The Wrong Star at the Shallow End

The poster in the lobby of the Eastfield Community Pool had been hanging for three weeks. It promised something that Vik was no longer sure he could deliver. STAR VOYAGE, it said in curly letters across a painted ship. FLOAT ON YOUR BACK AND MEET VEGA. SEE A REAL STAR THROUGH A REAL TELESCOPE.

Poster di lobi Kolam Renang Komunitas Eastfield sudah tergantung selama tiga minggu. Poster itu menjanjikan sesuatu yang kini tidak lagi diyakini Vik bisa ia penuhi. PELAYARAN BINTANG, tulisnya dengan huruf melengkung di atas gambar sebuah kapal. TERAPUNG TELENTANG DAN BERTEMULAH DENGAN VEGA. LIHAT BINTANG ASLI LEWAT TELESKOP ASLI.

Children from the whole district came to the pool for lessons. On the first night of the month it was supposed to turn into a ship. The lights would go out. The roof panels would slide back. Twenty children in life jackets would lie on foam mats in the shallow end. Each would take a turn at the eyepiece on the deck. A neighbour had lent them the telescope. Vik had spent two evenings learning how it worked.

Anak-anak dari seluruh distrik datang ke kolam itu untuk belajar berenang. Pada malam pertama bulan itu, kolam seharusnya berubah menjadi kapal. Lampu akan padam. Panel atap akan bergeser terbuka. Dua puluh anak berjaket pelampung akan berbaring di atas matras busa di sisi dangkal. Masing-masing akan mendapat giliran di lensa okuler di tepi kolam. Seorang tetangga meminjamkan teleskopnya. Vik menghabiskan dua malam untuk mempelajari cara kerjanya.

At seven o'clock, with the first children already shivering happily on the tiles, he bent to the eyepiece to check the aim one last time. Then he straightened, and bent again.

Pukul tujuh, ketika anak-anak pertama sudah menggigil gembira di atas ubin, ia membungkuk ke lensa okuler untuk memeriksa arahnya sekali lagi. Lalu ia menegakkan badan, dan membungkuk lagi.

"Wyn," he said quietly.

"Wyn," katanya pelan.

Wyn was untangling a bundle of glowing wristbands on the other side of the deck. "Mm?"

Wyn sedang mengurai seikat gelang bercahaya di seberang tepi kolam. "Hm?"

"That is not Vega."

"Itu bukan Vega."

"It must be. We set it up this afternoon."

"Pasti itu Vega. Kita memasangnya tadi sore."

"We set up the wrong knob." Vik stepped aside. "Look."

"Kita memutar kenop yang salah." Vik bergeser ke samping. "Lihat."

Wyn looked for a long time. When he lifted his head, he was frowning, but not in the way Vik had expected. "It is a double star," he said. "Two of them, very close together. One is gold, and the other is blue."

Wyn melihat lama sekali. Ketika mengangkat kepala, ia mengerutkan dahi, tetapi tidak dengan cara yang Vik duga. "Itu bintang ganda," katanya. "Ada dua, sangat berdekatan. Satu keemasan, satu lagi biru."

"They are lovely."

"Keduanya cantik."

"They are lovely and they are not Vega." Wyn wiped his hands on his shirt. "The base must have shifted when we carried it through the doorway. We are about forty degrees off."

"Keduanya cantik dan keduanya bukan Vega." Wyn mengelap tangannya di bajunya. "Pasti dudukannya bergeser waktu kita membawanya lewat pintu. Kita melenceng sekitar empat puluh derajat."

For a minute neither of them said anything. Behind them, the children were giggling, and the water slapped softly against the gutters. Someone was singing a song about a whale.

Semenit lamanya tak seorang pun bicara. Di belakang mereka, anak-anak terkikik, dan air berkecipak pelan di selokan tepi kolam. Seseorang menyanyikan lagu tentang paus.

"We can re-aim it," Vik said at last. "There is a finder scope. I could use the bright stars as markers and walk it back. It might take twenty minutes."

"Kita bisa mengarahkannya ulang," kata Vik akhirnya. "Ada teleskop pencari. Aku bisa memakai bintang-bintang terang sebagai penanda dan menggeser arahnya kembali. Mungkin butuh dua puluh menit."

"With twenty children getting cold."

"Dengan dua puluh anak yang kedinginan."

"They are in their life jackets. We could give them extra towels and a game while we work."

"Mereka memakai jaket pelampung. Kita bisa memberi mereka handuk tambahan dan sebuah permainan selagi kita bekerja."

