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Federation code-name for the planet Silmareno, "on the edge of the spiral
rim" and the only habitable planet in Zone Nine. It was visited annually by
a Federation freighter to take back monopasium-239 mined by the natives.
Nominally ruled by Ro, a native trained at the Central Educational Complex,
the Federation's Colonial Service kept its own representatives and a small
garrison present at all times. The planet was protected by a magnetic
barrier, and only Liberator's force wall prevented the ship from being
atomised.
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Whilst under torture, Blake openly called Ro a human being, a statement which
Ro did not gainsay, so it might be inferred that the inhabitants of Horizon
were descended from Earth colonists. Their culture, although technologically
primitive, was ornate and intricate, reminiscent of early South American
civilisation. Once the Federation personnel had been eliminated, Ro
installed himself as the true ruler. The name Horizon was, however,
retained.
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The name by which Zil referred to the living planet on which it and its species lived. Most of the Host's southern hemisphere was ocean, and Zen reported gravitational anomalies on the surface.
The planet's "oceans" had a composition analogous to saliva, and could swamp the landmasses in a matter of hours to cleanse the surface of parasites such as Zil. The planet's "crust" was very thin in at least some places, and the underlying substance was a source of food for Zil and its kind. Areas of the surface could open up to swallow unwary parasites. Vegetation, or something extremely like vegetation, was abundant on the land, and surface water was also present. The Host represents a fascinating (if improbable) organism in its own right, raising many awkward questions with regard to reproduction, movement, nutrition and especially evolution.
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The First Citizen of Obsidian, and a former associate of Hal Mellanby at the
Federation's Central Science Complex. He had renounced all forms of
violence, as had all the people of Obsidian, and believed that "Homo
sapiens has reached a point where further technological development is
pointless". His son, Bershar, was less committed to such lofty principles
and secretly worked in league with Servalan. Hower administered a lethal
overdose of anesthetic and killed him, later dying himself when he activated
the nuclear device buried in the volcano, destroying the planet.
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One of the detector systems on Liberator, mentioned several times. They detected scanning beams by enemy ships in Project Avalon, and the gravitational field of UP-The Web. They also reported the presence of the fluid particles attached to the outer hull in Terminal before the fluid's enzyme activity impaired their functioning. These references suggest that the hull sensors were largely if not totally a "passive" detector system.
A Helot rebel, with the rank of Star Major apparently a self-styled title. A former lecturer or researcher in geology, first assistant to fellow rebel Igin at Leedenbrank, he was in command of the Helot resistance's 4th column. Hunda blamed himself for Igin's death, and later swam into the city to assess the possibility of demolishing the magnetrix terminal. He believed that Leitz was a traitor to the Federation, but was told the truth by Dayna and Tarrant, who joined him on a successful attack on the city.
Shortly after leaving Earth, Commander Leylan gave an order to "cut in the hyperdrive, Time Distort five". Jenna noted that hyperdrive running was expensive, and that the London's hyperdrive was an early mark in need of "restressing".
See also PHOTONIC DRIVE, SPEED, TIME DISTORT, INTERGALACTIC DRIVE.
Mentioned by Ro as a new kind of ship, presumably with a new kind of drive, needing monopasium 239 to travel to other galaxies within a reasonable period of flight time.
According to Avon, the means by which all Federation communications were transmitted. The messages were converted to zeta-3 particles before scrambling. A sub-beam communicator was found on Cephlon and used to contact Liberator: this presumably used the same principle, and likewise the sub-space communicator taken by Coser to UP-Weapon. The A-line pulse codes featured in Killer may have been an alternative means of transmitting information, or new and improved communications technology.