Kingdom of Holland for Rocketship Empires: 1936 Version 0.1 Written by Sean Holland
“I shall endure.”
Based on the Rocketship Empires: 1936 setting owned by Edward Kann and published by Storyart. Layout: Sean Holland Suggestions and corrections are welcome. Contact me at:
[email protected]
HISTORY SINCE 1920 AND CURRENT AFFAIRS While the Netherlands had been neutral during the Great War, being caught between the warring blocs was still an extreme hardship for the country causing great hardships for the Dutch people and great disruption to trade. With the end of the war, the Dutch were prepared to resume their place as a nation of traders, the arrival of the Martians came at just the right time to inspire the Dutch to undertake a new national project, expansion to the stars! Queen Wilhelmina has been the constant leader in this new goal, her charm and drive securing the support of successive Dutch governments and the people of Holland themselves. The Queen was fortunate in being able to contact the cautious Naz-Raln Sept in the opening months of the Martian arrival and convince them to align themselves with the Kingdom of Holland. This early alliance has flowered and continues to insure that the Dutch receives abundant building materials and hybrid components from
their allies in the Naz-Raln Sept. Dutch industry, especially ship building, were thus well positioned to convert to the construction of starships in 1920. The initial decade of the Kingdom of Holland in space was dedicated to exploration and occupation of worlds and their systematic exploitation. The Dutch lack the large population and natural resources of the other powers in space, instead relying on their mercantile traditions and experience as traders and manufacturers. The Kingdom of Holland has expanded at a steady rate, careful not to over extend itself and more homogenous with few conscripted workers from second rate and colonized nations. After the Great War, the Kingdom of Holland accepted the exiled Kaiser Wilhelm II. Which caused some trouble with the British and French and, later, with the Germans as the Kaiser attempted to found a new German Empire in space. This ambition was foiled by the rise of the Reich, though Wilhelm remains a cadre of loyal 1
fellow German exiles and has become the dominant political power on the Dutch colony world of Wilhelmsberg. As a powerful trading nation, the Dutch often find themselves in conflict with the British, French and, less often, American interest. Old rivalries with the British and French have led to the occasional ‘incident’ between the rival merchants and industrial espionage and cut throat trade competition between merchants and trading companies to the independent colonies is rife. However, the Governments involved have done their best to smooth such troubles over as the European democratic governments in space are seeking, hesitantly, to make common cause against the Communist and, to a lesser extent, the Fascist threat. Recently, Dutch explorers came into contact with the Tk’tk, a minor but advanced alien race. The Tk’tk are an insect-like humanoid race and communication has been hampered by but their alien nature and the need to shield them from the other powers. The Kingdom of Holland is hopeful
that an alliance will soon be struck with the Tk’tk but time will tell. The civil war in Spanish space came as an unpleasant surprise to the Kingdom of Holland. The Dutch government is officially neutral but Dutch merchants have been accused of selling arms and supplies to the Royalists and others. While other accusations claim that Dutch pirates have raided Nationalist convoys. Both accusations are hotly denied by the Kingdom’s government, which does not stop them from being true. The Kingdom of Holland does not wish to see Spain fall into either the Fascist or the Communist orbit. The majority of the Royal Netherlands Navy has been moved along the Spanish frontier. The Dutch government has stated that any hostile action into its space will met with deadly force. The Spanish situation has also forced the Dutch government to increase its military spending, something they had hoped to avoid at this juncture.
THE GOVERNMENT
The Kingdom of Holland is a constitutional monarchy, currently Queen Wilhelmina, as head of state. The Dutch parliament is collectively known as the Staten Generaal (States General). The Staten Generaal is composed of the First Chamber, or upper House, of 75 members who are indirectly elected by the provincial councils with one-third of the members being elected every two years. The Second Chamber, or lower House, of 150 member directly elected every four years. The First Chamber is constitutionally bound to only ratify or reject laws passed by the Second Chamber, it cannot propose or amend bills on its own.
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The Kingdom of Holland acts under a proportional electoral system with each political party being assigned seats based on the number of votes that the party's candidates receive in elections. Candidates are drawn from official lists from each party so that voters focus their choices on parties rather than on individual members. All citizens over eighteen are eligible to vote though voting is voluntary. Political parties proliferate in the Netherlands with coalition governments the norm since the nineteenth century. Following elections to the Second Chamber or if the government should fall, the monarch appoints a formateur, who is directed to assemble from among the elected parties a governing cabinet. The government is headed by a ministerpresident or prime minister. The sovereign, the government, and the Second Chamber each have the right to introduce legislation, and all bills approved by the Staten Generaal must in turn be signed by the monarch.
