Figure 1. The galactic region explored by humans. The approximate locations of some important star systems such as Akara are shown.
This page is for detailed information about the fictional world depicted in The search for Kalid. For example, this page can contain detailed descriptions of technologies and organizations that are never revealed to the reader of the story, but this information can be useful to authors who are developing and writing the story or the sequel. Another page, The search for Kalid/Contents/Glossary is available for readers of the story and that page contains brief descriptions of special terminology used in the story and can help the reader keep track of the meaning of terms like "nanite" and "Antiquist Party".
Almaaz[]
The supergiant star Haldus as seen from another small planet that orbits further from Haldus than does Almaaz, allowing both the star and the disk to be seen together. Also shown: the disk-shaped companion object.
A small planet in the Haldus star system that has the main Haldus Order spaceship building facility, the Johann Fritsch Memorial Space Docks. Johann Fritsch was the first modern astronomer to notice that Haldus is a variable star. This fact was recognized by Haldus Order members on Earth thousands of years ago.
Almaaz is gravitationally locked in the trailing Trojan position behind the companion object. One side of Almaaz always faces Haldus and is too hot for human habitation, but it provides plentiful energy for the human colony that is located on the cold side of Almaaz. In orbit around Almaaz are the Museum of Earth History and the Old Temple.
At the time of The Search for Kalid, the Haldus Star system is the only place in the galaxy where there are members of the Haldus Order who openly use the name "Haldus Order". On other worlds such as Sakkara, people who actually are part of the Haldus Order only self-identify as members of a local Order such as the Silver Tulipan Order.
At the time of The Search for Kalid, the Haldus Star system has a population of about 74 million, most of whom live on Almaaz. As is true for most planets, only a small fraction of the population of Almaaz is associated with the Haldus Order.
The Museum of Earth History is dedicated to keeping alive the true history of Earth. It is one of the few remaining places in the Galaxy where there is accurate information about how Earth was destroyed and turned into a Green planet. The Museum of Earth History is inside a spaceship.
The Old Temple is also a spaceship, the ship that was used by Master Olmo during the time when he was leader of the Haldus Order. The ship contains an important collection of artifacts from Polastis III. The Old Temple and the Haldus Order secrets it contains that are related to Polastis III and the transport grid are not open to the public.
Antimatterics[]
Figure 2. A typical relationship between spaceship acceleration and apparent gravitational force experienced by the spaceship passengers. g = Standard gravity.
Antimatterics is the technical field concerned with the type of antimatter reactors that are used to power the spaceship engines that are used for travel between planets within star systems (where travel by means of jumps through hyperspace is not possible). In general, accelerations of greater than about 50 meters per second squared (5g) are rarely attained.
As the threshold for black hole production is approached (See Figure 2, above right), energy requirements increase exponentially with only small additional increases in acceleration. The graviton field of the drive system is tuned to allow some of the available energy from the antimatter reaction to compensate for the force due to acceleration, reducing the acceleration experienced by passengers in the central habitation ring of the spaceship. "Standard Acceleration" (SA) is about 3g, a level at which the passengers experience about 1 g (Earth normal gravity). Using SA, spaceships can travel about 200 million kilometers in two days; in many cases, spaceships do not need to travel more than this distance either in preparation for a hyperspatial jump or traveling to the destination planet following completion of a jump.
Note: the graviton field from an antimatter reactor can also be used to produce artificial gravity for space stations or reduce gravitational fields on planets.
There is a dangerous interaction between conventional antimatter reactors and the T-particle conduits in teleguide arrays. If a conduit is actively channeling a large flux of T-particles then a nearby antimatter reactor can begin to produce large black holes leading to an explosion of the type that destroyed Egypt. In the time of The Search for Kalid, research funded by the Futurist Party has led to development of a new type of antimatter reactor that does not produce black holes. Set is the first to understand the significance of this new type of reactor for preventing reactor explosions.
Rockets with antimatter warheads.
The Spaceship Guild has not understood how a spaceship could explode and produce the magnitude of destruction seen at the Egyptian blast crater. They tried to conceal the connection between a spaceship explosion and the destruction of Earth by releasing the green nanite goo on Earth.
In the time of The Search for Kalid, antimatter bombs are used in warfare.
Antiquist Party[]
The Antiquist Party is a local political party on Sakkara that is concerned with doing things "the old fashioned way" using technologies that are not new. The Antiquist Party is financially supported by the Spaceship Guild. There is also a Galactic Antiquist Party which attempts to coordinate local planetary Antiquist Party organizations.
