Anne-Marie Papandreou Copyright © 1997 by The Icon Factory

Papandreou, Anne-Marie— Human female Wunderlander, a brunette of the tall, slender build typical of her planet. She got along well with aliens. In 2657 she was married to Jason Papandreou, and his partner in running the Court Jester. [Spoiler alert: "The Soft Weapon"] That year she, her husband, and Nessus had a violent encounter on Cue Ball with the Kzinti crew of the Traitor's Claw. See "The Soft Weapon" (story summary). ["The Soft Weapon"]

Jason Papandreou Copyright © 1997 by The Icon Factory

Papandreou, Jason— Human male Flatlander, once a ship's gunner in the Fourth Man-Kzin War (ended 2505). Jay was captain-owner of the Court Jester, with "a girl in every port" until he met Anne-Marie. In 2657 they were partners and had been married over a year. [Spoiler alert: "The Soft Weapon"] That year he, his wife, and Nessus had a violent encounter on Cue Ball with the Kzinti crew of the Traitor's Claw. See "The Soft Weapon" (story summary)". ["The Soft Weapon"]

pedwalk— A moving sidewalk, in use on Earth before 2360 and Down by circa 2646. ["The Ethics of Madness", "Flatlander", "The Handicapped"]

Gregory Pelton, aka "Elephant" Copyright © 1997 by The Icon Factory

Pelton, Gregory— Human male Flatlander. A broad, massive man, with a short black beard, who moved like a juggernaut. "Elephant" to his friends, his great-to-the-eighth grandmother developed the transfer booth. He was enormously wealthy, had an imposing presence, and was somewhat xenophobic. He lived in a mansion halfway up a very steep Rocky Mountain. [Spoiler alert: "Flatlander"] In 2645 he and Beowulf Shaeffer surveyed the antimatter planet in his starship, the Slower Than Infinity, and experienced the only failure of a General Products hull known in Human Space. See "Flatlander" (story summary). ["Flatlander"]

Editorial Note: Fandom

Pennsylvania Turnpike— see freeways

pickpocket— On the overcrowded Earth of 2645, there was no law against picking pockets. Beowulf Shaeffer met his true love, Sharrol Janss, when she stole his wallet. ["Flatlander"]

Pierin— An intelligent species of Known Space. At one time the Pierin were a slave race of the Kzinti Empire, but were freed during the Man-Kzin Wars. No other authoritative information is available. An unconfirmed source claims the Pierin are nosy, over-friendly avians from a light-gravity world who resemble great horned birds at a distance, at closer view seem like occult idols brought to life, and whose speech of raspy screeches and atonal clicks makes them difficult to understand [1].

Pierson— The name of the first Human to see a Puppeteer, circa 2500. See Time for Beany. ["The Soft Weapon"]

Pierson's Puppeteer— see Puppeteers

Louis Wu's ship on an unnamed planet art by J. Jones copyright © 1968 by Galaxy Publishing Corp.

planet, unnamed— [Spoiler alert: "There Is a Tide"] Louis Wu made first contact with the Trinocs in 2830 at an unnamed planet orbiting a G3 star, nearly 40 light-years from Earth, then beyond the edge of Known Space. It is a bit smaller and a bit colder than Earth, and somewhat the same color. Orbiting the planet is a neutronium "moon". ["There Is a Tide"]

plastiskin— In 2353 a complex autodoc could produce this material. ["The Ethics of Madness"]

Plateau— A Human colony world, Tau Ceti's innermost planet, a Venus-like world with a massive atmosphere. Its only habitable area, half the size of California, is a plateau atop the 40-mile-high Mt. Lookitthat. Rivers run down from snow-covered peaks at the center of Plateau, running off the edge into the endless mist below. Colonized prior to 2100, Plateau is one of three or four Human colonies mistakenly settled following erroneous ramrobot signals; see slowboat. ["The Ethics of Madness"]

Pluto— At one time considered a major "planet" of Sol System, by 2651 it was classed as a loose moon of Neptune. ["The Borderland of Sol"]

police stunner— see sonic stunner

police web— A force field projector which holds its victims helplessly immobile, using the same technology as a crash field. It can be controlled to free just part of a victim's body, such as his head or one limb. It may be a portable unit (a flexible wire grid) or built into a spaceship. The Kzinti of the Traitor's Claw used police webs in 2657 to hold prisoners. ["The Soft Weapon"]

