ANNOUNCER
This is Consortium Channel 5, Moonbase Reports and Broadcasts – Processed by Zhengzhou Enclave, Communications and Senssuround Capital of the Consortium.
The Consortium interrupts this broadcast for the following sponsored message.
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ANNOUNCER
Good day. This is a secured transmission – do not decrypt at any public terminal. As complications have been uncovered in the shutdown sequence for Moonbase Theta, Consortium Communications has been asked to provide archival files for certain active personnel. The following is a report on said personnel activities … Before the Moon.
The following is file BTM-E4, codeword “Sweetness.”
(We are in a private garden bordered by an orchard, shielded enough that we do not hear any outside sounds. There may be occasional birds, or the hum of insects. We hear the rustle of stalks being parted as Elena and Nessa enter.)
ELENA
Now, before you pass through the secret portal …
NESSA
Do I have to pay a toll?
(they kiss)
ELENA
I don’t mind at all, but … here.
NESSA
(bemused)
Another chocolate?
ELENA
How dare you? This is a dark chocolate truffle with ginger … orange … and pomegranate.
(we hear Nessa react as she bites into it)
I had them made for you just yesterday.
NESSA
Yesterday you were on call in Zhoukou because … problems with the river wall …
(she realizes the setup)
You’re a devious woman.
ELENA
Eat your chocolate, love. And now …
(we hear the leaves rustle again)
NESSA
Oh my goodness! How did you even do all this? I had no idea.
ELENA
You may have laid out the garden –
NESSA
Cultivated, watered, pruned, weeded, sang to –
ELENA
But I programmed the gardeners. I love that you sing to the plants.
NESSA
Thank you. It’s a perfect little hideaway. I can’t believe you did all this for me.
ELENA
Oh, I have my ulterior motives, don’t you worry.
(she laughs, Nessa laughs – a bit uncertain, and they settle into the grass)
Now that I’ve dragged you away from the throngs …
NESSA
(guiltily)
It is my farewell party.
ELENA
They’ve been holding parties for a week! I needed a few moments with you all to myself.
NESSA
I’m not really complaining.
ELENA
Good. This is our time, honeybee.
NESSA
(amused, more at ease)
Honeybee?
ELENA
We’re in the garden. It seemed appropriate.
NESSA
Even if our bees are all nanobots?
ELENA
They hum, they flit about, they make the sweetest things. It still fits.
(they kiss again)
NESSA
All right then … Mirabilis jalapa.
ELENA
(enjoying this)
That’s my nickname?
NESSA
Mirabilis jalapa, the four o’clock flower, one of the most beautiful, with the most delectable fragrance.
ELENA
Say it again?
NESSA
(teasingly)
Mirabilis … jalapa.
(Elena coos, pleased)
ELENA
That’s my true intent … to get you alone and make you tell me the names of every plant, over and over again.
(the leaves rustle)
These bushes here, that we passed through?
NESSA
Those are Coriaria nepalensis, masuri berry.
ELENA
And over to the side, the … lilacs, you’d call those … ?
NESSA
Syringa pubescens? The subspecies is microphylla.
ELENA
Oh, I better have that one again.
NESSA
Syringa pubescens … microphylla.
ELENA
Feel my heart. That’s what you’re doing to me.
NESSA
Oh.
(a little embarrassed)
Oh.
ELENA
I mean, you can keep going, you know I won’t stop you. I didn’t bring you out here for sex …
NESSA
(playing along)
No?
ELENA
But there’s a blanket and I’m always willing, sugarcane.
NESSA
Saccharum officinarum.
ELENA
Now you’re going to get it.
(we hear them kiss for a while)
NESSA
What were you saying before?
ELENA
I might have forgotten. But wait, no, my plans shall not be set awry.
NESSA
(a bit nervous)
You keep mentioning these plans …
ELENA
(she laughs)
At the moment, my plan is to feed you these tomato, mushroom, and parmesan tartlets. And these, I didn’t buy. I made them with my own two hands. You can tell because I burnt my thumb right … there.
