consumables or perishables which may be destroyed or used at any moment and for
calculated purpose to frustrate the enemy. Taking such a thing is difficult and
of great value, and there are also legendary destructions of great and valued
objects.
Along with sfik there is also pukkukkta, which has no true translation except as
a devastating blow to a rival.
Usually the kif operate as individuals or as crews, in which one kif is supreme,
and weaker kif, if not protected from this one, are at least protected from
other kif.
Sometimes a kif rises to a position of supremacy in which others fear to
challenge him and in which he gathers great fear and support from those about
him. Such a kif is a hakkikt, which kif say means prince. A hakkikt’s existence
usually means a period in which outsiders will have trouble with kif. There is a
growing expectation among kif that a hakkikt will arise to unite all kifish
worlds into a power the rest of the Compact cannot withstand.
Tc’a
Tc’a are serpentine beings, leathery gold, methane breathers, native to
Oh’a’o’o’o. They have a multipartite brain that thinks in matrices and
communicates in harmonics. The mouthparts are toolusing. They can bulk a dozen
times the weight of a mahendo’sat and bear several young at once, without
apparent attention to the process, which has happened in the middle of
conversations. They do trade, and mine, and what they think remains tc’a
business. They usually run the methane side of stations in the Compact, since so
far as anyone knows they are the only methane breathers interested in doing so.
They are associated with chi and knnn (qqv), and while a great deal is known
about tc’a comings and goings and while they take no aggressive action against
any species, virtually nothing is known about the tc’a mind or the history of
the species, except that they were in contact with the chi before they met the
stsho, and were extremely early spacefarers.
Chi
Chi are neon yellow sticklike beings who (which?) move with great rapidity and
often seem to be in total panic. “Crazy as a chi” is a hani proverb widely
understood.
It is uncertain whether chi are associates of the tc’a or pets. Chi can run
ships but are erratic navigators and it is virtually certain they did not invent
their own technology. Tc’a are not found without chi, though occasionally chi
may nest in communities into which tc’a do not appear to go.
Natives of Chchchoh, chi regularly accompany tc’a into the most hazardous mining
areas. No oxygen-breather has ever reported visiting Chchchoh. Tc’a will not
permit it, for what reason is unclear. It is known that chi reproduce by growing
a second brain at some point midway along their bodies. Additional leg segments
follow; then fission, and the newborn chi races off independently. Gender with a
chi is therefore of questionable application. Activities have been observed
which may be mating, but this is uncertain.
Knnn
No one knows the name of the knnn homeworld. No one knows if their ships have
names-except perhaps the tc’a or the chi, who do not say. No oxy-breather is
even sure which star they come from, except that it is on the underbelly of the
Compact, and suspicion centers around one star known to be a hub of knnn
activity.
Knnn look like black nests of hair-snarl with spider legs. Packrats of the
galaxy, they breathe methane and sing long involved songs over ships’ radio.
They are (perhaps) miners and (one supposes) traders, but their idea of trade
(as best the tc’a could communicate with them) is to dash onto station or ship,
and exchange what they’ve brought for what they want or what they take a fancy
to. In the bad old days, knnn simply gutted ships. They go in swarms or
solitary, and their ships are the only ships known to change vector in
jumpspace. They have a jump boost and turn maneuver that is impossible for
oxy-breathers. They are not popular. One can only talk to them through the tc’a,
who can get a kind of general translation-if you can understand the tc’a’s
seven-part matrix-sentences.