The two chambers of parliament together with three other advisory bodies constitute the Hoge Colleges van Staat (high colleges of state), all of which are explicitly recognized by the constitution as independent institutions. The Raad van Staat (Council of State) is composed of specialists, judges, and other experts chosen by the monarch and chaired by the queen. The Raad van Staat advises on the constitutional and judicial aspects of proposed legislation. All cabinet bills must be vetted by the council, whose opinion, while not binding, often spurs significant parliamentary debate. The council additionally acts as the country's high court of administrative law. The Algemene Rekenkamer (General Chamber of Auditors), whose members are appointed by the cabinet, audits the national government's accounts and exercise considerable behind the scenes power. The Kingdom of Holland on Earth divided into twelve provincies (provinces) and the major colony worlds are organized as it own provincie, not quite having grown large
enough yet to be subdivided though both are coming close, each with its own government. The government of each provincie consists of Provinciale Staten (provincial legislatures), directly elected every four years, a Gedeputeerde Staten (executive council), whose members are elected by the legislature, and a Commissaris (queen's commissioner), who is directly appointed by the monarch and the government and who serves as president of both the provincial legislator and the council. The provincies are further subdivided into gemeenten (municipalities) with their own local governments. Queen Wilhelmina has considerable influence in the government, both through her rank as monarch and her wealth, though she keeps her influence behind the scenes when possible. The Kingdom of Holland’s government is divided among several parties, a problem of the proportional representation system, which must come together to form a majority government. The major parties are:
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CDU Christen Democratisch Unie (Christian Democratic Union), an agglomeration of smaller Christian parties with a general conservative slant has been losing influence since the expansion into space. 35 Seats. LSP Liberale Staatspartij "de Vrijheidsbond" (Liberal State Party, "the Freedom League"), a conservative-liberal party. For the LSP personal freedom is the most important principle though it also supports free trade. The expansion into space has been good to the party. 32 seats. SDAP Sociaal Democratische Arbeiders Partij (Social Democratic Worker’s Party), Socialist leaning party that has absorbed most of the noncommunist left under its banner. While more aligned with other Western Socialist parties than the Communists, the SDAP is generally excluded from government. 32 seats. VDB Vrijzinnig Democratische Bond (Free-minded Democratic League), a progressive liberal political party. Support non-confrontational expansion
into space and building ties with other non-ideological power blocks, human and alien. 22 Seats.
KONINKLIJKE MARINE Royal Netherlands Navy
Eleven other minor parties are also represented including the Communists, Peasants' League and the General Dutch Fascist League, for a total of 29 seats split among these small parties. The current government is composed of the CDU, LSP and VDB supported by three minor parties for a total of 93 seats. The CDU is the senior partner in the current government with Pym VanOppen as Prime Minister. The current government enjoys the full confidence of the Queen and supports commercial expansion, exploration and, recently, a strong defensive stance.
Naval Jack of the Koninklijke Marine
The Kingdom of Holland has organized its navy for two primary roles: antipiracy and defense. Unlike most of the starfaring powers, the Dutch have no desire to project its power militarily but only to secure its economic strength and its settled worlds. Quickly seeing that space was the important field of expansion, by 1930 the wet navy of the Kingdom of Holland had been reduced to coastal defense ships and the vast majority of personnel transferred to the space faring branch. While the Dutch are a nation of sailors in these boom economic times, naval crews are becoming more difficult to recruit and citizenship after ten years service have been offered to Belgians, Danes, Germans, Norwegians and Swedes. 4
The RNN ships are given the prefix Harer Majesteits (her majesty's) abbreviated as Hr.Ms., in English, the Dutch prefix is translated as HNLMS for Her Netherlands Majesty's Ship.
The rest of the Navy consists of: •
• The Royal Netherlands Navy is organized around the Pantserschip (armored ship), a multirole heavy cruiser-sized ship that carries a wing of twelve fighters and a company of marines along with three planet-landing capable boarding craft. The Pantserschip sacrifices speed for defense and cruising range and can serve as a mobile command base as needed. So far only five Pantserschips have been finished but additional ships are being produced at the accelerated rate of one every year since the Spanish Civil War began. The Pantserschips are part of the Holland-class and are named after the provincies, the ships so far are the: Noord Holland, Zuid Holland, Groningen, Zeeland and Friesland: the next ship to be commissioned is to be the Utrecht.
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Light Cruisers: the Java-class (6 ships) and the more modern De Ruyter-class (2 ships). Destroyers: Admiralen-class destroyers (15 ships), and the newly commissioned Gerard Callenburgh-class destroyers (1 ship). Destroyer Escorts: Jan van Amstel-class (18 ships) and the Tiger-class (16 ships).
Until recently, the focus has been on light ships to serve as convoy escorts. The Staten Generaal are debating building a battleship to serve as a flagship in time of war but so far no funds have been allocated. A Pantserschip-group is the usual response group to a serious threats, these groups are build around a Pantserschip, one light cruiser, two to four destroyers and other support ships as required. At least one Pantserschipgroup is always stationed around New Rotterdam ready to respond to any threat against the Kingdom.