Azur[]
The planet Azur.
A major Earth-like world that was one of the last pockets of resistance against the forming Empire. Azur is in the Akara star system.
Cloaking technology[]
This technology was discovered by the Haldus Order following study of the transport grid at Haldus and the conduit array on Polastis III. The technology is related to the Haldus Order method for amplifying telepathic signals and transmitting them through hyperspace. The cloaking device is part of the "Invocator". It works similar to the devices routinely used for hyperspatial communication, except that rather than transmitting matter into hyperspace, the cloaking device only sends electromagnetic waves into hyperspace. A spherical surface is generated, either around a spaceship or a stationary base. That surface absorbs elecromagnetic waves and sends them into hyperspace...no concern is taken for the ultimate fate of those waves. At the time of The Search for Kalid, the cloaks are not perfect. In particular, a large flux of electromagnetic radiation will saturate the Invocator's capacity. For example, nearby antimatter bomb explosions allow for detection of a cloaked spaceship.
Dates[]
After the galactic wars, a new type of distributed political system claims dominion over all human settlements in the Galaxy. In the time of "The Search for Kalid", years are counted as "years ANE", After the New Eelections, the number of years that have passed since the new system of galaxy-wide elections had been established. "The search for Kalid" takes place in 108 ANE (After the New Elections); this is the year 2472 CE, as years were previously counted on Earth. After the success of this new political system had been established, a new administrative headquarters for the galaxy was established on the planet Parsa, but Parsa is purely an administrative center with no military power and there is no supreme leader of the galaxy. During the time of "The Search for Kalid", the length of a standard year was defined by the orbital period of Parsa.
Earth[]
Positions of the teleguide array conduits and the Egyptian blast crater on Earth.
The origin of humans. The Earth is now a dead planet, infected by a green nanobot cloud. Some people claim that the true location and history of Earth have been hidden. This is true, but the Spaceship Guild destroyed most information about Earth during the Galactic Wars. They re-named the Solar System to star system h.32 and in the time of The Search for Kalid, Earth is known to most people as h.32 while another planet in a star system 22 light years away is called Earth in stellar navigation databases.
Aliens from the Haldus Star system visited Earth long ago and constructed a teleguide array. The T-particle conduits of the array were then used to teleport between Haldus and Earth. The first intervention from Haldus into the development of humans on Earth led to the creation of telepathic humans . Most of the humans with genes for telepathy were removed from Earth by about 20,000 years ago.
A second period of intervention involved visits to Egypt by the descendants of those original human telepaths. This led to the creation of the Haldus order.
A third intervention occurred more recently in the Americas. After humans entered the space age and started colonizing the Haldus star system, the frequency of teleportation to Earth decreased. However, occasional teleportations to Earth from other transport grids in the galaxy continued until the conduit near Egypt was destroyed.
The Egyptian T-particle conduit was destroyed when the conduit was in use while an antimatter spaceship was nearby. The Spaceship Guild feared that if it became known that a spaceship explosion had destroyed Earth then they would be prevented from using their antimatter spaceships near inhabited planets. To hide the truth, they infected Earth with a green nanite goo.
In the time of The Search for Kalid, the Haldus Order is trying to repair the teleguide array on Earth. They plan to construct a new T-particle conduit and position it at the location of the conduit that was destroyed by the Egyptian explosion. In order to do this, they use a cloaked spaceship (the Hans Ludendorff). Unfortunately, Set deduces the location of the hidden spaceship and Ketar follows Set and destroys the Hans Ludendorff.
In the time of The Search for Kalid, the only significant human habitation on Earth is a base for workers at a mass driver that is used to send water off of Earth for use in the terraforming of Mars.
Empire[]
There is no monolithic "Empire". If you still find reference to an "Empire" or something "Imperial" in the story, remove it.
Esclangon[]
An asteroid in the h32 star system that is visited by Leone and Aristark. Leone discovers that Sybil is already on Esclagon.
The Haldus Order Temple on Esclagon is no longer used by the Order. It is a "dummy" Temple that is used to spread mis-information to the Spaceship Guild. The chief Spaceship Guild spy stationed in the Temple is a robot: Bahney.
Ketar follows Kalid and Sybil to Esclagon and orders Bahney to spy on Sybil and Leone. When Sybil and Leone figure out the true location of Earth, Ketar orders Bahney to bring them to Earth.
