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Kingdom of Hollandfor 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 HollandSuggestions and corrections are welcome.

Contact me at: akaihyo@tychesgames.com

HISTORY SINCE 1920 AND CURRENT

AFFAIRS

While the Netherlands had been neutralduring the Great War, being caughtbetween the warring blocs was still anextreme hardship for the countrycausing great hardships for the Dutchpeople and great disruption to trade. With the end of the war, the Dutchwere prepared to resume their place asa nation of traders, the arrival of theMartians came at just the right time toinspire the Dutch to undertake a newnational project, expansion to the stars!

Queen Wilhelmina has been theconstant leader in this new goal, hercharm and drive securing the support ofsuccessive Dutch governments and thepeople of Holland themselves. TheQueen was fortunate in being able tocontact the cautious Naz-Raln Sept inthe opening months of the Martianarrival and convince them to alignthemselves with the Kingdom ofHolland. This early alliance hasflowered and continues to insure thatthe Dutch receives abundant buildingmaterials and hybrid components from

their allies in the Naz-Raln Sept.

Dutch industry, especially shipbuilding, were thus well positioned toconvert to the construction of starshipsin 1920. The initial decade of theKingdom of Holland in space wasdedicated to exploration and occupationof worlds and their systematicexploitation. The Dutch lack the largepopulation and natural resources of theother powers in space, instead relyingon their mercantile traditions andexperience as traders andmanufacturers. The Kingdom ofHolland has expanded at a steady rate,careful not to over extend itself andmore homogenous with fewconscripted workers from second rateand colonized nations.

After the Great War, the Kingdom ofHolland accepted the exiled KaiserWilhelm II. Which caused sometrouble with the British and French and,later, with the Germans as the Kaiserattempted to found a new GermanEmpire in space. This ambition wasfoiled by the rise of the Reich, thoughWilhelm remains a cadre of loyal

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fellow German exiles and has becomethe dominant political power on theDutch colony world of Wilhelmsberg.

As a powerful trading nation, the Dutchoften find themselves in conflict withthe British, French and, less often,American interest. Old rivalries withthe British and French have led to theoccasional ‘incident’ between the rivalmerchants and industrial espionage andcut throat trade competition betweenmerchants and trading companies to theindependent colonies is rife. However,the Governments involved have donetheir best to smooth such troubles overas the European democraticgovernments in space are seeking,hesitantly, to make common causeagainst the Communist and, to a lesserextent, the Fascist threat.

Recently, Dutch explorers came intocontact with the Tk’tk, a minor butadvanced alien race. The Tk’tk are aninsect-like humanoid race andcommunication has been hampered bybut their alien nature and the need toshield them from the other powers. The Kingdom of Holland is hopeful

that an alliance will soon be struck withthe Tk’tk but time will tell.

The civil war in Spanish space came asan unpleasant surprise to the Kingdomof Holland. The Dutch government isofficially neutral but Dutch merchantshave been accused of selling arms andsupplies to the Royalists and others. While other accusations claim thatDutch pirates have raided Nationalistconvoys. Both accusations are hotlydenied by the Kingdom’s government,which does not stop them from beingtrue. The Kingdom of Holland doesnot wish to see Spain fall into either theFascist or the Communist orbit. Themajority of the Royal NetherlandsNavy has been moved along theSpanish frontier. The Dutchgovernment has stated that any hostileaction into its space will met withdeadly force. The Spanish situation hasalso forced the Dutch government toincrease its military spending,something they had hoped to avoid atthis juncture.

THE GOVERNMENT

The Kingdom of Holland is aconstitutional monarchy, currentlyQueen Wilhelmina, as head of state. The Dutch parliament is collectivelyknown as the Staten Generaal (StatesGeneral). The Staten Generaal iscomposed of the First Chamber, orupper House, of 75 members who areindirectly elected by the provincialcouncils with one-third of the membersbeing elected every two years. TheSecond Chamber, or lower House, of150 member directly elected every fouryears. The First Chamber isconstitutionally bound to only ratify orreject laws passed by the SecondChamber, it cannot propose or amendbills on its own.

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The Kingdom of Holland acts under aproportional electoral system with eachpolitical party being assigned seatsbased on the number of votes that theparty's candidates receive in elections.Candidates are drawn from official listsfrom each party so that voters focustheir choices on parties rather than onindividual members. All citizens overeighteen are eligible to vote thoughvoting is voluntary.

Political parties proliferate in theNetherlands with coalitiongovernments the norm since thenineteenth century. Followingelections to the Second Chamber or ifthe government should fall, themonarch appoints a formateur, who isdirected to assemble from among theelected parties a governing cabinet. Thegovernment is headed by a minister-president or prime minister. Thesovereign, the government, and theSecond Chamber each have the right tointroduce legislation, and all billsapproved by the Staten Generaal mustin turn be signed by the monarch.

The two chambers of parliamenttogether with three other advisorybodies constitute the Hoge Collegesvan Staat (high colleges of state), all ofwhich are explicitly recognized by theconstitution as independent institutions.The Raad van Staat (Council of State)is composed of specialists, judges, andother experts chosen by the monarchand chaired by the queen. The Raadvan Staat advises on the constitutionaland judicial aspects of proposedlegislation. All cabinet bills must bevetted by the council, whose opinion,while not binding, often spurssignificant parliamentary debate. Thecouncil additionally acts as thecountry's high court of administrativelaw. The Algemene Rekenkamer(General Chamber of Auditors), whosemembers are appointed by the cabinet,audits the national government'saccounts and exercise considerablebehind the scenes power.

