The Confederation Handbook

by Peter F. Hamilton

  Vennal

  A herbivore tree dweller (1m tall), with exceptional dexterity. There is no distinction between fore- and hindpaws. The tail is well developed and assists it in climbing. There is a faint resemblance to a lizard, and its skin is a blue-green hide.

  Sayce

  Dog analogue: a carnivore similar to a cat with black scales. The paws have six sharp claws to help it climb trees. It is impossible to domesticate a wild sayce, but those raised in captivity become obedient to human vocal orders. Very rudimentary vocal cords allow limited response, and sayces can manage about fifteen to twenty words. This ability of response does not qualify it as sentient under Confederation classification rules. Any words need to be taught by a competent handler, and cover set situations such as “help,” “danger,” “come,” “go,” etc. A sayce can also learn the names of its human family.

  There is a considerable sayce-racing fraternity, and meetings are held in most villages. An underground sayce-fighting organization also exists, which the Development Corporation does very little to discourage.

  7. Norfolk

  Norfolk is a terracompatible planet 247 light-years from Earth. An English-pastoral-ethnic world, it was discovered in 2207, and opened for colonization in 2213. It is unusual in that the star system is a binary.

  Star System Physical Data

  There are two stars, six solid planets, no gas giants, and a considerable number of asteroids. The primary star is Duke, a K2 type (cooler than Sol). The secondary star is Duchess, an M5 type (red dwarf). Duchess orbits around Duke at a distance of 372m km, giving it an orbital period of 1,425 days, or approximately four (Earth) years.

  Four of the solid planets are in orbit around Duke.

  The remaining two solid planets are in orbit around Duchess. They also form a binary of their own, the separation distance being 570,000km.

  The main asteroid belt orbits between 45m and 72m miles (72m and 114m km) from Duke. There is a smaller belt orbiting between 28m and 32m miles (45m and 51m km) from Duchess. There are secondary belts between all the planets orbiting Duke, and a large number of rocks which exchange stars every few centuries. In addition, there is a large quantity of comets and small, pebble-sized particles loose in the system.

  Norfolk

  Physical Data

  Gravity is 0.87 standard, axial inclination 1.7°. Orbital rotation around Duke takes 452 days, however its year is 659 days (see climate, below). Planetary rotation is 23 hours 43 minutes.

  Atmosphere is 77 percent nitrogen, 22 percent oxygen, 1 percent carbon dioxide, resulting in air which feels heavy. New arrivals find it moderately difficult to breathe, acclimatization taking several days.

  Just over 40 percent of the surface is land. There are no continents in the normal sense, and very little tectonic activity. Most of the land mass is made up of large islands, 40,000 to 60,000 square miles (100,000 to 150,000km2) each; the rest comprises small archipelago chains in the seas between the islands. There are few mountain ranges. Because of this geographical structure, the open-water areas are not large enough to qualify as oceans, so there are only “seas.”

  Regarding climate, the seasons are not decided by the planet’s orbital period but by the time it takes to reachsuperior conjunction between Duke and Duchess (every 659 days), and they are experienced uniformly over the planet. The distance it orbits from Duke would normally give Norfolk a permanently cold climate; however, the infrared radiance from Duchess, as it approaches superior conjunction, produces a warm summer equivalent to normal terrestrial temperate regions. During the height of summer the hours of darkness gradually reduce to zero (midsummer).

  Winters are uniformly cold, withinferior conjunction removing Duchess from the sky altogether. The temperature will sink to–77°F (–25°C) at midwinter, and thick snowfall is planet-wide.

  The capital is Norwich, on the island of Ramsey, with a population of 970,000. The total planetary population is 324,000,000.

  Norfolk has two moons.

  Argyll is heavily cratered, and has a dull grey regolith.

  Fife’s surface is made up entirely of ice 10–25m thick, which is subjected to considerable tidal stress, and is severely cracked. There are no craters. A thin lower level of water exists around volcanic vents. Some surface melting occurs when Norfolk reaches superior conjunction between Duke and Duchess. Very primitive bacteria live in the water.

  Constitution

  The planet has a pastoral/Christian constitution which limits the manufacture, import, and use of advanced technology. An official list of acceptable technological items is maintained by the government, and can only be added to by a 70 percent vote in favor in Parliament.

  Government is an elected planetary Parliament, with a Prime Minister. Each island has its own council, and local authorities are modeled on the old English structure circa twentieth century, with county, town, and parish councils. There is an independent judiciary.

  A hereditary constitutional guardian from the Mountbatten family is responsible for seeing that both Parliament and the judiciary don’t overstep their constitutional limits. Because of its ties with old England, there is a titled and landed aristocracy, headed by the Mountbatten prince. The House of Mountbatten is proud of its links with that most modern of monarchies, the Saldanas. In 2380, a (natural-born) daughter of King James married the Mountbatten heir, and the family has subsequently promoted the idea of a “special relationship” with the Kulu Kingdom.

