The Karatoba makes a brief appearance in Falls and reappears in Exile. The ship, like its crew, is very old and a bit decrepit but I wanted to show it still had a purpose. Just because something is old, doesn't mean it should be thrown away!
I had written about Jyntee in a draft version of Platinum Mind 3 but I changed the plot and never used it. I didn't want to throw the idea of a failing port away so used it in Falls. The created the map to give a sense of the scale and geography of the town. While i was making it, the idea of the pillar and the three signal lights came to me.
I had enormous fun finding names for all the ships. I have a number of atlases and scoured the pages looking for unusual places in Asia - particularly in the deserts and obscure little towns nobody on my side of the world has ever heard of.
I had a toy armoured car as a child and while the shape was influenced by the shuttles in Star Trek, I wanted my design to look more robust and 'gritty' like the toy. And unlike Star Fleet shuttles, I included toilet facilities.