"Great idea," Steve said, "let's get to it."

Clare's section had long since overflowed. The growth of the hybrid plants had exceeded everyone's expectations. Several caverns were completely full, and even some of the farming section had been given over to Clare's work.

The vent system was activated, and a steady stream of air and seeds was released out into the moon's new atmosphere.

"You know," Clare said to Steve, "I'm really excited about all this...I think it's going to work, I really think it's going to work."

Chapter Nine.

Chapter 9.

Earth Rise Contentment has a way of making time pa.s.s, and in Lark, this was certainly true. Much work was being done scientifically, in particular, advances were made in Trion technology. A theory was developed that would eliminate the need for the nuclear explosion. It would have to remain untested, of course, until the ship could be accessed, and that depended on the decay of the solar flare's radiation.

Clare had also made headway with her hybrids. She had found a way to incorporate the growth factor into the farm crops, which had seen a yield increase of several hundred percent. Animal stocks had increased too. With such a small community, and so much food in stock, the livestock had been allowed to multiply without restriction. Lark was now supporting considerable herds of cattle and sheep. Humans were also on the increase. There were now seventy-five souls in Lark, as opposed to the original sixty, and Rufus...Don't ask, he was the greatest great granddad ever.

Now there comes that day that every parent dreads. Chris found his mom and said, "Mom, I want to get married."

"What!" Clare exclaimed, "But you're too er, too y...You're twenty-two aren't you!"

"Yes, mum I am. Katy and I are in love."

Clare hugged Chris tightly. "O my boy, when did you become a man, and why have I not seen it? Does your father know?" She asked gently.

"If you didn't mom..."

"Point taken," Clare said, "we must tell him. Do John and Lisa know?"

"Katy's telling them as we speak," Chris grinned.

Just then, Steve came through the door. "What's all the commotion next door? Sounds like they're having a party!"

"They're not yet, but they will be soon," Clare told him. "Your son has something to tell you."

"Wow, what is it my son?"

"Dad, I want to get married, Katy and I are in love." Chris stopped when he saw the look on his dad's face. Steve looked at Clare, who knew exactly what he was thinking.

"He grew up," she said.

"Son...I'm the happiest man in the Moon." Steve said, holding his hand out to Chris, who took it and pulled his dad towards him. They hugged and wept together. Clare wept too. There was a knock at the door. "Come in John and Lisa it's open." Katy came in first, and Steve and Clare both grabbed and hugged her. "Welcome to the Forester family daughter," Steve said, "Welcome."

"However did we miss their growing up?" Clare asked Lisa.

"Beats me Clare, but they make a wonderful couple don't they."

"Aint that the truth," John added with tears rolling down his face.

"Let's break out a bottle," Steve shouted whilst spinning Lisa round. Clare went to the cabinet and took out a bottle of home-made wine. "Been keeping this fellah for something special," she said, opening it, "and it doesn't get any more special than this!"

"Since when have you been into making wine Clare?" John asked.

"Oh a few years back I discovered a rather pleasing side-effect of mixing two different plant species," she answered, "be careful though, this stuff will knock you over if you have too much."

"Now she tells us," Steve said, having finished his first gla.s.s. "Any more Shweetie?" He joked.

The party went on for some time, and several bottles later, the Hammonds went home a little the worse for wear.

"I'm so happy Chris," Katy whispered into his ear.

"Me too Kats, I have a feeling that we are in for a wonderful life together." He kissed her before she left, and waved as she closed the door.

Some time later, Steve caught up with Bill. "Hey bill, I've been meaning to ask you. How's the radiation on the surface?"

"I haven't checked for a while Steve, I'll take a look and get back to you."

A short time later, Bill came running into Steve's Lab quite breathless. "It's amazing," he said, "the radiation's gone, and when I checked the monitors, it was daylight up there!"

"Daylight?" Steve said puzzled, "but that must mean that there's an atmosphere up there...Daylight you say? I must go and look. JIMMY," he screamed, "fetch me a suit."

Jimmy complied and to everyone's surprise Steve could still get in one. Steve left Lark for the surface.

On reaching it, he had to shield his eyes from the light. It was a beautiful day, the sun was shining in a blue sky, and there was green stuff everywhere. Through the sides of the dome Steve could see a carpet of green gra.s.s as far as the eye could see.

"Are you getting this?" He yelled into the coms. "This is just too fantastic, I'm going to take my helmet off."

"No!" Came Clare's voice.

"It's all right Sweetie," he said, "I can feel the breeze against the suit. The helmet came off and the air was sweet. It smelled of new gra.s.s on a summer's day.

"Clare, you have to come up and see this."

"I'm on my way," she said, "don't go anywhere."

By the time Clare was out of the lift, Steve had taken the suit off. "Come on," he said, holding out his hand, "let's go for a walk." He opened the air lock, and together they left the dome and stepped out onto the Moon's new gra.s.s, the first to do so.

There was a gentle breeze blowing, and some wisps of white cloud decorated the deep blue sky. "How long before we invent rain?" She joked.

"As long as it takes," he replied.

"You know," Clare said, "we haven't walked in the country side for Oh...twenty years, give or take a few."

"Has it really been that long?" Steve asked. "We must be getting on a bit, old girl," he joked.

"I'll give you old girl," she replied running off ahead of him. He gave chase, and they didn't get back to Lark for a good two hours.

