The Key to Creation (71 page)
Read The Key to Creation Online
Authors: Kevin J. Anderson
RAGA VAR
mountain scout in Corag.
RA’VIR
Tierran children raised by Urecari to become spies and saboteurs, named after an opportunistic bird that lays its eggs in other birds’ nests.
REEFSPUR
Tierran coastal fishing village.
ROVIK
kel of the soldan-shah’s palace guards.
RUAD
outcast of the Nunghal-Su.
RUDIO
former prester-marshall of Aidenist church, killed by a sea serpent.
SAAN
son of Criston and Adrea.
SACRED SCROLL
Tierran trading ship where Alisi was held captive.
SAEDRANS
“Ondun’s Stepchildren,” independent people not descended from either Aiden or Urec. Saedrans serve as chartsmen, engineers, doctors, apothecaries, and other scientific professions.
SAPIER
grandson of Aiden, founder of Aidenist church. In a legend, he caught a sea serpent with a fishhook and rode it to safe waters.
SAPIER’S GLORY
flagship of Tierran navy.
SAPIER’S LIGHTHOUSE
one of two lighthouses at the mouth of Calay harbor.
SAZAR
leader of a clan of rivermen; he calls himself the “river destrar.”
SEN
term of respect and accomplishment for Saedrans.
SHARIQUE
wife of Yuarej soldan Andouk, mother of Cliaparia.
SHAY
,
CAPTAIN ANDON
captain of the
Luminara
, killed by the Leviathan.
SHENRO
destrar of Alamont Reach.
SHERUFA NA-OA
,
SEN
Saedran scholar in Olabar.
SHIELTAR
former soldan-shah, grandfather of Omra.
SHIPKHAN
captain’s title among the Nunghals.
SIESCU
destrar of Corag Reach.
SIKARA
priestess in the Urecari church.
SILAM HENNER
crewman aboard the
Dyscovera
.
SIOARA
port on the Middlesea, capital of Inner Wahilir.
SOELAND
one of the five reaches of Tierra, a group of islands.
SOLDAN
leader of one of the regions of Uraba.
SOLDAN-SHAH
the soldan of soldans, leader of all Uraba.
SONHIR
leader of the undersea people of the sunken Saedran continent.
STONEHOLM
capital city of Corag Reach.
TAVISHEL
former destrar of Soeland Reach, killed in naval attack of Ishalem.
TEACHER
mysterious hooded figure in charge of Omra’s
ra’vir
program.
TERRAVITAE
the original land where Ondun created his people, from which Aiden and Urec departed on their voyage.
TIERRA
the northern continent, composed of five reaches; its population follows the Aidenist religion.
TOLLI
name used by Anjine as her alternate childhood identity.
TOMAS
son of King Korastine and Ilrida, brother of Anjine, grandson of Destrar Broeck, murdered by Kel Unwar.
TRAVELER
wandering old man who leaves tales of his travels, rumored to be either Aiden or Urec.
TYCHO
name used by Mateo as his alternate childhood identity; also, a cat raised by Queen Anjine.
UNFURLING FERN
symbol of the Urecari church.
UNSUL
destrar of Erietta Reach.
UNTRA
former soldan-shah, grandfather of Imir.
UNWAR
kel in the Uraban military, captain of the horse soldiers.
URABA
the southern continent, composed of five reaches; its population follows the Urecari religion.
UREC
one of the two brothers who sailed from Terravitae to discover the world. The descendants of his crew populated Uraba.
URECARI
follower of Urec’s Log.
UREC’S LOG
Urecari holy book.
UR-SIKARA
lead sikara of the Urecari church.
VICKA SONNEN
daughter of Calay blacksmith Ammur Sonnen.
VILLIKI
third wife of Soldan-Shah Imir, mother of Tukar.
VORANNEN
marshall of the Calay city guard, married to Enifir.
WEN NA-CURIC
younger brother of Aldo.
WILKA
wife of Destrar Broeck, lost in a snowstorm.
WILKA
ironclad flagship from Gremurr, captained by Destrar Broeck.
