Prologue
The year 12000. Human civilization has spread through the galaxy. Earth is a utopian planet at the center of the human expansion. On earth no war is waged, no famine, no pestilence, no crime exists. Humans living on earth are completely dedicated to the enjoyment of life and expression of their talent.
The population of Earth, however, has been capped to 10 billion people. This meant that a selection had to be imposed in order to maintain the population at a manageable level. Every inhabitant is periodically evaluated every 5 years. The subject is evaluated in a multitude of ways. The final decision is made based on the single best score they achieved in one of these categories. Intelligence, creativity, physical prowess, etc.
If their best score falls in the lowest 10% for that category they are earmarked for relocation to a colony. At the same time, colony inhabitants undergo a similar process to keep the population of their planets under control and can also opt to compete to advance to a higher colony or earth.
Earmarked people for relocation have 5 years to prepare for a makeup examination at which point they will either be removed from their current location or allowed to stay based on the final ranking of all earmarked for relocation or advancement.
The colony planets are divided into 10 levels based on their level of civilization and grade of colonization. The highest levels from 10 to 8 are comparatively similar to earth with decreasing levels of technological advancement available to them but are mostly peaceful, have a good climate, access to plentiful resources, and live in relative prosperity. So much so that very few people ever bother applying for advancement and are generally content to remain within their own planet their all lives. These planets are governed similarly to earth with a centralized planetary government that only has to report to Earth. Their population is usually close to 10 billion.
The planets classified as level 7 to 5 have a level of technology much decreased, are usually barely coping with resource gathering, and violence and crime are more common. These planets don’t have a centralized government and instead are divides in single countries much like Earth before the colonization of space started. On some planets coalitions of countries exists as a mean to create balance and avoid full-scale conflicts as much as possible. Their population never surpasses 7 billion.
The planets classified as level 4 to 2 are the newest colonies. Depending on the prospects for the planet some of them might have been provided by Earth and other colonies with a high level of technologies and are more closely followed and aided. However, their population is always lower than 1 billion with some of them having as little as 1 million people. They mostly consist of people who were earmarked for removal from higher level colonies or elected to carve themselves a better life on a new planet. They are often planets far away from higher level colonies and therefore communication even when present is sporadic. Some of these planets are relatively lawless and possess similar law enforcement as the American frontier during the Wild West expansion. Local enforcement is all that stands between the people and complete anarchy. Some of these planets are still divided between countries but even within those countries, almost no real government exists. Some of these colonies have been almost completely abandoned by the higher colonies, for lack of development, and have regressed to a more primitive society either at a feudal level akin to the Dark Ages or even to a substantially tribal stage.
Colonies earmarked as Level 1 are penal colonies. These are planets that were designated as a residence for criminals that have been banished from their previous planets. Only an Earth Judge and Jury can sentence someone to be banished and colonies within their own judicial system can refer a criminal to be sentenced as banished by the Higher Earth courts. These people are usually the ones who have committed such atrocious and unforgivable crimes that no sentence within the standard judicial system of their planet is deemed severe enough, including death. The planets selected for this purpose have usually plenty of natural resources to sustain human populations but at the same time present some major obstacles to colonization. Some have high levels of radiation, some have incredibly harsh changes in weather between seasons, some are inhabited by ferocious and aggressive wild animals, some are composed of only small islands with big stretches of oceans between them, etcetera. The inhabitants of these planets have no government and are divided into small gangs continuously waging war against each other. Needless to say, that no one that has been banished can apply for advancement within the colonies. However, their progeny is authorized to apply for advancement every 5 years. This evaluation is the only time at which anyone from the planet is authorized to leave. The prospects are transferred to an orbit station that is manned only during these tests. The subjects are not only evaluated on the normal categories but they also undergo psychological screenings to deem their fitness to be reintroduced to colonial society. If their achievements levels are sufficient, they will be introduced to either an existing colony or sent to a new colony... this is where our story begins.
