Wormhole Pirates on Orbis (39 page)

Trading Chambers:
An area of commerce within a city. Trading Chambers can be a simple cart stand or an elaborate mall-like complex. F.O.R.M. (Forbidden Off-Ring Materials) are not allowed to be sold in Trading Chambers.

Tunnels:
A network of drains and sewers honeycombing the underground of Core City and once used to fill the crystal-cooling tank.

Tromaine:
The capital city of Orbis 3.

Weegin’s World:
A recycling plant owned by Joca Krig Weegin, JT’s first Guarantor.

Zinovia:
The home planet of Belarans.

PEOPLE

Ancients:
A mysterious race, worshipped by many, who created the Rings of Orbis, but who disappeared almost 90,000 rotations ago. The Keepers are awaiting their return.

Arelions:
Ruthless aliens that hunted the Samirans to extinction on their home planet.

Belarans:
A war-obsessed race and a
First Family
on the Rings of Orbis. The Belarans are from the planet Zinovia. Belarans believe that they were the first sentient species in existence. Their fearsome appearance is the result of exposure to harsh conditions during frequent and extended space journeys. An eighty-year space trip is minor to a Belaran, as they are nearly immortal.

Centillians:
A race of aliens whose skin is very valuable to some cultures.

Choi:
This race is an offshoot from the Choisil and Choival. The Choisil saw the Choi as hideous and fought them off of their home planet, Krig, in a bloody civil war. The Choisil genetically altered the Choi to permanently show the defeat of their ancestors: the wings of a Choi fall off during adolescent growth; the bony stumps left behind are far less beautiful than the miraculous butterfly-like wings of the Choisil.

Citizen:
The term giving to the ruling class of aliens on the Rings of Orbis. Citizens control the economy on the rings but are not outside the scrutiny of the Keepers. The relationship between the Citizens and the Keepers is shaky at best.

Descendants of Light:
A radical group of Keepers dedicated to controlling the Rings of Orbis in the true spirit of the Ancients.

First Families:
Citizens whose ancestors were the first settlers on Orbis after the War of Ten Thousand Rotations.

Greeplings:
Aliens with prolific breeding habits.

Guarantor:
The term used by knudniks to identify the Citizen who feeds, employs, and gives them shelter.

Keepers:
Keepers consider themselves the guardians of the Rings of Orbis. They are philosophers who protect the sanctity of the moons and wait faithfully for the Ancients to return. Although the Keepers control society on Orbis and monitor travel through the wormhole, it is the Citizens who control the economy. Most Keepers visible on the rings have two heads, but they are born with only one head. A Keeper’s appearance alters after his mating ritual.

Knudnik:
A slang term used on the Rings of Orbis to describe an indentured servant.

Linkians:
Sleek, velvety-coated, purple aliens with four long tentacles that live in the cooling tank with the Samirans.

Nagools:
Mystical creatures who study and protect the teachings of the Ancients.

Neewalkers:
An amphibious mammal race that walks on the land with the use of mechanical stilts. Neewalkers are cold-blooded mercenaries. They are loyal to no one except the highest bidder.

Original Architects:
Another name for the Ancients.

Samirans:
Enormous, elephant-like amphibious creatures who were once hunted to extinction. Two of the remaining Samirans were transported to the Rings of Orbis, where they work as knudniks, cooling the crystals harvested from the moons. The Samiran language is too complicated for normal translation codecs.

Scallit:
A small alien creature eaten live by Neewalkers as a treat.

Slopcrawler:
A race of creature from the planet Palk who voluntarily live within the body of a Trefaldoor, allowing the host to breath. The slopcrawler is freed upon the death of the Trefaldoor but retains the host’s memory.

Softwire:
The name given to any creature who demonstrates the extremely rare ability to enter a computer using only his or her mind.

Solinn:
A dominant species on the Rings of Orbis. These aliens can be identified by the large fleshy bubble found on their forehead called a
vello.
This organ changes color according to the emotions of the Solinn. At least one Solinn is found in most negotiations on Orbis.

Space Jumpers:
An elite class of beings that have the unique ability to bend space and time at will. Space Jumpers were the sole protectors of the Keepers before the Citizens had them banished from the rings. All Space Jumpers are softwires. This allows them to control the quantum molecular belts known as
barka.
Space Jumpers come from many races and are controlled by a group known only as the
Trust.

Telepath:
A being that has the ability to read the minds of others.

Tonat:
The protector of the Scion.

Trading Council:
The governing body of Citizens who control the economy on the Rings of Orbis.

Trefaldoor:
A dominant species on the rings and one of the
First Families.
These immense aliens believe that lying is worse than murder, so they do well in business with other Citizens. Trefaldoors use a memory storage device that is hardwired to their brains. This device floats above their heads.

The Trust:
A powerful group of five individuals who rule an army of Space Jumpers and search the universe for Scions.

Wiicerian:
A First Family species. A Wiicerian at the Illuminate on Orbis 3 mentors JT and the other kids.

Wormhole Pirates:
A group of criminals who hide within the wormhole, attacking and robbing traveling Citizens.

