Third Moon Rising Read online

  Carlos came prepared to present the formal documents as previously arranged, but he was nervous about doing so under these circumstances. He had never been much on pomp and ceremony. He had signed the two original copies, and Gloria had rolled them into formal looking scrolls and tied them with gold ribbon. Pteleg Bnethem was to sign both copies at his convenience and return one to Carlos to consummate the agreement.

  Carlos was surprised when the Zilan leader arrived on the balcony at sunset and came directly over to greet the team.

  “Ambassador Sepeda, we are honored to have your team participate in this holy night of observation, worship, and reflection.” The leader bowed and then moved on to take his seat at the front center of the observation platform.

  As dusk turned to nightfall, the inner moon became prominent in the sky as a half-illuminated orb located overhead, and the outer moon rose above the eastern horizon. The outer moon looked larger than normal as viewed through the long atmospheric path while it was still near the horizon, and was almost blood red in color. The moon lost its reddish glow as it rose higher in the night sky.

  As the two moons approached their balanced position with respect to the eastern and western horizons, Ceripe turned and signaled Carlos to approach and present the documents to Pteleg Bnethem. He walked slowly down the central aisle and stopped a respectful distance in front of the leader. He bowed his head in the traditional Zilan posture to request an audience and waited for an indication he should step forward.

  He was startled upright by the sudden exclamations of wonder all around him, and watched in shock as all Zilans dropped to their knees facing the western horizon, with hands clasped in prayerful positions. He turned to see what had drawn their attention and gasped involuntarily at the apparition in the sky. He stared in awe at the bright third moon rising from the western horizon. Remembering where he was, he backed away a short distance down the aisle and dropped to his knees.

  How could it be? His mind raced to question the phenomenon occurring in the western sky. The third moon continued to rise above the horizon counter to all reasoning about how moons should behave, and counter to his knowledge that no object of any substantial size was orbiting anywhere near Zilia. He understood orbital mechanics, and what he was seeing was at odds with anything he could imagine that could occur naturally.

  How could such an object appear abruptly from nowhere in one night, and at exactly the time the two natural moons of Zilia reached their balanced positions in the sky? Could it be an artificial satellite of some kind? What type of satellite could appear out of nowhere and shine brightly as he was now observing? Carlos’s mind danced around the thought that something supernatural might be occurring, but he refused to acknowledge this.

  Whatever it was, it had to be huge and in a near-planet orbit. Considering the extreme distance away of anything known to be associated with Earth, it was unlikely it had come from there. Besides, he couldn’t fathom any reason Earth would do this. Perhaps it was something staged by the Zilan leadership to underscore the giant step forward their civilization was hoping to make in the near future. However, he couldn’t imagine anything this advanced coming from a people with the technology he had observed so far. It would be difficult, if not impossible, for even Earth to perform such a feat.

  His mind continued to search for reason, refusing to acknowledge possibilities raised by the fervent reaction of all Zilans on the observation level. Was it possible the advanced extraterrestrial race detected by Earth many decades before had created the orb? If so, what was the purpose? This musing sent a fearful chill up his spine. If those extraterrestrials were in the area, wouldn’t they contact the Zilans directly as Earth had done? Try as he might, he could not make any sense of what he was observing.

  Carlos rose slightly so he could shuffle backward to his seat with the others. He looked questioningly at his teammates, but they all shook their heads in wonder at what was happening. They had best keep silent until they could sort out what was happening, if that were possible.

  Eve, are you monitoring my NI?

  Yes, Carlos, and we are observing the large orb that has appeared in orbit around Zilia.

  Has anything definitive been determined about the orb?

  No, but observations are ongoing.

  Good. I will contact the New Horizon as soon as practical.

  The third moon climbed steadily skyward to intersect the inner moon as it moved to the west. The eclipse of the inner moon evoked low fervent murmurs from the kneeling Zilans. As the night progressed, the outer and third moons intersected at nadir, creating the second eclipse that night. The inner moon soon dipped below the western horizon. The other two moons continued on their paths, with the outer moon setting below the western horizon as the third moon slipped below the eastern horizon. The Zilans maintained their reverent positions as dawn began to lighten the eastern sky.

  Carlos marveled again at the exact timing of the celestial events. The observations would obviously be different from other locations around the globe. The third moon’s appearance highlighted the particular confluence of events that night, with the focal point being the Temple of Zilerip. The alignment with respect to the temple of the natural moons was explainable—historical observations of eclipses showed the Zilans where to build the temple. However, he could not explain the appearance of the third moon and its synchronization with the other two.

  The team remained respectfully quiet as the Zilans continued their reverent vigil, until Ceripe finally approached Carlos.

  “I suggest your team return to the embassy, for the night’s observations are coming to an end.” Her voice was tight with emotion.

  She took the formal documents Carlos brought to present to Pteleg Bnethem and started to turn away. She stopped when she noticed the questioning look on Carlos’s face. She came close and reached out to touch his arm.

