Dadr'Ba
Page 41
She had been the same age as her grandson when the comet that became known as the angel of death first appeared. The devastation that accompanied that arrival had been burned into her memory forever.
After almost forgetting his question, Poh’poh noticed her grandson waiting patiently, looking up at her, a concerned look on his face. Realizing the futility of sugarcoating her answer, she sighed and said, pointing up towards Samil as it traced its way across the sky “Samil, the angel of death” and she drew him close, hugging him tightly as the tears rolled down her cheeks.
Glossary
A
An’Su – sounds like “on sue” code name for the CASS special mission vessel
Apprentice – work earns only partial mileage credit.
Apprenticeship – lasts for ten years, sometimes 25 depending on the job. Once the apprenticeship is completed, individuals can compete for job assignments at a permanent job.
Children can apprentice under the parent early, as young as fifteen, however, earn no seniority credit. The benefit is that they may pass their certifications early during regular apprenticeship and earn full seniority credit earlier than had they not apprenticed under their parent.
A’Pa – sounds like “ah pa” anti-progress activities, that carries a capital punishment.
Asteroids – had been integrated into Dadr’Ba’s composition during its reconstruction into a starship; the prisoners The asteroids provide precious metals and minerals needed for the interstellar flight but were lacking in the original comet. The easiest method to provide these essential materials was from asteroids that were carefully buried in strategic locations to maintain Dadr’Ba’s balance under spin near the ends of the cylinder that makes up Dadr’Ba.
B
Beh’Bei, – passive action, hidden hand
BACCC – Beijing Aerospace Command and Control Center
Bio-mods – distinctive to U’Te’s and D’En’s gravitate toward?
U’Te’s: Tattoo’s, including facial and permanent eye makeup, coarser shorter hair,
D’En’s: Lack of Tattoo’s, height enhancement, finer longer, hair, whiter smoother skin – almost like porcelain but not shiny,
Mi’Nr’s: Aside from distinctive bio-mods for their race, often flamboyant facial tattoos, coarse facial hair for men
Birthing: One-way parenting is possible but very rare.
The most famous was the original survivor who parented his spouse, but that was a true parenting it was more like saving someone near death because once revived, she retained most of her original functions, not like the revived newborn that are devoid of functionality and once birthed need to be trained in even the basic functions of biology and taught how to understand, interact and function in the environment.
Bo’Ba – sounds like “bow bah” term for baby, not yet potty trained, unable to speak
Body mods – are a medical appointment requiring scheduling and sometimes taking weeks to accomplish followed by sex education by mentors. It used to be different before the Touch of God and the establishment of the CA whatever governing body that controlled Dadr’Ba didn’t allow the crew individuality.
Bot – slang for robot
Bo’R – sounds like “bow-er” or borer, slang for miner
Bylaws – Nothing is wasted on a starship.
Every act is to help
All energy expended helps Dadr’Ba to reach O’M
All support that goal
There is but one O’M, and that is our goal
C
CA – the central authority the CA was born out of the ashes of the Touch of God and is the divinely chosen command organization of the ship. Leading and guiding Dadr’Ba and its crew O’M
CASC – Central Authority Security Council
Capsule Flats – tiny Nu’Tn apartments
Children – look alike, but subtle differences in facial expressions, makeup, and personalization of uniforms help to identify individual children as well as nametags and distinguishing markings on the uniforms to show age and grade school. At age, fifteen children can start a un-bio-moded apprenticeship with their parents.
Church robes – white robe black tunic with the star
Clone crew – the crew is all clones, but cosmetics, body piercing/adornment, and tattoos are popular even among the young, (young are not authorized permanent mods until coming of age at age twenty-five) variations in clothing also popular.
Clonely – a derogatory term describing the look of someone, similar to “homely” that refers to a pre-bio-mod person or post bio-mod person that looks too much like no bio-mods were done, basic, plain, ordinary, dull
CNSA – China National Space Administration
Coming of age Ceremony – marks graduation from school, the start of vocation and adulthood. At age25. There’s a group graduation ceremony where each sector conducts a ceremony televised across all of Dadr’Batypically about250 graduates they received academic recognition, and their apprenticeship assignments are announced.
Credits – The currency earned, a small stipend is supplied to every crew member to pay for “incidentals” mostly food spices and hygiene items. Extra credit is earned by exceeding one quota of quality or quantity. Mechanics are one category of worker they can fairly easily make extra credits simply by doing more preventive maintenance routines during a shift.
