The Confederation Handbook (9 page)

The Crown Princess is always
a subject of the Kulu Kingdom, and usually a member of the
aristocracy. A family which has itself undergone extensive genetic
modification (especially regarding life expectancy) is preferred, so
that a long-term marriage partnership will be possible. The King and
Queen can never get divorced, but it would be wrong to conclude that
all royal marriages arranged by the court are arid couplings, and
therefore loveless. Most significantly, King Lukas is reputed to have
only ever enjoyed his partner, Queen Anne, as a sexual partner.

The Kings of
Kulu

Gerrald 2250–2280

Alastair 2280–2302

Marcus 2302–2351

Aubrey 2351–2372

Aaron 2372–2412

James 2412–2432

Michael 2432 (abdicated
before coronation)

Lukas 2432–2505

David 2505–2608

Alastair II 2608–

Kulu
Aristocracy

Gerrald Saldana instigated a titled nobility the year following his
coronation, thus formalizing the institution of monarchy. Letters
patent of nobility were (and are) used as a reward for loyalty or
public service (the highest carrying pensions and sometimes small
estates), and in form it duplicates the original European system of
ennoblement. The aristocracy do not sit in the equivalent of a House
of Lords, but a great many of them work for the royal court in
administering the sovereign’s privileges, such as the granting
of mineral-extraction licenses, the levying of taxes for defense, and
as officers of justice, etc.—in effect, forming a private civil
service unaccountable to Parliament. It is this court which runs
Kulu’s Intelligence services, and this is perhaps its most
notorious function.

Technology

Kulu technology is second
only to that of the Edenists, and in some fields, notably nanonics,
it is more advanced. The capital system has a highly developed
technoeconomy, providing its population with the best Adamist
standard of living within the Confederation.

Helium
Mining

The gas giant Tarron is the
center of He3mining in the Kulu system. This operation consists of
forty-plus cloudscoops controlled by fifteen asteroid settlements in
orbit around Tarron. In addition to the Tarron operation, each of the
principality systems possesses a gas mining operation. The
cloudscoops supply all of the Kulu Kingdom’s industrial, civil,
naval, and transport energy requirements, as well as supplying fuel
for visiting starships.

The price of He3within the Kingdom is equal to the price which the
Edenists charge throughout the Confederation, and is an arrangement
of sheer necessity. If Kulu He3cost more than Edenist fuel, its
industry would suffer accordingly. The Kulu mining operation is
profitable, although its dividends are not as high as more normal
commercial activities. The colossal scale of the operation makes up
for this one shortfall, and the Saldana family considers it a more
than worthwhile price to pay for complete independence. Starting with
King Richard, they have always viewed the Edenist energy monopoly as
a gross incursion of their national sovereignty. However, He3is not
exported by the Kingdom, since the Kulu Corporation simply could not
match the lower price the Edenists can charge for He3in star systems
without a developed mining industry. Nor would there be many star
systems willing to pay the political price of having their energy
supplied by the Saldanas. The Kulu Kingdom is one of the very few
examples of a sovereign state possessing its own He3mining operation
and, now that star-system colonization is conducted on an almost
institutionalized basis, that seems set to remain so. The two other
principal exceptions are Oshanko and Far Texas. Ironically, the only
other nation-state to possess its own cloudscoop is Tranquillity,
which assumed control of the Kulu Corporation’s Mirchusko
mining operation when it became officially independent from the
Kingdom. Yet none of these mining operations pose any real threat to
the Edenist energy monopoly.

Currency

The Kingdom uses a decimal
pound as its currency. Most transactions are done through credit
disk, though the Royal Mint does issue silver and gold sovereigns.
During “privateâ€

Ombey, a planet fifty-seven
light-years from Kulu, is the most distant—and newest—planet
in the Kingdom, discovered in 2467, confirmed as terracompatible and
opened for immigration in 2470.

The system is composed of
eight planets, four of them solid and four gas giants, as well as two
asteroid belts. The star is a G4 type.

There are four solid
planets.

There are four gas giants.

