Roger Allen - The Shattered Sphere

AbductionThe event and time period during which the Charonians stole the Earth and placed it in a new orbit around the Sunstar in the Multisystem. There is a natural tendency to divide things into pre- and post-Abduction.

Amalgam CreaturesSee Lander.

Artlnt (Artificial Intelligence)Typically refers to a machine or subsystem smart enough to do what should be done without being told.

Autarch The personal ship of the Autocrat of Ceres.

Autocrat of CeresThe absolute ruler of the largest asteroid, and the only effective instrumentality of law or justice in the Belt Community. A reputation for draconian justice has served to prevent most from daring his wrath.

Breeding BingeThose times when large Charonians land on the surface of a living world and use it as a breeding ground, often wrecking the planet’s natural ecosystem in the process. It might take hundreds of thousands or millions of years for a planet to recover. Though no human has witnessed a Breeding Binge, the damage caused by them is plainly visible on many of the Captive Worlds nearest to Earth.

Captive Suns or Captive StarsThose stars that have been captured and held by a Charonian Sphere to serve as suns for its Captive Worlds.

Captive WorldsLife-bearing planets that have, like the Earth, been abducted into a Charonian Multisystem. They are placed in orbit around Captive Suns, at distances and orbital periods that will maintain their climates. The Charonians, in effect, use the Captive Worlds as breeding cages to reproduce certain subspecies during certain parts of their life cycle.

Carrier BugsAny of the lowest-level Charonian types, capable of only the simplest fetch-and-carry duties.

Central City Formerly Central Colony. The principal city and capital of the Lunar Republic.

CeresLargest body in the Asteroid Belt. The de facto capital of the Belt.

CharoniansNamed for the Ring of Charon, the Charonians are the aliens responsible for the Earth’s Abduction. There are many species and subspecies of Charonian, ranging in size and complexity from Carrier Bugs to Spheres. They are partially living, partially mechanical. Though their ancestors were creatures not completely unlike humans, they have now guided their own evolution into forms so completely changed that it is often difficult to recognize them as living. The form and degree of Charonian intelligence are quite unclear.

ConnerA citizen of the Lunar Republic. Derived from colonist and/or con-artist.

Consortium of SpheresCharonian term for the now-ruined network of linked Spheres and Multisystems connected by a web of wormhole links.

COREs, Close-Orbiting Radio EmittersAny of a large number of identical objects in various orbits, not all close, around all the worlds of the Multisystem. Their powerful radio signals—emitted over a wide range of frequencies—serve as an effective jamming mechanism. See SCOREs.

Directorate of Spatial Investigation (DSI)The organization charged with studying—and ultimately defeating—the Charonians. Wolf Bernhardt is the director. DSI works closely with MRI.

Dyson SphereA huge sphere built entirely around a star, so as to provide huge surface area (hundreds of billions times greater than the surface area of Earth) and /or to capture all of the star’s radiated power.

EarthpointThat point in space, relative to the Moon and the rest of the Solar System, where the Earth once was. The Earthpoint Black Hole, a.k.a. the Earthpoint Singularity or Earthpoint Wormhole, occupies this space See Moon-point.

Event HorizonThe minimum distance from a black hole required before time 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. Make the field strong enough, and get close enough, and time slows to a complete stop. Also defined as the point at which the local escape velocity equals the speed of light.

Event RadiusThe distance, usually measured in light-minutes or light-hours, between two points. 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.

Fast-Time SpaceNormal space, as seen from the Adversary’s point of view. Used to high-gravity, high-energy, slow-time environments, the Adversary views normal space as a strangely distorted—and hostile—place.

Ghoul ModulesLarge Charonian forms that docked themselves to the dead Moonpoint Ring. So called because they apparently brought the dead ring back to life.

GIGO, Garbage In Garbage OutA slang version of the obvious rule that inputting bad initial data will produce unreliable results. However, the primary usage is as a description of data that is known to be bad. “We can’t run the simulation. All we have is that GIGO data.”

Graser Gravity laser—a focused beam of gravity power.

GravitonAn experimental ship using cannibalized Charonian equipment to generate a gravity-beam propulsion system, riding gravity beams sent by the Ring of Charon.

GuardianCharonian term for CORE.

Heritage MemoryIn effect, the collective race memory of the Charonian race. Each significant new experience of an individual is recorded and stored by at least one other individual, usually by a higher-level being capable of evaluating it. Copies of the appropriate sections of the heritage memory are placed in each newly made or manufactured Charonian. Each higher-level individual possesses a significant fraction of the race’s history, in the form of individual memory. As nearly all Charonian behavior is based on precedent, the Heritage Memory is of tremendous importance. A Charonian facing a situation outside the experience of its Heritage Memory will have no guide for its actions.

Hijacker The small stealthship destroyed in the first attempt to board a CORE.

Hijacker II Formerly the Scott . The Terra Nova’s largest lander, used in a key action against the Adversary.

LanderOne of many huge creatures, long hidden in dormant stages inside asteroids, which move through space under broadcast gravity power radiated by the Lunar Wheel.

LeftoverA mildly derogatory term for a citizen of Earth stranded in the Solar System by the Abduction.

LifecodeDNA, or any extraterrestrial equivalent of DNA. Any means of passing and storing an instruction set for a life-form.

Lunar WheelA huge, toroidal Charonian structure deep inside the Moon. It circles the Moon’s core, and is aligned precisely with the border between the Lunar Nearside and Farside.

MGWave Modulated gravity wave.

Moonpoint, Moonpoint RingThat 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. The Moonpoint Ring was killed in the battle for the Solar System. See Earthpoint.

MultisystemThe huge artificial stellar system in which the Earth is placed. At its center is the Sphere. It includes a number of G-class stars, around each of which large numbers of life-bearing planets orbit.