Military intelligence is the domain of the recently established Militaire Inlichtingendienst (Military Intelligence Service) known as the MID which is, in all reality, a branch of the Royal Navy. The MID’s primary concern is gathering information on the threat posed to the Kingdom of Holland by the other powers. To that end they rely upon information gathered by Dutch merchants, reconnaissance missions and signals intercepts, and the occasional spy. Recently the MID has been working closer with their French and British counterparts to try and access the threat posed by the Soviets and the Reich. This cooperation is still a recent thing and coordination is still lacking even though all of the groups involved acknowledge the threat posed by the ideologically driven powers. Armed Naval Auxiliaries and the “Space Beggars” To assist the navy in suppression of piracy, all ships built in the Kingdom of Holland for Dutch companies are lightly armed and armored. These ships are capable of mounting heavier 5
weapons and military grade sensors allowed them to be pressed into service as naval auxiliaries in times of need. Those Dutch ships operating in dangerous area often upgrade the weapons and sensors “unofficially” for increased protection. A small group of loyal, but overly adventurous, members of the Kingdom have illegally improved the weaponry of their ships and now conduct piracy against the Nationalist supply ships in Spanish space. They call themselves the “Space Beggars” after the Sea Beggars who fought for the freedom of the Netherlands against the Spanish crown in the 16th century. These pirates are officially disavowed by the Government of Holland, but the MID provides them with information and support through back channels in exchange for the first hand information and battle reports they gain on their raids.
NIEUW VERENIGD OOSTINDISCH COMPAGNIE New United East-Indian Company
The first Dutch East-Indian Company was first established in 1602 with 21-year monopoly to carry out colonial activities in Asia, it was the first multinational corporation in the world and the first to issue stock. The original company was dissolved in 1800. To encourage a new era of exploration and trade, it was reformed by the Queen and Staten Generaal in 1930. The New Dutch East-Indian Company, usually just referred to as “the Company” or “VOC” after its initials in Dutch, is partly owned by the Dutch Government (25%) and Queen
Wilhelmina (25.1%) with the majority of the remaining of the company stock owned by other Dutch investors. Unknown to those outside the higher levels of the VOC is the fact that the Naz-Raln Sept own 5% of the Company through a set of shell companies. The Company is dedicated to expanding Dutch commercial influence through out the outer systems additionally it serves as an information network and a ready reserve of transport ships for the Royal Navy. The Naz-Raln Sept connection insures that the VOC shipyards have access to the needed materials, especially drives and navigation equipment, to produce ships as needed for their commercial expansion. The ships of the VOC are easily recognized by their blue-gray color scheme and the VOC symbol prominently displayed on the flag of the Kingdom of Holland. While on duty, VOC crew wear pale-gray uniforms similar to those worn by the Royal Navy and their ranks parallel that 6
of the Royal Navy allowing for easy integration in times of war. Plot Points At times, even the resources of VOC are stretched thin and independent merchants must be contracted to complete deliveries for them. One of the requirements of such contracts is that the merchant installs a VOC transceiver that will identify the transport to the VOC network allowing more efficient routing of the ship, updates of trouble spots and other such useful information carried through the secure VOC network. Having access to a VOC transceiver provides access to a wealth of useful information for a merchant. However, the transceiver also records full navigational data on the ship it is attached to and all signals in the systems it passes through. Each is a black box spy system and hidden in its very heart is a piece of Martian biotech provided by the Naz-Raln Sept.
STAR SYSTEMS
Rood
The Kingdom of Holland has expanded slowly but efficiently and now encompasses two major colonies, four minor colonies and four outposts, one of which is a diplomatic/trade station in the home system of the Tk’tk.
The Red planet of the system, it is near to the sun and is rich in rare mineral needed for a variety of Martian technologies. The Naz-Raln Sept has maintained an automated mining facility on this planet for ages but since the establishment of New Rotterdam they have upgraded the facility and added an orbital refinery. A cluster of Martian ships is always near by and all non-authorized ships approaching the planet are first warned away and then destroyed.
Trade routes within and between systems in the Kingdom of Holland are well mapped and the intersystem routes are well marked with navigational buoys. The Dutch have put a great deal of effort into insuring that trade flows quickly and easily within its borders.
Plot Points NEW ROTTERDAM SYSTEM The planet of New Rotterdam does not have an attractive climate but the air is breathable and it is located at a good staging point for exploration. The existence of an automated Naz-Raln Sept mining and manufacturing facility on the first planet insured its importance. It is unsurprising that it was selected as the capital of the Kingdom of Holland’s corridor in Free Space.
Whatever the Martians are mining at Rood must be extremely valuable, acquiring part of one cargo would be worth millions. The system set up to protect the shipments is almost entirely automated perhaps it could be predicted or spoofed? New Rotterdam The planet of New Rotterdam is the second world in the system and is 7
approximately two thirds of Earth size but with a heavy core making its gravity 10/11th of that of Earth. The planet possess a fairly dense, humid atmosphere and the climate is stormy and rainy most of the year. The Northern hemisphere is home to dense vegetation and jungles especially near the coasts. While the Central and Southern hemispheres possess a rugged highland terrain, rocky and barren caused by constant heavy rains and floods. The lowlands are a nightmare of bogs and marshes some of which are being reclaimed into fertile farmland. However, many crops from Earth grow well on New Rotterdam especially rice though it acquires an odd orange color from a harmless native fungus. New Rotterdam’s capital, also called New Rotterdam is home to the offices for the government of the Kingdom of Holland. The city is built in old Dutch style, of modern materials, the most modern sign is that most homes have their own greenhouses. Near to the capital, but out of sight behind a set of low hills, is the Ingang Sterport, a first class spaceport. Many business, large
and small, maintain offices around the starport including the famous and distinctive “Blue House”, the skyscraper headquarters of the New Dutch East Indies Trading Company
strive for modernity and are built in Art Deco style. The main library is a technical achievement using an automated pneumatic system to retrieve books from the vast stacks underground.
