The Blue Moon - Part 1 - Into the Forest

by Nolan Bauerle

  “Ha!” Emmy shot back.

  “You have reason to doubt this?”

  “Well, we wouldn’t even know what it’s like, would we? We’ve never been on the Solar System Information Network since our colony was created. No news from anywhere, no communications either. I mean really, how do we know what things are like out there? We can’t see for ourselves.”

  The doctor’s resolve to debate the girl was weakening. She mostly agreed with her. Her eyes softened, and Emmy noticed the subtle change and softened herself.

  In a calmer voice, Emmy continued, “I guess I’ve been thinking about the rest of the Solar System because, well, because…”

  Emmy hesitated before she went on. She wasn’t sure if she could trust the doctor with this secret. It was a big one, at least for a nineteen year old girl. She trusted her instinct and hoped her secret would be well-received.

  “A certain something has come into my possession lately,” she whispered to the doctor.

  The doctor was immediately curious. Her eyes, ears, nose and mouth all picked up and she said, “What?”

  Emmy hesitated, then leaned over to her and spoke in a hushed voice. “Have you ever heard of the Traveler’s Guide to the Solar System?”

  The doctor was indeed surprised that Emmy would share this secret with her. The gesture of trust managed to loosen something inside the doctor. Something which had begun to loosen when the Blue Moon disappeared. “Of course I’ve heard of it. But, that book is banned on St. John’s, and you know it.”

  The lecture no longer came out right, the doctor thought. She didn’t believe in these reasons anymore, and forgot why she ever did in the first place.

  The doctor locked eyes with Emmy, then continued. “I will admit that when I was in college, my friends and I shared a copy. We read it in secret from time to time. It is fun, isn’t it?”

  “It’s the best. I’ve been spending all my time reading it. It’s all I do these days. It’s been helping me deal with things, but it’s also driving me a bit crazy. I end up more frustrated that I can’t go looking for my only family. I don’t stop dreaming about heading out into the Solar System.”

  There was still time for some real St. John’s sobriety, the doctor thought. The daydreams had gone on long enough. Real perspective was needed to help treat the girl and she remembered anew the reasons why the book had been banned on St. John’s.

  “Reading about the Solar System is fun. I know the whole place seems so much more exciting than our small space-island out here in the Asteroid Belt. But you know where all of that excitement got us. It’s what ended the miracle of life. It’s what gave humans the responsibility of creating all life ourselves. We have such a burden to bear. Your mother knows that more than most. We paid a great price for all that excitement.”

  “I know. But the book is interesting. The Solar System seems like an amazing place. And someone out there in that amazing place knows something about the Blue Moon and my mother. I know it.”

  “Just be careful with the book. I think the fine is a lot if you’re caught.”

  The doctor paused for a moment and placed her hand on Emmy’s shoulder. She was feeling in a gentler mood than normal and hoped this young girl was going to be all right. So what if the book made her happy? Times were strange and she wanted to help.

  “Then again, I could just write you a doctor’s note. If anyone spots you with the book and gives you a hard time, just show them this.” The doctor wrote a note prescribing the book Traveler’s Guide to the Solar System for Emmy.

  “What am I supposed to say the book is treating me for?”

  “Sickness brought on by boredom-” she paused and handed her the prescription, “-and the longing of the heart.”

  The doctor gave Emmy a short smile, a rare gesture of friendship on cold St. John’s.

  “You should get going now, young lady. I heard that the Rock Sun was only loaded to burn until 3pm. The sunfires this week will be short ones. So, if you’re on your bike, you should head out so you’re not biking home in the dark.”

  Emmy’s eyes adjusted as she left the office and looked on a grey, red and shadowy middle of the St. John’s day.

