Following the apparent destruction of Earth, he opens the station's facilities to Larry in order to try to undo what he has done, and later comes to trust and support the young scientist in his actions. Dianne Steiger: Pilot of the cargo tug Pack Rat, Dianne is later appointed the captain of the Terra Nova following the Big Jump. Dr. Jane Webling: The aging Director of Science at the Gravitics Research Station. Coyote Westlake: A solo asteroid miner who is inadvertently transported to Mars when she lands on a Charonian G-point disguised as an asteroid. Locations The Multisystem The Multisystem is a huge artificial stellar system presided over by a Charonian Dyson Sphere where Earth was taken after the Big Jump. It is host to at least eight G-class stars and dozens of Earth-like planets, all stolen from their respective solar systems in the same manner as the Earth and carefully held in their orbits with artificial gravity. The planets are shepherded by a large number of Charonian COREs which destroy any potential threat to the life-bearing planets through direct physical impact, including human spacecraft. NaPurHab: The Naked Purple Habitat, owned and operated by the radical Naked Purple social movement, was brought along in the Big Jump and managed to survive the transition by orbiting around the Moonpoint black hole. Against their own philosophy, the residents of the habitat cooperated with the people of Earth, relaying messages through the Saint Anthony to the Solar System before the probe's final destruction by a CORE. Saint Anthony: A probe sent through the wormhole connecting the Solar System to the Multisystem, the Saint Anthony was used to relay messages and scientific data across the void of space prior to its destruction by a CORE. Terra Nova: Built by the United Nations and mothballed as a result of the K-crash, this ship was meant to explore another star system after a flight lasting for generations. Following the Big Jump, it was recommissioned with Dianne Steiger as the captain and Gerald MacDougal as the chief science officer. The Directorate of Spatial Investigation, formulated to investigate the cause and implications of the Big Jump, ordered the Terra Nova to investigate the Dyson Sphere, but soon after its launch it became apparent that this would be impossible due to the marauding COREs in the multisystem. Realizing that humanity had few spaceborne resources left after the Big Jump,