by Lorijo Metz
LOCENT SAN - Locent san is the larger of the two largest sans (san meaning sun in Circanthian) in the Dolviciis solar system. It dominates the sky when it turns into view, giving everything and everyone a rosy tint. (Ch. 12)
LOON - A three to four week period of violent storms, which occur approximately every 365 rotations. (One rotation = one Circanthian day or two epoks) A loon is essential for the ripening of almost all the froot (fruit) on Circanthos. (Ch. 11)
LOONOCK - Name of the dead, dark moon that orbits Circanthos. Little is known of this dark disk in the skies over Circanthos, except that it maintains an orbit around the axis point of the planet and does not follow the planet as it tilts towards its suns. Approximately every 365 days (loonocks in Circanthian) it eclipses D1 and D2 for several hours, for a period lasting slightly longer than three (Earth) weeks. Filled with high winds and torrential storms, Circanthians and Tsendi refer to this dark moon period as The Loon. Loonock is closest to Circanthos at this time due to the planet’s oblong shape. (Ch. 11)
LOONOCKS – A loonocks is a period that spans the start of one loon to the next, or approx. 365 planet rotations. (Ch. 5)
MOSCOS – Moscos, a mustard colored moss that covers the floor of the Cocombaca Forest like wall-to-wall carpeting. Moscos dissolves animal droppings on contact, inhibits plant growth, with the exception of cocombaca trees, but has no ill effect on spheres or feet. (A self-cleaning, ugly, mustard colored carpet, if you will.) (Ch. 48)
NOOFOTO - An umbrella made out of cocombaca wood and cocombaca leaves. Excellent for repelling animal droppings, tsootbas spit and a must-have if you’re traveling through the Cocombaca Forest. Curiously, they are not water resistant. (Ch. 11)
PANIS PRONIIS – A favorite of Circanthians, this sprouted, lime green bread, bursting with juicy, blueberry-type fruit, is what you might call breakfast food. It’s not bad if you can get past the color combination. (Looks something like moldy Christmas bread, tastes something like a fruit-filled Twinkie.) (Ch. 28)
PARTICLE-WEAVE - There is no Circanthian word for how they manipulate matter; however, apparently, someone pieced together the term particle-weaving from the English language, and it seems to have stuck. As far as I can tell, Circanthians see the world on a molecular level, sort of a Georges Seurat view of the world (That famous artist who painted with dots). Circanthians can take those dots (molecules/particles) and weave them into different things. For instance, they can take the molecules that make up a tree and rearrange them into a hotdog stand. That’s just the beginning, they can regulate temperature, create their own food…you name it. Sounds awesome, right, but there’s one catch; come to find out, anything they particle-weave eventually returns to it’s original form. (Molecules, it seems, don’t like change any better than humans do.) (Ch. 2)
PINICOLIS - While a cortext makes it possible to open a portal through time and space (if you can particle-weave) it always remains behind. If you want to return through the portal, you need a pinicolis. Rather like an interstellar doorstop, a pinicolis keeps the portal open. (Ch. 8)
PONGO CORALIOS - Pongo Coralios looks like pitted pink coral with no discernable eyes or ears. It lives and breeds in the Lapis Sea and, from what I hear, has a very nasty bite should you happen to step on it. Circanthians probably have never had to worry about “stepping” on pongo coralios, but I suspect it is one of the main reasons Tsendi do not like going into the Lapis Sea. (Ch. 27)
POONCHI - Think cute, fluffy dog (brown, white, lavender or red—they come in a variety of colors) and then add a sphere instead of hind legs. Poonchi rang in size from 5 to 15 lbs., make great pets and live on the planet Circanthos. (Most of them, anyway.) (Ch. 11)
ROTICOLAR - Ever see one of those balls sold in all the fancy toy stores? The ones with all the joints that make it possible to either expand or collapse the ball? Well, that’s your basic roticolar. Circanthians have a roticolar instead of legs. While a human leg has a couple of bones and joints, a roticolar has thousands of smaller bones and joints surrounded by muscles and skin. Tiny nerve-like endings called navicals suction the roticolar to the Circanthian’s body allowing it to rotate 360º. Navicals also stimulate the muscles surrounding the tiny bones and joints, causing the roticolar to expand and contract as needed. (Ch. 9)
SALOOTI – A traditional Circanthian greeting, which translates loosely to: “Hello, good to see you!” (Ch. 16)
SEPIOPORC - Imagine giant roly-polies. Long, tubular and black, about the size of a large bratwurst, sepioporcs live in the desert area of Arenos. Sepioporcs are shy, some say paranoid, creatures that turn bright red, curl into balls and roll quickly away at the first sign of danger. It is common to see dozens of little red sepioporcs whizzing across the Circanthian desert like tumbleweeds in the wind. (n/a)
SOBOLIS - Soboli (plural) are the stupidest animals you will ever meet, and guess what—they look exactly like miniature cows! How ironic is that? (Cow could be the universal symbol for stupid.) Soboli live in the canopy of the Cocombaca forest. Their miniature hoofs secrete a tacky substance that enables them to stick to wherever they jump. Under H.G. Wells’ leadership, the Tsendi began harvesting soboli for food and clothing. (Ch. 11)
