by Kim Merrill
The lunar surface, once thought to be barren- is now a haven for water. The water is found in cold dark craters-placed there by ancient icy comets and at the poles. It’s where everyone goes for water now before heading out into the galaxy. Besides the water from the craters, waste water is dropped off and recycled then returned to other ships. The Moon is our first stop and we’re going to spend the night on the ship here before heading to Titan. (Read More About It #5).
The Moon Base has a large round center portion that is domed with several passages coming out from the center. It looks a little like a giant octopus hugging the surface.
The strange stuff started happening as soon as we landed. The port was dark but crowded. Another ship was putting on cargo and there were people rushing back and forth trying to load. That’s when I believed I saw him. It was Mr. Alset. He was standing in the shadows but before I could be sure it was really him he disappeared, blending in with the darkens. As we walked down the passageway Daniel grabbed my arm and spoke in hushed tones, “We should stick close together.”
I wondered if Daniel had seen him too. Wondered if Aunt Molly had told him Mr. Alset was working for the Time Shifters. And wondered what we could do about it if any of it was true.
Besides being a water port, the Moon is also home to The Gardens, the first attempt to grow food on an alien surface. Everyone goes to The Gardens, and so did we. My dad and Daniel were reading about how they grew the plants. I was exploring.
I made my way over to a grove of trees that had fruit larger than I had ever seen. Wondering down the rows my eyes caught what appeared to be an orange, but it was as big as a watermelon. I didn’t remember seeing it before – it was like it just suddenly appeared. I watched the thing begin to move, swaying from side to side. Suddenly a tiny creature like a bee flew out and butted my head. It flew back and became part of the swaying hive. I heard they had bees on the moon but I didn’t think there were hives in The Gardens.
As the bee returned the hive changed color. It changed from orange to an angry red with hot white bolts flashing every few seconds.
I remembered reading about Africanized Bees and how a head butt is a warning. Although I never heard about bees changing color I though it best to treat it like the bees I knew. I moved back slowly trying not to seem like a threat to them…then Daniel came darting up to me.
“What ya doing over here?” he yelled out as he ran past the hive.
That’s all it took. The bees came buzzing out of the hive right towards us.
“Run!” I yelled as I pulled him along until he started moving on his own. I remembered reading you should run when attacked by a swarm of bees because there is a chance you could out run them and they would stop chasing you once you they didn’t see you as a threat to the hive. The things seemed very Africanized Bee like so I hoped they had read the Earth bee rule book and that those same ideas on how to protect yourself from Earth bees would work for them too. I grabbed a couple of tarps off a work bench and gave one to Daniel because I also remembered reading to cover up, especially your eyes and mouth. (Read More About It #6)
As I glanced back to see if they were still there the shapeless swarm turned into something, well, bizarre. The bees had formed themselves into something that looked like what you might get if a zebra and a panther had a baby. It had the head of a zebra, but the body of panther. The bees had arranged themselves so the colors on their bodies made the strips and their stingers made needle like claws.
We ducked into a hallway that was used to simulate night on Earth. There was a simulated full moon surrounded by simulated twinkling stars. It made the night blooming plants around us visible but colorless. The bee/ zebra/panther creature followed. It raced silently down the hall, its feet flying a hairs width above the floor.
We ran. Ran until we were out of breath, ran even after we had no strength left. The hallway seemed to go on forever… until it ended. There was a door we tried desperately to open, but it was locked. We turned to look at our pursuer, galloping closer. Daniel and I reached for each others hands. His hand was cold with fear but it had the warmth and comfort of family. We watched, frozen as the creature came closer.
Then it slowed, it sat, scratched its ear made of bees, stood and loped away. My guess it was going back to the safety of the hive. So evidently the earth bee rules did work - we could out run them. But I had never seen Earth bees take a shape like that before.
The door that was locked before suddenly flew open. The screaming of the hinges made me think it had been awhile since it had been opened. In the doorway stood my dad, some security guys, and a few bee keepers.
Dad asking, “Are you two OK?” was the first voice I heard. Then there were the security people and the bee keepers asking what happened.
I remember hearing other voices too. They blended into a hum with only a few random phrases being clear: “The poor darlings”… “I hope this won’t delay any flights”.. “Do you think the gift shop sells stuffed aliens?”
But the conversation I zeroed in on was one about the bees:
“No, they think they come from the planet Bezar. Have you been living in a cave?” one voice said.
“Almost, I was on the dark side and the power went out; so only emergency communications,” another voice said.
“Well, they’ve had a few sightings of them on other stations. They act a lot like our bees but the strange thing is when they swarm they can become the shape of an animal – a spider, a wolf, some kind of cat like those kids saw. But the strangest thing is the folks on Bezar said those type of bees have been extinct for centuries.”
As they spoke I remembered hearing those stories too. Like the Time Shifters I thought they were myth. But since this was the second time in as many days I was attacked by something that had supposedly died out, I thought it might be time to re-evaluate my ideas. I had to ask myself, could the Time Shifters have sent those bees after us?
What happened next was kind of a blur. Just a patchwork of events connected by my dad asking over and over “Are you two OK?”
We talked to the security guys and the beekeepers, at some point we ate (but I didn’t eat much).
After all the questions were asked and all the forms were filled out the universe went back to normal for most everyone on the base. People and cargo were loaded onto ships heading to the chill of the outer planets or the churning heat of inner planets or to the web of stations between them all. Everyone settled into their usual routine. But for me, my universe
Turned
Up
Side
Down
It wasn’t so much the bees. (Although I have to admit even though it’s happened to me twice you never get use to being chased by strange creatures.) It was more the idea that everything I ever believed about Time Shifters could be wrong; the possibility that there may well be Time Shifters. It made my head swim.