Power— The Thrintun's powerful telepathic mind-control ability. Their Power could control sentient minds so completely that mental slaves would commit suicide on command and follow orders leading to their death without protest. A Thrint could even use the Power to directly affect a slave's body, stopping its heart if so desired. Thrintun were able to control all minds within range of their Power, and that range extended for miles. Grogs appear to have a similar Power. That species can also implant information in a subject's mind, which the subject will then "know" with "crystalline certainty". Although it is possible for a subject to doubt such implanted information, he must keep remembering to do so, otherwise the doubt disappears and the "knowledge" remains. ["The Handicapped"]

Pregnant Banana— In 2647, a computer-controlled cargo starship at Gummidgy. It traveled at 10 gee with no internal gravity compensators. ["Grendel"]

Editorial Note: Continuity

pressure curtain— A force field which keeps air from escaping, used on spaceships in 2657 to allow the airlock to be safely left open. They were not used on warships because of the danger of power failure. ["The Soft Weapon"]

pressure suit, Puppeteer— see Puppeteer spacesuit

Preston, Hermie— One of the gang of pirates led by "Captain Kidd" circa 2644. ["A Relic of the Empire"]

Procyon A— An F5 star 11.3 light years from Sol System, the sun of the Human colony We Made It. ["The Ethics of Madness", "Neutron Star"]

propulsion systems— see space propulsion

Detail of Phssthpok, a protector art by H.R. Van Dongen copyright © 1981 by Del Rey Books

protector— [Spoiler alert: Protector] A hominid mutated by tree-of-life virus, resulting in a superhuman in both intelligence and physical abilities. On the Pak homeworld, this is considered one of the three normal stages of life: child, breeder, protector. [Protector, Ringworld Engineers]

Metamorphosis: When it reaches the right age, about 34-35 Pak years, the smell of tree-of-life roots suddenly becomes irresistible to a breeder. After gorging itself, the breeder becomes comatose for a time, during which physical and mental changes occur. The skin becomes thick, tough and leathery; joints enlarge, giving greater leverage for muscles; the braincase enlarges, as do the brain's frontal lobes; sexual and reproductive organs completely disappear, replaced by a second small heart in the lower abdomen; all hair is lost; lips and teeth disappear, replaced by a hard beak.

Physiology: After the change, Protectors have strength, stamina, reaction time, and resistance to shock improved to superhuman levels. They do not age; lifespan is indefinite. They must periodically eat tree-of-life roots, or die.

Psychology: A protector is strongly driven by a powerful instinct to protect its offspring, and to increase their numbers. A protector needs to smell its offspring at least occasionally to maintain its sense of purpose. One who has lost all its offspring will even lose the desire to eat, and thus dies. Rarely, a childless protector can find a way to sublimate its protective instincts to include everyone's offspring; these few work for the good of the species as a whole. Protectors are said to be so intelligent that they can see the single best action to take, the single best solution to any problem, and that as a result they have little free will. However, the intelligence of a protector is dependent upon the intelligence of the breeder it developed from; a more intelligent species of hominid will produce more intelligent protectors. Although it has powerful and even overriding instincts, a protector has no sex drive, and its thought processes are little affected by "base" emotions such as fear or anger.

Behavior: A protector's drive to protect its offspring, and increase their numbers, is so strong that it is rarely willing to cooperate with others; any competitor or potential competitor is viewed as an enemy, and is dealt with quickly and ruthlessly. This has led to continual, endless warfare on the Pak homeworld, as protectors fight for space for their offspring to live and breed. Protectors are capable of working tirelessly for extended periods, and of monomaniacal concentration on a single task for very long periods of time; years or decades, or even centuries if the goal is sufficiently important.

psychist— A practitioner of psychistry. ["The Warriors"]

psychistry— An advanced form of psychiatric science. With the aid of effective anti-psychotic drugs, by 2310 it had ended nearly all mental illness in Sol System, and helped bring about a Golden Age there. ["The Ethics of Madness", "The Warriors"]

psychotherapy— Psychotherapy was used to treat criminals on Plateau in 2379. In 2386 it was said to be a lost art on Earth, presumably replaced by effective anti-psychotic drugs and psychistry. ["The Ethics of Madness"]

Public Rentals— On Gummidgy, Emil Horne rented a car there in 2647. ["Grendel"]

Puppet Master Copyright © 1998 by The Icon Factory

Puppet Master— The name of the starship commanded by "Captain Kidd" in 2644. It was made from an old, slowboat-era orbital shuttle retrofitted with a hyperdrive. ["A Relic of the Empire"]

