From her perspective, nothing would have changed. She stood in front of Jorl in the real world greeting room of her home, and her awareness occupied an identical place that existed only in his mind.
He shifted his focus for an instant, pulled the other construct into existence in another corner of his mind, little more than an empty plane of light. Arlo took shape and stood before him there.
“I didn’t think I’d see you again. What happened—”
“This is the last time I’ll call you, my friend. Everything worked out, but I thought you needed some closure. A chance to say a proper goodbye.”
He gave a final push, and Arlo’s construct slipped from one venue to the other, materializing in the illusion of Tolta’s home in the very spot where he had been standing, his own construct fading away as his friend appeared. He heard Tolta gasp as she held her husband’s hands again.
“Hello, Tol,” Arlo breathed, “I love you, you know.”
As the living Tolta construct threw herself around the Arlo summoning in an embrace that was long overdue, Jorl discretely closed off his awareness of the created space. He slipped into the kitchen and helped himself to a bowl of stew and a wooden spoon. A moment later, he was crossing through the greeting room again on his way out the front door. He paused for just a moment to see the smile and tears on Tolta’s face, and went outside into the night.
APPENDIX ONE: RACES OF THE ALLIANCE
The astute reader will have noticed that the characters portrayed in this novel appear to represent a variety of anthropomorphic animals. In fact, at this point in time, there are some eighty-seven different species or “races” existing in the Alliance, more than a hundred billion sapient beings occupying approximately four thousand planets.
These races are identified by the common names of the animals they resemble — rendered here as proper nouns — or by a clipped version of the applicable Latin genus. Of these races, all are mammals, and all but two are furred. This pair of exceptions, collectively known as “Fant,” appears to bear a connection to the two species on Earth known as African and Asian elephants. Thus Jorl is identified as an Elephant or Fant, but also as a Lox, from Loxodonta africana.
The list below identifies the races of characters seen in this book, but is only a small portion of the raised mammals that comprise the Alliance.
• Ailuros, Ailuropoda, Giant Panda. Jorl’s only friend during his time in the Patrol was an Ailuros named Dund. Krasnoi’s security team aboard the orbital station are all Pandas.
• Aplodon, Aplodontia, Mountain Beaver. A lieutenant sitting at navigation on the bridge of the Resolute Purpose was a Beaver.
• Bos, Bos, Yak. Senator Bish, chairman of the Committee of Information is a Yak. Jorl once wrote the foreword to a book by a Bos historian named Fenna. The most well-known Bos is probably Thelos, a mass murderer said to have been possessed by a demon.
• Brady, Bradypus, Three-toed Sloth. Druz, the personal assistant to the chair of the Senate’s Committee of Information is a Brady. So are Hrum and Morth, the captain and a lieutenant (respectively) of Jorl’s Patrol ship.
• Cans, Canis, Domestic Dog. Most of the rank and file members of Major Krasnoi’s crew are Cans.
• Cynomy, Cynomys, Prairie Dog. One of the “junior stature” races of the Alliance, the Cynomy include the civil parson who oversaw Lirlowil’s reclassification from citizen to resource. Senator Welv of the Committee of Information is also a Prairie Dog, as are a third of Senator Bish’s precognitivists (e.g., Tekki).
• Eleph, Elephas, Asian Elephant. Margda, the Matriarch of Barsk, was an Eleph, as was the legendary Pholo, the only Fant who could fly. Other Eleph include Emil, Phas, Grummel, Mickl, Rüsul, Shtev, and Yeft. Along with the Lox, Eleph make up the other half of the pair of races referred to as “Fant.”
• Feln, Felis, Cat. Several Feln worked at Krasnoi’s polar base, processing the Dying. There is also at least one Feln among the senators who comprise the Committee of Information.
• Geom, Geomys, Gopher. The secondary and tertiary navigation boards on the Resolute Purpose are manned by Geoms. Senator T’Minah of the Committee of Information is also a Geom. These are another of the “junior stature” races.
• Lep, Lepus, Hare. One of the senators on the Committee of Information is a Lep.
• Lox, Loxodonta, African Elephant. Jorl is a Lox, as was his friend Arlo, Arlo’s mother Kembü, Arlo’s wife Tolta, and their son, Pizlo (it should be noted that soulless children can also be born among the Eleph, the other race that together with the Lox comprise the “Fant”). Other Lox mentioned include Adri, Golub, Belti, Tral, and Yarva.
• Lutr, Lutra, Eurasian Otter. Lirlowil, the telepathic Speaker from Sharv, is a Lutr.
• Marmo, Marmot, Groundhog. This is another of the “junior stature” races. Two members of the Committee of Information are Marmos.
• Myrm, Myrmecophaga, Giant Anteater. Kengi, the communications officer on Jorl’s vessel during his time in the Patrol, was a Myrm.
• Nonyx, Acinonyx, Cheetah. Selishta is the Nonyx-Captain of the vessel Krasnoi used to abduct Dying Fant (and Jorl) while on Barsk.
• Taxi, Taxidea, Badger. The squad of six interrogators that questioned the Dying Fant at Krasnoi’s polar base were all Badgers.
• Theraonca, Panthera onca, Jaguar. Rismas, the ensign assigned to keep watch on Jorl while aboard the Resolute Purpose, is a Theraonca.
• Vulp, Vulpes, Fox. Another of the “junior stature” races of the Alliance. Shtev had a Vulp penpal on an Alliance medical station.
• Urs, Ursus, Bear. Krasnoi the Alliance Major is an Urs. As is a senator from the Committee of Information. Jorl recounts having met several Urs during his time in the Patrol.
APPENDIX TWO: THE ISLANDS OF BARSK
Barsk is a watery world with only a single, uninhabitable continent located at its south pole and two chains of islands. These archipelagos lay just south of the equator and stretch east and west to span nearly a fifth of their hemisphere. The planet’s ubiquitous cloud cover ensures none of this is visible from orbit.
Within the archipelagos the islands differ from one another in shape and size, the largest as much as eighteen times the size of the smallest. Some possess natural harbors, some do not. All are within a day of hard paddling from at least one other, and most have a neighbor close enough that ferries transit back and forth from dawn to dusk. Beyond minor patches of beach, all are covered with rain forests representing several dozen types of meta-trees that could easily be considered the dominant native life form. On every island, the Fant have built their homes high in these trees, in a section that is always referred to as the Civilized Wood.
Belp—a central island of the eastern archipelago, famous for having a shape like a Lox’s left ear.
Emmt—a popular destination for young bachelors traveling from Keslo.
Gerd—a smallish, nearly circular island that is considered the central island of the western archipelago. Fant often refer to other islands in the chain with respect to their position relative to Gerd.