Aurora B576646-B

          Size: Medium : D=8000km               Atmosphere: Standard tainted
          Hydrographics: 60%                    Population: 7 million
          Government: Representative Democracy  Law Level: Moderate
          Tech Level: 11 (Avg Stellar)          Star port: Good

Physical Description:
     Aurora is a fairly pleasant world. It has a rather mild weather pattern, 
with only occasional tropical storms. Its low axial tilt give it a fairly 
mild seasonal pattern.  The temperature only drops around 10 degrees in the 
winter.  

     The one draw back of the planet is the high carbon dioxide levels in the
atmosphere.  This requires all offworld species to wear oxygen masks.  
Humans can survive without a mask for a few minutes, but after that most 
people tend to pass out, and eventually die of oxygen deprivation.  All 
native buildings and vehicles are sealed, so that masks are only required 
when going outside.  Most vehicles are stored in sealed garages, connected 
to the main dwelling, so that most residents don't have to go outside, 
unless that is their destination.  The residents don't fear the outdoors, 
many of them do go outside to take walks and to enjoy nature.  
     
      The increased carbon dioxide has lead to a greenhouse effect where the
sun's rays are trapped in the atmosphere and heat it.  This has raised the 
average temperature about 10 degrees.  The median temperature for the planet
is 26 C (79 F).

      Travellers landing at the capital's starport, will find a planet that
is sunny, with mild winters.  Most days the temperature is in the upper 
twenties, and humid.  (This is very close to the weather in Florida or 
Southeast US in the summer.)

      The planet is several billion years old, and has had enough time to 
develop a fairly sophisticated ecosystem.  There is no sentient life, but 
there are many species of mammalian life.  The biosphere is quite similar 
to human norms.  Humans are able to eat most native lifeforms with little 
worry.  This is very fortunate, because most Terran stock animals don't 
take well to having to wear oxygen masks.  A few off-world species have 
been genetically engineered to survive the native air.  Most of these 
species are capable of breathing either Auroran or Terran air levels.  

      Other than the atmosphere, the planet resembles a Terran standard 
planet.  There are tree like plants, the sky is blue and clouds are white 
and puffy.  There is no local equivalent of grass, most yards are covered 
with a green moss like plant.  It does have the advantage of not growing 
very fast and needing little maintenance.  

History:
    Before the Final War Aurora was a colony of Macis, which is now called 
Apollo.  The Collapse severed ties between the two worlds.  Resenting the 
fact that their planet was formerly owned by the Macins, Aurora became a 
democracy, and to this day they resent strong governmental controls.  The 
effects of the Collapse were severe, but the Aurorans banded together and
by making a concerted effort were able to rebuild.  By 1170 Aurora had 
regained her old Tech Level, and had begun to advance past it. The planet
reached TL-10 around 1189 and reached its current state at TL-11 only in 
the last few years.  If the economy sustains itself at current levels, the 
planet should be able to reach a global technological level of 12 sometime 
around 1210.   It didn't have the capacity to build jump drives, so it was 
forced to remain isolated.  In 1192, the Hivers made contact, and Aurora was
able to purchase jump drives.  It was a charter member of the Dawn League, 
and an early proponent of the Reformation Coalition.  Aurora has become a 
staunch supporter of the Federalists, feeling that a strong extra-planetary 
government would take away the freedoms that individual worlds now possess.

Government												 
    After the collapse, when Galos was cut off from Macis, the newly
freed people created a government which they hoped was as close to a pure 
democracy as is possible. Voting is required in all elections of all people 
who have reached a majority. The voting age is 17 standard years.  The 
mandatory voting requires that each voter go to the polling place, but they 
can enter a vote for no one.  The founders wanted everyone to think about 
who should run the government, even if they decided no one was worthy. 
Candidates for public office are given free time on the government owned 
holovid channel. When there is no election, this channel broadcasts
legislative sessions, news conferences and other public affairs.  Candidates
also make use of the worldwide computer network, uploading transcripts of
speeches, position papers, and even digitized video of rallies.  There are
no campaign donations.  All the work of the campaign must be done by 
volunteers.  The founders figured if a candidate can't get a few hundred
people to help him out, then the candidate probably couldn't win an 
election anyway.

