Star's Universe

I've never sat down and written a description of the Star Runner universe so I thought I might do that here while some other thoughts percolate.

The local governmental authority is the Coalition. I say "local" by which I mean in the galactic sense. Planets or worlds or groups of planets or worlds belong to the Coalition and in exchange get military protection and trade preferences. In theory each planet or world has equal rank with every other in decision-making for the good of the whole. However, the reality is quite different.

Before the Coalition the Pantheran Empire ruled a large swath of space. (I can't tell you which part because I can't read star maps and select the correct area.) Pantherans are highly evolved mammals who structure their society around gendered Pantherans while creating androgynous offspring who have been genetically altered and enhanced to perform specific functions in their society, usually the most risky or highly specialized functions. Military troops, for example, are androgynes. Androgynes do not have full rights as individuals. They are terminated when they perform below par.

Star is an androgyne. Its role in Pantheran society is to be a runner, an individual who runs spaceships. We would call its position a helmsperson or a pilot but the role is more complex. Star's brain is designed to interface with the artificial intelligence of Pantheran spacecraft. In practice this means that Star's mind and the Ship's memory are in constant dialog. Although Star is an individual, much of Star's memory is stored in the Ship's memory. What Star remembers or thinks is often an extension of data stored in the ship's memory.

Star's mental, emotional and physical health is monitored closely by the Ship's intelligence. Star has difficulty regulating its own bodily processes because it spends a lot of time wired into the Ship, being awake for extended periods of time. Its well-being is both dependent on the Ship and critical for a spaceship to operate at peak efficiency and speed. The geneticists who enhanced the runner profile sacrificed Star's autonomy of function in this area to assist with the interface. Star's own body accepts the interface willingly.

The Pantheran Empire has been in decline for some time. The Coalition is the Pantheran subterfuge to maintain a great deal of control while limiting its need for conquest and subjugation of new species.

Beyond the reach of the Coalition is the Northern and Southern Frontiers. The northern frontier is occupied mostly by humans. There are loose alliances like the Consortium and more structured ones like Queensland and the Republic of Space. There are also independents which have gathered together to form FRONT, the Free Residents of the Northern Territories.

Star supplied illegal and restricted munitions to all these groups and participated in a daring raid on the Coalition border patrol. As a result, Star was declared a traitor to the state.

Formerly, Star was placed on the Coalition's termination list. Star is too independent-minded to operate well under Pantheran supervision. Androgynes who are placed on the termination list can elect to be terminated or to find their own way in society, outside of the cradle-to-grave security net. This is often a demoralizing and marginalized existence. Star chose to go to the Northern Frontier and become a gunrunner.

later, Star became involved in a situation (I haven't worked out all the details of this) in which Star could not avoid being terminated. Star's friends convinced the Pantheran authorities not to terminate Star. In return, Star was struck from the Pantheran rolls. In effect, Star was virtually terminated without losing its life. Since Star was officially no longer a Pantheran, Star's human friends declared it to be human. hence Star is physically a Pantheran but is classified human with human documentation. Star's identity, for example, is no longer a long string of Pantheran numbers, identifying its birth litter, but its legal name is Star Runner, a convenient human moniker Star adopted on the Northern Frontier.

Star has come to Hypatia to sort things out in its own mind and to be as far as it can from the Coalition in case anyone wants to terminate Star physically. This destination was suggested to Star by the Fungusians, an unaligned old race of mushroom-like beings who communicate telepathically.