Warstrider: Symbionts (Warstrider Series, Book Four)

by Ian Douglas

  "You know what the DalRiss think about life," he said. "It's damned near a religion for them."

  "Yes."

  "We're going . . . out there. Beyond human space. Jumping from star to star, looking for life. They believe—and I believe with them—that the galaxy, the whole universe is chock brim full to overflowing with life . . . and tidal theories and prebiotic matrices be damned. They want me to navigate for them."

  "But you haven't been out there. I thought you had to have been to a place, to pass its feel on to the Achiever."

  "Maybe what they really want is a human viewpoint. A human outlook on the universe. Remember, both the DalRiss and the Naga are blind to the visible spectrum. They've both learned to see, in the same way that we've learned to 'hear' radio with artificial receivers but we have a clearer perspective on the universe than they do, the way it's made, the way it really is . . . at least in some ways. I can help them."

  Katya sighed. "I find it hard to believe that humans can see anything clearly."

  "I know what you mean. But, well, the perspective of seeing things from someone else's vantage point, that always makes things clearer in the end. Don't you think?"

  "Dev, I don't want to lose you. Not again."

  "I'll be back. But I think you need some time on your own. Time to get used to . . ."

  "To you being a ghost? Maybe so. And maybe those DalRiss biological wizards can do something about a body for you, someday."

  "Maybe. Right now, I don't want to even think about it. Katya, I want this. You know, since my memories have been coming back, from my childhood, I . . . I'd forgotten how much I wanted the wonder of it all. The stars. Katya, the stars . . ."

  "You always wanted to be a shipjacker, didn't you? Until you got sidetracked into the warstriders."

  "It was a good sidetrack. I met you there, right? I wouldn't have missed that for anything."

  "I'm glad I knew you, Dev."

  "Me too. And . . . I will be back."

  She'd not told him, even then, that when she'd last seen a DalRiss, aboard one of their ships, the being had "looked" at her with the curiously scanning crescent of its head . . . and mentioned the new life growing deep in her belly.

  Katya had deliberately kept a piece of Dev for herself, that last time aboard the ascraft, by switching off the part of her cephlink that regulated her sexual rhythms.

  "I love you, Dev," she'd told him.

  And, through the Xenolink, she'd felt his lips brush hers, as warm and as sweet as reality.

  Terminology and Glossary

  AI: Artificial Intelligence. Since the Sentient Status Act of 2204, higher-model networking systems have been recognized as "self-aware but of restricted purview," a legal formula that precludes enfranchisement of machine intelligences.

  Alya: Naked-eye star Theta Serpentis (63 Serpentis) 130 light-years from Sol. A double star system, home to the DalRiss.

  Analogue: Computer-generated "double" of a person, used to handle routine business and communications through ViRcom linkage.

  Ascraft: Aerospace craft. Vehicles that can fly both in space and in atmosphere, including various transports, fighters, and shuttles.

  Cephlink: Implant within the human brain allowing direct interface with computer-operated systems. It contains its own microcomputer and RAM storage and is accessed through sockets, usually located in the subject's temporal bones above and behind each ear. Limited (non-ViR) control and interface is possible through neural implants in the skin, usually in the palm of one hand.

  Cephlink RAM: Also RAM. Random Access Memory, part of the microcircuitry within the cephlink assembly. Used for memory storage, message transfer, linguistics programming, and the storage of complex digital codes used in cephlinkage access. An artificial extension of human intelligence.

  Compatch: Small radio transceiver worn on the skin and jacked into a T-socket. Allows cephlink-to-link radio communications.

  Cryo-H: Liquid hydrogen cooled to a few degrees absolute, used as fuel for fusion power plants aboard striders, ascraft, and other vehicles. Sometimes called "slush hydrogen."

  C-socket: Cervical socket, located in subject's cervical spine, near the base of his neck. Directs neural impulses to jacked equipment, warstriders, construction gear, heavy lifters, etc.

  DalRiss: Nonhuman intelligence first contacted in 2540. Native to Alya B-V (GhegnuRish), they are highly advanced in biological sciences, relatively backward in engineering and metallurgical sciences. Compound name reflects use of Dal, a gene-engineered organism as "mount" by Riss ("Master").

  Durasheath: Armor grown as composite layers of diamond, duralloy, and ceramics; light, flexible, and very strong.

  Embedded Interface: Network of wires and neural feeds embedded in the skin—usually in the palm near the base of the thumb—used to access and control simple computer hardware. Provides control and datafeed functions only, not full-sensory input. Used to activate T-and C-socket jacks, to pass authorization and credit data, and to retrieve printed or vocal data "played" inside the user's mind. Also called 'face or skin implant.

