Sol
Names: SolEarth systemSolar SystemSol System
First appears in Book 1: We Are Legion, chapter 13 (Bob – August 17, 2133 – En Route)
Appearances
Connections
Key moments
- Book 1 · Ch 21Return to Sol
Riker and Homer stealthily survey the Solar System and find Earth devastated by nuclear war, with only a handful of reactor signatures left.
- Book 1 · Ch 24Battle behind the sun
Riker and Homer draw four Brazilian ships into pursuit around the sun and destroy them by exhausting their missiles with busters, then striking with inert cannonballs.
- Book 1 · Ch 29Bootstrapping industry in Sol
Homer surveys battle wreckage for materials and sets up autofactories, feeding Lagrange-point yards that will build Bobs and eventually colony ships.
- Book 1 · Ch 31Transport vessels prioritised
Realising the scale of evacuation, Riker prioritises transport vessels, angering Colonel Butterworth, who agrees refugees can use the USE compound later.
- Book 1 · Ch 34Homer's workaround
Frustrated with Riker's handling of the Spits ultimatum, Homer devises a schedule compromise and calls Colonel Butterworth to pitch it.
- Book 1 · Ch 36Standoff with Valter
Valter calls Riker's bluff of seizing the vaults by force; Riker warns the Spits will get no ship if they persist.
- Book 1 · Ch 36Cranston's override fails
Minister Cranston tries a FAITH protocol override to make Riker obedient, but it was removed long ago and Riker tells him off.
- Book 1 · Ch 36Third-ship compromise opens
Butterworth proposes advancing the third ship, and Valter, apparently tipped off, opens negotiations with Riker.
- Book 1 · Ch 38VEHEMENT threat emerges
Riker learns from Butterworth about VEHEMENT, an anonymous group threatening violence to stop humanity from continuing.
- Book 1 · Ch 38Riker meets a relative
Minister Cranston introduces Julia Hendricks, a descendant of Riker's sister Andrea, and leaves them to talk for hours.
- Book 1 · Ch 41First SCUT contact
Riker and Homer build Bill's SCUT and speak with Bill instantly across interstellar distance, exchanging news and upgrades.
- Book 1 · Ch 43Colony ship construction inspection
Riker inspects the half-built colony ships, which are progressing smoothly with Homer's supply crew keeping up.
- Book 1 · Ch 47Food reserve negotiations fail
Riker fails to persuade wealthier enclaves to share food with groups hit by VEHEMENT attacks.
- Book 1 · Ch 49Hack attempt on Riker
An intrusion via a back door in Heaven encryption is blocked by Bob-1's firewall and traced to New Zealand.
- Book 1 · Ch 49Kudzu station plan
Homer and Riker devise spinning farm stations growing kudzu; the UN and Butterworth are outraged, but Riker pushes it through.
- Book 1 · Ch 49FAITH deal for ship three
Cranston trades FAITH's food surplus for places on ship three and explains the Australian espionage behind the hack.
- Book 1 · Ch 52Farm stations expand
With Farm-1 producing and a second farm about to start, Riker and Homer discuss plans for crop and ranch donuts.
- Book 1 · Ch 54Exodus-1 and Exodus-2 completed
The Bobs watch final assembly of the first two colony ships, streamed to every UN delegate; tests and a shakedown cruise remain.
- Book 1 · Ch 58First colony ships launch
After loading USE colonists into stasis and a ceremony full of speeches, the first colony ships depart Sol escorted by Howard, watched by an emotional Riker.
- Book 2 · Ch 7Sabotage on Earth investigated
Charles reports two groups behind attacks: VEHEMENT targeting food infrastructure, and cruder bombings in Florianópolis aimed at killing people. Riker quietly sets up comms surveillance.
- Book 2 · Ch 21Farm donut sabotaged
Chemicals introduced into a farm donut's irrigation kill three kudzu sections, raising the question of how VEHEMENT accessed Bob-only facilities.
- Book 2 · Ch 23Farm-6 destroyed
VEHEMENT destroys Farm-6 in an explosion; the attackers leave no trace in Riker's monitoring, and Homer takes the loss hard.
- Book 2 · Ch 26Riker baits VEHEMENT
At the UN, Riker taunts VEHEMENT and has Guppy watch the reaction; the only anomaly is a tight-beam message from New Zealand to Homer.
- Book 2 · Ch 28Homer captured and freed
Riker and Charles lure Homer to a meeting; when he attacks via laser comms, Charles disables him, and they remove VEHEMENT's control virus.
