Political officer first class in the IBI, assigned to Venus as a special adviser to the military governor. He interrogated Don Harvey after the Federation occupation.
Steve Brodie
The most widely heard global news commentator, host of "Steve Brodie Says". The Venus RepublicHigh Guard chose his program time to announce their invasion and destruction of Circum-Terra, and to declare independence for Venus.
Cyrus Buchanan
a. A founder of the human colonies on Venus.
b. Shuttle that took passengers from the Nautilus to Venus' surface (probably named after the colony founder).
Buchanan
Major settlement on Venus. (Probably named after Cyrus Buchanan, one of the colony founders.)
Buchanan Island
Island north of New London, where the Middle Guard and ground forces were trained. (Probably named after Cyrus Buchanan, one of the colony founders.)
(Between Planets)
Buchanan Street
Main thoroughfare of New London, capital of the Venus Republic. (Probably named after Cyrus Buchanan, one of the colony founders.)
Busby (no first name)
(Lieutenant) Commanding officer of the Venus Republic soldier who found Don Harvey after Don's escape from Federation detention. He had been on detached duty at the time of the occupation, and so avoided arrest. He organized all soldiers he came across into a guerrilla fighting unit, and was awarded brevet promotion to wing colonel.
Geostationary space station that served as a starting point for interplanetary flights; it also served as a military base policing all of Earth. It was destroyed by the Venus High Force in the opening move of the revolt against Earth domination. [circum terra, Latin "around Earth".]
Clara (no last name)
Venus colonial herded into a detention camp with Don Harvey after the invasion by Federation forces.
I.T.&T. clerk who filed Don Harvey's message and befriended him when she learned his situation. She and her father were agents of the Organization; even ignorant of this, he entrusted to her the ring that Dudley Jefferson had given him and that Federation agents had apparently been trying to get. Don lost contact with her when the Federation forces invaded Venus, but she turned up at Sir Isaac Newton's house when Don arrived there after his stint as a guerrilla soldier. There is a clear hint at the end of the book that she and Don would eventually marry.
[mentioned in passing] Area of Venus settled by humans.
Cui Cui Town
[mentioned in passing] Human settlement.
Curly (no other name)
One of the Federation soldiers hunting Don Harvey after Don's escape from the detention camp.
Cyrus Buchanan
Shuttle that carried Don Harvey from the Nautilus to the surface of Venus. (Probably named after the co-founder of the human colonies on Venus.)
Daisy
Dragon who worked at the Two Worlds Dining Room, a male despite the chosen name. The name is also unusual in that dragons usually chose names of scientists for their "human" names.
A sentient lifeform on Venus that closely resembled the Earth mythological creature, with forelegs that served as arms/hands. They were probably considerably more intelligent that humans; and their civilization was probably much older. Because they could not pronounce human speech, they used voder/vocoders to communicate with humans. The dragons that frequently interacted with humans adopted "human" names, generally the name of a famous scientist (see especially Sir Isaac Newton.)
Dragon settlement on Venus, home of Sir Isaac Newton. It was called this by the boatman that bought Don Harvey to it; the dragons' name was probably something very different.
Earth is frequently called "Terra" in Heinlein stories. The planet is featured in every story (with the arguable exception of Orphans of the Sky); and is, geophysically at least, the same as the "real" Earth. Between Planets, The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, and Red Planet describe the struggles of the human colonies in the Solar System to achieve political independence from Earth; Podkayne of Mars refers indirectly to this history.
Section of New London and site of a detention camp for Terran nationals after the human colonies on Venus declared their independence.
Elkins
One of the security police waiting in Dudley Jefferson's apartment when he and Don Harvey returned from dinner.
Emergency Law Number One
Law declared by the Federation occupation forces on Venus, which abolished large settlements, banned prohibited gatherings larger than 10 people, and prohibited ownership of power weapons.
[mentioned in passing] Jupiter's moon, on which humans had established a settlement. Don Harvey was born in a space ship while his parents were en route there.