Editorial Note: Literary

Puppeteer (individual)— The following individual Puppeteers are mentioned:

(a) The regional president of General Products on We Made It. ["Neutron Star"]

(b) The regional president of General Products on Jinx. ["At the Core"]

(c) Nessus

Puppeteer homeworld— The location of the Puppeteers' homeworld was a great mystery in Human Space until 2850. Beowulf Shaeffer believed he had deduced it had no moon, and in 2641 blackmailed the Puppeteers with the knowledge. [Spoiler alert: "A Relic of the Empire"] "Captain Kidd" actually discovered the world by accident in 2644. Later that year, as he was dying, he revealed its location to Dr. Richard Schultz-Mann. [Spoiler alert: "The Color of Sunfire"] Dr. Mann found it in 2645, very shortly before the Puppeteer migration began. [Spoiler alert: Ringworld] Information on the Puppeteer homeworld was finally revealed after the First Ringworld Expedition visited it in 2850; see Fleet of Worlds. ["Neutron Star", "A Relic of the Empire", "The Color of Sunfire", "Flatlander", "The Soft Weapon", Ringworld]

Puppeteer migration— [Spoiler alert: "At the Core", "The Color of Sunfire"] In 2645 the discovery of the core explosion prompted the Puppeteers to begin a migration out of the galaxy. They closed their businesses, including General Products, which precipitated a huge stock market crash in Human space. They paid off penalty clauses for broken contracts, and left only a small number of their species behind in Known Space to act as agents for remaining Puppeteer concerns. They were highly secretive about the location of the Puppeteer homeworld, as well as the form this migration took. [Spoiler alert: Ringworld] Then in 2850 the First Ringworld Expedition visited the Fleet of Worlds and found the Puppeteers moving at sub-light speed towards galactic north, out of the plane of the galaxy. Their destination was said to be the Lesser Cloud of Magellan, a small satellite galaxy of the Milky Way, which it was estimated they would reach in about 85,000 years. ["At the Core", "The Soft Weapon", Ringworld]

Puppeteer spacesuit— Nessus' spacesuit in 2657 was a three-legged balloon with padded mittens for the mouth, small clawed boots, and a hard, padded shield covering the cranial hump. It acted as impact armor [2]. Its insulation was so efficient he could not be located with infrared sensors. The suit could keep him alive for several years. ["The Soft Weapon"]

"Puppeteer" by Bonnie Dalzell Copyright © 1975

Puppeteers— (or Pierson's puppeteers) A highly intelligent, cowardly and manipulative interstellar species possessing advanced technology, perhaps the most influential species of Known Space. ["Neutron Star", "A Relic of the Empire", "At the Core", "Flatlander", "The Soft Weapon", "The Color of Sunfire", Ringworld]

Physiology: "Imagine a headless, three-legged centaur wearing two Cecil the Seasick Sea Serpent heads on its arms..." [3]. Puppeteers are warm-blooded, mammalian vertebrates. One adult female, of apparently average size, weighed 240 pounds [4]. A Puppeteer has two flexible, slender necks; the two heads are flat and brainless, with one eye; its brain is in a hump on the body between its necks. A coarse-haired mane covers the hump and runs back along its spine. Elsewhere its skin is white with random tan markings, and glove-soft. The mouths with their wide, flexible, knobby lips are used as hands of outstanding dexterity; its tongues are forked and pointed. It is capable of simultaneously inhaling with one throat and exhaling with the other [5]. Its legs are slim, the forelegs are set wide apart so the puppeteer's small, clawed hooves form an almost equilateral triangle; its larger rear leg has a complex hip joint. Puppeteers are strictly vegetarian. The voice of a Puppeteer trained to interact with Humans, when speaking Interworld, is described as a beautiful contralto, which human males find sexy and very attractive; its scream as an "exploding steam calliope."

Sex and Reproduction: Although it is not common knowledge among other species, Puppeteers reproduce by depositing sperm and eggs in the body of a host animal, inside which the puppeteer young grows in a parasitic fashion. Apparently the young eventually eats its way out and kills this host, like a digger wasp larva [6]. Confusingly, Puppeteers say they have two male genders and refer to the host animal as the "female". However this is a cultural bias, and does not reflect their actual biology [7].

