Orphans of the Sky - Heinlein Concordance

A Heinlein Concordance

created by M. E. Cowan

Robert A Heinlein

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 presented by the Heinlein Society

Orphans of the Sky

astronomy

It was considered mythology aboard the Ship; ancient texts were interpreted metaphorically.

Ax (or "The Ax")

Member of Joe-Jim Gregory's gang.

Jean Baldwin

Pilot officer third class in the original crew of the Vanguard. He was killed by mutineers.

Basic Modern Physics

One of Hugh Hoyland's textbooks. To the residents of the Ship, it was a "Sacred Writing", considered allegorical.

Edris Baxter

Farm girl whose father hoped she would marry Hugh Hoyland. She married Mort Tyler after Hugh's disappearance.

John Black

Man who claimed Hugh Hoyland's uncle owed him three swine; the case was decided by the Witness.

Bobo

Microcephalic dwarf mutie who captured Hugh Hoyland and brought him to Joe-Jim Gregory. He was killed in Phineas Narby's attack on the muties.

books

The Crew preserved the ancient reference manuals as sacred scripture, having long since lost any understanding of their contents. Joe-Jim Gregory owned and read many books that he'd stolen from the Crew area.

Basic Modern Physics
Care and Maintenance of the Auxiliary Four-Stage Converter
Handbook of Power, Light, and Conditioning
The Romance of Modern Astrography by Franklin Buck
The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas

Robert Browning

Joe-Jim Gregory had a copy of his Collected Poems, printed by L-Press (New York, London, Luna City).

Franklin Buck

[mentioned in passing] Author of The Romance of Modern Astrography. The residents of the ship had many books from the original crew, but had long since lost the understanding of their contents. They believed this book, like the others, was intended to be interpreted as myth and metaphor.

Care and Maintenance of the Auxiliary Four-Stage Converter

A Sacred Book, lawfully held only by the Chief Engineer. The residents of the ship had many books from the original crew, but had long since lost the understanding of their contents. They believed this book, like the others, was intended to be interpreted as myth and metaphor.

Chloe (no last name)

Widow whom Hugh Hoyland chose to set up housekeeping for him after the mutiny; she accompanied Hugh on his escape from the Ship.

Crew

The inhabitants of the Ship, who had long since forgotten the original meaning of the word "crew" and have come to think of it as meaning "people" or "humans".

Dark Sector

Area of the Ship forbidden to the Crew; it was apparently populated by muties.

Earth

To the Crew, a mystical and strictly imaginary place. They were uncertain about the actual meaning of the term.

(also in other stories)

Encyclopaedia Terrestriana

[mentioned in passing] Volume fed to the Ship's Convertor in ancient times by a crew member who had no idea of its value, never having learned to read.

Bill Ertz

Assistant Chief Engineer in the Ship. Not much older than Hugh Hoyland, he held opinions that Hugh considered heretical. He became Chief Engineer while Hugh was held captive by the muties. When Hugh was released and told his story, Ertz had him arrested for heresy. Hugh escaped and had him taken to the control room to see Outside for himself. After their unsuccessful coup attempt, Ertz joined Hugh in his escape from the Ship.

Far Centaurus

To the Scientists aboard the Ship, interpreted as Heaven, the culmination of Jordan's Plan. The ship's original destination was Proxima Centauri.

Forty-One

Member of Joe-Jim Gregory's gang.

Joe-Jim Gregory

Two-headed leader among the muties, with a separate consciousness in each head; he frequently argued between himself. "Jim" was nastier than "Joe", but also more eager for adventure. He lacked the drive to organize the muties, being by nature an observer and intellectual. Taught to read by captured Scientists, he owned a vast collection of (stolen) books but was unable to distinguish fiction from fact. After Hugh Hoyland's capture, Joe-Jim took him as a personal slave and showed him the Outside. He agreed to let Hugh return to the Scientists to convince others of the true nature of the Ship, but was killed while helping Hugh escape his co-conspirators' treachery.

Handbook of Power, Light, and Conditioning

A Sacred Book, lawfully held only by the Chief Engineer. The Ship's Crew long ago lost all understanding of its contents.

