Acorna’s Search (24 page)

Aagroni
—Linyaari name for a vocation that is a combination of ecologist, agriculturalist, botanist, and biologist.
Aagroni
are responsible for terraforming new planets for settlement as well as maintaining the well-being of populated planets.

Aari—A Linyaari of the Nyaarya clan, captured by the Khleevi during the invasion of Vhiliinyar, tortured, and left for dead on the abandoned planet. He’s Maati’s brother. Aari survived and was rescued and restored to his people by Jonas Becker and Roadkill. But Aari’s differences—the physical and psychological scars left behind by his adventures—make it difficult for him to fit in among the Linyaari.

Aarkiiyi—Member of the Linyaari survey team on Vhiliinyar.

Aarlii—A Linyaari survey team member, firstborn daughter of Captain Yaniriin.

Acorna—A unicorn-like humanoid alien discovered as an infant by three miners—Calum, Gill, and Rafik. She has the power to heal and purify with her horn. Her uniqueness has already shaken up the human galaxy, especially the planet Kezdet. She’s now fully grown and changing the lives of her own people, as well. Also called Khornya.

Ancestors—Unicorn-like sentient species, precursor race to the Linyaari. Also known as
ki-lin.

Ancestral Hosts—Ancient spacefaring race that rescued the Ancestors, located them on the Linyaari home planet, and created the Linyaari race from the Ancestors and their own populations through selective breeding and gene splicing.

Andina—Owner of the cleaning concession on MOO, and sometimes lady companion to Captain Becker.

Attendant—Linyaari chosen to serve the Ancestors.

Balaave—Linyaari clan name.

Balakiire
—The Linyaari ship commanded by Acorna’s aunt Neeva in which the envoys from Acorna’s people reached human-populated space.

Barsipan—Jellyfish-like animal on Linyaari home planet.

Becker—See Jonas Becker.

Calum Baird—One of three miners who discovered Acorna and raised her.

Condor
—Jonas Becker’s salvage ship, heavily modified to incorporate various “found” items Becker has come across in his space voyages.

Declan “Gill” Giloglie—One of three miners who discovered Acorna and raised her.

Delszaki Li—Once the richest man on Kezdet, opposed to child exploitation, made many political enemies. He lived his life paralyzed, floating in an antigravity chair. Clever and devious he both hijacked and rescued Acorna and gave her a cause—saving the children of Kezdet. His recent death was a source of tremendous sadness to all but his enemies.

Dharmakoi—
Small burrowing sapient marsupials known to the Linyaari, now extinct as a result of Khleevi war.

Edacki Ganoosh—Corrupt Kezdet count, uncle of Kisla Manjari.

Enye-ghanyii
—Linyaari time unit, small portion of
ghaanye
.

Feriila—Acorna’s mother.

Fiicki—Linyaari communications officer on Vhiliinyar expedition.

Fiirki Miilkar—A Linyaari animal specialist.

Fiiryi—A Linyaari.

Fraaki
—Linyaari word for fish.

Geeyiinah—One of the Linyaari clans.

Ghaanye
(pl.
ghaanyi
)—A Linyaari year.

Gheraalye malivii
—Linyaari for Navigation Officer.

Gheraalye ve-khanyii
—Linyaari for Senior Communications Officer.

Giirange
—Office of toastmaster in a Linyaari social organization.

Giryeeni—Linyaari clan name.

GSS—Gravitation Stabilization System.

Haarha Liirni
—Linyaari term for advanced education, usually pursued during adulthood while on sabbatical from a previous calling.

Haarilnyah—The oldest clan amongst the Linyaari.

Hafiz Harakamian—Rafik’s uncle, head of the interstellar financial empire of House Harakamian, a passionate collector of rarities from throughout the galaxy and a devotee of the old-fashioned sport of horseracing. Although basically crooked enough to hide behind a spiral staircase, he is fond of Rafik and Acorna.

Haven
—A multigeneration space colonization vehicle occupied by people pushed off the planet Esperantza by Amalgamated Mining.

Highmagister HaGurdy—The Ancestral Friend in charge of the Hosts on old Vhiliinyar.

