“What the hell just happened?” asked Smith.
“It was just like a lunar eclipse back on Earth, but the moon doesn’t orbit us,” Garrett answered. “We’re supposed to be on the same path as Earth, but it seems that someone lied. I can’t be sure of what just happened, but it appears the Earth just eclipsed the sun, which means that either we are one of Earth’s new moons, or Earth is ours.”
“No!” exclaimed Spencer. “You’re wrong. I was there when they told the solar team that Circadia and Earth were locked into the same orbit. They said that Circadia didn’t orbit the Earth, that it rotated just like Earth, but right next to it. They said Circadia orbits the sun!”
“Well I’m sorry, but I’m a lunar astronomer, and I’m telling you, Earth is blocking the sun right now. Which means that we are one of Earth’s new moons,” Garrett growled back. “I need to go talk to the space crew, see if they know anything.”
“Wait! What does this mean, then? If we’re orbiting Earth and the Earth is blocking the sun, or the other way around, what's going to happen?” I asked.
“Nothing good, I can tell you that. How bad? I have no idea. All I can tell you is someone fucking lied.” Garrett ran off under the light of the moon.
Our team sat in shock.
Who had lied? What reason would they have to lie? Then it set in. I knew exactly who had lied, and the reason they had. Leslie Marshal, director of Grow. That stupid reality TV show that had sent us here. Entertain Now Productions. Did they have enough money to pay the government to keep people quiet? My heart pounded in my chest. I was angry. So angry. I felt my face turn hot. “I think I know who would have a reason to lie,” I said. “A damn good reason. Someone who never cared what was going on here on Circadia, or—” Taking a moment to slow my breathing and clear my head, I continued, “Someone would need a lot of money to cover up something this big. It seems crazy we didn’t know this.”
“I know what you're thinking, and it pisses me off too, but he’s a million miles away now,” Jane said.
“Yes, he is. I hope he dies a slow, painful death suffocating on his lies,” I replied. The hatred that left my mouth was almost sickening...almost. I had never felt that way about someone in my entire life.
“You think Leslie did this?” asked Spencer. “He would’ve had to lay down a lot of money to cover this up. Plus, we're here with crowdfunding money—it’s not even his! You think he used the crowd-funded money to lie to everyone?”
“Who else?” said Jane.
“Would it be so bad if Leslie lied?” asked Smith. “Would you have come here if you had known all of the dangers? Or would you have turned them down like the other hundreds of experts they tried before us? Maybe he had good reason,” he offered.
“You think he lied for the good of science?” Jane asked. “Are you kidding?”
“It would have made for great TV if we had ‘discovered’ this while being on nearly live television. Would have attracted a lot of attention and made for some interesting stories up here. Not to mention, all the viewers he would have gotten and all the money. Oh my God—I am so mad right now.” The anger was enough to make me shake. I took a deep breath and tried to calm down. “I need to go for a walk.”
As I walked away, I looked out into the sky to see the dark Earth illuminated by lights. He was down there, somewhere, not giving a shit about what was happening up here, worrying only about himself. I tried to clear him from my mind, but the thoughts wouldn’t go away until I hit a realization. Leslie sent us here, saving us, but he’s still down there. The singular thought was enough comfort and karma for me to relax. He had screwed himself by trying to screw us, and it brought me some joy. We still had no sun at the moment, though, and were unsure of how long we were going to be going without. That was a problem.
I hoped Garrett would be able to figure things out. It explained why the production company had sent him with us. They hadn’t left us completely helpless. They knew that Circadia was another one of Earth’s moons, so they sent us with a lunar astronomer to at least give us a clue. If anyone could figure out what to expect next, it was going to be him. Seeing as how Earth had two moons now, or Circadia had two moons, we were navigating unfamiliar territory. That’s where Garrett came in. He was an expert, one of few, who studied other planets that had multiple moons. If anyone could let us know what changes to expect, or what would happen next, it would be him.
Jogging through the encampment of huts and through the new housing, I came upon Garrett talking with the space crew. They all stopped talking and looked at me as I slowed to a halt. “Got any ideas on what’s going on yet?” I asked.
“Yeah, it’s not going to be great,” Garrett said.
“How bad?”
“We’re not going to see the sun for a week by my estimates,” he said, his eyes downcast. "Turns out Circadia is one of Earth’s moons now, for sure.”
“What?”
“Yeah, and we have five hundred more people that are going to be here in four days,” he said. “What do you think that will do for the panic around here? Luckily we are in the ‘habitable zone’ and our atmosphere will keep us warm enough to survive. It’s going to get cold, though.”
I looked to the space team. “How did you guys not know? You flew the ship, right? Wouldn’t
