Heirs of Planet Life

V - The Revelation

The boy had his eyes fixed on the Moon. The fear of distancing from planet Earth was gradually replaced by the wonder of seeing the stars he had studied and dreamed up close, the constellations, the beautiful and solitary immensity of the Universe. His eyes started to get watery when he thought of his family, which was getting further and further away from him as time went by. Perhaps if Sanches were there, he could also help with his peculiar optimism.

Zara stood next to him and grabbed his hand, showing him that everything that was happening was real. She knew how attached he was to his family.

"I'm here by your side, Nicholas. Please, don't worry. Even with so much for you to understand I can tell you I'll protect your life as if it were mine. About your family, soon you'll be with your mom and sister again."

He wanted to believe in the woman's words very much, but he couldn't, and no matter how good it was to be by her side, things were too strange and surreal by now. If everything she was saying was true, there was no way out. How could he manage to escape from the spaceship without a battle with its crew? Worst of all, how would he go back home? What was left for him to do now was to go ahead in that adventure and wait for a better chance to escape.

Aware of Nick's insecurity, the girl decided to take care of him affectionately. She knew he needed time to believe in everything that had been said. From now on, all information that would be given to him would change his opinion of reality as he knew it.

The boy would see the world from another perspective.

Zara hugged him affectionately while he watched the immensity of the Cosmos. Despite that surreal situation, he was attracted to that woman who made him fall in love for the first time in his life.

Within seconds, the Moon showed itself bigger and closer. It was bright, lit by the Sun, rays of light sparkling around it. It was such a wonderful vision.

If Nick already loved to watch Earth's natural satellite when it was full and from a distance, watching it so near was the epitome of beauty for him. On his right side, he could see the blue globe he called home, a giant home for billions of human beings. He felt like an astronaut, and he could have an idea of how euphoric the astronauts themselves must have been when they saw our planet and its satellite for the first time from such a privileged angle.

He saw its huge and grey craters as if in a big sandy desert with no living soul on its surface. He saw its dark plains full of depressions formed by craters which have been made by the comets and asteroids' hits for millions of years. He looked further away and saw some parts formed by a sequence of mountains.

The spacecraft surrounded the Moon, and the moment the boy saw himself on its well-known dark side, he began to look with attention at every detail. Suddenly, the ship came to a stop and landed on the light side of the Moon. After landing, Nicholas felt his body and soul relax a bit.

His dream had come true at last, and it looked as if it would be far better than everything he had read in books and magazines.

For the first time in his life, he was able to watch the immensity of the Cosmos up close. He glanced at the Sun and admired its brightness; he stared at the planets in our solar system and at its distant stars. Everything was marvelous.

He was excited with the possibility of being the first human being to see the stars from such an extraordinary perspective: from the inside of a spaceship furnished with high levels of technology. What he didn't know was if he would be alive to tell his story to the world.

Then, he put his wonder aside, turned away from Zara and started thinking about the purpose of that journey.

"What do these ETs want from a person such as me, a mere student with no links to scientific or technological researches? I wonder if they are telling the truth or if they intend to dissect me like humans do with guineas pigs."