The Kingdom of Holland on Earthdivided into twelve provincies(provinces) and the major colonyworlds are organized as it ownprovincie, not quite having grown large

enough yet to be subdivided thoughboth are coming close, each with itsown government. The government ofeach provincie consists of ProvincialeStaten (provincial legislatures), directlyelected every four years, aGedeputeerde Staten (executivecouncil), whose members are electedby the legislature, and a Commissaris(queen's commissioner), who is directlyappointed by the monarch and thegovernment and who serves aspresident of both the provinciallegislator and the council. Theprovincies are further subdivided intogemeenten (municipalities) with theirown local governments.

Queen Wilhelmina has considerableinfluence in the government, boththrough her rank as monarch and herwealth, though she keeps her influencebehind the scenes when possible. TheKingdom of Holland’s government isdivided among several parties, aproblem of the proportionalrepresentation system, which mustcome together to form a majoritygovernment. The major parties are:

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CDU Christen Democratisch Unie(Christian Democratic Union), anagglomeration of smaller Christianparties with a general conservative slanthas been losing influence since theexpansion into space. 35 Seats.

LSP Liberale Staatspartij "deVrijheidsbond" (Liberal State Party,"the Freedom League"), aconservative-liberal party. For the LSPpersonal freedom is the most importantprinciple though it also supports freetrade. The expansion into space hasbeen good to the party. 32 seats.

SDAP Sociaal DemocratischeArbeiders Partij (Social DemocraticWorker’s Party), Socialist leaning partythat has absorbed most of the non-communist left under its banner. Whilemore aligned with other WesternSocialist parties than the Communists,the SDAP is generally excluded fromgovernment. 32 seats.

VDB Vrijzinnig Democratische Bond(Free-minded Democratic League), aprogressive liberal political party. Support non-confrontational expansion

into space and building ties with othernon-ideological power blocks, humanand alien. 22 Seats.

Eleven other minor parties are alsorepresented including the Communists,Peasants' League and the GeneralDutch Fascist League, for a total of 29seats split among these small parties.

The current government is composed ofthe CDU, LSP and VDB supported bythree minor parties for a total of 93seats. The CDU is the senior partner inthe current government with PymVanOppen as Prime Minister. Thecurrent government enjoys the fullconfidence of the Queen and supportscommercial expansion, exploration and,recently, a strong defensive stance.

KONINKLIJKE MARINE Royal Netherlands Navy

Naval Jack of the Koninklijke Marine

The Kingdom of Holland has organizedits navy for two primary roles: anti-piracy and defense. Unlike most of thestarfaring powers, the Dutch have nodesire to project its power militarily butonly to secure its economic strengthand its settled worlds. Quickly seeingthat space was the important field ofexpansion, by 1930 the wet navy of theKingdom of Holland had been reducedto coastal defense ships and the vastmajority of personnel transferred to thespace faring branch. While the Dutchare a nation of sailors in these boomeconomic times, naval crews arebecoming more difficult to recruit andcitizenship after ten years service havebeen offered to Belgians, Danes,Germans, Norwegians and Swedes.

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The RNN ships are given the prefixHarer Majesteits (her majesty's)abbreviated as Hr.Ms., in English, theDutch prefix is translated as HNLMSfor Her Netherlands Majesty's Ship.

The Royal Netherlands Navy isorganized around the Pantserschip(armored ship), a multirole heavycruiser-sized ship that carries a wing oftwelve fighters and a company ofmarines along with three planet-landingcapable boarding craft. ThePantserschip sacrifices speed fordefense and cruising range and canserve as a mobile command base asneeded. So far only five Pantserschipshave been finished but additional shipsare being produced at the acceleratedrate of one every year since the SpanishCivil War began. The Pantserschipsare part of the Holland-class and arenamed after the provincies, the ships sofar are the: Noord Holland, ZuidHolland, Groningen, Zeeland andFriesland: the next ship to becommissioned is to be the Utrecht.

The rest of the Navy consists of:

• Light Cruisers: the Java-class (6ships) and the more modern DeRuyter-class (2 ships).

• Destroyers: Admiralen-classdestroyers (15 ships), and thenewly commissioned GerardCallenburgh-class destroyers (1ship).

• Destroyer Escorts: Jan vanAmstel-class (18 ships) and theTiger-class (16 ships).

Until recently, the focus has been onlight ships to serve as convoy escorts. The Staten Generaal are debatingbuilding a battleship to serve as aflagship in time of war but so far nofunds have been allocated.

A Pantserschip-group is the usualresponse group to a serious threats,these groups are build around aPantserschip, one light cruiser, two tofour destroyers and other support shipsas required. At least one Pantserschip-group is always stationed around NewRotterdam ready to respond to anythreat against the Kingdom.

Military intelligence is the domain ofthe recently established MilitaireInlichtingendienst (MilitaryIntelligence Service) known as the MIDwhich is, in all reality, a branch of theRoyal Navy. The MID’s primaryconcern is gathering information on thethreat posed to the Kingdom of Hollandby the other powers. To that end theyrely upon information gathered byDutch merchants, reconnaissancemissions and signals intercepts, and theoccasional spy. Recently the MID hasbeen working closer with their Frenchand British counterparts to try andaccess the threat posed by the Sovietsand the Reich. This cooperation is stilla recent thing and coordination is stilllacking even though all of the groupsinvolved acknowledge the threat posedby the ideologically driven powers.

