The Blue Moon - Part 1 - Into the Forest (3 page)

Emmy needed to squint and protect her eyes during the ignition, as it was far too unpleasant to look at. Shielding her eyes with her forearm, Emmy considered what to do. The early lighting of the Rock Sun meant the missing Blue Moon was real. The St. John’s Council had to have ordered the Rock Sun lit, probably so everyone could get to work on energy collection, which would soon be in deficit without the night light of the Blue Moon.

Emmy thought about what to do next. She knew there was no one from her mother’s work she could contact — she’d never met a single coworker. The Council kept a few desk clerks for customer service, but the lines to communicate were always long. They would be around the block with the moon gone and the Rock Sun igniting early. Communicating with them was a waste of time anyway. They rarely gave straight answers. They responded by pro forma letter, delivered by mail several weeks after the initial inquiry.
 

The ADF was more of a military outfit and kept no customer service or communication department. They were shut-off from contact and remained in their walled and heavily fortified spaceport on the shores of the lake in the middle of St. John’s.
 

The only place Emmy knew she could get information was the black market. The black market was located in the city, in a neighbourhood filled with bureaucrats. The bureaucrats were the ones who operated the black market, selling the very things they were supposed to control. The black market always had a few opinionated people and it was a good place to get rumors.

Emmy was a regular at a shop that sold books and tea — run by a man who was supposed to get rid of contraband books and obsolete literature. It was a back alley shop where people discussed current events, politics and off-space-island rumors.

When the Rock Sun faded to red, orange, and gold and the sky turned from ultra-bright to crimson, Emmy jumped from her chair on the balcony and went down the narrow spiral staircase. She put on a jacket, grabbed her backpack, went outside and got onto her bicycle.
 

Emmy rode her bike, terror fuelling her pace. She pedalled fast down the long farm roads of white hardpan, cutting through hilly fields of white plants surrounded by mirrors, dotted by the occasional greenhouse.
 

After over an hour of hard pedalling, the farm fields gave way to apartment blocks and streets of townhouses. All the homes were made of the same grayish, hard material, with dark black roofs covered in a thin solar energy collecting film.
 
She moved through the outskirts of the city until she arrived at the black market, located in a series of alleys made up of small, two-story townhouses where St. John's sizeable bureaucracy found its lodgings.
 

Emmy arrived at the black market and had to get off her bicycle because of the crowds. The black market was normally a clandestine, discreet place. On that morning, it was rammed with people.

Moving through the crowds, towards the book and tea shop, Emmy arrived and opened the door. She found the place full of customers while the owner, Clarence, was at the cash finishing an exchange.
 

Emmy waved, trying to get Clarence's attention, but he remained busy serving at the counter. She approached the cash and said, “Clarence.”
 

He finally acknowledged her by holding up a single finger as if to say,
wait a second
. She stood in the crowded shop and waited, but Clarence continued to work his cash. Emmy picked up a small bag of silver leaf tea and got in line to pay at the cash like everyone else, hoping she would be able to ask him what he knew.

Clarence looked up to the next customer in line and found Emmy. She noticed him wince when he saw it was her. “Hi Emmy, what can I do for you?”

“You can tell me what you've heard so far this morning.”

“Not much. No one knows a thing. No one on Council or ADF. Everyone was surprised.”

“Have you heard if my mother was in the Blue Moon when it disappeared?”

Clarence nodded slowly. The shop had become quieter, with lots of people interested in what Clarence had to say. Emmy’s mother was one of the highest ranking public servants in a space-island obsessed with status — she could sense some people recognized her.

Emmy swallowed and stood up straight, ignoring the prying eyes. “What are people saying?”

“A lot of people are blaming her of course. She was in charge up there. People were always uneasy about a geneticist being in charge up there. They didn’t understand why. What does a comet have to do with DNA? And you know how suspicious people are of geneticists as it is.”

