Political or religious interest in the Earth. Most back-to-Earth groups want to
repair the damage from The Impact. Some want to re-colonise
Earth others want to turn it into a nature reserve, or a shrine for those killed
by The Asteroid. A few back-to-Earth groups only want to dig up holy
sites like Stonehenge and remove artefacts they believe have religious significance, this has caused disputes between
them and the other groups wanting to make the planet a shrine. The lack of economically accessible resources on
Earth means Back-to-Earthers have little commercial support. The groups are also
looked upon with suspicion by the Centaur Federation as
the Solar System is close to
Centaur
(Alpha Centauri). In 298 AI, a
starship (called Arc III) from a
religious back-to-Earth group called the Noans arrived in
The Solar System, but was immediately seized by a fleet from
the Federation. Although many of the crew have been released, some are
still being held without charge.
[Source: InfoDump Database: Noans]
Abbreviation for before Christ. Part of the old
AD calendar system which was the most common
calendar used by the people on
Earth. Unlike the AI calendar, that is widely
used today, the old AD system did not have a year zero or negative years. Years earlier
than 1 AD were written as positive numbers with a BC suffix (with 1 BC being the year
directly before 1 AD). The AD calendar was abandoned
after colonisation due to the length of day and year being based on
the orbit of Earth.
[Source: A Short History of Mankind]
Part of the old AD calendar system formerly used on
Earth, but abandoned after
colonisation due to the length of day and year being based on the
orbit of Earth.
See AD & BC.
A star system with two stars. The larger star is called the primary
and the smaller star is called the secondary. When refering specifically to the individual stars a capital letter is
added to the name of the star system with "A" being used for
the larger star and "B" for the smaller star.
One of four Durchmusterung star catalogues. Originally the
names of stars listed in the Bonner Durchmusterung consisted of the letters BD,
followed by a plus or minus and the declination (as viewed from a telescope on
Earth). After a space a second number was listed. The four
Durchmusterungs have now been combined into one, and the
letters BD have been replaced by DM.
Forcefield technician term for a forcefield that protects the structure
of a building (and its occupants) from physical and energy weapons. Because different sized and shaped buildings all
require the forcefield generators to be individually designed, it is
often far cheaper to demolish a building and replace it with a new one of standard design. Usually only very important
buildings have these devices retro-fitted, however it has been known for various intelligence services to fit custom
designed building forcefields into old buildings that they are using covertly. Except on planets which experience sudden
dangers such as radiation from stellar flares, building forcefields do not have as clear a non-combat role as some of the
other larger forcefield types. This means they are less common on
peaceful planets, where the additional expense is not seen as justifiable.
[Source: A Layman's Guide to Wormhole Technology]