The next day Steve took Chris and Katy aside and asked them, "Can the wedding wait a little while? I have an idea..." He whispered it to them and they readily agreed. "Great, thank you, that settles it." he said.

The news had spread through Lark like wild-fire, and a meeting had been called to discuss its implications. Steve stood up and declared. "Friends, the gravy machine has worked, the Moon has gravity, and an atmosphere. Vegetation is growing freely up there. I think it's time to leave Lark and return to the surface."

Whoops and cheers ensued. It was several minutes before Steve could speak again. "Bill and Eric have already begun preparations for the exodus, but I want everybody to stop what you're doing and concentrate on the move. Once we have established ourselves on the surface, we can resume our current projects. All in agreement say Aye."

"AYE!" came the unanimous response.

The next few days were very exciting, and hectic, to say the least. Almost everything had to be packed up before being transported back up to the surface. It had been decided to make the move in two stages. Phase one was to exit Lark for the surface base. Phase two was the establishment of a settlement on the surface away from the base. Steve and Jimmy had already been out scouting for a suitable location, and one had been found near some low cliffs that would accommodate the waterfall. Everyone had agreed, that when water was piped to the surface, they would create a waterfall.

Phase one took almost a week, but finally it was finished. The accommodation blocks in the dome were utilised again as a temporary measure. Steve had commented to Clare at just how many more apartments were needed now, all these years after their arrival.

"Has it really been ten years Hun?" She asked, sighing.

"Very nearly Sweetie," Steve replied, "but what an adventure we've had! No other humans have done what we've done."

"And hopefully, they'll never have to," she came back at him.

"We must take better care of this world than we did the last."

"Amen to that," Steve concluded.

A couple of days rest were allowed before Phase two began. Phase two would take somewhat longer, as it involved the erecting of dwellings. Some building materials had been stored, but not nearly enough, so it was decided to plunder the domes, starting with the bigger central one, which had been damaged anyway.

Bycrylic turned out to be rather useful for this purpose. It was very light, and easy to cut, yet surprisingly strong. Its one-way opacity was useful too, it meant that each dwelling was effectively made of gla.s.s when looking out from the inside, and yet solid when viewed from the outside.

Dwellings were quickly erected, and some of the designs were quite novel. When the settlement was finished, the animals were released to graze on the unlimited gra.s.s.

"We'll need some fences," Gareth told Steve, "or they'll wander for miles."

"Listen!" Hope suddenly cried out. Everyone went silent. "Birds," she said, "there are birds singing." And so there were.

"We'd better plant some trees," Clare said, to Gareth.

"What a brilliant idea," Gareth replied, "I'll go and see what we've got in the seed store." He wandered off whistling happily to himself.

Fences were laid, and crops planted. Water was piped up from below and the waterfall they created was magnificent. Gareth planted trees along the banks of the stream and at various other places around the settlement.

"Shame I won't be around to see them mature," he muttered to himself, "but someone will, and that's all that matters."

Clare heard it and gave him a hug.

"We'll name some of them after you," she said, rea.s.suringly. "I dare say, none of us will be forgotten by those who come after us. We are the founders, and founders are always remembered."

Whilst all this was going on, Eric had been busy routing power to the settlement. A small sub station was erected with trees planted around it. Steve then went with him to close down Lark. All the section heads had mothballed their individual areas of Lark, so it only remained to turn off the 'gravy' machine, and shut off the extra turbines. This done, Steve and Eric headed for the surface one last time.

"I'll miss this place," Steve said, as the huge lift doors closed behind them.

"Me too Steve, but Hammond's vision is complete, I wish he could see now just what he achieved."

"He was truly a great man," Steve said, patting Eric's shoulder, "we owe everything to him."

It was a short walk from the remains of Moon Base Alpha to the new settlement, and the two men covered the distance in silence. The rolling green hills and distant mountains were quite a spectacle compared to how the moon used to look.

"We'll need more water on the surface." Steve said to Clare on seeing her later.

"We should form a lake," she said, "there are lots of small craters close by that will be perfect for it."

"Perhaps we could use the waterfall to fill one up," Steve said, "it might take a while though."

"Well," Clare replied, squeezing his hand, "we've got all the time in the moon!"

The day of the wedding finally came. Chris and Katy had been very patient, they had agreed to wait until the settlement was established, and use the wedding as an excuse to bring it together as a community. It was, after all, the first wedding on the Moon.

Everyone was gathered in the centre, where a special place had been set aside as a focal point. As leader, Steve stood to perform the ceremony.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here...He stopped. "We need a name for this place, has any one got one." There was silence for a few moments, then Lisa said, "How about...Eden?"

"Sounds good to me," Steve said, "Are we all agreed?"

"Eden!" came the response with a loud cheer.

"Then let's get on. Dearly beloved, we are gathered here in Eden to wit..." He stopped again, because Hope had stood up pointing.

"What is it Sweetheart?" Steve asked turning to see what she was pointing at. The Earth was just coming up over the horizon.

"Look, it's Earth rise," she called out with tears coming down her cheeks. "I've never seen it before, it's so blue."

"It certainly is Sweetie, it certainly is...Now where were we? Ah, yes. We are gathered here together in the sight of G.o.d so that..."

"Yap," barked Rufus.

Chapter Ten.