This page contains Library Data specific to the Confederation Milieu. Data entries labelled restricted are only available to members of an appropriate level of security clearance, and are not known to the general public. All members of the crew of the CSS Magellan have access to this information, as much of it pertains to their current mission.

A

Amber Zone
Traveller's Aid Society classification for a nation, world or system which presents a need for caution in dealings and activities. The amber zone may indicate chaos, upheaval, or xenophobia in local business, politics, society, or culture, or may be applied for other reasons. Travellers should exercise caution. See also Red Zone, Travel Zone.

Ancients
The name given to a mythical interstellar society that existed some time prior to the current Terran interstellar expansion. No evidence has been found of their existence, although science fiction authors and conspiracy theorists sometimes make reference to them. See also Predecessors, Progenitors.

Anglic
The official language of the Confederation of Planets. A descendant of Terran English, mixed with random elements of Hispanol, Mandarin, and other Terran tongues, Anglic had become the language de facto of the Confed.

On many worlds, Anglic is only a second language used for system traffic control, commercial operations, and interstellar communications. Anglic is sometimes called Galanglic (for Galactic Anglic).

Within the Confederation of Planets, any Anglic speaker can understand almost any other, but isolated communities on worlds with little contact with interstellar trade lanes shift their speech patterns to form dialects.

Artifact
Any manufactured object. The term artifact is commonly used in science fiction and among conspiracy theorists to refer to any object, item or group of related items produced by a prior interstellar society.

Astrography
The science of mapping interstellar space. Basic to any science of mapping is a coordinate system. The system used by the Confederation of Planets is based on rings of longitude, rays of latitude, and parsecs. Terra serves as the center for this mapping system.

In ordinary discourse, worlds are often referred to by their name, star system and orbit number, and sometimes subsector name. Mainworlds sometimes forego the identification of the star system and orbit number, a clear reference to their status as the mainworld of a star system. For example, Terra is referred to as Terra/Terran Worlds, while Luna, her moon, is referred to as Luna/Sol IIIa.

Atlantis (Sol Sector 1931 B98A448-A)
Atlantis, a pristine if somewhat warm Terra Prime world orbiting Ross 882, has no native life of its own. For the last 150 years, however, marine ecologists have learned much from their various attempts to seed a preserve with Terran aquatic life. Their success with the Paradise Preserve makes Atlantis a popular tourist destination for people from more crowded homeworlds in the Terran Worlds subsector.

B

Battle Rider
Non-jump capable ship intended to stand in the line of battle in space combat and carried interstellar by a battle tender. Two opposite views in naval architecture have dominated the design of the major battleships of space navies. The battle rider concept involves a large jump-capable tender carrying many (two to ten) heavily armed and armoured battle riders. The opposite concept is the battleship, a large jump-capable ship which carries the jump drives and fuel tanks internally.

The battle tender, so integral to the concept of the battle rider, is little more than a large dispersed structure with jump drives, fuel tanks, and basic controls. By dispensimg with the need for jump drives and associated fuel tanks on each of the riders, each becomes ton for ton more heavily armed and armoured.

It is generally held that, in any meeting between a battleship and a battle rider of equal displacement, the battle rider will triumph. See also Battleship, Battle Tender.

Battleship
Jump capable starship intended to stand in the line of battle in space combat.

The battleship concept involves well armed and armoured starships of massive displacement and capable of meeting almost any adversary. In battle against superior forces, however, the battleship can flee using its own jump drives. The opposite concept (of battle riders carried into combat by a battle tender) does not allow for the possibility of superior force; no matter how good a rider is, if it meets a superior adversary, it is placed in a posistion of winning or dying. Retreat is nearly impossible without losses. See also Battle Rider.

Battle Tender
Interstellar ship transport intended to carry battle riders into combat. Generally a dispersed structure, it transports a squadron of battle riders ready for immediate launch upon entry into a system. While riders press the attack, the tender stays in the reserve for protection. See also Battle Rider.

Belt Mining
The process of extracting useful minerals and other substances from asteroids. Asteroids fall into three basic categories for mining purposes.

Nickel Iron

Nickel-iron asteroids are reasonably dense, high-grade sources of metals, and are also useful to the shipbuilding industry as hull material.

Carbonaceous

The most common asteroid type, and also that with the lowest value. The best markets for such rocks are space colonies and largeistations which make use of the various useful elements which can extracted from them.

Ice chunks

Made up of frozen volatiles, including methane, water, etc. Hence, these "dirty snowballs" are a source of hydrogen fuel, and so support "ice miners". The main markets are starports and space stations which cannot, for one reason or another, use more convenient sources, such as oceans or gas giants.

None of these types are particularly valuable, and will never make a miner rich. However many asteroids, especially nickel-iron types, contain rare minerals, platinum, lanthanum, etc.

Occasionally, an asteroid may be valuable for scientific, or even aesthetic, purposes.

