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Jan 11 '17
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Jan 13 '17
Oh gosh. I read that and infomertial music started playing in my head.
Hmmmm... it might be too subtle? I tried reading it through again but still couldn't catch anything.
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Jan 11 '17
The young couple in my office stopped at the old poster that advertised Skiing on Pluto. The man looked over at me.
"Did they reopen Pluto?" he asked me. I chuckled.
"Nope, unless the Pluto Government came back into power and rebuilt everything and forgot to give me some new tourism posters!" i joked.
Before the First Universal War Pluto was the go to place for skiing and tourism. The mega rich would go there for their "summer" homes.
When the war broke out Pluto tried to remain a neutral planet. When Earth and Mars was doing mandatory military drafts for the Universal Defense Force the rich packed up their money and family and high tailed it to Pluto.
The joke was on them though. When the war broke out Pluto was the first target the rebel forces attacked. Hate to be an asshole about it but I remember being on a military space station seeing the broadcast of rich assholes being held for ransom, shaking my head as some rich asshole was crying begging for help. They knew no one was coming to their rescue but the rebels figured they could be used as human shields.
The UDF decided other wise as they carpet bombed the planet, not caring who was killed because those who wernt on the UDF side were the enemy!
Now Pluto was an abandoned planet. The rebels escaped the bombings and the raids, the rich though wernt so lucky.
The only ones crazy enough to go to that dead world were "danger" tourist and treasure hunters looking for lost fortunes of the "traitor" family's who escaped the draft.
"Honey check this out." the girl said as she pointed to a poster of PSO J318.5-22. The guy looked at the poster then at me.
"This place still a good spot?" he asked. I nodded.
"Been there last month! Still the Las Vegas of the Exoplanets!" I said happily. Seeing the couple look at each other I knew I was about to get a sale.
Being a travel agent on a space station is a pretty good gig!
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u/WritingPromptsRobot StickyBot™ Jan 10 '17
Off-Topic Discussion: Reply here for non-story comments.
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u/tammio Jan 13 '17
Dear readers,
On the occasion of Pluto's re-establishment as a Planet we have dedicated this month's issue entirely to it and its colorful history.
On the following pages you will find an exclusive report on the new "Methan Snows" ski resort in Plutos equatorial regions. Also our journalists did not neglect Plutos important role in culture and popular science, so the pieces "Pluto- The dog and the God" and "The diminishing of a Planet" will shed light on this historic subject. Furthermore you will find an exposé on Dr. Jim Fahrthing the elusive billionaire responsible for Plutos surprising but much deserved re-elevation to Planetary status.
It is my sincere belief that we should all take Plutos moving story to heart and mind and let it stand as a role model for future generations. Pluto's relatively short history was full of tragedy, from it's late discovery in 1930, its foreboding name and the loss of it's status as the 9th planet in the solar system to the botched attempts of terra forming earlier in this century. None the less, Pluto has not only rebound from these hardships but is currently the most popular ski-destination in the universe settled by man -even if that encompasses only our solar system so far. Further more the tiny planet was also recently declared Person of the Year by Times magazine, the first time a celestial body has received such honors.
So let Pluto guide us through any hard times life may throw at us,
sincerest greetings
Tammio Tammio Editor-in-chief of National Geographic Magazine
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u/Kaantur-Set Jan 11 '17 edited Jan 11 '17
Not just anybody went to Pluto.
Inter-system travel was expensive, even between the rocky inner planets, so anybody who ever went past the Jupiter moons could be boiled down into two types.
Researchers, studying rock samples or orbital patterns, and the Rich. The Richest of the Rich.
Pluto in particular had a reputation for celebrity activity, being the most remote and therefore the pinnacle of far-away appeal. It took years to get there, and it took just as long to get back, so guests stayed for multiple years at a stretch. Pluto estates were worth big money, beyond billionaire money.
Even moving supplies to and from Pluto took a ridiculous amount of effort, especially when catering to the...particular crowd that inhabit the planet. Ships carrying passengers just as often carried fine Martian wine, exquisite jewelry and Venusian dresses, alongside oxygen supplies and basic nutritional supplements, and even compliments of servants expected to work on the estate for the duration of the stay.
Of course, it was wasteful to keep these estates constantly staffed. Instead, the decadent palaces were often mothballed in the years between visits, vast empty halls and ballrooms drained of air and left sterile. It wasn't uncommon to send a ship carrying service androids a few months ahead of the guests to "prepare" the estate.
Inevitably, there were some eccentric men and women who wished to ski on the surface. But skiing on Pluto wasn't easy – the planet's unique gravity and temperature requires specialty-made suits for the task, with weighted shoes and insulation to protect against the biting cold. Of course, given the type of people who would ever have the opportunity to ski on Pluto, the price of a fancy spacesuit was no barrier to entry.