Tantrums
Printed pages 186–193. 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.
Avalon Brookes
Avalon Brookes is the inventor of the sphere drive. His propulsion technology makes the Copious expedition possible.
Bioluminescent life
Cylli's habitat contained plants and insects genetically engineered to shine for beauty. Their nighttime colors illuminated meadows, hills, riverbanks, and the air around the cabins.
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.
Cylli's artificial sun
Cylli's artificial sun provided her interior habitat with a twenty-four-hour cycle of light and darkness. At night it dimmed to a soft silver glow resembling moonlight on Earth.
Cylli’s rotating gun
Cylli’s rotating gun is a defensive weapon built into the habitat’s forward rim. Deployable metal rails rotate and discharge orange energy shards in a helix-like pattern.
Defense of Cylli
Cylli repelled Brookes's attempt to enter and destroy Echo. She refused his forged command, resisted his sphere beam, and drove his hawk away.
Food dispensers
Food dispensers provide prepared food and drinks aboard Echo. They are brought online as the ship's officers recover from stasis.
Hawks
Hawks were advanced arrow-shaped transport craft taken from Cylli by Brookes and modified as weapons. Their speed, stealth, protection, and sphere beams initially overwhelmed Echo's remaining defenses.
Helen Chute
Lieutenant Commander Helen Chute is Echo’s counselor. She supports the crew through the personal consequences of their displacement.
Holographic avatars
AIs could communicate through lifelike projected avatars when suitable equipment was available. Cylli presented herself as a girl in a red dress and could briefly make the image physically tangible.
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.
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.
Megan
Megan is a human prisoner in Camp Skadi and Serilda Corazon’s closest companion. Seriously weakened by the camp’s conditions, she depends on Serilda’s care and shares her concern for their fellow prisoners.
Reflective armor
Cylli's protective surface could reverse its normal absorption of incoming energy and deflect photons. Her shipyards gave Echo and its surviving scorpion armor using the same principle.
Return to Cylli
After the first hawk attack, Echo returned to Cylli for protection and repair. The journey at twenty percent drive power took about five hours.
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.
Sphere beam
A sphere beam is a directed violet energy weapon powered by energy diverted from a sphere drive. Its output depends on the materials available to conduct that energy.