Armed Naval Auxiliaries and the“Space Beggars”

To assist the navy in suppression ofpiracy, all ships built in the Kingdom ofHolland for Dutch companies arelightly armed and armored. Theseships are capable of mounting heavier

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weapons and military grade sensorsallowed them to be pressed into serviceas naval auxiliaries in times of need. Those Dutch ships operating indangerous area often upgrade theweapons and sensors “unofficially” forincreased protection.

A small group of loyal, but overlyadventurous, members of the Kingdomhave illegally improved the weaponryof their ships and now conduct piracyagainst the Nationalist supply ships inSpanish space. They call themselvesthe “Space Beggars” after the SeaBeggars who fought for the freedom ofthe Netherlands against the Spanishcrown in the 16 century. These piratesth

are officially disavowed by theGovernment of Holland, but the MIDprovides them with information andsupport through back channels inexchange for the first hand informationand battle reports they gain on theirraids.

NIEUW VERENIGD OOSTINDISCH

COMPAGNIE

New United East-Indian Company

The first Dutch East-Indian Companywas first established in 1602 with21-year monopoly to carry out colonialactivities in Asia, it was the firstmultinational corporation in the worldand the first to issue stock. Theoriginal company was dissolved in1800. To encourage a new era ofexploration and trade, it was reformedby the Queen and Staten Generaal in1930.

The New Dutch East-Indian Company,usually just referred to as “theCompany” or “VOC” after its initials inDutch, is partly owned by the DutchGovernment (25%) and Queen

Wilhelmina (25.1%) with the majorityof the remaining of the company stockowned by other Dutch investors. Unknown to those outside the higherlevels of the VOC is the fact that theNaz-Raln Sept own 5% of theCompany through a set of shellcompanies.

The Company is dedicated toexpanding Dutch commercial influencethrough out the outer systemsadditionally it serves as an informationnetwork and a ready reserve oftransport ships for the Royal Navy. TheNaz-Raln Sept connection insures thatthe VOC shipyards have access to theneeded materials, especially drives andnavigation equipment, to produce shipsas needed for their commercialexpansion.

The ships of the VOC are easilyrecognized by their blue-gray colorscheme and the VOC symbolprominently displayed on the flag ofthe Kingdom of Holland. While onduty, VOC crew wear pale-grayuniforms similar to those worn by theRoyal Navy and their ranks parallel that

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of the Royal Navy allowing for easyintegration in times of war.

Plot Points

At times, even the resources of VOCare stretched thin and independentmerchants must be contracted tocomplete deliveries for them. One ofthe requirements of such contracts isthat the merchant installs a VOCtransceiver that will identify thetransport to the VOC network allowingmore efficient routing of the ship,updates of trouble spots and other suchuseful information carried through thesecure VOC network. Having access toa VOC transceiver provides access to awealth of useful information for amerchant.

However, the transceiver also recordsfull navigational data on the ship it isattached to and all signals in thesystems it passes through. Each is ablack box spy system and hidden in itsvery heart is a piece of Martian biotechprovided by the Naz-Raln Sept.

STAR SYSTEMS

The Kingdom of Holland has expandedslowly but efficiently and nowencompasses two major colonies, fourminor colonies and four outposts, oneof which is a diplomatic/trade station inthe home system of the Tk’tk.

Trade routes within and betweensystems in the Kingdom of Holland arewell mapped and the intersystem routesare well marked with navigationalbuoys. The Dutch have put a great dealof effort into insuring that trade flowsquickly and easily within its borders.

NEW ROTTERDAM SYSTEM

The planet of New Rotterdam does nothave an attractive climate but the air isbreathable and it is located at a goodstaging point for exploration. Theexistence of an automated Naz-RalnSept mining and manufacturing facilityon the first planet insured itsimportance. It is unsurprising that itwas selected as the capital of theKingdom of Holland’s corridor in FreeSpace.

Rood

The Red planet of the system, it is nearto the sun and is rich in rare mineralneeded for a variety of Martiantechnologies. The Naz-Raln Sept hasmaintained an automated miningfacility on this planet for ages but sincethe establishment of New Rotterdamthey have upgraded the facility andadded an orbital refinery. A cluster ofMartian ships is always near by and allnon-authorized ships approaching theplanet are first warned away and thendestroyed.

Plot Points

Whatever the Martians are mining atRood must be extremely valuable,acquiring part of one cargo would beworth millions. The system set up toprotect the shipments is almost entirelyautomated perhaps it could be predictedor spoofed?

New Rotterdam

The planet of New Rotterdam is thesecond world in the system and is

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approximately two thirds of Earth sizebut with a heavy core making itsgravity 10/11th of that of Earth. Theplanet possess a fairly dense, humidatmosphere and the climate is stormyand rainy most of the year. TheNorthern hemisphere is home to densevegetation and jungles especially nearthe coasts. While the Central andSouthern hemispheres possess a ruggedhighland terrain, rocky and barrencaused by constant heavy rains andfloods. The lowlands are a nightmareof bogs and marshes some of which arebeing reclaimed into fertile farmland. However, many crops from Earth growwell on New Rotterdam especially ricethough it acquires an odd orange colorfrom a harmless native fungus.