Eye of Haldus[]
This was the name given by ancient Egyptians to the transport grid in the Haldus star system. It was only after Haldus Order members traveled to the Haldus star system that it was discovered that an alien artifact was the source of a powerful twitino emission that can be detected on Earth by telepaths.
Flammis[]
Veritas Flammis was a desolate world selected as a base by the Haldus Order for their secret research center for investigation into technology that can aid human telepathic communication.
To a casual observer, Flammis appears to be a dead world infected by a nanite green goo. However, careful observation of the world, made by using reliable scanners, will reveal the locations of human bases that were destroyed in the past. The planet has an interconnected network of underground bunkers that extends over large regions of the planet. People could be hiding in the network of underground bases with enough food to be able to survive there for months or years. The Haldus Order has previously been attacked, so it is now prepared in case of a frontal war or invasion.
Some of the secret bases on Flammis contain special temples and shrines and they are the source of many rumors and legends that have spread to members of the Order, even those who do not know the name "Flammis". Some people beyond Flammis think that this hidden world is a meditation, research and study center, but nothing is known for sure due to the secrecy that pervades the Order.
Flammis was originally colonized by the Haldus Order in 2187 CE. When a rebel faction of the Order persisted in claiming that the Spaceship Guild had purposefully infected Earth with green nanite goo, the Spaceship Guild destroyed the Haldus Order bases on Flammis and turned Flammis into a Green planet in 2278 CE.
After the Haldus Order developed cloaking technology they established a new base on Flammis (2312 CE). That base remained undetected until Set's attack in 2472 CE.
Futurist Party[]
The Futurist Party is a local political party on Sakkara that has members who are interested in the development of new technologies that will improve human lives. The party formed as a reaction against the Antiquist Party. The Futurist Party is interested in building space elevators on Sakkara.
Green planets[]
"Green planet" means that the world's surface and atmosphere are a poisonous green cloud of nanites.....the result of a type of disaster in which nanites go out of control and destroy a world.
Haldus[]
The position of Haldus in the constellation Auriga as seen from near Earth. Click image for full detail.
In 2156 CE, members of the Haldus Order established a base on a Trojan dwarf planet located in the orbit of the major disc-shaped companion object of the Epsilon Aurigae star system. The reason why the Haldus Order is named after this star, and why members of the Haldus Order made this the site of their first settlement outside of the solar system, is a closely guarded secret of the Order.
Haldus Order[]
The Haldus Order is based on Systems Theory principles and is what could be called a "learning organization". Its organization is only loosely hierarchical; it is more "cell based". Each cell has certain autonomy, resembling the behavior of ants. It is an aspect that has been important to avoid destruction by other organizations, like Ketar's or Set's.
A secret society that has a base in the Epsilon Aurigae (Haldus) star system. At the time of The Search for Kalid, Kalid is the Great Master of the Haldus Order.
The Order's history is lost in time. Many of its documents claim it to be of old origins, saying Ancient Egypt was the place where the order was created, although bearing a different name. Scholars inside the order who have got access to classified documents have tried to trace the origins of the mysterious order to several secret societies that were founded in the first decades of space colonization. They were very different orders and societies, some of them were even completely secular and oriented towards political goals rather than spiritual. Several great masters gave current shape to the order through years and in ways that nobody has been able to explain. The Order that Kalid commands has a very high level of organization, resembling any large corporation, state or even a criminal organization. It has many spies in every planet of the order, some members claim but nobody knows for sure. It has some diffuse goals for the long term but none of them are told to the neophyte or people in lower circles. There are special information only available to the Great Master, for instance. Information is organized according to the need of each circle or member and there are very strict laws and special vows to protect the secrecy of it, since if the information about Haldus Order gets to other people it could mean the destruction of the Order.
Several groups have tried to destroy it in the past. Ketar and his past family members tried once; Flammis still have ruins of some attempts. Haldus Order has a front for the public: The Tulipan Order. That is the one where every member starts and the one Sybil thought she was a part of. The secrecy of that order is not highly encouraged since it contains false information intended to avoid attracting attention to the real order. Very few members finally get to the real Haldus Order after many years of effort and tests, in all senses. Each member has to find the answers to many questions by himself; old Socratic method is encouraged through teaching by both humans and AI capable of detecting and reacting to emotions.