NESSA
I’ll take care of that.
(we hear a kiss, and then the sound of a tart shell being bitten; she speaks with her mouth full)
Oh my, Elena, the taste! The flavours combining so well.
ELENA
I do enjoy my umami.
(another kiss)
And my you-mami.
NESSA
(laughing)
That may be the worst joke I’ve ever heard you make.
ELENA
But you laughed. That means you’re complicit.
NESSA
(chuckles again)
I need a drink after that.
ELENA
(pouring a glass)
A tartlet, a jug of wine, and thou, my love.
NESSA
(we hear her gulp it down)
Another, please?
(She gets a refill. For a moment, they sit together and listen to the sounds of the garden around them.)
NESSA
I am really going to miss this place.
ELENA
And me.
NESSA
(a bit embarrassed again)
Of course, and you.
ELENA
I’m just teasing … tartlet.
(Nessa laughs)
I’ll take good care of your garden while you’re away, I promise.
(she sounds a bit dubious)
Even though my thumbs are not the greenest.
NESSA
You’re going to do just fine. I’ve left notes for every possible situation, cross-referenced by plant, soil type, pollination and watering schedule and pH balance –
ELENA
(chuckles)
Yes, they’re absolutely exhaustive. Which somehow makes me even more nervous!
NESSA
And I can answer questions even when I’m up there. I left instructions for that, as well.
ELENA
Yes, you have to promise to send me messages. I want to hear all about life on the moon. And your work. And the plants you grow.
NESSA
(teasingly)
Each one by their genus and species.
ELENA
If you insist. You know what I particularly like? Those plants with the tiny white flowers down by the riverside.
NESSA
The Alisma canaliculatum?
ELENA
Ahhhh. Yes.
(after a moment)
Especially as they don’t require much attention. Unlike your poor girlfriend, who will be lingering over every word you twinkle down from above …
NESSA
Twinkle?
ELENA
I was going for a space … thing.
NESSA
I’ll do my best to … twinkle … as often as I can.
ELENA
I know you will. You’re so reliable. One of the many things about you that I adore.
NESSA
(a little deliberate, changing the subject)
Here! I’ve got a little treat for you. You’ve fed me so many morsels today.
(we hear vines rustle)
Vitis heyneana. Mao pu tao, wool grapes. I worked with this species when I was a graduate student. The fruit used to be inedible, but I –
ELENA
You sweetened them?
(eating)
They’re delicious. And perfectly ripe, I could tell as you were picking them.
NESSA
You could not!
ELENA
I could hear it in the way the vine was creaking.
NESSA
I still think you’re making that up.
ELENA
You know you love my special skills.
(We hear Nessa sigh. Another quiet moment, the breeze rustling the leaves around them, the clinking of a glass.)
ELENA
It’s so different, being able to hear it all … the rustling of the leaves as the wind moves them, every syllable, every shade of tone to your voice. I can even hear the music back at the house, they’re listening to blissfunk. I spent years in a world that was muffled … like being underwater, or beneath the blankets in bed. When we met … I had to watch your lips to make sure I wasn’t missing anything. But now I love the details, the music of the Latin, the tumble of sounds and your breathing and the rustle of your clothing as I do this …
(We hear them moving around a bit, and more kissing, and a few quiet murmurs.)
ELENA
Oh, sweetness.
NESSA
(after a moment)
I … should go back to the house.
ELENA
No. Please, not yet.
NESSA
It’s my party.
ELENA
This is your party too. Ours. I need more of you, love.
(Nessa sighs again)
You keep flinching every time I say that word.
NESSA
It’s nothing.
ELENA
It’s not the first time I’ve said it.
NESSA
It’s not … I feel like we’re building to something.
ELENA
Something like what?
