Star Kitten (2 page)

And the diminutive rodent-like Schpleefti
delegation just simply sat in confusion. For them it was difficult
to understand the concept of “institutionalizing the processing of
criminals.” Poly-amorous by nature, this rodent-like species
functioned on sheer whim of emotional inspiration for the most
part. Violent criminals were merely banished from their
communities. Basically they thought the Earthmen’s proposal was a
refreshing idea; but at the same time they wanted to make sure they
got an even cut of the profits. After all, a GLOBAL mining
operation, like the Earthmen were suggesting? That could be
amazingly lucrative!

Such was the tumult over the Earth
delegation’s proposal, and Abrafrilric needed to just stand there
and let everyone argue it out from their delegate boxes until
everyone had spoken their minds. It always just worked out better
that way—letting all the delegates fight it out for hours on end,
occasionally summarizing the points made until everyone had heard
all angles and sides of the issue. It was important that all
planetary delegations understand ALL consequences of Interplanetary
Authority policy, and avoid rushing into any hasty acts or
decisions which might adversely affect one another in the future.
That’s partly why these conventions were only held every galactic
year - because the debate sessions could last for hours, sometimes
days.

Yet, Abrafrilric could let this debate last
for only so long before he had to step in and get back in control
of things. That was also his job as President. Eventually, it would
become time to vote; and to pass this measure would require only a
simple majority. Four votes for the measure, and the Earthmen would
have their prison colony, plus the full cooperation and financial
backing of the Interplanetary Authority. There were only six
planets, so the likelihood of requiring a deciding vote from
Abrafrilric was minimal at best.

Ultimately, the Slartigifijians were
overruled by the carefully crafted proposal from the Earthmen.
Debate raged on for hours, but the sly Earthmen knew exactly how to
“sell” it to the other planetary delegations. As the Earth
Delegation Minister put it, “Prisoners would only be sent there to
serve their sentences, work hard to achieve production goals, in
exchange for good housing and food. Hard work, and the removal of
opportunities for criminal behavior, would give all errant beings
the best chance for true reform. They could be returned to their
societies refreshed and renewed… cured of their criminal urges once
and for all.”

Typical Earthmen, scoffed the lizard-like
Zorgolongians. Always exaggerating things. The Zorgolongian
delegation Minister hissed, “Cured once and for all? My good
Earthman, that’s-sss preposterous! The reason they’re criminals in
the first place is they cannot control their urges!”

But the Earth delegation Minister was
unflappable. He rebutted, “The deterrent shall be the planet
itself. No one would want to be sentenced there; and absolutely no
one would want to be sent back there, either.” The Earth Minister
glanced at the Zorgolongians to see if they had any further
sarcastic comments, but they—for the moment—did not. So he
continued, “They shall repay their debt to society for committing
crimes; return home, and live out the rest of their lives on their
home planets as good trustworthy citizens.” That’s what the
Minister from Earth was proposing.

After his rebuttal, the Earth Minister
patiently listened to all the objections and debating of the other
planetary delegations as they wore themselves out arguing. After
all, he knew he held all the cards. What he started hearing from
the other delegates was, if the Interplanetary Authority did NOT
approve of this concept, then Earth itself would just develop the
mine on Rijel 12 and cut everyone out of the deal completely. Earth
would make a fortune, and hold a virtual monopoly on mineral ore
prices throughout the galaxy.

His message, once it was
his turn to speak again, was this: “If all other planets
participate, it will become a global operation with an almost
endless supply of labor and the funding to build the mining network
into an economic success, rather quickly. Earth could do it all by
itself, but Rijel 12 is many light years away from us. Several
planets are closer… much closer.” The Porkonji and Zorgolongian
delegations immediately reacted to that point. So near to the Rijel
star system, they could much more easily reach Rijel 12 and develop
it. But alas… it
was
Earth’s idea and they’d be wiser to participate in Earth’s
plan. Earth had all the best technology for mining anyway, and they
all knew that.

Of course, the ever-so blunt yet
honest-speaking Pumalars had already pointed out what most everyone
was obviously thinking by then, saying, “Without interplanetary
cooperation, Earth would need many galactic years to develop the
operation and many more decades to see profitability.” That’s how
the Pumalar Minister Oncilla put it. Naturally the lizard-like and
sophisticated Zorgolongians scoffed at the naïve Pumalars—as they
often did—saying, “Oh, the Earthmen could pull it off faster than
that. Don’t underestimate their tenacity!”

The Pumalars were always doing that… stating
the obvious when everyone had already gotten the point. But the
rumble this caused actually had a favorable effect on the debate
and steered the different planetary delegations toward acceptance
of the proposal! Only the Slartigifijians held fast to their
argument against this idea of forcing prisoners into what they
deemed to be slave labor. Their contention was that it would only
lead to abuse and oppression, given enough time.

Nevertheless, when Abrafrilric held the
final vote on the measure, it was approved 5-1. And with that, the
intergalactic penal colony of NEW AUSTRALIA was created.

Over the years, the penal colony grew.
Certainly in the early days, it was slow going. The planet surface
was impossibly forbidding. Nevertheless, within a half century (in
Earth years) the population grew and grew—from a couple hundred to
over a hundred thousand convicts, guards, and administrators living
and working there. The different planets in the galaxy—even the
cultures who were hesitant about it at first—found they could send
convicted felons, murderers, rapists, political agitators, and
other social undesirables to this colony.

But it didn’t take long for things to
degenerate….

Planets could simply discard all their
dangerous male criminals and traitors instead of incarcerating them
on their own planets. It was less expensive than prisons that was
for sure! And it was easier on every planet’s society to simply
part with its malcontents and sociopaths, rather than to face the
collective guilt of failing to reform them; then endure the
consequences of releasing prisoners back into society where they
might continue their criminal behavior. Even more convenient was
not having to resolve the social ills of their societies which led
to crime and discontent in the first place.

