A Pale Blue Dot

Caze and Rebexi’s family life had been harmonious, despite the challenges of living in the Blue Colony, but they were shaken to their respective cores when Zily came home from school crying.

“Darling,” Rebexi said, as she stroked Zily’s hair. “What happened?”

Caze hovered behind Rebexi, troubled by his daughter’s blotchy face and reddened eyes. Zily sniffled, burrowing her head into Rebexi’s lap. 

“Jaro said…” Her voice was muffled. “Jaro said how come you don’t go to church on Starday? He said…”

Caze stifled a gasp then spoke encouragingly to Zily. “What did he say, sweetheart?”

“He said that if you don’t go to church on Starday then you can’t go to heaven - you’ll go to Earth!”

She broke down again. Rebexi patted her back while Caze tried to reassure her, but they looked at each other, concerned. In eight years their interfaith relationship had, of course, been through ups and downs, but they’d been determined to make things work. Caze went to church on Starday and the observational days, while Rebexi went to the Stella temple on Lunaday and kept a shrine in the living area for the Stellan gods. They spoke respectfully about each other’s beliefs and before Zily’s birth had decided not to impose either of their religions on her but that she could decide when she was old enough. Zily had been to the Pog church and the Stellan temple occasionally but neither had been particularly interesting to her. They had not expected that Zily would be forced to reckon with her family’s beliefs at only five years old.

Caze and Rebexi did their best to cheer Zily up but later that night, after Zily had gone to sleep, they sat on the couch, both leaning forward, elbows on knees, brows creased.

Caze spoke first. “Perhaps it’s time that we made more effort with Zily and church? And the temple, of course. She’s a bright kid. She can start thinking critically about these things.”

Rebexi nodded. “Yes, I think it’s time. I just didn’t think it would start so early. Honestly, people need to keep their opinions to themselves.”

They reminisced about when they had first met in the Green Colony and fallen in love, the many well-meaning but pointed arguments their parents and extended family had made. It had been a difficult time but it had cemented Rebexi and Caze’s love for each other and their commitment to living an amicable, unprejudiced life. News stories about religious intolerance made them grateful for the peace they’d managed to create in their little family. Now it had been breached. They decided that, if Zily was willing, she would go with Caze to the Pog Church on Starday, and then on Lunaday she would go with Rebexi to the Stellan temple. On Lunaday evening they would then do something together as a family.

Zily accompanied Caze to the Pog church on Starday and then the next day to the Stellan temple with Rebexi. On Lunaday evening, her parents probed gently for Zily’s thoughts on her religious experiences. Zily smiled at them, saying that she had liked both the church and the temple but why didn’t they all go together? And why was there so much standing then sitting then standing then kneeling?

“Well, darling,” Rebexi said, “the standing and kneeling is for different parts of the ceremony. You show your respect to the gods by kneeling when you pray. And then when the priest is speaking, you sit quietly and listen. Sort of like at school.”

“But why don’t we all go together? How come you only go to temple and dad only goes to church? And why did the priest at the church say there is only one god but the priest at the temple said there are many gods?”

“Sweetheart,” Caze said, “your mother and I have different beliefs. We belong to different religions. It’s like how we support Ursa Major but some of your friends might support Canis Major. But we can all watch the game.”

He was pleased with the starball analogy he’d come up with on the spot but Zily still frowned.

“But daddy, we all go for Ursa together. We don’t go for different teams in our family. Anyway, Ursa Major is the best starball team.”

“I was raised in a Pog family, which is why I’ve always gone to Pog church, and mummy was raised in a Stellan family, which is why she goes to the temple. But we can still love each other and be a family. Now, how about some ice cream?”

Zily came home again crying the next day, and every day after school. At first, she told her parents in detail about the bullying (Jaro, again, saying that she couldn’t go to church and the temple, that Stellans would go to Earth with all the unbelievers) but as the week wore on, she became quiet and withdrawn. Caze and Rebexi tried to reassure her that it was just kids being silly, that she wasn’t going to go to Earth, and that she should tell the teacher if it continued. When they brought up Mister Silver, Zily just shook her head. Worried, her parents said that they would speak to Mister Silver themselves. 

The meeting with Mister Silver started well. Mister Silver complimented Zily’s intelligence and creativity but when Caze cleared his throat and spoke about the religious bullying, the teacher began to frown.

“I see, I see,” he said. “Thank you for bringing that to my attention. It’s hard to know what’s going on behind closed doors.”

Caze glanced at Rebexi. “Behind closed doors? I think it’s all been happening in the playground. And even, with all due respect, in your classroom.”

“I meant, we were unaware of the family situation. That Zily has not been properly baptised into the Pog faith. And your, ahem, unorthodox marriage.”