Hraaya—An Ancestor.

Hrronye—Melireenya’s lifemate.

Hrunvrun—The first Linyaari Ancestral Attendant.

Iiiliira
—A Linyaari ship.

Iirtye—Chief
aagroni
for narhii-Vhillinyar.

Ikwaskwan—Self-styled “admiral” of the Kilumbembese Red Bracelets.

Imaara—An Ancestor attendant.

Jonas Becker—Interplanetary salvage artist; alias space junkman. Captain of the
Condor
. CEO of Becker Interplanetary Recycling and Salvage Enterprises Ltd.—a one-man, one-cat salvage firm Jonas inherited from his adopted father. Jonas spent his early youth on a labor farm on the planet Kezdet before he was adopted.

Kaarlye—The father of Aari, Maati, and Laarye. A member of the Nyaarya clan, and life-bonded to Miiri.

Ka
-Linyaari—Something against all Linyaari beliefs, something not Linyaari.

Karina—A plumply beautiful wannabe psychic with a small shred of actual talent and a large fondness for profit. Married to Hafiz Harakamian. This is her first marriage, his second.

Kava—A coffee-like hot drink produced from roasted ground beans.

KEN—A line of general-purpose male androids, some with customized specializations, differentiated among their owners by number, for example KEN637.

Kezdet—A backwoods planet with a labor system based on child exploitation. Currently in economic turmoil because that system has been broken by Delszaki Li and Acorna.

Khaari—Senior Linyaari navigator on the
Balakiire
.

Khetala—Captured as a small child for the mines of Kezdet, later sold into the planet’s brothels. Rescued by Acorna, and now a beautiful young woman.

Khleevi—Name given by Acorna’s people to the space-borne enemies who have attacked them without mercy.

Kii
—A Linyaari time measurement roughly equivalent to an hour of Standard Time.

Ki-lin
—Oriental name for unicorn, also a name sometimes associated with Acorna.

Kilumbemba Empire—An entire society that raises and exports mercenaries for hire—the Red Bracelets.

Kirilatova—An opera singer.

Kisla Manjari—Anorexic and snobbish young woman, raised as daughter of Baron Manjari; shattered when through Acorna’s efforts to help the children of Kezdet her father is ruined and the truth of her lowly birth is revealed.

Kubiilikaan—The legendary first city on Vhiliinyar, founded by the Ancestral Hosts.

Kubiilikhan—Capital city of narhii-Vhiliinyar, named after Kubiilikaan, the legendary first city on Vhiliinyar, founded by the Ancestral Hosts.

LAANYE—Sleep learning device invented by the Linyaari that can, from a small sample of any foreign language, teach the wearer the new language overnight.

Laarye—Maati and Aari’s brother. He died on Vhiliinyar during the Khleevi invasion. He was trapped in an accident in a cave far distant from the spaceport during the evacuation, and was badly injured. Aari stayed behind to rescue and heal him, but was captured by the Khleevi and tortured before he could accomplish his mission. Laarye died before Aari could escape and return.

Laboue—The planet where Hafiz Harakamian makes his headquarters.

Lilaala
—A flowering vine native to Vhiliinyar used by early Linyaari to make paper.

Linyaari—Acorna’s people.

Liriili—Former
viizaar
of narhii-Vhiliinyar, member of the clan Riivye.

Lukia of the Lights—A protective saint, identified by some children of Kezdet with Acorna.

Maarni—A Linyaari folklorist, mate to Yiitir.

Maati—A young Linyaari girl of the Nyaarya clan who lost most of her family during the Khleevi invasion. Aari’s sister.

Mac—Android and member of Becker’s crew on the
Condor.

Madigadi—A berry-like fruit whose juice is a popular beverage.

Maganos—One of the three moons of Kezdet, base for Delszaki Li’s mining operation and child rehabilitation project.

Makahomian Temple Cat—Cats on the planet Makahoma, bred from ancient Cat God stock to protect and defend the Cat God’s temples. They are—for cats—large, fiercely loyal, remarkably intelligent, and dangerous when crossed.

