Dime Mow

"A corpulent Driver... somewhat phlegmatic and ponderous but also a loyal member of the lodge."
-- Description from Booklet 027

Dime Mow is a Driver and Terranaut who appears in 8 booklets of Die Terranauten. One of the original crew members of the GDANSK, Dime Mow serves as a steadfast lodge companion across the saga's three decades of conflict, evolving from a phlegmatic freighter Driver into a hardened, cynical combat leader scarred by the horrors of the Wreck System. His arc traces a progression from quiet loyalty to bitter vengefulness, before ultimately undergoing a change of heart -- a trajectory that reflects the moral toll the Terranauts' guerrilla war exacts on even its most dependable soldiers.

Biography

Early Service Aboard the GDANSK (2499)

Dime Mow first appears as a member of the GDANSK's Lodge, serving under Lodge Master Hadersen Wells. When David terGorden, fleeing the forces of the Council of Corporations, joins the GDANSK hoping to reach Syrta and contact Llewellyn 709, Dime Mow is among the Drivers who shelter and assist him. He helps David escape from Rubin and contacts Llewellyn on Syrta, establishing himself early on as a loyal supporter of the prophesied "Heir of Power" (Booklet 001). In the aftermath of Llewellyn's galaxy-wide PSI call, Dime Mow continues to serve in Llewellyn's orbit. He is described as "a Driver in Llewellyn's lodge and a strong supporter of David" during the events surrounding the Gray Guards' assault on the GDANSK and David's departure for Terra (Booklet 002).

The GDANSK Missions: Onyx and the Wreckage Nebula (c. 2480-2481)

As a long-serving member of Hadersen Wells's lodge aboard the GDANSK, Dime Mow participates in the ship's most dangerous missions. When the GDANSK responds to a distress call and arrives at the restricted planet Onyx, Dime Mow is among the Drivers who crash-land in the canyons after Queen Zalia orders the destruction of their Ringo shuttle. He is described at this point as "somewhat phlegmatic and ponderous but also a loyal member of the lodge" -- a temperament that marks him as a stabilizing presence in the crew rather than a fiery personality (Booklet 027). The Drivers encounter the Transmitter Tree, are captured by the Gray Guards, and ultimately escape through the artifact's transit field to Rubin, guided by the Primeval Tree's final surge of power.

The Wreckage Nebula incident represents a turning point in Dime Mow's life. Aboard the GARIBALDI, Hadersen Wells's lodge is transported to the Turquoise system -- a graveyard of derelict spacecraft. Dime Mow explores the planet Glimmer alongside Wells and Winchinata Jacques, discovering semi-intelligent plant life that attacks them and destroys their Ringo. During this expedition, Hadersen Wells is killed by a poisonous thorn -- the death of his Lodge Master, a man he had served under loyally for years. Worse, Dime Mow is subsequently drained of his PSI energy by a Shadow functioning as a PSI vampire, leaving him weakened and traumatized. The GARIBALDI itself is destroyed in a collision with Ngk-guk's ship, and the lodge members who survived the Wreck System emerged as shattered remnants of the crew they once were (Booklet 055). These events -- the loss of Wells, the PSI vampirism, the destruction of their ship -- are explicitly cited as the source of the hardened cynicism that defines Dime Mow in later booklets.

Commander of Combat: The IRMINSUL and the Guerrilla War (2503)

By the time the saga reaches Booklet 075, Dime Mow has transformed from the phlegmatic, ponderous Driver of the GDANSK era into a "hardened and cynical" combat leader serving aboard the IRMINSUL under Llewellyn 709. The Wreck System broke something in him; where he was once merely loyal and steady, he is now bitter and vengeful.

When Llewellyn 709 leads the IRMINSUL to attack the Gray Guard base on Finstermann, Dime Mow proves himself as both a skilled operative and a morally compromised one. He detects a coded telepathic message between someone aboard the IRMINSUL and a Gray Guard reconnaissance vessel, correctly identifying the existence of a traitor (though he suspects Mater Lian rather than the actual culprit, Silent Chorp). He leads the combat group in the ground assault on the Finstermann base, breaching the facility against heavy resistance from K-robots. However, in a moment that crystallizes his psychological deterioration, Dime Mow orders his troops to kill all Gray Guard personnel -- an order that Llewellyn 709 immediately countermands. This clash between Dime Mow's vengefulness and Llewellyn's principled militancy is one of the booklet's defining moral moments. Despite this, Dime Mow's tactical abilities remain formidable: his group successfully cuts off the base's power supply, disabling the Sarym Shields and enabling Llewellyn to manipulate the base's systems telekinetically.

In Booklet 077, Dime Mow continues to serve as one of Llewellyn's loyal supporters during the IRMINSUL's mission to the BF-1930-12 system and the attack on Shondyke II. Though still described as "initially bitter and vengeful," he undergoes a change of heart during these events -- suggesting that Llewellyn's moral example and the ongoing contact with the Terranauts' ideals begin to pull him back from the edge.