New Rotterdam’s capital, also calledNew Rotterdam is home to the officesfor the government of the Kingdom ofHolland. The city is built in old Dutchstyle, of modern materials, the mostmodern sign is that most homes havetheir own greenhouses. Near to thecapital, but out of sight behind a set oflow hills, is the Ingang Sterport, a firstclass spaceport. Many business, large

and small, maintain offices around thestarport including the famous anddistinctive “Blue House”, theskyscraper headquarters of the NewDutch East Indies Trading Company

Beside the massive Blue House, thingsto see in New Rotterdam include:

Queen Wilhelmina’s Garden, a slice ofthe Netherlands on a world far fromhome inside a kilometer radiustransparent aluminum dome, a gift fromthe Naz-Raln Sept.

The Angel of the Stars, a massive (28meters tall) ancient statue of a birdheaded woman with spreading wingsreaching to the sky. The angel is madeof a strange blue alloy that has so fardefied analysis. The Angel of the Starsis the only alien artefact to bediscovered on the world and it is one ofthe great mysteries of the planet.

New Rotterdam University, the centerfor advanced learning in the Kingdomof Holland, is almost entirely devotedto scientific and technical subjects. Thebuildings are a conscious attempt to

strive for modernity and are built in ArtDeco style. The main library is atechnical achievement using anautomated pneumatic system to retrievebooks from the vast stacksunderground.

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Orbiting the planet is theKoninginhaven station which serves asa floating shipyard, port andtransshipment point. It is a remarkablybusy place with ships arriving at allhours, the business of trade never stopsand the station never sleeps. VOC hasits own wing of the station which ispatrolled by Company security.

Plot Points

New Rotterdam is very tightly patrolledand policed, the Dutch value efficiency,and merchants had best have theirpapers in order. That said, there is alsoa considerable gray market that existson Koninginhaven station. It is a placewhere goods that are not illegal in theKingdom of Holland are prepared forshipment to places where they are. Allmanner of things can be found here bythose with the right connections:weapons, starship parts, alien artifacts,spices, pets and plants from everycorner of space. To ease transport forthose buying such goods, there arecompanies in New Rotterdam and onthe station that specialize in providingcreative invoices and shipping list and

shipping containers with equallydeceptive markings. Another, even more valuable, marketexists in information. The Governmentof the Kingdom of Holland, especiallyNaval Intelligence, and Dutchcompanies, especially VOC, seekinformation on their rivals. TheNaz-Raln Sept has agents, both humanand Martian, combing the spacewaysfor information for their inscrutablegoals. Agents of rival powers,primarily French and British but fromacross human space, seek informationto gain the edge commercially orpolitically against the Dutch. Swimming amongst these espionageagents, deceivers and policemen arefreelance information brokers and spieshoping for a big score or at least a fewcrumbs.

Oranje

This orange world has an thinatmosphere and a small VOC miningcolony on the surface. The rest of theplanet is off-limits for civilians as it isused as a training group for the Royal

Navy with areas assigned for orbitalbombardment practice and for fighterand bomber pilots to train.

Orbiting the planet is Ministerie vanOorlog Haven, the central headquartersof the Ministry of War and the RoyalNavy as well as a Naval academy andtraining center. It also serves as a drydock and resupply center for the shipstationed in system. Needless to say,the orbiting base is extremely heavilyarmed and armored with multiplewings of fighters and bombers availablefor system defense.

Plot Points

The Royal Navy is testing a newprototype fighter rumored to beoutfitted with advanced Martian hybridtechnology. Several powers would paywell for any information on it, even justconfirmed photos of the new craft inaction.

Location Names: New Rotterdam

Following is a list of place nameswithin the New Rotterdam system for

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use as general reference. The namingconvention used draw upon a veryprosaic sense which each planet, apartfrom New Rotterdam, named after itsprimary color with the moons simplynamed after districts in and aroundRotterdam.

Sun: MorgensterPlanet 1: RoodPlanet 2: New RotterdamMoon: MaanStarbase: KoninginhavenPlanet 3: OranjeMoon: DelfshavenStarbase: Ministerie van Oorlog

HavenPlanet 4: Bruin2 Moons: Charlois and KralingenPlanet 5: Azuur2 Moons: Capelle and Prins

AlexanderGas Giant 1: Eigeel3 Moons: Hillegerberg, Overschie

and SchiedamGas Giant 2: Wit7 Moons: Barendrecht, Noord,

Pendrecht, Ridderkerk,Spijkenisse, Vlaardingenand Zuid

Gas Giant 3: Groen2 Moons: Hoogvliet and ZuidwijkPlanet 7: GrauwMoon: Nieuwerkerk

Colony Statistics

Population: 312,400European Dutch: 58% European Belgian: 8% European German: 6% European Other: 12% Afrikaan: 5% Javanese: 3% All Others: 8%

Day / Year: 23.8 hours / 401 planetarydays (1.09 Earth years)Climate: SubtropicalOceans: 69%

ARNHEM

The inhabited planet in the Arnhemsystem is just slightly larger than Earthwith two very small moons, one greyand one orange, that orbit each other aswell as the planet below. The moonsare called kat, the orange one, andmuis, the grey one. Several of the otherworlds in the Arnhem system showindications of massive and repeatedmeteor strikes, Arnhem itself, however,show no indication of such.