Manjari—A baron in the Kezdet aristocracy, and a key person in the organization and protection of Kezdet’s child-labor racket, in which he was known by the code name “Piper.” He murdered his wife and then committed suicide when his identity was revealed and his organization destroyed.

Martin Dehoney—Famous astro-architect who designed Maganos Moon Base; the coveted Dehoney Prize was named after him.

Melireenya—Linyaari communications specialist on the
Balakiire,
bonded to Hrronye.

Miiri—Mother of Aari, Laarye, and Maati. A member of the Nyaarya clan, lifebonded to Kaarlye.

Misra Affrendi—Hafiz’s elderly trusted retainer.

Mitanyaakhi
—Generic Linyaari term meaning a very large number.

MME—Gill, Calum, and Rafik’s original mining company. Swallowed by the ruthless, conscienceless, and bureaucratic Amalgamated Mining.

MOO, or Moon of Opportunity—Hafiz’s artificial planet, and home base for the Vhiliinyar terraforming operation.

Naadiina—Also known as Grandam, one of the oldest Linyaari, host to both Maati and Acorna on narhii-Vhiliinyar, died to give her people the opportunity to save both of their planets.

Naarye—Linyaari techno-artisan in charge of final fitout of spaceships.

Nadhari Kando—Delszaki Li’s personal bodyguard, rumored to have been an officer in the Red Bracelets earlier in her career.

Narhii-Vhiliinyar—The planet settled by the Linyaari after Vhiliinyar, their original homeworld, was destroyed by the Khleevi.

Neeva—Acorna’s aunt and Linyaari envoy on the
Balakiire,
bonded to Virii.

Neeyeereeya—The most populous of the Linyaari clans.

Ngaen Xong Hoa—A Kieaanese scientist who invented a planetary weather control system. He sought asylum on the
Haven
because he feared the warring governments on his planet would misuse his research. A mutineer faction on the
Haven
used the system to reduce the planet Rushima to ruins. The mutineers were tossed into space, and Dr. Hoa has since restored Rushima and now works for Hafiz.

Niciirye—Grandam Naadiina’s husband, dead and buried on Vhiliinyar.

Niikaavri—Acorna’s Grandmother, a member of the clan Geeyiinah, and a spaceship designer by trade. Also, as
Niikaavre,
the name of the spaceship used by Maati and Thariinye.

Nyaarya—One of the clans of the Linyaari.

Nyiiri
—The Linyaari word for unmitigated gall, sheer effrontery, or other form of misplaced bravado.

Order of the Iriinje—Aristocratic Linyaari social organization similar to a fraternity, named after a blue-feathered bird native to Vhiliinyar.

Paazo River—A major geographical feature on the Linyaari homeworld, Viliinyar.

Pahaantiyir
—A cougar-like animal native to Vhiliinyar.

Palomella—Home planet of Nueva Fallona.

Piiro
—Linyaari word for a rowboat-like water vessel.

Piiyi
—A Niriian biotechnology-based information storage and retrieval system. The biological component resembles a very rancid cheese.

Qulabriel—Hafiz’s assistant.

Rafik Nadezda—One of three miners who discovered Acorna and raised her.

Red Bracelets—Kilumbembese mercenaries; arguably the toughest and nastiest fighting force in known space.

Renyilaaghe—Linyaari clan name.

Riivye—Linyaari clan name.

Roadkill—Otherwise known as RK. A Makahomian Temple Cat, the only survivor of a space wreck, rescued and adopted by Jonas Becker, and honorary first mate of the
Condor.

Shahrazad
—Hafiz’s personal spaceship, a luxury cruiser.

Shenjemi Federation—Long-distance government of Rushima.

Siiaaryi Maartri
—A Linyaari Survey ship.

Sii
-Linyaari—Legendary aquatic race also developed by the Friends.

Sita Ram—A protective goddess, identified with Acorna by the mining children on Kezdet.

Standard Galactic Basic—Standard language used throughout human-settled space.

Stiil
—Linyaari word for a pencil-like writing implement.

Techno-artisan—Linyaari specialist who designs, engineers, or manufactures goods.

Thariinye—A handsome and conceited young spacefaring Linyaari from clan Renyilaaghe.