     To get on the ballot, a candidate much have a petition signed. The 
number of signatures required, depends on the office being sought.  These
petitions are circulated electronically.  Each signature is authenticated
by a electronic stamp, which each signer attaches to the petition.  The
stamps are a two step process, with the government holding one part, and
the citizen holding the other part.  No one has ever successfully managed
to forge a stamp.  The penalties for attempting to do so are extremely 
harsh, since such an attempt attacks the very foundation of Auroran society.

    Most candidates are members of a political party, these parties help
their candidates organize volunteers and the members of the party are a key
to filling out the petitions.  There are three major parties, the People's 
Party, the Democratic Front, and the Union of Freedom.  These make up 70% 
of the voters, the exact division can fluctuate, but is usually fairly even.
There are six minor parties which make up 25% of the vote. These are the
Blue & White Party, the Liberty Party, the Saldorian Party, the People's
Democratic Party, the Free Democrats and the Worker's Union.  All these
parties have Federalist Sympathies, except for the Blue & White party. It 
advocates that the Reformation Coalition needs a strong central government 
and that all member states of the Coalition should be required to be run by 
democratic governments.  The party has organized several trips to worlds 
that have much less of a democratic tradition, in an effort to create a 
grass roots movement.  They sent a mission to Ra, which was thrown off 
planet.  In 1200 they sent a mission to Oriflamme, which was denied 
entrance.  Their mission to Phoebus in 1201, was allowed to land, but the 
natives of Phoebus, are too concerned with their next meal to worry about 
politics.  The Blues & the Whites use these failures to raise money back 
home on Aurora.  Secretly they expect them to fail and only initiate them 
to create publicity.  They have much more quietly sent mission to Fija and 
Aubaine.

     The central Auroran government is set up as a parliamentary system.
It has one legislative chamber made up of the people's chosen 
representatives.   The chamber is known as the senate. The ruling coalition 
chooses a prime minister, who chooses a cabinet and sets policy.  The ruling 
coalition also selects a Senate President, who is charge of running the 
senate's legislative agenda.

      Currently the ruling coalition is made up of the Union of Freedom, 
the Democratic Front, the Saldorian Party and the Free Democrats.  In total
they hold a slim 3% majority.  Assemblyman MacBaen, Aurora's representative
in the Assembly of Worlds is a member of the Union of Freedom. Planetary
elections are held every three standard years. The campaigning season 
starts approximately six months before the elections. The last election was 
held in 1200. There are 210 members of parliament.  The planet is divided 
into districts of equal population. Each district elects its own member of 
parliament.  The districts are redrawn every nine years, to take account of 
any population movements. These are usually fairly small changes, and they 
don't effect politics to any significant degree.  The Auroran populace is 
fairly stable and doesn't seem to move around a great deal. Municipal 
elections are held at the same time as planetary elections. The exact 
details of these depend on the municipality.  The representative to the 
Assembly of Worlds is also chosen at this time, in the only planet-wide 
election.

Society:
     Popular culture on Aurora is dominated by the extreme technophilia
of its citizens.  As soon as a new technological innovation is developed
or readied for market, it instantly becomes the next hot item.  To fulfill
this craving for technological gizmos, hundreds of small labs and 
engineering firms have sprung up to try to create the next hot item.
Many of these labs, merely redevelop items that were common on high tech 
worlds in the old Imperium.  Most of the plans for these were destroyed in 
the Collapse.  To get working examples of high tech goods, these firms send 
buyers to the Auction. The buyers try to find useful consumer goods that they
can purchase, and have their labs copy.  Items that have proven useful in 
the past include Triton Technologies' portable holophone, where not just 
voice, not just image, but a full holographic image of the sender is beamed 
to the user's wrist unit.  Another is Donner & Associates 80x holographic 
data crystal system. One of the more popular recent items to hit the market 
is Verotech's Proton Motorcycle.  This item is on the very cutting edge of 
technology, it uses the next level in fusion+ technology, allowing the 
motorcycle to reach speeds in excess of 700kph.  

