Lunari by Tala Bar	Preface Table of Contents Preface Introduction 1 The Flight 1 1 part 2 2 The Planet, 1 2 part 2 3 Meetings, 1 3 part 2 3 part 3 4 The Controller, 1 4 part 2 5 Visions of Earth, 1 5 conclusion
Introduction

There were nine of them, personally picked by ancient Lilit to go on the small spaceship Incentive for the purpose of joining the newly founded colony on the planet Astria. Earth had been devastated, only a small area of it suitable for living. The survivors of the Catastrophe had been building a new kind of society, but some of them preferred to take advantage of their highly developed technology, and leave Earth for a new life elsewhere.

The people on board the Incentive were a varied group, some highly skilled and others of a more spiritual nature, all following that tiny, dark woman called Lilit. She had an Oriental appearance and telepathic ability, and she had acquired a great name on Earth owing to her strong character and benevolent disposition.

Before their trip they had been training together for a long time, becoming a cohesive group that had the characteristics of a family, with both mental and physical qualities tying them to each other and with Lilit, their natural spiritual leader.

For the flight, however, it was Leshem, astrophysicist and engineer, who was in charge of both the organic and the mechanical functioning of the ship. She was a middle-aged woman of extreme beauty, with dark reddish-brown hair not yet turned silver, a pair of flashing green eyes expressing her free and domineering spirit, and a lovely, curved body full of love and warmth for her fellow creatures.

The nine passengers of the ship, who were also its operators, were strapped to their seats as the ship was getting away from the bondage of Earth’s gravity, starting its tortuous journey through the Solar System. After a while, Leshem came out of the control room into the adjacent common room, leaving the consoles in the hands of Ziv, her colleague and mate.

Ziv was a young man around thirty, with a slight body and a shock of golden hair, dark blue eyes and a timid personality. He was a brilliant mathematician who served as the astrogator of the ship. He had spent most of his time since the beginning of the trip in the control room rather than in company of the others.

Leshem entered the common room with a light, almost floating step, as gravity on board ship was adjusted to half that of Earth. She swept the passengers with a discerning glance, searching in particular for her oldest mate, Lyish. “Are you all right?” she asked with concern the large, black man in his sixties, who was being helped out of his seat and safety belt by young Nogah.

The contrast between the two could not have been greater. Nogah, a rational social-historian under thirty years of age, was a silvery woman with very fair hair and light gray shining eyes; these eyes looked lovingly into the big man’s kind, dark brown ones. Lyish was a physician and a geneticist, whose profession was also his calling for helping people everywhere.

“It’s years since I’ve felt my body so light!” he exclaimed, as he stood on his feet, only slightly nodding before getting stabilized. Then he bowed toward the tiny old woman who was supporting another member of the family. “Thank you, Lilit, for taking us on this trip,” he said.

The person whom Lilit was supporting was much younger than herself, though slightly older than Ziv and Nogah. Mira was a poet and an artist with some undeveloped telepathic power; she was tall and slim, with curly black hair and a pair of magical turquoise eyes. She lived much in her dream world and was not quite versed in the physical art of existence.

Lilit’s deep black eyes were shining toward Lyish just as Leshem called out to her family members, “You’re missing the sights!” as she stretched her arm in the direction of the transparent viewing wall.

Nan and Ofer were already standing there, exchanging words of admiration. Nan was a woman of around forty, a geologist with the earthly appearance of a solid body and soul, curly short brown hair and warm brown eyes. Ofer was a psychologist; a bisexual man of around fifty, with a round body and a loving, laughing personality.

“How long will it take us to leave the Solar System, Leshem?” asked Lyish. He collected Nogah in his arm and half carried her toward the viewing window; Mira and Lilit coming after them. “Look, Mira,” he added, “This sight can give you a new point of view for inspiration, can’t it?”

The Moon, larger than all their dreams, covered half the viewing window. On the airless background, though, it seemed less glowing than it used to look from Earth, its lines more sharply drawn with less of its usual spiritual or romantic ambiance.

“I don’t think I’ll have anything to say about that,” Mira murmured.

Leshem, hoping she did not really hear the depression in Mira’s voice, approached Ben. He was the last person to join the group before the trip, and had not yet been completely accepted by some of the family members, although he had had previous relations with Nan.

Ben was the last to get out of his seat, and Leshem urged him on, sensing his mental as well as physical difficulties. “Come, Ben, I’m sure this will interest you: look how different it all looks from Earth.”