Beside the massive Blue House, things to see in New Rotterdam include: Queen Wilhelmina’s Garden, a slice of the Netherlands on a world far from home inside a kilometer radius transparent aluminum dome, a gift from the Naz-Raln Sept. The Angel of the Stars, a massive (28 meters tall) ancient statue of a bird headed woman with spreading wings reaching to the sky. The angel is made of a strange blue alloy that has so far defied analysis. The Angel of the Stars is the only alien artefact to be discovered on the world and it is one of the great mysteries of the planet. New Rotterdam University, the center for advanced learning in the Kingdom of Holland, is almost entirely devoted to scientific and technical subjects. The buildings are a conscious attempt to 8
Orbiting the planet is the Koninginhaven station which serves as a floating shipyard, port and transshipment point. It is a remarkably busy place with ships arriving at all hours, the business of trade never stops and the station never sleeps. VOC has its own wing of the station which is patrolled by Company security. Plot Points New Rotterdam is very tightly patrolled and policed, the Dutch value efficiency, and merchants had best have their papers in order. That said, there is also a considerable gray market that exists on Koninginhaven station. It is a place where goods that are not illegal in the Kingdom of Holland are prepared for shipment to places where they are. All manner of things can be found here by those with the right connections: weapons, starship parts, alien artifacts, spices, pets and plants from every corner of space. To ease transport for those buying such goods, there are companies in New Rotterdam and on the station that specialize in providing creative invoices and shipping list and
shipping containers with equally deceptive markings. Another, even more valuable, market exists in information. The Government of the Kingdom of Holland, especially Naval Intelligence, and Dutch companies, especially VOC, seek information on their rivals. The Naz-Raln Sept has agents, both human and Martian, combing the spaceways for information for their inscrutable goals. Agents of rival powers, primarily French and British but from across human space, seek information to gain the edge commercially or politically against the Dutch. Swimming amongst these espionage agents, deceivers and policemen are freelance information brokers and spies hoping for a big score or at least a few crumbs. Oranje This orange world has an thin atmosphere and a small VOC mining colony on the surface. The rest of the planet is off-limits for civilians as it is used as a training group for the Royal
Navy with areas assigned for orbital bombardment practice and for fighter and bomber pilots to train. Orbiting the planet is Ministerie van Oorlog Haven, the central headquarters of the Ministry of War and the Royal Navy as well as a Naval academy and training center. It also serves as a dry dock and resupply center for the ship stationed in system. Needless to say, the orbiting base is extremely heavily armed and armored with multiple wings of fighters and bombers available for system defense. Plot Points The Royal Navy is testing a new prototype fighter rumored to be outfitted with advanced Martian hybrid technology. Several powers would pay well for any information on it, even just confirmed photos of the new craft in action. Location Names: New Rotterdam Following is a list of place names within the New Rotterdam system for 9
use as general reference. The naming convention used draw upon a very prosaic sense which each planet, apart from New Rotterdam, named after its primary color with the moons simply named after districts in and around Rotterdam. Sun: Planet 1: Planet 2: Moon: Starbase: Planet 3: Moon: Starbase:
Morgenster Rood New Rotterdam Maan Koninginhaven Oranje Delfshaven Ministerie van Oorlog Haven Planet 4: Bruin 2 Moons: Charlois and Kralingen Planet 5: Azuur 2 Moons: Capelle and Prins Alexander Gas Giant 1: Eigeel 3 Moons: Hillegerberg, Overschie and Schiedam Gas Giant 2: Wit 7 Moons: Barendrecht, Noord, Pendrecht, Ridderkerk, Spijkenisse, Vlaardingen and Zuid
Gas Giant 3: 2 Moons: Planet 7: Moon:
Groen Hoogvliet and Zuidwijk Grauw Nieuwerkerk
Colony Statistics Population: 312,400 European Dutch: 58% European Belgian: 8% European German: 6% European Other: 12% Afrikaan: 5% Javanese: 3% All Others: 8% Day / Year: 23.8 hours / 401 planetary days (1.09 Earth years) Climate: Subtropical Oceans: 69%
ARNHEM The inhabited planet in the Arnhem system is just slightly larger than Earth with two very small moons, one grey and one orange, that orbit each other as well as the planet below. The moons are called kat, the orange one, and muis, the grey one. Several of the other worlds in the Arnhem system show indications of massive and repeated meteor strikes, Arnhem itself, however, show no indication of such. Arnhem was once home to an advanced species; a few roads and the shells of huge egg shaped buildings remain, but nothing else. Time has entirely erased any information about the race but there is indication that something worked to destroy all other traces of the original inhabitants. Only the strongest and most massive of the structures remain. The race is known by as Onbekend (unknown) by the settlers who have taken advantage of the surviving roads and building to provide the framework for their own settlements.