  Genegineering, bionangineering: Use of nanotechnology to restructure life-forms for medical or ornamental reasons.

  Genie: Gene-engineered human. On some worlds they have full rights of ordinary humans. On others they are property. Appearing in many different forms, they are used for a variety of purposes, from mining to heavy labor to companionship to entertainment to sex.

  Gun tower: Unmanned sentry outpost armed with various energy or projectile weapons. May be automated, remote-controlled, or directed by an on-site, low-level AI.

  Hegemony: Also Terran Hegemony. World government representing fifty-seven nations on Earth, plus the Colonial Authorities of the seventy-eight colonized worlds. Technically sovereign, it is dominated by Imperial Japan, which has a veto in its legislative assembly.

  Herakles: Mu Herculis III. Former colony world 26.2 light-years from Sol overrun by Xenos in 2515. Later occupied by Confederation forces.

  Hivel Cannon: A turret-mounted rotary cannon (the term hivel comes from "high velocity"). Similar to twentieth-century CIWS systems, it fires bursts of depleted uranium slugs with a rate of fire as high as fifty per second. Usually controlled by an onboard AI, its primary function is antimissile defense. It can also be voluntarily controlled and used against other targets.

  Jacker: Slang for anyone with implanted jacks for neural interface with computers, machinery, or communications networks. Specifically applied to individuals who jack-in for a living, as opposed to recreational jackers, or "recjacks."

  Kansei no Otoko: "The Men of Completion." Nihonjin faction at Court and within the Imperial Staff dedicated to cleansing upper levels of Imperial civilian and military organizations of gaijin influence.

  Kokorodo: Literally "Way of the Mind." A mental discipline practiced by Imperial military jackers to achieve full mental and physical coordination through AI linkage.

  K-T Plenum: Extraspacial realm at the hyperdimensional interface between normal fourspace and the Quantum Sea. From Nihongo Kamisama no Taiyo, literally "Ocean of God." Starships navigate through the K-T plenum.

  Liberty: 70 Ophiuchi A III. Colony world 16.7 light-years from Sol.

  Loki: 36 Ophiuchi C II. Colony world 17.8 light-years from Sol. Xenophobe incursion here defeated in 2540.

  Lung Chi: DM+320 2896 (Chien) IV. World terraformed by colonists of Manchurian descent. Overrun by Xenophobes in 2538.

  Nangineering: Nanotechnic engineering. Use of nanotechnic devices in building or in medicine.

  Nano-Ds: Nano-disassemblers. Weapon delivered by mag-accelerated projectile consisting of billions of submicroscopic machines programmed to disassemble molecular bonds. A high concentration of nano-Ds can cause several kilos of mass to disintegrate into its component molecules within seconds.

  Nanoflage: Nanofilm on military vehicles designed to transmit colors and textures of vehicle's immediate surroundings. Selectively reflective, it does not ref
lect bright light or motion.

  Navsim: ViRsimulation used in ship navigation.

  New America: 26 Draconis IV. Frontier colony 48.6 light years from Sol.

  Null: Person possessing no cephlink hardware and unable to engage in financial transactions, interface with computers, or engage in useful work. Large numbers of nulls on Frontier worlds and even in some areas on Earth constitute a growing and problematical lower class.

  Prebiotic: A world similar to Earth in the distant past, before the evolution of life. Possessing primitive atmospheres of CO2, water, methane, and ammonia, they can be tailored through terraforming techniques to eventually develop Earthlike environments.

  Quantum Sea: Energy continuum reflected in "vacuum fluctuation," the constant appearance and reabsorption of vast quantities of energy on a subatomic scale. Tapped by starships operating within the K-T plenum.

  Rainbow: 36 Ophiuchi A II. Colony world 17.8 light-years from Sol.

  Rank: Terran Hegemony ranks are based on the Imperial Japanese rank structure, though the English terminology is preferred in common usage. A rough comparison of rank in the Hegemony military, as compared to late twentieth-century America, is given below:

  Enlisted Ranks

  Commissioned Ranks

  Rank within the Confederation forces was initially based on the Hegemony model, but later changed to the pre-Imperial form once used in North America.

  Recjack: Using implants for recreational purposes. These range from participation in ViRdramas to shared multiple sensual stimulation to direct stimulation of the hypothalmic pleasure centers (PC-jacking).

  Riderslot: Opening in an ascraft or other transport's hull designed to receive striders. Usually equipped with grippers, magnetic locks, and autoplug ICS and datafeed connectors.