John Henry

The Joe half of Joe-Jim Gregory accepted him as a real person and regarded him as the greatest man who ever lived.

horses

Animal unknown on the Ship except in fiction. Joe-Jim Gregory learned about horses through his reading.

(also in other stories)

house

Unknown on the Ship, described as a kind of compartment. (The inhabitants of the Ship lived in the ship's berths and other chambers, not in free-standing dwellings.) Bill Ertz misread it as "horse", to his great confusion.

Edard Hoyland

Hugh Hoyland's uncle, with whom Hugh lived.

Hugh Hoyland

Young resident of the Ship who was recruited to be a Scientist. He was encouraged by younger Scientists to support their plans for a new order, but was captured by muties and taken as Joe-Jim Gregory's personal servant. From Joe-Jim he learned the true nature of the Ship, and was allowed to return to Scientists' territory to persuade them to join the muties in completing the Trip. He was able to show one Scientist the Outside, but was arrested for heresy and just barely escaped with his life; he eventually fled the Ship with a few companions when they approached a habitable planet.

Huff

The "Satan" of the Ship, derived from Ship's metalsmith Roy Huff, leader of the ancient mutiny.

Jack-of-the-Nose (Jack O'Nose)

Member of Joe-Jim Gregory's gang. When he objected to taking orders from Hugh Hoyland, he was killed by Bobo and eaten by the other muties.

Jordan (no first name)

The deity aboard the Ship (see Jordan Foundation).

(also in other stories)

Jordan Foundation

Organization that sponsored the Proxima Centauri Expedition. After many generations, dim memories and tradition on the Ship transformed this into Jordan, the deity that guided the Ship's spiritual progress. (Is there a connection with Methuselah's Children?)

(also in other stories)

Jordan's Plan

The original ship's itinerary, interpreted metaphorically by the Scientists as a guide for moral behavior and Key to Spiritual Enlightenment.

Rudyard Kipling

His poetry survived in the Ship, and was a favorite of Joe-Jim Gregory's.

(also in other stories)

Lacy (no first name)

[mentioned in passing] Member of the original crew of the Vanguard, who acted as a messenger to the mutineers.

law of gravitation

It was interpreted as an allegory by the Scientists in the Ship, as a description of falling in love. Hugh Hoyland got some inkling of the true idea from Joe-Jim Gregory.

Lines From the Beginning

The Ship's Holy Writ, a mythic version of the launching of the New Frontiers, the mutiny, and the subsequent evolution of Ship society.

Long Arm (no other name)

A mutie by birthplace and definition, although human in appearance. He was a member of Joe-Jim Gregory's gang who helped rescue Hugh Hoyland from being executed for heresy.

L-Press

Company that published a book of Robert Browning's poems owned by Joe-Jim Gregory.

Lux Transcriptions, Ltd.

[mentioned in passing] Publisher of The Romance of Modern Astrography.

(also in other stories)

Alan Mahoney

Friend of Hugh Hoyland, who contacted the muties to rescue Hugh from execution for heresy. He accompanied Hugh on his escape from the Ship.

main control room

Room located in the center, no-gravity section of the Ship. It was said to be haunted by the ghost of Jordan. Joe-Jim Gregory brought Hugh Hoyland here to convince him that there was a universe outside the Ship.

marriage

Marriage in the Ship in effect involved transfer of ownership of women from fathers to husbands. The woman had no say in the matter.

(also in other stories)

Theodor Mawson

Storekeeper ordinary, member of the original crew of the Vanguard. He was elected Captain after the mutiny was suppressed and all pilot and engineering officers had been killed.

Mother of Blades

Four-armed mutant, the principal weaponsmaker of the muties.

mutations

The Scientists taught that mutations were the result of sin among the Crew.

(also in other stories)

muties

Mutated humans who roamed the low-gravity sections of the Ship. They organized their own society and waged guerrilla war against unmutated humans. While tolerated by the Elders as part of Jordan's Plan, they were marked for extinction by the younger scientists. Though usually deformed in some way, they sometimes looked no different from normal humans. (The term may come from "mutants", or from "mutineers", since the original mutineers took refuge in those sections of the ship now occupied by the muties.)

