Thursday August 23, 2018
Book 19: A Function of Firepower — Part I

Note: TTR stands for “terra tempus regula,” a bad translatineration of “Earth standard time.” It’s handy to have a clock that everyone in the star system can synchronize with, but like most nigh-universally-handy things, it's also inconvenient enough that people will complain. This is why, colloquially and with sidewise snickers, the noun “regula” (canon, standard, precept) is replaced with the adjective “rectus” (correct, straight, regular). This is a wildly inaccurate translatineration of “Earth’s Time Rectum,” which is exactly the sort of jab that lets everyone blow off some steam before synchronizing their clocks.

Transcript

 

NARRATOR: High Atlantis, the orbital port-of-entry for Sol System's capital megalopolis of Dom Atlantis...

BREYA: Admirals, as a few of you are already aware, at 1320 hours T.T.R. the Plenipotent Dominion city of Pachylia Darceta was destroyed by long gun.

BREYA: As of 1345 hours, every city in the Plenipotent Dominion had evacuated to points unknown.

CHU: How do you empty a hundred cities in twenty-five minutes?

BREYA: Allow me to clarify. I don't mean that the cities were evacuated.

BREYA: I mean the cities evacuated.

CHU: So where did Petey put all the people?

DEVEREAUX: They're still in the cities.