- 82 Eridani
- This seems to be the Eber home system, though xenobiologists are not all in
agreement. At any rate, this is the only system were living Ebers have been
encountered. Since this world has an indiginous population, no nation has
set up colonies here, though there are enclaves established by Texas and the UAR.
- α (Alpha) Centauri
- Closest "star" to Sol, α Centauri is a triple star system. α
Centauri A is almost a twin of Sol, a G2V yellow star. α Centauri B is a
K-type orange star; they are far enough apart to each have their own systems
of planets. α Centauri has three: Tirane (heavily
colonized), Oikemenos and Neuerde.
α Centauri B has six: Sheol, Hades, Limbes, Enfer, Vorholle and
Purgatoire.
- America
- Officially still the United States of America in 2303, natives almost never
refer to it as the "United States." (It is well for crosstime
travelers wishing to avoid unwelcome attention to remember this.) Currently
has fifty states, including Puerto Rico and the offworld state of Ellis but
not including Texas (which has been independent for the last two centuries)
and Arizona (absorbed into New Mexico.) The population is not quite up to
prewar levels. America has colonies at α Centauri,
King, μ Herculis and Ellis.
- American Arm
- One of the three "Arms," pathways from system to system leading
outward from Sol. Unfortunately its two branches end at Ellis
and Kingsland; there are no further systems
that can be reached within 7.7 light years. Naturally, America is quite
interested in ways to get around the 7.7 LY barrier. Australia has
partnered with America in many activities here.
- Arabia
- Still a kingdom but no longer under the Saudi dynasty, Arabia has control of most
of the Arabian peninsula, including the Sinai peninsula. No large oil deposits remain, but Arabia has built up an infrastructure to support its population of 16 million
quite well. Arabia has established one extrasolar colony, at β Hydri.
Arabia is moderately concerned with the UAR's pan-Arabist ambitions.
- Arcturus
- The youngest, brightest, most massive star in explored space, Arcturus'
system is all but useless economically (there are no planets and only a few
sizeable asteroids) but a treasure for scientists. Naturally a research
station was constructed here. Unfortunately, it's also at the edge of Kafer
space, and it was here that this race first contacted humanity. After two
years, Kafers attacked. A very few surviving human prisoners were recovered
by a raiding party in 2300. Naturally current intelligence on Arcturus
system is classified.
- Aurore
- η Bootis IV-c (the third moon of Tithonius) is
the home to three human colonies, one French, one Ukrainian and one Texan. Tidally locked to Tithonius, it experiences a very long
"day" relative to its suns (Tithonius orbits both η Bootis A
and η Bootis B.) It is named for its spectacular auroras caused by the
magnetic fields of Tithonius interacting with the upper atmosphere. Aurore
has taken heavy damage from the Kafers; the destruction of all power
satellites has been a particularly heavy blow. Moreover, a fungal agent
introduced by the Kafers has devastated crops and livestock, and even poses
a direct threat to human health.
- Austrovenia
- Small European nation formed by the union of Austria and Slovenia. Notable
for the production of popular personal firearms.
- Azania
- Azania is the successor to the white-ruled Republic of South Africa; it has
gradually absorbed many other former states in the region. Azania traded its
tantalum for membership in the European Space Agency and built up its infrastructure
and education system, becoming the most advanced power on the African continent
and a real player on the world and stellar scales. While Azania hasn't built
an appreciable space navy, it has established colonies at α Centauri
and Kimanjano, and a very prosperous mining operation in the
system.
- Barnard's Star
- Second closest to Sol, this small star's system seems to have no attractive
resources beyond its proximity. America and Manchuria maintain outposts here.
- β (Beta) Canum Venaticorum
- β Canum Venaticorum IV was the breadbasket of the French Arm. Blessed
with a pleasant climate, three of the four continents were heavily colonized,
and the first beanstalk was actually constructed here. Unfortunately it had to
be detached to avoid catastrophic failure if targetted, and, indeed, the
Kafers concentrated most of their bombardment on the beanstalk terminal on the
French continent before making landings in force. Administration failed
completely on the French continent; resistance was most effective on the
German continent, where the final major battles of the 2302 incursion were
fought. Civilian deaths are estimated at about 10% on the German continent, 8%
on the British, and up to 25% on the French continent, much of this due to the
breakdown of services. On all three continents, rural populations were much
less affected. Presently emigration from β Canum is restricted; more than
300,000 left before the restrictions were imposed, mostly from the French
continent. There are seven other planets in the system.
