A Magnetic Orbit
“We're having a meeting with the pilots of each camp” the voice announced implacably in his ear.
The unexpected transmission from the tower made Rony a bit anxious.
Vera's tone sounded as if there was really no choice but to do what they demanded.
Why were they having a meeting? What was so urgent to tell? Why did they have to go in person so far away? What was so secretive that couldn't be disclosed in a microphone announcement? Many questions flooded his mind in an instant.
“When is that going to happen?” he asked.
“You should be here the day after tomorrow. We have important instructions to tell you about.”
“Is the meeting going to be at the tower?”
“Yes. We'll be waiting for you at the tower, the day after tomorrow at 10 a.m.: tenth floor, conference room.”
The details were so precise, they left no space for doubt or backing out.
Rony was still unsure of many things.
“How am I supposed to get up there on the moon?”
Vera's answer was, as usual, determined and to the point: “The same way you landed on Asterius: with a shuttle. Pilot yourself up here.”
“There's not enough battery on the shuttle to last a two-way trip to the moon and back. The solar panels didn't supply enough energy to recharge it for another destination after landing.”
“We'll replace your battery with a new one after you get to the tower. Set your course and take of, it will be enough to reach the moon. Just bring the shuttle codes with you and our engineers will take care of it. You'll be able to return to the planet after the meeting.”
She really had an answer for everything, he thought while facing the fact that he had to go to the moon in two days. He wondered what would become of the camp in his absence. The unpredictable children were up to new tricks every new second.
“Any other obstacle?” he heard her inquire, as if she had sensed his hesitation.
Rony realized she was beginning to guess his reactions, she could recognize the meaning of his silence.
“I don't know what happens if I leave the base”, he said reluctantly.
“Nominate someone in charge of the camp while you're away. Your colleagues can manage two days without you.”
He sighed.
“Alright. I'll try to get to the meeting at the tower.”
“Good. We'll be here. Have a nice trip”, she concluded.
We? Who's we? he wondered.
Of course she was speaking on behalf of the tower authorities, but he had never met any of those people from the blue moon. Sometimes he wondered if they were people or something different: aliens, robots, computers... light beings, energy or just a product of collective imagination. The agents that contacted the pilots didn't display any personal hints of who or what they were like.
Rony went to Sheena's tent.
“I must leave for a meeting on the moon” he told her directly, aware of how unrealistically it sounded.
She seemed surprised, but she believed him. She also understood immediately the purpose of his confession.
“I'll make sure nothing bad happens while you're there”, she said, seeming more concerned about his task than the prospect of his absence from the camp.
“Yuri will help me”, she added.
“Yes, Yuri's a good person. You can trust him.”
“But Rony, how will you get to the moon? There's no more battery to fuel the shuttle.”
“It will be enough to set the course. They promised to replace the battery with a new one, once I get there. I'll come back, don't worry.”
“I hope so... Why do you think they've summoned you?”
The pilot shrugged.
“I don't know. I'll tell you when I find out.”
“Be careful”, she said with a concerned tone, as he turned to go.
He started to prepare the shuttle for the trip.
He couldn't keep it from the children, who noticed everything.
“What are you doing?” Joey asked curiously.
He was the first to approach Rony, walking around the camp and following the pilot like a little puppy, enthusiastic to know every detail.
“I'm going on a trip to the moon”, Rony answered.
“Really? Wow! Are you going to return?”
“Yes Joey, I will return.”
“Great! Can I come with you?”
“Not this time. Maybe next trip.”
Rony expanded the solar panels to the neon light, trying to upload a bit more energy to the half depleted battery.
“This will have to be enough”... he muttered to himself.
Joey was sitting on a rock, watching with attentive green lighted eyes.
After a while, Buddy came by his side too, interested to see the pilot working around the shuttle.
“Is it difficult to fly this ship?” he asked.
“Not after you get used to it.”
“Do you think I could be a pilot when I grow up?”
“If you really want to, you can learn and become a great pilot.”
“I think I will do that”, Buddy concluded, enchanted by the idea. “What about you, Joey? Are you going to be a pilot too?”
“I want to be an explorer”, Joey smiled.
“It's the same thing”, Buddy said.
“No, an explorer is a lot more... “
Rony was amused by the boys' dialogue. For a moment, it made him forget about the worries that clouded his thoughts concerning the trip into the unknown.
He kept wondering about the mighty tower of control where he didn't know who was going to wait for him, with what sort of information or demands. He knew he was finally going to see the place where instructions came from, and it made him eager and anxious at the same time.
“Are you leaving the planet? I knew it!! You're running away!”
