The Blueprint

The window exploded in a spectacular visual cacophony of light as the planet and its twin moons broke out of it’s solunar eclipse cycle right before his eyes.  It had been nearly a year since Colonel Chris Smisson had departed his homeworld on this solo exploration of the galaxy and, while he had seen many exciting and interesting things in his travels thus far, the cosmic dawn he witnessed this day from his vantage point in high orbit was like nothing like he had ever imagined.

The view from the spacecraft took his breath away.  In a matter of seconds, he left the cold, darkness of night where he had been shielded from the bright light of the sun powering this solar system.  The planet he orbited had matching twin satellite moons in precisely opposing orbits.  Their orbits were aligned in such a way that the beginning of each lunar cycle was characterized by one moon being illuminated by the light of the sun and casting a shadow of itself upon the planet below while the other moon was cloaked in darkness, it’s light being eclipsed not only by the planet it orbited, but by its sister moon as well.

The planet itself was a rich range of greens, speckled with small blue spots which Chris theorized indicated a rich variety of flora, watered by the many small round lakes he could see from orbit.  The moons seemed to be copies of the planet they patrolled, each with a rich green color and many visible lakes dotting the landscape.  It was as if someone had placed three giant marbles in outer space, two small ones orbiting one “shooter.”

Chris had just finished remarking to himself about the beauty of the terrain below when the light show began.  As the moons each cleared their respective horizons, light from the sun reflected off the lakes and shone on the other two heavenly bodies.  He imagined he could actually follow the rays of light on their first voyages from one moon, to the planet below, and back to the moon again.  Somehow, all the rays of light combined to create a multi-spectral elliptic halo around the formations, encasing the planets, moons, and the perfectly symmetrical beams of light inside it.

“It’s like a diamond inside a rainbow.”  the voyageur heard himself saying out loud.

The short passage above is the opening page of work of fiction I began writing a while back.  It is a story about a stellar explorer who arrives on a strange planet with a unique form of government which includes representation of the population by two separate and distinct bodies.  These bodies, known as the “Columns” and the “Pillars” are not only responsible to the people to represent their interests and well-being but are also responsible to physically support their seat of government.  Our explorer is introduced to this special society and has a chance to observe what happens when the Columns and Pillars begin to shirk their duties.

Obviously, this is an allegorical story.

I’ve never attempted a long work of fiction.  Take a look at Once Upon a Time for an example of “allegorical satire” I wrote some years ago.

The question is, given what you’ve seen so far, “Is it worth finishing?”

I’ll take positive comments and “Likes” on Facebook as an indicator of interest in a finished product.  Readers’ thoughts will be most appreciated.

cma