  “Read the prophecies in the Book of Zil,” she whispered, and then continued back to her position next to the supreme leader.

  Ceripe had presented the Book of Zil to Carlos upon their arrival. What could that book have to do with events this night? He had skimmed the front matter in the book shortly after settling into the Earth Embassy and had then turned it over to Sharon Ling. What was it Sharon had said about the Zilans believing their god would return as a third moon shining brightly during a Holy Seven-Year Two-Moon Phase? He couldn’t remember the details. He shook his head in wonder and confusion, and motioned the others to follow him off the balcony.

  As they traveled back to the embassy, Carlos noticed that Maxwell and Sharon were unusually quiet and withdrawn, in contrast to the others, who were engaged in lively debate about the meaning of the third moon. He asked for silence and then asked the two what they thought about the event. Sharon cleared her voice and tried to say something, but no words came out. Maxwell did not attempt to provide any answers.

  Sharon finally found her voice and provided an intriguing summary.

  “There is clear reference in the Book of Zil about the return of the Zilan god, as I believe you know in general. What you may not know is the specifics of the prophecies regarding how this return would occur. They indicate the Zilan god would return to greet the balanced moons in a Primary Two-Moon Phase, to join them in jubilation during their full eclipse in a Holy Third Moon Rising event. An extended period of prosperity and advancement for the faithful citizens would follow this momentous event. The signs of the return were addressed in detail, with the initial indications as we observed tonight.”

  Sharon paused to let the significance of the prophecy sink in. “One other thing should be noted. There is a short prophecy easily overlooked at the very end of the prophecy section. It’s almost as if it were added as an afterthought. It indicates the appearance of emissaries from a place far away and unknown to the people of Zilia would precede the Zilan god’s return. And the visitors would carry keys for opening doors to knowledge of tremendous, lasting value.”

  It was appar
ent from expressions on the faces around the compartment that most had not read this prophecy. Carlos certainly had not. The team remained quiet throughout the remainder of the trip back to the embassy, in deep reflection on the events of the night. The remarkable events certainly put a different twist on their mission.

  Carlos hailed the New Horizon on his personal communicator as they approached the compound. An excited Licia Wells answered. “Thanks for calling. We were reluctant to contact you since we didn’t know if you were still at the temple. You should have seen what we observed from here in orbit!”

  Jorge Shivaro spoke next in a voice more muted but excited nonetheless. “It seems impossible, but a large spherical object appeared out of nowhere as we passed over the western edge of the demarcation of night and day on Zilia. The object was farther out than our orbit by almost five hundred kilometers, and it was shimmering, as if oscillating between two relatively close orbits. It moved rapidly in an arc west to east and then slowed when it was in line directly between the outer moon and Zilia. It tracked with the outer moon for a short time, then increased velocity toward the eastern horizon.”

  “Did you run any tests against the object?” Carlos asked.

  “Yes,” Licia replied. “We performed scans over the entire electromagnetic spectrum. It didn’t emit any radiation that we could detect, except the visible light that enabled us to see it in the first place. We even pinged it with laser and microwave beams. But no energy was reflected back for us to analyze.”

  “There was another strange thing,” Jorge said. “It did not appear to be illuminated in areas where it could not be seen from Zilia. But we could see it was completely spherical because it blocked our view of stars beyond the sphere.”

  They talked a while longer, but no one could make any sense out of what they had observed. Carlos terminated the connection after he advised Licia and Jorge he would send a message up soon about the spectacular events that night for transmission to Earth and the Messier Colony.

  Carlos transmitted the message right after arriving at the embassy. The message was concise, describing the phenomenal Third Moon Rising event, the fervent reaction by the Zilans, and the observations from the spaceship. The message indicated more information would follow as soon as some sense could be made of the event.

  After he sent the message, Carlos thought about their deep-space probes orbiting Zilia. Could they have detected anything? If so, was there any insight or data the people back home could provide that might help explain what had happened around Zilia? He quickly called and had Licia add the appropriate questions regarding possible observations from the probes before sending the message.

  Carlos asked everyone to meet again later that afternoon. It was just after sunrise, and they all needed a good sleep period before the meeting, after which they would have the evening meal. They should have adequate time to prepare for any possible interaction with the Zilans after that.

  “I’ll be along after getting a snack,” Gloria told Carlos as the group was dispersing.

  He nodded, and headed to their quarters to review the Book of Zil prophecy section. The information was readily available since Sharon had scanned it into their knowledge-based system. He called the prophecy section up for review and began perusing the information.

  Sharon was correct, of course, but he had to read it for himself. And there it was, the Third Moon Rising prophecy clearly written millennia before by Zilan scribes early in the formative period of their religious doctrine. There was no reference to the source of the prophecy other than an obscure mention about information coming directly from God through visions experienced by the most religious of their order.

  He searched for references to Primary Two-Moon eclipses and major decisions or events occurring in time near those eclipses. The large number of responses was astounding. It seemed that about everything of consequence that had happened or was prophesized in the Book of Zil somehow related to Primary Two-Moon Phases. More interesting was that the most dramatic decisions and events correlated with Holy Seven-Year Two-Moon phases.

