Prison Planet Poles Apart << >> <<INDEED, IT WAS A GRUESOME TIME. The Balronians wanted an isolated but habitable candidate, preferably inside another civilization's prime enclave, so as to avoid undue attention, and maintain plausible deniability. They decided to purchase Tungarra Four, then an M-class entity with promising plant and animal ecosystems, but no sign of any intelligent life. Light colonization was authorized, and on the 28th of June, 979Galactic Reckoning, the first fleet of convicts, administrators and correctional officers landed on Tungarra Four: six thousand souls in all. They proceeded to construct several villages to form the nucleus of an initial settlement, but the inmates were not kept in cells, and could indeed wander around wherever they wanted, and do as they pleased (so long as they didn't harm the officials, of course); many ran off into the bush, forming bands of ruffians that marauded the villagers for a while, before realizing that they needed them for survival. Where could they go, anyway??? they were captives of the gulag, exiles in a remote corner of the universe. There were no teleportation links to the planet, and its airspace was tightly controlled by the Balronian Space Force. <<Over the next 50 years, 200,000 convicts came to live and die on Prison Planet Tungarra, among them 60,000 women, who were given their own continent to roam, for rather predictable reasons: none of the authorities governing the project wanted children born there against their will - that was an ethical bridge too far it seemed. This marked a departure in the original goal of paving the way for free settlement of the planet, and increasingly, the prisoners sent there were more violent and barbarous. Riots, gang wars and even the massacres of administrative staff were commonplace. Finally, after a mass break-out attempt involving hostages and smuggler ships left 13,000 people dead, the administrators decided to pull the plug. All correctional officers were withdrawn, and the prisoners were left to fend for themselves.. <<A new epoch dawned on Tungarra Four. The Balronians continued sending prisoners to the planet, but dropped them from the air wearing parachutes as they were now too afraid to venture landside, along with food shipments and other essentials. Eventually this too stopped, and the planet was slowly forgotten. Radical changes were sweeping Balrone, indeed the whole of the Human Empire; in such turbulent times, who cared about a quarter of a million thugs stranded on a distant world. Few now remember Prison Planet Tungarra.>> <<How fascinating!>> Lela gushed. <Professor, do you think that any of the convicts survived?>> <<Indubitably>> the Professor assured. <<Oh Ral, can we go there?>> <<Well, that's what I am here to ask you>> the Professor said. <<I'm sorry Professor, but we are on our way to a party>> Ral interjected, not liking the idea of inspecting yet another godforsaken relic. >>How about the day after tomorrow?" <<There are no teleportation links to Tungarra Four, no star-cruisers tour its surface," the Professor replied. "In fact, it's not even listed in modern star charts. The only way to visit is by private charter. That's all I will say here. Who knows who - or what - is listening." <<You want us to go on a search for Tungarra Four," Lela blurted. <<Well, of course we'll come!>> <<Hey, wait a minute here," Ral struggled, desperately trying to reassert some authority. "Remember that party, and all the whole others coming up. Our schedule is fully booked. Now Professor, you said yourself this place is a hellhole, and a violent one at that... so why do you want to go there so much? >>I can't tell you here, but the journey is one of the utmost importance. It might well be a turning point in your life; it will most certainly be one of its highlights. All I want is an hour or two of your precious time, to talk in private, minus these cosplay freaks. How about my abode on Venus? I am sure that once you know the full story, you'll agree to accompany me. Please." Ral was hesitant, but outmaneuvered, and outnumbered. Besides, the professor was a good friend. <<All right - one hour," he conceded. <<What a day! I hope the night is an improvement.>> <<When I was a boy, the prospect of visiting Venus was an unimaginable fantasy," the Professor reprimanded him. << Now you make it out to be an ordeal. Come on, I can see that you've started the stopwatch already.>> Avoiding Lela's icy stare as they left the cafe, Ral asked: >>What's a stopwatch?>> THE PROFESSOR CHOSE TO LIVE in Ishtar Terra, a continent in the north of Venus in a lovely villa on the edge of a placid blue sea. It was somewhere in the mid-afternoon, and would be for weeks - the Venusian day being 243 Terran days long - when Ral, Lela and the Professor alighted on the surface. Stepping down from the teleportation pads they found the villa unoccupied, but a robot butler was standing at the ready, with refreshments waiting. <<I've got a little display for you," the Professor welcomed, escorting them to a weathered couch. To one side was an oldfashioned EIKI film projector, holding a reel of dark plastic strips. Behind it was a bookcase where Ral shuddered to see real books, instead of the engrammic yantras, memestreams, or hologifs currently in vogue. What kind of outfit was the old guy running down here anyway? The Professor cleared his throat and said, "Before starting, I'll give you a bit of background information. This footage is antique: after Tungarra Four was abandoned, it was rarely visited by research vessel... the last recorded visit was over a thousand years ago. It is really quite astounding how such a planet could remain a secret for so long. But the secret is no more. Anyway, the curtains are closing - let's begin the show!>> <<Why don't you try a neural interface instead?" Ral suggested as the room darkened. <<It would be more immersive." The Professor ignored him, and activated the projector, which clunked noisily into action. <<This is a film of the first fleet of convicts>> he said pointing to an armada of rude grey spacecraft settling on to a dusty plain. <<The beginning of a harsh life on a cruel world. Now you can see the chief village three years later." It was a two-dimensional rendering, with frequent cuts and other bizarre techniques to create the impression of endless police transport vessels ferrying prisoners onto the planet, grim inmates toiling with primitive equipment (even for the period) to construct basic shelters or plants fields of potatoes and wheat, interspersed with maps chronicling the development of Prison Planet. The three then witnessed bloody riots arising, with thousands of captives armed only with clubs and stakes being mowed down by wardens wielding laser cannons. <<April 8, 1030GR>> the Professor's commentary continued, <<the final administrative staff are recalled from Tungarra Four. The remaining prisoners are left to govern their own affairs, with no further outside intervention. Of course, the authorities left behind sufficient supplies and equipment to avoid all-out famine, but before too long, crops and livestock ran wild, and general anarchy prevailed. Soon tribal bands formed, each constantly at war with its neighbors. Some of them were more competent than others, and increased their power and dominance. The same with happening, perhaps with more empathy and collaboration, on the female half of the planet. All the while, prisoners were stilling being airdropped to the surface: 4000 a year for 40 years, many of whom starved to death, or were enslaved by the tribes, although some survived of course. <<Interested in the developments on Tungarra Four, now retreating into savagery, were a group of anthropologists who wondered how far the penal colony could devolve. With males and females separated by thousands of miles of ocean, they knew this experiment would be shortlived, so they contrived an intervention. While both hemispheres knew of the existence of their opposite halves, they were too far apart for any fruitful intermingling of the sexes. So the anthropologists, quite unethically as it were, intervened: over the course of several years they provided certain prisoners about to be dumped on the planet with detailed maps and plans for sailing ships to aid them on their journey; for motivation, men were told that an active teleport had been activated on the female side, while for most, loneliness and lust proved to be more than enough enticement...>> Archives april 15 2024 FIRST CONTACT (c)opyright Rob Sullivan 1988-2023. Contact the author for all your criticisms and feedbacks.