     The pace of these developments has accelerated since the creation of 
the Dawn League, as more and more examples of high tech devices come to the
planet.  This has lead to some to question the wisdom of this frenzy to 
acquire newer and better devices.  Most people have not paid much attention
to these nay sayers, but they are a growing voice in academic discussions.  
The constant production of new products has created a surplus of older 
slightly used systems.  Several companies have begun purchasing these, and 
shipping them to other less developed worlds.  Popular destinations include 
Ra, Baldur, Nike Nimbus and Lancer.  They have started some shipments to 
worlds out in the wilds such as Xexor.  
 
 
     The Auroran people recognize that education is the key to their 
success in the technological fields.  The government has set up a wonderful 
school system, and attendance is free to all.  These schools are extremely 
high quality and Auroran students are gaining an excellent reputation across
the Coalition.  This education starts at age three, and goes post graduate 
work.  All fees are paid for by the state and stipends are paid to 
students. Some students find the academic experience so wonderful that they
ever want to leave. This has created the so called professional students, 
people much older than the average college student, who earn degree after 
degree without entering the job market.  In recent years, this government 
has cracked down on the professional students, requiring that students over 
age 25 maintain a high academic standing or lose their stipends, but those 
who are able to achieve them are welcome to stay.  Professional students 
are often a bit eccentric but are good-naturedly tolerated because of their 
recognized abilities.  The many new and interesting opportunities the 
economic expansion and tech advancement have created have drawn many 
professional students into more "productive" pursuits where they have 
proved very able if not always well disciplined. 

     In 1201 the Auroran government set up a scholarship program to allow 
high quality off-world students to come and study at an Auroran university.  
The government figured it would bind the worlds of the RC closer together, 
if their children studied and worked together.  Also highly educated 
students will be very valuable when the go back to their homes.  500 
scholarships are awarded each year, to students from across the Coalition.  
Currently a new program is up for debate in the Senate, which would expand 
this program to Allied worlds in the Wilds, such as Lancer, Xexor and Kal.

     The average citizen is quite well educated and knowledgeable about 
modern technology and its uses.  There is universal computer literacy, and 
every home that wants one has a computer in the home.  For those in 
financial difficulty, the government provides one.  The government feels 
that a computer is essential to the education, of both children and adults. 
Also citizens of adult age are expected to use the computer to explore 
issues effecting the world and the politicians seeking their vote.  

      The planet is settled with many small cities of several hundred 
thousand people each.  These cities are located on each of the three major 
continents.  A high speed maglev train system connects those cities on the 
same continent.  The train rides in an underground tunnel which has had the 
air evacuated, to lessen the drag on the train. The train is heavily 
subsidized by the government, and tickets cost between 100 and 500 credits.
   
      The cities are made up of small office buildings intermixed with 
small apartment buildings.  Most of these buildings are around ten stories.
 The capital does contain a few buildings of twenty stories.  Almost all 
Aurorans live in urban apartment buildings.  They like being connected to 
their neighbors.  These apartments are very spacious, ranging from five 
hundred to a thousand square meters.  Office buildings and residential 
buildings are intermixed, this way residents do not have to commute long 
distances to their job, and can spend more time with friends and family.  
Many parks are located around these buildings, there are many different 
types of parks, including flower gardens, playing fields, jogging areas and 
bike trails.  Heavily automated factories are located on the outskirts of 
cities.  The area between the cities is divided into agricultural land and 
government owned land.  Most of this government owned land is set up as 
parks and recreational facilities.  The rest of the land is kept pure for 
future generations.  Most Aurorans consider these parks to be their back 
yard, and often take day trips to go hiking.  The small population of the 
planet requires very little of the land to be farmed.

     Devil's Playground Park is one of the most popular parks on Aurora. 
The park covers well over 100,000 square kilometers.   It is the site of a 
massive shield volcano.  The volcano hasn't erupted in over five centuries, 
but it is still active at a very low level.  There are many geothermal 
vents, hot springs and geysers.  The only spot where lava is currently 
flowing is on the western face.  The lava pours out rather slowly, and has 
only covered a few acres this year.

     McCracken Lake is another popular destination on the park. This lake
is warmed by underground geothermal activity, and is a constant 30 degrees
Celsius (85 degrees Fahrenheit).  This warmth attracts many people.  The 
warmth and the nutrient rich waters supports a diverse ecosystem.  Many 
tourists use rebreathers to encounter the wildlife in its natural 
environment.  To maintain a peaceful setting only rowed and sailed 
watercraft are allowed on the lake.  The lake covers about 2000 square 
kilometers.  