  As Emmy pedalled past Central Park, the Rock Sun looked like the bright cherry at the end of a cigar and it cast an orange and ember-red dark glow onto the reflective city. The park was filled with thousands of people praying to images and icons of the vanished Blue Moon. The statue of the namesake of St. John’s had been painted the same color as the Blue Moon. That kind of slight to the religious orthodoxy of St. John’s would’ve gotten someone a hefty fine under normal circumstances, but circumstances were no longer normal.

  It was as bright as it was going to be all day, and there was an autumn chill in the air. Emmy looked up at the sky and traced the Rock Sun’s light off into the horizon, out of the city to where her cottage was, out in the wide St. John’s wheat fields, just before the Shamrock Forest.

  The huge mirrors that were set up all over the farm country were reflecting and doubling the sunlight they in turn poured onto the fields of white crops. The mountain ridge was being put to its maximum capacity to supply St. John’s with electricity for the following day — a much more difficult task now that their energy economy had to sustain the loss of the light that had come from the Blue Moon.

  St. John’s lived close to the brink with their energy supply. The space-island was never more than a few days away from failing. St. John’s required an enormous amount of energy to keep going. Gathering this energy was difficult at the far edge of the Asteroid Belt.

  The city streets were emptying as Emmy cycled through. Most people were preparing for the early extinguishment of the Rock Sun and there was hurried activity inside and around homes. Children and their parents were on rooftops gathering small solar batteries they’d placed there to be charged. Others were in the small front gardens which many residents maintained, gathering the quick growing white plants people on St. John’s grew for food.

  Emmy made it through the city and was on the road out to farm country and her cottage. The road had few other travellers. Some people were heading to the city, and a few farmers were wheeling carts back to their farms. Emmy used all the force her small, slim body could generate as she pedalled hard to get home before the fire in the Rock Sun went out.

  The last stretch of road had been shadowy, and fields of white crops and mirrors now took on a deeper, darker color. The fire was in its final burn stages — a series of dark reds overtaking occasional bright oranges — when Emmy arrived home.

  Emmy propped her bike against the side of the cottage. The sight of it, parked and idle again, was enough to remind Emmy that she was stuck. She had to sit and wait for news in the dark.

  She kicked her bicycle and it fell to the ground. She left it there and regretted taking her anger out on the bike because now her toe was throbbing.

  She limped into her home, tired from a long day. She threw herself down on the single sofa chair in her living room and stared at the high ceiling. It was the chair she’d been curling up in for most of her life. It was the chair she used for reading. It faced the window through which her view extended for miles across the white and reflective fields, all the way to the Shamrock Forest.

  Emmy looked over at her pile of comics. There was nothing besides her guidebook she felt like reading. She’d been loath to put the thick book down since she’d received it.

  During those nights, when it was quiet, dark, and sleepy on cold St. John’s, reading this book was the one thing that brought Emmy excitement. It broke up the monotonous frustration of being unable to search for her mother.

  Emmy was spending much of her time in an alternating state of restlessness and listlessness. While she was restless, she couldn’t gain a moment’s peace while she wondered about where her mother was and how she was going to get off of St. John’s. Her listless state was more grim and against her nature — complete inertia brought on by extreme boredom as
she found herself staring at the walls of her cottage for hours on end.

  Now the book was all Emmy had. Emmy could daydream for hours about traveling the Solar System, gathering clues surrounding her mother’s disappearance. She imagined her, leaving behind a trail like breadcrumbs. The first breadcrumb being the Traveler’s Guide.

  The light from the Rock Sun was almost extinguished and this made sitting and reading after the long bike ride feel an awful lot like the beginning of a real sleep. As the last lights of the Rock Sun darkened, Emmy put her guidebook down and looked at the time.

  It's so early, she thought to herself.

  With the Rock Sun extinguished, Emmy felt the cold gaining inside her dark home. She stood up and turned on a light so she could find the adjuster on her heaters… nothing. The generator needed fuel. She hadn’t set up the solar energy collectors in the morning. She’d need to turn on the gas-powered generator. Emmy summoned the energy necessary to go and refuel the generator in the garage near the power plant. She walked outside into the dark night’s sky, towards the garage, to load the generator. When she stepped outside, the darkness was thicker without the Blue Moon, and she was still unaccustomed to it. She turned back and got a flashlight.

