Deliver-To: Dr. Adrian Van Zant, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Physician, Olumba Pediatric Center
Afterword
The Far Frontier Series is a “parallel” narrative to the Hominin Union novels, two of which I have published, The Anuvi Incident, and The Borrega Test, while the third and final novel, The Stardancers, exists in draft form. Both Caroline Talbot and Cord Kessler were students of Captain William Bandele, a major character in the Hominin Union novels. The crew of the Solstice has, over the course of the first two novellas in the Far Frontier Series, become entangled in the conspiracy to cover up the incredible discovery in the Anuvi system, and its relationship to upcoming and unimaginable discoveries in the frontier. I felt the basic premise I used to write the Hominin Union novels was so vast in time and space, it deserved to be more fully developed in a second narrative.
The world of San Miguel is named after the largest town on the island of Cozumel, which sits in the Caribbean Sea just off the Yucatan peninsula. The island is a beautiful place, with friendly inhabitants, and has some of the best scuba diving in the world. If you can visit, I recommend you do so.
The crew of the HSS Solstice will return in The Men Who Would Be Kings.
James Vincett
Las Cruces, New Mexico, August 2019
Appendix I: The Crew of the HSS Solstice
Flight / Operations
Captain Caroline Talbot - Commanding Officer
Commander Cord Kessler - Chief of Survey
Commander Michael Lansing - Chief of Engineering
Lieutenant Commander Karl Mitchell - Chief of Security
Emerans Van Zant, General Intelligence Directorate - Political Officer
Lieutenant Pitr Kuusik - Pilot
Lieutenant Jen Calhoon - Navigator
Tech Specialist Dag Wuland - Engineering Technician
Tech Specialist Kara Wong - Engineering Technician
Petty Officer Ulaa Merkel - Chef
Research (all have rank equivalent to Commander)
Dr. Benil Vargus, Geologist / Planetologist, Imperial University of the Sciences, Jakarta, Earth
Dr. Valwan Dabisha, Astronomer, Toldana Institute of the Sciences, Yathana
Dr. Benjamin Webb, Biologist / M.D., Imperial Exploration Service
Mission Specialists
Ensign Aurelius Simon
Ensign Diane Salomon
Ensign Julie Carawal
Ensign Llorence Pitt
Ensign Veronica Kader
Specialist Arevik Avakian
Specialist Charmian Geary
Specialist Illiam Kermo
Specialist Jelena Ozolinish
Specialist Marko Pandev
Specialist Mikel Aldana
Specialist Olubunmi Chiumbo
Specialist Sheryl Clifton
Specialist Tav Drucker
Specialist Vencel Kovách
Specialist Victor Abreu
Appendix II: The HSS Solstice
The James Cook class, planned during the reign of Nicolas Destillières, is the centerpiece of the Union's efforts to consolidate the gains in the frontier regions. The explicit mission of these vessels is to survey likely worlds for immediate settlement. Ten of this class are planned. Sleek, fast, and outfitted with powerful sensors and experienced crews, it is hoped that these vessels can perform thorough but quick surveys of habitable worlds.
Like the previous two vessels in the class, the Solstice is 110 meters long, with a middle saucer section fifty meters in diameter. Called the Crew and Lab Section, it has quarters for thirty, spacious holds for vehicles, supplies, and other equipment, configurable laboratories, and powerful sensors. The command deck occupies most of the arrowhead-shaped forward section, along with advanced avionics and the latest in computer technology, and a conference room. Engineering occupies the sleek aft section, with state-of-the-art propulsion, shields, and ship’s systems.
Ordered: December 14, 2630
Builder: Dahl Heavy Industries, Grotha Shipyard, Mercala
Commissioned: March 4, 2635
Home Port: Silmais Orbital Station, Korla
Identification: IEM-8834296273
Status: Active Service
Length: 110 m
Power: Pieron KK4 Antimatter Reactor rated at 1.024 GW
Sublight Propulsion: Banner Type I-Q Reactionless Drive, cruising acceleration 17.5 m per s squared, x4 for tactical maneuvers.
