First Contact
Printed pages 83–92. 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.
Cyrus Eppleston
Cyrus Eppleston is United Earth’s Minister of War during the struggle against Flaxen conquest.
Dwight Von Marshall
Dwight Von Marshall is the chief general officer of the contemporary New United Earth Military. He attends the first formal conference aboard Echo.
Earth intelligence service
Contemporary United Earth's intelligence service is a major source of resistance to the Flaxen advance. Echo judges human intelligence capabilities substantially superior to those of their opponents.
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.
First contact with contemporary United Earth
Echo's first contact with contemporary United Earth begins through a concealed lunar radio link to Minister of War Cyrus Eppleston. It leads to a presidential visit and preliminary military cooperation.
Food dispensers
Food dispensers provide prepared food and drinks aboard Echo. They are brought online as the ship's officers recover from stasis.
Humans
Humans are the people descended from Earth whose civilization spreads to Mars and Venus. The Flaxens claim to have surpassed them and deny their own humanity.
Human–Flaxen hybrids
Human–Flaxen hybrids are people with both human and Flaxen parentage. Some possess unusual mental abilities that contemporary United Earth uses in intelligence work.
Julius Forrender
Julius Forrender is President of United Earth during the war against the Flaxens.
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.
Lucinda Orcana
Lieutenant Lucinda Orcana is Echo’s chief tactical officer. She serves on Captain Kip Eastcott’s bridge crew.
Medical automation
Medical automation aboard the ancient starships supports diagnosis, recovery from stasis, and treatment. Scanners produce detailed images and activity readings quickly.
Mental gifts
Mental gifts are unusual abilities displayed by some people of mixed human and Flaxen ancestry. Contemporary United Earth employs several gifted hybrids within its intelligence agencies.
North America
North America is the initial center of Flaxen settlement and conquest on Earth. The first war leaves the Flaxens in control of nearly the whole continent, extending into much of Mexico.
Ostio Novicheck
Doctor Ostio Novicheck is Echo’s chief medical officer. He oversees the welfare of the expedition’s passengers and crew.
Phil Grader
Phil Grader is contemporary United Earth's chief air marshal. He accompanies President Forrender's delegation aboard Echo.
Radar
Radar is the radio-wave detection method used by both contemporary United Earth and the Flaxens to identify approaching aircraft. Returned signals reveal the targets' positions and numbers.
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.
Serilda Corazon
Serilda Corazon is a woman of human and Flaxen parentage imprisoned at Camp Skadi. She cares for her friend Megan and the other occupants of hut seven while strange visions of a starship trouble her sleep.
Shuttlecraft
Shuttlecraft carry people between larger vessels and planetary or habitat surfaces. Both Echo and Cylli possess craft capable of transporting passengers.
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.
The Moon
The Moon is Earth's natural satellite. Echo uses its far side to conceal the ship's location while preparing contact with contemporary United Earth.
Time dilation
Time dilation causes different amounts of time to pass for observers moving at different speeds. The near-light-speed acceleration of the Copious ships displaces Echo's passengers almost ten thousand years into their home system's future.
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
United Earth is the human government resisting the Flaxen conquest of Earth. Its institutions include a presidency, armed forces, and intelligence services.
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.
War Ministry
The War Ministry is the contemporary United Earth institution headed by Cyrus Eppleston. Its headquarters are in Great Britain.