  There is no House of Lords, though inevitably the aristocracy is wealthy enough to have considerable unofficial influence over local matters. Many of its members sit on local councils.

  History

  The Duke of Rutland scoutship entered the Norfolk star system in 2207. Biological certification was achieved in 2210, and the Norfolk Land Company opened the planet for colonization in 2213. Because of its unique situation, a constitution was written to attract settlers who were dissatisfied with the technoeconomic life prevalent elsewhere throughout the Confederation. The planet was an ideal site for such a group: without a gas giant to mine for He3, no asteroid industry would develop, and it is the only place where the famous Norfolk weeping rose will grow, providing the planet with an income capable of paying for the few advanced technology items it needs to import. The planet was opened to volunteers only, and there have never been any involuntary transportees on Norfolk. The government claims this is the primary reason why the crime rate has remained low (well below the Confederation average) throughout its history. The constitution also permits anyone to emigrate, a clause written in order to prevent people dissatisfied with the pastoral lifestyle from having to stay there against their will and therefore possibly causing trouble. It should be noted, however, that the average Norfolk laborer would take a very long time to earn enough money to buy passage out on a starship. The government doesn’t subsidize emigration, though that concept has been raised several times in Parliament.

  Succeeding generations have adopted their original ancestors’ work ethic, thus making Norfolk as prosperous as any pastoral planet can be. Immigration continues, though at a much reduced rate, typically 10,000 per (Norfolk) year. Because of the low level of medical technology, most immigrants have tended to be those with considerable geneering in their ancestry. Illness is consequently rare, leaving hospitals free to concentrate primarily on accidents. Although medical nanonic packages are proscribed, most medicines are permitted, and nearly all injuries are survivable.

  Technology

  The list of prohibited technologies is a long one. Basic-level electronics is permitted, but nanonics are banned completely. Didactic education is not employed, and the university syllabus is strictly controlled, while there is very little research permitted. Higher education subjects tend to be practical rather than theoretical.

  The limitations of medical technology are the biggest cause of argument among the population, and the question of drugs and treatments to be permitted is the one area of the prohibited list whic
h is constantly under review. Parliament consequently votes for expansion of the medical list at least once every session.

  Planetary communication is by landlines only, and the net is very rudimentary. It is used principally for voice-only telephone services. Though some data can be carried, the bit rate is extremely low. There are no sensorium broadcasts. 3D AV (audiovisual) broadcasts are the standard entertainment medium.

  Satellites exist to link visiting starships into traffic control, and enable them to establish contact with the ground.

  Aircraft are permitted, though they are limited to emergency services. There is no civil aviation transport industry. Spaceplanes and ion-field flyers may only use designated spaceports.

  The only spaceplane registered to Norfolk is owned by the state communication company, and it is employed to maintain the communication satellites. Its crew are foreign workers.

  There is no commercial docking station in orbit, and no facilities to perform maintenance on visiting starships. If a starship is in need of repair, its captain would have to arrange for the parts, crew, and any necessary service machinery to be shipped in. More than one starship line has been bankrupted by mechanical misfortunes at Norfolk.

  There are no indigenous spaceplane operators. Starships wishing to transport Norfolk Tears (see Economy, page 170) must ship it up in their own ground-to-orbit vehicles.

  The principal form of ground transportation is by train, which requires an extensive network of tracks. Every town and most of the villages have their own station. The tracks are simple twin rails, and the trains themselves are powered by electron-matrix crystals. The trains are designed to run throughout the year, and are fitted with snowplows for Norfolk’s winter.

  There is a small road system on most of the islands, with metalled surfaces connecting major towns and cities. Over the rest of the countryside, farm tracks of crushed stone provide transport routes between farms and towns. Few of the metalled roads remain viable during midwinter, when snowdrifts can reach 3m in depth. Some of the richer farmers use powered vehicles, but there are very few private cars, so the horse and carriage prevails in rural areas. Though powerbikes are popular with the younger urban inhabitants, ordinary bicycles remain the norm.

  A good range of agricultural machinery is produced by local engineering firms. All of this machinery uses an electron matrix powering electric engines. Because of their complex molecular structure, all electron-matrix cells have to be imported.

  Power

  Norfolk is unique in having absolutely no fusion generators at all. Power for industrial consumers, urban areas and agriculture is produced from geothermal exchange cables, an imported solid-state fiber which uses the temperature difference between deep hot rocks and the cool surface environment to generate current directly. These cables are a high-technology product, but they are permitted because importing He would cost too much and He3 would require a sophisticated support infrastructure. Hydroelectric power is impractical on any reasonable scale, due to Norfolk’s geographical make-up, since the islands simply don’t have the kind of extensive mountain ranges necessary, nor is it uncommon for entire rivers to freeze solid during winter. However, the geothermal stations are non-polluting, and the cables last for centuries, so they were seen as the perfect solution for Norfolk.

  There is a distribution grid of high-temperature superconductors to carry power over the islands, and in some cases between them. Domestic power requirements, especially for the isolated farms, come from solar-cell roofing panels.

