Megastructure
Printed pages 32–35. 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.
Andrew Copley
Andrew Copley is one of the civilian leaders selected for the Copious expedition. The civilian council is intended to take responsibility for the colony after it is established.
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 civilian council
The Copious civilian council comprises the civilian leaders selected to assume governance of the new colony after its establishment. Three travel aboard Echo and three aboard Formidable.
Cylli
Cylli is a vast cylindrical space habitat near Jupiter, maintained by a conscious artificial intelligence. Its scale and sophistication draw the attention of Echo’s returning crew.
Gerard O'Neil
Gerard O'Neil is the late twentieth-century physicist credited by Katie Silver with proposing rotating cylindrical space habitats. Cylli embodies the concept on a vast scale.
Jupiter
Jupiter is a giant planet in the Solar System. The immense cylindrical habitat Cylli lies nearby.
Katie Silver
Lieutenant Commander Katie Silver is Echo’s chief science officer. She is engaged to Chief Security Officer Chuck Balbo and joins the expedition to Copious.
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.
O'Neil cylinders
O'Neil cylinders are rotating hollow space habitats designed to provide Earthlike conditions along their inner surfaces. Rotation simulates gravity, with larger radii allowing slower rotation.
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.
United Earth (ancient)
Ancient United Earth is the interplanetary government under which Echo and Formidable begin their service. Its Senate authorizes the Copious expedition after the war with Mars.