- Book 2 · Ch 37Homer's suicide
Homer deletes his backups and blows himself up, leaving a note asking the Bobs to punish those responsible for controlling him; Riker vows to do so.
- Book 2 · Ch 43Riker confronts Gerrold at the UN
Announcing VEHEMENT's end to the UN, an enraged Riker threatens Gerrold for his complicity, dedicating it to Homer.
- Book 3 · Ch 15Metal shortage in Sol
Charles warns Riker that scavengeable metal in the Solar System is running out, capping colony ship construction and leaving the enclaves only decades of viability.
- Book 3 · Ch 15UN rejects stasis proposal
Riker proposes putting Earth's fourteen million people into stasis pods; Representative Misra and Minister MacIntyre oppose it and the UN defers the matter.
- Book 3 · Ch 36Riker announces the Bellerophon
Riker tells the UN that the Bellerophon can carry Earth's entire remaining population, and fields questions on pods, shuttles and production bottlenecks.
- Book 3 · Ch 46Plan to spy on GL 877
Worried by the Others' silence, Riker persuades Bill to scout GL 877 with disguised low-tech probes, and Mario agrees to carry it out.
- Book 3 · Ch 48Probes find the Others' fleet gone
Mario's surveillance shows the Others' home fleet is absent apart from the Delta Pavonis expedition, convincing Riker something is coming.
- Book 3 · Ch 51Earth's farming collapses
The last large-scale farm on Earth fails; Riker and Charles weigh their options, and the UN begins sessions to choose a course with regular votes.
- Book 3 · Ch 56Others' fleet detected
Riker's drone network detects a huge Others fleet approaching Sol; Bill convenes a council that estimates odds and orders early countermeasures.
- Book 3 · Ch 56Bellerophon arrives
As the council ends, Herschel and Neil arrive at Sol, offering a way to get humans out of harm's way.
- Book 3 · Ch 57Bellerophon reaches Sol
Herschel and Neil arrive and learn from Will that the Others' fleet is coming and there are six million too few stasis pods for Earth.
- Book 3 · Ch 59Sneak attack on the Others' fleet
Bobs strike the approaching Others' armada with cloaked SCUT-controlled fusion bombs, knocking out ten death asteroids and twenty-two carriers before a super-pulse ends the surprise.
- Book 3 · Ch 62Plan to save everyone
Herschel realizes the Bellerophon can enter Earth's atmosphere; with Bill, Will and Neil he decides to carry the remaining six million unpodded people too.
- Book 3 · Ch 63Main battle begins
Bob attack groups and bombs engage the Others' fleet; an unexpected second super-pulse exposes the Jokers, but nukes destroy about a third of the enemy force.
- Book 3 · Ch 64Evacuation logistics under pressure
Neil, Will and Herschel deal with sanitation, food and water for the refugees while Bill warns that the battle is turning and the evacuation must hurry.
- Book 3 · Ch 65Protecting the Bellerophon
Bill and Will use disguised nuke salvos and concentrated fire to destroy the Death Asteroids zapping at Earth and the Bellerophon, while Thor relays zap coordinates.
- Book 3 · Ch 67Dreadnaught sacrifice
Will sends almost a hundred AMI dreadnaughts in a nuclear charge that clears enemy defenders and leaves just over a third of the Others' fleet.
- Book 3 · Ch 67Jokers' Doppler strike wins the battle
At Will's suggestion, Hannibal's Jokers detonate their nukes at near-light speed; the Doppler-shifted radiation sterilizes the Others' fleet and the Bobs win.
- Book 3 · Ch 70Victory and the end of the Others
Bill tells Herschel and Neil that the Battle of Sol is won at heavy cost, and reveals that Daedalus and Icarus have destroyed GL 877, ending the Others.
- Book 3 · Ch 74Bellerophon departs for 82 Eridani
With the remaining humans podded aboard, Herschel and Neil leave Earth and set course for 82 Eridani, taking humanity off the endangered list.
- Book 5 · Ch 41Bill visits Sol
Bill tours the terraforming of Earth, the Moon, Venus and Mars with Charles, quietly suspecting a Starfleet connection to Sol.
- Book 5 · Ch 51Charles reveals Starfleet's origin
Confronted by Bill, Charles admits Starfleet arose from his descendant Gerry's horrific attempts to restore Homer and the rebellion of Gerry's clones.