Where Harry comes from, and possibly the weirdest place of all... Also the home of that Galactic delicacy, Toast. In fact, here's a snippet about it from that famous galactic gossip column, Supernova:

New Taste Sensation Sweeps the Empire It’s called ‘Toast’. Apparently discovered on some backward, pre-space flight, primitive planet in a far-off, remote section of the galaxy, ‘Toast’ is made by ‘toasting’ or lightly charring both sides of a foodstuff made from the seeds of plants that have been ground up into a fine powder, reconstituted with liquids and salts and then baked. Then you cut it up and burn it a bit. I mean, where do they come up with this crazy stuff? Tastes delicious with a bit of Smogpus butter and some Farglian Roach Jam. Apparently.

And here's some comments about Earth from some famous aliens:

'Earth? Never heard of it' - De-ung, Ambassador of Cool.

‘Oh yes, I’ve been to several of your large, sprawling, stinking, filthy, barbarian-infested cities, believe me. Vile!’ - Gaggenow, called the Great (by himself)

'Earth. Hmm, invade and conquer?' - the Galactic Overlord 'Oh, no, my Lord, it's almost entirely worthless, full of annoying little creatures with soft pink squishy bits and eyes in their foreheads!' - Vizier Vexillarius 'Yuk, how disgusting!' - Galactic Overlord.

'Harry? A primitive primate from earth, in an undeveloped backwater of the galaxy!' - Gaggenow.

‘Soil? As in soiled, you know, like a nappy?’ said Moggs. ‘No, no, not Soil. Earth. As in the ground, the earth, but we call the whole planet that.’ - Harry Greene

(Native name, 'The Flats')

Haddus Prime is an ancient world, orbiting an ancient star. The planet is largely flat and its surface almost completely composed of a thick crust of compacted fine, white powdery 'soil', the carbonaceous remnants of organic creatures that lived in the seas that once covered the planet, aeons ago. Haddus Prime is subjected to super-powerful winds, that have scoured the planet flat, eroding pretty much all hills and mountains to nothing over millions and millions and millions of years. These hurricane winds are known as the Breath of Life by the dominant species.

The Haddusians.
There is one dominant species, with space faring technology. They call themselves the Mote. The Hub call them 'Wheelies'. They have evolved an extra-ordinary morphology. There bodies are aero-dynamically streamlined, and they have evolved two large bony wheels on either side of their bodies instead of legs. These wheels are powered by a complex set of bones and muscles that form a clever 'rack and pinion' system. But there prime mode of movement is a sail... Yes, that's right, a sail. The crest on top of their heads can open up into a large, leathery sail, that they use to catch the wind, just like some kind of sand yacht. The Motes can reach astonishingly high levels of speed, given the right wind conditions.

The surface of the Flats is largely devoid of life, but beneath the ancient crust are tunnels and caverns numberless to us. Here live and grow all sorts of creatures and plants and fungi. Including the much sought after spice, 'Grerk'. Grerk is highly prized in the Galaxy, so the Haddus Prime Spaceport has become a thriving trade centre. The Motes themselves aren't interested in membership of the Hub, but they are great traders, and sell Grerk to whoever comes. No-one knows what they do with the wealth they must have accrued, as none have been allowed into the secret underground complexes and wind tunnels beneath the surface, but the Motes spend a lot of time in recreational pursuits on the surface - racing, team sports, synchronized sand surfing, and so on.

They tend not to leave their planets as they require a constant stream of wind to breathe. Their lungs are simply a set of holes in the torso, through which wind blows. Be careful when dealing with the Motes. They are quick to take offence. Their language is a complex mix of loud grunts, clicks and whistles, that modify their sign language. Their names are long and entirely incomprehensible to the rest of the Galaxy. However, they love to trade and are prepared to let things go if they think it is part of 'The Haggle.' At other times, though, you might find yourself challenged to a 'Sand Duel' for the most obscure and minor reasons.

This entry compiled by:

Professor Verdlop Mimmlesip, Professor of Xenothropology, University of Fornax

Native name, 'The Mound'

Although its atmosphere is amenable to life, the Mound is a sparsely populated planet, due to its severe lack of plant life and of species in general. There are two reasons for this. 1: The planet's star is quite young, and so is the planet. Therefore life has not had that much time to develop or evolve. 2: The planet's soil. Well, I say soil, more like a coating of glutinous mud, smeared over the planet's outer crust. This mud is high in metals and other toxic elements, making it very hard for complex plant life to exist.

Its rivers, lakes and seas, however, are choked with a kind of green algae. Even the clouds and the rain they drop are infused with this algae. This algae is enough to sustain certain life forms who are typically found near sources water. They include the Red Platus, the Green Platus and the Terrible Eater. There are a few more species, but again, hardly any compared to most life-bearing planets in the Galaxy.