Rebexi leaned closer. “Mister Silver, this is a public school, not a religious school. It shouldn’t matter whether ZIly has been baptised or not. And our marriage shouldn’t matter either. We just want the bullying to stop.”

Mister Silver sat back in his chair and smiled down his nose. “Now, Ms Blume, you may not like to hear this but it is in the best interests of your child that she is brought up properly. In the Pog church. You could consider converting yourself.”

“We didn’t come to you today to talk about our religion,” Rebexi persisted. “We came to ask you to do your job as a teacher and stop the bullying!”

Mister Silver stood up, still smiling down his nose. Rebexi noticed the Pog medallion hanging from the chain around his neck.

“I think this meeting is finished,” he said. “Please think about what I’ve said. I will keep an eye on Zily’s behaviour.”

Caze and Rebexi shook their heads, confounded. It was like they were back on the Green Colony. Always the same problems. Why couldn’t people just learn to respect others’ decisions? Especially when they weren’t hurting anyone. They left Mister Silver’s office without shaking hands and collected Zily from the playground, finding her sitting alone against a wall.

Once Zily was in bed, Caze and Rebexi sat down for another long discussion. They’d been having hushed talks every night about the other children in Zily’s class but now they were up against the school itself. The idea of moving schools hovered in the air between them. Then Rebexi mentioned the conversation she’d had with her parents back at the Green Colony.

“I’m not saying that we need to move back there. But it’s something to consider. Apparently, things have really improved there in the last few years. It’s like all the old problems came here.”

Caze thumbed his jaw. “It’s a big move. Honestly, why should we move? We’re not the ones at fault. Especially Zily.”

“I know, I know. I’m just saying what I’ve heard. And what happens if the bullying doesn’t stop? Do you think the school is going to do anything? Would things be better if she went to a Pog school or a Stellan school?”

“I don’t know.”

Caze had been sent to Pog schools and he’d told Rebexi about some of his experiences there. It was partly why he only went to church on Starday and the special days. She knew that he would not be keen to send Zily to the local Pog school here if the behaviour of the bullies at her current school were anything to go by.

“Look, there’s no need to make any big decision now. It’s just an option. My parents would love to see us again. And Zily of course.”

“Let’s see how the next week goes. Hopefully, they’ll get bored with their bullying and forget about it.”

The school bullying worsened but more troubling was the interference of zealous Stellans at the Parents and Citizens meeting. They harassed the school board and any Pog staff members present. In turn, teachers like Mister Silver squared up to the Stellans. Rebexi wondered why Mister Silver didn’t find a job at a Pog school. There were a few around, more than there had been on the Green Colony.

On the morning that Zily refused point-blank to go to school, Caze gave in.

“Let’s do it. I’ll look into working remotely. I’m sure you’ll be able to do the same.”

Rebexi gave Caze a tired hug then hurried to book flights. The next interplanetary craft left at the end of the week. They had four days to pack up their life on the Blue Colony and make a new start. If it was true that the sectarian extremists had left the Green Colony for the Red, then hopefully they could achieve some peace again.

The flight day came around quickly, even though Zily had not attended school at all during the week. As the family boarded their flight, Caze took one last look behind him. Rebexi sighed. They had both had such high hopes for the Green Colony. How things had changed.

Zily was still subdued but she became more excited as they buckled into their seats and the attendants brought around zero-gravity snacks. It was her first flight. Caze talked to her about the engineering that went into building spacecraft such as these to distract her from the jarring take-off.

The craft was almost empty. The attendants mentioned that it would probably be more full on the return trip. Rebexi tried to relax by watching the in-flight movie.

They were approaching the Green Colony’s atmosphere when the meteor shower hit. It created enough turbulence that the pilot turned the craft around to wait for a safe entry. As she did so, a large meteoroid flew past their craft, clipping a wing and they began to spin. Zily vomited, crying, as chunks of her zero-gravity snacks floated around the craft. The noise from the failing spacecraft was tremendous. An attendant shouted to them to find an eject pod, just in case. Hands linked, they made their way to one of the pods, grabbed an oxygen suit each then sealed themselves in. Inside the pod, the noise and commotion were only slightly muffled. Caze said a silent prayer to Pog. Rebexi made the Stellan hand symbols, even as she clutched Zily to her chest. The attendant stared at the monitor which showed that the spacecraft was still unable to right itself but then something else hit the craft and the eject pod was thrown into space.