The first asteroid belt
orbits between 59m and 65m km out from the star. It is a narrow but
dense belt, with 321 asteroids over 150km in diameter, and 18
asteroids 1,000km plus in diameter. The largest asteroid, Gamow, is
1,350km in diameter.

The second asteroid belt
orbits between 325m and 560m km from the star, with a more normal
density distribution. It has no asteroids over 50km in diameter.

Colonization was funded
entirely by the Kulu Treasury and the Kulu Corporation. It held
protectorate status from its discovery in 2467 until the population
reached 10,000,000 in 2512. It is now a fully fledged principality of
Kulu, and enjoys full constitutional rights, with an elected
Parliament to advise the Princess.

The planet has a rotational
period of 24 hours 17 minutes. Its axial tilt is 2.6°; however,
because of its proximity to the star, there is little seasonal
variation. The equatorial zone remains hot throughout the year. The
tropics extend to latitudes of 50° north and south of the
equator, and beyond that there are small bands of temperate climate
between 50° and the polar circles. Its year is 346 days long, and
the traditional months have been shortened to either 29 or 30 days.
Every sixth year is a leap year.

One-third of the planet’s
surface is land, and this is divided between six continents: Mario
(the largest), Esparta, Xingu, Blackdust (a desert straddling 20
percent of the equator), Uatuma, polar (north), and Guarico. There
are four oceans, containing a large number of islands and
archipelagos. The moon, Jethro, produces moderate tides.

The capital of Ombey is
Atherstone, on the eastern shore of Esparta, 5° south of the
equator. Its population is 4,000,000. Kirsten, the Princess Royal,
was enthroned in 2608, and holds her court in Burley Palace with her
consort, Edward, Duke of Soarhime (an industrial city in Xingu).

The total planetary
population is now 95,000,000, and it remains open to immigration from
other Kulu worlds, and to other Christians from across the
Confederation. Public hospitals support a large exowomb project for
families, and four to seven children is the norm, although this trend
is now dropping. Free land grants, of forty hectares per couple, and
the large zones enjoying a tropical climate make Ombey a popular
world to settle on, its agricultural potential attracting many
colonists. Fruit is a principal product, and distillation produces
some spirits and wines suitable for export. Technological exports are
minimal. Imports are also kept to a minimum, to help the trade
balance and encourage local industry. High-technology items such as
nanonics are imported from other Kingdom worlds.

Economy

Agriculture forms the major
part of the economy. The manufacturing industry can now supply the
planet’s farms with their complete requirements, and is
beginning to expand out of its subsidized infrastructure core support
activities. Many of Kulu’s larger companies have offices and
factories on the planet itself, though more are setting up local
divisions on asteroids to take advantage of the start-up tax
incentives. While still being some decades away from repaying its
investment loans, the Ombey government no longer requires subsidies
from the Kulu Treasury or the Kulu Corporation. Taxes levied by the
Princess (as the King’s representative) are paid to the King’s
court, but they are all spent locally on naval bases and government
contracts, etc.

Comprehensive road links
between the urban areas have been built, and the network is
expanding. A global datanet has been established, and industrial and
transport power supplies are available in all inhabited areas.

Asteroid
Settlements

There are nine asteroids in
orbit 120,000km above Ombey, all of them mining operations, besides a
number of industrial stations owned by large Kulu companies. Now that
the planet’s economy has begun to expand, their output is
rising proportionally, and a considerable number of new stations are
being planned. Ombey does not yet have a starship-production
facility, but support contracts involving licensed spares production
awarded by the Royal Navy base should ensure that a fully indigenous
design and construction capability develops within the next fifty
years.

As yet, only twelve asteroid
settlements have been established in Ombey’s inner belt by Kulu
companies. But the exceptionally rich mineral and metal reserves in
these asteroids should eventually lead to a vast increase in
activity. It was the potential wealth of the inner belt which was the
deciding factor in King Lukas’s decision to make Ombey a
principality, rather than sell the settlement rights.

