Colony 17 is a city-sized outpost set on the small planet Granite on the far side of the Algol star system.The colonists are originally from Earth, having left at the time of the Great Firestorm, when the atmosphere of the world collapsed and began to fry from solar radiation.Only a hundred massive transports, scattered in all directions, made it off the planet before it was rendered uninhabitable.Transport ID XJK-17 was tossed several trillion miles off course when the MacrotechTM firmware running its navigation system inexplicably crashed.This colony is the result of that transport.
With only a thousand or so people on a transport, there might be concerns about inbreeding, but this is not the case.Thankfully genetic manipulation had advanced far enough that a few DNA base pairs could be scrambled to produce unique enough combinations.Hundreds of experiments were performed to determine the right pairs and even then only a few specifically “human” patterns were discovered.The rest of gene theory experimentation was publicly abandoned due to questionable ethics (some of the testing started to produce some pretty weird results.)
Granite is composed mostly of various types of useless rocks and minerals, useless meaning there are precious few fossil fuels to be mined, no real gemstones to be discovered, nothing.It’s just one giant layer of rock for miles and miles inward until a thin area of subterranean caverns.No one is quite sure what caused these holes down deep in the surface, and since there has been no change in its status – at all – for centuries prior to its discovery, no one really cares.The planet’s surface is not exactly the nicest place to live.The air is somewhat dusty and always has a stubborn chill to it, and the sky is sort of a dismal gray.The gravity is very similar to Earth’s, perhaps just a little bit lighter.Days on Granite are roughly 20 standard Earth hours, and a year is approximately 1,472 days… no one was really happy about that, so they clumped years into groups of 500.There really weren’t any changes in season to mark the passage of a year anyway.Light and a little warmth are received from the closest star, Solaris Beta, which rises in the west around 0600 and sets in the east around 1730.
Granite was not the top choice for colonization.There are several other nicer-looking planets, some with vegetation or abundant water or closer to the warmth of the stars.Each and every one was tried at some point or another and always something was wrong with it – methane gas heavy in the atmosphere, radiation levels too high, an orbit that put it too close to those favored stars, abundant dangerous fauna, the list goes on.In the end it was a choice between life forever on the transport of “that hunk of granite,” hence the planet’s name.
The inhabitants of Colony 17 all live in a metropolis of sorts, spread as far out across the planet as possible without overloading the transport generator, the primary and almost only source of electricity.Over time, buildings were constructed in which people could reside, usually four or five stories tall.Water is recycled constantly by the remaining mechanisms of the transport and imported whenever possible by one of the few explorer vessels.Food is grown hydroponically using seeds stored in the transport’s cold rooms (did I mention these transports were huge?)There is virtually no meat in the colonists’ diet, causing them all to become forced vegetarians.There is a native animal, the ragnasaur, an olive green, lizard-like creature about three feet in length and one foot high that has somehow adapted to consume the rocks on the planet’s surface.These aren’t the tastiest creatures, however, and often the veggie lifestyle is preferred.Only the poor, “raggers,” usually dine on these beasts.
The economy of the colony is based on credits called Colonial Economic Regulation Units, ceru for short.There is no exchange rate for ceru because there’s no one to trade with.Ceru are recorded by cards much like the credit cards we have today.Though ceru are a relatively new currency, the numbers are rather large to compensate for the lack of common cents.An hour’s work typically earns about 30 ceru, food for a whole day for an individual costs approximately 40 to 50.Those with work crucial to survival of the colony – agritechs, electrical engineers, scientists, and police / military personnel usually earn double or more per hour.The highest income job is that of the Runners, the few people who knew or were taught how to pilot the small, sleek explorer vessels and are hired to gather resources from the other nearby planets.The truly wealthy can finance a run for actual gronk or kabrio meat, considered to be a delicacy.
The “government” is run by the elected heads, ministers, of specific area of concern.There is a minister of economy, agriculture, science, justice, development, energy, culture, and perhaps a few others.A minister’s job is to oversee all facets of his or her domain and register and act upon significant citizen complaints.They are the lead of that particular aspect of society.Ministers serve a two colonial year term after which the position is up for reelection.Laws are passed by the general populace alone, requiring a 3/4 majority of collected votes for a law to be passed and a 4/5 majority to repeal.Citizens are encouraged to take active participation, though this isn’t always what really happens.On average, ten to twenty percent of the potential votes never come in and therefore can’t be used in tallying.There is a secured prison in Colony to deal with criminals and vagrants.It doesn’t make a whole lot of difference since all the planet’s citizens basically are confined to one area anyway, but it does remove the troublemakers from society and keep them under a watchful eye.
Religious beliefs are too varied or nonexistent to be given specific details.The group of a thousand settlers contained people of all races, creeds, and beliefs and, with people being forced to work together, discrimination and prejudice over simple matters like skin color or faith has nearly faded out.Translator implants have eliminated language barriers, but unfortunately still aren’t advanced enough to bridge the generation gap.Class distinction still exists; those that have low jobs are looked down upon.However, the homeless do no exist.There are always free, small, vacant homes somewhere about the city, and if not, the Minister of Development is notified and more are built.Neither are there jobless colonists.All citizens of working age (16 colonial years) are given some sort of job at a minimum wage of 10 ceru per hour. Unemployment is not only considered laziness on the colony, it’s also a crime, and prison synthetic food makes even a ragnasaur seem like a banquet.Most people then work a typical day, 7 hours.
There is no tax on housing, but there is a small tax on income, usually about 3 to 5 percent.These taxes are used in paying for resource runs, wages for governmental jobs, and public projects.The “government,” specifically the economic branch, pays for all health care, education, and disaster insurance, to a certain degree.Funding can be cut if it is thought that the person requesting this aid is exploiting the system.
For leisure, storytelling has reclaimed its place in society.With so few people and no other contacts there is neither television nor Internet.Those few that do stay glued to the holoviewer are considered strange or dull.Musicians, artists, and authors, what few and amateur there might be, are highly famed and often become moderately wealthy from their work which, although not paid wages from governmental funds, is considered a contribution to society, and better yet, legal.