"A game." Wyn considered it. "The promise on the poster is Vega, though. People brought them here for Vega. Some of the parents stayed to watch."

"Sebuah permainan." Wyn mempertimbangkannya. "Tapi janji di poster itu Vega. Orang-orang membawa mereka ke sini demi Vega. Beberapa orangtua tinggal untuk menonton."

"I know," said Vik. "That is why I would fix it."

"Aku tahu," kata Vik. "Itu sebabnya aku mau memperbaikinya."

He knew he was right, in a way. A promise was a promise. A child who had been told about a famous blue-white star would feel cheated if she were shown something else, however pretty. But he also knew that twenty minutes of towels and games would feel very long to a child in wet clothes. The finder scope was stiff. He had never before walked a telescope across forty degrees of sky in the dark.

Ia tahu ia benar, dalam satu hal. Janji adalah janji. Seorang anak yang sudah diceritakan tentang bintang putih kebiruan yang terkenal akan merasa tertipu jika diperlihatkan bintang lain, secantik apa pun. Tetapi ia juga tahu bahwa dua puluh menit handuk dan permainan akan terasa sangat lama bagi anak dengan pakaian basah. Teleskop pencarinya kaku. Ia belum pernah menggeser teleskop melintasi empat puluh derajat langit dalam gelap.

"Or," Wyn said, and then stopped.

"Atau," kata Wyn, lalu berhenti.

"Or what?"

"Atau apa?"

"Or we show them what is actually there." Wyn glanced again at the eyepiece. "A double star is better than a single one, Vik. Anybody can see one point of light. Hardly anyone ever sees two colours in the same place."

"Atau kita tunjukkan kepada mereka apa yang sebenarnya ada di sana." Wyn melirik lagi lensa okuler itu. "Bintang ganda lebih bagus daripada bintang tunggal, Vik. Siapa pun bisa melihat satu titik cahaya. Hampir tak ada yang pernah melihat dua warna di tempat yang sama."

"We would have to tell them we made a mistake."

"Kita harus bilang kepada mereka bahwa kita membuat kesalahan."

"We would. I think that is the interesting part."

"Memang. Kurasa itulah bagian yang menarik."

Vik looked at the poster, then at the children. He pictured himself explaining the delay, the towels, the game, and the shaking hands on the dial. Then he pictured the opposite: twenty small faces turned toward the eyepiece, one after another, each finding the gold and the blue. He realised that he already knew which one he wanted to see.

Vik menatap poster, lalu anak-anak. Ia membayangkan dirinya menjelaskan keterlambatan, handuk, permainan, dan tangan yang gemetar di kenop. Lalu ia membayangkan kebalikannya: dua puluh wajah kecil menghadap lensa okuler, satu demi satu, masing-masing menemukan yang keemasan dan yang biru. Ia sadar bahwa ia sudah tahu mana yang ingin ia lihat.

But he was not the kind of person who made a choice only because it was easy. He weighed it once more, and found the answer unchanged. A good ship's captain, he thought, did not pretend that the current had carried them to the planned harbour. A good captain said, we are here, and here is what we can see.

Tetapi ia bukan orang yang memilih hanya karena mudah. Ia menimbangnya sekali lagi, dan jawabannya tak berubah. Kapten kapal yang baik, pikirnya, tidak berpura-pura bahwa arus membawa mereka ke pelabuhan yang direncanakan. Kapten yang baik berkata, kita ada di sini, dan inilah yang bisa kita lihat.

"We keep it," he said. "We keep the wrong star."

"Kita biarkan saja," katanya. "Kita pertahankan bintang yang salah ini."

Wyn let out a long breath. "Good. I did not want to spend my evening turning a knob."

Wyn menghela napas panjang. "Bagus. Aku tidak mau menghabiskan malamku memutar kenop."

"You are a lazy man."

"Kamu orang yang malas."

"I am a practical man. It is a different thing."

"Aku orang yang praktis. Itu hal yang berbeda."

Vik stood up, cleared his throat, and called for attention. The splashing stopped. Twenty round faces turned toward him in the dim light, and he felt his stomach tighten.

Vik berdiri, berdeham, dan meminta perhatian. Kecipak air berhenti. Dua puluh wajah bundar menoleh kepadanya dalam cahaya remang, dan perutnya terasa menegang.

"Crew," he said. "I have to confess something. The poster says Vega, and we aimed the telescope at the wrong star."