Belter
Strictly speaking, one who practices the profession of asteroid prospector and miner, usually working alone or with a small number of partners. Loosely, any resident of an asteroid belt (including citizens of civilized belts such as Sirius, some of whom have never been in a spaceship).

Boat
Any defensive non-starship. In general, the term boat is reserved for craft produced for local defensive operations. While non-interstellar in nature, they are heavily armed and armoured.

Also, any small craft used as interplanetary transport. See also Gunboat, System Defence Boat.

C

Client State
An independent political unit which has elected (or had forced upon it) the patronage of a larger political unit.

This relationship is generally mutually beneficial and is essentially commercial in nature. That is, the political or defensive ties which may be part of any patron-client relationship are ultimately intended to promote trade between the two.

Confed Edict 97
This executive order is the enabling act for the use of Confed warrants. Unusually obscure for such a wide ranging and powerful edict, it is nonetheless on file at all Confed installations. The edict runs to 34 pages, much of it pure legalese; when distilled down, it proves very direct: an order to assist the bearer of an Confed warrant with all the power you can bring to bear. Only the High Lord has the power to issue these warrants. A similar edict (edict 3097) provides limited power to the System Lords of the Confederation of Planets to issue similar warrants, although they are limited in their duration and territory. See also Confed Warrant.

Confed Research
The worlds of the Confederation of Planets manifest a fairly wide range of technological levels. With communication limited to the same speed as transportation, a single offworld query can involve weeks, months, or even years before a reply is received. ln addition, the cost of offworld transportation (both in time and money) tends to limit the interchange of information, the shipment of experimental prototypes and other such activities that are basic to the dissemination of scientific knowledge. Most worlds have found that simply purchasing advanced technology from a neighboring world is impractical. Not only is such high technology expensive, putting it to any cost effective use requires that the technology be understood. Consider: as useful as Tech Level 8 solid-state chip circuits are, they cannot be used on a large scale without the knowledge of electronics or the ability to provide supporting circuits (power circuits, circuit boards, and so on), which further implies knowledge of photoprocessing, and even crystal culture. In the final analysis, attempting to jump to a higher Tech Level without passing through any of the intervening Tech Levels just doesn't work; one must pass through the lower stages of technological development on the way to the higher Tech Level. Regardless of what the individual member worlds do, there are also certain large-scale interests in the Confederation of Planets which back research projects. Such research is generally privately backed (such as under contract by multiworld corporations), or it is sometimes performed in established Confed Research Stations.

Confed Warrant
Instrument of power issued by the High Lord, or Confed System Lords (to lesser extent). A warrant is a written or electronic document on Confed stationary provided to trusted agents of the Confederation of Planets as a method of bypassing the bureaucracy.

Typically, a warrant is provided to an individual who uses the power it provides to accomplish some mission of interest to the issuing official. Missions may include establishment of colonies in areas requiring development, the assumption of military command in the midst of a crisis, and the unilateral establishment of new noble lines to administer provinces which have suffered from war or economic collapse.

For example, High Lord Walker sometimes exercises his power through agents rather than directly through the bureaucracy of the Confederation of Planets. These instances are rare, although there is reason to believe that such agents are more numerous than it appears. See also Confed Edict 97.

Confederation
Group of independent states, worlds, or systems united for specified purposes while generally retaining more freedom of action than the members of a federation. Also known as a league or alliance (especially of princes, nations, states, worlds, or systems).

Confederation of Planets
The instellar polity that currently controls the known worlds of Terran interstellar expansion. The Confederation of Planets succeeded the United Worlds after the Great Civil War. Often called the Confed, the polity is more technically a federation, although Confed intentions are to slowly allow its member worlds more freedom as civil unrest is settled in the aftermath of the Great Civil War.

Cruiser
A ship capable of independant operations and of support of the main line of battle. Cruisers are intended to fulfil two diverse missions- in battle, they support and reinforce capital ships which are present and which form the main line of battle, generally from the flanks, and they perform seperate operations, often acting as the centre of task forces which have no capital ships. Cruisers are also put to use as independant ships.

Currency, Confed
The basic unit of legal tender in the Confederation of Planets is the Confed credit. Individual worlds may issue their own currencies, and those currencies may or may not be acceptable on other worlds. Similarly, corporations and megacorporations may issue scrip, and its acceptance outside of the corporate environment is a matter of conjecture. However, Confed credits are accepted everywhere in the Confederation of Planets.

Credit bills are issued in 10, 20, 50, 100, 500, 1000, and 10000 credit denominations. Plastic coins, manufactured in a similar manner in various shapes, are issued in quarter (a quart), half (a demi), one, and five (a bec) credit denominations.

Confed credits can be bulky in large enough quantities. Bills measure 75 x 125 millimetres; 1000 bills stand 50 millimetres high and weigh 500 grammes.

Cygni (Sol Sector 1822 E569110-8)
Cygni (named for the star 61 Cygni, which Cygni orbits) has been targetted by Confederation Colonial Services as a future target for colonization within the next generation. To help facillitate this, a small base has been erected on the largest land mass as a center for scientific study and evaluation.