Arnhem was once home to an advancedspecies; a few roads and the shells ofhuge egg shaped buildings remain, butnothing else. Time has entirely erasedany information about the race butthere is indication that somethingworked to destroy all other traces of theoriginal inhabitants. Only the strongestand most massive of the structuresremain. The race is known by asOnbekend (unknown) by the settlerswho have taken advantage of thesurviving roads and building to providethe framework for their ownsettlements.

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The Martians seem unconcerned withthe settlers among the ruins, indicatingthat they -at least- do not believe thatanything of value remains of theOnbekend. Arnhem is mostly afarming colony with some logging ofthe unusual woods found on the planet.

Plot Points

Rival lumber firms have beencompeting for the best stands of woodfor export. Some have even moved asfair as hiring mercenaries and usingthreats to chase rivals off. A group offamily lumber companies have bandedtogether to hire their own mercenariesas protection.

A French scientist has claimed todiscover a pattern in the ruins but hehas disappeared on his way to Arnhem. Who would want to stop him fromarriving and can he be found andrescued?

On Arnhem, there is a 2,471 km longstretch of highway, straight as an arrowthrough forests, up hills, on pillarsthrough a marsh, even over a massive

river. A dozen teams are beingassembled for what is being billed asthe longest land race in human space, azeppelin has even been commissionedto film the race from the air.

Colony Statistics

Population: 57,800European Dutch: 66% European Belgian: 6% European German: 3% European Other: 12% Afrikaan: 3%Javanese: 5% All Others: 5%

Day / Year: 25.1 hours / 414 planetarydays (1.19 Earth years)Climate: Warm temperateOceans: 65%

BARENTSZ

A massive world covered in a denseforest composed of ancient trees, someof a size that dwarfs even the mightyredwoods of Earth. Barentsz hasattracted much interest from theUniversities of Holland, VOC and theDutch government. The trouble is thatall of the personnel of three of the sixexpeditions to the planet’s surface havevanished without a trace. Currently aRoyal Navy picket enforces aquarantine on trips to the planet until anew expedition, with proper supportand security, can be financed.

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ESH’TK’TK

The home system of the Tk’tk racecircles a orange-yellow star slightlyolder than Sol. Moving out from thestar, the system has three inner worlds,all small barren rocks baked by the star. Esh’tk’tk, the home world. A largeplanet with a dense atmosphere. Twomassive gas giants, one with threemoons, the other with eleven. Lastly,on the distant edge of the system, asmall planetoid on a wide ellipticalorbit.

The Tk’tk home world is very Earth-like but, like the star, older and moreworn. The Esh’tk’tk system suffersfrom a greater degree of meteor andcometary bombardment than the Solsystem. This fact made the Tk’tkunderground dwellers from early on intheir history. The Tk’tk have advancedslowly building on each previoustechnical advance only once the nextstep was fully understood and tested. Their world was united under a singlegovernment, the Quorum, threemillennia ago and they achieved spaceflight, though not interstellar travel,

three centuries back, and at that pointthey were contacted by andincorporated into the Hegemony. TheTk’tk provide taxes to the Hegemonyand have been allowed to slowlythrough their home system though theyhad not be provided with the secret offaster than light travel before the arrivalof the Kingdom of Holland in theirsystem.

The Tk’tk, which means “the people”in their language, resemble insects inseveral respects which many peoplefind unsettling. They are bipedalhumanoids divided into four distinctcastes, smaller than humans, withcolorful skin, compound eyes andfeathery antenna. Their arms split atthe elbow into two functional forearms,each ending in a functional hand withthree fingers and two thumbs. TheTk’tk have two sexes and the femaleslay eggs and while the various castescan interbreed it is considered taboo todo.

The Tk’tk castes have been formed bycareful breeding and geneticengineering:

C Aristocrats, the ruling caste,own and direct the Tk’tk race. Their skin is multicolored inintricate swirling patterns andthey are the tallest after thewarrior-caste (1.6 m/5'3") andthe most attractive to humaneyes. They number 2% of thepopulation and live for 40-45years.

C Makers, the technicians,scholars and bureaucrats of theTk’tk, their skin is decorated ingeometic patterns in two orthree colors. The Makerscomprise 8% of the populationand live for 30-40 years.

C Warriors, designed for hand-to-hand combat, their numbershave dwindled and those thatremain are mostly in thepersonal guards of thearistocrats. Averaging 1.75meters (5'9") tall with skin intwo colors, usually those of thehouse they serve. The warriorsmake up 3% of population andlive for 15-25 years.

C Workers, perform the majorityof the tasks needed in Tk’tk

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society, their skin is only asingle color. The workersprovide the remaining 87% ofthe population and they livefrom 20-25 years.

The Tk’tk reach physical andintellectual maturity at age seven, forWarriors and Workers, or eight, forAristocrats and Makers. Marriages arearranged and are for life, though apartner may remarry if they partnerdies.

The Tk’tk society and culture has beenstatic for three millennia, the onlyadvances that have been made is inscience and technology and those havebeen strictly controlled. The Dutchdiplomats compare the Tk’tk to theChinese and Japanese at their mostformal and insular. The Tk’tk Quorumis built on the Seventy-Seven Kindred-Trees (sometime called Clans by thehumans) who each have fiverepresentatives in the Quorum,appointed by rules selected by eachKindred-Tree, and matters are decidedby vote requiring the support of twothirds of the Quorum to pass, leading to

consensus politics.

