Xapoqi: A nonhuman minor race native to Xapoqoz (3131 Corridor). The Xapoqi are solitary, fantastically long-lived creatures who subsist on the ultraviolet emissions of their star. Xapoqi have a thick, smooth hide, broken only by sharp spines and many flimsy feelers, giving them an appearance similar to a spiny, two-meter-tall stone column. The spines are general purpose energy receptors, serving both as eyes and "food" intake.
The Xapoqi, nearly immobile, capable of independent reproduction, and possessing no apparent means of communication, are not obvious sentient lifeforms. They exhibit little technological drive; in fact, they show little interest in their surroundings whatsoever. The Xapoqi are so uncharacteristic of sophonts in general that IISS explorers failed to realize they were intelligent until the 700s, despite the fact that Xapoqoz was initially surveyed during First Imperium times. This discovery coincided with the adoption of standardized NAS scanning procedures by the Scouts.
The primary puzzle that confronted sophontologists then is still a puzzle today: what purpose does Xapoqi intelligence serve? Neural activity scans indicate a high level of abstract thought, but no one knows what it concerns. Communication with the Xapoqi is too primitive to be useful. Experimental thought transfer devices, now being pioneered by the neurotechnology consortiums of Dagudashaag, may prove valuable in future dealings with the Xapoqi. -cor TD 18

Xboat: See Express Boat. -ld IE -ld TP

Xboat Station: Facility for handling Xboats at a star system. At each system served by the Xboat network, an express boat station is maintained to handle the message traffic and to manage incoming and outgoing Xboats. Usually located near the edge of a star system, the station picks up messages beamed to it by incoming Xboats and relays the data to the local world for delivery. Messages destined for worlds farther down the line are transmitted to a waiting Xboat which then jumps for the next world in the network.
The Xboat station contains receiving and retransmission equipment; refueling and support facilities for the local staff and waiting crew are also provided. The Xboat station maintains a local office on the system's major world for the acceptance of Xboat messages, as well as to handle delivery of the messages to addresses on the world. -ld IE

Xmail: Messages sent by xboat. Xmail carries information only; material objects may not be sent. The message is digitally coded; xmail costs Cr10 per 20 kilobits per parsec. The message may be sent using a standard Anglic character set (about Cr10 for a 500 word message) or a picture may be reproduced in facsimile (Cr20 for a 200x 200 bit matrix). The message is printed out at its destination and delivered by a world's local mail system. -ld TA