- β Comae Berenices
- The third of its six planets, Nous Voila was terraformed by France to make
the climate warmer and release glacial water. It may have had intelligent
life; remains have been found of what might be rudimentary dwellings. The
population had risen to around twelve million, but was reduced to three by a
series of savage (and seemingly pointless) orbital bombardments. News of this
atrocity has affected French public opinion deeply; several peace
demonstrations have dissolved into riots as angry citizens attacked the
pacifists.
- Brazil
- Although it is by far the largest country in South America in population and
has massive industrial resources, Brazil has fared somewhat poorly vice its
Spanish-speaking neighbors in recent decades, losing the Amazonian headwaters
to the Inca Republic. Brazil has established two offworld colonies, at α
Centauri (Provencia di Brasil) and Procyon, as well as a notable presence at
Clarkesstar.
- Britain
- Britain is one of the leading interstellar powers with one of the largest space
navies. British colonies have been put down at α centauri, β Canum Venaticorum, Queen Alice's Star, Henry's Star and 61 Ursae Majoris. Britain also
maintains a lesser presence at Clarkesstar.
- Canton
- Westernized-rendering of the successor state of southern China. Not as
advanced or populous as Manchuria, Canton nevertheless is definitely a
major power, with a colony at ζ Tucanae.
- China
- The country called "China" in 2303 is a remnant of the
20th-century version, a rather backward nation lying between the Hwang Ho and
Yangtze rivers. Capital: Chongqing. See also Manchuria
and Canton.
- Chinese Arm
- The arm where Manchuria and Canton have concentrated their interstellar
efforts.
- Ellis
- Name for the first planet of AC +43° 1595-89 and its extrasolar American
colony which has full statehood. Ellis is slightly larger than Earth but
less dense, so it has nearly identical surface gravity. The day is about 3/4
that of Earth and the "year" is only 3.25 local days (2.44 standard)
because Ellis orbits at a mean distance of only 0.07 AU. Ellis isn't much of
a "garden" world; only 7% of the surface is covered with water.
Still, the colony's agriculture has been its greatest success story.
Scientists wonder why Ellis has any life; its sun, a small red dwarf,
is of a type that normally would be a flare star, and the planet should be
tidally locked or at least spin-coupled according to current theory. A
prominent 23rd century astrophysicist speculated that perhaps the planet and
even AC +43° 1595-89 had been modified by some unknown civilization.
- Esa
- One of Tirane's two moons. Esa is small and icy, and relatively close to
Tirania, making it a convenient source of hydrogen and oxygen.
- η (Eta) Bootis
- A double star, η Bootis wasn't rated as a possible site for a garden
world until it was actually explored. The two companions have a mutual orbit
which precludes the existence of any planet in their individual or their
mutual life zones. Five gas giants orbit the pair of stars: Hesperus,
Tithonius, Laodamon, Theia and Astraeus. Tithonus is more than five times as
massive as Jupiter and retains enough heat from contraction to create its
own life zone, and its third moon, Aurore, is habitable.
The η Bootis system has been the site of much fighting. It was the
first human-settled system to be attacked by the Kafers, in 2298.
- Europos
- One of Tirane's two moons. Europos is a rocky moonlet orbiting too far from
Tirania to be a promising way station.
- Far Eastern Republic
- A bit of old Russia that hasn't been re-integrated.
- France
- After three centuries of world leadership, France feels her power fading.
Still, France as whole is still the greatest power among the human states.
- French Arm
- The most heavily settled of the three arms, and the one France chose to
concentrate on. All the known living alien races have been discovered or
contacted along this arm. Unfortunately, one of them is the Kafers, and war
has touched many of the colony worlds of the French Arm.
- Hermes
- μ Herculis A-3, an American colony world named after the first American
stutterwarp-equipped space vehicle. The planet has a diameter of 9600 km and a
mass of about half Earth's, making for a surface gravity of 0.73 gees. Hermes
has a very short day (9 hours 4 minutes) but a long year (7809 local days or
8.1 standard years.) Hermes is a cooler world than Earth, and has native life
based on dextro-amino acids, making it nutritionally useless to humans.
