Starship Columbus

The Columbus is Earth's first attempt to reach the stars. Since space travel is limited by the speed of light, the Columbus will take many years to reach the world which is its destination. In fact, you have never seen Earth; you were born on the Columbus, as were your parents and grandparents. The only sight you have had of anything outside the Columbus, even the stars, has been in pictures.

A starship is a place of limited resources, and of late the authorities have found it necessary to impose stern measures to keep the population of the Columbus within acceptable limits. Every person, on reaching maturity, must pass a test to determine whether he is qualified to live as a citizen of the Columbus. Those who fail the test are given a choice: death by laser beam or exile into the Abandoned Corridors, the areas of the ship which are no longer in use.