Crystal Tear – Miners are given a snowflake ice crystal tear near the eye to represent a frozen tear for lives lost in their profession. Like real snowflakes, each is unique. It is created by placing a probe near absolute zero against the skin; the Probe is ignited on fire at one end and then designed in such a way that the fire draws heat from the opposite in creating a pinpoint of absolute zero. That pinpoint causes a burn that is often mistaken as a tattoo. The color from the Crystal Tear has been engineered to indicate of the effectiveness of the Mi’Nr’s anti-CASS surveillance nano-bot nano-bots. P’Ko’s tear is unusual and is attributed to his U’Te skin. Note Su’Zi and P’Ko like many other Mi’Nr’s put on makeup to cover their tear when visiting Nu’Tn.
Cs’Oc – sounds like “cassock” CASS operation center
D
Dadr’Ah – sounds like “dad er ah” the first gift of God
Dadr’Ba – sounds like “dad are ba” the second gift of God, Dadr’ah renamed named Dadr’Ba after the Touch of God
Dadr’Ka – sounds like “dad are Ka” the third gift of God
D’En – sounds like “Dee in” slang word for guardian, upper class, smartest, ruling class
Divorce – is strictly 50-50 split shared custody of children and what can’t be split is sold with the proceeds divided 50-50 or confiscated by the CA with no compensation.
Dr’T or D’Rs – slang for “Dirty”, Derogatory name for miners
E
eSuit – environmental suit
Echo click – miners, have mastered the ability to echo click to help find their way down dark passages.
ESA – European Space Agency
eTaC-M – sounds like “EE tack em” Enhanced Tracking and Communications Module, a communications device linked to the CASS command center and is used to track movements of personnel with special access to CA information. The eTaC-M is fused to the wearer’s skull and has tamper protection built in, making it extremely difficult to remove without alerting the CASS or causing central nervous system damage to the wearer.
Exoskeleton – powered exoskeleton that in conjunction with and eSuit enables the wearer to function in cold high G environments.
F
Family status – is based on family contributions to Dadr’Ba in distance. The higher distance families get better quarters that get assigned on Memorial Day.
Food processing – is tied to waste processing; it’s processed in farms, but nothing like a terrestrial farm, but called so in a strange way to help make the product of food that’s created more palatable
Biological food processing involves large tanks interspersed wit
h light tubes in which grow several species of genetically engineered plankton designed to produce all the essential nutrients for the sustainment of life; the algae-like creatures are then processed into consumer packaged bars and cakes for food. Cooks and chefs that can make these foodstuffs more palatable are in great demand.
For’Nr – sounds like “fore ner” slang for foreigner, miners name for anyone other than a miner
FOP – Forward Only Policy, a policy or tenant by the CA imposed on the crew requiring only forward thinking and actions, imposed by the law against A’Pa or anti-progress activities, that carries capital punishment.
G
Gender-neutral pronoun
Ne
Ne laughed
I called nem
Nir eyes gleam
That is nirs
Ne likes nemself
Ghost – online CASS monitor
GLC – Gene-Locked Clone
GP – Give Power, miner slogan
Graduation ceremony – is followed by a coming-of-age ceremony, which is a Touch of God reenactment followed by a social welcoming parade.
GRB – Gamma Ray Burst
H
HB – home brew, a drink that Mi’Nr’s, usually mechanics make from a contraption of broken and spare parts, and some non-fuel grade substances found in the scree during the mining operation that is cooked and distilled then filtered through a barrel of the latest ore, it’s then bottled and allowed to age. Each sector’s HB is different, and each batch is different, and there is an annual contest between the sectors to determine which sectors HB is best
Hn’Gri Bo’R – “slang for hungry boar or borer” restaurant in Ol’Tn’Ka, a hangout for Mi’Nr’s
Holidays and Ceremonies:
Graduation Day – a ceremony held at the same time about the sector. Group ceremony in each sector, video distributed across all of Dadr’Ba. Academic recognition and job selection announcement. ToG ceremony, coming of age ceremony in church annex, followed by body mods, sex education, and social welcoming.
ToG ceremony – Touch of God ceremony is a rite of passage marking the point that juveniles become legal adults. The ceremony is the first step followed by bio-mods, including sexual organs. Until then there is no physical difference between boys and girls. As they are raised and mature most, tend to gravitate to one or the other gender. It’s rare to have a nonsexual individual; it is frowned upon socially, morally, and religiously, and may interfere with the grandparent’s chance at passing on.
Memorial Day – a one hour Dadr’Ba wide ceremony, key people cannot attend, but get extra credits for working during the ceremony.
Retirement - A reverse birth ceremony occurs, a person becomes a full adult (religious) and is expected to birth children themselves.
I
IL – Intelligent life
J
Jobs-
Shift work – For every ten shifts worked crew members get one shift vacation, no weekends. One holiday off and can bank a hundred shift’s that are tradable (unsellable) and two hundred shifts parenting, not tradable, use or lose.
