TTA



By 2206 the use of artificial black holes as entropic cold sinks permitted the first cities to be constructed on Venus, but the planet itself remained so hot the red glow of superheated surface rocks were reflected by the sky



A few degrees east of the terminator of Venus is a sweet spot well known to Terran Trade Authority task force commanders where water smugglers skipping in from upsystem frequently emerge into real space. The less intelligent ones do, at any rate.



The moon Vikor orbits a gas giant planet named Telamon in the Epsilon Eridani system. Lingering resentments over a botched first contact have led the Vikorians to repeatedly block Terran Trade Authority entrance to the Integrated Star Systems Alliance.