A Heinlein Concordance

created by M. E. Cowan

Robert A Heinlein

Introduction no frames index

From the stories:   A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W XYZ
From the real world:  
a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w xyz

A Heinlein Concordance ©2004 M.E.Cowan

 

"'—We Also Walk Dogs'"


Bank Central
Government treasury, which issued the payment to General Services for developing the gravity field.

Pierre Beaumont
Government chief of protocol who requested General Services' aid in setting up an interplanetary conference on Earth, including comfortable (i.e. low-gravity when necessary) facilities for all delegates.

Carson (no first name)
Engineer on the General Services staff who worked on the artificial gravity problem.

Jay Clare
President of General Services.

Grace Cormet
Employee of General Services and wife of employee Saunders Francis. Although she worked as a receptionist, she was apparently a special agent with wide-ranging responsibilities, talents, and authority. She was assigned to the task of providing artificial environments, including lighter-than-Earth gravity if necessary, for all envoys to an interplanetary conference on Earth.

Farquarson (no first name)
Astrophysicist mentioned by Dr. Krathwohl in his response to Grace Cormet's question about gravitation.

Flower of Forgetfulness
Ming china bowl coveted by O'Neil. General Services acquired it for him from the British Museum (by means unspecified) in return for his help in developing artificial gravity.

Saunders (Sance) Francis
Assistant to Jay Clare and husband of Grace Cormet. He and Grace were assigned to outfitting the interplanetary conference on Earth, including devising a method of providing artificial gravity.

General Services
Company that provided any sort of service the client requires, provided it is legal and physically possible. They specialized in solutions to unique problems, but also provided all sorts of mundane tasks: Their motto was, "We Also Walk Dogs."

Peter Johnson
Son of Mrs. Peter Van Hogbein Johnson [see next entry]; he broke his hip playing polo just before an important dinner party his mother was hosting.

Mrs. Peter Van Hogbein Johnson (no other first name)
Society matron who requested General Services' help so that she could both be at her son's hospital bedside and act as hostess for an important dinner party. They arranged a two-way video broadcast between the party and her son's hospital room.

Dr. Julian (no first name)
[mentioned in passing] Foremost theoretician on gravitation. Unfortunately for the purposes of General Services, he was deceased.

Krantz (no first name)
[mentioned in passing] Artist who painted "The Weeping Buddha", a reproduction of which disguised Jay Clare's video console.

Dr. Krathwohl (no first name)
Scientist on the permanent staff of General Services. He had no fixed assignments but was allowed to pursue whatever interested him, since so often this freedom led to profitable results. He was consulted to find a gravitation expert to help devise environments for delegates to Earth's interplanetary conference.

Memorial Hospital
[mentioned in passing] Medical facility treating Peter Johnson.

O'Neil (no first name)
Foremost expert in gravity theory, who was persuaded to help General Services only after they acquired an antique Chinese porcelain bowl, called the Flower of Forgetfulness, for him.
(also in other stories)

Pan-Jovian Trading Corporation
[mentioned in passing] Business in Jupiter's system. (it was probably headquartered on one of the moons.)

Second Plutonian Expedition
[mentioned in passing] General Services handled the outfitting; the implication is that some of the arrangements were somewhat unorthodox.

Solar System Federation
Interplanetary political organization, probably analogous to the United Nations. General Services was hired to create artificial environments (including gravity and atmospheric pressure) congenial to natives of all planets so that Earth could host SSF conferences.

Steve (no last name)
Employee of General Services who handled the details of Mrs. Peter van Hogbein Johnson's requirements.
(also in other stories)

The Weeping Buddha
Painting owned by General Services. A simulacrum of it was used to camouflage the stereo screen in Jay Clare's office.

 


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