“Vat”: Clone-child bred from one of the frozen cell-fragments brought from Earth for a minimal fee. They may become Shareholders after repaying the costs incurred in growing them and raising them. In practice, this is extremely unlikely.
Soft-cyber chip: A Korozhet-made neurological enhancement device implanted into the brain of the bearer. A lentil-sized piece of highly advanced nano-circuitry, it is nonmetallic and contains both cybernetic and software elements. The device secretes microfilaments into the brain to obtain raw data, whereafter it acts as an enhancement and logic coprocessor, enabling instant “uplift” of various nonsentient animals.
Magh’: A superficially arthropod-like alien species characterized by extreme polymorphism. Certain differences from true Terran arthropods, such as an exoskeletal structure of a substance unlike chitin containing fullerene chains and considerable internal bracing, make creatures ranging from the size of toy breeds of dog to German Shepherds possible. Body shapes vary enormously, with six factorial possibilities. The Magh’ are a voracious, invasive and habitat-destructive species living in immense magh’ adobe scorpiaries—spiral mound structures centered on the breeders’ nest (the brood-heart) and broodchambers. Each scorpiary of several million members is a single intelligence, sharing a group-mind with consciousness centered on the breeders, the Magh’mmm. The Magh’mmm practice group spawning with external fertilization and with a sextuploid-haploid DNA analogue.
Respiration is spiracular with a countercurrent flow of a fatbottomed decacupraglobin carrier. This allows for the accumulation of oxygenated blood during low activity, which can then be expended during high activity, allowing high burst speeds for a brief period. Magh’ warriors have no stamina.
Korozhet: An alien species, technologically advanced. Radially symmetrical, they look like spiny red beachballs. The spines are hollow and jointed. The Korozhet can exude suckerlike pedicellaria, ocelli (simple eyes) and other sensory organelles from the hollow spines. Like several mollusc species, the Korozhet are also capable of firing harpoonlike darts from two special hollow spines. These harpoons are hollow also, and act as hypodermic needles through which toxic enzymes can be delivered into the prey or enemy. Like starfish, Korozhet feed by stomach eversion into the body of their partially digested prey. Speech is by means of a gas-bladder. Gas is produced from digestive processes within the food remainder sucked back in with the stomach.
Jampad: An alien species opposed to Korozhet and the Magh’. Jampad are short and stocky, bipedal, with four tentacular arms. Heavily furred, from a high g (1.3g) cold planet.
THE END