Starbounders (25 page)

Authors: Adam Jay Epstein

BOOK: Starbounders

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Clipsian:
an alien species fueled by internal combustion; while most are peaceful, the more aggressive tribes have ravaged hundreds of defenseless populated planets.

com-bot:
robots used for battle-training exercises and combat sport.

Cometeer:
a third-year trainee at Indigo 8.

Cratonis:
a planet beyond the Indigo Divide where Skold resides.

Darkspeeder:
a fourth-year trainee at Indigo 8.

debris cannon:
a projectile weapon found on pitchforks that fires junk at high speed.

dehydra:
a giant Siroccan beast that uses its nine siphon tendrils to absorb water from its victims.

Desultar Prospecting Station:
a mining facility located in the path of a gravity sinkhole.

distortion sensor:
a device used to identify cloaked or camouflaged ships.

doppleform:
a holographic simulation of either an individual or a starcraft.

dreadnought:
a large IPDL starship used for transporting heavy loads.

Elite Corps:
a classified, top-tier Starbounder subdivision sent on covert missions.

extraction:
a banned interrogation technique that uses needles to remove memories directly from the subject's brain.

Flobian roach brain:
a favorite Klenarogian snack.

friction boots:
footwear used in zero-gravity situations to enable its user to temporarily stick to surfaces; also known as Armstrongs, in honor of the man who first walked on the moon.

Fringg Galaxy Void Market:
an illegal black-market trading hub.

galactic fold:
a wormhole that connects distant points in the galaxy, allowing starships to travel through the infinite outerverse.

greebock:
common space cattle.

hopper ship:
a small spacecraft used to travel short distances and not equipped to travel through interdimensional folds.

human carapace:
a robotic outer shell used to house nonâhuman beings.

Indigo 8:
Earth's IPDL training facility, hidden in the Adirondack Mountains.

Indigo Divide:
the boundary where IPDL-protected space ends.

Inter-Planetary Defense League (IPDL):
a coalition formed to keep peace throughout the outerverse that is made up of disparate but peaceful intergalactic races.

Kepler cartograph:
a map of every known galactic fold in the outerverse; named after Johannes Kepler, the famed mathematician and astronomer.

Kibarat:
a domed farming planetoid that travels between galaxies like a comet.

Klenarogian:
a humanoid, super-elastic species from the planet Klenarog.

lang-link:
the outerverse equivalent of radio communication.

lensicon:
a contact lens with instant image recognition, allowing users to identify whatever they are looking at.

Lightwing:
a first-year trainee at Indigo 8.

magnetic grappling hook:
a device used to traverse the outside of a spaceship during an untethered space walk.
magnetic tweezers:
an all-purpose device with a tendency to accidentally emit neutron bursts.

off-planet bio regulator:
the outer space equivalent of an oxygen tank.

outerverse:
the entirety of the cosmos.

particle blasters:
a starship weapon that fires super-charged atoms at its intended target.

Pele 9:
a lava planet located in the Desultar Nebula.

perpetual energy generator:
a device with near-infinite power used to run the Callisto Space Station.

photon bow:
a weapon similar to a regular bow, except instead of arrows, it fires superheated light.

pitchfork:
a Starbounder's standard-issue fighter ship, shaped like a trident, the ancient three-pronged spear wielded by Poseidon.

Qube:
Indigo 8's zero-gravity practice chamber.

serendibite:
clear cubes of black sandâthe standard outerverse currency.

shockles:
electrically charged handcuffs.

Sirocco:
a salt planet, entirely barren and lacking any water, in the Desultar Nebula.

skyterium:
the top floor of the Ulam, whose entire roof acts as an enormous telescope.

sleeping quarters (SQ):
the name given to the cabins where Starbounders sleep.

slicer:
a Clipsian combat ship named for its razor sharp edges.

sonic crossbow:
a handheld weapon that fires beams of sound.

Sputnik:
Kaylee's pet vreek, named after the first Russian satellite sent into space.

spaste:
flavored space food; roughly the size of a tube of toothpaste, spaste contains enough sustenance to keep an individual alive for days.

starbox:
the brain of a starship, roughly the size of a deck of playing cards.

starchery:
the art and technique of shooting a photon bow.

stun ball:
an electrically charged device that can immobilize an individual for hours.

sweat mite:
a moisture-hungry space parasite.

Tenretni:
a tiered city located beyond the Indigo Divide, on the broken planet of Irafas.

Tranquil Galaxies:
a region of the outerverse ravaged by Nibiru's Clipsian army.

Ulam:
Indigo 8's main building, home to everything from the skyterium, at its very top, to the space hangar, on its lowest underground level.

urchin:
a Clipsian battleship with large spikes and a magnetic hull.

voltage slingshot:
a handheld weapon that fires electrically charged ammunition.

vreek:
a sluglike organism native to the tundra planets that seeks out heat to reproduce.

warp glove:
an IPDL tool that opens folds in space and allows its user to extend his or her reach over vast distances from a stationary position.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Adam Jay Epstein (left) and Andrew Jacobson (right):

Photographs by Elizabeth Yarwood

ADAM JAY EPSTEIN
spent his childhood in Great Neck, New York, while
ANDREW JACOBSON
grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, but the two met in Los Angeles. They have been writing together for film and television ever since.

Their interest in space dates back to their early years, when Adam attended Space Academy in Huntsville, Alabama (and won the Right Stuff Award!), and Andrew went to a movie theater (for the first time) to see a rerelease of
Star Wars
.

Adam Jay Epstein lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Jane, and their daughters, Penny and Olive. Andrew Jacobson, his wife, Ashley, their son, Ryder, and their dog, Elvis, live close by.

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CREDITS

Cover design by Megan Stitt

COPYRIGHT

S
TARBOUNDERS
. Text copyright Â© 2013 by Adam Jay Epstein and Andrew Jacobson. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

www.harpercollinschildrens.com

ISBN 978-0-06-212022-9

EPub Edition April 2013 ISBN 9780062120236

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