The Complete Intrepid Saga: Books 1 - 4: Aeon 14 Novels

by M. D. Cooper

  Kithari – The sixth major planet in the Bollam’s World System, Kithari is a 6Mj gas giant with jovian characteristics. It has a multitude of stations and inhabited worlds surrounding it.

  Kapteyn’s Star – This star is 12.8 light-years from Sol and has the second highest relative motion to Sol of all the stars in the human sphere. Kapteyn’s is estimated to be over ten billion years old and was formed in a dwarf galaxy outside the Milky Way. Unlike most stars it has a polar orbit around the galactic core and also orbits the galaxy retrograde. It spends most of its time above or below the disk of the galaxy.

  Because of its age, Kapteyn’s has fewer heavy elements and has a more bluish tint than most red dwarfs. It also has 32% of Sol’s mass and 7% of its luminosity.

  Kapteyn’s is orbited by two major planets and seven larger dwarf worlds. It has also picked up hundreds of small worlds and asteroids during its journeys through the cosmos.

  Its planets (in nominal order) are:

  Victoria (major planet)

  Alexandria

  Albion (major planet)

  Athens

  Sparta

  Knossos

  Perseus (location of the gamma site research facility)

  Troy

  Tarsis

  Kap, The – The name the crew of the Intrepid calls “Kapteyn’s Star”. Similar to “the Sun”.

  Landfall – The capital of the Victoria colony. At the time of the Battle of Victoria the city had a population of two million.

  LHS 1565 / GJ 1061 – Named “Estrella de la Muerte” by the crew of the Intrepid as it passed through the system, this star is a small red dwarf 12 light-years from Sol. With a diameter not much larger than Jupiter’s it has roughly 11% the mass of Sol and 1% its luminosity. No significant planetary objects exist in the system which only possesses a few asteroid belts.

  Lucent (Sirius B) – The second star in the Sirius system, formerly known as Sirius B. This white-dwarf remnant has a strong magnetic shield which protects the worlds and habitats there from the harsh radiation of Sirius A.

  Luminescent Space – The region of space surrounding Lucent, the second star in the Sirius system. This space is largely restricted only to members of Luminescent Society.

  Mars Inner Shipyards (MIS) – After the MCEE was constructed, which made it possible to dock at a station further out from Mars and have materials transported down the gravity well, the Mars Inner Shipyards were constructed. Because high-tech manufacturing was occurring on the M1R as well, it became a better location for shipbuilding than the MOS and through the latter half of the fourth millennia and beginning of the fifth it overtook the MOS as InnerSol’s premier shipyard.

  Mars 1 Ring (M1R or MIR) – The first planetary ring saw its construction begin in the year 2215 and through a massive effort was completed in 2391. The ring is just over 1600 kilometers wide and wraps around Mars at the planet’s geosynchronous orbital point making it 128,400 kilometers long.

  The ring is not flat like a natural ring (such as Saturn’s) but faces the planet. It does not orbit at a speed to match the surface of Mars, but rotates at a slower speed to provide exactly 1g of gravity on the inside surface. Walls over 100 kilometers high line the inside of the ring and hold in atmosphere. The total surface area of the ring is 205 million kilometers. This is half the surface area of Earth and 72% more area than Earth’s landmass. Considering that M1R has hundreds of levels it contains more than 100 times the surface area of planet Earth.

  The completion of M1R definitively proved that mankind’s future home was in space and not on the surface of worlds. In the year 4123 the population of the M1R had reached over seven hundred billion people.

  Mars Protectorate – is the name for the political entity that encapsulates Mars, its moons, the Mars 1 Ring, and several asteroids in the main asteroid belt.

  MCEE – The Mars Central Elevator Exchange is a secondary orbital ring around the planet Mars which connects all of the outer habitats and shipyards to the Mars 1 Ring (M1R). Because of the need to keep gravity under 1g, all habitats and shipyards connected to the M1R must orbit Mars at a slower speed than the main ring. As a result, they must connect to it via elevators which can move along the surface of the MCEE. Maglev elevators can then travel from locations such as the Mars Outer Shipyards to the M1R without requiring passengers or cargo to transfer to other transports.

  Mars Outer Shipyards (MOS) – This shipyard was once the premier shipyard in all of the Sol system. Built in 3229, the shipyard’s main structure is over 1000 kilometers in length with thousands of cubic kilometers of equipment and detached service yards surrounding it. The shipyard’s pre-eminence faded as the conditions which made the MIS more economical improved. In 4123 it was still one of the busiest shipyards in the Sol system, but until it won the Intrepid’s contract it had not done a high-profile build in decades.

  New Eden – Known on charts as 82 Eridani, this stellar system was terraformed by the FGT in the late forty-first and early forty-second centuries. The stellar primary is a Sol-like star with two Earth-like planets in orbit.

