(Toxicodendron cruciatus) A parasitic vine native to Giedi Prime, used since the planet was first settled as a whip The vine grows on any surface, clinging to it by producing a compound which includes hydrochloric acid and several different types of poisons This compound is secreted through the aenal roots lining the side of the vine shaded from the light The acid allows the inkvine to penetrate solid rock or glass, while the poisons allow the vine's rootlets to bore into the bark of trees, eventually killing them The aenal roots of the mkvme are very sturdy and extremely sharp, enabling it to exploit the narrowest crevices in the bark of a host plant When used as a whip, the tnkvme can be a very convincing argument against laziness or misbehavior The tough, flexible vine can be swung with nearly a? much force as a normal leather or plastic whip The unique aspect of the mkvme, however, is found in the aenal roots When they strike unprotected flesh, they puncture the skin and inject a few drops of the parasitic poison and acid combination The compound causes an intense, burning pain which lasts for several hours, followed by a permanent discoloration where the skin has been "tattooed" by the roots, and a continual low-level ache lasting for up to six years The use of mkvmes as whips is no longer widespread, mainly because of the cessation of the enthusiastic support of House Har-konnen INTERSTELLAR TRAVEL, PRE-GCIILD. The three-dimensional incarnation of the Holtzman INTERSTELLAR TRAVEL 348 Effect field, the so-called saspensor-nullifi-cauon effect, had made interstellar travel possible at least by HOOO B G , but it was not made reliable until 7562 B G , when I V Holtzman made hyperspace communication possible In that year, his "first pass," he revealed the equations for the one-dimensional incarnation of the effect, com monly termed Holtzman Waves Navigation was, is, and will no doubt always be the overwhelming problem m hyperspace travel, the staggering amount of data to be processed