  Economy

  The principal economy is geared around production and export of Norfolk Tears. This alcoholic drink comes from the weeping rose which, because of Norfolk’s unique double-sun summer that ripens the flowers, has proved almost impossible to grow anywhere else. All attempts at this have produced a vastly inferior drink, and even chemical synthesis is difficult, leaving Norfolk as the only real source. Norfolk Tears has been described as the perfect alcoholic beverage, a pale yellow liquid with a mild dry taste that few people can resist, and it produces virtually no hangover. Norfolk Tears is exported right across the Confederation, and the price increases in proportion to the distance from Norfolk of its eventual destination. Adamists and Edenists alike provide a huge market which could easily absorb a hundred times the current production level. (The Saldanas send a ship each season so that their royal table is never without a good supply.)

  Roughly 65 percent of farms cultivate the weeping rose as their primary crop, though almost every rural cottage possesses a small grove of its own. Production is organized on a regional basis, with local producers sharing a single bottling plant. Each grove carries its own label, though there are also blended varieties. There is a government-run growers’ association which sets a minimum price (taking foreign earnings requirements into account), and Tears is always bottled on the planet itself, adding to its cost of shipment.

  Most major Confederation banks have branches on Norfolk to facilitate its foreign currency exchange. The planet’s entire foreign earnings occur annually in a single twenty-day period just after midsummer.

  The government prohibits a futures market (which would become dominated by large offplanet commercial companies), and the Tears crop is only available to starships actually visiting the planet at the time of its sale, preventing the development of a monopoly situation by large commercial fleets. Norfolk wants the supply of Tears to be spread as widely and thinly as possible, half of the product’s appeal being in the mystique of its scarcity.

  Naturally, as there is only one crop every 659 days, the number of starships arriving then is extensive—upwards of 25,000.

  Because demand for Tears always outstrips the supply, starship captains try very hard to establish lasting bonds with the agents of regional production groups in order to secure their cargo. In this way, a strong underground futures market has developed, with cash bribes and prohibited technology being offered as sweeteners.

  Defense

  Norfolk’s other significant aspect is that it is the only developed planet in the Confederation not to possess a strategic-defense network. The reason for this is that the only thing of value on the planet, or indeed in its whole system, is Norfolk Tears, which simply cannot be snatched away by spacefaring pirates.

  However, starships jumping outsystem are vulnerable to interception when they are carrying valuable cargoes of Norfolk Tears, so a Confederation Navy squadron is assigned to the system for an anti-piracy operation during each midsummer. Norfolk is a fully integrated member of the Confederation, and meets all the expenses incurred with this protective deployment. After each operation, the crews enjoy shore leave, attending formal parties thrown for them by all the major Norfolk cities during which each guest is traditionally given a specially labeled bottle of Norfolk Tears by the local growers’ association, which makes participation in this anti-piracy exercise popular with all the navy crews.

  This annual arrangement is complemented by the location of a Confederation Navy office on the planet, and there are usually one or two navy ships on routine patrol deployment inside the system to deter any attempt at blackmailing Norfolk through planetary bombardment by pirates.

  Plants

  Weeping Rose

  The most famous plant in the entire Confederation is a rambling bush which produces yellow-gold blooms 25cm in diameter, with a thick ruff of petals around an onion-shaped carpel pod. At midsummer the flower always droops over, so that when it is fully open it faces towards the ground. As the seeds ripen, the pod exudes a fluid which is collected and fermented in wooden casks for a year, then bottled. Only after the new-year crop is safely in will the previous year’s vintage be released.

  The pods exude (weep) all their fluid within just thirty-six hours, leaving a dry carpel which then splits open to throw out the seeds. The Weeping Rose is usually cultivated on a wire, and pruned to a height of 3m. A mature (third-year) plant will produce up to twenty-five flowers. The fluid is collected in waxed paper f
unnels positioned round each plant, and an experienced grower will always be able to tell exactly when the flowers are about to weep.

  Grass-analogue

  This is remarkably Earth-like, except that its leaves are tubular and produce minute white flowers throughout the summer. The flowers can only be triggered by a double-star spectrum.

  Trees

  There are a number of evergreen species, resembling the terrestrial pine. Their leaves are also usually dark and narrow, although much thicker. There are no cones, as they reproduce by spores. All the islands contain extensive forest areas.

  Earth crops

  Wheat, barley, oats, potato, maize, and most other Earth-originated vegetables have been geneered for use on Norfolk. The grains are capable of producing two harvests during the superior conjunction season, though a degree of care must be taken in storing them during the long winter. There are no aboriginal grain plants. Other terrestrial plants such as trees and canes have proved difficult to modify for the double-star spectrum and the particularly long year.

  Animals

  Evolution has produced surprisingly few land animals. There are some fish, though again the variety is lower than usual. Mammals are two-gender quadruped marsupials with an ordinary biochemistry. All have thick shaggy fur, and considerable subcutaneous fat to survive the long winters. Hibernation is common.