Saltus

Saltus is a homunculus crew member aboard the Jaddian free trader Eurynasir. He stands no more than four feet tall, with ash-colored skin and thick gray hair covering his long, orangutan-like arms. His scalp is hairless except for a gray-black queue at the base of his skull that he habitually twists in his hands; his legs are short and bowed; his face so wizened Hadrian initially mistakes him for an elderly child. His voice is improbably high for his size. He identifies a kinship with Hadrian on the grounds that both are products of artificial gestation — palatines being gene-tailored, homunculi being purpose-engineered — calling them both "children of the tanks."

In the ship's medica during Hadrian's cryogenic freezing, Saltus mocks Hadrian's nakedness with crude humor, and Juno responds by kicking him twice — hard enough that he yelps and falls sideways into the wall — before grabbing him by the scruff and throwing him out of the room. He is called 'Salt' by Juno. Despite his grotesque appearance and coarse manner, he functions as a legitimate crew member. He later departs with the rest of the crew when they abandon the Eurynasir mid-voyage.