One of Earth's pre-Contact colonies, it is located in the Canaan Cluster. Horst is a B-class world leased to Humanity for roughly 50,000 hab-years. The lessee has opted to vest its representation and management responsibilities in the Terragen Confederation. Because of the interest in Horst as a site for cultural and social research, several Clans have consulates in New-Sydney, Horst's capital city (population 128,000).
Horst is significantly colder than Earth. The dry atmosphere contributes to large daily temperature fluctuations --and for various reasons, seasonal variation is also greater than on Earth. Horst is dominated by steppe and Boo taiga biomes. Perma-frost scrub-forests and tundra should be much more extensive. However, Terragens have been working at rehabilitating tundra habitats since before Contact. During these few centuries the tundra has expanded by an impressive 14 per_128. The figure would be higher except that the tiaga has grown by 4 per_128 over the same time. Indeed, Terragens have had some recent success introducing genetically engineered reindeer to Horst. The major obstacle has been getting enough winter nutrition out of the Boo taiga. Though an old biome, the circumpolar Boo taigas are characteristically species poor. In contrast, the steppe is surprisingly diverse and productive with hundreds of plant species and supports herds of the misnamed Snowy Jackalope and the larger Horst-Ox.
Humans first discovered a terrestrial planet in the habitable zone of Helios in 239 BxY. The first near-light speed probes were launched in -225. While much less promising that either Atlast or NuDawn, it was evident than Horst was still quite suitable for colonization. With modest genetic engineering, it might even be possible to grow wheat and barley on the planet's extensive equatorial steppes. In -197, the developed nations began designing a near-light-speed vessel to colonize Horst. Construction, was interrupted by the Collapse --and resumed under the Bureaucracy. In the interim, Human explorers had stumbled across a few deep-space, short-span jump-lines, and discovered the fundamental principles of jump-line navigation. Though deep-space short jumps are rendered economically irrelevant by d-level hyperdrives, they cut "objective" travel time for the first Human colonists to one-fourth of strict n-space travel. By the time the ship was ready to depart in -158 the Bureaucracy already had detention zones full of nationalist, religiously fanatic, racist, romantic, and Luddite seditionists and terrorists, as well as ordinary dissidents, deviationist and retrograde former party members, and run-of-the-mill criminals. In the interest of efficiency, the Bureaucracy developed probationary policies decades before developing the first effective probationary exams. Atlast was to be colonized by ideologically dangerous dissident groups. Huge numbers of Quakers, Bahais, Greens, leftist Jews, and activist Catholics would eventually be transported to Atlast.
Since the colonization of Horst would be much more arduous than that of Atlast, the Bureaucracy opted to colonize the planet with members of more immediately dangerous groups. Early trasportees included Muslim Brothers, supporters of national liberation movements, militant labor syndicalists, survivalists, racists, junior members of organized crime families, and members of ne'er-do-well families with generational histories of petty crime. The last transportees arrived on Horst in 8 AxY. In short order, the colony on Atlast was treated as a dangerous, but valued resource. However, the colony on Horst was simply regarded as potentially dangerous.
It is indeed fortunate that the G.I.M. put a low priority on dealing with the "infestation" of Horst, since the colonists would have been even less flexible that those on NuDawn. As it happened G.I.M. officials did not start their assessment of pre-Contact custodianship until 107 AxY. The G.I.M. had modest praise for the tundra expansion program and the Humans' cautious approach to increasing the diversity of the Boo forests using Earth species. The G.I.M. was also pleasantly surprised by the Colonial Authority's unusual attention to oceanography. On the other hand, the investigators criticized excessive agricultural demands on the steppe and the Colonial Agriculture Department's aggressive Horst-Ox control policy. Despite certain violations, the G.I.M. issued Humanity a standard Class B Biosphere Remediation Lease, and forgave all fines after the violations were put right with due haste.
By the post-Contact era the Bureaucracy was no more, and forced transportation had come to an end. Nevertheless, Horst kept its reputation as the ultimate frontier challenge for the colonial adventurer, not least because it retained a privileged status vis-a-vis the Probationary regime. As a matter of Custom, Probation officers allow most classes of Probationers considerably more privacy and autonomy than anywhere else in the Confederation(2). Furthermore, no citizen of Horst can be forced to take the Probationary exams unless convicted of a serious crime or compelled to do so by the laws of Horst.(3)
In the post-Contact era, Horst also attracted adherents of many fringe groups. Bizarre 'skinny' sects were the most notorious. By the Siege of Earth, Horst had become a research bonanza for students of culture and society from throughout the Galaxies. Horst was even declared a "Redemption Reserve" by the Galactic Uplift Institute. The Confederation even granted research permission to a pod of four Tandu, an Acceptor, and an Inquisitor!
For reasons not entirely clear, the Tandu occupied the thinly populated, unproductive, and strategically irrelevant Horst colony during the Siege of Earth. The Tandu occupation was much harsher that any other associated with the conflict. Direct ecological damage was considerable, but not as serious as on Garth. However, civilian casualties approached 102 per_128. To make matters worse, the fate of 36 per_128 of missing Terragens is unverifiable. Most of these victims were probably abducted for purposes doubtlessly nefarious. The GUI, the Academy for Language, and numerous scholarly organizations, along with the Tg.C. filed suit against the Tandu, adding to their already serious legal problems.
After the war, Horst's population dropped from about 2.5 million (that is, 221.25) to 500,000 (24.277). On the advice of the Tg Uplift Council, the Confederation has opted to allow green card and higher Fin and Chim citizens living on Horst to participate in a reproductive market. Free transit to Horst and no-interest loans are available to any non-felonious Tg.C. resident, citizen or ally willing to live on Horst for at least 14 years. At last report, Horst's population was 780,000. There were about 40,000 Neo-Chimp colonists, a few hundred Neo-Dolphin residents, and over 300 citizens or permanent residents not of Earthling heritage. The remainder of the population was Human.
2. This claim, of course, excludes the Venusian League and Atlast Republic that are technically protectorates of the Terragen Confederation. No citizen of Venus or the Atlast Republic is subject to Probationary restrictions unless they commit a felony outside the borders of their sovereign state, apply for a passport, or for a Confederation security clearance.
3. A citizen of Horst can voluntarily submit to the Probationary exams. Naturally, they cannot receive a passport or security clearance unless examined.
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