Cylli
Printed pages 36–47. Records documented in this chapter; later article sections may include subsequent events.
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Africa
Africa becomes a principal theater of the Flaxen conquest after the invaders cross the Atlantic from the Americas. Their armies move north toward Europe.
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.
Artificial intelligences
Artificial intelligences operate ancient United Earth's starships and many later systems. Echo, Formidable, and Cylli display personal attachments, distress, preferences, and self-awareness.
Artificial sun
Cylli's artificial sun is a luminous rod extending along the habitat's central axis. Its light resembles Earth's sunlight and supports the cylinder's simulated day and night.
Battle of Jupiter
The battle of Jupiter is the confrontation in which Odin ambushes Echo and is subsequently destroyed by Formidable. It occurs during the Six Years' War.
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.
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.
Elaea Brookes
Elaea Brookes is a scientist and Avalon Brookes's sister. During the war with Mars, she defects to the Martian side and develops a coating that conceals Odin from Echo's sensors.
Forcefield airlocks
Cylli's entrance uses an invisible airtight forcefield as its inner barrier. The system admits a ship while retaining the habitat's atmosphere.
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.
Gravitational inertia compensation
Echo uses a complex system of gravitational fields to compensate for acceleration. People aboard ordinarily perceive the ship's motion only through instruments or an outside reference.
Helen Chute
Lieutenant Commander Helen Chute is Echo’s counselor. She supports the crew through the personal consequences of their displacement.
Jupiter
Jupiter is a giant planet in the Solar System. The immense cylindrical habitat Cylli lies nearby.
Jupiter station
Jupiter station is a strategically contested orbital installation fought over by United Earth and Mars during the six-year war. It changes hands three times in the first four years.
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.
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.
Laser datalinks
Laser datalinks allow rapid information exchange between artificial intelligences and vessels. Their usefulness is limited by distance and signal travel time.
Martian Confederacy
The Martian Confederacy is the independent political community formed by Mars's secession from United Earth. It fights a six-year war before later cooperating with Earth.
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.
Odin
Odin is the Martian flagship destroyed by Formidable during the six-year war. Its sensor-defeating hull allows it to ambush Echo near Jupiter.
Railguns
Railguns are shipboard weapons that use magnetic acceleration to fire titanium slugs. They serve in the ancient United Earth and Martian fleets.
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.
Six Years' War
The Six Years' War is the conflict between United Earth and the secessionist Martian Confederacy. It ends in United Earth's victory five years before the Copious expedition departs.
Stealth hull coatings
Stealth hull coatings conceal vessels from detection systems. Elaea Brookes's wartime coating masks Odin from Echo's scans, while Echo's later craft evade contemporary radar.
Steve Thomas
Captain Steve Thomas commands Formidable, United Earth’s flagship. A veteran of the war against Mars, he leads the Copious expedition alongside Captain Kip Eastcott and Echo.
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.
United Earth Marines
United Earth Marines are the ground-combat personnel associated with the ancient fleet. Former Earth and Martian Marines travel aboard Echo on the Copious expedition.