All the Union folks know about it that it's a compact radio source, presumably a very massive object, that periodically gives off x-ray/gamma ray bursts and gravitational waves. Most think it's probably a black hole or an orbiting pair of black holes, but that doesn't fully explain its behavior. It's located on the far side of Historian territory, so no Union researchers have been able to get very close to it.cacambo43 wrote:What exactly *is* the "Well of Souls" stellar remnant? What does that mean? I expect it's not a black hole or a neutron star/pulsar (else you would have called it that). How did it disrupt hyperspace travel in the past and how did the nearby civilizations get around the problem? Will it be relevant to Alex's story?
During the period from 1436-1451 CE, the gravitational waves increased in intensity, to the point where they added significantly to variance in hyperspace jumps. This effectively reduced the safe jump range, making some longer links extremely dangerous. This reduction isolated some regions, in particular the space between the warring Loroi and Mannadi. After a time, the intensity of the waves subsided; nobody knows why.
It does figure into the story.
It's essentially a tool as much as a writing instrument, for making measuring marks and the like (I doubt the Scout Corps folks are going to writing essays with a marker). Loroi engineers and damage control people probably have similar tools.Luge wrote:It looks like it says ECS-154 on it, which is the Bellarmine's identifier. So I presume it was in his uniform pocket under his suit and was recovered with him. He was seen writing down the results of his Loroi food "experiments" earlier in the series.
What do the Loroi think of it? Is it seen as primitive, since everything else on board is digitised?
Alex probably had some other random items in his pockets, but nothing that is worth mentioning (that I can think of). There were other items recovered by the Loroi in addition to the human bodies, and this is something that will be addressed.Luge wrote:Was anything else recovered with Jardin? I'm wondering if there might have been some basic tools, ID/security tags, mini-tablet phone/communicator devices or other items in his uniform or suit that survived? Pocket lint?
Whether the Loroi gave it back to him or not is another matter entirely of course...
Jardin was also told that the Loroi did recover other bodies from the debris of his old ship. Did he get to see any of those, or what scrap they might have salvaged before destroying what remained?