Nevertheless it was the major agricultural world of the American Arm before
Ellis was developed. After a difficult period, Hermes established itself as an
exporter of industrial products tailored to the local markets, perhaps not as
sophisticated as the latest things from Earth but cheaper and designed with
frontier conditions in mind. Two million is the current population
estimate.
- Inca Republic
- Latin American nation formed by the merger of Peru, Equador and (most recently)
Colombia. The Inca Republic also holds Panama to the canal region and has won the
Amazonian headwaters region from Brazil. The Inca Republic has no serious interstellar
navy but has nevertheless established two extrasolar colonies, at ρ Eridani
and DM -3° 1123.
- Japan
- Neutral during the Twilight War, Japan nevertheless suffered some nuclear
strikes (by whom is still under dispute) and was doubly impacted by the
collapse because world trade ceased. Understandably, Japan has chosen since
then to follow conservative pathways. Japan has absorbed the Philippines and
most of the Pacific islands, but peacefully. Offworld, Japan has established
colonies on Tirane (α Centauri,) Daikoku (beta Hydri) and Joi (61 Ursae
Majoris.) Japan has also established an outpost in at Davout.
Japan generally supports France and has prickly relations with Germany. Japan's
efforts in extrasolar space have been far less in proportion to their economic
and technological base than the other major colonial powers. Many Japanese are
still wary of an overstrong professional military arm.
- Kimanjano
- As the name indicates, this system was initially pioneered by Azania. However, France has built the larger colony.
Official information on the inhabited world is sparse;
Kimajano saw the heaviest ground fighting
of the Kafer war, and Kafer holdouts are still giving trouble as of
March 2303. No civilian traffic without authorization.
- King
- The world named after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is a garden world, but it
was not made with humans in mind. Gravity is more than three times that of Earth.
To adapt to it, colonists underwent DNA modification regimes, which they
did not always survive. Natives and long-term visitors use a bio-engineered
symbiont to filter the air; otherwise one needs respirator/filters to screen
out harmful components (particularly sulphur compounds and reduce the partial
pressure of oxygen to an acceptable level.
The settlement of King was the first large-scale use of DNAMS (DNA Modifiers)
on humans outside of corrective therapies for genetic disorders. It has to
be seen as a technical success but a public relations disaster. Most nations
have enacted laws restricting DNAM use and even research on humans.
The present population is about one million in the American colony and
half that in the Australian. Tantalum is the most visable export, although
other rare metals such as gold, platinum and radioactives actually provide
several times as much value in annual exports.
- Kingsland
- The name of both ζ herculis A-4 and its only
colony, which is a full State in Australia. Kingsland is rather drier and cooler than
one might like; there are proposals to introduce tailored lifeforms as was done
in the β comae berenices system to melt water out of the extensive glaciers.
Population is now about a million, with 90,000 in the capital, Hogan, which is
by far the largest town. Kingsland is slightly smaller than Earth, and gravity
is about nine/tenths Earth normal.
- Manchuria
- Chinese successor state including present-day North China, Xinjiang, Tibet,
and quite a bit of the old Russian maritime province. Capital: Beijing.
- μ (Mu) Herculis
- μ Herculis A is a triple star with two M-class companions, but they are
very distant and have no planets. μ Herculis A's planets are all named for
American space programs:
- Gemini, diameter 1532 km, mean distance 119 million km, is a
tidally-locked rocky world with no atmosphere. It is of scientific interest,
and might have some exploitable heavy metal deposits.
- Apollo, diameter 2968 km, mean distance 1.5 AU, is another airless,
tidally-locked rock. It is less dense and holds little promise for rare
metals. Apollo does possess two moons, both captured asteroids.
- Hermes, site of an American colony.
- Tangent, approximately 1000 km in diameter, has a noticeably elliptical
orbit with a 25° incline to the averaged ecliptics of the other planets
in the system. It may be a captured body. The major base of the American
space navy in this system is here. Tangent is named after a series of manned
surveys to Jupiter's major satellites, but the name obviously can refer to
the unusual orbit.
- Phoenix, diameter 4864 km, mean distance 3.2 AU, actually has a
nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere. However, they are often combined into nitric
acid. 24th century technology isn't up to creating any permanent
installations here. Phoenix takes its name from the first American manned
program following the Twilight War.
- There is a very dense asteroid belt at about 4.5 au. Prospectors have
reported radioactives, but no commercial mining operations as yet.
- Odysseus is a very distance world (mean distance 18 AU.) The surface is
covered with ices. American governments have shown little interest in
exploring it.