Encountering the humans has beenextremely unsettling to the Tk’tk. TheMartians were understandable, thehumans, besides their existence as theSky Devils of legend, simply are not. Tk’tk society is built on strictformality, rigid chain of command, andeveryone knowing their place with thegroup which is -by definition- moreimportant than any member thereof. Humans seem to agree with none ofthese things. The Tk’tk are, in equalmeasures, fascinated and repulsed bythe variety of human cultures,philosophies and religious beliefs. TheQuorum attempts to limit and controlthe spread of information from thehumans into Tk’tk society but it hasbeen infiltrating amazingly quickly. The Quorum have created a specialpolice force, the Oth’eth, to counter thesmuggling and dissemination ofdangerous ideas and hunt down anddestroy unauthorized media.

Since contact with the Dutch two yearsago, a brisk trade has developedbetween the two via the Yth’ik space

station in high orbit around Esh’tk’tk. The Tk’tk trade art, advanced ceramicsand technicians and parts to constructgeothemal power stations for food andcertain technologies. The Quorumprovides the Dutch government withone hundred licences for trade eachmonth and then issues another ten viamonthly lottery. Anyone with amerchant ship can enter the lottery(held on New Rotterdam) but thewinners must be present to claim theirlicence and it is not transferrable. Thelicences are good for the right to tradeat Yth’ik station for one month startinga month from the issuing of the license.

The Tk’tk space navy is numerous butwith negligible combat experience andno testing of their warship designsunder actual combat conditions. TheQuorum has been steadily acquiringEarth-built ships and hiring Humanmilitary trainers to increase theireffectiveness and readiness.

Plot Points

There is considerable black market inbooks (especially philosophical and

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religious works), recorded music andfilms to the Tk’tk for which theyusually trade gold or platinum (both ofwhich they have in abundance). Thetrade is dangerous but highly profitableand finds no lack of those willing totake the risk.

The Tk’tk use geothermal and atomicpower as their main power sources,agreeing with the Martians, they havekept the atomic power hidden from thehumans as much as possible. But theuse of atomic power has not goneunnoticed and all of the major powerswould like to acquire atomic secretsfrom the Tk’tk.

Several of the Tk’tk Kindred-Treeshave recruited loyal members, almostexclusively Makers, to join humancrews and learn more about these“strange and wicked creatures” and thenew world they are creating.

GRAVELINES

The Gravelines system is home to onlythree worlds and a vast set of asteroidbelts, four in number, around a whitedwarf star. Not the most welcomingsystem and care must be used inmaneuvering through the Gravelinessystem due to the large numbers ofrogue asteroids, meteors and cometsthat can be found in the system.

This world his a thin, but breathable,atmosphere and it is above freezing,during the day. It is also a valuablesource of metals and gemstones. Turning a problem into an opportunity,the Dutch government established aprison outpost as a mining colony. Theprisoners do receive minimal wages aswell as training as miners and somehave stayed on after the end of theirsentence to continue to work. The twosettlements on Gravelines areGevangenkamp, the prison, and thenearby Openstad, where the spaceportis located. Gravelines remains adangerous place, even away from theprisoners, and anyone wishing to visitthe planet must sign a waiver.

Plot Points

One of the prisoners gets word out thata buried alien ship has been discoveredbut a party of convict miners and theywill exchange the location of the shipfor freedom.

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 planetarydays (.85 Earth years)Climate: Near arcticOceans: 8%

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KORNWERDERZAND

An unusual system in that it mimics theSol system in composition almostexactly with close parallels to all of theplanets even to the number of moonsaround the various worlds except forslightly larger orbits. The star is within5% of Sol luminosity and almost anexact match on size.

Is a beautiful world, filled with riversand waterfalls, massive forests andtowering mountains. Three moonswatch over it all. Kornwerdzand is inprocess of becoming the breadbasket ofthe Kingdom of Holland. Serval of thenative fruits and tubers are edible byhumans, even if lacking certainvitamins and amino acids, as are someof the native animals, which mostlyresemble insects and lobsters. Plantations are springing up, radiatingout from the single starport, Tulp, andthe planet is attracting settlers in greatnumbers.

Plot Points

One of the native fruits, rozeáppel,

induces euphoria and, in sufficientquantities, a fearless bloodlust. Reichand Soviet agents are seeking sufficientquantities to analyze while smugglersare trying to acquire smaller amounts tosell off-world. A shadowy competitionfor rozeappels is increasing in intensityand violence, so far the police have notstepped in as the criminals have onlybeen harming each other.

Colony Statistics

Population: 39,800European Dutch: 58% European Belgian: 7% European German: 4% European Other: 10% Afrikaan: 12%Javanese: 6% All Others: 3%

Day / Year: 31.1 hours / 337 planetarydays (1.2 Earth years)Climate: Cool TemperateOceans: 64%

NIJMEGEN

An ice world with a strange ecosystemconsisting of furry snake-creatures thatburrow through the frozen terrain. Trapped in the ice are pockets ofpetrochemical that are useful for theproduction of lubricant, plastics andother chemicals. The colony onNijmegen live under massive domes,the first few built by the Naz-Raln Septand the others copied from them. TheNaz-Raln Sept is one of the majorpurchasers of the petrochemicalsproduced on Nijmegen and theymaintain several industrial facilities,sealed in their own domes, to processand refine them.

