Constants
Printed pages 24–31. Records documented in this chapter; later article sections may include subsequent events.
Showing introductory records. Switch to Full archive above to include later names and revelations.
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein is the early twentieth-century scientist whom Echo credits with discovering and later proving time dilation. His work remains part of the expedition crew's scientific education.
Avalon Brookes
Avalon Brookes is the inventor of the sphere drive. His propulsion technology makes the Copious expedition possible.
Chuck Balbo
Lieutenant Chuck Balbo is Echo’s chief security officer and Katie Silver’s fiancé. He serves under Captain Kip Eastcott on the Copious expedition.
Copious
Copious is the planned destination of the first attempted human expedition beyond the solar system. It lies just under thirty-five light-years from Earth, orbiting an orange K-dwarf star.
Deflection lasers
Deflection lasers protect high-speed starships by detecting and vaporizing particles ahead of them. A collision with even a sand-sized object at the expedition's intended speeds could destroy a ship.
Echo
Echo is a United Earth starship and the self-aware artificial intelligence who operates the vessel. Commanded by Kip Eastcott, he carries roughly one thousand people on the Copious expedition.
Food dispensers
Food dispensers provide prepared food and drinks aboard Echo. They are brought online as the ship's officers recover from stasis.
Formidable
Formidable is United Earth’s flagship and the self-aware artificial intelligence who operates the vessel. Captain Steve Thomas commands the ship on the Copious expedition.
Keiper Belt
The Keiper Belt is the outer solar-system region that Formidable and Echo must clear before engaging their sphere drives. Echo crosses it again on the return toward Earth.
Kip Eastcott
Captain Kip Eastcott commands Echo on the Copious expedition. A veteran of the war with Mars, he leads a crew far removed from the world they knew.
Sarah Dimple
Commander Sarah Dimple is Echo’s executive officer and Captain Kip Eastcott’s second in command. A veteran of the war with Mars, she combines loyalty to her captain with a willingness to challenge his decisions.
Science Commission
The Science Commission is an ancient United Earth institution overseeing advanced research and sphere-drive testing. Its simulations rely on equations supplied by Avalon Brookes.
Sphere drive
The sphere drive is Avalon Brookes's propulsion technology, which draws photonic energy from higher dimensions through a hypersphere. It is intended to propel the Copious expedition at eighty percent of light speed.
Sphere-drive accident
The sphere-drive accident destroys the planned progress of the Copious expedition and separates Formidable from Echo. A hidden velocity-dependent increase in energy extraction produces runaway acceleration.
Spherical constant
The spherical constant is the term Avalon Brookes adds to his sphere-drive equations to balance them. Its inclusion removes the simulated growth of energy extraction with speed.
Subdermal communicators
Subdermal communicators are tiny implants used by Echo's personnel for calls and displays. Kip Eastcott's implant projects blue holographic text above his wrist.
The Sun
The Sun is the star of Earth, Mars, and Venus, and an energy and material source for later planetary engineering. Echo returns toward it after the failed journey to Copious.
Translation matrix
Echo's translation matrix converts between the expedition's English and the changed languages of contemporary Earth and Venus. It enables live diplomatic conversation despite almost ten thousand years of linguistic change.
United Earth Fleet
The United Earth Fleet operates the AI-controlled starships of ancient United Earth. Formidable and Echo serve in it during the war with Mars before their conversion to exploration vessels.