Columbia’s a little out of touch. With all the new ship construction, interstellar tourism is becoming more affordable. Uttu-isten is being billed as the Orion Hawaii, even if it does take a few deci-cycles to get there and back.

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Columbia
I’m from Uttu-isten, so I can handle much warmer.

Kimi
That place is warm? Not a station?

Columbia
It’s a planet. The first one orbiting Uttu, a red dwarf just beyond The Orion Nebula. I don’t think it’s been identified from Earth yet. The only significant landmass is tidally locked facing the sun, so it’s always daytime. And always hot, especially the Central Region.

But that’s where are farms are, too. The only other place to live is under the ice sheet on the dark side where the space lift is anchored. Just about everything else is ocean or bare rock.

Our beaches are pretty awesome, though. Even with the storms brought on by the conjunctions with Uttu-sina. Which is the second planet, a gas giant.

Kimi
Clothing optional, I am sure?

Columbia
The whole sunside. It’s the only way we get enough natural Vitamin D, and it’s almost impossible to get a sunburn anyway.

Kimi
Sounds like fun.

Columbia
It has its drawbacks.. The main landmass is one huge volcano that’s been oozing lava from one vent or another, almost non-stop, since before Orions settled there The system itself is remote enough that the colony was lost for a time. The gravity’s higher than most Orions are comfortable with. And we have no tourist industry.

But the soil’s rich and fertile. It’s location makes it ideal for a frontier outpost and fleet base. Because it’s a planet and so remote, families don’t have to disperse like they do elsewhere. No one has a problem with low-grav illnesses. And system resources are cheap and easy to collect.

Carver
It’s a nice place to live, but I wouldn’t want to visit there.

Columbia
We get a lot of new residents. You’d sure be welcome. And my family would love you. Just watch out for my sisters, Peru and Aruba. They’re all hands.