Behavior/Psychology: Although never stated directly, it seems Puppeteers are on average more intelligent than Humans. They are herd animals and are most comfortable when surrounded by members of their own species. Failing that, they may use images and smells of other puppeteers help relieve their loneliness. Puppeteers willing to associate with other species are gregarious even among aliens. Their race views cowardice as a virtue; their term for leaders translates as "those-who-lead-from-behind". They hate pain, and take great care to avoid danger; for instance, no sane Puppeteer would risk crossing a vehicular roadway or use any but the safest method of travel. Nor would they resist even an unarmed thief. However, Puppeteers do not ignore danger or unpleasant truths, nor flinch from facing them; wishful thinking is not a Puppeteer trait. They do not exhibit curiosity or value knowledge for its own sake. A Puppeteer's instinctive habit of turning its back to danger puts it in a position to attack if threatened; its heads spread out for wide binocular vision to accurately target a very powerful kick with the large hind leg. Nessus claimed Puppeteers do not express humor, as that is associated with an interrupted defense mechanism and "no sane being interrupts a defense mechanism." However, Puppeteers are occasionally seen turning their heads inward to stare into their own eyes in what may be an amused or bemused reaction. They are trained in childhood for a conditioned reflex, the "explosion reflex". When a Puppeteer senses an explosion, it curls itself into a ball, folding its legs underneath and tucking its head tightly between its forelegs. It also typically adopts this posture if it feels threatened but can take no immediate useful action.

Puppeteer, by Lisa A. Free. Copyright © 1983

Culture: Puppeteers prefer not to wear clothing, only doing so when required for protection. Typically, their manes are combed, hair-styled and/or decorated with jewelry to indicate individual status. Their environment is shaped to provide maximum safety and a feeling of security. Objects are padded and corners are rounded. The herd-scent of many Puppeteers permeates their living spaces and apparently is even bred into their flowers. Their homeworld is densely populated and technologically highly developed; see Fleet of Worlds. They perform complex dances for cultural and mating rituals, and for exercise. As noted, they consider both their sexes "male", referring to both males and females as "he" or "him". Their interstellar business empire is at least tens of thousands of years old [8]. They use blackmail as an accepted business practice.

Interspecies Relations: First contact between Humans and Puppeteers occurred in 2500. In the 2600s their business empire included Human space, and contracts with a dozen sentient races [9]. The most important part of their trade was General Products hulls. Sane, cowardly puppeteers would never risk their lives by traveling in hyperspace or by direct contact with an alien species; all puppeteers dealing directly with aliens are insane, including the representatives of General Products in Human space. Considering their similar behavior, and contrasting it with that of Hindmost, it is possible that all Puppeteer agents in Human space are female. All Puppeteers dealing with aliens have a secret method of painlessly committing suicide, which they will use rather than face torture. A Kzin (or other alien) committing violence on a Puppeteer will find himself financially ruined. [Spoiler alert: Ringworld] Although it is not common knowledge, it appears the Puppeteers led the Outsiders to contact Humans, thereby giving them the hyperdrive technology used to defeat the Kzinti Empire in the First Man-Kzin War. The Puppeteers' motive seems to have been to kill off the most warlike Kzinti, producing a less aggressive species and/or culture. Nessus also claimed Puppeteers manipulated Earth politics to create the Birthright Lottery; the motive seems to have been to breed certain humans for luck. [Spoiler alert: "At the Core"] The sudden withdrawal in 2646 of most Puppeteers from Known Space and the closure of General Products, following discovery of the Core explosion, caused a major stock market crash in Human Space.

See also: cigarettes, contracts, impact armor, "Captain Kidd", Long Shot, memory erasure, Outsider contacts, Puppeteer (individual), Puppeteer homeworld, Quantum II hyperdrive, Time for Beany

Footnotes

[2] "The Soft Weapon", Neutron Star p. 124

[3] "Neutron Star", Neutron Star p. 10

[4] "Two hundred and forty pounds of charging puppeteer... thigh and hip and spine..." ("The Soft Weapon", Neutron Star p. 124).

[5] Nessus sucked at a drinking bulb with one mouth while talking with the other (Ringworld ch. 2, p. 19).

[6] Louis Wu inferred this from Hindmost's description of Puppeteer reproduction (Ringworld Engineers ch. 5, p. 39).

[7] Hindmost specified his sex deposited the sperm and Nessus' sex deposited the egg when they mated. Therefore it is clear that Puppeteers, like Humans, actually have one male gender and one female gender (Ringworld Engineers ch. 5, p. 39).

[8] "The Soft Weapon", Neutron Star p. 75

[9] "The Soft Weapon", Neutron Star p. 77