Glossary

Characters

Humans

Charlie: Human woman trapped on an alien spaceship.

Derek: Charlie’s oldest son. Nine years old at the time of her abduction.

Kate: Charlie’s sister.

Keith: Charlie’s younger son. Six years old at the time of her abduction.

Lewis: Charlie’s husband. Deceased.

Aljik

Captain Nemo/The Faceless Captain/Faceless Princess: Aljik Princess. Captain of the Stardancer.

Anta: Former Queen of the Out-Western Aljik Empire (deceased). Great-grandmother of the current Queen Tatik and the Faceless Princess.

Etk: Captain of the Lightbeam, who serves under Queen Tatik.

Gekt: One of the Faceless Princess’ tahl.

Kakrt: Deceased engineer of the Stardancer that Charlie was abducted to replace.

Kit: Dohl of the Faceless Princess. Glath’s Template.

Lif: One of the Faceless Princess’ tahl.

Lln: Atil. Quiet and demure.

Nil: Atil. Straightforward and tactless.

Tatik: Captain Nemo’s sister. Current queen of the Out-Western Aljik Empire.

Tyzyth: Engineer on the Stardancer. Charlie’s partner.

Drakes

Kerlin: Computer tech

Sulon: Good at sewing and tapestry work.

Taksin: Yarrow’s friend.

Yarrow: Water filtration expert.

Other

Glath: Ambassador colony of spiders. Real name: Facsimile Of A Perfect Ceramic Bowl With A Fine White Rim

Species

Humans: You know what these are

Jupiterians: Beings that live within the gas giant Jupiter. They have a particular fascination with humanity and have abducted humans in the past. They create cross-species communication via invasive brain surgery on alien captives.

Ambassador colonies: colonies of small, flying, spider-like aliens. Each colony acts as an individual. Ambassadors are driven to seek out other beings or things in the universe and imitate them as closely as possible, gaining understanding through imitation. They have very little culture of their own and adopt the perspective and culture of whatever they choose to imitate.

Drakes: Large lizard-like aliens with wings and four venomous tails.

Aljik: Bug-like aliens with a biological caste structure. The aljik castes met so far are:

  • Queen: Ruler and coordinator of an aljik nest. Female. Queens who are too young or who have otherwise not conquered/established a hive of their own are called Princesses.
  • Dohl: Act as attendants and mates to the queen. Male. As well as attending to the queen directly, dohl act as managers and coordinators under her for tasks that require high-level decisions but that she cannot attend to personally.
  • Kel: Engineers. Male. Kel look almost identical to dohl but are infertile. They handle complex mechanical tasks and maintenance tasks that are considered too complex for atil.
  • Tahl: Warriors. Female. Tahl are the primary warrior caste and are significantly larger than all other aljik except queens. They are extremely strong.
  • Atil: Maintenance. Female. Atil are the smallest and weakest aljik caste. They are naturally docile and not particularly intelligent. Atil tend to everyday maintenance and building of a nest and do whatever simple tasks or messenger duties are asked of them.
  • Shyr: Warriors. Female. Shyr are small, quick and stealthy. They employ poisons and occasionally act as spies between aljik nests.

Kohrir: Ancient dread behemoths.

Ketestri: Giant space jellifish. Capable of excreting and weaving silks that can be used to fashion space suits.

Locations

Stardancer: Charlie’s spaceship