D

Directions, Galactic
North, south, east, west are insufficient terms for referring to directions within the galaxy. Instead, the following conventions have achieved widespread acceptance when referring to direction:

Toward the galactic core (toward Vega from Terra) is coreward; away from it, in the direction of the rim, is rimward. In the direction in which the galaxy is rotating (toward Tau Ceti from Sirius) is spinward, and the opposite direction is trailing.

These directions are sometimes used in describing Confed features and businesses. For example, Rimward Lines is a mercantile transport corporation servicing the rimward half of the Core Worlds of the Confederation of Planets.

Dross (Sol Sector 1732-Ob H250204-6)
Dross, the largest of Thompson's two moons, is a desert world with a thin atmosphere and less than 2% water on its surface. The temperature extemes, resulting from the thin atmosphere, combined with the lack of water creates quite a challenge to the colonists that strive to survive on the moon's surface. The world's surface is quite rich, however, in numerous compounds useful in modern electronics and ceramic material processing, such that Stellar Armaments maintains a small outpost on Thompson to facillitate the bimonthly transport of these resources back to the Core Worlds for processing. Colonists on Dross often travel in small family units (often called tribes), scouring the sands for exposed deposits of these compounds, exchanging what they've gathered with offworld traders at Dross Downs, the only spaceport, for food and other items necessary for survival on the world's surface.

E

Empire
Group of independent states, duchies, nations, tribes, worlds or systems under the supreme rule of one emperor.

F

Federation
Group of states, worlds, or systems, each internally independent, joined into a union to which has been surrendered certain rights and responsibilities, most generally to do with foreign affairs.

Fornacians
Fornacians, also known as the Spinward-Rimward Race, was the second neighboring race to be located through research projects using distributed radio telescopes and coordinated deep space monitoring efforts. Nothing is known about the Spinward-Rimward Race, except that the source of the signals seems to be from a variety of systems near Alpha Fornacis. The public followed the same pattern as they did with the coreward race, and refer to the spinward-rimward race as the Fornacians, due to the close presence of Alpha Fornacis.

G

Galanglic
Primary language of the Third Confederation of Planets. See Anglic.

Gas Giant
A large planet with an extensive atmosphere of hydrogen and hydrogen compounds. Starships fuel themselves by diving into this atmosphere and skimming hydrogen from it.

Jupiter, in the Sol system, is an example of a gas giant.

Gunboat
Ultimately, the distinction between ground, air sea and space craft disappears for military vehicles, and a single type of vehicle assumes all of the roles for system defence. Called gunboats, they are capable of extended operations in vacuum, atmosphere and water, ready to continue resistance to enemy action. Individually, the vessels are strongly armed, and can fight enemy ships while later supporting ground troops or bombing enemy installations. Further, they can continue resistance for long periods, hiding in oceans or local gas giants, and coming out only when there is promise of enemy losses.

Typically, a gunboat is fast, well-armed and well-armoured. It is capable of a wide variety of military responses, and has a high survival potential. Displacement is 200 to 600 tons. See also System Defense Boat.

H

Hades (Sol Sector 2030 C432467-A)
Hades, closest planet to the star LTT 12352, is a recent colony world settled from Terra about three decades ago. Before that, Hades, so named for its extreme heat, served as a small outpost along the trade routes.

Haradali (Sol Sector 2228 D9CA334-9)
Haradali bears a single reclusive commune devoted to an obscure offshoot of the Hindu faith. The original leaders of the cult moved to the Ross 128 system following a series of prophetic dreams in the early 2200's. Since then, the position of leadership has been passed down through the lineage of the original cult leaders, and now the faith bears little resemblance to the culture that spawned it.

Humans
Intelligent major race dominating the Confederation of Planets, and currently the only known interstellar race to be encountered by Terran expansion. Humans stand approximately 1.7 meters in height and weigh about 100 kg. Descended from omnivore gatherers,humans developed intelligence in response to shifting climatological factors.

I

Inferno (Sol Sector 2131 E578266-7)
Inferno is an extremely torrid planet in orbit about GJ 1116. The presence of easily extractable petrochemicals makes the world an attractive location for a small factory for the megacorporation Stellar Armaments.

Interdiction
The Confed, and previous United Worlds, practice of interdiction of worlds within the boundaries of the Confederation of Planets had long been a source of contention between liberal and conservative factions in the government. Within the Confed, interdictions must be approved by the High Lord, but generally such approval is given in response to a request from an interested service, which is almost always the Confed Exploration Forces or the Confed Stellar Navy.

It is generally held that the Confed Exploration Forces recommend interdiction to shield a young or sensitive culture from the interference that trade and commerce will bring.

The Confed Stellar Navy is held to be more vindictive in its recommendations, for they use interdiction to punish local governments or to hide its own mistakes.

Interdicted worlds are awarded travel zone red ratings by Travellers Aid Society. See also Red Zone.