  Sekkodan: The Imperial Scout Service, tasked with exploring and cataloging new worlds, as well as operating high-speedcourier ships between the worlds of the Shichiju.

  Shakai: "Society." The elitist, upper-class culture of Imperial Earth.

  Shichiju: Literally "The Seventy." Japanese term for the seventy-eight worlds in seventy-two systems so far colonized by Man.

  Sky-el: Elevator used to travel between a planetary ring and the surface of the planet. A cheap and efficient way of moving people and cargo back and forth from surface to orbit.

  Slang, profanity:

  brain-burned: Someone addicted to direct stimulation of the hypothalmic pleasure center (PC-jacking). Also jolted or jolt-rider.

  easy feed: Slang expression for "No problem," or "That'sokay."

  gok, goking: Sexual obscenity. From Japanese goku, "rape."

  iceworld: Military slang. "Stay cool. I'm cool."

  I'm linked: "I'm with you." "I'll go along with that."

  jackin'Jill: Girlfriend, especially as a casual RJ sex partner.

  null, nullhead: Stupid. Empty-headed. By association, crazy. Also, people without jacks, unable to interact in technic society.

  odie: Let's odie = "Let's do it." "Let's move." From Japanese odori, "dance."

  yuji: From Japanese yujo. Comrades-in-arms. People sharing a warrior's bond.

  Slot: 1) Linkage module for human controller. Warstriders have one, two, or three slots; a three-slotter strider has places for a commander, pilot, and weapons tech.

  2) Space for equipment aboard transport. Ascraft have "slots" to carry four or six warstriders. (Slang) By popular usage, a place for a person in an organization, e.g., a "slot in the infantry."

  Synchorbit: That point, different for each world, at which a satellite has an orbital period exactly matching the planet's rotation. Planetary sky-els rise from a world's equator to extensive constructions—factories, habitats, and other orbital facilities—in synchorbit.

  Synchorbital: Facilities built at synchorbit.

  Tacsim: ViRsimulation used to plan or coordinate combat.

  Tacsit: Military slang for "tactical situation."

  Teikokuno Heiwa: "The Imperial Peace." The Pax Japonica.

  Teikokuno Hoshi: "Star of the Empire." Imperial medal for supreme service to the Emperor.

  Tenno Kyuden: "Palace of Heaven." Seat of Imperial government, located at Singapore Orbital.

  Terraform: Also T-form. Converting an existing planetary atmosphere and environment to one that supports humans.

  T-socket: Temporal socket. Usually paired, one on each side of subject's skull, in temporal bone above and behind the ear. Used for full-sensory, full-feedback jacking in conjunction with an AI system, including experiencing ViR, full-sensory communications, and computer control of ships or vehicles.

  ViR, Virtual Reality: Made possible by cephalic implants, virtual reality is the "artificial reality" of computer interfaces that allows, for example, a human pilot to "become" the strider or missile he is piloting, to "live" a simplay, or to "see" things that do not really exist save as sophisticated computer software. An artificial world existing within the human mind that, through AI technology, can be shared with others.

  ViRcom: Full-sensory linked communication. Linker enters a chamber and plugs into communications net. He can then engage in conversation with one or more other humans or their computer analogues as though all were present together.

  ViRdrama: Recreational jacking allowing full-sensory experience through cephlinkage. Linker can participate in elaborate canned shows or AI-monitored games. Two or more linkers can share a single scenario, allowing them to interact with one another.

  ViRlinked: Connected mind-to-mind through interface software, cephlinks, and an AI.

  ViRpersona: The image of self projected in virtual reality dramas or communications. Clothing styles and even personal appearance can be purchased as a cephlink program, much as someone would buy new clothes.

  Warstrider: Also strider. Battlefield armor on two or four legs, giving it high mobility over rough terrain. Generally consists of a fuselage slung between two legs, and equipped either with two arms mounting weapons or with interchangeable weapons pods. Sizes include single-slotters (eight to twelve tons), dual-slotters (ten to thirty tons), three-slotters (twenty-five to seventy tons), and special vehicles such as Armored Personnel Walkers that carry large numbers of troops.

  Who-was: Rumor, scuttlebutt. Corruption of Japanese uwasa.

  Xeno, Xenophobe: Human name for the life-form that first attacked the human colony on An-Nur II in 2498. So-called because of their apparent hatred or fear of other life-forms. Investigations within the Alya system in 2541 proved Xenophobes are machine-organic hybrids evolved from fairly simple organisms billions of years ago. Later referred to as "Naga" from a Hindu serpent deity.