NESSA
We’ve been … for a few months now, and it’s all so perfect. You’re so nice to me, I can feel it all … deepening. And now I’m about to leave and that’s when there are big declarations, big confessions of … I know I have this perfect family that I really fell into, but I haven’t done a lot of dating really, I’m not good at the whole, “This is who I am” part that should happen at the beginning and now it’s not the beginning anymore and I’m just …
(she stops to breathe)
I’m sorry, I’m making a mess of things.
ELENA
Oh, honeybee. My dear Nessa.
(the briefest of pauses)
You can breathe, jujube.
NESSA
(amused despite herself)
Jujube?
ELENA
My favourite candy. You don’t have to worry, sweetheart, I know what’s scaring you. Yes, I love you, and yes it’s in that way … I can’t imagine not loving you. But no, I’m not sitting here waiting for you to say it back.
NESSA
I … don’t understand.
ELENA
Do you think I’ve spent all this time with you and I don’t know your heart? I love you for who you are, cariño, for the you who can’t focus on people when you see an interesting leaf or flower, the you who has to sample honey from every hive in the apiary. I love the you I see with your kids, with your partners, the you I see when you look into my eyes before we kiss … I love you for your heart, a heart that does feel love, even if it’s not in the ways that the world expects you to.
(slight pause)
But I’m not the world, cinna-bun. I didn’t come into this with expectations. You’re a joy and a wonder and I love you as you are, without needing a mirror of that love to look back at me.
NESSA
How did you … I never even said it. Not the right way.
ELENA
All I had to do is pay attention.
NESSA
Wow. Elena … wow.
ELENA
You know how my heart works, pumpkin. I love so many people in so many ways, and I don’t need to put it into any sort of frame. I adore your family – but any time people ask when I’m going to settle down, I laugh and waltz to the other side of the room. That’s not who I am, it’s not what I need.
NESSA
You’re a … dandelion, that’s what you are. Your love floats on the breeze to every direction, and grows in every little nook and corner across the world.
ELENA
Soon on the Moon, as well. That’s my way. I love in my way, you love in yours. We’re going to be just fine.
NESSA
I don’t even know what to say after that.
(after a moment)
I love you, Elena. You’re amazing.
ELENA
Does that mean I don’t have to take care of your gardens? Kidding. You know I’ve got it all under control. Even those really tall trees back along the property line, you know the ones, what do you call them …?
NESSA
The Fraxinus mandschurica?
ELENA
That’s the stuff. Oh, my heart. Are you sure you have to leave?
(Nessa breathes in to reply but is cut off too quickly)
Don’t say it, it’s not a real question. You’ve crossed continents twelve times collecting greenery, you’ve cultivated gardens in the desert and on at least one mountaintop I know of. How could you resist the chance to grow new life on the Moon? They’re damn lucky to have you.
NESSA
I’m the damn lucky one.
ELENA
I’ll take care of Earth while you’re away. Now, dig down to the bottom of that basket. I brought you one of those green bean cakes you like. These ones were made with a grapefruit blossom essence that – oh, you should be finding out just now what that does to the fragrance.
(We hear Nessa breathing in the fragrance and reacting to it, and the episode ends.)
D.J. SYLVIS
Today’s episode featured Leslie Gideon as Elena, and Elissa Park as Nessa. It was written, edited, and produced by D.J. Sylvis.
Theme music is “Star” by the band Ramp. You can find more information and a transcript of the episode on our website – monkeymanproductions dot com.
Thank you so much for supporting us, for making our stories possible. We’re always happy to see you there. In a brief fortnight we bring you our Ashwini episode “Hearing Voices” with Tau Zaman and Jen Ponton, but.. as who? Tumnus wasn’t born yet. You’ll have to tune in to find out! Until then, true believers.
ANNOUNCER
Consortium Channel 5 ends our broadcast day with a final message: honour all curfews, listen to Security, and KEEP WATCHING THE MOON.
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