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Plateau is a Venus-like planet in the Tau Ceti system approximately 12 light years from Earth with a very hot and dense atmosphere. It is a major human colony world.[1][2]

PlanckOverPlateauAS

Planck over Plateau. The Planck Discovers Mount Lookitthat

Geography and physical properties[]

Plateau is described as having a silvery white appearance from space. Most of the planet is uninhabitable due to extreme pressures and temperatures but an area known as Mount Lookitthat rises high enough from the planet's ground to have suitable conditions for humans. It was here where a ramrobot landed and signaled back to Earth to send a colony slowboat.[3][2] Plateau has no moons and has very dark nights.[3][4]

Mt Lookiithat received its name after Captain Parlette of the Planck colony slowboat saw the mountain rising from the mists of the planet and uttered "Lookitthat!".[4]

The mountain is described as rising 40 miles from the surface of the planet with a flat top and fluted sides[4][5] and an area equivalent to about half of California[3]. It has a gravity equivalent to 0.8 G.[6] Geologists believe that Mt Lookitthat is geologically recent, only a few hundreds of thousands of years old. Mt Lookitthat is divided in several different smaller plateaus which are divided from each other by cliffs and chasms. The northern part of Mt Lookitthat is higher and colder than the southern part and it holds a permanent sliding glacier. Due to this difference in height most rivers run south although there are exceptions caused by Mt Lookitthat jagged, chaotic geography. The main rivers are known as the Long Fall and the Muddy, both of which have carved deep canyons on their way to the south where they end in spectacular waterfalls. The southern part of Mt Lookitthat as well as being lower in elevation also has more regular geography with flat plateaus and straight vertical cliffs unlike the north where the plateaus are tilted and lakes formed in sloping faults.[5]

The different plateaus that make up Mt Lookitthat are named after the Greek alphabet. Known plateaus are Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta,[3] Eta[5] and Iota[7]. Alpha plateau is where the first colony slowboat landed and eventually became the home of the crew. It's the highest plateau in the southern part of Mt Lookitthat and it was the most densely populated and developed as of 2342.[5] Before the invention of the transfer booth the only mode of traveling between the different plateaus was with aircars (available only to the crew[5]) or by bridges spanning the cliffs and gorges.[3][5]

The Long Fall river creates a canyon along the Alpha-Beta cliff separating the two,[5] the Beta-Gamma cliff is lined with watershed trees[5] and Lake Davidson borders the Gamma-Delta cliff.[3]

There is a settlement called Campbelltown on Gamma Plateau.[4] It is known that there were several other towns in Gamma and Iota.[8] At the time of crew rule over Plateau, Beta plateau was off-limit for settlement being next to Alpha plateau and was used only for agriculture, cattle farming and for recreation.[3]

Biology[]

Plateau had no native lifeforms when humans arrived. All current living organism on the planet were brought from Earth in the colony slowboats[9] or arrived in subsequent ramrobot deliveries[3] Among these there are mutated organisms such as mining worms, architectural coral, mutated grasses,[4][10] citrus trees[3] and a special mold used to make soil.[2]

Population and history[]

Plateau had a population of around 50,000 in 2342.[3][5]

The Planck has entered the Tau Ceti system, only to discover that the target world has a poisonous Venus-like atmosphere. The Planck is seen here transiting the upper atmosphere of the planet and discovering Mt. Lookitthat, a massive plateau that projects 40 miles up into the thankfully habitable region of the atmosphere; thus the planet was named "Plateau". Several of the now famous waterfalls are visible on the plateau.]]

People from Plateau are called Mountaineers[2]. Mountaineers are divided into two different castes:

  • The crew are the upper caste, descended from the 6-member crew that flew the Planck from Earth.[4] Allowed to live anywhere in the Plateau (although the vast majority live in Alpha plateau)[5], they have the most freedom. Most don't work and spend their time trying to come up with ways to up each other, through elaborate games, fashion or insults.[4][5] They're given preferential treatment for organ transplantation, do not have to donate organs[11], are allowed to have cars[5], to build their houses however they want[4] and complex machinery such as refrigerators and dishwashers.[11] They are governed by the Council of the Crew.[5] Crew look different from colonists, usually having high, prominent cheekbones and flared nostrils.[11] The crew also has a distinct way of talking described as lilting and with a different vocabulary.[11]
  • The colonists are the lower caste, descended from 42 colonists brought by the Planck. They are restricted to the colony regions.[5] Colonists are restricted in what they can wear, where they can live[3] and what materials they can use for building their houses (Only architectural coral).[4] Colonists perform all the manual labor in Plateau. They're forbidden from owning cars[5] or other machinery[11] and can only use bicycles as a mode of transportation.[5] Good loyal colonists may be allowed to receive organ transplants but this only happens if the organ banks have enough supply to cover the crew first.[5] Colonist are the only source for organs in the organ banks[11]. They are governed by the crew and law and order is imposed by the Implementation police.[5] Colonists age faster than the crew due to their harder work.[11]

To these groups were later added the crew and colonists of the Arthur Clarke, the second colony slowboat that arrived in Plateau 40 years after the Planck.

In addition to the main groups, there is also a mixed caste made up of crew/colonist mixes. This group itself seems to have a hierarchy based on the amount of crew blood one has.[8] Halflings are above the colonists[3] and seem to be employed by the crew in the Hospital[12] and Implementation[11] or for sensitive jobs in the colonist regions.[3]

This caste system was put in place by the Planck crew after the arrival at Plateau. Feeling they deserved recompense for their labor after the long trip from Earth to their uncertain destination at Tau Ceti they forced the colonists to sign the Covenant of Planetfall by waking each in turn and threatening them at gunpoint to submit to crew rule. Of the 50 colonists brought by the Planck only eight refused and were executed for it.[4][13] The crew would rule over the colonists with little pushback for the next hundreds of years until the New Rule was instituted following the aftermath of the arrival of ramrobot #143 and negotiations with the Sons of Earth, a colonist revolutionary group.[12]

References[]

  1. Database
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Neutron Star (Collection), The Ethics of Madness
  3. 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 A Gift From Earth, Chapter I - The Ramrobot
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 4.9 A Gift From Earth, Chapter II - The Sons of Earth
  5. 5.00 5.01 5.02 5.03 5.04 5.05 5.06 5.07 5.08 5.09 5.10 5.11 5.12 5.13 5.14 5.15 5.16 5.17 A Gift From Earth, Chapter III - The Car
  6. A Gift From Earth, Chapter XIII - It All Happened At Once
  7. A Gift From Earth, Chapter VII - The Bleeding Heart
  8. 8.0 8.1 A Gift From Earth, Chapter X - The Way Back
  9. A Gift From Earth, Chapter XII - The Slowboat
  10. A Gift From Earth, Chapter VI - The Vivarium
  11. 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 11.5 11.6 11.7 A Gift From Earth, Chapter IV - The Question Man
  12. 12.0 12.1 A Gift From Earth, Chapter XIV - Balance of Power
  13. A Gift From Earth, Chapter VII - The Bleeding Heart
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