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The Martians seem unconcerned with the settlers among the ruins, indicating that they -at least- do not believe that anything of value remains of the Onbekend. Arnhem is mostly a farming colony with some logging of the unusual woods found on the planet.
river. A dozen teams are being assembled for what is being billed as the longest land race in human space, a zeppelin has even been commissioned to film the race from the air.
Plot Points
Population: 57,800 European Dutch: 66% European Belgian: 6% European German: 3% European Other: 12% Afrikaan: 3% Javanese: 5% All Others: 5%
Rival lumber firms have been competing for the best stands of wood for export. Some have even moved as fair as hiring mercenaries and using threats to chase rivals off. A group of family lumber companies have banded together to hire their own mercenaries as protection. A French scientist has claimed to discover a pattern in the ruins but he has disappeared on his way to Arnhem. Who would want to stop him from arriving and can he be found and rescued?
Colony Statistics
BARENTSZ A massive world covered in a dense forest composed of ancient trees, some of a size that dwarfs even the mighty redwoods of Earth. Barentsz has attracted much interest from the Universities of Holland, VOC and the Dutch government. The trouble is that all of the personnel of three of the six expeditions to the planet’s surface have vanished without a trace. Currently a Royal Navy picket enforces a quarantine on trips to the planet until a new expedition, with proper support and security, can be financed.
Day / Year: 25.1 hours / 414 planetary days (1.19 Earth years) Climate: Warm temperate Oceans: 65%
On Arnhem, there is a 2,471 km long stretch of highway, straight as an arrow through forests, up hills, on pillars through a marsh, even over a massive 11
ESH ’TK ’TK The home system of the Tk’tk race circles a orange-yellow star slightly older than Sol. Moving out from the star, the system has three inner worlds, all small barren rocks baked by the star. Esh’tk’tk, the home world. A large planet with a dense atmosphere. Two massive gas giants, one with three moons, the other with eleven. Lastly, on the distant edge of the system, a small planetoid on a wide elliptical orbit. The Tk’tk home world is very Earthlike but, like the star, older and more worn. The Esh’tk’tk system suffers from a greater degree of meteor and cometary bombardment than the Sol system. This fact made the Tk’tk underground dwellers from early on in their history. The Tk’tk have advanced slowly building on each previous technical advance only once the next step was fully understood and tested. Their world was united under a single government, the Quorum, three millennia ago and they achieved space flight, though not interstellar travel,
three centuries back, and at that point they were contacted by and incorporated into the Hegemony. The Tk’tk provide taxes to the Hegemony and have been allowed to slowly through their home system though they had not be provided with the secret of faster than light travel before the arrival of the Kingdom of Holland in their system.
C
C The Tk’tk, which means “the people” in their language, resemble insects in several respects which many people find unsettling. They are bipedal humanoids divided into four distinct castes, smaller than humans, with colorful skin, compound eyes and feathery antenna. Their arms split at the elbow into two functional forearms, each ending in a functional hand with three fingers and two thumbs. The Tk’tk have two sexes and the females lay eggs and while the various castes can interbreed it is considered taboo to do. The Tk’tk castes have been formed by careful breeding and genetic engineering:
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Aristocrats, the ruling caste, own and direct the Tk’tk race. Their skin is multicolored in intricate swirling patterns and they are the tallest after the warrior-caste (1.6 m/5'3") and the most attractive to human eyes. They number 2% of the population and live for 40-45 years. Makers, the technicians, scholars and bureaucrats of the Tk’tk, their skin is decorated in geometic patterns in two or three colors. The Makers comprise 8% of the population and live for 30-40 years. Warriors, designed for hand-tohand combat, their numbers have dwindled and those that remain are mostly in the personal guards of the aristocrats. Averaging 1.75 meters (5'9") tall with skin in two colors, usually those of the house they serve. The warriors make up 3% of population and live for 15-25 years. Workers, perform the majority of the tasks needed in Tk’tk 12
society, their skin is only a single color. The workers provide the remaining 87% of the population and they live from 20-25 years. The Tk’tk reach physical and intellectual maturity at age seven, for Warriors and Workers, or eight, for Aristocrats and Makers. Marriages are arranged and are for life, though a partner may remarry if they partner dies. The Tk’tk society and culture has been static for three millennia, the only advances that have been made is in science and technology and those have been strictly controlled. The Dutch diplomats compare the Tk’tk to the Chinese and Japanese at their most formal and insular. The Tk’tk Quorum is built on the Seventy-Seven KindredTrees (sometime called Clans by the humans) who each have five representatives in the Quorum, appointed by rules selected by each Kindred-Tree, and matters are decided by vote requiring the support of two thirds of the Quorum to pass, leading to
consensus politics. Encountering the humans has been extremely unsettling to the Tk’tk. The Martians were understandable, the humans, besides their existence as the Sky Devils of legend, simply are not. Tk’tk society is built on strict formality, rigid chain of command, and everyone knowing their place with the group which is -by definition- more important than any member thereof. Humans seem to agree with none of these things. The Tk’tk are, in equal measures, fascinated and repulsed by the variety of human cultures, philosophies and religious beliefs. The Quorum attempts to limit and control the spread of information from the humans into Tk’tk society but it has been infiltrating amazingly quickly. The Quorum have created a special police force, the Oth’eth, to counter the smuggling and dissemination of dangerous ideas and hunt down and destroy unauthorized media.
