The Gilded Scarab (47 page)

Authors: Anna Butler

Doxy—Prostitute

Dreadnought—A carrier ship in Her Britannic Majesty’s Imperial Aero Corps. Rafe Lancaster served as a squadron leader on the dreadnought the
Arc Royal.
Dreadnoughts acted as carriers with squadrons of small, biwinged fighters. Smaller ships—aerofrigates, aerocorvettes, etc.—also existed

Emissarium—Exhaust pipe

Ether—See
Aether
. Also, an anesthetic

Flechette—Pointed steel projectile, with a vaned tail for stable flight. In
The Gilded Scarab
, the flechette carries a warhead filled with a luminiferous aether/phlogiston/petroleum distillate mixture. Fired from laser-guided cannons

Fusillade—A discharge from a number of firearms, fired simultaneously or in rapid succession. May also be used in a literary sense, of any rapidly repeated noise, etc.

Gilt—A thin layer of gold or something simulating gold that is applied in gilding

Harquebus—

(i) In the
Gilded Scarab
, a long firearm, like a rifle, powered with an aether/phlogiston mix. Capable of also firing a neural disruptor beam which, while unpleasant, is not fatal
(ii) Historical: A firearm with match holder, trigger, and tumbler, made in the second half of the 15th century. The barrel was about forty inches long

Havey-cavey—Irregular, unsavory, (possibly criminal)

Hermetic—Completely sealed, especially against the escape or entry of air

House—Oligarchic political unit, based on familial bonds. See
Convocation House, Minor House

Humors—One of the basic principles of medieval medicine was that of the four humors of which a human body was composed. The balance between these four (blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile) was essential for the well-being of a person

Intelligencer—Spy

Ionic Exchange Ice Box—A refrigerator, powered by the exchange of negatively charged ions. See
Ion Exchange

Ion exchange—Exchange of ions between two electrolytes. In
The Gilded Scarab
, the exchange leaches out heat, producing a form of refrigeration – hence ionic exchange ice box

Ionic Gas Discharge Lamps—Fluorescent lamps

Journeyman—One who has fully served an apprenticeship in a trade or craft and is a qualified worker in another’s employ

Kinetoscope Camera—In
The Gilded Scarab
, a visual recording/monitoring camera used for surveillance

Laudanum—An opiate, freely available in an apothecary’s. Pain reliever. Addictive

Lucifer—Match with a sulfur head, for striking a light

Luminiferous—Light bearing

Luminiferous Aether—In 19th century physics, a postulated medium that would propagate light, since disproved by quantum physics and relativity theories. In
The Gilded Scarab
, the fifth element, an energy source for engines and weapons of all kinds

Marconi—Device for communication through the air, a radio/receiver

Metropolis—City

Minor House—One of the 60-plus subsidiary Houses, allied to the 8 Convocation Houses that rule the Britannic Imperium. The Minor Houses owe their wealth and position to their Convocation House ally, dependent on the Convocation House for posts within government that can provide careers/profit

Neophyte—A beginner, a convert and learner

Nobel’s Blasting Powder—Dynamite

Ocular—The eyepiece of an optical instrument, as of a telescope or microscope

Pantechnicon—

(i) A depository or place where all sorts of manufactured articles are collected for sale
(ii) A van, especially a large removal van. Originally pantechnicon van

Petroleum Distillate—Petrol

Philtre—A love potion. In
The Gilded Scarab
, Philtre Coffee is the fanciful, punning name of a chain of coffeehouses

Phlogiston—A particle that determines the combustibility of materials. According to that theory, wood had a good amount of them, oil was saturated with them, and rocks had none. (Now debunked.) In
The Gilded Scarab
, phlogiston particles, when combined with luminiferous aether, enhance the energy output (discharge) of an engine or weapon

Phlogiston Particle Projector—A (fictional) machine or component that produces a plasma bolt. In
Gilded Scarab
, an essential component powering weapons, particularly harquebuses and pistols

Photic—

(i) adj. Of or relating to light
(ii) adj. Penetrated by or receiving light

Photon Globe—Lamp; either domestic or large scale on posts in the streets

Plasma—One of the four fundamental states of matter, the others being solid, liquid, and gas

Plasma Bolt—A bolt, stream or pulse of plasma (that is, very hot, very energetic excited matter) from a aether/phlogiston-powered pistol or harquebus

Pneumatic—

(i) adj. Of or relating to air or other gases
(ii) adj. Of or relating to pneumatics
(iii) adj. Powered by, or filled with compressed air

Security Net—In
The Gilded Scarab
, a form of wireless Internet used principally by House Guards to store data. Not in general use

Submersible—Small naval submarine

Tincture—

(i) A trace or vestige
(ii) Alcohol solution of a nonvolatile medicine: tincture of iodine

Transparent Aluminum—Clear, strong metal used for see-through aeroship canopies and autocar windscreens

Vapor—Steam

Vaporius—Steamy

Vaporium—Steam pipe

Vulcanized Rubber—natural rubber or related polymer converted to a more durable material via the addition of sulfur or other equivalent curatives

Water Closet—Lavatory. A toilet

Wireless Transmitter—Device for communication through the air, radio/receiver. See
Marconi

Wireless Power Transmitter—Device designed to deliver electrical current to distant devices through the air; i.e., a Tesla coil

Wireless telegraph—Radio and receiver

About the Author

A
NNA
B
UTLER
was a communications specialist for many years, working in UK government departments on everything from marketing employment schemes to running an internal TV service. She now spends her time indulging her love of old-school science fiction. There’s nothing better than handsome heroes running about shooting lasers, saving the planet, and getting into passionate scrapes with equally handsome space pilots. Or good-looking Victorian Aegyptologists getting entangled with gorgeous coffeehouse owners in a steampunk version of London. When she isn’t writing, she thinks about doing the odd bit of gardening, but that never lasts long—Pinterest and building up the biggest collection of tiara images on the web are far more alluring. Anna lives in London with her husband and the Deputy Editor, aka Molly the cockapoo.

Contact Anna at [email protected]

Website: http://www.annabutlerfiction.com

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