Helium
Mining

There is one cloudscoop, orbiting Nonouit, with an asteroid
settlement supporting the mining operation. Both are owned by the
Kulu Corporation. This level of activity is capable of supplying all
Ombey’s current energy requirements, although capacity limits
are approaching. A second cloudscoop is planned for construction
starting in 2620, and major contracts will be issued to Ombey’s
asteroid settlements for its components.

Tranquillity is an
independent bitek habitat orbiting 587,000km above the gas giant
Mirchusko. It was germinated in 2428 by the then Crown Prince of
Kulu, Michael Saldana. There are no other human settlements in the
system.

There are three solid
worlds, three gas giants, and an asteroid belt. The star is an F3,
1.2 times the diameter of Sol, and hotter.

There are three solid
planets.

There are three gas giants.

Principal moons:

Mirchusko has a ring of debris from wrecked alien habitats, in a
580,000km orbit called the Ruin Ring (see below). There is a second,
inner ring, orbiting between 370,000km and 390,000km (shepherded by
Dianthus), where the blackhawk eggs grow.

The asteroid belt orbits
between 420m km and 630m km from the star.

History

The star system itself is
unremarkable, and was first visited in 2420 by a Kulu Royal Navy
scoutship, the
Ethlyn.
Routine survey probes revealed the Ruin
Ring, which generated considerable interest among the xenoc
researchers across the Confederation. There was no trace of the
Laymil race who had lived in the habitats, nor was there any trace of
them on any of the solid planets or gas giant moons. The combined
Royal Navy and Nova Kong University team which was sent to
investigate estimated that there were anywhere between 50,000 and
70,000 Laymil habitats orbiting Mirchusko, and that they all
disintegrated at the same time: 2,400 years previously, plus or minus
twenty-five years. Remaining particles range in size from dust motes
up to habitat shell sections 200m in diameter, but fragments had been
retrieved on a see-and-grab basis, and clearly any long-term
archaeological investigation project would be required to reach full
understanding of the tragedy.

Kulu filed a settlement claim on the system with the Confederation in
2422. It was at this point that Crown Prince Michael began to take a
personal interest in the Ruin Rings. The motivation behind his
interest was never fully explained, but there are two probable
reasons.

The first possibility is
that he became obsessed with the causes of the habitats’
disintegration. It is widely supposed that the Laymil underwent a
mass suicide, since an accident on such a scale is virtually
inconceivable for a race of their technological advancement, and
fragments of records found since then have strengthened this theory,
so it may well be that he wanted to know if the human race could ever
find itself in a similar position.

The second reason suggested is that he deliberately used the Ruin
Ring to initiate conflict with his own family. The prospect of a life
of 160-plus years dedicated solely to public service, when one’s
every second has been planned weeks or even years in advance, is not
something readily acceptable to everyone, even someone enjoying the
privileges accorded to the Saldanas. Prince Michael may have seen the
discovery of the Ruin Rings as his escape from another hundred years
of excruciating boredom. He was sixty-seven at the time and his
father, King James, was already ailing. Whatever the reason, he
instigated a vast research project into the Laymil. Against all
tradition, and with near-total family disapproval, he ordered the
cloning of a bitek habitat from Tropicana (even he wasn’t
radical enough to approach the Edenists for one) and had it
germinated on an asteroid orbiting 587,000km above Mirchusko. He also
diverted considerable Kulu Corporation funds to construct a
cloudscoop so that Tranquillity and its support stations would be
completely self-sufficient.

While bitek is the logical
solution to supporting a community devoted to academic research in an
isolated star system, its use was a severe breach with accepted
Christian ethics (because of its association with affinity). Michael
then compounded his crime by using neuron symbionts to establish an
affinity bond with Tranquillity. After this, he ordered a modified
affinity gene to be spliced into the DNA of his own son, Maurice, so
that the boy would also be able to communicate with Tranquillity.
This last act, committed in 2432, the year his father King James
died, was the last straw as far as the Saldana family was concerned.
Michael, in so blatantly disregarding his role as defender of
Christianity in the Kingdom, was clearly unfit to rule. He was thus
never crowned, and his brother Lukas became King instead.