J

Jump Drive
The combination of equipment required to insert a starship into jumpspace and project a jump field. This consists of four components: A high-yield fusion powerplant which energizes the second component an energy sink array (usually constructed of Zuchai Crystals); when the jump point is reached this energy is transferred to a jump grid (usually of lanthanum) on the ships' hull under the control of a jump governor. The jump governor is a computer controlled device which energizes the grid in a sequence determined by the jump to be undertaken.

Jumpspace
The basic concept of interstellar travel: that of an alternate space. Theoretically, jumpspaces are alternate spaces, each only dimly understood from the standpoint of our own universe. Jump is defined as the movement of matter from one point in space (called normal space) to another in normal space by travelling through an alternate space (called jumpspace). The benefit of jump is that the time required is relatively invariant, about one week. If the distance travelled is greater than can be covered in one week in normal space, then a gain has been made. Jumpspace makes possible enormous gains.

Entering jump is possible anywhere, but perturbations due to gravity make it safest to begin a jump at least 100 diameters out from a large massive body such as a world or star. Ships are naturally precipitated out of jumpspace before they get too deep into a gravity field.

Normal jumps take 168 hours (plus or minus 10 percent) to complete, regardless of the distance travelled.

Sometimes a jump goes wrong. Catastrophic failures (called misjumps) can destroy the ship and its crew. Other failures can destroy a drive or send a ship in the wrong direction. Some misjumps reduce a jump-6 to a mere jump-1, or convert a jump-1 into jump-10, 20, or higher.

Jumpspace Institute
Originally established in the Terran Asteroid Belt to investigate interstellar jump drives. Financed initially by the United Worlds government, the institute has since become an arm of the Confed government. Projects include training for starship engineers and naval architects.

K

Koji (Sol Sector 2031 CA9A6AA-9)
Koji, a world of diverse native life orbiting LTT 17993, has become the Holy World of the Confederation of Planets. Religious freedom is gauranteed, and many 'seekers' come to Koji on spiritual quests, looking for enlightenment among the many religious doctrines that thrive on the Holy World.

L

Lalande (Sol Sector 2029 B699668-A)
Lalande, shortened from the name of its star Lalande 21185, is currently under military rule after insurgents used the planet as a base for their assaults on Terra during the Great Civil War. The intervening years since the war ended and the Confed rose into power have been stifling on the population. However, with the lack of resistance that has been displayed in recent years, the Confed presence has started to slowly loosen its military control. The current plan is to allow Lalande to return to self-rule within the next decade, so long as peace continues to exist between the Confed and the people of Lalande.

Lanthanum
A rare earth element, the first of the inner transition metals. Vital to the construction of the inner coils of interstellar jump drive units.

M

Main
A large grouping of systems forming a chain of worlds all within jump-l of another. This grouping provides a sort of "corridor" allowing jump-l capable ships to travel to any world along the chain without ever exceeding jump-l.

A small number of such groupings exist in the Confederation of Planets.

Mayday
Accepted in the Confederation of Planets as a distress signal for vessels in difficulties.

Megacorporation
An extremely large interstellar corporation. When a corporation's scope of operations are such that it provides services to an area similar to that controlled by Confed government, it earns the name megacorporation. Only a small number of such companies exist within the Confederation of Planets.

Because of their size, megacorporations have truly astronomical numbers of employees, shareholders, and profits. Their upper level executives labor at broad policy questions, and are largely out of contact with the day-to-day (and even year-to-year) activities of the corporation. The real power in the company lies in the hands of the regional managers (under whatever title they have) who control the actual operations of the business. While they may control only a small fraction of the megacorporation's assets, they wield more power in some areas than do the representatives of the Confed government.

A small number of Confed regulatory agencies have power over the megacorporations, and the companies are subject to any applicable local taxes as well. Nevertheless, if Confed sovereignty is not blatantly violated, regional managers can usually conduct their company' s business as they see fit.

Mercenary
The remote centralized government of the Confederation of Planets is possessed of great industrial and technological might, but it is also unable, due to the sheer distances and travel times involved, to exert total control everywhere within its starspanning realm. Extensive home rule provisions allow planets to choose their own forms of government, raise and maintain their own armed forces for local security, pass and enforce laws governing local conduct, and regulate (within limits) commerce. The Confed, however, does retain supreme authority between worlds, and is quick to move against those worlds that defy that authority. Defense has been a cooperative effort of local indigenous forces, which is stiffened by Confed naval bases manned by extremely sophisticated forces.

Conflicting local interests have often settled their differences by force of arms, with Confed forces looking quietly the other way, so long as the interstellar authority of the Confed is not challenged. Confed forces have been unable to operate as a day-to-day police force so as to not jeopardize their primary mission of defense of the realm and the maintenance of Confed authority. Only when local conflicts threaten the security or the economy of an area have Confed forces taken an active hand, and then with overwhelming speed and force.