  When Emmy arrived in the garage, she turned on the generator and her cottage once again had electricity.

  As Emmy turned to leave her cottage’s backyard power station, her flashlight passed over something reflective. Emmy winced at its brightness. She turned her flashlight off, waited for her eyes to adjust, then looked at the spot where she’d seen the light. It was easy to see in the darkness of a St. John’s night. At first, she thought she was seeing things. But the brightness was so vivid. She stared at it and thought it glowed the same blue as the Blue Moon.

  The object was about the size of her hand, but she could not make out what it was made of, or even if it was solid. It looked more like light than anything that could be touched or felt. Emmy moved her hand slowly to touch it with a finger. When she reached the light, it felt solid. Emmy pushed it and it moved. She felt its surface, with two hands now that she didn’t detect anything menacing about it. She picked it up and moved it in her hands while she stayed low to the ground, ready to drop it if it did anything strange.

  As she handled it and looked it over, she decided she could not guess what it was — it was different in density and texture from anything she’d ever seen or felt. It was warm and the heat seemed to radiate from the sky-blue light that streamed out of it in all directions.

  Emmy brought the piece of light inside her cottage. She inspected the object in detail. When she decided the electric light from her lamp was drowning out the blue glow, she turned the light off. Emmy studied the thing for hours until her eyes hurt. She decided it might even be a piece of the Blue Moon

  This thought brought her some peace and comfort. With the room painted the right shade of blue, Emmy looked over at the big comfy chair alone in the living room. She didn’t think, she just moved toward it. She fell into a deep sleep, her first in a while — she didn’t know then how much she would need it.

  Chapter 4

  Detective Shankar

  THE ROCK SUN shot ablaze with a blinding white light. As the St. John’s sky snapped to morning, Emmy woke from her feline-like sleep, curled up in her chair. She cursed herself for having been too lazy to close the blinds before going to sleep. She waited for a few moments, while the Rock Sun’s firelight began to dim.

  It was as bright and blinding as a clear, sun-filled and shiny day in the arctic on Earth when Emmy dared open her eyes. She wanted to get her day started, though she had nothing on her schedule in particular to do.

  Emmy brought her guidebook and the blue light with her and walked to the kitchen to make breakfast; two eggs and toast and a boiling pot of silver leaf tea. When it was ready, she settled in to eat it with glee.

  The Rock Sun’s brightness had already dropped to a molten red and orange. Emmy sighed. The day was going to be short. She doubted she would have time to travel to the city, and she was getting low on a few supplies.

  She poured the tea from the pot. A bright silver liquid steamed and glowed as it fell into her cup. She blew on her silver leaf tea and took as large a sip as she could. It was hot, and warmed her inside the cold cottage. Emmy looked out the window to the red morning. She didn’t want to go outside until it managed to get warmer. She drank the hot, bright and glowing tea in the meantime. She brought her guidebook and the blue light back over to her chair. She wrapped a blanket around her and got cozy; ready to start the day with some reading.

  She took another sip of the warm tea. She opened her guidebook and thumbed to the index search page.

  What to read about this morning? she asked herself while taking another sip of her hot tea. Along with this sip came a search idea. Emmy touched the search bar with her finger and wrote SILVER LEAF TEA. The index search page flashed a list. The number of items on the list surprised her. It was news to her that silver leaf tea was so popular throughout the Solar System. She touched the first line on the list — a place on Earth called Chicago — and the page changed.

  WHERE TO EAT:

  Delfrisco’s on Wabash. Their menu features the culinary delights of America’s Midwest. This restaurant is known as one of Chicago’s best. Located downtown, you’ll need to make reservations months in advance. Order any steak, and finish off your meal with a boiling and bright authentic St. John’s silver leaf tea.