  A prompt from the communications device still attached to his belt interrupted his research efforts. The message was strange, for it indicated the New Horizon could not send the recent message to tell Earth and the Messier Colony about the Third Moon Rising event. Some glitch in the communications system kicked the message back when queued for transmission. Licia’s note indicated they were investigating the problem and would advise him as soon as they sent the message.

  Strange, they had not experienced any significant problems with their communications systems before this. He acknowledged receipt of the message and turned back to the search results. A quote in the prophecy section highlighted what Sharon had indicated. “The next coming will be preceded by emissaries in the likeness of Zil and the people of Zilia, coming from a place far away, bringing great treasures of knowledge and wisdom.”

  Thinking of the timing of their arrival, he could see how the invitation by the Zilans had resulted in the team’s arrival almost a year before a Primary Two-Moon eclipse phase. And a Holy Seven-Year Two-Moon Phase at that! Carlos broke out in a cold sweat. He now understood why the Zilans had showed no concern about the team bringing anything infectious to Zilia and were surprised when the team underwent a self-imposed quarantine period.

  He input search parameters to locate references to “Third Moon” and again had text presented from the prophecy section. “The presence of Zil will be manifested by the rise of a bright Third Moon, which will soar to join the other two moons in Holy Union. This Holy Third Moon Rising will occur during a Primary Two-Moon Phase.”

  These prophecies made the events of the night seem surreal. The information also addressed the prophecy of an extended period of advancement and happiness after the Third Moon Rising event came to be. He shut off the terminal and sat reflecting on the phenomenal set of events they had seen and the potential meaning of the prophecies closely related to the events

  He slammed his fist down on the desktop in frustration. Why had he not read this before? It would have helped greatly in dealing with the Zilans. What could they expect now?

  He turned to find Gloria standing just inside their bedroom, watching him with concern. He seldom vented anger. She came over and embraced him silently, which he welcomed. Right now, the only thing he could be sure of was the solidity of his relationship with her. The night’s events had shaken his knowledge based practical perspective on life and the universe.

  They continued to embrace and murmur endearing words as they made their way to bed, there to engage in intimacies with fierce intensity. It was as if they were grasping for something to carry them back to solid ground in their thoughts and emotions. They went to sleep exhausted, cuddled close together.

  FIFTEEN

  THE AIB

  Carlos woke to a dimly illuminated room. The close personal encounter with Gloria earlier in the day immediately came to mind. He smiled at the thought, then stretched and yawned. Something didn’t feel right; he was alone in bed. He was the early riser of the two and a light sleeper, and should have noticed Gloria getting up.

  He reached to turn up the lights. The light control was not there!

  He felt around the head of the bed for a few moments, trying to find the control, and then sat straight up. He was in a small room that had neither door nor window nor any other openings apparent in the walls, ceiling, or floor. What was this, a dream, or had the Zilans whisked him away somewhere?

  He looked around for a control mechanism to turn up the illumination, but none was apparent; the surrounding surfaces appeared to be uniformly smooth.

  Great, guess I’m in the dark in more ways than one, he thought. To his surprise the room immediately brightened, and his growing bewilderment deepened as he discovered the off-white walls, floor, and ceiling were indeed uniformly smooth. Could Eve be involved?

  Eve, are you monitoring my thoughts? No answer came.

  He looked up
the ceiling, which appeared to be iridescent. On impulse, he went over to the opposite wall and ran his hands over its surface from the floor to as high as he could reach. The wall material near the corner about halfway up was porous, allowing air to flow into the room. There must be another such panel where the air exhausted.

  As he turned back toward the bed, it registered in his confused mind that he was wearing clothes, a loose-fitting, light-blue tunic top and dark-blue trousers, and a pair of dark-blue slippers. He had gone to sleep in his own bed with no clothes on, as had Gloria! This only deepened the mystery about what had occurred to place him here, wherever here was.

  His thoughts turned again to Gloria with concern about what might have befallen her. To his astonishment, the wall at the head of the bed turned translucent to reveal a similar room with the only furniture being a bed. The figure on the bed was that of Gloria, still asleep and apparently oblivious to the situation. Was this all a dream, all in his mind?

  His thoughts jumped to the other team members. Were they in similar rooms as well? The translucent wall went briefly opaque, then translucent again, showing another member of the team in an identical room. This process repeated nine more times, showing the other members of the team. All were sleeping as if they had no worries. Everyone was accounted for, even the two who had been on the New Horizon.

  This was becoming weirder by the minute. Each change occurred immediately after he thought questions or concerns about something. Could someone or something be listening in at some level to his thoughts and responding generally to his questions and concerns?

  I might as well test the thought. No pun intended, he added mentally. Then an impression came of a thought not his.

  “You are indeed being communicated with directly,” the thought conveyed, “and all your questions will be answered in time. Concentrate on those questions regarding your current situation first and the more general questions later.”