by JCH Rigby
Taran-tara: An informal description of the sound of a military marching band.
The Ambassador of The Worlds: United Nations representative in exoplanet colonies.
The Directorate: United Nations Weapons Development Directorate.
The Divine Mind or Brothers of the Divine Mind: Ascetic monastic order of fundamentalist Christians.
The Pure Bred People’s Party: A political body opposed to artificial medical devices and human enhancement.
The Sherpas: An informal term for civil servants, political negotiators tasked with ‘clearing a route to the summit’ to enable talks.
Tight Beam: Communication using light or microwaves propagating in free space.
Tracker: A light armored reconnaissance vehicle.
Upsin: An Orchard term, to travel against the direction of the habitat’s rotation.
VSTOL: Vertical or short takeoff and landing aircraft.
Webline: A zipline from a spider drone.
Webmount: A tethering point for a zipline supporting pole.
Weisswurst: German, veal sausage.
Zweites fruhstuck: Bavarian, second breakfast.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Prior to his SF novel series set in the galaxy of The Deep Wide Black, JCH Rigby (Charlie) wrote well-received short stories and professionally-performed plays, on subjects as diverse as a comedy about a medieval bishop who takes up piracy, and a satirical near-future in which motorbikes are forbidden until a covert brotherhood of bikers reclaim their ancient freedoms.
In the 1990s he published and edited the Science Fiction and Fantasy magazine Far Point. Later, he developed “Nano Futures”, mini short stories which distil SF tropes into one hundred words.
After Ampleforth and Oxford, Charlie served with the Royal Air Force Regiment in Cold War West Germany, in Northern Ireland, in Cyprus and in the Falkland Islands. When his first military exercise was launched, he watched from underneath his steel helmet as a squadron of Vulcan bombers scrambled from a Cambridgeshire runway. There and then, he knew he’d made the right career choice. The “big boys’ toy box” thrills continued with Scorpion and Spartan light armoured vehicles, cross-country motorbikes, helicopters, Hercules transport aircraft and a huge range of things which went bang, generally when they were intended to. Much of the rest of his service seemed to involve carrying heavy things while running, generally in bad weather.
He subsequently worked in the print industry and in publishing. Born in Newcastle, he lives in Grantham, Lincolnshire, with his extremely tolerant wife and the world’s fastest Labrador retriever. Father to three daughters, he is joyously surrounded by smart and wonderful women.
CONNECT WITH JCH 'CHARLIE' RIGBY
Find me on my publisher's website:
http://castrumpress.com/2017/10/about-jch-charlie-rigby/
Other Sci-Fi Thrillers from Castrum Press:
THE CRONIAN INCIDENT
by MATTHEW WILLIAMS
Hard boiled private investigator meets hard science fiction in this sci-fi tale that fans of the Expanse will love!
Jeremiah Ward was just another convict, a disgraced investigator who once worked the Martian beat, now serving his sentence in a mining colony on Mercury. When a member of a powerful faction goes missing on Titan, Ward is given an opportunity he cannot pass up. In exchange for investigating the disappearance of this figure, he gets a clean slate and a second chance.
But, the deeper Ward digs the more secrets he finds. Instead of investigating a missing person’s case he becomes embroiled in a centuries-old conspiracy and Ward comes to realize his one shot at redemption may cost him his life.
READ MORE HERE