The Incompleat Known Space Concordance

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"Long Shot at the Core", copyright © 2008
by Aerospace Imagineering & Aldo Spadoni

galactic core— The center of our Milky Way galaxy. [Spoiler alert: "At the Core"] In 2645 Beowulf Shaeffer piloted a survey mission to the core in the Long Shot. The core was "a clear ball of multicolored light" five or six thousand light years across, with the stars so densely packed the light was more like day than night. He discovered a supernovae chain reaction had been set off, creating a radiation hazard so great he was unable to approach closer than four thousand light years from the core's edge. See core explosion. ["At the Core", "Flatlander"]

Garvey— Human male Flatlander, an executive of Garvey Limited. [Spoiler alert: "The Handicapped"] Circa 2646 he made first contact with Grogs on Down (see "The Handicapped"). ["The Handicapped"]

Garvey Limited— An Earth company which circa 2646 manufactured Dolphin's Hands, Bandersnatch's Hands and other aids for "handicapped" alien species. ["The Handicapped"]

Gee-Prime & Gee-Squared— Nicknames for two Human males of the family which circa 2646 owned Garvey Limited. ["The Handicapped"]

General Products— The name of the Puppeteers' most important company in Human Space, the exclusive manufacturer of General Products hulls for spacecraft. [Spoiler alert: "At the Core"] The company was closed down in 2645, when the Puppeteer migration began, precipitating a major stock market crash in Human Space. ["Neutron Star", "At the Core"]

General Products hulls, by Larry Todd
Copyright © 1985 by Chaosium

General Products hull— Nearly indestructible spacecraft hulls, made exclusively by a Puppeteer company using secret technology. A GP hull is a single artificial molecule containing a small power plant which strengthens its molecular bonds [1]. It is very nearly impossible to damage one, and they are absolutely inflexible. A GP hull can withstand virtually any impact, as well as heat into the hundreds of thousands of degrees. The only things which can penetrate the hull are gravity and certain wavelengths of light; those wavelengths which Puppeteers' customers see as visible light. GP hulls are manufactured with openings for airlocks, engine nozzles, conduits etc. as specified by the customer. Hulls are delivered totally transparent; the inside is painted where transparency isn't wanted. General Products generally makes only the hulls, which other companies use to build complete spaceships [2]. In 2641, 95 percent of all Human-built spacecraft used GP hulls. After General Products closed in 2645, no more GP hulls were sold. The secret of their manufacture was offered for one trillion stars, but there were no takers. [Spoiler alert: "Flatlander"] The only documented failure of a GP hull, that of the Slower Than Infinity in 2645 (after the company had closed), was due to exposure to antimatter ["Neutron Star", "At the Core", "Flatlander"]

No. 1 GP hull: A sphere the size of a basketball [3].

No. 2 GP hull: A cylinder 300 feet long and 20 feet in diameter, pointed at both ends and with a slight wasp-waist constriction near the tail [4]. Spaceships using this hull included the Lying Bastard, Skydiver, and Slower Than Infinity. ["Neutron Star", "Flatlander", Ringworld]

No. 3 GP hull: A cylinder 110 feet in diameter, with a flattened belly and rounded ends. [5] An unconfirmed source puts the length at "nearly 150 meters" (about 480-490 feet) [6]. [Ringworld Engineers, Ringworld's Children]

No. 4 GP hull: Said to be the largest hull manufactured in Known Space, a globe whose size has been reported at "over a thousand feet in diameter" [7] but also "a mile wide" [8]. Generally speaking they are only used for colony projects, but the Long Shot used a No. 4 hull. ["At the Core", Ringworld, Ringworld's Children]

Golden Age— In the Sol system after about 2125, various improvements in living conditions gradually brought about an era of peace and prosperity. Breakthroughs in regeneration and alloplasty greatly eased the organ bank problem [9]. Eventually ubiquitous psychistry treatments and effective anti-psychotic drug treatments made violence between people over the age of 14 quite rare. Disease and mental illness were conquered. By 2355, attempts to change human nature and end violence even restricted most Humans living in Sol system from knowing the truth about humanity's violent past. Only one in 12 qualified for History of Earth courses, and even those did not reveal the whole truth. According to Sue Bhang, psychistry was one of three major factors bringing about the Golden Age; the other two were increased food production and birth control with forced contraceptive shots. Probably nearly all these advancements and changes were brought about by the subtle interventions of Brennan-monster. [Spoiler alert: "The Warriors"] The Golden Age of peace was ended in 2383 by the first Kzinti invasion of Sol System in the First Man-Kzin War. ["The Warriors", "The Ethics of Madness", "Madness Has its Place"]

Editorial Note: Continuity

Golden Voyage— A passenger starship at Gummidgy in 2647. ["Grendel"]

