Erg (Hyperion)

In Dan Simmons' Hugo Award-winning science fiction novel Hyperion, the first in the Hyperion Cantos series, Ergs are quasi-telepathic sentient (but not sapient) silicon-based life forms discovered around planet Aldebaran which generate and control extreme force-fields.

In the same series, Ergs are used to propel Templar Treeships. The ergs also generate the containment fields (force fields) around the tree that keep its atmosphere intact. It is implied by the author that the Templars have devised some way of communicating with the ergs.

One of the characters of the novel - Templar Het Masteen takes along an erg secured in a Mobius Cube to the Shrike pilgrimage. Masteen intended to use the erg to pilot Shrikes Tree of Pain, using the erg as a containment for the Tree. As Masteen failed to do this, the Erg was then used by the Keats second retrieval persona to tamper with the Shrike itself, in an effort to save the baby Rachel was then carrying.