The members are taught special techniques in what common people call the paranormal: telepathy, remote vision, precognition, divination, lucid dreams, meditation, martial arts. Members receive an alternate vision of reality, the universe and God. Although it could be seen as a religious organization, its nature has to deal with spirituality instead. They do not worship any god or person but God himself and they have different denominations for him. They do not see the creator of everything as a person; we were not created in "his image" according to their documents and teachings. God, for them, is some mysterious entity outside the universe he created and who can communicate with it and with its creatures. There are several views on theology and some approach the deity as an energy that cannot be defined or grasp with the rational mind. They teach ways to pray and to try to convert the mind of the member as a channel to be able to communicate (basically receive) advice from the mind of the universe or, most of the time, higher entities than man.
Haldus Order knows there are other intelligences in the universe and some say they have proofs of their existence, since there have been contact with them in the past, using indirect means, never a physical encounter. Haldus Order has plans for the future of humanity and they act as guards of it, following the advice from the First Circle of the order and from higher spiritual beings, some of them not dwelling in the same dimensions humans live. They see themselves as intermediary beings between the higher entities and humans.
They have structured all these beliefs in a systematic way. No member can have access to the full picture and some even say that only disincarnate members can access the full information Haldus Order possess. They have banks of data that are only accessible with special gifts, such as mind travels.
The Order is divided in Four Circles. Members enter the fourth circle and begin advancing towards the minor circles. A living person can only get to Second Circle; it is the circle the Great Master and other high ranking member are, like Kalid and Jeremy. The First Circle is for the souls (spiritual bodies) of Second Circle members who continued their journey in the spiritual realm. Knowledge about the characteristics of this First Circle is heavily guarded and only allowed to the best Second Circle members.
Secret is protected in many ways, using every physical or mental means available. This order has members who work as scientists in most of the fields and who are not trained in the spiritual aspects of it. Those are the ones who protect the order from extinction since the order has very advanced weapons and hiding systems, as can be seen with the Invocator device. Scientists also make research on the boundaries or spirituality and the physical world and try to make telepathy and precognition possible from both perspectives. There are rumors they have achieved the goal of creating an amplifier device for abilities such as telepathy and precognition. They also have experts in artificial intelligence, computers, networks, encryption, among many others. They are a very well formed blend of science and spirituality with almost no traces of superstition. Only the members in beginning circles think they have to understand things with faith. High ranking members are given profound explanations of many topics to be able to understand them using rational points of view, although spirituality is always present.
The reason secrecy is so important to the Order is the fact that they possess delicate information both in the spiritual realm and science/technology. If certain groups outside the order gain access to such knowledge, humanity will be in high risk of self destruction. The Order has even acquired very advanced technology only in order to control it or to hide it from humanity. Telepathy technology is still a heated debate; members cannot agree if it should be given to the public. Higher entities try not to intervene in topics that require the will of humanity as a whole, so it is a matter that does not have a solution yet.
Hans Ludendorff[]
A spaceship of the Haldus Order. The spaceship was used for the Haldus Order effort to repair the teleguide array on Earth. After the Hans Ludendorff was destroyed by Ketar, the Haldus Order names a new spaceship the Hans Ludendorff B. See: Hans Ludendorff at Wikipedia and Epsilon Aurigae.
Hyperspace[]
Spaceships routinely detach their hyperpatial field generators before landing on planets.
Interstellar travel is made possible by spaceships that have "hyperdrive", a technology that allows a spaceship to be moved from normal spacetime into a "hyperspace" consisting of compact dimensions. After a representation of the spaceship's physical structure is created within hyperspace by a hyperspatial field generator, instantaneous movement of that representation is possible....the spaceship can be rematerialized at another very distant location in normal spacetime. While the actual movement through hyperspace is instantaneous, in practice, some time is required to rematerialize the spaceship at the destination point following a "jump" through hyperspace. An important limitation on hyperspatial travel is that jumps through hyperspace cannot be initiated too close to a large mass (see Swanzig radius).
Hyperspatial communication is actually more difficult than movement of a spaceship through hyperspace because no hyperspace drive device is sent to the destination and so there is nothing there to organize the signal upon its return to normal spacetime. In practice, coded pulses of hassium are sent through hyperspace. Upon returning to normal spacetime at the destination, the hassium nuclei decay and release "T-particles", a form of nonhadronic dark matter. The original message can then be reconstructed from the coded pulses of T-particles, but their reception requires a special and very large T-particle-detecting antenna structure (see: hyperspatial communications center, below). Most inhabited star systems have such a T-particle antenna structure and a relay station for sending the messages on to nearby human bases and inhabited planets by means of conventional electromagnetic signals.
It is also possible to use a spaceship's hyperspatial field generator to transmit electromagnetic waves into hyperspace. In the time of The Search for Kalid, physicists working for the Futurist Party on Sakkara view this as a theoretical way to cloak a spaceship's location.