Satyr-like biped native to Venus. Humans gave them the scientific name fauna gregarious veneris smythii. They are called "move-overs" by the colonists for their chronic habit of crowding against each other and any humans, and otherwise displaying an insatiable appetite for physical affection. They are about as bright as an Earth goat, but friendlier. Don Harvey was appalled to be served baked baby gregarian at an exclusive Earth restaurant. After escaping from Federation detention during the invasion of Venus, he hid among a herd of gregarians.
Don's mother, a native of Venus and an archeologist working on Mars. She was a member of the Organization.
Donald James Harvey
Born in transit to Ganymede of an Terran father and Venusian mother, he lived for his first few years on Venus but spent his school years on Earth. His parents ordered him to Mars, where they were working, when tensions increased between Venus and Earth, but he was caught in the Venus RepublicHigh Guard attack on Circum-Terra and chose going to Venus over returning to Earth. After the invasion of Venus by Earth military forces he escaped from detention and joined the guerrilla insurgents. From there he was sent to Sir Isaac Newton, a Venerian dragon he'd befriended on Earth, where he learned that Sir Isaac, his parents, and various other acquaintances were working on technology that would make military aggression impossible, and that he had been given crucial information by a friend of his parents before leaving Earth. After turning over the information and seeing the defenses developed, he was sent to Mars on the prototype ship to help defeat the Earth forces and rejoin his parents. (At his ranch school he was given the nickname "Don Jaime" because of a fancy Spanish saddle his parents had given him.)
Johnny Ling claimed this was his "milk name" when he tried to persuade Don Harvey to sell him the ring that Dudley Jefferson had given him (it was embossed with an "H").
It was suggested by an IBI official as a means of extracting information from Don Harvey. (Heinlein frequently makes mention of hypnosis either as a method of psychotherapy, of education, or of interrogation.)
Interplanetary Telephone and Televideo Company. It operated between all human-inhabited planets, and was often used as a front for the Organization. Isobel Costello worked in the Venusberg office, where her father was the manager.
A friend of Don Harvey's parents and member of the Organization, whom Don contacted before he left Earth. He was arrested in Don's company, and Don was later told he "suffered a fatal heart attack" during interrogation. He had sent Don a ring that, though Don was unaware of it, contained information crucial to building a weapons defense and faster-than-light-travel system.
Joe (no last name)
a. Terran soldier who invaded the Two Worlds Dining Room, taking Don Harvey prisoner and killing Old Charlie. b. One of the soldiers hunting Don after his escape from the detention camp.
Popular serial drama described at some length though of slight importance. In an episode seen by Don Harvey, Buddy Kallikak was in the hospital and not expected to live; Celeste had been arrested for suspected husband murder; the father was missing; and the mother is also mentioned.
Don Harvey's cowpony at the ranch school he attended on Earth.
LeCompte (no first name)
[mentioned in passing] Composer of "Raise Ship!".
Johnny Ling
Man who followed Don Harvey out of the New London bank, guiding him to a cheap restaurant (but sticking him with the bill). Ling tried and failed to sell Donn black market money, then to buy the ring Dudley Jefferson had given him.
Relative of Sir Isaac Newton, an integrating chemist. Her human name is unusual in that most dragons adopt the name of a famous scientist, but hers is from a character in the Gilbert & Sullivan operetta HMS Pinafore.
Organization ship sent to Mars to activate the defense system that was developed on Venus. It was equipped with an experimental drive and artificial gravity.
Marriage is obviously important to Heinlein. In many stories a marriage is central to the story, the characters take time out from crises to marry, or it is implied that marriage between main characters is inevitable; for example, there are hints in Between Planets that Don Harvey and Isobel Costello will marry.
The Red Planet was usually described as barren and cold with a thin atmosphere, just barely habitable by humans in pressurized habitats or after terraforming. The "canals" are real waterways (usually frozen). The planet has native life, variously described in different books. Though some of the books depict conflicts between human colonists and native Martians, none portray the natives as resentful of the invasion of their home; often, the Martians remains largely oblivious to the human presence.
