Gerfnit

Gerfnit (gurf' knit) is the protagonist in Michael Pickard's science fiction novel, The Gerfnit Chronicles. Gerfnit is a Frob from Frobzb, a planet in the Crescent galaxy circling dual suns, a huge distance from Earth.

Frobs are monosexual, neither male nor female. When they mate through a ritual called gemsha, either of the participating Frobs can become pregnant. The pair are called originators, and the one who gets pregnant is known as the carrier. After the birth, known as emptying, the newborn Frob is hurried away from the carrier and given a name. The originators never see their offspring again, and have no idea of its identity.

The culture of Frobzb is functionally based. That is, each village is dedicated to a particular product or service (ex. mining, manufacturing, nutritives, research). Frobs live and work at their village, with little need for intervillage travel.

Gerfnit was the byproduct of gemsha between Gifter and Terfin, both Frobs from the Materials Research village. Rather than let the bureaucracy run its course, Gifter and Terfin choose the name of their offspring (a combination of the letters of their names, after striking out the duplicates). Keeping track of Gerfnit gets Gifter thrown into The Hall of Bad Examples, the Frob prison.

Gerfnit is selected as the mission specialist for a reconnaissance visit to Earth. The details of this visit are documented in The Gerfnit Chronicles.