Oh, and it was quite lucrative too, as the
mining operation yielded more and more extracted mineral ores,
gemstones, silver, and even industrial diamonds year after year.
The Earthmen simply took a page from their barbaric history and
used the concept of the prison farm to make the whole operation
profitable: use forced labor to produce a good or product (or
extract a raw material) then take a portion of the revenue to pay
for housing and food for the laborers, staff, and machinery or
tools required. Every dollar after that, was pure profit for all
the six planets to split. Economies in the galaxy grew and quality
of life (at least for the wealthy classes on the home planets)
blossomed. As the earthmen put it every galactic year at the
Convention, “this really is a win-win scenario.”

Only the Slartigifijian elders reserved
judgment on that lofty description of Rijel 12. But then again,
even Slartigifij started shipping criminals to Rijel 12 after a few
Earth years too…. and delighted in their tidy share of the profits
(as did everyone else in the galaxy)! It was just too easy to fall
in with the whole scheme.

At first, the sentences were reasonable,
spanning three to twenty years, with only really violent offenders
sentenced there for life. The planet itself was of course
completely barren and devoid of life, covered on the surface by
global deserts, volcanic mountains, and extremely forbidding
temperatures during the day. At night, temperatures often plunged
into the teens, but during the day it could get over 150 degrees
Fahrenheit. It was certainly unrealistic to live on the surface,
but far underground the planet possessed massive caverns that
extended for miles and miles in every direction.

On Rijel 12 there was just
enough atmosphere to create a breathable oxygen for most creatures,
but the Interplanetary Authority chose to expand the already
existing system for manufacturing purer oxygen for the caverns
below so that workers could maintain better health when engaged in
heavy physical exertion. The planet’s oxygen was too thin for
breathing
and could lead to
light-headedness and fatigue during prolonged exposure. Therefore,
the mining operation was sealed off from the surface and the oxygen
production system could be added onto in phases as the mine
expanded. Blowers moved the fresher less toxic manufactured air
around the caverns and tunnels to keep the workers healthier and
more alert (initially anyway).

The Rijel 12 planet interior had hundreds of
underground glaciers located miles below the rocky barren surface
and protected from the incredibly hot sun. Subterranean aquifers
closer to the surface provided water to the new inhabitants, but it
had to be filtered to be completely potable. The original miners,
years before, didn’t actually drink the water from the aquifers.
They imported purified water from nearby planets; and it was very
expensive to do so. However, Scientists believed the water on Rijel
12 could eventually be made potable for prisoners to drink.
Earthmen devised an elaborate filtration system that extracted the
water into great reservoirs then filtered it into drinking water at
literally hundreds of water stations throughout the mining
network.

Technically it was perfectly fine to drink;
but not surprisingly the Human engineers designed a system that
needed to be maintained at a rather hefty cost—a cost that later
less ethical prison operations managers didn’t exactly prefer to
continue paying. The systems deteriorated over time and needed
repair. Mine Operators looked the other way, and gradually
prisoners suffered from consuming bad drinking water. Yet they had
no choice….

Besides, these prison operations managers -
they were making money for their superiors. Profitability was being
reviewed constantly, and no one wanted to speak out about the
deteriorating conditions for prisoners. Better water could be
imported for the guards and managers, after all. So why worry about
the hapless prisoners being slowly poisoned below. More prisoners
arrived all the time, to replace the ill and dying. It just didn’t
really matter that much to the cynical, profit-driven mining
operators.

In only a few earth years, a prison complex
was constructed a mile below the treacherous planet surface, and
then… it was expanded over the decades to where it housed thousands
of prisoners in barracks in the caverns further below. Earth ships
arrived regularly; and construction workers (in the early years)
worked feverishly to construct more barracks below ground.

New barracks were built by construction
workers to house the ever-expanding prison labor supply. When a new
cavern was opened up, these laborers would build a prefabricated
barracks and live in it while they built the infrastructure around
it. The air system would be connected to new parts of the mine, and
new water filtration systems would be installed then tapped into
the underground aquifers. When each new section was all complete,
the construction workers would leave; and then the barracks they
lived in would be occupied by new prisoners sent there to work the
newly opened section of the mine.

However, these barracks would soon become
overcrowded as more and more prisoners would be sent to work there;
and over the years they became dilapidated or even collapsed from
lack of materials to repair them. As the decades passed, the
prisoners eventually resorted to just carving out homes inside
caves. Worse than that, maintenance which would have been necessary
on the air and water filtration systems within a few years would
never get scheduled. The mining operators just didn’t care and
workers suffered year after year because of the neglect.

Additional mineral deposits were discovered.
Veins of gemstones were found, too! It just seemed the
opportunities for wealth being extracted from Rijel 12 were
boundless; and this only served to fuel the machine even more. Mine
expansion required additional labor; and every planet was soon
being urged to keep sending more convicts. It simply became all too
easy for abuses to occur within such a system as this. New
prisoners being brought in meant even more barracks and even more
supplies. Expanding the mines required more equipment, which led to
more expenses and even more aggressive production goals. This would
have been the case for any rapidly growing labor-intensive
industry, yes. But in the case of New Australia Planetary Prison,
the difference was that labor was essentially free.

What’s more; this free labor was quite
plentiful. Not surprisingly, things eventually just got overlooked,
neglected, and downright ignored. Old barracks didn’t get repaired
or maintained and eventually collapsed. Water filtration systems
needed maintenance that never happened. The air system ducts needed
servicing which never occurred.