About The Gostak Distims the Doshes

Once upon a time I read a science-fiction story in which the protagonist found himself transported into another society.  That society was suffering from domestic unrest; in the very house in which he was a dinner guest, the head of the household and the young son had a shouted argument, the gist of which was "The Gostak distims the Doshes," said smugly by the father and shouted angrily by the son.  This was the inspiration, many years later, for what you're reading now.  When I find that story again, I will amend this note to give the original title and author.

So what (or who) is a gostak, who (or what) the doshes, and how does one distim them?  The original story never said, and if it was good enough for him ...

Actually, I decided what the words meant in the context of this story, but I'm not sure any purpose is served by revealing my answer.  Make up your own, and see how well it fits the story.  Here is a glossary to aid you.

Glossary

Airdosher (aerodoscēans) — Heavier-than-air transportation.  Airdoshers in the 28th century completely replaced the lighter-than-air airships used throughout the Empire from the middle of the previous century.

A.U.C. (Ab Urbe Condita) — The Roman calendar, dating from the founding of the City of Rome.  Subtract 753 from Roman years to get dates in the Christian calendar; for instance, 2755 A.U.C. is 2002 A.D.

Autodosher (autodoscēans) — A mechanical vehicle for travel on land; a horseless carriage.

Cingutana — The continent bordered by the Mediterranean Sea on the north, the Atlantic Ocean on the West, and the Indian Ocean on the east.  The Cingutanan provinces of Africa and Aegyptus are two of the oldest provinces in the Empire, and Aegyptus was the home of a civilization old before Rome was founded.

Distim (distīmere) — To transform raw doshes into useful dosh.

Dosh (doscēdium) — The end-product of distimming, hence the output of a gostak.

Dosheant (doscēans) — The personal weapon of a modern infantry soldier.

Doshery (doscēria) — A natural region in which doshes are found and may be harvested.

Doshes (doscēdēs) — The harvest of a doshery.  Doshes are distimmed into dosh in a gostak.

Europa — The continent bordered by the Mediterranean Sea on the south, the Atlantic Ocean on the West, and the Ural Mountains on the east.  The City of Rome, capital of the Empire, is in the province of Italia.  Europa is ruled under the Emperor by a Vice-Emperor, whose capital is Constantinopolis.

Gostak (gostacerium) — The building or collection of buildings in which doshes are distimmed into dosh; a distimmery.

Mundane War (2712-2720 A.U.C.) — The world war (bellum mundānum or bellum ūniversum) between the Roman, Han, and Quechua empires.  Major theaters were: (1) India, where hostilities began when Roman legions came to the aid of the Indian Emperor against invading Han armies; (2) Persia, where Aryan and Roman legions fought a second Han attack; (3) Australia, where Quechua and Han colonies fought each other; (4) Hippolytana, where Han and Roman colonies fought; and (5) Luna, where Roman and Quechua colonies fought.  Major fleet actions occurred in the South Pacific Ocean, South Atlantic Ocean, and cis-Lunar space as well.  Europa, Cingutana, Brasilia, and trans-Lunar space (including Mars) saw little or no action.

Nedosh (nedoscēria) — A natural region totally devoid of doshes; a doshless wasteland.

Transoceana — The continents of Hippolytana and Brasilia, across the Atlantic Ocean from Europa and Cingutana, hence the name.

Copyright © 2002 by Green Sky Press.  All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this work, or any portions thereof, in any form.

This page has been validated against XHTML Strict and viewed under Konqueror, Firefox, Opera, and Internet Explorer at a screen resolution of 1024 × 768.  If you find any bugs, please contact me at the e-mail address on the home page.