Evgheni had noticed he was preparing the shuttle and had instantly fared up in anger, coming in a hurry from the greenhouse.
“You can't run away like that! How can you do this to us? Take us with you!”
“I'm not really leaving. I'm just going to the moon for two days.”
“Like hell you are! And you want me to believe you? You're taking of to the satellite!”
“I was called by the control tower for a meeting on the moon.”
Rony remained calm, being too preoccupied by is work to pay any attention to the other. Evgheni circled the shuttle in disbelief, as if trying to find proof of a significant trip being underway.
“At least think about the children! They deserve to be saved from this planet!”
“Shut up, you'll scare the boys.”
“Why do we need to be saved?” Buddy asked innocently.
“Boys, go find Nicole and tell her it's time for lunch”, the pilot told them and they went of, somehow not willing to leave without hearing more explanations.
The were interested in the conversation, but they agreed to distance themselves from a conflict that didn't concern them. Rony wondered if they had heard too much.
“You've been planning this escape ever since you got here, haven't you! I won't let you do it unless you take me with you to the satellite,” Evgheni said threateningly.
“I can't go to the satellite”, Rony answered undisturbed. “It's too much distance for this used up battery. I wouldn't get that far anyway. This will only take me to the moon.”
Evgheni squinted his eyes, watching the pilot's moves with scrutinizing suspicion.
“We'll see”, he finally added and returned to the greenhouse.
Rony finished preparations in the evening. The engine was ready to start, but there was still the risk of the battery not having enough power to send the shuttle on the course to the blue moon.
He didn't discuss anything more about the trip and he left early in the morning, before sunrise, when everyone was sleeping. The only ones who woke up to see him leave were Joey and the girls. They knew about his plan, since the boys had told them, but they didn't seem too worried to see the shuttle take of in the dark. Zenna waved at him, smiling, while Penelope was watching reserved, with crossed arms and shaded eyes. Joey jumped up in an attempt to reach the shuttle's smaller and smaller image rising in the night sky, as if grabbing a comet.
From the round window, Rony could see Asterius becoming a pale gray ball, further and further until the neon sun brightly blinded the shuttle shields, blocking the view. He adjusted the direction and turned towards the blue moon that was glowing silently among the shrouds of purple and pink galaxies. On one side, the Alpha cluster was seen approaching imperceptibly, like a vortex of light, spreading its scattered stars and asteroids in a huge display of pouring brightness. Rony noticed it was getting closer, its shape expanding in a disk that engulfed everything in its way, rotating with such speed that the human eye was unable to distinguish its movements. The pilot knew it was approaching fast and with unpredictable effects upon the lives of whoever was in its path. It seemed almost crazy to believe life could be anything else than melted heat in the midst of that spinning madness. Its menacing greatness was so impressive, Rony could feel its pressure on his chest, an unexplained emotion that clenched his ribcage. He couldn't stop staring at the immense rotating fountain of light and stars. He wondered if the universe had looked like that in its very beginning – but everything was a permanent new genesis in the vast universe anyway.
Many hours later, upon approaching the glowing blue surface of the moon, he could focus on the idea of landing and finding the tower control. The moon had an artificial atmosphere. As the shuttle hovered the uninhabited surface, Rony could see silver pipes everywhere, spreading across valleys, craters and mountains, running towards the big city in the distance. The city was covered by a huge glass hemisphere that kept the oxygen generated by the pipes. The thousands of silver tubes extracted liquid from within the moon and turned it into air, providing conditions for the city to breathe.
The shuttle was allowed to enter the space under the glass screen through a tunnel. Rony transmitted his coordinates and a hatch opened for the shuttle to come through. After two minutes ride in the glass tunnel that seemed more like falling than flying, the shuttle landed in a hangar, on a platform, without much of a trembling shock. Rony was glad to see the initial impulse had lasted enough to reach the moon. He got out and was greeted by an engineer who asked for the codes of the battery.
“I was told you'd come. Welcome to the Blue Moon. I'll replace the battery of this shuttle before the evening. By tonight, you'll find it ready to return.”
“Thank you. Do you know where the control tower is?”
“It's on the main avenue, third subway station if you take the direction of the center.”
Rony didn't seem very sure about where he had to arrive, but he was determined to find it.
He got on the subway and counted the stations. The vehicle was crowded with people in uniforms, very preoccupied to get somewhere fast.
When Rony climbed the automatic stairs to the surface, he found himself on a big boulevard by a river. Huge glass and metal buildings were guarding each side of the river, reflected in the water. Flying vehicles were swaying by in full speed. The rolling sidewalk was moving slowly, so he had to jump on a bench to look around for a while. The tower could have been any of the tall buildings. He knew he had to ask again. He randomly stopped one of the passengers.
