The search for Kalid/meta/Glossary



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. 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
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
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.

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.

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
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.

Earth
The origin of humans. The Earth is now a dead planet, infected by a green nanobot cloud. Some people claim that the Empire has tried to hide the true location and history of Earth.

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.

Flammis
Veritas Flammis was a desolate world selected as a base by the Haldus Order for secret research into technology that can aid human telepathic communication.

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
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
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. Once the spaceship is represented within hyperspace, instantaneous movement of that representation is possible....the spaceship can be rematerialized at another 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. Hyperspatial communication is actually more difficult than movement of a spaceship through hyperspace because the hyperspace drive device is not sent to the destination and so cannot 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. 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.

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.

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. This is the home of Ketar's spy, Norshe.

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.

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.



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.

Space elevator
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.

Teleguide array
The four T-particle conduits on Earth once formed a complete and functioning teleguide array. One of the four conduits was destroyed when the Egyptian blast crater was formed.

Telepathy
Most people have no evidence that telepathy is possible, however, members of the Haldus Order believe that telepatic communication is possible and they perform research on telepathy.

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 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. Such telepathic information transfer depends on twitino resonance between arrays of T-particles in two telepathically coupled brains.

Transport grid
A device in the Haldus star system that can transmit T-particles to the Teleguide arrays on Earth and Polastis III.

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.