Jm’Pr – sounds like “jumper” All-terrain vehicles used by Mi’Nr’s to get to places quickly.
K
Ko’Ka – Child, pre-teen
Kr’/Kr’s – sounds like “kur” shortened form of worker/workers, D’En name for Mi’Nr’s and U’Te’s
L
Laws – Penalties for lawbreakers are: fines, restriction of movement, confiscation of property, hard labor, isolation confinement, or finally death, commonly referred to as forcible retirement
Leftover – “leftover” the label used to name a person incapable of finding a mate and therefore fated not to have children
Lele’Kolo – sounds like “lay lay ko low” P’Ko’s Mi’Nr name
LIDAR – Light Detection and Ranging
Lr’Lng – sounds like “ler ling” rhymes with yearling, or learning, coming of age apprentice to a Mentor
M
Magneto Hydro Dynamic (MHD) generator – an electrical power generation system that uses the fast-moving ionized gasses in the fusion engine to generate power.
Marriage – is a legally binding partnership contract is for the control of property and credits and birthing of children.
Martial arts – are against the law practitioners swear an oath of secrecy
Me’K’s. – Mechanic
Mentors – ostensibly provide sexual education and training, but often provide social, economic and other mentoring that often lasts a lifetime.
Mi’Nr – Miners are short, stocky individuals specially adapted to live and work in the most hostile environments on the ship. They can echo click see better in the dark and have thick dark skin and eyelids so they can better survive in the mines.
Mines – are very cold, dark places; especially old abandoned mines nothing is wasted on a starship. Any lighting and ventilation equipment and utilities are moved to the new mining areas. The old mining areas are abandoned.
MOC – Mission Operations Commander
Mp’Isr – Mining Personnel, Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance
Old mines – have no light and very thin air. The lighting systems had been removed and moved to new mining areas
M’Vr – sounds like “em ver” the Run with the Se’Ro’Bs’ Most Valuable Racer
N
NASA – National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Nightclubs – dancing is popular, but not advertised or talked about openly they operate only in restricted areas
Nor – him, not her pre-grad, non-declared sexual orientation
NSTR – Nothing Significant to Report.
Nu’Tn – Sounds like “new ton” New Town. It is where the gravity and temperature are comfortable for, and where the majority of U’Te’s and D’En’s reside. It encompasses most of Zone two and was constructed after the ToG event. Each of the ships sectors has one and are designated by their sector, Nu’Tn’Ah (sector one), Nu’Tn’Ba (sector two), Nu’Tn’Ka (sector three), Nu’Tn’She (sector four) and Nu’Tn’Go (sector five).
O
Ol’Dr/Ol’Dr’s – sounds like “Older” -- first born child, most closely tied to the grandparents
Ol’Tn – sounds like “Old Tin” where a large portion of Mi’Nr society resides, and less fortunate Up’Lndrs are forced to live, due to bad luck or bad decisions. Each of the ships sectors has one and are designated by their sector, Ol’Tn’Ah (sector one), Ol’Tn’Ba (sector two), Ol’Tn’Ka (sector three), Ol’Tn’She (sector four) and Ol’Tn’Go (sector five).
O’M – sounds like and means “Home.”
O’Mi – sounds like “homie” Chn’Gi’s nickname for the aliens that reside on O’M
Op’Cm – sounds like “op com” Operation Commander
Oort cloud – Oort clouds are speculated to exist in the titanic region of space beyond the outermost planets, only loosely bound to the sun’s gravity and contains many millions of comet asteroid or protoplanetary objects.
Or’Gn – sounds like and means “Origin” world, the planet where Dadr’Ba came from, not its real name, its real name is banned from use by the Central Authority.
P
PCF -- Prompt Cold Fusion, powerful shots of liquor known for their instant effects
Penitentes – spiked hardened snow or ice caused by the snow or ice sublimating under the interaction of overhead light or radiation.
PRC – People’s Republic of China
Per – Pre bio-mod, or not male, not female, non-gender specific version of him and her.
Pets – are androids like robotic body creatures resembling dogs, cats, and birds.
Philosophy – is outlawed, it’s feared that introspection and self-understanding may lead to the discovery of their true nature (androids). -- Created by bios who dominated them. The idea behind being created or manufactured is repulsive to the Dadr’Ba; they believe that they are “born” to their parents and gra
ndparents and alive in every sense of the word.
Pre-Born – people (clones) freshly printed or clones pulled from suspended animation that has never been brought to life.
Prostitution – is legal.
Prz’Nr’s – sounds similar to and means Prisoners
PST – phase synched transmission