Absolutes

Chapter 01

Part 1

Absolute pitch? No, they are much more than that! Their musical language of contralto chirps, twitters and trills produce absolutely enchanting musical phrases. The ever-changing multicolored filigree of their skin texture is absolutely marvelous. Their slim bodies and their smooth, harmonic movements, their agility and the physical strength they expose in their enviable muscles are absolutely amazing. Their integration with nature, respect for life, appreciation of knowledge and relationships between individuals are absolutely admirable. There are so many absolutely incredible things about them... Absolute pitch? Yes, they also have the most perfect hearing imaginable, but they are much more than that!

They are absolute!

Chapter 01

The Temple of Life was a circular enclosure with a vaulted ceiling whose curves extended to the floor. The vault had a dominant color that resembled a blue sky. A large panoramic ellipsoidal window through which it was possible to see the arid and barren landscape of the surroundings. The scenery was beautiful in its own way! The temple stood on top of a mountain. The view from there reached many kilometers of dusty soil and large rocks. The sun, always low on the horizon in that polar region, threw stretched shadows from the stones over the sandy ground. In the distance, rugged mountains framed the perfectly black sky, sprinkled with stars. The crescent Earth showed blue oceans and white clouds that barely allowed seeing Africa partially covered by the nightshade. The vision towards the infinite formed an extraordinary contrast with the interior of the hall, full of life and colors. Omnipresent plants made that environment a sample of a rainforest, scented by various types of flowers. Small waterfalls provided a soft murmur that was the only thing to hear.

"Why, what a surprise, Jon! Your presence in the temple is quite rare, but at this hour in the morning, it is awesome! Be very welcome!"

Jon responded to his friend's curtsey. Then, he hurried to the center of the temple, passing by the ferns and bromeliads around him, paying no attention to them. As the ritual dictated, he stopped, closed his eyes and breathed, one deep inhale, one slow exhale. Still facing the window in which the Earth hovered above the horizon, he replied:

"We have a very serious situation, Trev!"

The priest did not answer. He gave Jon some time to find his rhythm so he could talk. They knew each other since they were young and it was only natural for one to realize the anguish of the other. Trevor knew there was something very serious by the way he walked in and by the nuances of his friend's skin color. Since he took over the leadership of the Toutatis Colony, Jon was suffering from the inherent concerns of his position. Trevor had always been his refuge in the most difficult times at the Transterran settlement on the Moon. They were long-time confidants and advised each other in all sorts of situation from family crises to political or clerical issues. Trevor imagined something going wrong in the colony's power plant.

"The colony was discovered," said Jon, still breathing deeply and staring at the Earth in the huge panoramic window.

"What? How? When?" Trevor became very alarmed. It was much more serious than he could have imagined.

"A satellite in polar orbit," Jon replied. "It passed over us only five kilometers high, about an hour ago. Pictures of us are circulating throughout the offices of the Terran leaders..."

Trevor did not know what to say. What could he tell Jon in this situation? The satellite should have been intercepted before transmitting the images. It would take a single magnetic pulse to turn it off, but it was not done...

"We restored the camouflage," Jon continued, turning to Trevor. "On its second overfly, the satellite photographed only rocks and dust, but the images taken on the first one left no doubts..."

The priest, still stupefied and speechless, wondered why, after all, they were not camouflaged when the satellite passed...

"We were not camouflaged," Jon said, as if listening to Trevor's thoughts, "because we had a planned release. Our pier was exposed. There was no overflight warning in this area. It had an extremely low orbit, impossible to detect except when it was too late."

Trevor began to realize the implications of that and his legs weakened. He crouched slowly, in the manner of the Transterrans, adjusting the weight of his body until he felt more relaxed.

"Does our network on Earth already know?" Trevor asked, finally freeing himself from the torpor caused by the surprise.

"Yes, that was the first thing I did. I got in touch with them. I figured they might have time to intercept the images before they spread, but things are happening so fast... Even we, here on the Moon, have received back our own images. The political turmoil is devastatingly spreading."

"They cannot reach us. They cannot know of what's going on here," Trevor said.

"The possibility of being discovered was predicted before the colony was set up, Trev. There is a protocol with very specific actions, which must be performed in the next few hours. That's why I came to you."

Trevor stood up and approached his friend with a heavy heart, suspecting he was going to hear something terrible.

"What are you talking about, Jon?"

"We do not know if they will come, but if they do, we cannot stop them... Not without making things even worse. If they attack us, we will defend ourselves, but we cannot risk the colony being invaded. We'll have to be prepared to erase our tracks if the invasion is imminent."

"You're talking about..." Trevor paused in the middle of the sentence, but Jon nodded and they finished the sentence together. "...self-destruction."

A long, heavy silence settled between them. Trevor crouched down again. It was inconceivable! So much time, work, and knowledge... It was unacceptable to the Priest of Life, a position that corresponded in several ways to a chief scientist.

"There has to be an alternative, Jon! We cannot destroy everything that was done here, "said Trevor.

"You know, better than I do that, if the Terrans invade this base, there can be far worse consequences than the death of a few hundred of us."

Trevor agreed with his friend, only nodding slowly. Jon approached him from behind and put his hands on his shoulders, both with eyes lost in the Earth that floated impassively in the starry sky. They did not need to speak to know that they shared the same thoughts: that beautiful blue sphere wrapped in white clouds seemed so far away in space... Yet its troubles were affecting lives in caves dug at the edge of a crater at the South Pole of the Moon. It was too sad that such an audacious and beautiful enterprise had to be summarily erased from the map, forgotten in history.

What about the children in the colony? The clans were forming and there were many young Transterrans born on the Moon. It was horrible to think that none of them would reach adulthood. Thinking about his own death brought him only a vague concern, but he could not admit children being sacrificed.

They kept silent for a long time. Jon finally revealed the specific reason for having come to the temple:

"I'll need your help to plan the details of the actions of an extreme solution, if necessary."

Trevor nodded again. He had to be strong! Yet, when Jon left and he found himself alone in the temple, he squatted again and softly sang a chant of pain and suffering.