-
- Nuerde
- α Centauri A III, a failed core world about 6000 km in diameter.
- Oikemenos
- α Centauri A II, a desert world about 5000 km across.
- Syuhlahm
- ζ Tucanae 2, a garden world with a very strange ecosystem. Both Canton and Manchuria maintain
colonies here, and though they are quite economically dependent on one
another, they also trade many angry words and no few shots. Japan also has
a settlement here, an island off the Manchurian colony (Chyuantii) and Canton
has established a distinct Vietnamese settlement.
Besides the wierd wildlife, outsiders know Syuhlahm mostly for its famous walkers.
Wherever possible, mechanical legs are preferred over wheels; this is the only
place where walkers are a really significant part of civil transport.
- Texas
- After being re-absorbed by Mexico for a century, Texas won independence and
has retained it. The Earthside borders of Texas have changed a bit; the
panhandle is now part of Oklahoma, but Texas now encompasses Santa Fe along
with around about one-fourth of our version of New Mexico. Texas has also
established itself beyond our solar system, with several outposts and
colonies; not bad for a nation with such a small population.
- Tirane (α Centauri A I)
- The first extrasolar earthlike world to be discovered and settled. Tirane
orbits Alpha Centauri A, a G2V star quite similar to Sol. The elliptical orbit
of the companion, a K0V star, means that Tirane experiences a rather complex
cycle of seasons. Farmers either have to change crops to suit a different
climate every few years, or move to a farm in a different latitude where
conditions are similar to what they used to have. Tirane has two moons,
Europos and Esa (after the European Space Agency.)
- Tirania
- The American colony on Tirane. It's been losing population over the past
decade (now it's at about 18 million.) While this is much smaller than most of
the other colonies on Tirane, it's puzzling that Tirania is still a territory
while Ellis, with less than 1/5 the population, is a state.
- Tithonius
- η Bootis II, a very large gas giant (5.3 Jupiter masses) has a habitable
moon, Aurore. It also possesses a family of other,
lifeless moons and an extensive ring system. Radiation belts are some of the
strongest in known space; approach through the polar regions is strongly
recommended.
- UAR (United Arab Republic)
- This latest incarnation of the UAR encompasses the former Egypt (except the
Sinai,) Libya and part of the Sudan. Syria did join for a time but has since left,
repeating a 20th century experience. The UAR has only one significant extrasolar
post, an enclave on the Eber world in the 82 Eridani system.
- ζ (Zeta) Herculis
- This is yet another double star system. ζ Herculis A is a G0IV star (a sub-giant, or
young main sequence star) with three quarters more mass than Sol. It has four
planets; the fourth is habitable and is called "Kingsland" after the Australian
colony established there.
The companion, ζ Herculis B, is a K0V star with four planets. None is habitable. B-4 is an iceball; there have been proposals to set up a permanent mininga operation here, but the scale needed to make such an operation profitable has precluded sufficient investment interest.
Like Ellis, ζ Herculis/Kingsland is at the dead end of a branch. Unless some
way around the 7.7 ly limit is found, this system probably won't see more than
incremental development.
- ζ1 Reticuli (X: 10.9; Y: 12.6;
Z: -32.6)
- A G2V star (abs. 5.28) quite similar to Earth's sun, one of a very widely
separated double star system. A logical place to look for a garden world, it
has never been explored because it lies beyond the 7.7 LY limit for
stutterwarp travel to any system that can currently be reached. Astronomical
observations indicate it has at least one gas giant.
- ζ2 Reticuli (X:
10.9; Y: 12.7; Z: -32.6)
- A G1V star (abs. 4.98) somewhat younger and brighter than Earth's sun, but
still a prime candidate for life. Unfortunately it can't be reached by
ordinary stutterwarp-equipped ships.
- ζ Tucanae (X: 9.7; Y: 0.7; Z: -21.2)
-
A G2V star very similar to Sol, ζ Tucanae supports a family of four planets:
- Gaaumouhjeung (Dean of the Facility, a gas giant, at 0.8 au.
One of the moons has free
oxygen, breathable with respirator equipment.)
- Syuhlahm (Grove,
two colonies, at 1.1 au)
- Yahnnhaak (Guest, a failed core world at 4.2 au)
- Hongaangge (Watchman, a gas giant at 18.7 au. Seven moons.)