Hyperspatial communications center[]
Reception of hyperspatial communications signals requires a large antenna array. The Empire has a network of hyperspatial communications centers distribute throughout interstellar space. These communications centers allow spaceships to jump close and carry on two-way communications with people located in distant star systems. The spaceships can then quickly jump to another location, continuing their journey.
Intervention[]
There have been three known interventions into the development of modern humans on Earth. In all cases, the teleguide array was used to teleport interventionists to Earth.
Dreamtime Intervention. During the Dreamtime intervention, aliens performed genetic engineering on humans to produce telepathic humans. This was accomplished by altering genes that are expressed in the brain, particularly allowing for the production of Type C telastids in brain regions involved in human language understanding. By the end of the Dreamtime, about 20,000 years ago, all of the human telepaths and the alien interventionists had left Earth. Some gene combinations that promote unconscious telepathic communication remained in the human gene pool on Earth. The Dreamtime Intervention mainly used the Carstensz T-particle conduit.
Zenima Intervention. From about 10,000 to 5,000 years ago the Zenima conduit was used to transport telepathic humans to Earth where they made a significant impact on the development of ancient Egyptian culture. In a major violation of the Rules of Intervention, genetic transmission occurred and a reproductively viable population of Earth humans arose with the genes needed for Type C telastids. The Haldus Order began to perform artificial selection so as to promote the development of human telepathy.
This star map shows the relative positions in the galaxy of some star systems and planets, including Jemini.
The most recent know phase of intervention from Haldus started at the end of the Zenima visitations and was centered on America. Stricter controls on interbreeding between the telepathic interventionists and Earth humans were in effect for these more recent visits and there is no evidence of genetic transmission via the teleguide node in America. However, there was significant cultural contamination which continued until about 1,000 years ago.
Some evidence exists that use of the teleguide array on Earth continued until the Zenima node was destroyed. Use of the Zenima conduit for teleportation probably triggered the spaceship explosion that destroyed the Zenima node.
Invocator[]
The device that was installed on Leone's spaceship by order of Sybil. The invocator controls the hyperspatial jump when Leone leaves Sakkara in search of Kalid. The invocator generates a signal intended to identify Leone's spaceship to Kalid as a "friendly" ship.
Jemini[]
A world near the edge of the settled part of the galaxy (see map, above and to the right). This is the home of Ketar's spy, Norshe.
Mars[]
Mars
In the time of The Search for Kalid, Mars is the central administrative center for the Solar System. Ketar suggests to Set that he go to Mars and file a complain against Kalid alleging serious crimes. Set does this and the Martian Militia places Kalid under arrest. This draws Kalid out into the open and Aristark tries to kill Kalid. Set leaves Mars and goes to Earth with a head start on Kalid.
Kalid is eventually release from custody, but he cannot travel at high speed to Earth. He heads for Earth at a low acceleration and is accompanied by Felice.
Nanites[]
Nanites are nano-scale devices (see Nanorobotics). Some nanites are destructive (see Grey goo). In "The search for Kalid", a destructive form of nanites is referred to as "green goo" because it infects a habitable planet and covers the planet in a suffocating green nanite cloud. Nanites also can function as an automated repair system for spaceships or a "medical nanites" for repair of damaged tissues.
Parsa[]
The central cultural world of human space in the time of Kalid.
Planetary Counselor[]
Planetary Counselors on the planet Sakkara are high-ranking politicians who must be elected to office. For example, the Planetary Counselor for Transportation administers the planetary government's Department of Transportation.
Plato[]
Name invented by Leone to refer to the planet Flammis.
See Chapter 2 of The Search for Kalid.
Polastis III[]
The only other world besides Earth known to have a teleguide array. Polastis III is the first planet beyond Earth where humans find evidence of another species that evolved to attain human-like intelligence. Unfortunately, the Polastians became extinct millions of years before humans evolved.
Humans first reached Polastis III during teleportation experiments that transported humans from the transport grid of Haldus to the surface of Polastis III. Eventually, the Haldus Order established a research center on Polastis III, but then Polastis III was devastated by an explosion similar to the one the destroyed Egypt. This explosion allowed Master Olmo to realize that an active T-particle conduit, when too close to an antimatter reactor, can trigger the growth of black holes inside the reactor and a resulting explosion.
In the time of The Search for Kalid, there is still a research base for the Haldus Order on Polastis III, but it is mainly concerned with archeological studies of the Polastians. Most research aimed at recreating a functional teleguide array takes place on Earth.
