Logan Mitchell and the Earthrise Light

The din of kids laughing and talking filled the Creche. Leela stood in the middle of a gaggle of toddlers, taking turns swinging them in big circles. Strings of brightly colored ribbons were hung on bookcases and door frames. A large ‘Merry Christmas’ sign was taped to the wall. To her right, Sasha and Rami were setting up a snack table with cookies and punch. The Creche director stepped into the center of the room and held one finger high over her head.
“One!” The kids and the adults in the room shouted. She held up a second finger.
“Two!” A third finger went up.
“Three!” By the count of three, the toddlers and the adults were seated quietly in chairs and on the floor.
“Merry Christmas!” The director said in a very cheerful voice.
“Merry Christmas,” the group replied as one. Sash leaned over to Rami.
“Where’s Logan?” Sash whispered in Rami’s ear. Rami shrugged his shoulders and held his hands out, palms up.

* * *

Logan Mitchell stood looking through the clear glass of the newest dome in Austin’s Colony. Although it was night on the surface, it was close to noon colony time. The lights in the dome were dim. The almost dark Martian winter sky was filled with stars. A pale blue dot was already clearly visible above the eastern horizon. Earth.
The new triple-glass dome was optically clear and gave an outstanding view of Earth. People came here often. Just to stand and ponder how far they were from everything and everyone they had ever known. How far they were from the home of humankind, and the origin of all that it was to be human. Logan was facing west, toward Jupiter and the Asteroid Belt. That’s where his father was.
Dan and Irene Mitchell had lifted from Earth just over two years earlier with their son, Logan. Logan had just started middle grades then, and now was halfway through his second middle grade year. He wondered what his dad was doing now. In a Starship moving slowly and carefully through the Asteroid Belt. Stopping to assay promising chunks of what had maybe been a planet at one time. Nobody knew for sure. Logan chuckled to himself, remembering his dad saying that there were plenty of so-called scientists who would tell you they knew.
A long flash of light in the direction of the landing pad caught Logan’s eye. He turned his head in that direction in time to see a silver Starship balance on a tongue of flame as it settled into the arms of the big landing tower. When the flame died, Logan could see the bright lights of the tower shining against the metal skin of the craft.
Logan drew in a breath and released a heavy sigh. His dad had been gone for almost six months on this trip. Two more weeks and he would be riding one of those rockets home. Pulling his eyes from the sky, Logan checked his watch. He had enough time to get back to the classroom for his last day before Christmas break. But just barely.