Ben, an all-round highly skilled technician, was a naturally shy person who found it difficult to connect with others. His greatest affinity was with Nan, to whom he resembled in the solidity of his body; on Earth he worked at checking new climbing equipment, and he used to go on many trips with the geologist Nan for that purpose.

It was Leshem’s task, both as their technical leader and with her basic loving character, to help him find his place among the others during their training for traveling in space.

* * *

Having done her social job with the family, Leshem went back to the control room and sat, sighing, beside Ziv. “What are you thinking?” she asked him, as he seemed deep in some contemplation she could in no way grasp.

When answering, Ziv’s eyes did not turn to her but were directed at the enormous white disk seen through the viewing window. “Look at it!” he cried softly in a tortured voice. “Where is the spiritual beauty? Where is the magic of the mysterious always connected with it?”

Leshem gave him a look. She was a very materialistic person and had never guessed at the mathematician’s deeply seated emotions. “I didn’t know you were such a romantic, Ziv,” she jested.

Ziv shook his head and did not answer, but sighed deeply. “What are your ideas about the trip, Leshem?” he asked, as if trying to get away from his own depressing reflections.

She looked at him curiously. Besides the occasional love making, most of the talks between them were professional and technical, while his spiritual relationships were mostly conducted with Nogah and Mira.

“I am excited to be here, in Space, on this trip,” she said frankly, capitalizing the idea of space. “I have such great expectations of what is going to happen, of the adventures we’re going to have, and even the difficulties. Everything is so new, so different from our previous experience...”

“But aren’t you afraid of all those unknown, forthcoming experiences?” Ziv’s voice trembled, and Leshem realized that he was expressing his real feelings by this question.

“Well, fear is part of the excitement, isn’t it?” she replied, but Ziv shook his head, and she was not sure what he meant by that movement. She stretched an arm and, in her usual physical way, hugged him as she always did when not knowing what to say. Ziv leaned lightly toward her full body but did not submit to the hug. Leshem decided to leave him alone for the time being.

Being left alone again, Ziv gazed emptily at some inner space that lacked the wonders of the ship’s surroundings. Half consciously, he noticed some words appearing on the monitor before him. “You have to learn, Ziv.”

Learn? Learn what? He had dedicated all his life up till now to learning, but it did not seem to have helped him in this difficult hour. And who would send him such a message? It must be Lilit, he decided. That ancient woman had always been interfering in his life. Should he confront her? No, he decided, let it be, he thought, returning to his gloomy reflections.

* * *

One of the first things Leshem did after the first excitement was over was to organize her passengers in their tasks as work force. They all gathered in the common room, and various jobs were divided among them according to their skills and abilities.

Ziv, of course, had his preordained task to fly the ship. The trip was designed for three years, with the first and last stages planned in detail in advance; but the way throughout space was open to variations and diversion, and he felt the burden of his responsibility to take his family to their goal with not too many mishaps.

Maintaining life on board was assigned to Lyish. He was naturally in charge of the large, fully equipped laboratory; but he was also appointed responsible for the hydroponics garden, to which recycling facilities were attached. In this he was helped by Nan, who had added a special botanical course to her geological profession before they set out on the trip.

Ofer and Nogah, in their intellectual capacity and their empathic natures, were in charge of people’s well being and the regular function of their personal and social life; they also formed an auxiliary force for any other job needed to be done.

Mira, on the other hand, not a very practical person at the best of times, was asked to keep a record of life on board in which she should mention anything that was happening. There was no way to assure her consistency in doing anything that was not connected with art or poetry, but it was better for her to be both busy and responsible for something, so as not to feel too useless.

Ben, the highly skilled technician, although mentally remote from the rest of the family, was a very necessary part of its existence on board ship; he was naturally in charge of maintaining all the machinery under Leshem’s supervision. Both Leshem and Lilit had enough hope for the improvement of his relationships with the others with the help of their encouragement.

Sleeping arrangements were loose, depending mostly on people’s working shifts and on their momentary inclinations. Three rooms were assigned for the purpose, each fitted for three persons to sleep in, with attached bathrooms; but no fixed occupation was determined, and people were free to choose any room or bed that suited them at any given time. They were a family, and behaved in the way a family would in their physical and mental relationships.

Copyright © 2009 by Tala Bar

Open Challenge 319...