Devlin's Strike (Planet)

Devlin's Strike is a planet first mentioned in The Lion in Paradise, as Raven Wolff Fox's destination (but not until her sister Devorah mentions she's expecting a message via the warp message relay system from her that seems to be late).

It orbits Devlin's Star at a distance of 1.2 AU. This is within the life zone, and renders the planet relatively temperate, although it has large ice caps at both poles suggesting occasional periods of glaciation are not unknown.

The planet is about 65% covered by water, its oceans and seas ranging on average from quite shallow to at least one ocean trench deeper than the Mariana Trench at about 12,000 meters below sea level.

It is a rich source of rare earth minerals and other useful metals and elements. The name "Devlin's Strike" refers to the first major mining operation conducted there by the prospector Mike Devlin, who discovered a rich lode of manganese that set him up for life. While the planet is known primarily for the products of its mines, the mining is governed by extremely strict standards originally set in place by Devlin himself, and remains quite beautiful and unspoiled even very close to the mines.

The main settlement, Landing, is hundreds of miles away from any mining operations, and is itself a place of beauty. It is conservatively run, but is a home of the arts -- which are self-funded, though to be sure, their senior funding normally comes from the Devlin Foundation set up by Mike Devlin not long after his mines proved out.

Mass 1.45 Earth

Radius 1.2 Earth

Surface Gravity 1.01 Earth (9.9m/s²)