Wednesday 7 March 2012

More of my Glossary from Babel


Danielle Thomas

Danielle is the very young Head of Science. (See Heads of Service). She discovers that the disease that hits Terrestra is a mutation of the old Starlight Racer Fever. She accompanies Razjosh on the failed mission to Zandra.
She is very serious, and terrified of space travel.      

 

Dataserve

A dataserve in 3500 is to Terrestra what a computer is to 21st century Earth. It is, of course, much more sophisticated and interacts with other systems. It is voice controlled and there is rarely any Wordext on them.
When Kaleem gets a new one he is able to set its voice to sound like his own.
On Zandra the dataserves are so clever that they seem to be able to read their owners’ minds.  
 

Davina Patterson

Davina Patterson was a talented artist who produced several books in the 21st Century. Most of them were picture books about Bible stories, and myths and legends from ancient Terrestran cultures. Her books are characterised by their rich illustrations containing many shades of blue, silver and gold. The books became collectors’ items. By 3500 most of them have disappeared.    

Detran Malthus

This is the alias that Kaleem uses on Zandra.

 

Diastics

Every Terrestran household is fitted with a diastics system. Terrestrans monitor themselves on it at least every other day. They simply touch a control pad and the system is able to detect if there is any threat of illness or disease in the body. It then administers a drink that rectifies any potential problem.
An alarm sounds if someone fails to monitor themselves or if the system cannot cope with the problems.
Kaleem manages to make the alarm sound several times.
However, the system works so well that there is a real danger of overpopulation – especially as Terrestrans refuse to communicate with others. Therefore, switch-off has been brought in. 

 

Elders

Elders are elected to the Counsel and are the supreme form of government. They have the power to veto what Heads of Service decide, though they usually just rubber stamp these decisions. They are generally men and women of over 65. Often, they have had a long career as a Head of Service.
The voting system is ritualistic, a little like the way we elect the Pope. Only Heads of Service and other elders may vote for an Elder. The one exception is the Peace Child elder who may only be selected by the current Peace Child. This is because the position is onerous and requires a long apprenticeship.
Elders have access to both Hidden Information and Golden Knowledge.

 

Erik Svenson

Erik is a close friend of Stuart Davidson. They both bully Kaleem because he looks different. 

Executives

These are the ruling forces on Zandra. A Zandrian executive has more power than a Terrestran Head of Service, but less power than a Terrestran Elder. They are a little like ministers in our own government. Unlike on Terrestra, or even in our own world, there is no Upper House like our House of Lords or the Counsel of Elders on Terrestra.  Zandra also has ordinary members of its parliament, so executives are a little like our ministers.
They often have quite quirky areas of responsibility e.g. Marek Ransen is the Executive for Language and Story.

Executive Palace

This is where all the Zandrian Executives have their high-level meetings, celebrations and formal occasions. They do not live there as Terrestran elders live and work at the Citadel.    

Figurescript

Although more widely learnt than Wordtext, Figurescript is not understood by most humans. Scientists and mathematicians learn it. It is the language of maths, including the symbols that we know. Most intelligent beings understand mathematics in a visual way – e.g. fractions look like slices of cake.
   

Franck

Frank is one of the Z Zoners who finds Marijam and puts her in contact with Narisja.
   

Frazier Kennedy

Frazier Kennedy is the charismatic Head of Education. (See Heads of Service). He has a great sense of humour though is not to be trifled with; he expects the best of everybody, including his family. However, he really cares for everyone around him. He is an excellent public speaker and very conscientious about his job.
He is angry when Gabrizan disappears and devastated when his daughter Marijam also leaves a short time later. Nevertheless, he continues to be a good Head of Education.    
He is naturally delighted to welcome Kaleem back to Terrestra, both as his grandson and as the Peace Child. He and Louish are also overjoyed to be reconciled with Marijam.   

Frega juice

This is the alcoholic drink available on Zandra. Kaleem finds it much more enjoyable than Terrestra’s nectar. Both drinks are sometimes made stronger or weaker by the authorities.   

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