Primary: Close binary system. Gurumashi, spectral class M3III. ICN S4G0710M3III. Mass, 6.96 standard. Stellar diameter, 162 standard. Luminosity, 1556 standard. Mashakim, spectral class M0V. ICN S4G0710M0V Mass, 0.489 standard. Stellar diameter, 0.549 standard. Luminosity 0.04 standard.
Planetary System:
Eleven
major bodies. One inhabited world (Lurammish, IX). No gas giants in system. No
planetoid belt in system.
IX Lurammish:
Mean
orbital radius 7629.6 million kilometers (51 AU). Period, 48,742.6 days (133.45
standard years). One satellites. Diameter, 9309 kilometers. Density, 1.04
standard. Mass, 0.254 standard. Mean surface gravity, 65 G. Rotation period: 25
hours, 10 minutes, 53 seconds. Axial inclination, 3°23'10.2". Albedo,
0.23. Surface atmospheric pressure, 0.08 atm. Composition, carbon dioxide-nitrogen
mix. Oxygen supply and pressure gear required outside colony complex.
Hydrographic percentage, 25%; composition, water-ice. Mean surface temperature,
-20°C.
Remarks:
Lurammish
is an unattractive world orbiting a class M subgiant (and a smaller companion)
at a distance of over 7 billion kilometers. It is an unpleasant place, with a
trace atmosphere and an unpleasantly cold surface temperature. Nonetheless, it
supports a sizable colony. Originally Lurammish was a rather small mining
community, but it has grown over the four centuries since it was settled to
become a substantial frontier settlement.
The reason for the success of the colony is the presence of large lanthanum
deposits. Lanthanum, a rare element, is the first of the "inner
transition" metals, and is vital to the construction of jump grids in
starship hulls. The abundance of lanthanum ore on Lurammish has made the colony
wealthy.
The Lurammish colony is concentrated in a cluster of large arcologies, huge
buildings housing over half a million people each. For the hostile environment
of the world, the arcologies are a logical solution to problems of life support,
housing, and similar considerations. Each arcology is individually ruled through
a caste hierarchy of technicians and administrators, with a network of duties
and obligations reminiscent of feudal ties of fealty. The overall world
government is conducted by a grand council representing each individual arcology
in an essential democratic form of government, but the grand council makes
decisions only when the outcomes are to effect more than one community. Up until
recently, all mining on Lurammish was conducted by locals and exported; within
the past decade however, Ling Standard
Products has begun exerting pressure to operate lanthanum mines
independently, a move which threatens the planetary economy. In response to
protests and cross-claims of sabotage and harassment, the IISS Scout Base
recently underwent expansion to provide barracks for a battalion of Marine
peacekeepers. This seems to have diluted, at least temporarily, the buildup of
tension.