WINDCATCH
small Tierran fishing village on the Oceansea coast, original home of Criston Vora.
XARIES
a Uraban board game similar to chess.
XIVIR
soldan of Missinia, father of Burilo.
YSTYA
beautiful young woman living on an isolated island, daughter of Iyomelka.
YUAREJ
one of the soldanates of Uraba.
YURA NA-CURIC
Aldo’s mother.
ZADAR
workmaster in the Gremurr mines.
ZARIF
Uraban title of prince.
The Terra Incognita trilogy has been an epic undertaking, both the story itself and all the behind-the-scenes work. Special thanks to my editor Darren Nash and publisher Tim Holman at Orbit Books, and agent John Silbersack at Trident Media Group.
Richard Ware creates the excellent maps of the Terra Incognita world. Lee Gibbons produced three magnificent covers that perfectly capture the feel of the series. The “Roswell Six” team did an amazing job interpreting the story and characters in rock music: composers Henning Pauly and Erik Norlander; vocalists Michael Sadler, Steve Walsh, James LaBrie, Sass Jordan, John Payne, Lana Lane, Nick Storr, Arjen Lucassen, Alex Froese, and Juan Roos; musicians Gary Wehrkamp, Kurt Barabas, Chris Brown, Chris Quirarte, Martin Orford, David Ragsdale, and Mike Alvarez.
My typist Mary Thomson kept up with me, transcribing the chapters as quickly as I sent her the audio files, and she also offered her expertise in horses. My hardworking test readers went over drafts of this novel with sharp eyes and sharp pencils, adding their input, insights, and ideas to make this a stronger story—Deb Ray, Diane Jones, Louis Moesta, and of course my wife, Rebecca Moesta.
K
EVIN
J. A
NDERSON
has written forty-six national and international bestsellers and has over twenty million books in print worldwide in thirty languages. He has been nominated for the Nebula Award, the Bram Stoker Award, and the
SFX
Readers’ Choice Award. He is best known for his highly popular
Dune
novels, written with Brian Herbert, his numerous
Star Wars
and
X-Files
novels, and his original science fiction epic, The Saga of Seven Suns. Find out more about Kevin J. Anderson at
www.wordfire.com
.
If you enjoyed
THE KEY TO CREATION,
look out for
The Saga of Seven Suns Book One
by Kevin J. Anderson
Mankind has colonized the worlds of the Spiral Arm. The galaxy is theirs for the taking. But humanity will soon discover the brutal, horrifying price of arrogance in deep space.
The Klikiss Torch is a device of unimaginable power, capable of transforming gas giants into new suns. However, unknown to humanity, the Jovian worlds are home to an undreamed-of alien species: the hydrogues. Infinitely advanced, supremely powerful, and now the victims of accidental genocide, the hydrogues don’t seek apologies or reparations. Instead, incredible armadas of invincible city-sized warships suddenly emerge from the galaxy’s billions of gaseous worlds with a single mission: to annihilate every last human being in the universe.
And so begins the Saga of Seven Suns—an action-packed epic of mankind’s destiny among the stars.
S
afe in orbit high above the gas giant, Margaret looked through the observation port at continent-sized hurricanes and clouds far below. She wondered how long it would take for the entire planet to catch fire, once the experiment began.
Oncier was a pastel globe of hydrogen and mixed gases five times the size of Jupiter. Moons surrounded the gas giant like a litter of pups jostling against their mother. The four of greatest interest were large bodies of ice and rock named Jack, Ben, George, and Christopher, after the first four Great Kings of the Terran Hanseatic League. If today’s test proved a success, those moons could eventually be terraformed into Earthlike colonies.
If the Klikiss Torch failed, the respected career of Margaret Colicos would fizzle along with it. But she would survive. As xeno-archaeologists, she and her husband Louis were accustomed to working in blissful obscurity.
In preparation for the experiment, the technical observation platform bustled with scientists, engineers, and political observers. Though Margaret had nothing to do with the actual test, her presence was still required here. A celebrity. She had to make a good show of it. After all, she had discovered the alien device among the ruins.
