, 3imself.

HIVs: colloquial and somewhat inaccurate term for the cluster of treatable but incurable immune-system diseases endemic to the Concord Worlds; as the viruses are genetically unstable, each planet tends to develop its own set of diseases to which its population develops a certain level of immunity over time. HIVs are generally transmitted through intimate rather than casual contact. Of all human-settled planets, only Hara does not possess a native HIV cluster, nor is its indigenous population particularly vulnerable to outside exposure. Significantly, most drugs used to treat HIVs are derived from Haran sea and land plants; however, the specific factor or factors that create the apparent planetary immunity have not yet been isolated.

hyperlumin-A: original form of the drug used by human beings to control FTL shock. Hyperlumin-A is 99.8% effective in preventing FTL shock, but is highly mutagenic; its wide- spread use during the explosive First Wave of colonization produced a significant rise in miscarriages and in the number of so-called intersexual births (i.e., of fems, mems, and herms), and is indirectly responsible for the shape of Concord culture. Hyperlumin-A remains in use among certain specialist populations.

hyperlumin-B: second-generation version of the drug used by human beings to control FTL shock. Hyperlumin-B is 78% effective in preventing FTL shock, and only 48% as mutagenic as hyperlumin-A.

IDCA: Interstellar Disease Control Agency. Responsible for preventing the spread of HTVs between planetary systems, the IDCA rules on emigration/immigration issues, administers and enforces medical quarantines, and provides emergency assistance, as well as funding significant medical research.

indigene, indigenes: native-born (indigenous) human population of a planet not a member of the Concord Worlds.

kilohour: standard time unit of the Concord Worlds, equal to 3,600,000 seconds or one thousand (sixty minute or Earth standard) hours.

Lesser Twenty: the “second tier” of pharmaceutical and other export companies operating on Hara.

man: human being possessing testes, XY chromosomes, and some aspects of male genitalia; he, his, him, himself.

mem: human being possessing ovaries, XX chromosomes, and some aspects of male genitalia but not possessing testes; þe, þis, þim, þimself.

mu, mass units: standard unit used in calculating FTL shipping costs.

omni: one of the nine sexual preferences generally recognized by Concord culture; denotes a person who prefers to be intimate with persons of all genders. Considered somewhat disreputable, or at best indecisive.

player: one who participates in trade; a person who does not con- form to any of the culturally recognized patterns of sexuality or who wishes to indulge in sexual behaviors and roles not acknowledged by Concord culture, and who is willing to pay professional or semi-professional prostitutes to take on the reciprocal role(s).

pony-show: a one- or two-person company, generally considered to be unreliable or unethical; derogatory.

ser, serrem, serray, serram, sera: honorifics placed before the surname to indicate the gender of the person (man, mem, herm, fem, woman), considered in Concord usage to be part of the person’s full name; the generic plural is sersi.

starcrate: a metal shell equipped with a stasis generator and/or other preservative mechanisms, used to package perishable and semi-perishable goods for interstellar transport.

straight: one of the nine sexual preferences generally recognized by Concord culture; denotes a person who prefers to be intimate with persons of one of the two “opposite” genders.

trade: commercial or “specialty market” sexuality; on Hara, specifically the practice of paying indigenes of any gender for sexual favors and to assume sexual roles not usually taken by persons of that particular gender. Commercial sex is normally regulated by the IDCA, which provides medical and legal recourse for all parties, but Haran trade remains outside Concord law. In conversational usage, “trade” can also refer to the various quasi-legal markets for residence papers, travel permits, etc. that make it possible for Concord citizens to remain on Hara.