• The official discovery of this system and its habitable planet is nowadays accredited to
Augustus Brenquith, although the Rockforth Corporation claim the land deeds and
development rights to the system. Thirty nine years after the Corporation declared the system
its own, an ancient message capsule was recovered from outside the orbit of Jupiter in the Sol
system, tumbling in an uncontrolled fashion. It is now believed that the capsule suffered a
power failure immediately after returning to Sol by hyper space and had been orbiting Jupiter
for an untold length of time.
• The discovery aroused considerable interest amongst archeologists on Earth at the time
and while the capsule was in transit to New Delhi University there was heated debate as to
whether the artifact should be opened or not. When the capsule was studied, the seal was seen
to be broken, so the matter was resolved. Inside the capsule was a message crystal with the log
of the second five years of Augustus Brenquith's solitary search for new worlds, his 'glittering
legacy', included in the list of planetary systems he had stumbled upon was that of Ackwada.
• Ackwada is a benign world, with a gravity very closely matched to that of Old Earth
and a pleasant climate. Many visitors and industrialists attending Corporation Functions are
struck by the similarity to the home world. Locals tend to be bitter about this comparison,
pointing out that Earth has seen fit to launch four separate invasions on the planet in the past.
In many ways Thompson's planet is one of the disputed zone, roughly equally spaced between
the heart of Federation and Empire. Rockforth Corporation managed to preserve the colony's
independence during the early years, and this trend has continued, even though the
Corporation holding rights to the planet has changed several times since the founding.
• Rush's Camp is a heavily industrialised city, and raw materials are transformed into the
machines and tools needed by the developing system. The outspill of pollutants and wastes is
unrestricted, because of early Corporation law, and the environment in the region of Rush's
Camp is unhealthy except in protective wear. The local life forms have mostly fallen prey to
heavy metal poisoning and carcinomas from effluents of the different plants. The air near Rush's
Camp is not safe to breath for long periods without a respirator or sophisticated filter system.
• Most people turn to Yorkville for relaxation. The Corporations owning the World
provide regular free shuttles between the two major cities and as the local saying goes 'Rush
to work, Rush for pay, York you live, York to play' . The entertainment sectors of Yorkville
are Corporation sponsored and this has led to allegations amongst some neighbouring star
systems that organised crime has set up at Ackwada. This charge is vigorously denied by all
senior executives of the Corporations and legal actions are in progress in several colonies in
this regard. The Corporations have found the threat of punitive legal damages and costly trials
is an effective deterrent for all but the most vociferous of their opponents.
Entry by Kathy Dickinson
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