"Para awak," katanya. "Aku harus mengaku sesuatu. Di poster tertulis Vega, dan kami mengarahkan teleskop ke bintang yang salah."

A small boy in the front sat up. "Is it broken?"

Seorang anak laki-laki kecil di depan duduk tegak. "Apa teleskopnya rusak?"

"No. It is working perfectly. We were the ones who made the mistake." Vik pointed at the eyepiece. "But look what it found. Whoever goes first gets to tell everyone else what they see."

"Tidak. Teleskopnya bekerja dengan sempurna. Kamilah yang membuat kesalahan." Vik menunjuk lensa okuler. "Tapi lihat apa yang ditemukannya. Siapa yang pertama melihat boleh memberi tahu semua orang apa yang ia lihat."

The boy rushed forward. He climbed onto the step stool, pressed his eye to the eyepiece, and went completely still.

Anak laki-laki itu bergegas maju. Ia naik ke bangku pijakan, menempelkan matanya ke lensa okuler, dan diam sama sekali.

"There are two," he said. "One is yellow like a lemon. The other is blue like the water."

"Ada dua," katanya. "Satu kuning seperti lemon. Satu lagi biru seperti air."

"Two?" A girl splashed over to the side of the pool. "That is not allowed. A star is supposed to be one."

"Dua?" Seorang anak perempuan berkecipak ke tepi kolam. "Itu tidak boleh. Bintang itu seharusnya satu."

"Come and see," said the boy.

"Ayo lihat sendiri," kata anak laki-laki itu.

They lined up in the dark, quiet now, passing the stool along. Each of them made a small sound of surprise when it was their turn. Wyn stood beside the telescope and answered questions in a low voice. Why were the stars different colours? Because they were different temperatures. Were they friends? Probably they were neighbours. Could you swim there? Not even in the deep end.

Mereka mengantre dalam gelap, kini diam, mengoper bangku itu dari satu ke yang lain. Masing-masing mengeluarkan suara kecil takjub ketika tiba gilirannya. Wyn berdiri di samping teleskop dan menjawab pertanyaan dengan suara rendah. Kenapa bintang-bintangnya berbeda warna? Karena suhunya berbeda. Apakah mereka berteman? Mungkin mereka bertetangga. Bisakah kita berenang ke sana? Bahkan di sisi yang dalam pun tidak.

When everyone had looked, Vik turned off the deck light, and the children lay back on their mats. The pool was dark except for the glow of the wristbands. High above, through the open roof, the two stars hung close together, a tiny gold spark and a tiny blue one. The whole ship seemed to rock very gently.

Setelah semua orang melihat, Vik mematikan lampu tepi kolam, dan anak-anak berbaring di matras mereka. Kolam itu gelap kecuali cahaya gelang-gelang itu. Jauh di atas, lewat atap yang terbuka, kedua bintang itu menggantung berdekatan, percikan emas kecil dan percikan biru kecil. Seluruh kapal itu seakan bergoyang sangat pelan.

"Which star is it, anyway?" a voice asked from the water. "What is its name?"

"Sebenarnya itu bintang apa?" tanya sebuah suara dari dalam air. "Siapa namanya?"

Wyn opened the chart on his tablet and ran a finger across the page. Then he ran it back. He tried another chart, enlarged the map, and checked the compass. Vik watched him pause over a patch of sky with nothing written on it.

Wyn membuka peta bintang di tabletnya dan menggerakkan jarinya melintasi halaman. Lalu menggerakkannya kembali. Ia mencoba peta lain, memperbesar petanya, dan memeriksa kompas. Vik melihatnya berhenti di sepetak langit yang tak ada tulisan apa pun.

"I do not know," Wyn admitted. He tilted the tablet so that Vik could see. "Do you?"

"Aku tidak tahu," Wyn mengaku. Ia memiringkan tablet supaya Vik bisa melihat. "Kamu tahu?"

Vik looked up. Just beside the pair, a third light was moving slowly, steadily, in a straight line across the dark. It was too faint to be a plane and too slow to be a falling star, and neither of them had a name for it.

Vik mendongak. Tepat di samping pasangan itu, sebuah cahaya ketiga bergerak perlahan, mantap, dalam garis lurus melintasi kegelapan. Cahayanya terlalu redup untuk pesawat dan terlalu lambat untuk bintang jatuh, dan tak seorang pun dari mereka punya nama untuknya.

"Not yet," Vik said, and he picked up a pen to write it in the logbook.

"Belum," kata Vik, dan ia mengambil pena untuk menuliskannya di buku catatan.