Heaven's Wrath

Colonization Report Summary

To:       Terran Colonization Ministry, Planetary Evaluation Department

From:     Capt. Roger S. Nathan TNS, ES Galileo (PE-004)

RE:      Colonization Suitability Summary:  Rho Coronae Borealis

System Report:  June 2399

Primary:  Rho Coronae Borealis RA 16h01m DEC +33d18m

Mass: 1.99x10³⁰ kg (0.95 Sol)

Diameter: 91.11x10⁶ km (1.31 Sol)

Distance from Sol: 16.71 Parsecs

Stellar Classification: G0-2IV Variable, Yellow Dwarf

Inhabitable Planets: 2

     Rho Coronae Borealis IV      Class 1A 

     Rho Coronae Borealis V      Class 3C  See below.  

Rho Coronae Borealis IV

Mean Orbital Distance: 184.4x10⁶ km

Diameter 3619 km

Axial Tilt: 21 degrees

Gravity: 0.92 Terran Standard

Rotational Period: 25 Standard Hours 

One local year: 436 local days (One Terran Year =350 local days) 

Environment:  32/68 Land/Sea, Arctic to Tropical, very similar to Terra

Atmosphere:  80% N₂ 20% O₂, Trace gasses present

Indigenous Life: Standard Flora and Fauna; nothing noteworthy.

Evaluation:   Class 1A  No qualifications or restrictions.

Rho Coronae Borealis V

Mean Orbital Distance: 226.8x10⁶ km

Diameter: 8296 km

Axial Tilt: 5 degrees 

Gravity: 1.10 Terran Standard

Rotational Period: 18 Standard Hours (Retrograde)

One local year: 739 local days (One Terran Year =487 local days) 

Environment: 46/54 Land/Sea, Frozen to Tropical, minimal seasonal changes

Atmosphere:  76% N₂, 22% O₂, 1% CO₂, 1% other gasses

Indigenous Life: Standard Flora distribution, Possible sentient or pre-sentient life, but no direct observation during evaluation period.  Large population of predators.

Evaluation:   Class 3C  Dangerous flora and fauna. Minimal axial tilt. Large predators and poisonous species (flora and fauna) make this planet inhospitable for wide spread colonization.

Recommendation:

R Cor Borealis IV: Open to immediate colonization.

R Cor Borealis V:      Restricted status.  Recommend long term re-evaluation prior to colonization.  Full Report to follow.

Full Report Received:     November 23, 2432

Report Reviewed:          February 11, 2433 by Dr. Barbara Brown

Final Approval:          September 27, 2433 by ColMin J. S. Shaw

END OF FILE

A Short History of Heaven (Rho Coronae Borealis IV)

  Commonwealth Record                                                             October 16, 3052 CE

The Rho Coronae Borealis (RCB) system was first evaluated in June of 2399 CE.  The final report showed RCB4 to be a new Terra, with few if any detrimental characteristics to that evaluation.  The colonization report was received on Terra in November of 2432 CE via high speed drone and approved by then Colonization Minister Shaw nearly a year later.

Immediately upon approval, various factions’ political maneuvering to capture this world as their own private paradise disrupted much of the Terran North American continent.  However, The Reformed Church of the Universal Faith managed to persuade the Colonization Ministry that they were most deserving based upon the centuries old precedent set by early colonists that settled the northeast coast of what is now the North American Federation.  Another factor the RCUF sited was the alleged persecution of their sect on various fronts.

  Being the most vocal religious sect of the time, the RCUF lobbied every politician they could contact, literally stalling the business of the entire Terran Republic’s Senate for six months.  It was rumored that the Colonization Ministry of the time was rife with corruption as well, so several well placed bribes to key legislature and Colonization Ministry members ensured the RCUF was awarded the colonization license for RCB4, ending the open conflict.  This correspondent has no proof of these events; it is speculation only.

The colonization ship (CS Mayflower after the ship that carried the early settlers to the so-called ‘New World’) was completed in late 2435 CE and launched from the Interstellar Launch Satellite in high Terran orbit on January 1, 2436 CE, much to the Terran government’s relief.  The journey took 117 years reaching nearly 80% C (light speed).  Five thousand colonists were held in cryosuspension for the journey, except for a skeleton crew that was maintained by unfreezing members for a tour of duty as the journey continued.

In 2552 CE, the Mayflower entered orbit around RCB4.  Over the next six months, everything that could be taken from the Mayflower was on the surface, and the colony was well underway to creating their own civilization based on their own puritanical (in this correspondent’s opinion) religious beliefs.  The government installed by the colonists consisted of the highest ranking members of the clergy.  They were given power to legislate, judge, and enforce laws.

As time passed, the colony was making very good progress compared to their contemporaries on other worlds.  Crime was almost non-existent, and civil disturbance was nearly unknown.  It wasn’t until the beginning of the next century that problems began to develop.

