Timerover51
SOC-14 5K
I have been going through my hard copies of the JTAS, along with the online JTAS bundle from DriveThru. I re-read the article on Champa Starport, and then did some thinking. The planet of Champa has a UPP of A-6629B9-8, so population in the Billions, non-Charismatic Dictatorship, and a very high Law Level to go with that Dictatorship. The description in the article covers the surface port, not the presumed High Port. The same JTAS has an article on R and R which discusses startowns, which is referenced in the Champa article to see for more information. Edit Note: The JTAS magazine that contains the two articles is Number 7.
The starport shows 11 landing pads for ships, 3 landing pads for Scouts (there is a Scout Base present), and 2 building pads for Ling-Standard Products for small craft. Ling has an orbital construction facility at the High Port, and the article states that ships larger than 400 tons, i.e. Subsidized Merchants, rarely land on the surface.
As the R&R article is referenced, the following is stated with respect to Startown.
What struck me in re-reading that description and the shorter one in the article on the Champa Starport, was the disparity between those descriptions and the likely number of ships crew that would be on the ground at any time.
If you assume that all of the surface berths are occupied by "Fat Trader" ships, your maximum number of crew on the surface, allowing for 2 gunners per ship in addition to standard crew of 5, is 77. Three Scouts on the ground would add between 3 and 12, if they are retired Scouts carrying additional persons. Ling Standard has it own facility, and the workers would be planet, or at least Starport, residents. That would make about 89 or so crew member for debauch. Or would it? The trader captain is going to be spending time selling or arranging delivery of existing cargo and locating passengers and more cargo. The engineer is going to be doing routine maintenance on his drives and power plant for part of the time. The steward is going to be working on replacing consumed supplies, monitoring life support refreshment (possibly along with the engineer), while the medic might be sort of available, but he/she does not seem like a person apt to go wild on a planet. Even if he/she does, that leaves about 40 to 50 people (ship navigator, medic, two gunners, and maybe a couple more), to support that den of iniquity called Startown. Even if the whole crew goes wild, 90 people can only support so much business. Plus, they have been at another port a week earlier, which means that money to spend might be limited, especially if they are on shares. Ah, but there are the shuttle crews, you say. Problem with that is that they are SHUTTLE crews, which means that they live on the planet, maybe even have families. Why should they pay much attention to Startown?
When crews of sailing ships hit port, they might have been out for several months, or in the case of whaling ships, a year or more. Plus, a couple of whaling ships or large sailing ships might have the same number of crew as the crews of all of the star ships. A large naval sailing ship would have crew numbering in the hundreds, or in the case of a ship-of-the-line, nearly a thousand. There, you would have the numbers to make for a "Barbary Coast" environment. If you have a major naval base or military base, then you might also get the needed numbers and payroll.
Without something like that, the Startown as described just does not add up for the average starport, which Champa Interstellar Starport is described as being.
Its construction is fairly typical of starports throughout the empire, and a specific examination of it will serve to illustrate starports in general.
The area immediately outside the Imperial extrality fence is called startown on most planets because it is devoted almost entirely to satisfying the baser urges of starship crewmembers. Like the waterfronts of seaport towns in earlier years, startown is a wretched hive of scum and villainy, considered to be the worst area of the starport district. Startown is dealt with in more detail elsewhere in this issue {see R&R by T. R. Mcinnes, page 34). Casual visitors and the faint of heart are urged to stay out of startown.
The starport shows 11 landing pads for ships, 3 landing pads for Scouts (there is a Scout Base present), and 2 building pads for Ling-Standard Products for small craft. Ling has an orbital construction facility at the High Port, and the article states that ships larger than 400 tons, i.e. Subsidized Merchants, rarely land on the surface.
As the R&R article is referenced, the following is stated with respect to Startown.
Startown is sleazy and rundown; it's considered to be the worst district of the spaceport city. Cheap taverns, brothels, hotels and gambling halls abound, wedged in among warehouses, the local ship's crew hiring hall, cargo brokers' offices, ship suppliers, passenger agents' offices, and the central cargo exchange. The city police usually maintain a large station in startown.
What struck me in re-reading that description and the shorter one in the article on the Champa Starport, was the disparity between those descriptions and the likely number of ships crew that would be on the ground at any time.
If you assume that all of the surface berths are occupied by "Fat Trader" ships, your maximum number of crew on the surface, allowing for 2 gunners per ship in addition to standard crew of 5, is 77. Three Scouts on the ground would add between 3 and 12, if they are retired Scouts carrying additional persons. Ling Standard has it own facility, and the workers would be planet, or at least Starport, residents. That would make about 89 or so crew member for debauch. Or would it? The trader captain is going to be spending time selling or arranging delivery of existing cargo and locating passengers and more cargo. The engineer is going to be doing routine maintenance on his drives and power plant for part of the time. The steward is going to be working on replacing consumed supplies, monitoring life support refreshment (possibly along with the engineer), while the medic might be sort of available, but he/she does not seem like a person apt to go wild on a planet. Even if he/she does, that leaves about 40 to 50 people (ship navigator, medic, two gunners, and maybe a couple more), to support that den of iniquity called Startown. Even if the whole crew goes wild, 90 people can only support so much business. Plus, they have been at another port a week earlier, which means that money to spend might be limited, especially if they are on shares. Ah, but there are the shuttle crews, you say. Problem with that is that they are SHUTTLE crews, which means that they live on the planet, maybe even have families. Why should they pay much attention to Startown?
When crews of sailing ships hit port, they might have been out for several months, or in the case of whaling ships, a year or more. Plus, a couple of whaling ships or large sailing ships might have the same number of crew as the crews of all of the star ships. A large naval sailing ship would have crew numbering in the hundreds, or in the case of a ship-of-the-line, nearly a thousand. There, you would have the numbers to make for a "Barbary Coast" environment. If you have a major naval base or military base, then you might also get the needed numbers and payroll.
Without something like that, the Startown as described just does not add up for the average starport, which Champa Interstellar Starport is described as being.
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