Excerpts From Nonexistent Books

Taos seemed to consider this a moment. “Every moment is a death,” he said. “You are not the same being you were an instant ago, not am I the same glittering perfection. It takes an expended mind to see this, of course. But even with the finite resources of the Umbrielite computer network I can compare states, snapshots of my core being, and tease out the differences. Each configuration of the cosmos is different than that which preceded it, and each moment presses it to extinction.”

“Is that supposed to make me feel better?” snarled Jai.

“Not really, since you are going to pout like an undisciplined schoolboy at this as you do in the face of any reversal,” Taos said. “I’m merely dumping a little truth into your wound. Truth, like maggots, has a way of clearing away the dead bits.”

“And just how, exactly, is telling me that she died a billion times when she cut her hair the truth? You were right about the maggots, though, since you’re just being rotten.” Jai spoke through fresh-brimming tears.

“Oh, a pun. How delightful. I certainly can’t hope to compete with an intellect advanced enough to play off linguistic similarities in a primitive and outmoded form of communication. Listen: she affected you, affected me, affected the cosmos. That’s more than most consciousnesses can hope for, and it’s what we do now that determines whether those effects resonate or whether they were just like her billion other selves, extinct and forgotten. Remember, I have already begun working against the great death, the only true death, and only my success makes this anything more than another heat exchange in a universe slouching toward equilibrium.”

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“It’s a Mackensen-class battlecruiser,” said Curnow with a low whistle. “Old as hell but still pretty potent.”

“Obsolete,” said Dr. Strasser. “Sublight missiles and munitions are worthless in the face of modern naval technology.”

“Then why didn’t the Navy blow this thing to hell during the war?” Myassa said.

“Political concerns,” said Strasser with a note of contempt in his voice. “They did not have the stomach for blood and there is no guarantee even against a battlecruiser as obsolete as this that pictures of maimed ensigns won’t be all over the news.”

Curnow’s nav console blinked and squeaked. “We are being targeted,” said Taos. “5 kiloton fission warheads and 105mm mass drivers. The Fancy Rat was painted with their search-and-destroy sensors as soon as it entered the system.”

“Why am I only hearing about this now?” Jai cried.

“Apologies, captain,” said Taos in his even tone. “Our sensors are not designed for combat.”

Jai felt sweat prickle beneath his collar. “Are…are they going to fire on us?”

“Yes, brilliant deduction,” Myassa said. “They hired us to deliver cargo and passengers only to blast us out of the sky just for kicks.”

“Incoming transmission, captain,” said Taos. “I shall rely it.”

Speakers crackled and a grainy but strident voice emerged: “Attention unidentified vessel: This is the UNS Lutzow. Present your credentials and prepare for inspection and boarding. Failure to comply will result in your immediate and unconditional destruction.”

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The Loamites
Chancellor Loam was a powerful political theorist whose adovcacy of a strong centralized and corprorate state earned him many admirers. He was successfully able to win election to the chancellorship but his political enemies revolted and forced him and his allies out after only 227 days with virtually none of their progreams implemented. The movement dwindled after that, but still has some strong–people might say extreme–adherents.

Umbriel Exiles
After the infamous anti-offworlder riots, the government of Umbriel was blockaded and attacked by a government coalition. Though many argued that the intervention was overkill, the Umbriel War turned into a vicious quagmire and ended with a breakout–the government and its remaining troops fought their way into open space and then jumped. A series of “governments in exile” followed as the occupation continued, gradually forcing the exiles further and further to the margins.

The Aiov Enlightenment
A philosophical movement holding that a society must be in complete and mechanized harmony, the Aiov Enlightenment was deemed an extremist group shortly after its founding. Nevertheless, its ideas of a regimented and orderly merging of the personal and professional spheres appealed to many, and the movement grew in leaps and bounds until it was officially outlawed. Many Aiov adherents took the opportunity to flee, seeking to establish settlements that followed this philosophy without outside interference.

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Polar Worlds

Polar worlds tend to have large uninhabitable bands about their equators with much more temperate zones close to either pole. The large zone often prevents animals and civilizations from crossing on the macro scale without the advent of significant technologies. These worlds tend to undergo interchanges when species or civilizations from one pole reach the other, nearly always resulting in mass extinctions. In rare cases, life can evolve independently at either pole to such an extent that they share no common ancestry; Exegesis II, for instance, evolved a dextro amino acid ecosystem on its north pole and a levo amino acid ecosystem in the south.

Ribbon Worlds

In contrast to polar worlds, ribbon worlds have a narrow habitable band around their equators and large inhospitable areas dominating either hemisphere. This has a tendency to produce civilizations and fauna that engage in fierce competition for limited space and resources, often preventing the emergence of complex technological societies since many of their planets’ resources are locked beneath ice caps or the like. Occasionally, large impassible features like oceans will divide up a ribbon world in a manner similar to standard terrestrial worlds, and the resulting crucibles of evolution are responsible for many of the most virulent interstellar pests.

Twilight Worlds

Exceptionally rare, twilight worlds are always tidally locked to a larger partner, the result being that one side is extremely hot and the other extremely cold. This can, at times, create an area of “twilight,” sometimes only a few kilometers wide, where the temperature and conditions are suitable for life. Since the “twilight” must follow a line of latitude and often pass through the poles, its habitable areas are often too small for the evolution of complex organisms. This makes them highly desirable as potential colonies, as there are only a few examples of complex native life to displace.

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“We have a rather…existential target for you, Voelker,” said Grinds. “Not so much a who, or a what, but a why.

“You’ll forgive me, Grimes, if I ask for a little more than that.”

“That’s just it,” said the station chief. “We don’t have it. Every time we have encountered this person of interest, they have looked different.”

“So a disguise fanatic,” Voelker said. “Like Kaminsky. Hardly what I would call existential.”

“No,” said Grimes. “The differences in height, frame…too great to be a single individual disguised. Other than the fact that we’ve has a similar range of eye colors reported, and never a sighting that was not a female, there are no similarities.”

“Then how do you know it’s a single…thing?” Voelker snapped. “Jumping to strange conclusions in a world that’s strange enough and all that.”

“We thought of that too, that it might be a network, directed individuals. Yet the behavior we’ve seen, the modus operandi…the similarities in the way our operatives have been interfered with is too striking. It has to be some sort of individual, maybe even a gestalt.”

Voelker sighed. “You’re not giving me a lot to go on here, Grimes,” he said. “If they always look different and we can never tell it’s them before they interfere, how will I know?”

“The bird,” Grimes said. “The bird is always with her. Not always the same bird, but always white.”

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