* * *

Logan walked down the Main People Way toward the science area and his converted lab classroom. The wide half-circle corridor could pass eight people side-by-side, but today there were only a few. He nodded at people he knew as he passed. Mostly adults, but a few kids close to his age were ending their lunch break and heading back to work or school. Thanksgiving was two weeks in the past. A few people had simple holiday decorations on their doors. A scrap fabric wreath, a small emergency lantern, the image of a decorated tree, a menorah, or even a Jesus is the Reason for the Season poster or two.
Logan thought as we walked. The colony was the same as it had been a week ago. People busy. Building lives and families on a new and hostile world. Little time for celebrations or frivolous things. He hadn’t seen a single image of Santa Claus since he landed with his family. This was fine with Logan. His mom and dad had always been frugal, feet-on-the-ground people.
Still, something was missing. Even Austin’s Colony seemed less cheerful than normal to Logan. He was still pondering this when he arrived at the door of his classroom, and a bit surprised to find himself already there. Logan ran his hand across his thick red hair to smooth it, but it sprang back up as soon as the hand had passed.
Logan walked into the classroom and saw Rami and Leela sitting close together near the front of the room. He was briefly puzzled. Leela always sat at the front of the room. That was to be expected. He and Rami normally sat about midway back. Close enough to see the big screen, but far enough away to monitor a discussion rather than participate if that seemed prudent. Kids and adults filled the room, many of whom he did not know. A group of new chums had just landed. There were only a few empty seats.
Logan looked next at the person standing near the front of the room. A lady who looked to be in her sixties was standing and talking to Austin Myles, the colony’s governor. The big man towered over the diminutive older woman, but he was smiling and speaking in soft tones.
Leela spotted Logan and waved him to join her and her older brother. Rami and Leela were both tall and dark-complected. Rami was sitting back in his chair. He waved a hand at Logan. Leela was sitting ramrod straight in her chair. Her wave turned into a frantic patting of the two empty chairs next to her. Logan grinned at the younger girl and walked toward the indicated chairs.
“Thank goodness you got here,” Leela said with a wide smile. “I HATE saving seats. It seems unfair sometimes.” Her dancing eyes told Logan that she didn’t mind all that much. Leela pointed to the chair next to Rami. Logan sat.
“Good!” Leela said. She indicated the empty chair between her chair and Logan’s. “Sasha can sit here.”
“Where is Sasha?” Logan asked as he looked around the room.
“She said she had to check on something,” Rami replied. He checked his watch. “If she doesn’t get here soon, she’ll miss the story.”
“Story?” Logan asked. He looked at Myles and the older woman. Myles nodded. The woman opened the cloth bag on the desk in front of her. She pulled out a white cloth bundle that had strips of color visible around the edges. Myles opened his mouth to speak just as Sasha tumbled into the room. Her light brown hair was windblown, and her cheeks were red. Her breathing was rapid but controlled.
“Glad you could join us, Miss Rivera,” Myles said with a smile. He motioned toward the chairs. Sasha smiled her big smile back at the older man and looked around until she spotted Leela’s raised hand. Sasha eased past several people and sat down next to Leela. She whispered something in Leela's ear, then sat and looked attentively at Myles. He cleared his throat.
“Thank you for coming,’ Myles said. “Mrs. Bennett has graciously agreed to share her memories of the first Christmas here in the colony. Some of y’all may have heard others talk about it before, but everyone has a front row seat to their own story. And Mrs. Bennett had the opportunity to see something special. I have managed to convince her to share it with you today. Please join me in giving her a warm welcome.” The people in the room applauded along with Myles. The large man moved to the side of the lab and perched on a tall stool.
Mrs. Bennett was unremarkable in appearance, Logan thought. A short, trim woman with hair that was mostly gray. Half-glasses sat near the end of her small nose. Pale hazel green eyes looked more over than through them. A dark blue cardigan hung loosely over her shoulders. She wore Hab coveralls that looked almost as crisp as Myles’s. She smiled to reveal strong, even teeth set in a firm mouth.
“Thank you for having me,” Mrs. Bennett said in a voice that was strong and sounded younger than her years. “I’m not accustomed to public speaking, so I hope you will bear with me.” She picked up a glass of water and took a sip. “If you can’t hear me, let me know.” People nodded. A few raised their hands quickly in acknowledgment, then put them back down. Mrs. Bennett smiled again and cleared her throat.
“I think we had been here for about six months,” Mrs. Bennett said in a louder voice. She looked at the overhead, then brought her eyes back down. “Seven,” she continued. “We were on the surface then. Tunnels were still more than a year away. Starships were coming and going almost every hour. They brought more huts, materials, machines, oxygen, water, food supplies, and more people. We were two and three families to a hut back then.” She paused. Logan could tell she was reliving that time in her mind’s eye.
“The first real dome had just gone up. Governor Myles,” she motioned toward Myles, “made a proclamation that the first Christmas would be held in the dome under the stars.” Myles nodded as she spoke.
“Life was hard, but we had enough and we had each other,” Mrs. Bennett continued. Her voice steeled. “There is some blood in the concrete of that first settlement. We lost some good folks. My husband was among them.” It was so quiet in the room that Logan thought he could have heard a speck of dust drop on the floor. A couple of people coughed. Logan closed his eyes. The new chums always caught something that the old hands called the Newbie Flu when they landed. Most lived through it.
“That was when I learned to weld. And see a sick child through the night. And set a broken bone, and a hundred other things I hope you young ones will never have to know.” The older woman looked down at the floor and then back up at the room full of people. “Then, right after Thanksgiving, the storm hit.”
“Now, you all have seen storms, but we’ve not been blessed with another storm like that first one. Seemed like it sprang up out of nowhere and acted like it would stick around forever like a bad relation.” A few older people in the crowded room chuckled.
“Power got low, and the huts got cold,” Mrs. Bennett said. “We were down to the last few cases of rations when we woke up that Christmas.” The older woman shivered. “I don’t think I’ve ever been that cold in my entire life. Even under our pressure suits and every quilt we had in the hut, we were cold. My daughter Evie, who was eight at the time, and I snuggled while we slept. That helped, but then we got back up. The colony didn’t stop for the cold.”