  Emmy put the book down and looked out the window again. Then it hit her. She turned her guidebook to the pages on St. John’s. She flipped through them and found something she’d read before.

  … the only way to travel to St. John’s is through smugglers.

  Emmy had wondered who these smugglers were when she’d first read this section. If silver leaf tea from St. John’s was available in restaurants in Chicago, then it must be one of the things people smuggled.

  Her heart began to pound. She had something to do that day after all. She would head to the black market and see if she could get any information about smugglers living on St. John’s. Surely that would be a good place to start. She put on a jacket and gloves. It was still cold out, only a few degrees above freezing. She packed her guidebook and the glowing blue light into her bag and ran out the door. She jumped on her bike and was off under the already dark red Rock Sun.

  When Emmy arrived at the black market, she stopped her bike and took in the view. The black market had changed from her last visit. Now, they had large, full-letter written signs advertising the product, quantity and price — and this over a stretch of an entire neighborhood and for any consumable product available on St. John’s.

  Emmy continued on foot, wheeling her bike beside her. The crowds had calmed down, but it was still busy. She headed straight for Clarence’s Comics and Tea. She saw the price of tea on a handmade poster. She couldn’t believe how cheap tea had become since the St. John’s government stopped actively policing and inspecting the black market.

  She walked into the shop and spotted the man she was looking for and said, “Clarence. Got a minute?”

  Clarence looked around, wishing there was a line up of customers so he could have an excuse to avoid Emmy again. There wasn’t, so he said, “What can I do for you?”

  “Any new rumors?”

  “In times like these, I don’t deal in rumors. Everyone is up to it. There’s no value in having ideas. I haven’t heard a single thing that sounds credible, if that’s what you mean.”

  “That’s what I thought. Actually, I came for more of that silver leaf tea you gave me a few days ago.”

  “I’ve gotten a lot of compliments. It’s much better than the government rationed stuff.”

  “Who grew it, anyway?”

  “This stuff was from old man Johnston, over on St. George’s peak. He says because he’s higher up on the hill, he’s closer to the Rock Sun. He thinks because it’s warmer up there, his leaves grow fuller than down in the
large fields. His leaves are healthy.” Clarence pulled out some fresh, uncut silver leaves and showed them to Emmy.

  “Those do look nice. His theory makes sense. Being higher up is warmer. His fields are large. I bet he produces a lot of tea leaves. Did he sell to the government before?”

  “Well, I suppose he did. Everyone has to. But the government would have just mixed his crop with everything else that’s produced. The stuff I’m selling is not mixed with any other crop, you see.”

  “Why would someone want to make such a high quality tea if it’s just going to be mixed with everyone else’s inferior crop?”

  “That’s a good question." He stuffed the leaves back in the tin. "Who knows?”

  Emmy wasn't going to let him get away without hearing the question she'd come to ask. “Do you think he sells it to anyone from off St. John’s?”

  Clarence raised an eyebrow and looked Emmy over before answering, “Why do you want to know?”

  “No one from St. John’s has any clue about what’s happening here. No one could even guess where the Blue Moon has gone. I can forget getting help from anyone here. People would rather just be afraid and wonder when the St. John’s Council will tell them everything is going to be ok. I need to hear from someone from off of St. John’s. I want to know what they have to say about all of this. They might be able to help me find my mother.”

  Clarence pursed his lips and stared at some far off spot. He regretted ever speaking with Emmy. He looked up when he finally gave in. “Your mother was kind to me. She helped my wife and me when we got our license. We love the son she created for us. I hope you can find her.

  “Go to a restaurant in the dining neighborhood named The Cracker Barrel. The owner is named Ross. This guy may look normal, but he’s a Terran in disguise. He runs ships between St. John’s and Earth. He travels often. I know he arrived here this morning and is scheduled to leave again in a few days.”