The Herodotus as seen on the cover of Shadows in Flight.
The Herodotus was a starship launched from Earth in 8 AX.[1]
Description
The ship carried two smaller scout ships that could launch from it, nicknamed The Puppy and The Hound by the crew. There was a library, and a massive hanger where Bean stayed due to his large size.[1]
History
Shadow of the Giant
The Herodotus was sent out so Bean and his children would still be alive when a cure for Anton's Key was discovered.[1]
Shadows in Flight
The voyage lasted 421 years, but only 5 years passed for its passengers. During this time, Bean was looking for a habitable planet where his children might live and have children of their own. When he found the planet, he shut off communication with Starways Congress and changed the trajectory of the Herodotus to intercept the planet.[1]
As they approached the planet, however, the crew noticed that an alien ship was also approaching the planet. This was the Formic Ark, a generation ship carved from an asteroid that left to colonize the planet hundreds of years before the Xenocide. Eventually the Herodotus got close enough to the ship for Bean's children to venture out in The Hound to investigate the Formics.[1]
After the Formic drones showed Bean's children how to rid themselves of the giantism of Anton's Key, they made plans to return to the Herodotus and begin colonizing the planet with the artificial wombs it had aboard.[1]
Crew
Trivia
- The ship was named after the Greek historian Herodotus, who is known as the "Father of History", likely due to his quote "Happiness . . . never abides long in one place", referencing the relativistic journey that the ship went on.[2]