Ghesaak (world)

Ghesaak/Sapphyre (Dagudashaag 2437) Milieu 1116 D100400-B Starport D Poor: No Construction, Minor Repair, Unrefined fuel Size 1 Small (1,600 km, 0.05g - 0.09g) Atmosphere 0 Vacuum Hydrographics 0 Desert World 0% Population 4 Moderate (90 thousand) Government 0 No Government structure Law 0 No Law Tech Level B Average Stellar (large starships)
See also	UWP
style="width: 220px; height: 250px;" Jump map from Travellermap.com
System Details
Primary	G4 V
Worlds	12
Gas Giants	3
Planetoid Belts	0
Cultural Details
Government	No government
Law Level	No law
Cultural Extension	1316
Army Size (BEs)	0
Economic Details
Technology Level	11
Economic Extension	932-5 Resources 9 Moderate Labor 3 Low (9 thousand) Infrastructure 2 Extremely limited Efficiency -5 Extremely poor
Importance Extension	-1
Resource Units	27
GWP (BCr)	0
World Trade Number	3
Trade Volume (MCr/year)	0
Starport Details
Classification	Class-D
Port Size	0
Building Capacity (Tons)	0
Port employees	0
Port passengers (annual)	0

Ghesaak is a vacuum world, with a complete lack of atmosphere. The system has a population between 10,000 and 10 million, lacking the industrial base to be completely self-supporting. It is a member of Third Imperium in the Sapphyre Subsector of Dagudashaag Sector and in the Domain of Vland. Ghesaak, as a member world of the Third Imperium, holds the estate of an Imperial knight, a member of the Imperial Nobility charged with overseeing the world. This world contains an Imperial Scout Base, capable of handling Scout Service starships and personnel. During the Long Night this world was named Guus.

Astrography and planetology

Ghesaak lies on the spinward end of the Sylean Main. It serves as the connector to the Dagudashaag Main.

Monostellar System

Ghesaak Monostellar System

Star Name	Hierarchy	Category		Mass (Sol)	Temp (K)	Luminosity (Sol)
Ghesaak G4 V	Primary	Main Sequence		0.985	5660 - 5680	0.94848
	Unit	Diameter	Min Distance	Hab Zone	Jump Shadow	M-Drive Limit
	AU	0.0046	0.0808	0.93 - 1.65	0.46	4.6
	Orbit #	*	*	3	1	6

Native Lifeforms

Homeworld of the Charonaei organism.

History and background

Ghesaak was initially discovered during the Rule of Man but remained un-colonized until 138 when a scout ship mis-jumped into the system. The crew landed on Ghesaak and discovered the remains of an Aakhri Empire starship, the Charonaei. The ship was wide open but several crew members were apparently missing despite the Vacc Suit locker had been destroyed on impact. The remains of the ships crew were discovered in a series of caves far to the north. All five had apparently died of dehydration and radiation despite being found naked on a vacuum planet.

Scientists flocked to Ghesaak and confirmed the Charonaei crew had apparently been breathing up to the time of their death. A highly unusual micro-organism was discovered on the mummified skin and within the lungs. Attempt to fully analyze the organism failed.

A small permanent colony was established to discover the answer to the mysteries for several years. Then six staff became contaminated by the organism during a quarantine failure at Gamma-Nine research station. At first they were in extreme pain as the organism coated them internally and externally in a fine transparent mold-like layer. Rather than face death by slow organic torture, Dr Glamis Janka opened the airlock exposing them to hard Vacuum. To everyone's surprise they survived. The organism converted their body wastes into sufficient oxygen to survive, creating a warm insulating layer, like an organic pressure suit. The pain was replaced by a feeling of well-being an euphoria as the organism established a beneficial symbiotic relationship.

Studies on the six revealed no harmful side effects, though additional protection against radiation would be required if spending any significant time on the surface. Within twenty years several hundred colonists allowed themselves to become infected.

In 197 it was thought that the Charonaei could be tested off-world to see if it could allow humans to survive elsewhere. The organism reacted violently to leaving the planet and mutated into a highly infectious parasite. Through incompetent quarantine procedures the infection managed to devastate hundreds of thousands before it was contained. Surviving victims were sent to Amamni (Dagudashaag 2436) or back to Ghesaak.

This new variant failed to re-adapt and several Ghesaak were killed by violent patients before the infected were finally placed in isolation. Ghesaak was abandoned by the Imperium overnight, stranding the adapted colonists, becoming the modern equivalent of a leper colony. Eventually communications were established through the use of robots.

Today the Charonaei colony on Ghesaak is rarely visited except by new research teams determined to solve the mystery of the organism.

References and contributors

This list of sources was used by the Traveller Wiki Editorial Team and individual contributors to compose this article. Copyrighted material is used under license from Far Future Enterprises or by permission of the author. The page history lists all of the contributions.

• Jae Campbell. "Library Data: Sapphyre." Signal-GK 07 (1993): 9-10.
• Marc Miller. First Survey (Imperium Games, 1996), 84.
• Jae Campbell. Encyclopaedia Dagudashaag (Signal-GK, 2017), 125-126.
• Author & Contributor: Lord (Marquis) and Master of Sophontology Maksim-Smelchak of the Ministry of Science