  “New Eden” also is the name the colonists gave to the first of the two Earth-like worlds in the system.

  Noctilucent Space – This region of the Sirius system is the area around Sirius (Sirius A) where the Noctus people work the Lumin refineries and mining platforms. It is a harsh region filled with radiation from Sirius and navigational hazards from a millennia of mining.

  OuterSol – The region of space between the main asteroid belt and the inside of the main Kuiper belt—though this has shifted as political entities shift.

  Perseus – The seventh planet in the Kapteyn’s Star system, Perseus is a cold, ice-world with an average orbital distance of 7AU from its host star. The world is small, but has a higher than average density for the system. Surface gravity is 0.36g.

  Perseus is known as the Gamma site and is where Earnest’s secret picotech research base is located.

  Radius – The seventh moon of the gas giant, Nacreous, which orbits Sirius (Sirius A). This moon is a resort world for Luminescent Society.

  Pluto – Once a planet in the outer Sol system, the Scattered Worlds sold Pluto to the Jovians in the early fifth millennia. At the time of the Intrepid’s construction the Jovians had merged it with other mass and terraformed it.

  Silstrand (HR-5279 / HD 122862) – The seat of the Silstrand Alliance government and the center of the Alliance’s trade and commerce, the Silstrand System boasts three terraformed worlds, one with a ring and space elevators.

  Silstrand Alliance – The Silstrand Alliance is a collection of worlds located roughly 90 light-years from Sol, which have banded together under an elected representative parliamentary government. The alliance consists of 10 major star systems.

  Sol – The name of the star which in antiquity was simply referred to as ‘the sun’. Because humans call the star that lights up their daytime sky ‘the sun’ in every system it became common practice to refer to Sol by its proper name.

  Sol system – The Sol system used to be referred to as the solar system. However, as humans began to first think about, and then actually colonize other stellar systems it became obvious that the term was very Sol-centric. The common usage became to call the systems simply by the name of the star. For example: Tau Ceti system, Alpha Centauri system, etc… Because humankind’s home star is named Sol, the term Sol system came into use.

  Scattered Worlds – is a political entity that contains many of the trans-Neptunian worlds. Its nominal inner border is the main Kuiper belt and its outer border is the Hills Oort cloud. The capital of the Scattered Worlds is Makemake.

  Tara – Named for the stone of Tara in Ireland, Tara is the second moon of Albion. Tara is not originally from the Kapteyn’s Star system and has a higher density and metalicity than other worlds in the system.

  The moon has a diameter 0.9 times the size of Earth’s, a mass of 0.8 Earths, and a density of 3.1g/cm3. As a result, the average surface
gravity of Tara is 0.5g.

  Though Tara’s parent world, Albion, spends much of its time outside the Kapteyn’s Star system’s habitable zone, Tara has a molten core—largely due to its proximity to Albion, and a thick atmosphere due to volcanism. At the time of colonization, the world already had liquid water on its surface.

  Tara is the location of the second colony in the Kapteyn’s Star system and is often referred to as the “beta site.”

  Terra – This is the Latin name for the Earth and (though there are some exceptions) is not commonly used to refer to the planet. However, it is often used to refer to Earth, High Terra and Luna (as well as the assorted nations within the Terran sphere of influence).

  Terran Hegemony – The official name for the InnerSol worlds either directly governed by Terra, or existing well within its geo-political influence. Notable worlds in the Terran Hegemony are Venus and Mercury.

  Toro (1685 Toro) – Toro is an asteroid that has a resonant 5:8 orbit with Earth and a 5:13 resonant orbit with Venus. This means for every 5 of Earth’s orbits and every 8 of Toro’s, it orbits Sol in resonance with the Earth. During that period, it appears as though Toro orbits the Earth. It also makes for cost effective cargo transfer to Toro during that period. Toro, like Cruithne also is a useful slingshot accelerator for cargo being sent to OuterSol.

  The original asteroid was roughly 3 kilometers in diameter, but subsequent construction expanded it irregularly by several more kilometers. It was made famous by what has been termed ‘The Massacre of Toro’, an event in which Tanis Richards played a key role.

  Trio – The fourth world from Trio Prime, the world is a terrestrial planet with a single space elevator which reaches Coburn Station. Though the world has a space elevator, the system is not well populated due to prior wars with the Scipio Federation.

  Trio Prime (CP-67 2079 / HD 111232) – Trio lies on the core-ward edge of the Silstrand Alliance. It has one terraformed world known as Trio.

  Victoria – Victoria orbits Kapteyn’s Star at an average distance of 0.17AU and completes its year every 48.6 days. Because of its proximity to Kapteyn’s Star, the world is tidally locked with one side always facing its host star.

  Victoria masses at 4.9 Earths with an average density of 1.1g/cm3. Given a diameter 3x that of Earth, it has a surface gravity of 0.6g.

