The Moon's Shadow (38 page)

The moons of the planet Glory are a dramatic presence in its sky, with brilliant colors and marked size variations. I based their behavior on the moons of Saturn. The two systems aren’t identical; Saturn has at least eighteen moons (probably more), whereas Glory has only fourteen. But many similarities exist.

I’ve called the moons G1, G2, G3, and so on; the smaller the number, the closer the moon’s orbit to Glory, the capital world of Eube. Some of the moons are very close in, but the smallest orbit is still outside the Roche limit that determines how close a moon can orbit before gravitational forces pull it apart.

Glory is a large planet with a light core, a radius three times Earth’s, and an average density a bit less than one third that of Earth, which gives it a surface gravity of 92 percent ours. The sun of Glory subtends an angle of 0.45© in the sky, which means it appears slightly smaller than the sun in our sky.

The two innermost moons of Glory, G1 and G2, are small, about 30–40 kilometers in diameter, less than 1 percent the diameter of Earth’s Moon. Their distance from Glory is roughly eleven percent the distance of our Moon from Earth, with G1 closer than G2. As seen from Glory, each satellite subtends an angle of 0.04©–0.05© in the sky. For comparison, Earth’s Moon subtends about 0.5© in our sky, making it more than ten times the width that G1 or G2 subtends in the sky of Glory.

The next two moons, G3 and G4, have orbits close together, separated by only 50 kilometers. Their behavior follows that of two Saturn moons—Janus and Epimetheus. Specifically, they periodically switch orbits. The swap occurs because they approach each other closely enough to trade momentum. Suppose G3 is initially closer to Glory; it then travels a bit faster than G4 due to its smaller orbit. As G3 approaches G4, the gravity of G4 pulls G3 into a larger orbit, which slows G3 down. Similarly, G3 pulls G4 into a smaller orbit, speeding G4 up. So G3 becomes the outer moon and G4 drops into the inner orbit. In other words, as the two moons near each other, they swap orbits. The inner moon then speeds off from the outer, and the process repeats when the moon comes back around.

Seen from Glory, the two moons would gradually appear to approach each other but then “bounce” away again without touching or passing. If you were on the satellite that lags behind, you would see your moon approach the leading moon. As the two neared, yours would slow down while the other sped up, seeming to “run away” every time you almost caught up.

Eube Qox, the first emperor, originally named G3 and G4 in honor of his sisters, Tarquine and Ilina. However, those designations are falling out of use. The satellites of Glory are named for empresses, with the moon that appears largest from the surface of Glory named for the first empress, the second largest named for the second empress, and so on. Although G4 and G3 appear the same size, they are, respectively, the sixth and seventh largest, and will be renamed for the sixth and seventh empresses. Each subtends an angle of 0.13© in the sky, about one quarter the width of our Moon as seen from Earth. They have an elongated shape, particularly G3.

The next satellite is G5, which appears in the sky as the fourth largest moon; as such, it should be named for the fourth empress, the wife of Jaibriol II and mother of Jaibriol (Jai) III. Jai cannot give it his mother’s name—Sauscony Valdoria—so he chose one that honors her without revealing her identity as the military leader of Eube’s enemies. Her moon subtends an angle of 0.28© in the sky, more than half the width of our Moon in Earth’s sky.

The next moon, G6, is the third largest in actual size and also as seen from Glory. The third emperor, Ur Qox, named it Viquara in honor of his wife and surfaced it with synthetic diamond, making it the brightest object in Glory’s sky. It subtends an angle of 0.39©, about three-quarters the size of our Moon.

G7 is the fifth largest moon as seen from Glory. Jaibriol III (Jai) named it Tarquine in honor of his wife (which is another reason G3 lost its name). He had the moon resurfaced to resemble a geode, with a steel-diamond composite on the outside, brilliant and hard. Inside, it has a crystalline structure in incredible colors.

Three moons share the eighth orbit: G8a, G8b, and G8c. The largest, G8b, is called Mirella after the first empress. She married Eube Qox, who founded the Eubian Concord. In her honor, he surfaced the moon with a ruby composite, turning it a vivid red. As seen from Glory, Mirella is the largest moon, but in actual size, it is the second largest, with a diameter only about 40 percent that of G11. However, G11 is over four times farther away from Glory, so in the sky it appears smaller than Mirella. The diameter of Mirella is about half that of Earth’s Moon, but its distance from Glory is only about one quarter the Earth-Moon distance; Mirella thus subtends an angle of 0.98© in the sky of Glory, twice the width of the Moon in our sky.