station in high orbit around Esh’tk’tk. The Tk’tk trade art, advanced ceramics and technicians and parts to construct geothemal power stations for food and certain technologies. The Quorum provides the Dutch government with one hundred licences for trade each month and then issues another ten via monthly lottery. Anyone with a merchant ship can enter the lottery (held on New Rotterdam) but the winners must be present to claim their licence and it is not transferrable. The licences are good for the right to trade at Yth’ik station for one month starting a month from the issuing of the license. The Tk’tk space navy is numerous but with negligible combat experience and no testing of their warship designs under actual combat conditions. The Quorum has been steadily acquiring Earth-built ships and hiring Human military trainers to increase their effectiveness and readiness. Plot Points
Since contact with the Dutch two years ago, a brisk trade has developed between the two via the Yth’ik space
There is considerable black market in books (especially philosophical and 13
religious works), recorded music and films to the Tk’tk for which they usually trade gold or platinum (both of which they have in abundance). The trade is dangerous but highly profitable and finds no lack of those willing to take the risk. The Tk’tk use geothermal and atomic power as their main power sources, agreeing with the Martians, they have kept the atomic power hidden from the humans as much as possible. But the use of atomic power has not gone unnoticed and all of the major powers would like to acquire atomic secrets from the Tk’tk. Several of the Tk’tk Kindred-Trees have recruited loyal members, almost exclusively Makers, to join human crews and learn more about these “strange and wicked creatures” and the new world they are creating.
GRAVELINES
Plot Points
The Gravelines system is home to only three worlds and a vast set of asteroid belts, four in number, around a white dwarf star. Not the most welcoming system and care must be used in maneuvering through the Gravelines system due to the large numbers of rogue asteroids, meteors and comets that can be found in the system.
One of the prisoners gets word out that a buried alien ship has been discovered but a party of convict miners and they will exchange the location of the ship for freedom.
This world his a thin, but breathable, atmosphere and it is above freezing, during the day. It is also a valuable source of metals and gemstones. Turning a problem into an opportunity, the Dutch government established a prison outpost as a mining colony. The prisoners do receive minimal wages as well as training as miners and some have stayed on after the end of their sentence to continue to work. The two settlements on Gravelines are Gevangenkamp, the prison, and the nearby Openstad, where the spaceport is located. Gravelines remains a dangerous place, even away from the prisoners, and anyone wishing to visit the planet must sign a waiver.
Colony Statistics Population: 14,800 (84% prisoners) European Dutch: 48% European Belgian: 4% European German: 4% European Other: 26% Afrikaan: 3% Javanese: 1% All Others: 14% Day / Year: 19.8 hours / 379 planetary days (.85 Earth years) Climate: Near arctic Oceans: 8%
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KORNWERDERZAND An unusual system in that it mimics the Sol system in composition almost exactly with close parallels to all of the planets even to the number of moons around the various worlds except for slightly larger orbits. The star is within 5% of Sol luminosity and almost an exact match on size. Is a beautiful world, filled with rivers and waterfalls, massive forests and towering mountains. Three moons watch over it all. Kornwerdzand is in process of becoming the breadbasket of the Kingdom of Holland. Serval of the native fruits and tubers are edible by humans, even if lacking certain vitamins and amino acids, as are some of the native animals, which mostly resemble insects and lobsters. Plantations are springing up, radiating out from the single starport, Tulp, and the planet is attracting settlers in great numbers.
induces euphoria and, in sufficient quantities, a fearless bloodlust. Reich and Soviet agents are seeking sufficient quantities to analyze while smugglers are trying to acquire smaller amounts to sell off-world. A shadowy competition for rozeappels is increasing in intensity and violence, so far the police have not stepped in as the criminals have only been harming each other. Colony Statistics Population: 39,800 European Dutch: 58% European Belgian: 7% European German: 4% European Other: 10% Afrikaan: 12% Javanese: 6% All Others: 3% Day / Year: 31.1 hours / 337 planetary days (1.2 Earth years) Climate: Cool Temperate Oceans: 64%
NIJMEGEN An ice world with a strange ecosystem consisting of furry snake-creatures that burrow through the frozen terrain. Trapped in the ice are pockets of petrochemical that are useful for the production of lubricant, plastics and other chemicals. The colony on Nijmegen live under massive domes, the first few built by the Naz-Raln Sept and the others copied from them. The Naz-Raln Sept is one of the major purchasers of the petrochemicals produced on Nijmegen and they maintain several industrial facilities, sealed in their own domes, to process and refine them. Plot Points Certain interests are willing to pay a large sum for information on the chemical process used by the Naz-Raln Sept. The Martians seem unusually lax about their security on Nijmegen, why would that be?
