Freelance Traveller

Zeimbo

by Leslie DeGroff

This is one of the two winning entries from Freelance Traveller Contest 2008-02.

Zeimbo A6369A5-D 304

The view of this world from space gives it its most common nickname, Gray Worm.

There is no lore recorded about where the official name came from. It was given by flight crew of initial colonization missions, recorded in Solmani archives and later given as planetary name during recontact.

A Port, 4 Gas Giants
Size 6, Very thin atmosphere, 60% Hydrographic, 3 Billion population, High law, Feudal Technocracy, TL D

Zeimbo is just off the end of a major Jump 1 main, at jump 3 from last populated system in the main. There are three uninhabitated systems at jump 2. One of these is extremely dangerous: a triple system with a white dwarf in tight orbit and a 3 solar mass black hole at 7 AUs. Another of these generally uninhabited systems has an automatic fuel refinery and fuel dump with 25000 dtons capacity.

Next closest are a pair of low population very poor systems at jump 3. There are another three low population systems at jump 4 and four more at jump 5. One of the systems at jump 5 is interdicted because of alien sentience, and appears to contain pre-ancients high technology artifacts. Current alien occupants may not be original technology creators but are defended by it. They are definitely fully sentient but have limited breeding season oriented social structures and very limited neolithic technology of their own. Several members of this species have traveled to Zeimbo and are protected research projects living in special isolation areas.

These jump distances has through out the history of the system made it self reliant and not a major trade point however with major subsidies from Imperial sources, the system government maintains three 40,000 dton Jump 3, fuel capacity Jump 4 ships running two of them on a six month loop covering the populated neighboring systems including the interdiction station, the fuel dump and the system at the end of the main. These ships have bays for internal transport of up to a 500 dton plus two 200 dton ships and these bays are generally available for lease at a discounted rate.

Designers note: I have done a lot more ship designs than worlds but for frontier(ish) worlds, traffic is important and with a rich, high tech, A port world, but a bit isolated world like Zeimbo the interstellar traffic structure matters a great deal.

They also carry a company of planetary (subsector command) marines with Imperial officers cadre. The majority of this force are convicts or social removals from Zeimbo due to weapons violations. Some have had brain surgery or other psychological treatments to adapt them to service. (adventure seed, it may be worth exposing this aspect of Zeimbo culture to players before they cross the line smuggling weapons in)

The system was colonized by a fairly well equipped group early in the long night with TL 10 and current population and the infrastructure to support them has grown primarily from that base. Of Solmani descent, they maintain several Terran languages, English, French and Arabic but have essentially no involvement in Imperial politics.

The planet is in a phase where the majority of land mass is gathered into a mega continent centered on the equator.

With a very thin atmosphere, living and agriculture is conducted under cover but rather than round domes, the majority of activity and population live in a linear complex running about 4000 miles along the spine of the continent. Fifteen miles wide, 2 miles high with structural barriers and anchors about every 20 miles, this megastructure is one of the finest examples of high TL 10 technology in the Imperium. With more than 200, thousand story skyscraper complexes on the anchor barriers, the inhabitants are actually space rich.

Internal pressures are kept above earth atmospheric so that upper floors, top of the arches are at about .9 bar, 12.5 PSI.

Agriculture including hydroponics and biotechnologic synthetics is more than sufficient for local needs. Claims have been made that current capacity is sufficient for more than twice the current population although food exports for sale in the form of prepared rations and emergency blocks is less than 400 dtons per year. It is also believed that government maintains several years supply of emergency food reserves.

Agriculture is conducted under nearly natural light on roughly 50,000 square miles under the arches, with large areas using land for multiple purposes. Most habitat towers also have fruit and ornamental gardens. Original colony had a cadre of agricultural biotechnologist which has grown to several large development departments in the planets technology schools. These plant and micro-organisms bio-technologists are a recognized branch of the government. Of note worthy contrast, neither animal agriculture, nor medical biotechnology have the same level of recognition in the social order. Medicine is at tech level but not extraordinary.

Food customs are not meat centered, but neither is there a strong vegetarian ethic. A large number of synthetic foods with high protein and fat and tastes like meat are served.

In addition to surface lands, there are several complexes of tunnel with dedicated fusion plants. Exact areas, products and production are not secret but are not easily available information either.