Phineas Narby

Executive assistant to the Ship's Captain, with the rank of Commander. He attained his position after a mysterious accident to his predecessor. He saw himself as the logical successor to the Captain, originally planning to assassinate him "for the good of the ship". Narby considered himself a rationalist and skeptic. He accepted the muties' help in return for supporting the plan to move the Ship — but once his power was assured he betrayed his allies and slaughtered them.

Nelson (no first name)

Scientist with the rank of lieutenant who sponsored Hugh Hoyland for scientist's training and taught him the Sacred Doctrine. He was massacred during the mutiny that made Phineas Narby the Captain.

(also in other stories)

physics

It was considered mysticism aboard the Ship; ancient texts were interpreted allegorically.

Pig

A mutie by birthplace and definition, but human in appearance. A member of Joe-Jim Gregory's gang, he helped rescue Hugh Hoyland from execution for heresy.

Pitcairn Island

Name given by Diaspora discoverers to the planet settled by refugees from the Vanguard (the ship in Orphans of the Sky).

Proxima Centauri Expedition

"First recorded attempt to reach the nearer stars of the galaxy". The expedition ship, the Vanguard, was launched in 2119 CE. The crew mutinied and killed all officers capable of running the ship; thus it drifted in space for generations afterward. Although the inhabitants retained enough skill through the generations to keep the ship habitable, they lacked any real understanding of science and all knowledge of their origin and history.

Allan Quatermain

Accepted by Joe-Jim Gregory as a real person; the "Joe" half considered him the greatest man who ever lived.

"Noisy" Rhysling (no other first name)

His poetry was a favorite of Joe-Jim Gregory's.

(also in other stories)

The Romance of Modern Astrography

Book by Franklin Buck, which mentioned the Proxima Centauri Expedition (the Vanguard).

Sacred Lines

The Ship's "scripture", oral tradition that recounted the history of the voyage.

Scientists

Spiritual and temporal leaders aboard the Ship. The actual meaning of "science" was long since forgotten. Scientists tended the machinery without really understanding the technology. They could read the ancient manuals and technical texts but interpreted them metaphorically.

Arthur Sears

Member of the original crew of the Vanguard, sent as a messenger to the mutineers and killed by them.

Senior Watch Officer

The Scientist who was in charge of the Convertor. Whoever held this position normally the heir presumptive of the Chief Engineer

Ship

The Ship's inhabitants — except for the better — educated muties — were unaware that the ship was a construct. Both the original name, the Vanguard, and the original purpose of the ship's voyage were lost to history. To the Scientists, the Ship was the entire universe. They interpreted the descriptions of its movement as a metaphor for spiritual development.

Squatty (no other name)

Member of Joe-Jim Gregory's gang. He was human in appearance although a mutie. He helped rescue Hugh Hoyland from execution as a heretic.

The Three Musketeers

One of Joe-Jim Gregory's stolen books. Bill Ertz was intrigued by it, but puzzled by some details.

time

The inhabitants of the Ship had the concepts of "before", "now", "after"; but not of measured times, being isolated from astronomical phenomena and lacking seasons on which such measurements are usually based.

(also in other stories)

Trip

To the inhabitants of the Ship, not a literal voyage but a spiritual journey.

Two Wise Heads

The muties' title for Joe-Jim Gregory.

Mort Tyler

Friend of Hugh Hoyland who wanted to be a scientist. He was eventually assigned to the Ship's Convertor as senior watch officer and married Edris Baxter after Hugh's disappearance. He testified against Hugh in his heresy trial. He was killed by Alan Mahoney during Hugh's rescue from execution.

Vanguard

Original name of the Ship.

(also in other stories)

Witness

Community elder in the Ship, who arbitrated disputes and insatiably collected information from any source. Each Witness memorized the Sacred Lines and the lives of all previous Witnesses.

(also in other stories)

Malcolm Young

Member of the original crew of the Vanguard. He was sent as a messenger to the mutineers and was killed by them.

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