In this environment, the soldier for hire has found active employment. The tolerance exhibited by the forces of the Confederation of Planets have made the hired military force a practical matter. Confed policy has allowed the marketplace to provide military force to those who can afford it; one line of thought has been that a hired military can be more effectively controlled if it gets out of hand, as opposed to nationalistic or politically motivated forces.

Merchant Cruiser
A generic term applied to vessels specifically assigned to independent missions, the prime objective of which is market discovery and acquisition, either in isolation or in competition with other merchant operators. Design parameters for such vessels usually include a high level of weaponry and auxiliary boats in proportion to their cargo capacity and all possible back-up systems, along with high structural integrity.

N

Naval Base
Port facility for the support, maintenance, repair, and refit of naval vessels. Planetary surface facilities are generally provided for vessels of 1000 tons or less; orbital facilities handle larger ships.

A naval base has several distinct parts to it; each part helps in the accomplishment of the overall mission of the base. The typical naval base is composed of an orbital berthing area, a surface berthing area, a maintenance section, and an administrative headquarters. Berthing areas provide locations for ships to lay over, for a day or for months. All berthing areas include provisions for refueling from storage tanks or fuel lighters.

Maintenance sections at naval bases vary from base to base. Where such a section would be redundant to the local starport shipyard, it is small, and repairs or alterations are carried out under contract by the local facility. Where adequate facilities do not exist, the naval base itself may have a large maintenance section capable of extensive repairs and refits. Maintenance is performed on ships on the world surface or in orbit as necessary.

The administrative headquarters handles the day-to-day operations of the base, as well as its paperwork (including allocation of funds, distribution of personnel, and disbursement of maintenance and repair contracts). The naval base is not a tactical unit. It has no battle forces of its own, and it does not exert control even over local system defense boats (which are under a separate command). The naval base is responsible for supporting the fleet and keeping it in optimum condition for its combat missions.

Naval Depot
Depots serve as focuses for naval efforts: supplying a fleet's every need, providing construction and repair facilities, and producing and testing experimental ship prototypes. A depot generally occupies an entire system. Facilities, material, and personnel are extensive enough to repair and resupply a large fraction of the fleet at any time. A depot may be isolated from outside contact for years at a time without serious setbacks. As depots cover large parts of a system, there is no distinction between orbital and surface berthing.

In peacetime, the main function of a depot is the design and testing of ships. A large staff of naval architects (the cream of the area) and construction personnel is maintained at every depot.

In wartime, depots serve as repair and resupply centers for the fleet. In emergencies, the depot's construction yards are sometimes pressed into service for production of military ships. Since a depot is obviously a very sensitive installation, security is tight. An extensive array of both entry and exit codes are employed to ensure no unauthorized vessels enter or leave the system. Contingents of marines and system defense boats are stationed throughout the system, and they are constantly ready for action.

There is usually no more than one naval depot per sector. Depots are placed in systems where they will be close enough to the expected action to be useful, but far enough back to insure that they will not be captured.

Nobility
The foundation of interstellar government within the Confederation of Planets. The Confederation of Planets depends on nobles ranging from Masters to System Lords to carry the chain of authority and the mantle of responsibility from the High Lord to the people. Although official noble titles exist within the Confed, archaic terms of nobility (such as the use of the word Knight to describe a Master, for example) find their way into common parlance.

O

Off-dirt Rank
Mercenary jargon for the courtesy title major, applied to non-naval captains when aboard starships, to avoid confusion with the starship captain.

Oort Cloud
A spherical shell around most stars containing numerous small bodies of cometary material. A typical Oort cloud is about 0.5 to 1 light year from its primary and has an aggregate mass about that of Terra; density is thus extremely low. The main constituents of cometary bodies are ice and dust ("dirty snowballs"). Bodies in the Oort cloud are occasionally perturbed by collisions or by the influence of nearby stars into orbits which pass near the star; these form comets. The Oort clouds are named after the discoverer of Sol's, Terran astronomer Jan Oort.

P

Peerage
The hierarchy of nobles within the Confederation of Planets.

Postal Union
A group of political units associated to a greater or lesser degree for the purpose of communication among citizens, businesses, and governmental units.

Nearly all star systems are members of one postal union or another. Governments cooperate along their borders in order to allow the efficient flow of communications between them. Members of a postal union forward mail through their territories (subject, of course, to local security needs, acts of War, and so on) to the proper addresses. On the average, communication is at the speed of the fastest available transportation. Within the Confederation of Planets, such unions often pay a voluntary tax to the CEF Communication Office in order to use their facilities for communications. Private companies have also been known to provide such services.

Predecessors
The name given to a mythical interstellar society that existed some time prior to the current Terran interstellar expansion. No evidence has been found of their existence, although science fiction authors and conspiracy theorists sometimes make reference to them. See also Ancients, Progenitors.

Progenitors
The name given to a mythical interstellar society that existed some time prior to the current Terran interstellar expansion. No evidence has been found of their existence, although science fiction authors and conspiracy theorists sometimes make reference to them. See also Ancients, Predecessors.