  The terraforming and colonization of Victoria began in 4253 and was completed one hundred and forty years later.

  Victoria is the primary world of the Kapteyn’s Star system with its capital being Landfall.

  Vishnu – See Ignitus.

  PEOPLE

  Abby Redding – Engineer and responsible for building the Intrepid.

  Adrienne – Dancer Tanis meets with on Cruithne.

  Agnes – Markus’s assistant as administrator of the SK87 mining platform.

  Amanda – One of the two human AI interfaces for the Intrepid.

  Amy Lee – MCSF First Lieutenant responsible for dockside security.

  Angela – A military intelligence sentient AI embedded with Tanis.

  Angharad – TBI Security AI on Cruithne.

  Arlen Strang – CEO of the STR Consortium.

  Arsenal – Captain of the TSS Arcturus.

  Bob – Bob is the name Amanda gave to the Intrepid’s primary AI after she was installed as its human avatar. She chose the name because she claims it suits him, though only she and Priscilla understand why. Bob is perhaps the most advanced AI ever created. He is the child of seventeen very unique and well regarded AIs. He also has portions of his neural network reflecting the minds of the Reddings. He is the first AI to be multi-nodal and to have each of those nodes be as powerful as the largest NSAI and remain sane and cogent.

  Bourke – Chief of the main Victorian refinery outside Landfall.

  Brandt – Commander of the Intrepid’s First Marine Battalion, Bravo Company.

  Cargo – The first mate of Sabrina bears a strange name as it was the first he was ever given after being found as a stowaway on a freighter as a child. He has lived on freighters in space ever since.

  Carson – A fighter pilot from Sol, Carson is with the Andromeda when it battles the three Sirian scout ships.

  Cary – Pilot in the Black Death squadron.

  Cheeky – Biologically modified human who is capable of releasing heavy doses of pheromones and would be described as a nymphomaniac in some circles. She is also the pilot of the starship, Sabrina.

  Cordy – AI of the Black Death fighter squadron.

  Corsia – The AI operating the ISF Andromeda.

  Caspen – Lieutenant in the Mars Security Force assigned to the Intrepid to handle network security.

  Collins – First lieutenant in the GSS acquisitions department.

  Clyde – Captain with the Cruithne Police Force.

  Davidson – Sergeant in the MOS Security and liaison to the Intrepid.

  Dmitry – Chief engineer of the Hyperion (SK87) mining platform.

  Earnest Redding – Engineer responsible for much of the Intrepid’s design.

  Eric – Passenger on the Steel Dawn III.

  Flaherty – Long-time friend of Sera and muscle on Sabrina.

  Gerald – New Eden colony leader responsible for city planning and engineering.

  Gren – Commander in the Marsian Space Force assigned as liaison to the Intrepid.

  Grissom – General assigned as division commander on lower Callisto rings.

  Han – Major Han was the commander of the strike team on the Luminescent interceptor which was sent after the SK87 platform.

  Hank – AI partnered with Jesse.

  Helen – The AI embedded in Sera’s mind. Helen is an ancient AI, well over six-thousand years in age. She was a ship AI on one of the first FGT worldships to leave Sol in the 4th millennia. Helen was Sera’s caretaker as a child, and late her mentor. Before the events that led Sera to be exiled from the FGT, Helen had herself embedded in Sera’s mind.

  Helen harbors a deep secret and mysterious background. Her origins date back to Sol’s AI wars.

  Hilda Orion – The Intrepid’s astronavigator.

  Herris Santos – Assassin and bounty hunter.

  Huan – SK87 tug operator.

  Irek – SK87 tug operator.

  James – SK87 yard boss and close confidant of Markus.

  Jason Andrews – An old spacer who has completed several interstellar journeys. Captain of the GSS Intrepid.

  Jerry – Jessica’s wingman in the Black Death squadron during the Battle of Bollam’s World.

  Jesse – Friend of Trist’s on Callisto.

  Jessica Keller – An agent in the Terran Bureau of Investigations. Jessica was placed on the Intrepid by Myrrdan for reasons unknown.

  Jessica’s experience with police procedure was useful in setting up the Victorian police force and academy. She also became an accomplished pilot in the ISF.

  John Cardid – A political dissident who took over the Toro asteroid and began extreme human experimentation and modification.

  Joseph Evans – ISF Colonel, Joseph Evans is one of the ISF’s top pilots and goes on to found the Victorian Space Academy.

  Kade – Leader of The Mark pirate organization until he is killed by Rebecca on Sabrina.

  Katrina – Daughter of Yusuf, Katrina is a former member of the Luminescent Society in Sirius. She was a spy for the Luminescents until she decided to switch sides and assisted Markus and the people of mining platform SK87 in their rebellion.