FTL Drive: Jav-Koria Redstar Mark I, 178.662905 LY per day
Range: 560 days under FTL drive (100,000 LY), 1825 days total
Complement: 10 flight / operation, 16 mission specialists, 4 research scientists
Sensors: Full sublight and translight navigational, tactical and scientific suite
EW/Countermeasures: Standard dampening / jamming / suppression suite
Armament: Pieron Mark XII Five Mode 500 MW Laser Energy Projector
Shields: Random Phased Gravitic Outer Force Field rated at 100 MW; Tight Phase Transition Hull Force Field, rated at 692-996 Ghz
Armor: Ablative Cerananocarbon Plating (ACP) over main hull; Nanocrystalline Gel Reinforcement (NGR) on main hull
Hull and Superstructure: Hypofault titanium-aluminum-vanadium alloy with nanowelds
Vehicles (some or all of the following): Model II-A Imperial Scout Buggy, Cargo Walkers, Angelwing Hovercar, Dinámico Mark XI Fast Surface Craft, Model 2-A Sea Ranger submersible, Roadrunner-X Skimmer.
Partial Schematics
Command Section
1. Command Deck; 2. Avionics; 3. Conference; 4. Computer Core; 5. Office; 6. Access and Storage; 7. Escape Pods (2 crew per); 8. Head
Command Deck
a. Sensors / Communications; b. Pilot / Tactical; c. Science / Sensors; d. Engineering; e. Communications; f. Environmental; g. Science / Sensors; h. Computer; i. Forward Multidisplay; j. Command Chair
1. Central Lift; 2. Airlock; 3. Cargo Door; 4. Cargo Area; 5. Vehicle Bay; 6. Equipment Storage and Prep Area; 7. Access Ladder to Ventral Hull / Top Deck. Broken lines indicate ventral hatches.
Appendix III: Summary log of the HSS Solstice
March 4, 2635: HSS Solstice commissioning ceremony
March 7: Departure from Silmais Orbital to the planet Hope
March 28: Arrival at Hope
April 27: Completion of survey
May 18: Return to Silmais Orbital
May 22: Departure from Silmais Orbital to the planet San Miguel
June 20: Arrival at San Miguel
June 23: Departure
July 22: Return to Silmais Orbital
Appendix IV: A Partial Map of the Hominin Union
This map shows the region of the Milky Way Galaxy spinward of Earth and the Core Worlds. The lighter areas indicate spiral arms of the galaxy, regions of denser stars. The red lines indicate major borders of the Hominin Union and the territories of other major species. The light blue lines indicate the borders of territories within the Union itself. The dotted line indicates the historical extent of the Snirr Empire. The grid displays radial lines out from the galactic core and circular grid lines spaced at 5000 LY. The distance between Earth and the world of Korla, the home port of the Solstice on the far side of The Justified Conquest, is greater than 35,000 LY, a distance it would take the Solstice at least twenty-eight weeks to travel by hyperdrive.
76% of stars in this region are Class M red dwarfs. Habitable worlds are rare, and only occur naturally in systems with Class K, Class G, and Class F stellar primaries; these three classes of stars comprise approximately one quarter of the stars in this region. Of the planets around these stars, only 0.001 percent are habitable by Humans. Strangely, a greater density of habitable worlds occurs within 5000 LY of Earth; this has led some to theorize that many of these worlds were terraformed by one or more extinct alien species in the distant past.
There are approximately 1000 settled worlds within the Hominin Union, and an even greater number of colonies and outposts. Total population numbers over one trillion, of which more than 74% are Hominin species. Within the Union are 12 Hominin species (including Humans) and 28 intelligent alien species.
Approximately 70% of the total population of the Union (700 billion) resides on 103 worlds within 5000 LY of Earth, a region known as the Core Worlds. The remaining 30% of the population is scattered over an incredibly large volume of space. The purpose of the Colonization Initiative Act of 2635 is to prepare habitable worlds for settlement in anticipation of major population diasporas from the Core Worlds out into the greater Hominin Union.