SOCOOS (PLANT) - Socoos plants have dark burgundy leaves that give off a fragrant, chestnut-like smell. Several loonocks after his arrival, H.G. Wells discovered socoos plants growing on the northernmost (towards the Boreis Peaks) edge of the forest and ordered the Tsendi to begin cultivating them. An occasional cigar smoker while on Earth, Wells found the leaves of the socoos plant an agreeable substitute. (Ch. 13)
TORP - Short for sparsotorp. A torp is a small, frog-like species that lives along inlets of the Lapis Sea. Sparsotorps are blue, with yellow, red-ringed spots that disappear when wet, allowing them to become almost invisible in water. A good thing, as sparsotorps are a favorite delicacy of almost every creature on Circanthos. (Ch. 13)
TREMOS – A term used by both Circanthians and Tsendi to denote the earthquake-like tremors that shake the planet usually right before or right after the Loon. (Ch. 15)
TSOOT - A ball game played by both Tsendi and Circanthians. That’s all I’m going to say. My sources tell me McKenzie is writing a book entitled, “Tsoot—Not Just A Game, A Way Of Life” (She’s obsessed!) (Ch. 29)
TSENDI –Tsendi are one of two (known) sentient species on the planet Circanthos. They are not much too look at. Pale and hairy and with big bulbous eyes, as a whole, Tsendi stink and are not the most pleasant fellows to be around—although I did manage to become friendly with a few. (For more information on Tsendi, refer to my book entitled: WHY DID THE TSENDI TAKE TO THE TREES?) (Ch. 5)
TSOOTBAS – Tsootbas are tiny, flittering, bug-like creatures (though I’ve never actually been able to get close enough to get a good look at one) that live in the canopy of the Cocombaca Forest. Apparently, the tsootbas’ sole purpose in life is to wait for movement down below, then spit out huge globs of sizzling phlegm capable of inflicting dime size burns on unsuspecting victims. Tsootbas is also, and not surprisingly, a Circanthian cuss word. (I love saying tsootbas in front of my Aunt Patty—she has no idea what I’m saying.) (Ch. 11)
VALIOS - “Goodbye” in Circanthian. (Ch. 53)
VENI COMMOTOS – Translated loosely, veni commotos means a time of change. At some point in their history, the Circanthians and Tsendi got along. (“Played ball,” as they say.) Then the Tsendi sort of freaked out because one of their mines collapsed and they couldn’t wake the Circanthians from their rest period (long story) in time to save everyone…so, of course, they blamed the Circanthians for all their troubles and began doing weird things like raiding the Circanthian Gatherings and generally creating havoc. After a while, the Circanthians particle-wove huge walls of fire around their Gatherings to keep the Tsendi out—which worked, because the Tsendi not only stayed away but also moved into the Cocombaca forest. There’s an entire history surrounding the Veni Commotos, and many conflicting views about exactly why the Tsendi changed. My opin
ion is that the “change” had a lot more to do with cobaca froot than with any mining accident. (Ch. 16)
VORTMOGS – (Circanthos’ answer to wild pigs.) Vortmogs have curly, pipe cleaner looking ears and no tail. They tend to be bright red and, occasionally, deep violet in color. Vortmogs travel in pairs, are fond of frolicking and feasting by the inlets and have the unfortunate habit of blundering into grens of wild broshbonits. (Ch. 13)
IN THE BEGINNING
Humans have a strange reverence for clouds. Protobios had often observed them lying on their backs, gazing upwards, extending forelimbs as if to reach up and pluck them out of the sky.
Now, in human-like fashion, Protobios, the youngest member of a god-like race called Lians, reclined against the soft cloud-like substance she had created for herself. Moisture dripped from her chosen form like dewdrops off filaments of spun gold. It was not a perfect replication, but having been unencumbered for so long (The Lian Council gently suggesting it would be in her best interest to avoid bonding for a few millennia) it was the closest she could come to imitating the human form. Lighter than air, she floated among the denser particles of moisture.
Pleased with her efforts today, Protobios stretched her limbs and reveled in this long forgotten limitation. Lians did not naturally possess physical sensation. They had little desire to; a physical body was too constricting. For a Lian, taking physical form was a novelty. For a very few, it was punishment—and usually eternal.
Protobios was willing to take this risk. Humans were an obsession with her. Throughout the universe, no sentient creation existed in a more dense molecular structure than the human. Most Lians thought humans nothing more than a mistake, an oddity created from an excess of order in one corner of the universe. For the most part, Lians ignored Earth, roaming freely about the galaxies creating and uncreating as they so desired. Nevertheless, eventually a Lian would return, if only for a moment. Human experience was so different from their own, so seemingly without purpose, so foreign in its range of emotions. But there was also the unspoken similarity, for like Lians, humans could not be uncreated.
