BARNARDS STAR
Some Ethane Trees about to
spurt. In an earlier age the vast seas of petrochemicals on Klein`s World would
have been a goldmine.
The second closest star
system to Sol, Barnards Star was believed to be nothing more than a dull red
dwarf with only its proximity to Sol
and its two gas giants, van de Kamp and Hertzlinger (first theorized way back
in the 20th century) to distinct it from the millions of
unremarkable type M stars in the galaxy.
Such an arrogant assumption was dispelled however when one of the
first interstellar probes completed its 9 year mission and discovered a
fascinating world orbiting the star every 1.2 years and with a mass two thirds
that of Earth.
Barnards Star II was a very
cold world (–168C) and has a methane weather system, methane and other
hydrocarbons rain down on the planets icey surface in a situation similar to
that of Saturn’s largest moon, Titan.
Unlike Titan however the
planet is home to a complex and alien ecosystem unlike anything discovered by
human scientists up to that point. The dominating life forms on the planet have
a very different chemistry to that of more familiar worlds though basic natural
laws apply, there are hunters, herbivores, tree-analogues, aquatic species and
so on.
The planet was renamed Klein’s World after the scientist Vesta
Klein whose tireless simulations of similar ecosystems in the Luna Institute of
Exobiology were both groundbreaking and quite prophetic.
A research expedition was
hurriedly put together by various nations and organisations in the 2080s,
driven partly by a desire to explore the mysterious hazy world in the name of
science (and glory) but also to see what economic benefits such unusual
cryochemistry would bring.
The Beagle entered orbit around Klein`s World in 2097 and
for a short while was the farthest outpost of humanity and certainly its most
exotic. Whilst an army of probes explored the surface of Klein the scientists
aboard the Beagle struggled to maintain life on a cramped vessel 6 light
years from the nearest bar.
Instant communication with loved ones back home helped but for
some the isolation became too much, three of the ship’s crew volunteered to be
put into hypersleep until the ship returned home while one unfortunate
cryo-biologist by the name of Chandra Thewlis suffered a psychological
breakdown, stole a shuttle and disappeared in the direction of home never to be
seen again (mysteriously no wreckage of the shuttle has ever been found despite
exhaustive searches.)
Despite such tragedies the voyage of the Beagle was a
profound scientific success in many fields from exo-biology to the effects of
severe isolation on starship crews. Some have commented that with few
distractions the crew of the Beagle had little else to do apart from
scientific study and becoming immersed in vee-ar dramas.
With faster ships and more
extra-solar colonies blasting off every year, a permanent colony in Barnards
Star was proposed in 2129, the vast hydro-carbon reserves of the two gas giants
and Klein`s world proved very tempting for industry and the Barnard's main
asteroid belt, though not as rich as Sirius or Sol would
provide excellent material for the colony.
Barnard’s
Star did not start with a system government or written constitution, in fact
the system became a hive of lassiez-faire capitalism (except for the scientific
outposts on Klein) as industry prospered in the orbitals and asteroid colonies.
Parallels with the development of Sirius can easily be drawn as both systems
suffered somewhat from a lack of viable biospheres (unless you felt comfortable
in a pool of liquid ethane) but whilst Sirius became the Sirian Unity and
expanded into similar systems like Procyon the various factions of Banard’s Star
only co-operated with each other if lives were threatened (such as the
evacuation of Turner City in 2245) or outsystem interests became too powerful
in the economy or media.
When
a wormhole
from Sol was constructed in 2570 the system got a great boost in tourism from
those wishing to study the haunting and alien beauty of Klein’s World to those
wishing to blow their money in gaudy casino’s and nightclubs in orbit around
van de Kamp. The noted Irodian naturalist Giovore Bensart made his name during
this time exploring the methane swamps and forests of Klein and broadcasting
his documentaries across Community space.
This
time was considered the golden age of the system as despite comfortable success
the system was often considered out of the way even with warp travel. With the
influx of tourists and money the companies of Barnard’s Star moved outwards
mainly exploiting other red dwarf systems, mainly untouched even though they
are right in the Core setting up colonies in places such as Lalande 21185, Ross
248, Wolf 359, the twilight world of Styx in Ross 154 and in
the case of 36 Ophiuchi and &0 Ophiuchi engaging in an ambitious
terraforming projects on the worlds of Willow and Klondike to finally give the
settlers of Barnard a viable world to relax on.
Culturally
Barnardians are rather libertarian lot but with a consideration for
environmentalism even with the most alien of ecosystems. They are more
comfortable than most with living in the red light around a dim dwarf even on
some occasions becoming slightly agitated with life around a bright star or on
hot planets.
They
are very proud of their long history and society as shown in such spools as Voyage
of the Beagle and Giovore Bensart: The Man, the Myth (mention the
speculation on Bensart’s private life anywhere in the system at your peril!)
The Barnardians have quite a macho frontier culture which some attribute to the
effects of living under the glare of red light from the star, or the “trashy”
nature of the orbitals and habitats such as Listerburg and Rimmer Dome or just
being tired of outsiders believing the systems in which they make their home to
be boring dim places like billions of other red dwarfs that clutter up the
galaxy.
