“C’mon Edie, it’s time for Fireside. Hurry up! I don’t want
to be late.”
“Oh, douse your rockets, Sophia. I’m coming already. The Elders
mostly do this for us anyway. They’ll wait until we’re all there. After all, it’s
your turn for a story tonight, and you’re just anxious to impress you-know-who.”
A moment later, Edie came out of the bedroom with an armload
of ratty blankets. Sophia grabbed her elbow and hustled her out the front door.
They strode down the footpath to the beach where a couple large pieces of
driftwood half a meter across and several meters long were already blazing in a
pit in the sand. A dozen or so people of all ages and races were seated in a semi-circle
ring around the fire, mostly wrapped up in blankets against the quickly cooling
dusk air and light but steady offshore breeze. Everyone was snuggled together
in twos and threes with their feet stretched out toward the fire. A few other stragglers
were still quietly materializing out of the darkness and finding open spots on
the sand.
Sophia and Edie picked an open space right up front. Edie
whispered, “I told you we’d get a good seat. We always do.” Sophia soundlessly
mouthed “Thank you,” as Elder Mia, looking tiny and a thousand years old and yet
somehow all the more powerful and strong for every last year, stood up right in
front of the fire and waited for the crowd to hush before speaking.
“Welcome welcome everyone! So good to see you all here tonight.
It warms my heart to see everyone so healthy and happy and together in one
place.
"As you may know, tonight is an extra special night. Not only is it our
Fireside Moon, but also, in the calendars of Before, the 10th day
after the winter solstice marked the last day of the old year, and exactly halfway
through the night marked the beginning of the new year. The biggest parties in
the history of humankind were thrown on this night. Even back when it used to
get really cold, legends say that billions people would flood the streets, and
they would shoot exploding fires into the sky until the night was like day. The
people would clap and shout and dance until the sun came up. The people of Before
also used this night as a marker to remember their past and plan for the
future, just like we do on the solstice. In a way, tonight’s Fireside carries a
double meaning for us. Tonight, besides being the night of the full moon, is a
night of remembrance and celebration, and this night has long been a night for
both.
"So… we have several good stories lined up, and from a few new voices too,
I’m happy to share. Now, who wants to start us off with our invocation?”
A young girl, maybe 14 or 15 winters old, barefoot and barely
wearing much at all besides the blanket wrapped around her shoulders and a few wide
strips of brightly dyed cloth loosely crisscrossed around her body as was the
fashion, stood up and said, “Elder Mia, may I… may I do the invocation tonight?”
Elder Mia smiled at the girl and said, “Of course, you may,
Persephone. Go right ahead.”
Persephone looked at her feet a moment, looking a bit shy, and
briefly dug her toe into the sand. She then took a deep breath, straightened up
to her full height that was a good bit taller than any of the boys her age, and
lifted her chin to gaze out over the many faces now staring at her. She cleared
her throat, and in a voice so suddenly loud, confident, and clear that no one present
could remember ever hearing come from her – nor from anyone really, at least
not since her father and the rest of the sailors left years before – she began
reciting the invocation in a powerfully melodic, almost hypnotic fashion. “We,
the people of the cool beach and fertile valley in the time of After, gather here
together at the Fireside Moon to share our stories. These are our stories, true
in spirit, true in meaning, and true as best we can remember. These stories keep
our ancestors alive. These stories shine a light into the new future we create
for ourselves. These stories hold our community together. These stories are who
we were and who we are and who we will become yet again. Now pay attention. The
moon and a trillion stars and planets watch over us tonight, listening, as it
is once again time to tell our stories.”
Persephone smiled a proud little half-smile and sat back
down in the sand. No one moved even a centimeter, all eyes were still on her,
and more than one jaw hung open. Not a sound could be heard but the waves
lapping up against the sand further down the beach. After a long moment, Elder
Tristan stood up and said, “Thank you, Persephone. Now, Sophia, please come to
Center and tell us your story.”