The great worm structure has a fork, about 200 miles from the coast line, and the main space port is located in the Y of this fork. The Imperial sponsored but not funded space yards can construct ships up to 40,000 dtons but for the last couple of centuries have been in a maintenance mode, constructing slowly two or three at a time, 1000 to 4000 dton jump 3 ships of the "Standard Operations" class. These are constructed at a TL below the maximum available. The yard doesn't include a high port but has on call a large collection of repair and maintenance craft capable of work on the largest of Imperial ships. (at least in theory) Manufacturing of repair and construction craft is one of the planets exports with several hundred dtons typically loaded on each loop of the subsidized trade ships. A significant majority of these are constructed at below tech level, the local design groups maintain templates and train engineers in TL 8 and above. The economics of this appear to be irrational but the technocratic social order honors and rewards skills for retro TL.

In addition to the main surface complex, many areas of the city, have large complexes of tunneling running out out many miles from the primary domes. Many of these are under mapped, not tracked in the planetary databases.

There are two major pervasive transportation systems, a double loop of subsurface trains that go the entire length (8000 mile plus loop) of the complex and local loops often suspended from edges of the domes that cover one or two segments. With tens of millions population in each set of barrier towers, a majority of traffic happens in the local loops.

Historical Highlights

The system has never had a war or invasion. This and the sometimes fragile nature of their artificial habitats supports the logic of the extremely high law level, essentially all weapons are forbidden. As a technocracy, intelligence and skill are honored and rewarded, an aspect of the feudal designation are the guild's or branches, seven major divisions. (Space technology, Biotechnology and Food, Structures and Tunnels, Power and Life support, Mining and surface resources, Consumer goods, communications and Entertainment delivery, Transport) Citizens must belong to a specific division, sworn to it, but education and political system supports and rewards polymaths cross trained in several domains. Political dominance has varied through out history but in recent centuries has been mild and cooperative. There are some groups excluded from the political structure but most members of these do OK to very well economically. Of note in the excluded are the medical practitioners, the very tiny military (less than 2000 members which includes 500 in 4 companies off world) and modest police forces, external merchants and a large arts and entertainment (content provider) class.

Local history has included over 20 major disasters related to dome and technologically dependence each with death tolls of over 5 million. These have included two meteor impacts, half a dozen multisection arch failures and three fusion station failures. Another three were essentially political failures in infrastructure investment which included starvation, medical problems and were of decades long duration. There is one volcanically active region near the main thread of the habitats; it was responsible for one disaster and is now under active engineering management, providing power for a dozen segments.

The system had a number of contacts with Imperium prior to its incorporation as a member. While probably not recognized locally, several of the poor worlds on Zeimbo's trade loop are considered client worlds by Imperium.

Membership in the Imperium strengthened the "space technology" division of local government, and enabled the upgrading of the ship yards to full TL and larger capacity. Being in a fairly safe region, the Imperial Naval presence is limited to a small maintenance and fueling reserve force.

The scout service has a base, slightly larger than average because of the need to support high jump ships. Much of the time the scouts will have a jump 4 or jump 5 cruiser in system, and they maintain a courier support ship but not regular runs. The system is not on a courier grid.

Current population, which is still increasing at a very slow rate, is mostly by natural increase from a base of near 100,000 in the initial colonizations which took almost a century to complete.

Possible Adventure Seeds

This should not by any means be considered an exhaustive list of possibilities.

Technology Acquisition: With its technocratic focus, for hundreds of years the planetary government has sponsored "Investigations", a cross between scholarships and research grants given to several hundred students and researchers each year to travel off-world for up to a dozen years and collect or study technology. Some of these missions, consisting of multiple members may verge on industrial spying; some distance up the nearby main are a couple of high technology worlds that forbid such groups visitation visas.

Habitat Containment Breach: There are no local life forms, and most areas with life support are in use and monitored. There is always the risk of contamination or escapes near a space port however.

Lava Light: There is a geothermal power station complex near the volcanically-active region of the continent; like much of the rest of Zeimbo's infrastructure, it suffers from occasional underfunding and undermaintenance. A major tremor or eruption could kill power in several segments, and send molten rock through the complex - or worse, into the subsurface tunnels of nearby segments.