Fiction:The Nuclear Winter Universe

In this universe, a nuclear war broke out between Medwedia and a rival nation. Ursus Prime is covered by poisonous, radioactive fog, with mutant creatures roaming the wastelands. The surviving Medwedian population had moved to an large space station orbiting around now dead Ursus Prime, and the remnants of the Ursoids who had to stay on the planet now live in bunkers, fighting for resources. The planet is quarantined, and no Ursoid who flew to the space station ever set foot on his home planet again, as landing attempts are punished by death. The warp drive was never developed due to the scientist who would invent it never being able to study. As of 2150 AA, Medwedians are still searching for habitable planets in time dilation ships.

=The Station=

The Station, called Ursus Two, is orbiting Ursus Prime at an altitude of 500 kilometers and houses 50.000 persons. It was built in an international project by almost all nations on Ursus Prime, when the fate of the planet was known. The station represents a slowly rotating Torus, with a radius of 2 kilometres and a thickness of approximately 400 meters, generating gravity of approximately 1g.

Society
Because of circumstances, the society has ascended from capitalism to "good" socialism, with money being obsolete and food, electricity and resources being equally distributed along the population. The station is divided into 10 sectors, with each one having a representative in the station's government. The government is a democracy, where every person has the right to vote for their representative, while the representatives vote about decisions. The final decision lies before the Station't President, who is elected by the whole population.

The normal inhabitant of the station either posesses a small living room connected to a bathroom and a kitchen, or lives in a dormitory. Law and Order is kept by the station's own police force, and the punishments range from imprisonment or demotion to hard labour to death penalty conducted by removing the person from the station in a waste container, which then burns up in the atmosphere of Ursus Prime.

Technology
Interstellar travel was never invented because the scientist who was supposed to develop the warp drive simply was not able to study. Astronauts travel in time dilation ships, but as of 2150 no habitable planet had been discovered yet. Also, no contact with an alien race was ever made, so the Ursoids still believe that they are the only sentient lifeform in the universe.

The time dilation ships are being propelled by an primitive form of impulse engines, and reach speeds of approximately 0.10 c.

Weapons were never brought to a level higher than classical firearms.

=The Surface=

Ursus Prime, covered in poisonous fog isn't habitable anymore. Persons coming out onto the surface without a protection suit will either die a painful death due to the acid rains, be killed by the mutant creatures roaming the surface or simply be suffocated within minutes.

Society and Technology
The remnant of civilization is split up into hundreds of small clans, living in underground bunkers and constantly fighting for resources. There are only remains of modern technology, and only every person out of ten knows how to operate a firearm, while only one person in twenty posesses one.

The main resources on the planet are metals and minerals scattered around on the surface after the earth was literally dug up by the nuclear explosions and the following quakes, and oil is found in massive underground pockets. Abandoned cities are regularily being looted for what is still useable - e.g. old books, old technology or simply artefacts such as an mobile phone, and are commonly seen as battlegrounds.

Flora and Fauna
The wastelands are populated by dangerous animals such as giant mutant insects or sentient bacteria that can devour an elephant in minutes. There also are mutant mushrooms that use Ursoids as their hosts - they feel the heat when a person nears them and explode, unleashing millions of little spores. The outcome can be dramatical - mushrooms growing on a Ursoid's skin and eating the body's juices. Finally, when the mushrooms reach the brain they drive the victim mad, and when he nears other persons the mushrooms simply explode to unleash more spores.