Protobios examined her handiwork one last time. Never had she worked on anything so intricate. For her, the opportunity had been impossible to pass up. Unique among planets, Circanthos existed at the heart of Dolviciis, a triple binary solar system—no small accomplishment for a planet. The heart of a triple binary system was the only point capable of sustaining life. Located anywhere else, the planet would have been torn apart by gravitational forces. Most Lians would not waste their time searching for a planet in a triple binary. But Protobios was expert at finding the unexpected. Of the twenty-one million triple binary systems, Dolviciis was the only one to boast a stable planet.
Even more unexpected—and here Protobios stopped to indulge in yet another physical sensation, laughter, for what could be more unexpected than a planet in a triple binary—was that this little planet at the heart of a solar system ten times the size of Earth’s, was almost an exact duplicate of Earth. Much smaller of course, but even its periods of light and dark would be tolerable to a human. The dead dark satellite that circled the planet was a small problem adaptation would quickly accommodate. “It is almost as if…” Protobios sighed. “My creation was predestined.”
Violent storms and earthquakes shook the planet. Protobios shivered. Now was the most dangerous, the most exposed part of the creation process. A trickle of fear entered her form, causing her limbs to contract and solidify. It was not a pleasant sensation. Any moment, another Lian might discover what she was doing and sound the alarm.
Protobios shed her molecular burden and returned to the Lian’s natural form of pure light. The fear immediately withdrew. All that remained was pure, focused, creative intention. Seven crystals and seven filaments, one of each of the seven precious essences in the universe, danced in the air and spun together as one, encasing the book Protobios had written while in human-like form. The book had purposely been left unfinished, an act that would make uncreation impossible. A most grievous offence!
“Lian creation is to be no more than six essences,” Protobios intoned. “Only the Great Creator may evoke the seventh—evolution.” From the very first day of being, Lians were taught that tampering with reality would result in chaos. (Humans were often sited as an example of such tampering, though their beginnings, much like the Lians, were unknown.)
Protobios considered the possibility that her creation might produce unfavorable consequences; but her love, or more exactly, her interest in humans was so strong that she did not consider it long. The beings of Circanthos—the name Protobios had given the tiny planet—would evolve into sentient creatures and write all future chapters themselves.
If Protobios had still been in molecular bondage, she would have felt relief. The link was set and her creations, like humans, could not be uncreated—not by other Lians, not even by Protobios. If uncreation were to take place, it would be by their own hands.
Protobios placed the book on top of the portal joining Circanthos to Earth. Someday her creations would discover this cave and the link would begin. Across the galaxy, two planets, alike and yet unique to all others, would join in a most un-Lian like condition, need. It was time to leave. Protobios sensed another Lian approaching.
Taking one last look at her creation she thought, “This is good.” The pain had been difficult, but necessary. More than the molecules that bound them to their planet, it was the experience of pain that made humans so intriguing—so unique. Lians existed and created, but rarely felt anything. Pain was a choice and rarely endured. Human’s ability to tolerate pain and, more important, learn from it, allowed them to experience a range of emotions most Lians would never feel. Protobios looked to the stars and was gone.
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The Lian who discovered Circanthos did not feel anger, for it was impossible in his present form; he was simply reporting a fact. Protobios had committed the highest crime and would be punished for it. When found, which would not be easy considering she could literally be anywhere, Protobios would be sentenced to physical bondage for eternity.
Notes:
1. Physical bodies and their accompanying restrictions do not burden Lians. However, much like the novelty of weightlessness is to humans, Lians find it irresistible to assume forms for short periods of time: human, sea creatures, even reptiles, hence the existence of Greek Gods, sea serpents and dinosaurs.
2. The high Lian council often sights Protobios’ extended stay on earth in molecular bondage, as the reason for her unfortunate attachment to humans.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I’d like to thank my writer friends for their patience, feedback, and overall moral support and good humor: Shawn Wickersheim, Suzanne Slade, Kathy Bostrom, Anne Courtright, Kellie Cozza, Mary Dunn, Timnah Card Gretencord, Jeff Moore, Kimberly Pauley, Roger Peck, Tina P. Schwartz, Hal Shepherd, Denise Thornton, Paul Schreck and Allan Woodrow. (Oh dear—I'm sure I've forgotten someone. If so, please send me an appropriately angry email so I can quickly make amends.)
Special thanks to Joshua and Georgia for reading early drafts, giving feedback and, most of all, putting up with me. Thanks also to Laura Kuchler and my brother, Gary, for reading and giving feedback, and to my parents for their enduring love and enthusiasm. But most of all, thank you to T-Metz for reading and reading and reading… (You must really love me!)
Connect with Lorijo Metz Online:
http://www.lorijometz.com
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter
18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53