Rugo[]
The minority faction of the under ground population of Azur. The Haldus Order's Temple on Azur is located in an under ground chamber within the Rugo area of control.
Planet Sakkara
Sakkara[]
The most important Earth-like world for research and development of new technologies. The home planet for Leone and Aristark. The star that Sakkara orbits is called Memphis.
Shackleton Base[]
The first permanent human base on the Moon. It was destroyed in 2212.
Silver Tulipan Order[]
Sybil is a member of this secretive organization on Sakkara. Women members enter into the Neofinetia Falcata Order. The Silver Tulipan Order is really a cover organization for the Haldus Order. In a similar way, the Lerontz Order is the Haldus Order cover organization on Jemini. In general, each planet has its own local Order that is only secretly affiliated with the Haldus Order.
Space elevator[]
Space elevator at Mars.
In "The search for Kalid", the technology needed for building space elevators on high gravity worlds has recently been discovered. Use of space elevators on worlds like Sakkara would end the monopoly of the Spaceship Guild for transport of passengers and cargo to and from the surface of inhabited worlds.
See: The Elevators for the space elevators of Sakkara.
Spaceship Guild[]
Soon after the discovery of hyperspatial drive technology, the Spaceship Guild was formed by the major manufacturers of hyperspatial ships. From that point in time, the Spaceship Guild remains as the dominant economic force in all the Galaxy.
When a spaceship explodes and destroys Earth, the Spaceship Guild fears that spaceships with antimatter-powered engines will be excluded from making close approaches to major centers of population. They infect Earth with a green nanite goo to hide the true cause of the destruction of Earth.
Members of the Haldus Order know the truth about Earth and they keep spreading the truth about what happened to Earth. This starts a war between the Spaceship Guild and the secretive Haldus Order. The Spaceship Guild destroys the Haldus Order base at Shackleton crater on the Moon. A group of rebels from the Haldus Order continues the war. The Spaceship Guild discovers the secret Haldus Order colony on Flammis and destroys it.
Just before the start of The Search for Kalid, the space elevators on Sakkara are nearing completion. The Spaceship Guild does not want to compete against space elevators on the major world of the galaxy. The Spaceship Guild orders some of its agents to destroy the elevators.
Swanzig radius[]
Large masses disrupt hyperspatial travel. The Swanzig radius is the safe distance from a star or planet beyond which hyperspatial jumps can be initiated. Initiating a jump within the Swanzig radius can result in loss of the spaceship, usually by rematerializing inside a solid object such as a star.
Telastid[]
Telastids are central to the biological mechanism of telepathy in humans. Telastids are a type of organelle that is structurally similar to mitochondria. They originated by endosymbiosis. The original free-living precursor organism obtained energy by converting Band II solar T-particles to Band I T-particles. These organisms had Antenna/Reaction Complex 1, but became extinct when molecular oxygen levels became high on Earth. A T-particle Antenna/Reaction Complex has a precise and unusual molecular configuration which can catalyze changes in T-particle energy level. Three types of telastids are found inside modern humans:
Type A. They retain a rudimentary capacity to detect solar radiation, but they have been evolutionarily modified to specialize for using chemical energy to facilitate the boosting of Band II solar T-particles to the Band III energy level (see the diagram, above and to the right). This conversion of Band II T-particles to Band III T-particles is used to allow unconscious exchanges of T-particles between humans for creating social cohesion and allowing for assessment of fitness. This capacity for Band III T-particle production evolved in parallel with Type B telastids. The capacity for solar radiation detection depends on a rudimentary form of twitino resonance by which solar twitinos modulate the rate of Band III T-particle production. Most of the Band III T-particles produced are on the edge of the band and they quickly fall back to the Band II energy band with the release of a pair of twitinos. During the "Dream Time Intervention", neurons in Broca's area were made to express these telastids so that telepaths could transmit twitinos carrying language-like information.
Type B. These have Antenna/Reaction Complex 2 (A/RC2, see diagram to the right -->) which is specialized for interacting with Band III T-particles. They allow social mammals to detect Band III T-particles produced by other animals. These telastids are only expressed in neurons that cannot directly contribute to conscious brain activity. In humans, telepathic signals received by Type B telastid are used unconsciously to promote social cohesion and allow assessment of fitness.