GP hull— See General Products hull

gravity drag— Converts a spaceship's momentum relative to the nearest powerful mass into heat. The Slower Than Infinity carried this system in 2645. In 2647 it was apparently standard equipment, and was used by the Argos. A spaceport indicator could detect landings via gravity drag. ["Flatlander", "Grendel"]

gravity generator— see artificial gravity

gravity planer— another name for the gravity polarizer. ["The Warriors"]

gravity polarizer— The Kzinti Empire used this device for starship propulsion. It allows selective control of how external gravity effects the ship. Acceleration as high as 200 gees is possible. Its effect is inertialess (no "push" is felt using this propulsion). It made a noise like continually ripping cloth. This device led to the Human invention of artificial gravity. The Kzinti were still using it as late as 2657. ["The Warriors", "Madness Has Its Place", "The Soft Weapon"]

Gray Lensman show— A "holo wall" space opera show, based on E.E. "Doc" Smith's classic Lensman space opera series, published 1939-1950. In 2126, Pauline Earthiel and Officer-One Valpredo remembered watching the show when they were children. The fictional properties of inertialessness as depicted on the show were somewhat different from those of the real inertial reduction device invented by Raymond Sinclair. ["ARM"]

Editorial Note: Literary

Greg— "Little Greg" was apparently the grandson of Greg Loeffler, the son of Marcia and her husband Tom. ["The Ethics of Madness"]

"Grog" by Bonnie Dalzell
Copyright © 1975

Grogs— [Spoiler alert: "The Handicapped"] Aliens living on Down with powerful telepathic mind-control ability. The species was thought to be just an animal until they initiated first contact with a Human, Garvey, circa 2646. ["The Handicapped", "Grendel"]

Sex and reproduction: The adult female form is sentient, the males and juveniles are non-sentient. The female becomes sessile (unmoving) when she reaches adulthood.

Physiology: The female adult form is a five-foot hairy cone, four feet across at the bottom, with a bald, rounded top, and long fur the color of sand. She has a very wide, lipless mouth, and no eyes. Her hands have four slim fingers, like spreading toes on chicken feet. Her feet are dog-like; hands and feet are naked and pink. The juvenile form vaguely resembles a hairy bulldog, with no nose. Its mouth is a flat lipless slit hiding two serrated horseshoe-shaped cutting surfaces. The non-sentient male resembles the juvenile form, but is the size of a Chihuahua. A Grog claimed ultraviolet light would kill them; Down orbits a red sun.

Behavior and Psionics: Grogs are desert dwellers. The non-sentient males and juveniles are controlled by the females, otherwise living as wild animals. Planned parenthood is easy for Grogs, who claim they want no increase in their territory. When she reaches adulthood, a female settles down on a rock. She has perfect telepathic ability and a powerful mind control ability similar to Thrintun Power. She has no need of eyes or other sensory organs, as she can experience life through the senses of animals she controls. She can implant information in the mind of a Human, which appears as a "crystalline certainty". Her ability to control animals is total; she can cause them to run and jump into her mouth to be eaten. Her ability to control Humans and other sentient beings close to her seems similarly unlimited, although she probably would be unable to control Bandersnatchi. Grogs claim there is a range limit to their Power, and that even all working together they cannot reach more than halfway around Down. But there seems no way to know if their Power has more range than they admit to.

Evolution: It has been speculated Grogs are an atrophied form of Thrintun, although this has been mis-characterized as "devolved". However, in the Thrintun it is the males who are sentient, the females non-sentient. The Grogs claim to know nothing of any existence prior to living on Down.

Interspecies relations: Quite naturally, many find the Grogs' Power to be terrifying. Grogs seem equally terrified others will exterminate them because of this fear. After first contact circa 2646, Garvey Limited formed an exclusive contract with the Grogs to provide them with supplies and services. The company fought fear of Grogs with a public relations campaign to convince people they are harmless. Grogs began herding livestock on Down. One instance of them taking passage on a starship, in 2647, was documented. However, although Wunderland changed its laws to allow Grogs to testify in court as expert lie-detectors, there is no documentation of them ever having been employed off Down.

See also Jumpin' Jeepers.

Editorial Note: Literary

Lincoln Futura groundcar

groundcar— A car unable to fly, such as an archaic twentieth century automobile. See also freeways. ["At the Core", "Flatlander"]

Gummidgy— A Human colony world, orbiting bright CY Aquarii at a wide distance. It is very Earth-like, with an 18-hour day and one diminutive moon. Circle sea is its biggest ocean. Its ecosystem includes velt of blue-green, knee-high ferns, and forest of bright alien colors. In 2647 it was very sparsely settled; its population including visitors was half a million. A weather dome protected the settlement from the sun's fierce ultraviolet radiation. Colonists venturing outside tanned themselves black and wore goggles. Most Humans there ate only two meals during the short day, brunch and dinner. ["Grendel"]

Gummidgy flower-thing— A ground-dwelling lifeform native to Gummidgy, probably a sessile (non-moving) animal like the Gummidgy orchid-thing. In 2647 one left tooth marks on the boot of Warren, a hunter. ["Grendel"]

Gummidgy orchid-thing— A sessile (non-moving) animal native to Gummidgy. They attach themselves to magenta tree branches and wait for food to fly by. Garvey possessed one circa 2646. ["The Handicapped", "Grendel"]

gyros— Large gyroscopes mounted in a spacecraft and used to orient or turn it. ["Neutron Star", "Grendel"]