Two tiny moons share Mirella’s orbit. G8a is 60© ahead in and G8c is 60© behind, each of them at a
Lagrange point,
which is an unusually stable point in an orbit. They have blocky shapes and each subtends an angle of 0.02© in the sky, which is about 1/25 the width of Earth’s Moon in our sky. Together, the three G8 moons form the same type of system as the Trojan moons of Saturn–Tethys and its tiny companions Calypso and Telesto.

G9 and G10 are tiny moons that appear the same size as G8a and G8c. They are actually a bit larger than Mirella’s companions, but they orbit farther out from Glory. G9 is about three times as far from Glory as G1, the innermost moon, and subtends an angle of 0.03© in the sky of Glory; G10 is four times as far out as G1 and subtends an angle of 0.02©.

G11 is the largest moon. As seen from Glory, however, it appears as the second largest because it is so far out from the planet. It is called Zara for the wife of Jaibriol I, the second emperor. Zara subtends an angle of 0.59© in the sky, making it about 60 percent the size of Mirella as seen from Glory and about 120 percent the width of our Moon in the sky. Jaibriol I had its surface turned into gold to honor his empress.

Zara raises substantial tides on the Glory, exerting a force about one and a half times that of the Moon on Earth. Mirella has an even greater effect, exerting a tidal force over six times that of our Moon. Several other Glory satellites also have a significant effect: Viquara, at 47 percent the effect of the Moon on Earth; G4 (Soz’s moon) at 20 percent; Tarquine (G5), at 5 percent; G4 at 4 percent; and G1 and G3, both roughly 1 percent. The other moons exert smaller forces. The combined effect of the moons and the sun of Glory creates huge, complicated tides and distorts the planet.

The last moon, G12, is tiny. Its unusually large orbit puts it approximately one hundred times farther out than G1, the innermost satellite, and ten times as far out as Zara, its closest companion.

During an eclipse of a sun by a moon, the moon moves between the planet and the sun so that its shadow falls across the planet. From the surface of the planet, the sun appears covered by a dark disk. In a total eclipse, all of the sun is covered and a period of darkness results; in a partial eclipse only part of the sun is covered.

An eclipse is total when a planet passes through the inner portion of the moon’s shadow—the
umbra
—the central cone of shadow created by the overlap of shadows from all edges of the moon. Surrounding the umbra is an outer, lighter cone of shadow—the
penumbra.
In a total eclipse, the planet passes through the penumbra, into the umbra, out of the umbra, and finally out of the penumbra again. In a partial eclipse, the planet passes through the penumbra.

The title of this book—
The Moon’s Shadow
—has a multitude of meanings having to do with the characters, their situations, and the ramifications of their actions. The most obvious interpretations may be misleading! Some may include the empresses of Eube, but certainly not all of them, nor in the obvious ways. I will leave it to the reader to play with the possible symbolisms.

Boldface names refer to members of the Rhon. The Selei name denotes the direct line of the Ruby Pharaoh. All children of Roca and Eldrinson take Valdoria as their third name. All members of the Rhon within the Ruby Dynasty have the right to use Skolia as their last name. “Del” in front of a name means “in honor of.”
= marriage + children by

Boldface names refer to members of the Rhon.

B
oldface names refer to Ruby psions, also known as the “Rhon.” All Rhon psions who are members of the Ruby Dynasty use
Skolia
as their last name (the Skolian Imperialate was named after their family). The
Selei
name indicates the direct line of the Ruby Pharaoh. Children of
Roca
and
Eldrinson
take Valdoria as a third name. The “del” prefix means “in honor of,” and is capitalized if the person honored was a Triad member. Most names are based on world-building systems drawn from Mayan, North African, and Indian cultures.

= marriage

Lahaylia Selei
(Ruby Pharaoh: deceased)
= Jarac
(Imperator: deceased)

Lahaylia
and
Jarac
founded the modern-day Ruby Dynasty.
Lahaylia
was created in the Rhon genetic project. Her lineage traced back to the ancient Ruby Dynasty that founded the Ruby Empire.
Lahaylia
and
Jarac
had two daughters,
Dyhianna Selei
and
Roca
.

