1.
From the Lunar Library Digital Archives
FADE IN on a statue of Neil Armstrong. The statue is illuminated by ambient light from no clear source against a black backdrop with a smattering of stars.
PULL OUT. The backdrop is a transparent dome looking out into an infinite black sky. The statue stands on a pedestal in a field of Kentucky bluegrass that runs to the dome’s walls.
A young woman in her late twenties is standing by the statue. Lithe with dusky hair, she is beautiful. Her gray jump suit highlights her curves and her large expressive eyes twinkle with inviting light.
“Hello, People of Earth,” she says. “My name is Sarah Yelm and I’m the Public Relations Officer for Tranquility City.”
She steps towards us.
“Have you ever gazed up into the night sky at the Moon and noticed a bright point of light to the lower right? That is Tranquility City. Here. You can see us best with a pair of binoculars on a dark night.”
She steps into the grass, the view retreats.
“Some of you may even be astounded that people can live on the Moon. Throughout this video tour, I will be showing you just how we live up here; what a regular day is like and maybe even giving you some interesting science facts that are fun for the whole family.”
She gestures to the dome, the sky, the grass, and the statue.
“This is Armstrong Park. The center of Tranquility City, this is the original dome constituted, errr. Constructed… errr.”
She waves at us.
“Essica, back that up. We need to start again from ‘some of you’.”
Static. Chunks of data. Blue and gray lines chase each other along the horizontal and the vertical.
FADE IN on a kitchen. It’s not a large kitchen, but it seems to be built along a curved wall giving the illusion, perhaps, that there is more space in this tiny kitchen then there really is.
The dark-haired girl is cooking on the small electric stove.
“Come on,” a female voice says from off screen. “Come on, Sarah, you want to tell the ‘People of Earth’ what you are doing?”
Sarah rolls her eyes and says, “Essica, put that away.”
“Why? You don’t think the Earthlings need to know about lunar life?”
The voice is laughing now. A slight giggle enters everything said.
“Tell the camera what you’re doing…”
“Fine,” Sarah says exasperated. “I’m making an omlet.”
“A lunar omlet, did you catch that Earthlings? For the folks on Earth, tells us the civilized way of spelling ‘omlet’.”
“Oh em el e te.”
“That’s right, camera stay,” the voice says coming around the frame. It belongs to a girl with malt blonde hair, no more than seventeen or eighteen. “We got rid of all those nasty extra letters.” She nearly trips but catches herself.
The views floats, staying fixed on Sarah. It pans with her, only a slight bob reveals that it is not a steady image.
Essica comes around to Sarah and says, “Come. Let’s get a picture.”
They grin at us.
“Camera,” Essica says. “Still photo in two.”
Red numbers appear in the upper corner.
Two
One
Flash.
Static. Digital noise and garbage.
BLACK.
Above Earth
☾ O ☽