Plateau (Known space)

Infobox fictional planet
name=Plateau


imagesize=
caption=
universe=Known Space
locations=Mount Lookitthat
people=Matthew Keller, Laney Mattson, Polly Tournquist, Millard Parlette, Jesus Pietro Castro, Arthur Treginnis
races=Humans
creator=Larry Niven
genre=Science fiction|

Plateau is a human colony in Larry Niven's "Known Space". It is located on the second innermost planet in orbit about Tau Ceti.

It is a hot world, with a dense atmosphere similar to that of Venus. There is a small amount of photosynthetic life (or some other oxygen producing process) in the atmosphere to create a "life zone" approximately 40-50 miles above the surface of the planet. At this altitude there is a breathable atmosphere with temperature and pressure suitable for human life.

The surface of the planet is almost entirely uninhabitable with the exception of a large mesa like mountain, which rises up into the life zone. Therefore the entire habitable area of the planet is only about half the size of the state of California on Earth. Inhabitants of the planet are called Mountaineers.

A unmanned Bussard ramjet probe visited the planet during the twenty-first century as a prelude to colonization. It sent back information from a point on the plateau, and deemed the world to be habitable. However, it failed to convey the fact of the limited habitable area. Human colonists, unable to travel by ramscoop craft (due to the powerful magnetic fields involved) arrived many years later in their slower colony ships. With provisions only for a one-way trip, they were forced to stay.

The Captain of the first arriving "slowboat" circled the planet for many hours before finding the plateau. Upon seeing it for the first time, he exclaimed "Lookitthat!!" which gave the feature its formal name of Mount Lookitthat.

Upon arrival, the crew decided to assume absolute control over the colony world, including the colonists who were in stasis. Two factors likely led to this scenario: One, the crew had done all the work for many years piloting the ship to its destination. They had taken more risks, had aged more than the colonists, and therefore felt themselves justified in ruling. Two, the relatively small habitable area of the world would make it easier to control the colonists, as there was no place for "dissenters" to run. Thus, the crew of the first colony vessel awakened the colonists from stasis one at a time, forcing them to sign the "Covenant of Planetfall", an agreement granting absolute rule to the Crew and their families. The fact that many Colonists chose to die rather than sign was never recorded.

Over many generations, a firm class division between "Crew" and "Colonist" developed. The Crew controlled the planet's entire industrial infrastructure, and the Colonists performed all menial labor in exchange for electricity, technology... and medical care. This last necessity is the hub upon which Plateau's civilization turns, as the practice of medicine has been reduced to organ transplantation. All other medical techniques have been abandoned.

As such, the criminal-justice system has been simplified as well: all crimes merit the death penalty, and no trial is needed, since the accusation of a Colonist by a Crew is sufficient proof. 'Implementation', the colony's gestapo-like police force, then takes the accused Colonist to the Hospital for disposition. After a brief hearing with the Chief of Implementation, what follows can only be described as slaughtering. The Colonist is taken to an operating room, where their body is anesthetized and cooled. It is then dissected with mechanical precision, and "all" usable organs are harvested, even teeth. The only exception is the brain, which is incinerated.

The Crew regularly receives involuntarily donated organs from Colonists, and due to their availability it is not unusual for Crew to have several "scalp" transplants during their long lifetimes. Compliant colonists are permitted to receive excess transplants as rewards for certain services - such as providing information on dissident colonists. It is an open secret that raids always let enough dissidents escape to recruit more, keeping their ranks at stable yet not threatening numbers - a process similar to wildlife management that ensured a steady supply of transplant organs.

The class division and repressive society persisted for three centuries, ending with the revolution detailed in "A Gift From Earth". In the short story "The Ethics of Madness" taking place much later on, just before the hyperspace era, the justice system on Plateau is described as having turned significally more liberal than on most other planets in human space, including Earth.