Dehya
is the Ruby Pharaoh. She married William Seth Rockworth III as part of the Iceland Treaty between the Skolian Imperialate and Allied Worlds of Earth. They had no children and later separated. The dissolution of their marriage would have negated the treaty, so neither the Allieds nor the Imperialate recognized Seth’s divorce. Both Seth and Dehya eventually remarried anyway.
Spherical Harmonic
tells the story of what happened to
Dehya
after the Radiance War. She and
Eldrin
have two children,
Taquinil Selei
and
Althor Vyan Selei
.

Althor Vyan Selei = ‘Akushtina (Tina) Santis Pulivok

The story of
Althor
and
Tina
appears in
Catch the Lightning
.
Althor Vyan Selei
was named after his uncle/cousin,
Althor Izam-Na Valdoria
. Tina also appears in the story “Ave de Paso” in the anthology
Redshift
and
The Year’s Best Fantasy,
2001.

Roca and Tokaba had one child,
Kurj
(Imperator and former Jagernaut), who married Ami when he was about a century old. Kurj and Ami had a son named Kurjson.

Although no records exist of
Eldrinson
’s lineage, it is believed he descends from the ancient Ruby Dynasty. He and
Roca
have ten children:

Eldrin (Dryni) Jarac
(bard, consort to Ruby Pharaoh, warrior)

Althor Izam-Na
(engineer, Jagernaut, Imperial Heir)

Del-Kurj (Del)
(singer, warrior, twin to
Chaniece
)

Chaniece Roca
(runs Valdoria family household, twin to
Del-Kurj
)

Havyrl (Vyrl) Torcellei
(farmer, doctorate in agriculture)

Sauscony (Soz) Lahaylia
(military scientist, Jagernaut, Imperator)

Denric Windward
(teacher, doctorate in literature)

Shannon Eirlei
(Blue Dale archer)

Aniece Dyhianna
(accountant, Rillian queen)

Kelricson (Kelric) Garlin
(mathematician, Jagernaut, Imperator)

Eldrin
appears in
The Radiant Seas
and
Spherical Harmonic

Althor
has a daughter, Eristia Leirol Valdoria, with Syreen Leirol, an actress turned linguist. Coop and Vaz have a son, Ryder Jalam Majda Valdoria, with
Althor
as co-father.
Althor
and Coop appear in
The Radiant Seas.
The novelette, “Soul of Light” (Circlet Press, anthology
Sextopia
), tells the story of how
Althor
and Vaz met Coop. Vaz and Coop also appear in
Spherical Harmonic.
Althor
and Cirrus also have a son.

The story of
Havyrl
and Kamoj appears in
The Quantum Rose,
which won the 2001 Nebula Award. An early version of the first half was serialized in
Analog,
May 1999–July/August 1999. The story of
Havyrl
and Lilly appears in “Stained Glass Heart,” a novella in the anthology
Irresistible Forces
, February 2004.

The story of how
Soz
and Jato met appears in the novella, “Aurora in Four Voices” (
Analog,
December 1998).
Soz
and
Jaibriol
’s stories appear in
Primary Inversion
and
The Radiant Seas.
They have four children, all of whom use Qox-Skolia as their last name:
Jaibriol III, Rocalisa, Vitar,
and
del-Kelric
. The story of how
Jaibriol III
became the emperor of Eube appears in
The Moon’s Shadow.
Jaibriol III
married Tarquine Iquar, the Finance Minister of Eube.

Aniece
= Lord Rillia

Lord Rillia rules Rillia, which consists of the extensive Rillian Vales, the Dalvador Plains, the Backbone Mountains, and the Stained Glass Forest.

Kelric
’s stories are told in
The Last Hawk, Ascendant Sun, The Moon’s Shadow,
the novella “A Roll of the Dice” (
Analog,
July/August 2000), and the novelette “Light and Shadow” (
Analog,
April 1994).
Kelric
and Rashiva have one son, Jimorla (Jimi) Haka, who becomes a renowned Calani.
Kelric
and Savina have one daughter,
Rohka Miesa Varz
, who becomes the Ministry Successor in line to rule the Twelve Estates on Coba.