Plot Points One of the native fruits, rozeáppel,
The smaller ice worms have, inexplicable, become popular as pets in 15
the inner worlds. Fierce bidding war have broken out for the harmless kinds useable as pets. Other, less ethical, smugglers have been acquiring the young of dangerous types of worms to sell irrespective of the harm it may cause. Colony Statistics Population: 21,400 European Dutch: 61% European Belgian: 8% European German: 13% European Other: 11% All Others: 7% Day / Year: 19.9 hours / 707 planetary days (1.6 Earth years) Climate: Arctic Oceans: 49%
PARADIJS Paradijs is the second major colony of the Kingdom of Holland. It circles a bright blue-white star in a nearly empty system with only a small rocky inner world, Limbus, and a gas giant, Hel, for company. Paradijs has no moon but the Dutch have given it an artificial one in the form of the space station Regenboog which serves as a transshipment point for the colonies, a military base and a weather station for the planet below. Paradijs is a relatively young world that still suffers from a great deal of vulcanism with massive mountain ranges towering over the valleys and narrow coastal strips. The land on Paradijs is a massive archipelago lacking true continents. This make it easiest to reach most places by water, or air, than by land. This has also prevented there from being a central location on Paradijs, instead it has four smaller starports scattered across the globe providing each of the ‘subcolonies’ with access to the stars.
If the Kingdom of Holland has a serious disadvantage in space, it is its small population base to draw upon. Paradijs is one of its attempts to solve that problem, settlers for this world were heavily recruited from the Nordic Countries with promises of local semiautonomy in government in exchange for Dutch control of foreign affairs. It has been a great success in attracting settlers, though the dual government system has not run as smoothly as the Dutch had hoped. Clashes of tradition and laws between the settlers are the colonial government are not infrequent and the Dutch have been trying to solve this by recruiting more of the planetary civil service from the local communities and gradually the conflicts are being smoothed out. Paradijs is divided into four settlement areas: Blauwzand, the first settlement, composed of Dutch and Icelandic settlers and it the home to the Colonial government. The capital city, Blauwstad, is well supplied with geothermic taps that provide electrical 16
power and heat.
crops.
Noordland is primarily settled by Norwegians, the settlement is broken up into small mobile factory towns. Their primary industry is mining with the raw metals are shipped to Blauwstad for refining and processing.
Plot Points
Regeneiland, the Swedes have organized to exploit the seas, harvesting the fishlike creatures for food and other materials. Others gather shellfish, the ground shells of which are converted into a very strong version of concrete which is used in construction worldwide. The native sea life is edible but some of its predators are large enough to pose a threat to the settlers. The bravest of the brave on Paradijs are the Haaijager (Sharkhunters) who track down and eliminate the native predator that threaten the colonists. Zeestreek, the Danish region is the breadbasket of Paradijs with farms in the lush valleys and cattle raised on the coastal strip. Geothermal heated hothouses have been build into the mountainsides to grow certain kinds of
The Reich have been attempting to organized Aryan solidarity (and proGermany) organizations among the Nordic settlers, the umbrella organization behind such activities is the Vikingbund composed of proGerman settlers and Reich agents recruited from Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Dutch Naval Intelligence has been keeping a close eye on the Vikingbund but have been very careful not to come down to hard on the organization for fear of offending the settlers.
European Dane: 22% European Norwegian: 21% European Swede: 22% European Other: 8% Icelandic: 6% All Others: 5% Day / Year: 24.4 hours / 380 planetary days (1.06 Earth years) Climate: Cold Temperate Oceans: 82%
Rumors, and even the occasional fuzzy photograph, about of a phantom ship that travels the waters of Paradijs. An expedition, complete with a fast ship and sea planes, is being organized to find out what this mystery ship is. Colony Statistics Population: 401,200 European Dutch: 16% 17
USSELINCX
WILHELMSBERG
A new outpost on a -just- habitable moon around the gas giant nearest to this system’s star. The moon’s alien biology is barely compatible with that of humans and Earth plants. Pilot projects to convert the soil to something more suiting to human colonists are in process but progress has been slow. Established by German exiles and now home to the German Imperial Government in Exile led by Wilhelm II. The colony here is organized as a massive military camp along Prussian lines. Except for the Dutch officials who oversee and coordinate the interaction of the Wilhelmite government with the rest of the Kingdom of Holland. The system consists of two rocky planets (Friedrich and Albert), Wilhelmsberg, two more rocky planets (Hohenzollern and Friedrich-Wilhelm) and two gas giants (Luisa and Bismarck) at the furthest edge of the system. Wilhelmsberg has a small white moon, named Hermine after the
Kaiser’s second wife and a small armored space station, Eisenstern, stands guard above the planet. Each of the rocky planets has a small manned listening post to monitor traffic in the system. Wilhelmsberg itself is a chilly, mountainous world with only the equatorial highlands suitable for growing Earth crops. However, the mountains are rich in metals and the fast running rivers are easily harvested for hydroelectric power. The world is also rich in animal life, all of it six limbed and heavily furred and most of it vicious, making hunting not only a sport but sometimes a necessity. The most dangerous of the planet’s predators are the Hextiger and the Sechsbär. The Kaiser himself enjoys the opportunity to hunt and the Imperial hunting parties are always exciting events. The major exports from Wilhelmsberg are metals, handcrafted swords and knives and furs. The Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy) is theoretically a “local system defense fleet” subordinate to the Royal 18
Netherlands Navy, but in actuality it is fully under the command of Kaiser Wilhelm and his government in exile. It consists of the light cruiser Friedrich der Große (Fredrick the Great, a Javaclass cruiser) and three destroyers (2 Admiralen-class and 1 {early model German destroyer} that defected from the Reich).