Type C. These were created by genetic engineering, starting from Type A telastids. This genetic engineering was achieved by unknown visitors during the "Dream Time Intervention" which ended about 20,000 years ago. These telastids were designed to be expressed in Wernicke's area and allow for conscious telepathic communication of language-like information. Humans with telepathy were produced and taken off of Earth. Type C telastids were designed to specialize to use twitino resonance for the production of Band III T-particles. As shown in the diagram (to the right) the required twitino resonance involves matched patterns of twitino production by two telepathic brains.
In the time of The Search for Kalid, there are two important kinds of telastid mutations:
Loss of function mutants. There is an important class of loss of function mutations that prevents Type A telastids from using chemical energy to generate Band III T-particles. In some cases, the mutation only prevents Typa A telastids from being expressed by neurons in Broca's area. People who have these mutations are "pure telepathic sensitives" with no ability to consciously transmit language-like telepathic signals.
Gain of function mutants. Some humans have mutations that allow their Type C telastids to produce Band III T-particles by means of twitino resonance between solar twitinos and twitinos that they generate with their Type A telastids. Almost always these mutants have lost the ability to control where their Type C telastids are expressed, so most of their T-particle production does not reflect their conscious brain activity. Such mutants can often produce large numbers of T-particles, as is the case for people such as Amethys and Salvaje. These mutants played an important role in the history of telepathy on Earth. For thousands of years, the Haldus Order performed artificial selection and selected for people with high levels of T-particle production. These high levels of unconscious T-particle production disrupt the ability of telepathic minds to efficiently communicate language-like information. At the start of the space age, these mutants were all sent to the Moon. That allowed true telepaths on the Earth to begin to develop their telapathic skills.
Teleguide array[]
The four T-particle conduits of the teleguide array on Earth.
The four T-particle conduits on Earth once formed a complete and functioning teleguide array. When all four nodes of the array were functional it was possible for people to teleport from the transport grid in the Haldus star system to Earth. This is how telepathic humans reached Egypt during the Egyptian Intervention. One of the four conduits was destroyed when the Egyptian blast crater was formed. During the time of The Search for Kalid, the Halid Order is trying to repair the teleguide array by constructing a new conduit.
Telepathy[]
In the time of The Search for Kalid, most people have no evidence that telepathy is possible, however, members of the Haldus Order know that telepatic communication is possible and they perform research on telepathy.
Telepathy is made possible by T-particles.
Animals on Earth originally had a simple capacity to detect T-particles coming from the Sun. The basic sensory receptor (a modified neuron) contained telastids, a type of organelle that is able to convert Band II solar T-particles to Band I T-particles and capture the released energy as useful chemical energy that can modulate neuronal activity. This original sensitivity for T-particles allowed animals to sense the location of the Sun and make use of that sensation for orientation in their environment. In more complex brains, T-particle receptor cells were linked into complex neural networks that allowed processing of telepathic signals from other brains, signals that were useful for social cohesion, but almost exclusively among highly social apex predators.
An interesting feature of telepathic communication is that it is usually not very restricted by distance. T-particles can move between two locations (for example, the sun and a brain) by conventional propagation through normal space, and have been shown to be a normal component of the ultrafast solar wind, moving much slower than the speed of light. However, T-particles (and virtual T-particles) can also interact by exchanging ultrarelativistic twitinos that can propagate through compact dimensions, allowing very rapid transfers of information over long distances. Language-like telepathic information transfer depends on twitino resonance between arrays of T-particles in two telepathically coupled brains (see Type C telastids).
About 5,000 years ago a rare phenotype in humans allowing some capacity for conscious awareness of telepathy was first subjected to positive selection. Careful construction of a dual-star comparator observatory led to identification of Haldus as a variable star that corresponds to the "second eye" of the sky, the second most powerful astronomical source of natural twitino resonance. This astronomical breakthrough led to a selective breeding program for telepaths in Egypt, organized by a group of humans who could consciously sense the position of the sun and the "second eye" of the sky. By twitino triangulation (initially carried out only in the observatory/temples), these early telepaths could identify specific humans who were better telepaths and place them into telepathy training and breeding programs. This was the origin of the Haldus Order.
By the time of The Search for Kalid, the Haldus Order has spent a long time performing artificial genetic selection for telepathic ability and developing training methods that allow amplification of the innate telepathic abilities of humans. In the Space Age, it was discovered by members of the Haldus Order that there is an alien artifact at Haldus A that transmits a twitino signal of great complexity, accounting for the fact that Haldus is the second strongest source of twitinos on Earth. Intensive study of the alien artifact by scientists of the Haldus Order eventually led to development of technology for amplification of telepathic communication. The combination of telepathy-amplifying technologies and the Haldus Order telepathy training methods allows agents of the Order to perform impressive feats such as identifying the perpetrators of the Sakkaran space elevators disaster.
