David Brin: Startide Rising

Shading his eyes, he recognized the wild maneuvers before he did the outlines of the tiny ship. It streaked high into the sky and looped about, coming back to screech past him again.

He reached out to steady the drying racks against the thunder. No sense in letting the meat go to waste. It had taken a lot of work to harvest it, strip it, and prepare it. They might need it for the voyage ahead.

He wasn't sure how the fen would take to the stuff, but it was nourishing… the only food on the planet that an Earthling could eat.

Gubru jerky, Tandu strips, and flayed Episiarch would never make it into haute cuisine, of course. But perhaps they were an acquired taste.

He grinned and waved as Keepiru finally calmed down enough to bring the skiff to a halt nearby.

How could I ever have doubted he'd still he alive? Hikahi wondered, joyfully. Gillian said he had to live. None of the Galactics could ever touch him. How could they?

And why, in the wide universe, was I ever worried about getting home?

: Rest : Rest And Listen :

: Rest And Listen And Learn, Creideiki :

: For The Startide Rises :

: In The Currents Of The Dark :

: And We Have Waited Long, For What Must Be :

Dolphin names often sound as if they are Polynesian or Japanese. In some cases this is true. In general, however, the neo-fin chooses for a name a sound he likes, usually a polysyllabic word with strong alternating vowels and consonants.

In Anglic, the words "man," "men," and "mankind" apply to humans without reference to gender. On those occasions when gender is important, a female human is referred to as a "fem," and a male human as a "mel."

Dolphin languages are the author's invention, and are not meant to represent the communication of natural dolphins and whales today. We are only beginning to understand the place of the cetaceans in the world, as we are just beginning to understand our own.

The author wishes to thank all those who helped with this work, with their advice and criticism and encouragement, especially Mark Grygier, Anita Everson, Patrick Maher, Rick and Pattie Harper, Ray Feist, Richard Spahl, Tim LaSelle, Ethan Munson, and, as always, Dan Brin. Lou Aronica and Tappan King of Bantam Books were most helpful with encouragement when morale was lowest.

The translated haiku by Yosa Buson were from An Anthology of Japanese Literature, compiled and edited by Donald Keene, published by Grove Press.

The world's many paths diverge, in both reality and imagination. The creatures of this novel are all fanciful. But it may happen that some of our fellow mammals will one day be our partners. We owe it to that possible future to let their potential survive.

— DAVID BRIN

August 1982

Acceptor — A member of a Tandu client race. A psychic adept.

Akki (Ah-kee) — A dolphin midshipman from Calafia.

Beie Chohooan (Bay Choe-hoo-wan) — A Synthian spy.

Brookida (Broo-kee-dah) — A dolphin metallurgist.

Brothers of the Night — A Galactic patron race.

Gillian Baskin — A physician and agent for the Terragens Council. A product of human genetic engineering.

Calafia — A human/neo-dolphin colony world.

Client — A species that owes its full intelligence to genetic uplift by its patron race. An indentured client species is one which is still working off this debt.

Creideiki (Cry-dye-kee) — Captain of the exploration vessel Streaker.

Emerson D'Anite — A human engineer assigned to the Streaker.

Charles Dart — A neo-chimpanzee planetologist.

Derelict fleet — A drifting collection of giant starships, ancient and long undiscovered until found by the Streaker.

Episiarch — A member of a client race indentured to the Tandu. A psychic adept.

"Fin" — Vernacular for a neo-dolphin. ("Fen" — plural.)

"Fem" — Anglic term for a female human being.

Galactic — One of the senior starfaring species which comprise the community of the five galaxies. Many have become patron races, participating in the ancient tradition of uplift.

Gubru (Goo-broo) — A pseudo-avian Galactic race hostile to Earth.

Haoke (Ha-oh-kay)- A Tursiops neo-dolphin.

Herbie — The mummy of an ancient starfarer, of unknown origin.

Heurkea (Hee-urk-eeah) — A Stenos neo-dolphin.

Hikahi (Hee-kah-hee) — A female neo-dolphin, third in command of the Streaker.

Toshio Iwashika — A midshipman from the colony world Calafia.

Ifni — "Infinity" or Lady Luck.

Iki — An ancient island of death and destruction.

Kanten — One of a few Galactic species openly friendly to Earthmen.

Karrank% (Impossible for humans to pronounce properly) — A Galactic species so thoroughly modified during its indenture as a client race that it was driven insane.

Keeneenk — A hybrid school of discipline, combining logical, human-style thought with the heritage of the Whale Dream.

Keepiru (Kee-peer-ooh) — First pilot of the Streaker. A native of Atlast.

Kiqui (Kee-kwee) — Amphibious pre-sentient creatures native to the planet Kithrup.

K'tha-jon (K'thah-jon) — A special variant Stenos neo-dolphin. One of the Streaker's petty officers.

Krat — Commander of the Soro forces.

Library — The information storehouse that holds Galactic society together; an archive of cross-referenced knowledge accumulated since the age of the Progenitors.

Makanee (Ma-kah-nay) — Ship's surgeon aboard the Streaker; a female neo-fin.

"Man"-Anglic term referring to both male and female human beings.

"Mel" — Anglic term referring specifically to a male human.

Ignacio Metz — An expert on uplift, assigned to the Streaker.

Moki (Moe-kee) — A Stenos neo-fin.

The Niss Machine — A pseudo-intelligent computer, lent to Thomas Orley by Tymbrimi agents.

Thomas Orley — An agent of the Terragens Council and a product of mild genetic engineering.

Pila — A Galactic patron race, part of the Soro clan and hostile to Earth.

Primal — The semi-language used by natural, unmodified dolphins on Earth.

Progenitors — The mythical first species, who established Galactic culture and the Library several billion years ago.

Sah'ot (Sah-ote) — A Stenos neo-dolphin. A civilian linguist onboard the Streaker.

Shallow Cluster — A seldom-visited, unpopulated globular cluster, where the derelict fleet was discovered.

Soro — A senior Galactic patron race hostile to Earth.

Stenos — A vernacular term for neo-fins whose genes include grafts from natural Stenos bredanensis dolphins.

Stenos bredanensis — A species of natural dolphins on Earth.

Dennie Sudman — A human exobiologist.

Hannes Suessi — A human engineer.

Synthian — A member of one of three Galactic races friendly to Earth.

Tandu — A militant Galactic species hostile to Earth.

Takkata-Jim (Tah-kah-tah-jim) — A Stenos neo-fin, Vice-Captain of the Streaker.

Thennanin (Thenn-an-in) — A militant Galactic species.

Tsh't (Tish-oot) — A female neo-fin, the Streaker's fourth officer.

Tursiops — A vernacular word for neo-dolphins without Stenos gene grafts.

Tursiops amicus — A modern neo-dolphin. "Friendly bottlenose."

Tursiops truncatus — Natural bottlenose dolphins on Earth.

Tymbrimi (Tim-brye-me) — A Galactic race friendly to Earthmen, renowned for its cleverness.

Uplift — The process by which older spacefaring races bring new species into Galactic culture, through breeding and genetic engineering. The resulting client species serves its patron for a period of indenture to pay for this favor.

Wattaceti — A neo-fin non-commissioned officer.