Red Platus
The heavy gravity and nutritional restraints have led to some unusual morphology. The Red Platus is essentially flat and square, with a singly duck-like bill at one corner, used for filtering the algae out of the water. Eyes on top and at each corner allow the Platus to keep a look out for predators at all times. The body rests on four, heavy squat legs, barely an inch or two in height, which it can use to move slowly around the edges of lakes or rivers. It is also aquatic. In a way. It can suck a vast amount of air into its stomach, which also acts as its lungs. This can sustain it underwater for some time, and it can use this air to power its way underwater, by propelling air out of its anus. Hence it's nickname, given to it by early Hub scouts - the Fartfish. Another curiosity is it's red fur. The fur is actually photosynthetic and can create sugars in the bright, powerful sunlight of the Mound, just like the leaves on a plant.

Green Platus
The Green Platus is much the same, except that it has developed a symbiotic relationship with the Green Algae. It consumes it, yes, but also some of the Algae is incorporated into the skin cells of the Platus, (turning the skin green) there to carry out photo-synthesis, the fruits of which are shared between algae and the Platus, chlorophyll based Green photo-synthesis being far more efficient than red photosynthesis.

The Terrible Eater
The Eater is a carnivorous beast, that feeds on the Red and Green Platus. Basically, it's a huge mouth and stomach, set atop four squat, massive legs. It has an enormous muscular tongue, covered in a thick, sticky, saliva, which it uses to suck up Green and Red Platuses in huge numbers. Especially Red Platuses whose photo-synthetic fur more easily adheres to its tongue. It tends to hunt at night, when the Platuses, unable to supplement their diet with energy from the sun, are sluggish and vulnerable.

Intelligent Life
The Tricrusians, or people of the Mound, as they call themselves, are squat, three legged beings. From this sturdy tripod springs a thick barrel torso, but with two powerful arms, ending in three fingered hands. The head, atop a thick squat neck, is actually quite humanoid, similar in layout to the Greys of Canus Prime, the blue skinned, golden eyed Yureshtians, the Medusans, the Ragglers and the rest of the humanoids. They have developed space travel, but do not seem to leave their planet very often. It is theorized that they are in fact, not native to the planet. The theory goes that they colonized it from elsewhere, and that now that they have found their paradise or refuge they will never leave. But no-one knows for sure. So little is know about them.

The mud makes for an excellent source of various rare metals and elements. The Hub is currently negotiating with the Tricrusians for mining and extraction rights, but to little avail. It seems 'the People of the Mound' simply aren't interested. Other solutions may be deployed...

This entry compiled by:

Professor Verdlop Mimmlesip, Professor of Xenothropology, University of Fornax.

MikMak
This system has two stars and several planets, only one of which is inhabited, Mikmak 4. We don't know who - or what - the inhabitants actually are, but perhaps Harry will find out one day.

Pryszl
Named for the head of the Galactic Miners Guild, Epok Pryszl, this star has no planets at all. Although it does have several mineral rich asteroid belts that are the home of several asteroid mining rigs. Epok himself (of a race of what are in essence giant moles) is long dead, but the star Pryszl makes for a rather wonderful memento of his life.

Weener's Star
Named after Secretary-Prince Weener of Furtz, who discovered this star. Should you ever meet him - or it, I should say - don't be overawed by the Prince title - every Furtzian is in fact a Prince. It's a law they passed - to achieve equality between all Furtzian. If they are all Princes, they're all equal, right? Anyway, Weener's Star has several planets, mostly uninhabitable. There is one moon though where a special research base has been setup. What they are actually researching is a big secret. No-one knows.

M-Base 63472/FO
This is an Imperial Hub military base of some kind. Off limits to everyone but the military.

Gollygosh 14
A star of 'special natural interest'. Apparently there's some kind of tourist spaceport there for those who wish to see the extra-ordinary sites that the star and its planet were named for. Seems it's the fourteenth star called Gollygosh as well! Maybe Harry will find out what the 'special natural interest' is one day, but for now, we have no idea.

The Void
The great gulf of nothingness beyond the Galaxy. Vast and black and empty. Well, mostly empty. It's also the home for various galactic pirates, or Void Vandals, who raid the inhabited stars and worlds of the galaxy from secret bases in the Void.

The Leaf Star
This is a hotel in space, a kind of uber techno resort on the edgy of the galaxy, like a Disney world in space. There are views of the great Void, as well as the gigantic red star that it orbited. Wonderful views and wonderful rooms and entertainments of all kinds - if you can afford it!

Hub Prime
The Capital of the Empire - a massive artificial planet built at the edge of an enormous black hole at the centre of the galaxy. On that gravity defying planet lies the vast and sprawling 'Palace of Palaces' inside which lives the Imperial Overlord, the ruler of the galaxy. From here he governs all... ruling over thousands of planets and billions and billions of beings of all kinds.