A Day on Philips

Cold and barren is the surface of Philips. The sixth world from the center of the white star it orbits, heat does not come from above, but below. The icy surface opens at staggered intervals to massive cavitations where life has found a way to thrive. Deep within these circular pits is green surviving on rich volcanic soil. Magma and thermal vents heat the subsurface making the punctures in Philips’ surface tolerable.

In one such cavitation, the Coalition has formed a limited colony. Near the Southern pole, the largest cavitation is home to over two hundred struggling colonists, attempting to carve out a living on the Galactic frontier. A limited military presence is allowed on the surface, a compact made with the planet’s unique and biologically complex magmetic organism. A protector that seems to be able to both produce individual forms and identities as well as act as one consciousness. This organism has allowed only limited sentient presence, a sort of guarantee to maintain the balance of native species such as the ash cows, onyx lizards, and stone cats.

The magmetic organism has allowed the construction of a skyhook for the stationing of Coalition forces and construction of Coalition support systems. Les’hank’shion, a member of the colonial council on Philips, rides the long hyperlink down from the skyhook to the subsurface. He reviewed the data on completion of the communications relay. Despite the relay being operational, the Coalition has yet to give the colonists access. Protocols and encryptions still need to be established.

Shanks was hoping to give the colonial council and colonists good news. A quality of life improvement goes a long way toward morale on the fringe. Communications to the rest of the Coalition is slow from the surface. Obtaining feeds from the holonet is almost impossible. Shanks knows there are only so many school plays the kids can learn to distract their parents before they aren’t actually learning anything but the lines to A Boy and His Kath Hound or Beauty and the Sith.

His Chiss brain works analytically to find the best ways to break the news to the council. He’ll focus on positive developments. The colony perimeter is consistently secure. Stone cats are deterred from the sonic fences and the onyx lizards are minimally invasive. Reports show the onyx lizards seem content headbutting and chewing the legs of patrolling droid protectors and are easily sent scurrying with light shocks.

The domestication of ash cows has yielded a source of milk and soon cheese, even if reports from Portia and Fenrand show the stone cat domestication is struggling.

As the transport car slows to a stop at the bottom of the link, Shanks stands to prepare to exit along with the shift change of the local engineers maintaining the geothermal power plants. He allows the work crew to exit first, filing off the car last, before the floor of tired workers can board for the return trip.

The cold bite of the subsurface meets him. The engineers wear coats to trek the groomed but dirt road to the power plants. Shanks is accustomed to the chill, wearing his long sleeve tunic and scarf alone as he walks back to the colonial hall. Perhaps the recordings from the holonet he brings will be enough entertainment for the others. There is a certain charm to communal gatherings to watch current event updates in the auditorium. A sense of togetherness.

Shanks hopes that that’s enough to keep up morale for the Coalition colonists holding tight on the galactic frontier.