There was a brief silence as Emmy accepted the news she'd anticipated: her mother was gone and people were blaming her for the disappearance of the moon.
 

Clarence said, “Do you know anything about what's going on?”

“Of course not. I'm here to find out what you know. I don't have a clue what's happening. My mother never tells me anything about what's going on up there.”

Clarence didn't respond. The silence was becoming awkward and Emmy felt Clarence’s coldness. She still needed to find out what Clarence had heard that morning, so she asked, “Has the Council or the ADF made any statements? Did they provide any useful information?”

“Of course not. No one has a clue what’s going on. The Council and ADF released a joint statement about 30 minutes after the Rock Sun ignited. They said they’ll be looking into an energy solution. That’s it. People have reacted to that news by stocking up on provisions.” Clarence waved his arm, indicating the first-ever crowds in the black market. “People are worried the Blue Moon is going to be gone for awhile.”
 

Clarence checked the growing line behind Emmy and said, “I can't help you more than that. I'm going to have to get back to work. The silver leaf tea is on the house.” Clarence's eyes refocused past Emmy and towards the next customer.
 

Emmy left without saying goodbye. Her trip to the city had been a waste of time. She had no idea what to do or where to go, but she wanted to get away from the crowds. She got on her bike and pedalled back home.

When she arrived at her cottage, she didn’t find any peace and quiet. Her home was swarming with government agents. They were carting out boxes of her mother’s things. Furniture, the entire contents of her library, all the files in her office.
 

Emmy skidded her bicycle to a stop, dropped it onto the driveway and rushed inside. An agent stopped her on the front porch.
 

“Ah, Emmy Whitewood. We’ll be out of your way in a few moments.”

“Where are you taking this stuff?”

“Evidence.”

“Evidence of what? My mother hasn’t committed any crime. She’s a missing person.”

“Did your mother give you any idea of where she was taking the Blue Moon?”

Emmy had stopped paying attention to the agent. She’d spotted something she’d forgotten about: her birthday present. She’d placed the guidebook her mother had given her on top of a pile of books, and there it was, a piece of contraband, in the living room, calling her.

The opportunity started her scheming. A smile spread across her face as she stared at the book, but she stopped when she saw an agent moving to pack up that stack of books. She turned to the officer trying to interrogate her and said, “Uh, officer, can you please tell me what your orders are? Read them to me, I want to know exactly.”

The agent pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket and read, “
Gather all of Dr. Whitewood’s things from her home. Bring them to investigations HQ in First City
.”

“Hey guys, hate to be a bother, but really? You must follow the rules. You are to confiscate my
mother's
things. I heard what your orders were. They didn't say anything about taking my stuff.” Emmy grabbed the stack of books from the agent’s hands. She turned back to the agent questioning her and added, “Nor did they tell you to harass me with your questions. If the Council wants the daughter of a Blue Moon scientist to be questioned, they will send someone with orders to do it. No one asked you for extra work.”

The agents were helpless with Emmy's argument. Almost no one bothered doing more than the government asked of them. They quit talking and ignored her while they completed their orders.

Emmy had no problem ignoring them. She sat down in her reading chair with the book she'd snatched from the agent's hands. She covered its flagrantly illegal title by burying the cover in her lap. She opened to the start of a random chapter and read.

EARTH’S MOON

Earth’s Moon, whose official name is
The
Robot Kingdom of the Moon in Orbit of Earth
, is a unique place in the Solar System. Brought to life by humans over 300 years ago, considered a miracle at the moment of their creation, robots continue to form the incredible civilization that calls the Moon home.

Still guided by the Master Program, the first ever sentient robot, the Moon offers every experience imaginable for the visitor. Since humans bequeathed their miracle a home of their own, robots have gone on to create a visitor’s paradise. City domes dot the landscape, all of them connected by high speed rail, making the civilization’s spread look like a full-blast firework explosion floating in the black sky.
 