Caze threw his arms around Rebexi and Zily. Rebexi already felt like the force of the ejection was crushing her, now with Caze it was almost unbearable but the thought of losing either Zily or Caze was worse. After a long minute, the noise stopped, and it was still inside the pod, although they knew that they were probably travelling at thousands of kilometres per minute. The monitor had gone blank so they could only guess. After another minute of silent free-falling, there was a series of loud thumps as they were bumped around. 

“We must have entered the Green Colony atmosphere,” Caze said.

The pod accelerated on, finally hitting the ground with a bone-shaking thud that caused them to pass out.

Rebexi was the first to open her eyes. She turned her head left and right to release the tension in her neck, then shook Caze gently. Zily’s eyes twitched and then she tried to stand up. 

“Careful, darling,” Rebexi said. “Take it slowly. We’ve fallen a long way and at great velocity.”

The flight attendant lay against the wall, breathing but unconscious. Caze stood up and checked on him, then the monitor. He could only get it working enough to show them the view from one of the external cameras. Wherever they were, it was not the Green Colony spaceport. A dry landscape surrounded their pod, bright sunlight glaring off the concrete structures in the distance. Where were they, and how long had they been passed out? 

“What can you see?” Rebexi asked.

“Are we on the Green Colony, daddy?”

Caze shook his head. “I’m not sure where we are. But not to worry. We have oxygen and the emergency supply store. But we should try to find help for the flight attendant. The craft can’t be too far.”

Rebexi was apprehensive about how far they had drifted and where they had landed. She hoped that they were on the Green Colony and that the spaceport was not too far from where they had landed.

“Let’s check our oxygen then we’ll go and see where we are,” Caze said. He helped Rebexi with her oxygen suit, then Zily.

“Ok, let’s do this.” Caze pushed open the escape pod’s hatch and he stepped out into the light. Rebexi followed him, holding Zily to her.

The expanse of dry, hot land surrounding them was unsettling. Only a few crumbling buildings in the near distance broke up the dry, bare landscape. Caze and Rebexi glanced at each other, neither willing to go any further than the safety of the pod. Fortunately, there was oxygen in the air here so they removed their helmets.

The sound of whispering reached them. Perhaps it was a light wind? The noise grew closer and then a group of about ten people emerged from one of the concrete buildings. They were dressed like the people in textbooks about the twenty-first century on Earth. Zily clung to Rebexi.

A member of the group stepped forward and bowed. The rest of the group did the same. Caze and Rebexi looked at each other. Caze was about to speak when the first of the group to approach them stood up.

It was a woman, with brown, sunworn skin. She bowed her head and spoke in a clear voice but neither Caze nor Rebexi could understand her. The women turned to the others and they began to chant. 

“What are they saying?” Rebexi whispered.

“I don’t know,” Caze said. “It sounds like ‘jed die, jed die’?”

“What does it mean?”

“I don’t know but it must be significant.”

The group continued their chanting while the leader spoke, finger pointing to the sky. She had a preacher-like quality to her address and Zily wriggled in Rebexi’s arms to watch. The woman caught sight of Zily watching her and stopped her monologue. She walked closer to Rebexi and Zily and then dropped to the ground, crying out in her strange language. The group stopped their chanting and also approached, fanning out in a semicircle around Zily and her parents, joining the woman in a new chant.

“Bay bee yoh daa! Bay bee yoh daa!”

Rebexi’s jaw dropped. This was too unbelievable. Could they have landed on Earth? She thought about how they must appear through these peoples’ eyes, mysteriously emerged from their ejector pod.

“Caze,” she murmured. “I think…They must think that we have fallen from…heaven?”

Caze blinked. “No, that’s ridiculous. I…”

As Rebexi and Caze attempted to reconcile this strange encounter, the sky darkened like inky night. The woman and her followers continued their chanting, entering a trance-like state. The air around them stirred, like a thick soup, and the heat intensified so that sweat dripped from their faces. Rebexi twisted her head around, troubled, then grabbed Caze’s shoulder and pointed to the sky.

“Asteroid!”

Caze stared for a few seconds at the pinprick of light that was swelling and swelling.

“Back into the pod! We’ll be safe there.” He pushed Rebexi and Zily back towards the pod entrance. Rebexi turned. “What about these people? They’re in danger!”

“No time! Get back in with Zily.”

Caze spoke to the woman leader but she was deep in her trance and would not straighten up to see what was happening in the sky above them. Frantic, Caze tried to shake her, then some of the followers, but to no avail. He bolted back to the eject pod, pulling the hatch shut behind him. 

BUREAU OF METEOROLOGY, SPACE WEATHER ADVISORIES

Blue Colony orbit: clear conditions

Green Colony orbit: some meteor showers expected

Outer space, intra-colony region: white alert issued, catastrophic meteorite warning in force, avoid space travel.