Psionics
The use of mental powers for the manipulation of matter and energy and for communication. It has been demonstrated that minds (conscious or unconscious, intelligent or unintelligent) contain some capacity to operate without apparent use of physical facilities. All individuals trained in the use of these powers are required to be registered within the Confed.

Psionics Institute
Any organization devoted to the training of individuals in the use of psionics talents. Psionics Institute is a generic name; each such institution is independently organized and maintained. Institutes are generally supported by that portion of the population which had psionic talents; since that portion has small, they are viable only on high population worlds.

Some Psionic Institutes are operated by rogue psionic groups. These so-called Psionic Institutes are considered illegal, as they do not register their students according to Confed law. Talented individuals from such institutes are prosecuted should their illicit acts be discovered, as being an unregistered psion is considered a felony offense within the Confed.

Pyramid
Traditional construction form for developing cultures; considered to be the simplest form of large scale architecture because of its load-bearing strengthand ease of assembly. TL 1.

Pyramid structures of all sizes have been believed to serve as focuses for psionic (or cosmic) power, and are claimed to sharpen dulled edges, cure diseases, and generally work miracles.

Q

R

Red Zone
The Traveller's Aid Society travel zone classification for a nation, world or system which is dangerous to travellers. In general, the imposition of a red zone classification indicates the location is quarantined, interdicted by higher authority, or at war.

Quarantine indicates that a dangerous disease is present and the danger of war is self explanatory, but interdiction requires further discussion. Interstellar governments often find it necessary to restrict access to worlds or systems for political or military reasons, and they do so by publishing interdictions.

Enforcement of interdiction varies with the reason for the restriction. Interdiction may be imposed on a world if it is a military base or other sensitive installation, for private reservations belonging to powerful families desiring seclusion, for developing societies which government has elected to allow to evolve in isolation, or for valuable resource areas being saved for later development or exploitation.

Repatriation Bond
A document guaranteeing passage of an individual to a specified location upon completion of contract work or upon suspension of contract work for any reason. Repatriation bonds are guarantees given as inducements to workers who might otherwise be wary of leaving their own worlds with no assurance that they could return. They are most commonly used by mercenary units. Repatriation bonds are usually administered by a large financial institution which holds the necessary funds in escrow.

S

San Mureno (Sol Sector 2132 C496579-7)
San Mureno, a very hot world orbitting Ross 619, is the home of three different colonies, each of which fiercely maintains their independence from one another. Both Seimpre and Muta Kato maintain spaceports that rival San Mureno's in service and quality.

Scout Base
Port facility for the support, maintenance, and repair of scout vessels. The Confed Exploration Forces Service maintains a variety of scout bases scattered throughout the Confederation of Planets, with installations tending to be on less well developed worlds with starports type D or C. Scout bases tend to be surface installations equipped with basic facilities for fuelling and for minor maintenance activities oriented toward ships of displacement 1000 or less.

Scout bases are positioned in systems more out of the way than are naval bases for a reason. The scout bases serve as a source of ships carrying dispatches from the well-travelled star lanes to more remote worlds.

Scout bases also have other responsibilities, and most have an administrative responsibility in addition to the maintenance and refuelling of scout ships. Within a subsector, one base will hold responsibility for cartography in the subsector, another will be responsible for technical developments, and still another for diplomacy and liaison activities. The scout base is more extensive than a normal starport or spaceport, but less comprehensive than a way station. See also Way Station.

Sector
Mapping unit in astrography encompassing sixteen subsectors. Average density of 500 to 650 worlds per sector.

Sectors are named, and several synonyms are in common use, including march (or marches), region, reach (or reaches), quadrant, and matrix. The Sol Sector, for example is a sector.

Until recent developments in jump technology, the need for the concept of the sector as a mapping unit was considered not necessary. With the rise of the Confederation of Planets and Jump-2 technology, the long-term plans for the Confed have begun to lend itself to the use of such a mapping unit.

SOS
Terran distress signal, developed in the century before the first space travel. An abbreviation of "Save Our Souls", which developed primarily because of the widespread adoption of a simple communication code. See also Mayday.

Sophont
A generalized term for an intelligent life form.

Sophontology
An infant and primarily speculative science, Sophontology is the study of intelligent life forms. Subsidiary branches of this science include: cultural sophontology, the comparative study of sophont societies; physical sophontology, the study of genetic and physiological makeup of intelligent life; and developmental sophontology, the study of the various means by which life forms evolve intelligence. All work in this field is considered conjecture. However, with potential future contact with the Vegans, the Fornacians or the Talihans, there may arise a time when sophontology becomes more than a matter of conjecture.

Starport
Established for the landing, servicing, refuelling, and control of starships. Starports range in quality from A (the best and most extensive) to E (the worst, little more than a spot of cleared ground).