The Moon is filled with hotels, spas, beaches, resorts, mountains, lakes, forests, restaurants, amusement parks, and, of course, meditation retreats, where people learn from robots how to quiet their mind. Know that robots are extremely hospitable to tourists. They love to entertain and host and the Moon is the cheapest vacation spot in the Solar System, near free prices.
 

Emmy put the book down as the agents removed the last of her mother’s things. They left the house, slamming the door in some childish outburst of defiance.
 

Emmy was unruffled. All her attention was on her birthday present. She was certain her mother intended for her to have the travel guide. This encouraged Emmy. It meant her mother wanted her to have a tool to help her travel.
 

Her mother had told her that things might change regarding travel on and off of St. John’s. She could see that with the Blue Moon gone, change would have to happen. Perhaps they would need to build a new Rock Sun to make up for the lost energy supply. New firesail ships would be needed to go looking for materials in the Asteroid Belt. They’d also need trade with other space-islands in order to procure new equipment.

Emmy could see there would be opportunities for travel developing. These opportunities would arise soon if the Blue Moon showed no sign of returning. But, Emmy wanted to leave right then and there. She wanted to go looking for her mother, not wait around for some imaginary opportunity to travel.
 

The only way on or off St. John’s that she knew was through the ADF. They had all the ships, the space-island’s only spaceport, controlling all movement up and down in their lakefront, space balloon harbor.
 

The problem was the ADF didn’t sell tickets. Only their officers, as well as scientists like Dr. Whitewood, were legally allowed on the ships. All others were banned by the strict travel laws of the space-island.

Emmy seized on the question:
how do I leave St. John’s?

The question scattered into chaos, like yelling into crashing ocean waves.

While her gift hinted at what she was supposed to do, it only served to compound her frustration.

She slouched and felt defeated by this thought.

A flash lit through her mind. Some subconscious search engine pumped up a memory of something her mother had told her.
 

Emmy flipped to the index at the back of the book. It was a single page, with an empty large rectangle and the framed word
SEARCH
below it. Emmy touched it and a keyboard slid onto the page. She typed
St. John’s.
She touched the
SEARCH
button. A list came up on the page. It was second from the top, under
ST. JOHN’S, NFLD, CANADA, EARTH.
She touched the line titled,
ST. JOHN’S SPACE-ISLAND
.

The book flattened itself against her lap. Emmy could feel the pages trying to move under her grip. She let go and the pages flipped and stayed open at a page with a picture of the Shamrock Forest and a list of items to search. Emmy touched the
GETTING THERE AND AWAY
button. A box of text slid onto the page.

St. John’s is a tough place to get to. Not only is it at the outer edge of the Asteroid Belt, making it both a long and dangerous trip, but local laws make it even harder. This space-island has an outright ban on foreign visitors. They are one of a handful of hermit space-islands, but their prohibition against visitors is the most rigid. A principal idea of their foundational constitution states they shall have no contact with the outside Solar System, all in an effort to restore the miracle of life. The only way to travel to St. John’s is illegally, through smugglers.
 

Emmy’s posture deflated again.
Smugglers?
Emmy didn’t know where to find smugglers. There was nothing foreign on St. John’s, other than original artifacts and relics brought by the first settlers.

Emmy’s thoughts drifted into naught for several hours. She stared out the window and watched as the Rock Sun extinguished, ending the day. The circular, ridged peak surrounding their civilization reflected the molten black, orange, gold and red of the burning Rock Sun and made the jagged, mountainous space-island resemble the cap of a smoldering volcano — filled with streaks of rich crimson lustre. As the last light from the Rock Sun went out, thin red streaks tapered into a faint blush which they held before turning black.
 

Before being overtaken by the darkness of outer-space, Emmy turned her attention back to her guidebook. She realized there was another question beyond how to get off of St. John’s. She also needed to find out where to look for her mother. While the guidebook was of no help getting off of St. John’s, Emmy knew she could use the book to help find out where to go. The thought compelled Emmy to bury her nose in the guidebook.