Map of Kethix

The Island of Kethix

Possibly one of the most historic and fascinating of the Greek islands is Rhodes. It once was the site of the world famous colossus of Rhodes which was a gigantic statue of the sun god Helios. Before its destruction by an earthquake it stood 98 feet into the air above the passing ships. I've you've seen Game of Thrones then you may have seen the Titan of Braavos–a close approximation to how the colossus of Rhodes may have looked in size. Rhodes is also famous for being the home and base for the Knights Hospitaller who developed the island and built many of its famous fortifications.

The Greek islands are the basis for many of the islands in Pa'Kevutu and Rhodes is the inspiration for the Island of Kethix where the people have stormed the temple and are seeking change to the currently repressive form of government. The revolution has come to an abrupt standstill, however, with the appearance of security troops.

Map of the Constantia

The KES-106 Constantia

In October of 1957, the Soviet Union launched an  unmanned satellite called Sputnik. It seems like such a harmless thing to us today. It was only about the size of a beach ball with several spikes radiating from it and it was designed mostly to make atmospheric measurements but its impact went far beyond its size. The fact that a powerful nation like the USSR could manage such a thing meant that they might also be capable of launching weapons into space–a place with virtually no defenses. The race to the moon was a romantic cover for the race for future domination of space. It is a silent war still being played out today.

The Constantia is Kevutu's first exploration ship. In fact, it's their first space ship of any kind and the only reason they were even able to develop it is because of the science left behind when the Ganshions fled the planet. Now they are using it to explore very small asteroids in the hopes of mining them for valuable resources–something that is being reduced rapidly on the home planet. But, like Sputnik, peaceful missions can become preludes to aggression. Tools, after all, are only tools. A hammer can be used to build a house or smash a skill. It is in the hands of the user to determine the outcome. A ship is just another tool but with a lot of people within.

Cluster Map

Today I reveal the secret of the title of the collection. The Milleran Cluster is a collection of asteroids of moderate size and in close proximity to each other. The map is below.

Ceres

In 1801, Giuseppe Piazzi discovered a new star. At least that's what he thought it was at first. He called it a fixed star within the solar system. The problem was: it wasn't really fixed. It moved. How could a star move? Easy, it wasn't a star. But, what was it? At first, Piazzi called it a comet because it was too small to be called a planet. Eventually such small bodies were called asteroids (small stars). Piazzi had discovered one of the largest in our solar system and it was given the name Ceres. Soon after it was discovered that there were many asteroids - especially in the region between Mars and Jupiter.

Ceres became for me the model for the design of the planet of Pa'Kevutu and I am in the middle of a challenging but interesting design of the map of the Milleran Cluster.

Negotiations

Negotiations are a difficult thing between any two parties since both seek something in opposition to the other. According to a Wikipedia article

"Mediation is more likely to be successful when the parties are of equal power, when they have been friendly in the past, when there have been relatively few fatalities in the period before mediation, when the mediator is of high rank, and when mediation comes after a test of strength between the parties."

Unfortunately, none of these conditions exist for the people of Pa'Kevutu as they struggle to resolve the kidnapping situation on the island of Kethix. The people demand a more balanced government and the ceorans in charge are not likely to give up their power. The parties are clearly not of equal power, have not been on friendly terms, and the people have been moved by a recent suicide. Success seems limited.