IMPERIAL LAWS
I don't have my Traveller books with me today, so this is not
authoritative. However, there is a brief section on Imperial Law
in the World Builder's Handbook. In summary, it said that the
Imperium was primarily concerned with fostering trade and pro-
tecting member planets from war and piracy. As a result, most
Imperial laws dealt with those topics, and there was only a
minimum of Imperial criminal law (e.g., murder is prohibited),
and that only applied where there was not already a local law
covering the situation. So in the case of liability waivers, the
Imperium would probably, IMO, not intervene at all, and it would
be a matter for the courts on the planet of origin to handle.
For something like the Alcyon expedition, I suppose that a "base"
planet would have been agreed upon for legal purposes, presumably
one whose civil codes were to the taste of the organizers.
Anyone from a planet with different codes would be out of luck,
and their heirs would have to sue on the base planet.
ASLAN
Like most of the villains in Traveller (you all remember the
devious and oppressive Zhodani, don't you?), the Aslan 'invasion'
of the Spinward Marches postulated by the background material
included with the MegaTraveller rules seems to be getting 'wa-
tered down' as time passes. The Aslan aren't really bad guys
wantonly conquering planets, we're now told--they're just set-
tlers who don't see any reason why you would want to leave land
unsettled on your nice planet. Maybe so, maybe so....Looking
over the Glisten subsector, I see only a few planets that are
really 'earth-like' (i.e., that will support life without techno-
logical assistance, and have water, and so on). I can see the
eager Aslan settlers making their new homes in these places.
According to the recent MTJ#1 these Aslan settlers are attempting
to cooperate with local authorities as much as possible. I
wonder if this means that they would be willing to conform to the
TL2 tech restrictions on Sorel?
Anyway, the real question is this: We all know that Aslan males
want to hold land. I'm guessing that 'real land', the kind that
you can walk around on without breathing apparatus, and that has
plants and animals living on it, is the best. Is anything else a
sufficient substitute? Would a farm tunnel out of THE MOON IS A
HARSH MISTRESS be land enough to satisfy their cravings, even a
little bit? How about a condominium in New York City? If the
answer to these questions is no, then why would the Aslan take
over the administration of an airless rockball rather than just
ignore it?
Rob Dean