The Galactic Archive and the Central World of the Entities

In the saga's climactic arc, Dime Mow is among the Terranauts who journey to Star City and the Pyramid of Knowledge (Booklet 095). On the Central World of the Entities, he is part of Claude Farrell's group -- separated from David terGorden and Llewellyn 709 -- that becomes trapped in a series of metabiotopes. The group encounters insectoid Intercessors who direct them toward the Sleeping Land and the spring nymph Amryta as a potential means of contacting the Entities. They escape the spider-like Many-Legged Ones, whose PSI-absorbing abilities would have been grimly familiar to Dime Mow after his experience with the PSI vampire in the Wreck System, and reach the Sleeping Land. There, however, they are put into a deep sleep by Amryta, who is acting on orders from the hostile Entity Varen Navten (Booklet 096).

Key Actions (Chronological)

• Helps David terGorden escape from Rubin and contacts Llewellyn 709 on Syrta (001)
• Supports David as a Driver in Llewellyn's lodge during the Gray Guards' assault on the GDANSK (002)
• Serves aboard the GDANSK during the mission to Onyx; crash-lands in the canyons after their Ringo is destroyed (027)
• Escapes the Gray Guard base on Onyx through the Transmitter Tree's transit field (027)
• Explores the planet Glimmer with Hadersen Wells and Winchinata Jacques; witnesses Wells's death by poisonous thorn (055)
• Is drained of PSI energy by a Shadow functioning as a PSI vampire (055)
• Detects a coded telepathic communication between a traitor aboard the IRMINSUL and a Gray Guard vessel; suspects Mater Lian (075)
• Leads a combat group in the assault on the Finstermann base (075)
• Orders the execution of all Gray Guard personnel -- an order countermanded by Llewellyn 709 (075)
• Cuts off the Finstermann base's power supply, disabling the Sarym Shields (075)
• Rescues Llewellyn 709 and his team from the Finstermann command center (075)
• Undergoes a change of heart, moving away from his bitter vengefulness (077)
• Travels to Star City and the Pyramid of Knowledge with the Terranauts (095)
• Accompanies Claude Farrell's group on the Central World of the Entities; encounters the Intercessors and reaches the Sleeping Land (096)
• Put to sleep by Amryta along with the rest of Farrell's group (096)

Relationships

Abilities and Traits

• Psionic Talent (Driver): As a certified Driver, Dime Mow possesses PSI abilities sufficient for space navigation in Space II and lodge-based psionic operations. He is capable of detecting coded telepathic transmissions, as demonstrated when he identifies the traitor's communication aboard the IRMINSUL (075).
• Phlegmatic Temperament: In his early appearances, Dime Mow is described as "phlegmatic and ponderous" -- a calm, unhurried personality that provides stability to his lodge (027).
• Corpulent Build: Physically described as corpulent, reinforcing his image as a solid, grounded presence among the more volatile Drivers (055).
• Combat Leadership: By the IRMINSUL era, Dime Mow has developed into a competent military leader, commanding combat groups in ground assaults and executing tactical objectives such as disabling base power systems (075).
• Loyalty: His defining trait across the saga. Whether supporting David from the opening booklet, serving faithfully under Hadersen Wells, or fighting at Llewellyn's side, Dime Mow is above all else a loyal companion.
• Trisphere: Llewellyn addresses Dime Mow within the shielding of their Trisphere, suggesting he is familiar with this protective psionic construct.
• Pressure Absorber: A technology associated with Dime Mow (Andruckabsorber), indicating his technical familiarity with Driver equipment.

Appearances (8 booklets)

Themes and Legacy

Dime Mow's arc across the saga serves as a case study in the psychological cost of prolonged guerrilla warfare. He begins as the most unassuming of Drivers -- phlegmatic, ponderous, corpulent, loyal without fanfare. His steady temperament makes him a reliable lodge member, the kind of crew that holds a ship together without drawing attention. But the Wreck System changes him. The death of his Lodge Master, the violation of his PSI energy by a vampire Shadow, and the destruction of the GARIBALDI strip away his equanimity and replace it with bitterness and a thirst for revenge.

By the time he leads the combat group on Finstermann, Dime Mow has crossed a line that even Llewellyn 709 -- the saga's most militant Terranaut leader -- will not cross. His order to execute all Gray Guard personnel is not the act of a monster but of a man broken by loss and trauma, lashing out at the institution he holds responsible. That Llewellyn countermands this order is one of the saga's clearest statements about the moral limits of resistance: the revolution cannot become what it fights against, and even loyal soldiers must be restrained when grief turns to savagery.

What redeems Dime Mow is his capacity for change. In Booklet 077, he is described as undergoing a "change of heart" -- pulling back from the brink of pure vengefulness. This suggests that Llewellyn's moral example, the Terranauts' collective ideals, and perhaps the sheer passage of time allow Dime Mow to find his way back to the steadier, more measured man he once was. His continued presence in the Entities arc -- serving under Claude Farrell, facing the PSI-absorbing Many-Legged Ones, reaching the Sleeping Land -- shows a soldier who has endured the worst and kept fighting, not out of hatred, but out of the loyalty that was always his defining trait.

Dime Mow appears in 8 of 99 booklets of Die Terranauten. He is a member of the GDANSK Lodge and later the IRMINSUL crew.