“Hey, excuse me... is the control tower around here?”
“No, you have to walk four hundred meters ahead. It should be on your left side, there's a fence and a gate. Go inside the garden, the tower is at the end of the park.”
“Thanks.”
He resumed his walk. The whole city was overflowing with rays of blue, reflected upward from the ground to the metal buildings. The atmosphere under the glass was warm but mysterious and it gave a tingling feeling, as if electricity would radiate from everywhere around. Rony eventually arrived in front of something that looked like a gate. It was guarded by an automatic speaker.
“Is this the control tower?” he asked.
“Who are you and why do you want to go in?” the speaking box replied.
“I'm here for the meeting with pilots from Asterius planet. I was told to come.”
The gate door was suddenly opened. The speaker said briefly: “Tenth floor, conference room. At the end of the park.”
Rony entered the garden. He was surprised to see plants, trees and bushes growing along the alleys. At the end of the park there was a tall round building, getting lost in the mist of heights, towards the glass ceiling covering the city. He went through the door, without anyone asking him anything.
Inside, he could have gotten lost among the many corridors and elevators, so he decided to take the stairs instead. He was alone in the dark staircase that spiraled up endlessly. It seemed nobody else wanted to go that way. The lights on the walls lit up instantly as he started to climb. “Movement sensors”, he thought. The building was quiet and elegant – and strangely empty. When he got to the tenth floor, he stepped out of the staircase hall. Bright light blinded him for a moment. There were many people going in many directions.
“Conference room?” he asked around.
“That way. Second door.”
He saw someone in a pilot uniform, going the same way. “I'm in the right place”, he thought.
The conference room was already getting full of pilots, waiting for the agents to come and start the meeting. Rony took a seat somewhere close to the door, instinctively ready to leave if something went wrong. He felt curious and nervous about the people who had sent him instructions for such a long time. Pilots were chatting around him, but he kept to his thoughts. Finally, the agents came in and the room was silent.
“Welcome to the control tower. We have so many news for you”, a tall blonde agent spoke clearly. “I'm Dawn and this is my colleague Vera”, she said, turning to look at the other person standing by her side.
Rony looked at the second agent: Vera, the voice that had talked to him for many years hadn't said anything yet. She looked more human than he had imagined.
Her slim silhouette in the silver uniform made her seem fragile, and yet he recognized the determined attitude in the chin pointed upwards and the deep eyes guarded by thin angular eyebrows. However, there was something unusual about her appearance: her brown hair and thoughtful glance gave him a warm impression, contrasting with what Rony knew about her behavior. He could tell, just by looking at her, that she was observant and thoughtful, almost caring, though trying to remain emotionally guarded, aware of the power and responsibility that she officially represented. Rony had expected an authoritarian presence, and was finally meeting a thoughtful girl with mysterious eyes.
“This is why we've asked you to come here”, Dawn continued to speak clearly and decisively.
She turned on a big screen in front of them and Rony recognized the spinning flooding light of the Alpha cluster approaching them.
“The encounter will happen sooner than we estimated”, the agent said. “You have to be prepared for the effects, once it reaches Asterius orbit. The temperature and weather of the planet will change drastically and unpredictably. The day and night sequence will also be altered, because the spinning speed of Asterius will increase and keep increasing.”
“How will we survive?” a pilot asked.
“Your body will adapt to the new vibration of energy. The atoms will join the new frequency of light particles and you will maintain consciousness, but will gain power to assemble yourself in any moment of time, in any place within the Alpha State.”
“You mean we will disintegrate”, another pilot said skeptically.
“You won't disintegrate”, Vera intervened calmly.
She spoke distantly, crossing her arms in defense, as if she had expected chaos and rebellion from the crowd, upon hearing the incredible predictions. Both agents were speaking from a rational viewpoint and their intelligence seemed to surpass the audience's expectations.
“You will be able to reach a higher state of consciousness by ascending to the level where you control matter, not the other way around. Your physical existence is an illusion of inflexible vibration. In truth, you are flexible and you can choose to arrange your energy in any way you want. You will become aware of that once you enter the light cluster. It's just a matter of perspective.”
“Easy for you to say. Have you been there to know for sure?”
The question that came from the room didn't throw Vera of her speech.
“It's also easy to understand”, she answered, dodging the other question that she remained silent about.