Starports generally have two components: a surface facility and an orbital facility. The surface facility includes cargo handling installations, a landing field, control towers, and other necessary areas. Surface starport components are frequently called Dirt-Side, Ground, or Down (as in San Paulo Down Starport on Terra). Orbital facilities are present (usually in stationary orbit above the surface component) to enable handling of unstreamlined ships and to allow construction of heavy craft in orbit. The orbital component is often called Shiny-Side, Up, or Orbital (as in San Paulo Orbital Starport). Type D and E starports have no extensive orbital facilities, but usually have navigational satellites or similar equipment. Unstreamlined ships at these starports must be serviced by shuttles. Starports, being the primary point at which starships interact with a system, are usually the location for shipyards and additional bases, such as scout bases, naval bases, or other military and governmental installations.

Subsector
Mapping unit in astrography. Average density: 30 to 40 worlds per subsector. The subsector is currently the largest practical mapping unit used within the Confederation of Planets.

Subsectors are noted within a sector by their position using tile first sixteen letters of the alphabet (A to P). In addition, they are named and may be called by a variety of synonyms for subsector, including province, cluster, or district.

Superheavy Elements
Although elements heavier than uranium are increasingly unstable and radioactive (with half-lives measured in fractions of a second), quantum theory predicts an "island of stability," consisting of the elements with atomic numbers 114 to 122, which have half-lives measured in the millions of years. These superheavy elements, also called eka-metals or island metals, are generated in small amounts in supernova explosions. Only a few grams have ever been discovered in nature, which is just enough for scientists to determine that superheavies would be immensely valuable to industry if a source could be found.

System
A star and its family of planets and satellites. The term system denotes a major world and its associated star, plus any other planets, satellites, asteroids, and other bodies.

System Defence Boat
A nonstarship specifically intended for defensive operations inside a star system. Developed on the principle that a nonstarship (because of the increased armament made possible by its lack of jump drives) can normally defeat a starship of equal tonnage. System Defence Boats are typically stationed at the vital points of a system (the gas giants, the asteroid belt, the major world, and so on), and they attack invading vessels according to one or more predetermined plans.

System defence boats range in size from displacements of 100 to 5000 and are constructed at all tech levels from eight to fifteen. There are hundreds of different types, tailored to their specific mission. See also Gunboat.

T

Talihans
Talihans, also known as the Trailing-Rimward Race, was discovered only recently using the distributed radio telescope arrays. Like the first two races discovered using these methods, very little is known about the Trailing-Rimward Race. The signals from this race derive from star systems that are much further away, beyond the Taliha subsector. Following a similar pattern to the other two races, the trailing-rimward race is called the Talihans when mentioned by Confed scientists and media.

Tau Ceti (Sol Sector 1429 D455465-7)
Tau Ceti is home to the largest presence of mankind in the Sirius Cluster. Now a protectorate of the Confederation of Planets, the Tau Ceti colony was originally founded by an Anachronistic Movement in 2306 AD. The original colonists sought a place where they could reject modern industrialized technology and return to a less technological way of life. A temperate world with active native lifeforms, the Confed recently established a new Confederation Exploration Force base in 2347 AD.

Terran Prime
Designation used in astrographical surveys of unpopulated regions. These worlds are similar to Terra, and as such are much prized as possible habitations. To be classed as such, the following must be true: Diameter 8640 to 15200 km, atmosphere 4 to 9, hydrographic percentage 36 to 95%, gravity 0.6 to 1.1g. Within this is the category Terra Norm (diameter 9440 to 15200 km, atmosphere 6 or 7, hydrographic percentage 46 to 75, and gravity 0.75 to 1.1g), a classification which almost guarantees successful colonization.

Thompson (Sol Sector 1732 E847423-8)
Thompson, orbiting LTT 17897, is a surprising temperate world settled about seventy years ago. Named after the first UNSCA Sky Marshal, Adam Thompson, the colony has not been very successful, due to poor management and lack of external trade. After the Great Civil War, Confederation Colonial Services has instigated new management directives, which have seen some positive results with the colony.

TNS
See Traveller News Service.

Trade Routes
Routes which jump-capable starships travel between major worlds and which connect vital suppliers with essential markets, important government worlds with high population worlds, and strategic resources with exploiting industry. Trade routes are a natural outgrowth of economic and market pressures. When a market is no longer profitable, the trade routes bypass it.

The trade routes are typically the territory of the Confederation of Planets's largest trading companies. They maintain fleets of commercial transports and merchants who serve these trade worlds, and they reap large profits in doing so.

But trade routes directly serve only about half the worlds of the Confederation of Planets. The other 50 percent of the Confederation of Planets's worlds are served by feeder lines, tramp freighters, and free traders. These smaller companies and unscheduled ships carry passengers and cargo between worlds off the main trade routes.

Trade Station
Establishment for the promotion of interstellar commerce. There is no single controlling agency for trade stations; some are established by private companies, on their own, or on contract to the Confederation of Planets, some are run by the scout service, and others are operated by different branches of the Confed government.