Plot Points

Certain interests are willing to pay alarge sum for information on thechemical process used by the Naz-RalnSept. The Martians seem unusually laxabout their security on Nijmegen, whywould that be?

The smaller ice worms have,inexplicable, become popular as pets in

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the inner worlds. Fierce bidding warhave broken out for the harmless kindsuseable as pets. Other, less ethical,smugglers have been acquiring theyoung of dangerous types of worms tosell irrespective of the harm it maycause.

Colony Statistics

Population: 21,400European Dutch: 61% European Belgian: 8% European German: 13% European Other: 11% All Others: 7%

Day / Year: 19.9 hours / 707 planetarydays (1.6 Earth years)Climate: ArcticOceans: 49%

PARADIJS

Paradijs is the second major colony ofthe Kingdom of Holland. It circles abright blue-white starin a nearly empty system with only asmall rocky inner world, Limbus, and agas giant, Hel, for company. Paradijshas no moon but the Dutch have givenit an artificial one in the form of thespace station Regenboog which servesas a transshipment point for thecolonies, a military base and a weatherstation for the planet below.

Paradijs is a relatively young world thatstill suffers from a great deal ofvulcanism with massive mountainranges towering over the valleys andnarrow coastal strips. The land onParadijs is a massive archipelagolacking true continents. This make iteasiest to reach most places by water,or air, than by land. This has alsoprevented there from being a centrallocation on Paradijs, instead it has foursmaller starports scattered across theglobe providing each of the ‘sub-colonies’ with access to the stars.

If the Kingdom of Holland has aserious disadvantage in space, it is itssmall population base to draw upon. Paradijs is one of its attempts to solvethat problem, settlers for this worldwere heavily recruited from the NordicCountries with promises of local semi-autonomy in government in exchangefor Dutch control of foreign affairs. Ithas been a great success in attractingsettlers, though the dual governmentsystem has not run as smoothly as theDutch had hoped. Clashes of traditionand laws between the settlers are thecolonial government are not infrequentand the Dutch have been trying to solvethis by recruiting more of the planetarycivil service from the localcommunities and gradually theconflicts are being smoothed out.

Paradijs is divided into four settlementareas:

Blauwzand, the first settlement,composed of Dutch and Icelandicsettlers and it the home to the Colonialgovernment. The capital city,Blauwstad, is well supplied withgeothermic taps that provide electrical

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power and heat.

Noordland is primarily settled byNorwegians, the settlement is brokenup into small mobile factory towns. Their primary industry is mining withthe raw metals are shipped toBlauwstad for refining and processing.

Regeneiland, the Swedes haveorganized to exploit the seas,harvesting the fishlike creatures forfood and other materials. Others gathershellfish, the ground shells of which areconverted into a very strong version ofconcrete which is used in constructionworldwide. The native sea life is ediblebut some of its predators are largeenough to pose a threat to the settlers. The bravest of the brave on Paradijs arethe Haaijager (Sharkhunters) who trackdown and eliminate the native predatorthat threaten the colonists.

Zeestreek, the Danish region is thebreadbasket of Paradijs with farms inthe lush valleys and cattle raised on thecoastal strip. Geothermal heatedhothouses have been build into themountainsides to grow certain kinds of

crops.

Plot Points

The Reich have been attempting toorganized Aryan solidarity (and pro-Germany) organizations among theNordic settlers, the umbrellaorganization behind such activities isthe Vikingbund composed of pro-German settlers and Reich agentsrecruited from Denmark, Norway andSweden. Dutch Naval Intelligence hasbeen keeping a close eye on theVikingbund but have been very carefulnot to come down to hard on theorganization for fear of offending thesettlers.

Rumors, and even the occasional fuzzyphotograph, about of a phantom shipthat travels the waters of Paradijs. Anexpedition, complete with a fast shipand sea planes, is being organized tofind out what this mystery ship is.

Colony Statistics

Population: 401,200European Dutch: 16%

European Dane: 22% European Norwegian: 21% European Swede: 22% European Other: 8% Icelandic: 6%All Others: 5%

Day / Year: 24.4 hours / 380 planetarydays (1.06 Earth years)Climate: Cold TemperateOceans: 82%

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USSELINCX

A new outpost on a -just- habitablemoon around the gas giant nearest tothis system’s star. The moon’s alienbiology is barely compatible with thatof humans and Earth plants. Pilotprojects to convert the soil tosomething more suiting to humancolonists are in process but progresshas been slow.

WILHELMSBERG

Established by German exiles and nowhome to the German ImperialGovernment in Exile led by WilhelmII. The colony here is organized as amassive military camp along Prussianlines. Except for the Dutch officialswho oversee and coordinate theinteraction of the Wilhelmitegovernment with the rest of theKingdom of Holland.

The system consists of two rockyplanets (Friedrich and Albert),Wilhelmsberg, two more rocky planets(Hohenzollern and Friedrich-Wilhelm)and two gas giants (Luisa andBismarck) at the furthest edge of thesystem. Wilhelmsberg has a smallwhite moon, named Hermine after the

Kaiser’s second wife and a smallarmored space station, Eisenstern,stands guard above the planet. Each ofthe rocky planets has a small mannedlistening post to monitor traffic in thesystem.