Changing market effects society.

     The creation of the Reformation Coalition and the Dawn League before 
it, have greatly effected life on Aurora.  Interstellar trade has allowed 
the creation of new devices, and an increased demand for these devices.  
It is only through increased automation, that the supply has kept up with 
the demand.  Aurora hasn't had many resources left over to help explore the 
Wilds.  This has been especially troubling to Assemblyman MacBaen.  He 
tried to get the planet to fund one of the Twelve, but most of the 
parliament refused.  

     Aurora is one of the few places in the Coalition which is actively 
researching robotic technology.  Most of the research consists of making 
sure that Virus won't be able to infect these devices.  The average Auroran 
citizen doesn't run in fear at the very mention of the robots.  They 
believe that Virus was a tool created by humaniti.  The same technology 
which created Virus can be used to destroy or even tame it. 

     This is not to say that Aurorans are selfish people who are ignoring 
the Wilds. Several companies have developed ingenious devices to help the 
survivors in the Wilds.  These include simple easy to maintain tractors 
and farming equipment. These are manufactured on Aurora, but many of the 
replacement parts are capable of being machined on low tech worlds.  The 
rest are available from Auroran trading firms.  Also low tech worlds do not
need to duplicate every stage of technological development, they can 
easily leapfrog over primitive technologies.  For instance a world without 
telephones, doesn't have to first build telegraphs, then wire based phones, 
and then fiber optic phones. It can buy off world satellites and start with 
cellular communications.  Several Auroran firms are selling such equipment.  

      The Auroran economy is in a state of flux, new markets are opening up,
and with it new jobs.  At the same time as these new jobs are being created
changing technology is eliminating some types of jobs.  Luckily for now, 
these two forces are about equal, and there has been no large scale job 
surplus or shortage.  Many people are having to find a new career path, but 
the government is trying to make the transition as easy as possible. It 
hasn't created any job training programs as yet, workers are in such high 
demand that companies are willing to pay to train them. The government does 
provide a good benefit package for those people whose jobs have been 
eliminated, while they search for work.  The government recognizes that 
losing a job that has been held for decades, is a traumatic experience and 
some people need a little time to adjust. In the future, the economy will 
stop its expansion, and this will have an impact on the job market.  The 
government has created several discussion groups on the computer network, 
and has had some academics starting thinking about how best to deal with 
it.  
     
      These new off world markets that are opening up are bringing in many luxury 
materials such as gold, gems and hand crafts.  These hand crafts include 
art, hand crafted rugs, clothing, furniture, jewelry etc.  Also some low 
tech worlds export mechanical devices, which high technology can surpass in 
function, but not in form.  One of the best examples of this is clocks from 
Xexor.  Auroran technology can make an atomic clock capable of keeping time 
to the nearest nano-second, and which never has to be wound or even have 
the battery changed.  Xexor clocks are intricate machines with tiny gears, 
levers and counter weights.  They keep time well, but not perfectly.  For 
all their faults, they are extremely popular on Aurora.  Xexor exports 
thousands of these clocks a month.  Many of them are wonderfully decorated 
and prized by their Auroran owners.

     Another factor changing the Auroran economy is the new Naval base being 
established.  The RCN has decided to set up its headquarters on the planet.
The Navy is building a large orbital facility, to maintain the fleets of 
Clippers that are being built.  The Navy is also planning on building ships
in orbit.  Standard Astronics has recently begun upgrading Aurora's 
shipyard to help handle some of the overflow construction.  This is opening 
up many job opportunities, to keep up with the demand, the Navy is bringing 
in some offworld help.  So far these are Naval personal, but the 
possibility remains that someday the planet might need to import workers 
from lower tech planets to maintain the naval base.  This has worried some 
in the community. They worry that if many outsiders are brought in to 
perform menial tasks, it will create an under-class.  The creation of a two 
tier society, would undermine the democratic principals on which Auroran 
society is based.  


By Lewis Roberts (lewis@chara.gsu.edu)
John Muir Macpherson