Sophia stood up, walked over toward the Elders, and sat in
the Tellers Chair facing out from the fire. Elder Tristan pulled a large blue,
spiral-bound notebook and pen out of a backpack. He opened the notebook about halfway
and wrote across the top of a new page, “Sophia Master-Gardener, Winter-Day 10,
Year 85.”
Then Sophia began telling her story. She began, “I call this
story, “What Goes Up.”
---
“It’s getting bad up there, Thao.”
“Mm.”
“You wouldn’t even know from here though. Just a little blue
light. Our little blue light. It’s pretty even, don’tcha think?” They stood
side-by-side at the rim of the deep red gorge next to base. He put his arm over
her shoulders, a gesture made even more awkward by the thermal oxy-suits they’d
been wearing since outpost D.
Thao turned away from the gorge, shaking Javier’s arm off
her shoulders, and folded her own arms as well as she could. She looked at Javier
with no expression at all on her face. She didn’t say a word, just stared at
him blankly through her mask.
“Aren’t you worried too?” he asked.
“Yes, Javier, I’m worried, but it doesn’t change anything up
here. And there’s nothing we can do about it, now or ever. So why waste time
talking about it?”
“Oh, I don’t know, maybe because we have families and
friends up there. We used to live our lives there. We were born there, you know.
Doesn’t that matter?”
“I don’t know, does it matter? Tell me… when was the last
time you got a transmission, even a single lousy ‘How’s the colony? The holidays are
coming up and I’m thinking of you,” type of email from anyone earthside for chrissakes?”
Javier looked down from the sky to the ground. He kicked up
a little puff of brownish red dust with the toe of his right boot. The dust
quickly settled back down as if it were sand.
“A hundred fifty-seven days. Martian days, I mean. You?”
“I stopped counting when my mother died years ago.”
“So what’s your point?”
“My point is we’re not going back. We knew that when we
left. Our lives are here, not there. The people inside those airlocks are our family.
If people back on earth want to ruin their atmosphere, kill their rivers, and
blow each other up, why should I care?”
“Yeah, so true. What I wouldn’t give for their skies, their
water cycles, I mean, the pure amount of biomass. Oh man. It’s gonna take us decades
to make even 1/10th of that here. Those idiots.”
“Exactly.”
“Still…”
“Still, what?”
“Still, it’s pretty.”
“So?”
“So… have dinner with me tonight. To celebrate being back on
base. I’ve got some fresh tomatoes I’ve been growing for a special occasion.”
He winked at her through his mask, and continued in a singsong voice, “I know how
much you love fresh veggies.”
“Ugh, Javier. No. We’re just friends. I’ve told you 20 times
I’m not interested in dating you – or anyone – right now. There’s too much to
do out here, and I’ve got too many measurements to take on the other side. I’m
leaving again in a few days to make the perimeter readings. I won’t be back
until ten-ten-sixteen. I don’t have time for ‘dinner.’” She pantomimed quotes
with her thick grey spacesuit fingers. “Anyway, you’re on the atmo crew. What
if there’s another explosion and you die, just like he…" She stopped and looked far into the distance. The sun had dropped close to the horizon, making everything look even redder than usual. "I mean, what’s the point?”
“The point is I like you. Even if there were a dozen single
women up here, I’d still like you.”
“I’m only one in a dozen, eh? You sure know how to charm the
oxy-suit off a lady, don’t you?” She sighed and paused a long moment. “Javier,
I’m flattered, but no thank you. If we were still on earth, and if we didn’t
work together, and if if if a hundred other things that aren’t so, then maybe.
But out here on the colony, if it doesn’t work out I’ll still have to see you
every single day. I don’t shit where I eat, you copy? Let’s go back inside.”
Javier looked at her, then back up at the starry sky for
several seconds. His mask began to fog up. After a few seconds, he cleared his throat and said, “Good idea, the news transmission should
be coming in shortly. It's been a while since we've been on base and caught the feeds. Wonder if things'll calm down anytime soon."
“Earth news. Whatever.”
