| | FICTION: JUVENILEWORKS |
BAROON — Part 6 BY J. ROBINSON WHEELER | Introduction |
Space.
Though there were Baroonianastronomers, of course, those that looked out into the night sky with telescopesdid not see as far or as clearly as Dialan astronomers. The Dialans clearlyhad the technological advantage with optics, and one Dialan, who happenedto be in charge of the best telescope on the entire moon, was making hisnormal rounds this evening, and happened to notice something so subtle that,had he not gotten a good night's sleep the previous evening, which was arare occurance, for the most part, in his lifetime, and were he not beingextra careful in his measurements, it would have been beyond notice. Truly,he saw something that Baroonian astronomers would not glimpse for at leastanother month or more. It was almost one of thosethings that you can sense is there, and see it with your peripheral vision,but when looked at directly does not show up. A vague shimmer of light.A new star? A strange cloud? The highest magnification available revealedit to be a large group of individual lights, dazzlingly bright to be near,surely, but compared with the brilliance of starlight... The astronomer made noteof this, keeping a careful record of changes over the next 8 months, whereupona second phenomenon of similar, though not exact, kind, would appear onthe opposite side of the sky. By this time, he will know what they are,and will have reported their existence to everyone he could find. News ofthis discovery will be leaked top scientists and world leaders of Baroon,and no one else on the planet. Needless to say, the publiceventually finds out, and a large panic ensues. But, relatively speaking,that is far in the future.
"So," said Ulk. "Yes?" answeredGregeo. "Tell me," addedTod. "Yes?" answeredLaupo and Gregeo. "What do you call Dialaand Baroon in your language?" "Well, of course, wehave many languages in our culture, but in our language specifically..." "Yes?" "Uhm...well, you see,Baroon is not all that much to look at. In fact, it's pretty ugly. And,maybe, that is why we call it Desna." "Is the word 'Desna'associated with ugliness?" "I think we'll let youfind that out for yourselves during your stay. Diala we call Minsa." "I like the sound ofthat. So you all are Minsans?" "Or Minsaans?"added Bal, altering the pronounciation somewhat. "Well, in your languageI suppose we would be Minsans, but our way of saying it is a bit different.Inhabitants of Minsa are called rho-minsa." "Are they." "Yes, they are." "I see." "Yup." A pause.
"So..." "So."
A second pause.
"Hmm." "Pardon?" "Nothing, just mumbling." "Were you?" "Yes, I was." "Ah." "Hmm." A third pause, much likethe others.
Followed by a fourth pause,slightly longer in duration, but a pause nonetheless.
Another pause.
"So, you guys want togo back to Baroon?" "Yup." "Okey-doke." By the next morning, thebrave group of historians, Neb, Tod, Bal, Ulk, and Zin, were safely backon home soil, and the Dialan astronauts were in orbit again. Within twodays time they were back on the moon, safe and sound. A month later a differentgroup of Dialans landed once more. The only people who cared were the fiveBaroonians, one of whom was Tod, the historian, who returned with them.This was the first instance of a Baroonian setting foot on the moon. Theyhad a wonderful time, and a few weeks into their visit a small satellitecrashed on Baroon, containing only a postcard with a Dialan postmark. Itread something like this:
When the Baroonians returned3 weeks later, overflowing with anecdotes and souvenirs, everyone seemedwilling to be friends again. There was a wash of cultural exchanges, anda ferry service between moon and planet was available to those who wereenourmously wealthy. Baroonians were welcomed into Dialan society, but innowhere near the proportions of the Dialan's first welcome. Soon, the Dialanshad started a huge program of education in both language and customs allover Baroon, and a few months later the first Baroon-oriented facility appearedon Diala. The two cultures seemed to build a relationship like two long-lostcousins who finally meet and want to learn everything about one anotherin the course of becoming friends. It was all going so well, even aftera year since the Baroonians first set foot on Diala. Then the news broke of theincoming invasion fleets. Surprisingly, no panic ensuedright away. The historically unbelligerent Baroonian society first had tobe told what an invasion fleet was. Then, and only then, a large worldwidepanic broke out. Needless to say, none ofthe Baroonians had the faintest idea what to do. Fortunately, a group of exceptionallysharp Dialans did.
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