A stasis field established in the 20th century and purported to contain
living specimens of the year 1926. J.
Darlington Smith was found inside and revived when the field was
finally released.
Ancient Benevolent and Fraternal Order of the
Wolf
Symbol worn to indicate that a man is unarmed (women are not expected to
arm themselves). It was considered a sign of weakness and inferiority, except
on the elderly.
Hamilton
Felix's sidearm of choice, a .45 caliber model recreated from a model in
the Smithsonian Institution. It was considered highly unusual, since most
weapons used energy beams, not projectiles.
control natural
People who were conceived without the intervention of genetic selection.
They were used as controls to determine how far genetic engineers had
manipulated human development from the "original" state. They were subject to
such ills as caries, allergies, and degenerative diseases. In compensation
they received special government subsidies, but they were sometimes treated as
social inferiors.
Council of Policy
Political body that analyzed economic indicators and determined monthly
citizens' allowances.
Cyril (no last name)
Member of a restaurant party disturbed by an accident of Monroe-Alpha
Clifford's. The altercation culminated in an exchange of gunfire; the
other party was astonished that Clifford used a projectile, not an
energy-beam, weapon.
[mentioned in passing] Ancient researcher into the meaning
of dreams. [Mispronunciation of Carl Jung?]
Eastern University
College from which J.
Darlington Smith graduated, no longer in existence when he was rescued
from the Adirondack
Stasis Field. By implication, the educational system had changed radically
since the 20th century.
Government that attempted to breed supermen, which instigated the Second
Genetic War.
Espartero Carvala
Patagonian representative on the Genetic
Planning Council, a control
natural and formidable figure. She claimed to be certain that her opinion
on life after death was correct. There are implications that she was
reincarnated as Hamilton Justina.
The "Oldest Living Thing on Earth", jokingly proclaimed President Emeritus
by the Survivors
Club in its public guise.
Genetic Planning Council
Government agency that oversaw genetic "improvement" of humans; their role
included maintaining a group of control naturals against which the genetic
changes could be compared.
Headquarters of the Ancient Benevolent and Fraternal Order of the Wolf. It
was used as a meeting place by the Survivors
Club.
Hamilton Felix
The "culmination of a three-hundred-year program of controlled genetics".
Unfortunately for the genetic planners, he had no interest in producing
offspring. After thwarting a revolt by the Survivors
Club and falling in love with Longcourt Phyllis, he took more of an
interest in life. In response to his demand to know whether life had meaning,
a colossal research project into that question was organized by the
government. He and Phyllis had two children, Hamilton Justina and Hamilton
Theobald.
Member of the Survivors
Club conspiracy, given unspecified assignments for the revolt.
Hartnett Marion
A guest at Johnson-Smith
Estaire's party with whom Monroe-Alpha
Clifford fell in love. After a frantic search for her, he met her again in
the Sierra Nevada Forest while he was still deranged from the abortive Survivors
Club coup. Thinking she was a mutation,
he tried to kill her, but she survived. She was actually an experimental
genotype possessing extraordinary emotional control and civility. She married
him in spite of his earlier behavior towards her. Clifford called her "Molly".
Product of genetic experiments by the Empire
of the Great Khans. They were extremely specialized, and so ultimately a
failure. [Latin, "changeable man"]
Hornby Willem
Survivors
Club conspirator. He was accused of disobeying orders and summarily
executed.
Member of the Genetic
Planning Council, Speaker for the Day during the hearing to consider Mordan
Claude's proposal for an investigation into life after death.
Probably a fancy name for computer; it uses paper tape. It was used for
economic predictions: every transaction was entered into it and analyses were
issued quarterly.
[mentioned in passing] Tourist city, apparently somewhere
in South America.
Larsen Hazel
Monroe-Alpha
Clifford's ortho-wife, a former professional dancer. After an amicable
divorce, she resumed her career to take entertainment troupes to outplanet
scientific posts.
Law of Stable Money
Theory that governed the economy: "In a stable economy, debt-free new
currency must be equated to the net reinvestment."
Entity invoked by Hamilton
Felix; quite possibly it served as a deity.
Longcourt Phyllis
Woman chosen by Mordan
Claude as the most perfect genetic mate for Hamilton
Felix; a practicing psycho-pediatrician. Although he initially resisted,
she and Felix were married, and they had two children.
[mentioned in passing] Economic system (not described) that
preceded the one administered by Monroe-Alpha
Clifford.
marriage
Marriage is obviously important to Heinlein. In many stories a marriage is
central to the story, the characters take time out from crises to marry, or it
is implied that marriage between main characters is inevitable. Serial
monogamy is apparently common in the society of Beyond This Horizon.
Marriage contracts are for a limited number of years, renewable by mutual
consent.
District Moderator for Genetics, married to Bainbridge
Martha. Worked hard at persuading Hamilton
Felix to have children, arranging for him to meet Longcourt
Phyllis and founding the Great Research (into reincarnation) at his
behest.
They were occasionally introduced by genetic engineers to foster
improvements in the human race. Excessive tampering such as that by the Empire
of the Great Khans led to warfare.
[mentioned in passing] South American city near the Orinoco
River, which suffered from an overabundance of credit.
Northwest Colony
Enclave founded by people who resisted the attempt to genetically
eliminate violent tendencies. There was eventually a war between them and the
outside world. (Also called the Northwest Union.)
Parmalee-Hitchcock
[mentioned in passing] Recessive gene that determines a
pacifist personality.
It was an accepted custom — i.e. virtually a social necessity — for men to
wear weapons. Since social offenders could be challenged to a duel, with no
legal punishment, this custom allegedly served to discourage on public
rudeness and obnoxious behavior. Unarmed males were treated as social
inferiors but were also exempt from challenges unless their behavior was
extremely offensive. Women rarely went armed, and were often belittled when
they did.
J. Darlington Smith
Man discovered inside the Adirondack
Stasis Field. He revived the ancient game of "feetball", and served Hamilton
Felix as a translator of ancient (i.e. 20th century) documents.
Steinwitz (no first name)
Member of the Survivors
Club conspiracy, assigned to the Power Center during the coup attempt.
Stokes Coagulator
[mentioned in passing] Common sidearm.
Survivors Club
Club that met in the Hall of the
Wolf; McFee
Norbert was a member. Superficially a drinking club, it was actually a
revolutionary cabal. Hamilton
Felix was recruited but agreed to act as a double agent for the
government. Monroe-Alpha
Clifford was duped into joining, but was "rescued" by Felix. The Club
attempted a coup d'état and was presumably wiped out.
Dr. Thorgsen (no first name)
Inventor of an apparatus to determine the origin and destination of the
galaxy.
(Beyond This Horizon)
time
J.
Darlington Smith was seen as a "time traveler" although he had not really
bypassed the normal sequence of time.
The Heinlein
Society was founded by Virginia Heinlein on behalf of her husband, science
fiction author Robert Anson Heinlein, to "pay forward" the legacy of Robert A. Heinlein to future generations of "Heinlein's Children."