CLOUDCATS: Inhabitants of Ondrian, moved there by the Others about 8000 BCE because their original sun was about to go nova. They resemble Terran mountain lions in size and shape, though because of their preference for cold climates, their fur is thick and white. They are highly intelligent, although the first colonists thought them wild animals; they communicate and manipulate objects with a pair of tentacular Y-shaped "tongues" that retract into cheek pouches when not in use. Cloudcats are solitary hunters, living in mountain caves the Others provided with psionically-operated survival aids; although the closest world to their native one, Ondrian is enough harsher that, without the survival aids, cloudcat art and philosophy would have suffered, perhaps died. Most are involved with one or the other, many with both, and the tapestries they weave from their shed fur are in great demand throughout the Empire. Although most cloudcats never leave their home territory, some do take advantage of their right (granted in return for the colonists' free use of the equatorial zone) to travel at will on Imperial ships. CLOUD-SILK: A soft, light, tough luxury fabric made from a plant that thrives only on Herbert's World. CODES, COLOR: (Stories) Generally seen on military uniforms in the form of collar tabs, the color codes indicate the service's level. Imperial forces have no collar tabs; Sector-level have white, Subsector-level have yellow, System-level have orange, and Planetary-level have red. (TE Society) These are the ones on the badges, intended to simplify mutual identification, especially when not in uniform or regalia. No color band means no Imperial rank (except for brown, which indicates a local noble; technically, they have no Imperial standing, but are generally given the courtesy title of "Excellency"). Green indicates the Sovereign (wide) and Rangers (2 narrow); white is for Dukes, yellow for Earls, orange for Counts, and red for Barons (in all of these a wide band is for a Life Noble, two narrow for a Ruling Noble and @'s Consort and Heir, one narrow for a Life Noble's spouse and a Ruling Noble's younger children). Black indicates Marines, blue Navy, with wide band for Imperial regulars, two narrows for Imperial reservists, and one narrow for local forces. CODES, IDENT: (Stories) Only S and R indicate status in this group (Sovereign and Rangers, respectively); with the first and last letters of the individual's name, these form a three-letter prefix. All others have a five-letter prefix, with the first three being a home-planet identifier (preferably the first three letters in the Imperial English alphabet, but modified where necessary to prevent duplication), again with the first and last letters of the individual's name. The prefix is followed by an eight-digit number that precisely identifies the individual.