Rony wondered why she hadn't answered it directly, when it would have been simple to just say something scientific. Instead, she left the question in the air. “Has she been there indeed?” he asked himself. The girl looked like she knew so much more and was reserved to reveal it in that moment. She let her colleague take over the conversation. Dawn explained:
“We're telling you what's going to come because we don't want anyone to panic. You have to tell the people on the planet what to do. Life means adapting to new conditions. Life is moving and changing as we speak. Right now, we're heading on through the galaxy with 100.000 km/h. Alpha cluster is approaching with light speed. Everything will change so fast, very soon.”
The murmur of the disturbed pilots filed the room. Rony was thinking silently. He had many questions, but he doubted the agents would take the time to answer, with so many people raising hands and wanting to speak. He wished he could ask Vera if she had been to the Alpha State before, even though it seemed absurd and impossible to imagine she had traveled thousands of years in time. He tentatively raised his hand at a certain moment, but gave up when he saw the agents were letting others speak first. Both Dawn and Vera noticed he wanted to say something, but they didn't react. He decided to delay his question, so he let his arm down. Somehow, he felt as if Vera knew who he was and what he wanted to say would be of limits. “She probably knows everyone's profile in this room”, he thought to himself and continued to watch the discussion, a bit detached.
After a while, a man looking like a scientist came in the room, watching the pilots severely.
The two agents interrupted their explanations, standing up.
“Is everything going okay?” the man asked, frowning behind his glasses.
“Yes, just as planned”, Dawn replied.
“Is this the chairman?” Rony whispered to the pilot next to him.
“No. He's got a higher rank, but he's not the chairperson. The main head of the control tower is not going to show up. She's never been seen anyway.”
“She?”
“We're taking a break” Dawn announced.
The pilots went in the hall.
Rony listened to them speaking for a while, then went to look outside the window, to the metal city flooded by silver pipes. From that height everything was covered in a blue glow.
“Did you have something to ask?” he heard a voice and he turned around.
Vera was standing in front of him. Seeing her so close was overwhelming.
She had come to look for him in the hall. He didn't have time to warm up to the idea: her presence was an event in itself, taking over his thoughts completely. He spoke immediately, before she could change her mind: “Yes, I wanted to know: what happens to us when we get to that level of atoms switching to change mode?”
She replied kindly:
“It depends on what you want to be. You're free to decide.”
“You've been there before, haven't you?”
Her deep eyes sustained his stare, a bit deflyingly. She didn't answer.
Something from the mystery of her glance was infinite and deep like the ocean of galactic colors and sparkling waves where he had gone swimming. Anything could have appeared in the abyss of those eyes: sunbeams, storms, bright lightning, galaxies unfolding... Looking in the shaded colors was like plunging underwater and losing direction, never coming back.
He felt both intimidated and warmed by her presence. He hoped she couldn't read his thoughts , revealing he liked being there by her side. He tried to conceal it, in fear it would make her judgmental about it. He envisioned she could even decide to cease communication in order to remain impersonal. Her training was no doubt including instructions about not acting on any feelings. His eyes involuntarily wandered to the beauty of a strand of her hair, falling on her forehead and her eyes noticed his stare. She raised her chin , her eyes becoming more steely and firm. He immediately averted his glance to the window.
“I want to replace the bio-engineer on the camp”, he said to her, looking in the distance, at the galaxies beyond the glass shield.
“Why?”
“He wants to quit the mission. He's refractory and stubborn about it. We need someone else to look after the plants. Can we get another person for it?”
Vera shook her head.
“It is better to keep the people who were assigned for the base. I'll ask how to solve this and I'll tell you later.”
She turned and left.
Rony remained there, staring at the walking girl in silver uniform who seemed fragile and yet had so much power and determination. She came back after ten minutes, looking observantly around the hall, then changing direction towards him.
Her eyes had turned darker. Something had upset her in the brief time she had been gone.
“Your bio-engineer received a message to improve his attitude”, she said reluctantly. “Let me know if he causes anymore trouble.”
And then she left again, returning to the conference room.
Rony wondered if she had been scolded by a higher rank because of her intervention. He wondered if she had an argument with the bio-engineer or someone else. Something had not gone well and he felt it was his fault for mentioning it. He hoped he didn't get her in any trouble. Although she kept her head high, determined and unyielding in her motivation, she was a part of the tower hierarchy and Rony had no doubt the instructions she received from higher orders were much more severe than what he could imagine. He felt sorry to cause any disturbance and then realized he already cared about her in a way he hadn't expected – and in a way she couldn't guess. He felt he was one step away from being completely fascinated by the tower agent, and that could mean he would be totally exposed to a complicated outcome. And yet he couldn't resist being responsive to her, getting more wrapped up with each minute he spent in her presence. He felt as if he had become an asteroid orbiting a magnetic field, irrevocably drawn to its center of light, only to be dissolved into pieces by its intense energy.