The Theocracy was doing the best it could to hold their civilization in stasis, not allowing any evolution or changes in the social structure of their colony, even going so far as to attempt to halt lingual drift.  Having grown to ten thousand people, small segments of the population grew dissatisfied and restive with the restrictions placed on them but the strict religious beliefs forced upon them by the theocracy.

In 2604 CE, a rebellion took place.  Some four hundred like minded colonists attempted to overthrow the Theocracy established when the colony was first settled.  The insurrection was brutally crushed.  Fewer than twenty radicals survived the cull that followed.  These poor souls were consigned to live out their lives on the opposite side of the planet in an area nearly inhospitable.  The Theocracy likened their own action to the Christian God throwing Adam and Eve out of the garden of Eden, and the revolutionaries killed during the uprising were said to have been struck down by God’s righteous wrath.

The theocracy at this time created a force they euphemistically called God’s Right Hand.  To the rest of the population, they were simply known as ‘the Hand,’ and were much feared.  One never knew if a person nearby was an informant for the Hand.  As a result of this secret police force, a steady, if small, trickle of citizens were convicted of crimes ranging from blasphemy to immoral acts, and were consigned to banishment.

In 2630 CE, the second group of colonists from the RCUF landed and were assimilated into the thriving society already in place, swelling the population to over forty thousand.  Some dissenters existed, of course, but they were ruthlessly suppressed and joined their counterparts in what had come to be known as Purgatory. Twenty thousand new citizens brought with them almost inexhaustible energy and religious fervor, consolidating the hold of the Theocracy.

As the colony evolved over time, the government did as well.  Virtually all the power was held by a very few select clerics.  These leaders each had their own division of the Hand which they used with reckless abandon.  Heaven was now a virtual police state, with the clergy inviolate.  Even minor priests were sacrosanct, and merely touching one such person could be considered blasphemy.

By the year 2725, the colony had swelled to nearly 130 thousand residents.  Once again, a group of revolutionaries tried to overthrow the theocracy, with the same result.  Nearly six thousand people were put to death for ‘treason against God”.  The remaining rebels were consigned, not to Purgatory, but to a new prison:  the planet next door, RCB5, which took on the name ‘Wrath’.

The ‘Heavenly’ society applauded the decision.  Now they would be safe from those who would bring down God’s fury upon the whole colony.  From that point forward, it was commanded that all people guilty of criminal acts would be deposited on Wrath and left there, to live or die as they could manage.

During the original system evaluation, Wrath was put on the restricted list for good reason, not the least being heavier gravity.  The planet was teeming with wildlife, predators and prey alike.  Some of the larger land creatures noted weighed in at over 750kg, a huge animal indeed.  Others were more modestly sizes, about the same weight as a human.  There was also some evidence of an intelligent species on the planet, but it was never observed.  Even the hint of sentient or pre-sentient life would have been enough to place the whole system on restriction alone.  Why the system wasn’t restricted on the Colonization Suitability Report’s suspicion is one of the great mysteries of the era. But with this combined with the wildlife, the planet was deemed uninhabitable for normal colonization.

The year 2752 marked the bicentennial of the founding of Heaven, as well as a new policy.  The theocrat, the high priest of the colony, announced that every person found guilty of even the smallest crime would join the criminals on Wrath.  The list of crimes was frightening.  Blasphemy, Immoral Acts (which covered all crime, and what was considered deviate behavior) were the least of it.  If a person was found to have an ‘undesirable trait or physical condition’, they too were sent off planet.  Of course, mental ‘defectives’ were also banished to near certain death at the hands of Wrath’s predators, human and animal alike.

By 2800 CE, the colony population had soared to over 250 thousand.  The theocracy had been replaced by a High Council who held absolute power.  They no longer referred to themselves as clergy, but they enforced the same laws.

It was a grim existence for the common person.  The secret police were everywhere.  People were monitored in their own homes for seditious talk and actions.  The population was encouraged to spy on their neighbor and report anything suspicious.

I once read an ancient text written by a Terran named George Orwell.  His description of  that fictitious society was in fact the perfect description for Heaven.  I recommend you dredge it out of the archives if you truly want to know what life was like there.

Up to the year 2832 CE, Heaven had deposited some tens of thousands of ‘undesirables’ on Wrath.  The exact number is uncertain due to several factors, including routine destruction of all records for the consignees.  No matter the exact number, the total population of Wrath was estimated to be approximately thirty-two thousand at it’s peak.

What occurred in the years following 2832 CE is based on records obtained from the Republic of Heaven archives and witness accounts taken by local and Commonwealth officials.  These records do not provide a complete picture of the events as they occurred, but we will endeavor provide as complete a story as we can.

For more information, please contact this correspondent with any questions you may have at the communication node shown at the beginning of this article.

Chad P. Hawthorne

Commonwealth Record