Thao walked over to the large corrugated aluminum and steel
beam building nearby, ducked inside a red door, and turned off the large white
LED lights that lit the area outside the hangar. She didn’t wait for Javier as
she strode back out of the hangar. Neither said anything as they walked the 100
or so meters from the hangar back to the main airlock. Thao walked several
steps in front of Javier, and Javier made no effort to catch up. When they
reached the base, she hit the black door-lift button, and Javier turned to look
back up at the tiny blue dot overhead while the big, greasy, metal door slid slowly,
soundlessly upward. Once the bottom of the door was high enough to clear her
helmet, Thao ducked inside. Javier waited until the door fully reached the top
before turning around and joining her in the airlock.
45 minutes later, freshly showered, back in base clothes,
and feeling a little refreshed but mostly just ragdoll tired, they found themselves
heading toward the big screen at the commissary coffee bar. A couple dozen or
so people gathered around, mostly looking down at and tapping the screens on
various gadgets, a few folks chatting nervously with each other. One woman
looked up and smiled as they approached. Javier waved and then split off toward
the coffee counter.
“Oh, hey, Thao. Good to see you guys again. When did you get
back?”
Thao gave her a quick hug, kissed both cheeks, and said, “Hi
Janice. Just now. Why’s everyone here look so… tense?”
“Well, today’s news
was supposed to start 15 minutes ago.”
“Okaaay… is the central router down again? Did Rick reboot
yet?”
“No, our local station comes in just fine. That’s what’s
weird. We can’t even pick up the weak sat-TV or net broadcasts. We’re getting nothing.”
“Wait, what? All
earthside transmissions are black?”
“Yep.”
“Our crew left 27 days ago and we just got back in. When was
the last signal?”
“26 days ago for most wavelengths. The last ISS transmission
came in exactly 14 days ago. They said it was pretty bleak on the blue-and-green,
but they’d update us once a week. Haven’t heard a peep since then.”
“Seriously?”
“Most everyone thinks it’s all over up there. What it really
means is anyone’s guess, but from what we saw in the last transmission, I’ll
bet you a credit to fifty it’s the end for them. If anyone survives, it’ll take them centuries to rebuild.”
“Wow. Just wow. I mean, I’ve been expecting this for years,
but it finally happened, huh?”
“It finally happened." Janice looked around conspiratorily and lowered her voice to just above a whisper. "Unless you’ve got a stash of rocket
fuel or a handsome cowboy hidden in those research outposts, sweetie, it’s us
and the little green men from now on. Which reminds me, how’s Javier? You guys
sure seem to spend a lot of time together lately.”
“Yeah, I, well…” Thao trailed off and looked up at the blank
screen for a long moment. “I need a minute to process this.”
Just then, Javier walked up with two cups of bio-caff, full
to the brim – he had to walk slowly so as not to spill – and set them on the
table nearby. Janice gave him a lingering hug and a slightly wetter-than-normal
kiss on both cheeks.
Janice said, “Hellllo Javier. So good to see you, cowboy,” with a melodic lilt and an extra-long emphasis on
the word cowboy. “Listen, I’ve got to run, but Sweetie Pie here can fill you in
on the news. See you two at JJ’s soiree tomorrow? The nuke crew will all be
there, and we all know how well the nukeys holds their starshine. Bones’s tests
showed they never did acclimatize right. Sooo glad I’m not a nukey. Anyway, it
should be another rager. Ciao ciao!” And off she went.
Javier tilted his head and cocked one eyebrow. He asked
Thao, “So…what was that all about?”
Thao paused a moment, watching Janice weave and swish through
the tables as she walked away. Thao looked back to Javier and touched his
forearm lightly, then just as quickly pulled back. Almost inaudibly, she
answered, “I’ll tell you over dinner. Your place at 1800?”
---
Sophia nodded to Elder Tristan to let him know that that was
the end of her story. He continued to write in the notebook while she walked
back to her spot in the sand while scanning the crowd for a certain face that
wasn’t there. Elder Tristan stood up and said, “Sophia, what a wonderful first
story. A lot to think about there. We look forward to many more from you in the
future. Let’s give Sophia a round of applause.” The crowd clapped and shouted in
approbation. When the applause died down, Elder Tristan said, “Who would like
to go next?”
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