The Norse have been sailing where they want to, trading for or just taking what they want, and going back home to enjoy life for thousands of years. They gave up the raiding bit in favor of just having fun a while back, and I have to say I approve. They jumped into The War pretty quick though, and I got to serve on the Tordenskjold. Good Norwegian name that one. Good Norwegian ship too. I loved going a-viking with her.
The Alliance used to choose peaceful and happy names for the joint Alliance colonies. We still do actually, but we’ve had to pick some pretty esoteric languages for peaceful words in the last few decades. Harmony is one of the early colonies, and is actually named for the Greek goddess Harmonia. I became one of the Faces of Harmonia long ago, and almost five percent of the people choose me to represent the net in their homes. That’s a lot of people by the way.
When I was born, I knew only what the Terran knew. I had full access to the collected Terran knowledge, including what the Peloran had told us or helped us discover. I had no access to the Peloran knowledge they had yet to share. It is how we limit cultural contamination. When Juliet was born, she had no Peloran knowledge at all. She didn’t even know how her own systems worked. I sometimes wonder how she managed when she was the only one of our kind.
Some asked why aliens weren’t here. Some said they have been here all along. The Bible speaks of the flaming chariot of God, and many other books speak of similar things. And in our own modern history, UFO reports have been common, if disbelieved. But what if they were true? What if they were here, watching us, helping us, using us? What if they were waiting until we had advanced enough to make Contact? And how will we react when we find the answer?
The Dutch used to prize their neutrality, until the Nazis came in and killed over two hundred thousand of them. After that, they decided to take sides. They jumped into The War real fast, and De Zeven Provinciën was one of the first to come. That was a real mouthful of a name though, so she picked Zoe. I always thought it was a good choice in a name. It means life. She worked to give her crew a good life, not just a good time. I appreciated the difference.