Set is an unusual case in that he is able to develop his telepathic abilities without participation in the Haldus Order training program. His skills were actually developed through long-term interactions with other telepaths, in particular Katherine. Using his telepathic signal reception ability, he discovers that the Haldus Order telepaths exist and Set comes to believe that they sometimes promote the interests of the Spaceship Guild. This leads Set to view the Haldus Order telepaths as his enemies. Eventually Set realizes that the Haldus Order has telepathy-amplifying technology which he could use to get revenge on the Spaceship Guild (agents of the Guild destroyed the elevators). Similarly, Ketar comes to recognize the existence of telepaths and the idea that Haldus Order technology could aid his plans for returning Azur to its former glory.
Some human brains produce unusually large amounts of T-particles. Good telepathic communication actually depends on twitino production and twitino resonance, so high T-particle levels do not really indicate a good telepath. Some humans only detect telepathic signals and they lack the ability to transmit language-like telepathic signals (such people are often called "pure telepathic sensitives" and they can be the most sensitive because their neurons all adapt for reception of telepathic signals rather than a mix of reception and transmission). Telepathic emissions can either correspond to conscious or unconscious brain activity. Many people with significant telepathic output cannot achieve conscious telepathic communication. See telastid for details.
Aura[]
Telastid expression is not limited to neurons. Some telepathic sensitives can "see" T-particle production coming from the entire body. Such telepathic sensitives use their visual cortex to allow them to "see" colors that represent patterns of telastid activity in the cells of bodies.
Thot spaceship[]
A Thot spaceship is the most modern type of interstellar spacecraft. Thot spaceships have a sophisticated artificial intelligence-based control system that can integrate with human brains to allow easy control of the ship.
T-particle[]
T-particles are the basis of telepathy. T-particles are a form of nonhadronic dark matter that has very limited interaction with atomic matter by way of gravitation and dark energy but which can also exist as "virtual T particles" in association with the high energy interaction of down quarks in conventional matter, particularly neutrons. T-particles can move between two locations (for example, the Sun and a brain) by conventional propagation through normal space, and have been shown to be a normal component of the ultrafast solar wind, moving much slower than the speed of light. However, T-particles (and virtual T-particles) can also interact by absorbing and releasing ultrarelativistic twitinos that can propagate through compact dimensions, allowing very rapid transfers of information over long distances. Such telepathic information transfer depends on twitino resonance between arrays of T-particles in two telepathically coupled brains (see telastid).
T-particles can exist in different energy states. Large numbers of both Band I and Band II solar T-particles reach the Earth. Band III solar T-particles almost all decay to lower energy states before they reach the Earth. This makes Band III particularly useful for human telepathy. The Antenna/Reaction Center 2 of Type B telastids specifically detects Band III T-particles.
Transport grid[]
A device in the Haldus star system that can transmit T-particles to the Teleguide arrays on Earth and Polastis III. This allows for teleportation of objects (such as people) from the Haldus star system to Earth.
The Elevators[]
In 89 ANE tessellanium quarpounds with high specific strength were discovered, making it practical to build space elevators on Sakkara. The Futurist Party funded construction of two elevators for Sakkara. The Elevators were nearly completed on Sakkara but then a terrorist attack destroyed them. The Elevators would have functioned as space elevators and ended the Spaceship Guild's monopoly on transport of passengers and cargo to and from the surface of Sakkara.
Tessellanium quarpounds are high specific strength materials made from strange quark-containing synthetic matter that includes up, down and strange quarks in their nuclei and resoleptons replacing electrons. The original tessellanium compounds, such as carbon nanotubes, were all composed of ordinary matter and their tensile strength depends on covalent bonds. Tessellanium quarpounds have strange matter atoms with small bond lengths that allow a significant amount of strong force interaction between adjacent atoms.
Towering Justice[]
A radical splinter group of the Futurist Party formed after the destruction of The Elevators and dedicated to revenge against those responsible for destroying the space elevators of Sakkara. Linked by the Sakkaran Department of Justice to Set.
Twitino[]
When high energy T-particles convert to lower energy T-particle states there is release of two paired twitinos. Similarly, pairs of twitinos that "resonate" can combine with a low energy T-particle and boost it to a higher energy state. Type C telastids use twitino resonance to allow for conscious telepathic communication of language-like information.
Illustrations needed!
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