Plot Points The British and French governments monitor Wilhelmite activity but not as much as they once did, though the Reich has recently taken an increased interest. In some quarters there is even talk of promoting a restored Prussian Kingdom as a counterweight to the Reich, so the Capital of Wilhelmberg, Doorn, remains a hotbed of political intrigue. Wilhelm also continues to act as a patron of archaeological expeditions both on Earth and on the new worlds. For those seeking to meet the Wilhelm, the best chance might be to impress the Kaiser with their hunting skills.
Day / Year: 28.2 hours / 325 planetary days (1.05 Earth years) Climate: Cold Temperate/Arctic Oceans: 54%
Colony Statistics Population: 38,600 European German: 69% European Dutch: 14% European Other: 7% Afrikaan: 5% All Others: 4% The Kaiser in exile.
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Authors Notes: I was hired by Edward Kann to work on this project (and, yes, I appreciated the humor of someone named Holland writing on the Kingdom of Holland) shortly after the initial publication of Rocketship Empires: 1936 on the strength of my resume and a piece of short fiction. Unfortunately, life intervened and prevented Ed from continuing with RE and the rights to this reverted to me. So, I have decided to release it into the ether for the enjoyment of all (and to practice PDF layouts). My apologies for the lack of star map. Visit my gaming journal: http://seaofstarsrpg.wordpress.com/ My writing resume: http://www.tychesgames.com/WriterRe sume.html
Images used under the Creative Commons license: Pg 1: Arms of the Netherlands. Source Made by Alex:D (wikimedia) by tracing Image: Coat_of_arms_of_the_Netherlands.png
Transcriber's Note: These images were produced from Astounding Science Fiction, August, 1950. zorger.com Pg 18: From A TOM CORBETT Space Cadet Adventure STAND BY FOR MARS! By CAREY ROCKWELL, 1952. Illustrator: Louis Glanzman. zorger.com Pg 18: Prussian Flag. gemeinfrei (in the public domain).
Pg 2: Flag of the Netherlands. This image has been released into the public domain by its author, Zscout370 (wikimedia). Pg 4: From A TOM CORBETT Space Cadet Adventure STAND BY FOR MARS! By CAREY ROCKWELL, 1952. Illustrator: Louis Glanzman. zorger.com Pg 4: Naval Jack. SVG of the naval jack of the Netherlands made by User:David Newton. Colours altered by User:Denelson83 (wikimedia). Pg 6: VOC Symbol. Source: Variation of Image: OC-Amsterdam.svg, which is based on Image:Voc logo.gif Author: Golradir (wikimedia) Pg 8:From A TOM CORBETT Space Cadet Adventure DANGER IN DEEP SPACE By CAREY ROCKWELL, 1953, Illustrations by Louis Glanzman. Project Gutenberg Transcriber''s note: Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the copyright on this publication was renewed. zorger.com
Pg 19: Photograph of Wilhelm II in exile. Source: Deutsches Bundesarchiv (German Federal Archive), Bild 136-C0804. Pg 19: From A TOM CORBETT Space Cadet Adventure THE SPACE PIONEERS By CAREY ROCKWELL, 1953,illustrations by LOUIS GLANZMAN. zorger.com Pg 20: From A TOM CORBETT Space Cadet Adventure DANGER IN DEEP SPACE By CAREY ROCKWELL, 1953, Illustrations by Louis Glanzman. zorger.com For all images from zorger.com, extensive search for Project Gutenberg has failed to uncover any evidence of renewal of copyright of this work, it is believed they are in the public domain and are now released under the Creative Commons license.
Pg 10: From A TOM CORBETT Space Cadet Adventure TREACHERY IN OUTER SPACE By CAREY ROCKWELL, 1954. Illustrations by LOUIS GLANZMAN. Thanks to zorger.com Pg 11: From A TOM CORBETT Space Cadet Adventure STAND BY FOR MARS! By CAREY ROCKWELL, 1952. Illustrator: Louis Glanzman. Zorger.com
Enjoy. Pg 14: From A TOM CORBETT Space Cadet Adventure SABOTAGE IN SPACE By CAREY ROCKWELL, 1955. ILLUSTRATIONS BY LOUIS GLANZMAN. zorger.com Pg 17: From LAST ENEMY illustrated by Miller.
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