Traveller News Service
The major news agency of the Confederation of Planets, owned by the Travellers' Aid Society. TNS has bureaus on most major worlds throughout the Confederation of Planets and representatives at most starports.

Travel Zone
Standard form of classification for worlds in terms of relative danger. As a service to spacefarers, the Traveller's Aid Society publishes travel zone classifications that indicate the degree of danger a world presents to visitors. Standard classifications are green (no danger), amber (caution advised), and red (severe danger). See also Amber Zone, Red Zone.

Trojan Points
In a gravitational system composed of a small body orbiting a much larger one (such as a planet and star or a moon and planet), there are two stable points lying in the small body's orbit 60 degrees ahead and behind it, and thus equidistant from the small and large bodies. These are called Trojan Points (also LaGrangian points, which are abbreviated as L4 and L5).

The Trojan points of of a gas giant near an asteroid belt commonly collect a cluster of asteroids. The name comes from the first such cluster discovered by Terrans at Jupiter in the Sol system; the asteroids are named after mythical heroes of the Trojan war.

U

United Nations (-2573 to -2400)
An association of Terran states. Established in 1947 on the signing of the UN charter by the fifty member states at San Francisco. The organization was intended to reduce conflict and hardship on the world by encouraging cooperation between world powers. Duties were mainly carried out through UN agencies, but occasionally military force was employed with the support of the member states on the Security Council.

From about 1960, the UN started reforming into a world government. The armed forces of the major states became more accepted as a world-wide peacekeeping and police force under the banner of the United Nations. The Secretariat began coordinating large scale projects to reduce the effects of famine, disease, and economic hardship. Environmental controls and the move of many industrial concerns to orbital and out- system locations prevented Terra from loosing its garden climate. In addition, research was encouraged, and the solar system was intensively explored.

In 2120, the Treaty of New York formalized the changes in the UN's structure which had already occurred. The armed forces of the major nations were placed under centralized control. The Secretary General was granted wider executive powers. The Secretariat, previously an unofficial advisory group of representatives from the major nation-states, was made the chief legislative body. The General Assembly was retained, but became a forum for debate with little real power. The Security Council was dispensed with entirely. In addition, several new and powerful agencies were established. Among these were the United Nations Space Coordination Agency (UNSCA), the United Nations Diplomatic Integration Agency (UNIA), and the United Nations Trade Services Association (UNTSA).

Following the discovery of jump drive, and the establishment of extra-system colonies, these three agencies became the major arms of the interstellar government. On the admission of colonial representatives to the General Assembly after the Offworld Skirmishes of 2118-2120, the organization changed its name to the United Worlds. See also Confederation of Planets and United Worlds

United Worlds (2120 to 2343)
Name adopted by the Terran based interstellar government in the interim period between the first colonial representatives taking their places on the General Assembly, and the interstellar state that arose as a result of the Great Civil War. Despite this seemingly rapid integration of the colonies, they remained in the minority. Thus throughout the government's history, Terran representatives (and so Terran interests) dominated the General Assembly and the Secretariat. See also Confederation of Planets, United Nations.

V

Vegans
Vegans, also known as the Coreward Race, was the first interstellar society to to be located using distributed radio telescopes and coordinated deep space monitoring efforts. Nothing is known about the Coreward Race, except that the source of the signals seems to be from a variety of systems near Vega. Due to the star's proximity, popular media identifies the coreward race as the Vegans.

W

War
Major violent conflict between nations, corporations, or races.

Way Station
Link in the CEF courier network. The way station is a large (for the Scout Service) base devoted to the overhaul and refit of Confed Exploration Forces vessels at points in their journeys. During a normal tour of duty, a courier/scout vessel will jump from system to system, and occasionally change pilots, but steadily work its way farther and farther down the line.

At each scout base or way station, the scout/courier is routinely checked, refuelled, reprovisioned, and sometimes recrewed. Ultimately, however, all CEF vessels must undergo maintenance and possible repair after the rigors of its mission. The way station performs this function.

Way stations have stocks of scout-oriented repair and maintenance equipment, as well as trained staffs of service personnel. They are the equivalent of naval bases, although they are capable of servicing only smaller displacement ships (10000 and less) due to the size and orientation of their facilities.

Wolf 359 (Sol Sector 1929 B975787-8)
The relatively central location of Wolf 359 provides an excellent location for a third Confederation Naval base to support and protect trade within the Confed's core worlds.

X

Y

Z

Zi Yiu (Sol Sector 1824 E972324-7)
The Zi Yiu (Mandarin Chinese for "freedom") colony resides on the edge of the single sea of the large world orbiting Ross 154. As a colony, it has been isolated on the Confederation frontier until very recent breakthroughs in jump technology have given the Confed jump-2 capacity.

Zuchai Crystal
These crystals form the raw material for a vital focusing element in many designs of jump drive. They occur naturally, but can also be synthesized. However, natural crystals have a longer lifetime, and so command a higher price.