Canticle Blue

51. Exodus

A story about everything will include the unseen as well as the seen.
—Grahmen Ravi

A lunar orbital probe was to be launched from a complex in the same region as the Bryn Institute. It marked a considerable leap in sophistication and accuracy over spacecraft previously launched from Havel (Colony spacecraft excluded). Its mission would be to not only map the entire surface of Innis but to find out what had happened to the Terreska. Had it possibly remained intact or—more likely—broken apart on impact? It had not been expected to impact at all. Why hadn't the ship, or at least parts of it, re-emerged after passing behind Innis?

As the launch day neared, work on the Picarin continued at a frenetic pace. The construction crews were well aware of what was happening on Havel, but completion of the sphere section was at a critical stage, and it could not be moved. Even if the Picarin could have left Innis, the stealth mode configurations had not been tested, and there would be insufficient time to find another sanctuary in the inner solar system. There was nothing to do but continue with construction. Probe mission statements did indicate that polar areas would be the last ones mapped.

At the same time, Bryn Colony refugees were arriving on Innis in increasing numbers, and Colony schools faced a rapidly approaching deadline. All legal appeals for student exemptions had failed, and Colony children would be forced to take the required classes, either in their own schools or in public ones. The normal two-month school recess was almost over, and authorities would soon learn that nearly all of the Bryn children had already departed with their parents. Once this was known, the Colony was sure to be thoroughly investigated, occupied, or even held accountable for imagined crimes. If any of the leaders were detained, it might be impossible to rescue them. Because they were already under scrutiny for other perceived offenses, all doors had been closed to asylum seekers in neighboring countries.

The lunar probe was launched a week before the new school year began. It had been delayed, first by mechanical problems and then by a powerful storm system that had blanketed the entire region for several days. Once in space, it stayed in a planetary orbit for a day and then proceeded to its rendezvous with Innis. There were no problems en route until instructions were sent to decelerate the spacecraft for lunar orbital insertion. According to confirmation signals sent back from the orbiter, thrusters had turned the probe backwards to fire its main orbiter engine. But just before ignition the craft had suddenly spun back to its original orientation. When its engine fired, it accelerated instead. Its high-speed impact on the moon's surface vaporized the satellite and sent up a plume of dust so large that it could be seen without a telescope from Havel.

School officials in the district surrounding the Bryn Colony had expected to hear from colony representatives during the summer recess but had not. Even when school registration deadlines began to pass with no word, they simply assumed that administrators there had chosen to have new teachers sent to their schools. When they still had heard nothing with only three days remaining, they sent a small group of officials to the colony. When they arrived, they found all community buildings emptied, not only of people, but of furnishings. Even their schools and public libraries had been stripped of almost everything that could be moved.

There had been one witness to whatever had occurred there, a municipal electrician responding to a months-old request to fix a streetlight. He had arrived at night, and, while waiting for rain and lightning to subside, he suddenly noticed two large flying objects slowly descending into the walled courtyard areas of the Bryn Institute. When he was questioned about this later by authorities, he said he thought the entire colony had been abducted by invaders from space. Yes, he told them, he had actually seen their ships, but only for brief moments during lightning strikes or rain squalls. It was like they were somehow appearing and disappearing. Two large bulbous vessels and then two smaller cylindrical ones had descended repeatedly into the colony and made several trips to a much larger vessel occasionally visible above the clouds. That ship, he said, was so impossibly huge that he knew he would never forget seeing it. No, he had not seen any obvious means of propulsion in the smaller ships, but the large one seemed to be suspended in the air on large blades. In addition, he also told them, sometimes lightning seemed not only to flash near the ship, but to emanate from it. And between those flashes, raindrops seemed to glow briefly on impact with things unseen. No, he had not thought to call anyone on his radio. He had spent all of his time trying to stay hidden to avoid being captured, even though, he admitted, he had seen no signs of violence. When asked if he thought the vessels he had seen were spacecraft or airships, he said he did not know; but he had never seen airships of that shape or size.

While searching a colony classroom normally reserved for weekly religious studies, a local official found one damaged blackboard left behind. On it, a child had scrawled in large letters, "GOODBYE. WE ARE NOT ALIENS."