Zzxyx:
Aliens from the Theta system. All Zzxyx must be quarantined at least three phases before being allowed to roam Orbis.

TERMS

The Ancients’ Treasure:
Believed to be an enormous sum of money, the Ancients’ Treasure is simply a device that holds the genetic code of the Scion. When a Scion comes into contact with the device, the Scion’s process of
Enlightenment
is initiated.

Bio-Bots:
Heat-consuming micro-bots used to cool the water in the crystal-cooling tank.

Birth Day:
A cycle celebrating the “hatching” of the embryos on the
Renaissance.

Bubble Shield:
A security device used to subdue criminals. The device can also be used to transport the individual to the Center for Science and Research.

Burnin’:
A slang terms that means “cool.”

Cart Bot:
A floating robot used to carry items.

Central Computer:
The single, all-encompassing computer that runs everything on the Rings of Orbis.

Chits:
A commonly used credit on the Rings of Orbis. First established as a worthless payment system for knudniks and created to appease the demands of the Keepers, chits are now used by everyone on the rings.

Codec:
A specific parcel of information that can be uploaded directly to the brain through a neural port.

Cycle:
A measure of time on the rings equivalent to an Earth day.

Contest Tank:
A recreational sector on the
Renaissance
where the children played Quest-Nest.

Copper Bombs:
Extremely toxic bombs used by the Sea Dragons to kill all life in the crystal-cooling tank, but not the structure itself.

Diam:
A measure of time. Four diams equal one spoke; four spokes equal one cycle.

Digi:
A photograph.

Crystal of Life:
Energy crucial to the economy of the rings that is harvested from the moons once every seventy years.

Enabler:
An electronic punishment device like a cattle prod.

Festival of the Harvest:
A celebration marking the rotation when the Crystal of Life is harvested from the moon Ki and transported to the Rings of Orbis.

F.O.R.M.:
Forbidden Off-Ring Materials. These items are forbidden by Keeper decree. Citizen caught with these devices face punishment. F.O.R.M. items are still available from Neewalkers or on the black market.

Jump the Ring:
A term used by knudniks meaning “escape.”

Light Chute:
An expensive means of transportation on the Rings of Orbis for traveling short distances.

Lyld-den-oo:
A game on Orbis 3 played in a labyrinth. Also know as Quest-Nest.

O-dat:
A computer terminal.

OIO (O-yo):
The art and science of cosmic energy. The Ancients believed that everything you do and even your thoughts enter the cosmic soup that flows through our universe and has the potential to affect everyone else.

Phase:
A measure of time on the rings. Similar to an Earth week. Four cycles make a phase.

Glowglobes:
A set of toy balls that bounce erratically.

Golden:
A term used by the children to mean awesome or “cool.”

Quest-Nest:
A multidimensional obstacle course in which teams of two or four compete against each other. Each team assigns a tracker and a bait. Trackers search the fourteen levels of the nest to release their bait and race back to the start before the other team does.

R5:
A robot used to surgically implant neural ports and the translation codec used on the Rings of Orbis to interpret the different alien languages. The implant eventually connects with the optic nerve and can even translate signs that are connected to the central computer. The
R
stands for Refurbish.

Riding:
The term used for scoping another person using the tetrascope.

Rotation:
A measure of time on the rings equivalent to an Earth year.

Screen Scrolls:
An electronic mail system on the Rings of Orbis used for private communications.

Sea Dragons:
Computerized, dragonlike machines released into the Cooling Tank to prevent the escape of the Samirans by lethal means.

Sepius:
A deadly plant parasite.

Set:
A unit of time on the rings. Four phases equal one set.

Skin:
An electronically programmed garment to monitor a knudnik’s whereabouts and to open certain doors.

Spoke:
A unit of time on the rings. Four spokes equal a cycle.

Staining:
An irreversible and permanent “tagging” of someone’s genetic signature that enables the central computer to track this individual.

Tetrascope:
A virtual-reality device used to experience the life of another. Both individuals must wear the device attached to their neural ports.

Toonbas:
A Trefaldoorian delicacy enjoyed by many other species including humans. Synthetically made on the Rings of Orbis, it originally was made from the secretions of a snail-like insect.

Yornaling Crystal:
A large unit of money. Harvested from the crystal moons, Ki and Ta, they are much harder to come by and carry much prestige. A yornaling crystal is worth one million chits.

The War of Ten Thousand Rotations:
The First Families battled with the Keepers for ten thousand rotations to control the wealth from the moons of the Rings of Orbis. While Space Jumpers protected the Keepers, the Citizens paid armies of Neewalkers to fight for them. Until the war, the Keepers lived in relative obscurity, spreading the resources from Ki and Ta in a benevolent fashion. The First Families changed all that once they had control of the economy on the Rings of Orbis. They turned the rings into an opulent and profitable “energy factory” built on the backs of knudniks. Historians have often questioned the motives of the Keepers, since the general perception was that the Keepers were winning the War of Ten Thousand Rotations.

Adapted from a class project created by
Basha High School in Chandler, Arizona.