Mars was the current residence of Don Harvey's parents, and maintained neutrality in the dispute between Venus and Earth. Mars was inhabited by intelligent natives as well as by human colonists.
Captain of the guerrilla group with which Don Harvey fought on Venus. He had been on detached duty at the time of the Federation invasion, and so avoided capture. He took it upon himself to gather together all soldiers not captured by the Federation. This group was called Marsten's Raiders.
Martha (no last name)
Woman who complained about the passengers' long wait in Goddard Hotel.
Interplanetary ship that ran between Earth and Venus. Don Harvey took it to Venus after Circum-Terra was invaded and destroyed, and the ship to Mars was "appropriated" by Venusians.
Capital of Venus; where passengers from the Nautilus were landed. Its institutions included the New London Times and the New London Trust & Investment Company (originally the Bank of America and Hong Kong, renamed after independence was declared).
Representative of Cui Cui Province in the Venus Republic Senate, who claimed that there would be no draft.
Organization
Secret society comprised mostly of scientists, dedicated to preserving freedom especially through the dissemination of knowledge and technical developments.
In Venerian mythology, it was placed in the mud of Venus on the day of creation; also called the Divine Egg. Sir Isaac Newton traced his ancestry back to it.
Outward Bound
Space liner on which Don Harvey was born while it was traveling between Luna and Ganymede.
The ranch boarding school that Don Harvey attended on Earth. [Spanish, "happy little farm"]
Reeves (no first name)
Headmaster of Ranchito Alegre. A reserve officer, he was called to active duty "for the duration" because of the tensions between Earth and Venus. His wife (mentioned only as Mrs. Reeves), took over running the school. He was usually called simply, "The Head."
[mentioned in passing] Suborbital shuttle operating between the southwestern United States and New Chicago.
Rupe "Salty" Salter
A student at Ranchito Alegre who tried to buy Don Harvey's Spanish saddle and take over Lazy when Don was called back home. He insulted Don because of his Venusian origins.
Interplanetary government that Dudley Jefferson speculated would ultimately be formed, with Pluto and Neptune moved closer to the sun and Mercury moved farther away to make them habitable by humans.
Earth name used by the Venerian dragon that Don Harvey met at Gary Station; he followed the Venerian custom of adopting the name of an admired human. Sir Isaac could trace his decent to the Original Egg, and was highly honored among both Venerians and humans. His influence helped keep Don from being sent back to Earth after the Venus occupation of Circum-Terra, and later effected Don's inclusion in the Little David crew so Don could be reunited with his parents on Mars.
"Some Notes on the Practical Applications of the Horst-Milne Equations"
Scientific treatise that was smuggled to Venus in the ring that Dudley Jefferson gave to Don Harvey (its intended destination was Mars). The information provided in it made possible the development of force fields and faster-than-light travel. (See Horst-Milne-Conrad Drive.)
Entertainer featured at The Back Room; the style is not described except that it is very loud.
Two Worlds Dining Room
Restaurant to which Johnny Ling took Don Harvey. When Ling stuck him with the check, Don got a job there washing dishes and also got a room in the back to sleep in.
The term for nonhuman natives of Venus; the term for human colonists is "Venusian". One sentient native life-form resembled the mythical Earth dragon (the European version, not the Chinese).
In most of Heinlein's stories, the planet is hot and swampy but habitable by humans. Natives are variously described as sentient "dragons" and as small, humanoid amphibians with a matriarchal culture, the females being considerably more intelligent than the males. Don Harvey lived on Venus for his first few years; his mother was Venusian. He became involved in the colonists' successful rebellion against Earth domination.
Farmer who offered shelter to Venus Republic soldiers after the Federation occupation. His farm was a base for guerrilla operations. Mrs. Wong is also mentioned.