Wilhelmsberg itself is a chilly,mountainous world with only theequatorial highlands suitable forgrowing Earth crops. However, themountains are rich in metals and thefast running rivers are easily harvestedfor hydroelectric power. The world isalso rich in animal life, all of it sixlimbed and heavily furred and most ofit vicious, making hunting not only asport but sometimes a necessity. Themost dangerous of the planet’spredators are the Hextiger and theSechsbär. The Kaiser himself enjoysthe opportunity to hunt and the Imperialhunting parties are always excitingevents. The major exports fromWilhelmsberg are metals, handcraftedswords and knives and furs.

The Kaiserliche Marine (ImperialNavy) is theoretically a “local systemdefense fleet” subordinate to the Royal

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Netherlands Navy, but in actuality it isfully under the command of KaiserWilhelm and his government in exile. It consists of the light cruiser Friedrichder Große (Fredrick the Great, a Java-class cruiser) and three destroyers (2Admiralen-class and 1 {early modelGerman destroyer} that defected fromthe Reich).

The Kaiser in exile.

Plot Points

The British and French governmentsmonitor Wilhelmite activity but not asmuch as they once did, though theReich has recently taken an increasedinterest. In some quarters there is eventalk of promoting a restored PrussianKingdom as a counterweight to theReich, so the Capital of Wilhelmberg,Doorn, remains a hotbed of politicalintrigue. Wilhelm also continues to actas a patron of archaeologicalexpeditions both on Earth and on thenew worlds. For those seeking to meetthe Wilhelm, the best chance might beto impress the Kaiser with their huntingskills.

Colony Statistics

Population: 38,600European German: 69% European Dutch: 14% European Other: 7% Afrikaan: 5% All Others: 4%

Day / Year: 28.2 hours / 325 planetarydays (1.05 Earth years)Climate: Cold Temperate/ArcticOceans: 54%

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Authors Notes:

I was hired by Edward Kann to workon this project (and, yes, I appreciatedthe humor of someone named Hollandwriting on the Kingdom of Holland)shortly after the initial publication ofRocketship Empires: 1936 on thestrength of my resume and a piece ofshort fiction.

Unfortunately, life intervened andprevented Ed from continuing with REand the rights to this reverted to me. So, I have decided to release it into theether for the enjoyment of all (and topractice PDF layouts). My apologiesfor the lack of star map.

Visit my gaming journal:http://seaofstarsrpg.wordpress.com/

My writing resume:http://www.tychesgames.com/WriterResume.html

Enjoy.

Images used under the CreativeCommons license:

Pg 1: Arms of the Netherlands. Source Made by Alex:D(wikimedia) by tracing Image:Coat_of_arms_of_the_Netherlands.png

Pg 2: Flag of the Netherlands. This image has beenreleased into the public domain by its author, Zscout370(wikimedia).

Pg 4: From A TOM CORBETT Space Cadet AdventureSTAND BY FOR MARS! By CAREY ROCKWELL,1952. Illustrator: Louis Glanzman. zorger.com

Pg 4: Naval Jack. SVG of the naval jack of theNetherlands made by User:David Newton. Colours alteredby User:Denelson83 (wikimedia).

Pg 6: VOC Symbol. Source: Variation of Image:OC-Amsterdam.svg, which is based on Image:Voclogo.gif Author: Golradir (wikimedia)

Pg 8:From A TOM CORBETT Space Cadet AdventureDANGER IN DEEP SPACE By CAREY ROCKWELL,1953, Illustrations by Louis Glanzman. Project GutenbergTranscriber''s note: Extensive research did not uncover anyevidence that the copyright on this publication wasrenewed. zorger.com

Pg 10: From A TOM CORBETT Space Cadet AdventureTREACHERY IN OUTER SPACE By CAREYROCKWELL, 1954. Illustrations by LOUISGLANZMAN. Thanks to zorger.com

Pg 11: From A TOM CORBETT Space Cadet AdventureSTAND BY FOR MARS! By CAREY ROCKWELL,1952. Illustrator: Louis Glanzman. Zorger.com

Pg 14: From A TOM CORBETT Space Cadet AdventureSABOTAGE IN SPACE By CAREY ROCKWELL, 1955.ILLUSTRATIONS BY LOUIS GLANZMAN. zorger.com

Pg 17: From LAST ENEMY illustrated by Miller.

Transcriber's Note: These images were produced fromAstounding Science Fiction, August, 1950. zorger.com

Pg 18: From A TOM CORBETT Space Cadet AdventureSTAND BY FOR MARS! By CAREY ROCKWELL,1952. Illustrator: Louis Glanzman. zorger.com

Pg 18: Prussian Flag. gemeinfrei (in the public domain).

Pg 19: Photograph of Wilhelm II in exile. Source:Deutsches Bundesarchiv (German Federal Archive), Bild136-C0804.

Pg 19: From A TOM CORBETT Space Cadet AdventureTHE SPACE PIONEERS By CAREY ROCKWELL,1953,illustrations by LOUIS GLANZMAN. zorger.com

Pg 20: From A TOM CORBETT Space Cadet AdventureDANGER IN DEEP SPACE By CAREY ROCKWELL,1953, Illustrations by Louis Glanzman. zorger.com

For all images from zorger.com, extensive search forProject Gutenberg has failed to uncover any evidence ofrenewal of copyright of this work, it is believed they are inthe public domain and are now released under the CreativeCommons license.

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