"That's not likely to happen Dave," Betty said, "but the extra s.p.a.ce will certainly come in handy."

"How long have you lived here?"

"Don't rightly know, Zeek, but quite some time."

Mary said, "We've had two winters here if that helps."

This was the first time that Mary Thomas had spoken. Her voice was soft and cultured, more so than Dave's. Somehow they didn't seem to fit together as man and wife, but they'd obviously been through a lot, so maybe that wasn't so surprising.

"We haven't been introduced," Mary said, "I'm Mary, Dave's wife, and this is Danny our eldest, and Sarah, and this little guy is Paul."

"I'm eight," Paul said, proudly.

"And I'm Jake, and this is Betty, Martha and Zeek. You'll have to watch out for Zeek's sense of humour I'm afraid, there's usually one in every bunch, and in ours, it's Zeek!"

They all laughed, and for the first time the Thomases looked like a family.

Jake took Dave to one side and asked, "Do you know of any other survivors who may need our help?"

Dave hesitated a little before replying. "There were some folks in the ruins, but the radiation was bad there, so I don't know if they are still alive. To be honest, we kept away from them as much as we could after the war ended. We had nothing to give them, so we headed out into the country and kept away from what was left of the built up areas. We travelled, looking for somewhere safe to live. It seems like years now since everything was blown apart, and we've lost track of time."

He chuckled a little, "Time has very little meaning any more. Some months ago we found this place. It's not much, but we have water and firewood, and there doesn't seem to be any radiation here. There are fish in the lake, and a few small animals in the forest, so we survive." He paused. "Well, thanks to you that is, we'd be dead by now if you hadn't come along. By the way, how did you cure us so quickly?"

"It's a long story Dave, let's just say we found some good medicine and were glad to share it with you."

Jake was loath to tell Dave about Lark and Eden, having seen something of the harsh life they were living here. Perhaps later, but now didn't feel like the right time.

"Do you have any plans?" Dave asked.

"No, not yet, but we may travel and see if there are any more like you that we can help. Come on, let's get back to the others, they'll be wondering where we are."

When they got back to the cabin they found Sarah seated firmly on Zeek's lap. "I seem to have made a friend," he said, smiling. All the others were back working on the new cabin.

"Say, is anybody hungry?" Jake called out, "We brought some food with us..."

Tristran turned up for work as usual, even though his project was now completed. "Hi Tris," John said, on seeing him, "don't want to go back to school eh?"

"I'd rather stay and help out here if that's ok with you John."

"Good, I'm glad you said that Tris, cos I've got something I want you to work on. It's top secret though so don't tell anyone."

John was obviously teasing, but it was true that he had something for Tris to do. They went into John's office and John produced some rough plans from his desk drawer.

"See what you can do with this," he said, handing them over. "Find a quiet corner somewhere and see what you come up with."

Tris looked at the plans and smiled, "Sure, John, I'll see you later."

Tris left the office in search of that elusive 'quiet corner' and John didn't see him for the rest of the day.

Sam and Kay had been up all night talking. "I never knew that chemistry could be so fascinating," he said, "you make it come alive Kay, I'm hooked!"

Kay giggled like a little girl, she was not used to such devotion from the opposite s.e.x, and she rather liked it.

"You're a good listener," she told him, "you make it easy to teach."

They breakfasted and went their separate ways for work.

The following day, John b.u.mped into Tris as he entered the department.

"Had any luck?" he asked.

"Some," Tris answered, "but the power to weight ratio is proving troublesome."

"Yes, I know," John said, "that's why I gave it to you! Keep at it, I think it would be good if we could get it to work."

"Okay," Tris answered, "see you later."

Again he vanished for the rest of the day, but John was confident he would come up with a workable design.

"Hey Jims," Sh.e.l.ley said as she entered the house, "I just saw Phil, and he was singing the praises of your new fuel, he said it was dynamite."

"Actually, Sh.e.l.ls, it's an awful lot more powerful than dynamite, but I accept the encouragement gracefully."

Sh.e.l.ley took no notice of his little bow. "Did he tell you about the return trip?" She asked.

"No, I haven't b.u.mped into him yet, what do you know about it?"

"Well, for one thing, the rockets are extremely efficient with the new fuel, which means a little goes a long way, and the other thing was the Trion drive, the new shielding makes it much faster than it was before. He said something about perpetual acceleration, whatever that means!"

"Ah," Jimmy responded, to that last comment, "now that is interesting. Any way, I'm starved let's eat."

The next time John saw Tris he was grinning from ear to ear.

"You've solved it?" he asked, excitedly.

"Yes I have, you're going to love this."

Tris handed John the modified plans. John took a quick look, and almost jumped for joy.

"You have solved it haven't you. Doh! It was right under my nose all the time and I couldn't see it. Right young man, this is your project now, I want you to build it. The department is yours."

Tris' face lit up, but all he could say was, "Wow."

Chapter Seventeen.

Chapter 8.

The Keracraft Tris was more than excited, he was now in charge of the whole department, with a new and very exciting project to build. John's plans were very comprehensive, and only lacked the last part of the equation to be complete, but John had been unable to see the answer.

Tris set about the organisation of the staff, and gave each member specific functions and goals; he wanted this venture to run smoothly and efficiently. Above all, he wanted to impress John who had shown such faith in him.

That day, John arrived home early, shortly before Lisa. For some reason that he didn't understand, he spent time looking around the house. It was a nice house, if somewhat basic. Other members of the community had taken time to improve and extend their homes, but John had always been far too busy to even contemplate such a thing.

Lisa had never complained, but John knew that deep down, she was not totally happy with things as they were. Even now, as he looked around he could see many things that needed doing: little jobs that would take no time at all, yet they remained undone. A certain amount of guilt over took him as he realised that he had neglected his family in favour of his work.

At that moment he changed, and became the family man he should have been all along. He took his toolbox out of the cupboard and began to fix its' door: the hinge had been loose forever. A couple of turns on the screwdriver and it was done. He felt an out of proportion sense of satisfaction. "Yes!" he said, "it feels good to be free of work."

Lisa came home at the usual time and was surprised to find John already there. She was even more surprised to find him on his back, under the kitchen sink, fixing a leaky pipe.

"What in the Moon are you doing John Hammond?" she asked him, half laughing.

"Turning over a new leaf," came the reply. This was not the answer she had expected, and it threw her for a few seconds, just long enough for John to crawl back out from under the sink and stand up. He looked her in the eye and said, "Lees, I'm so sorry, I've neglected you and our life together. I've always put work before you and Katy, please forgive me."

Now she was really thrown, and absolutely speechless. John took hold of her in his arms and kissed her like it was their first date. They just held on to one another for the longest time, hugging, caressing, and kissing. When he eventually let her go he had tears in his eyes.

"Well," she said, after a short silence, "now that's the way to come home from work every day. What has happened to you John?"

"I've had an event," John answered, "I came home early today and saw the house for the first time in, well, years. How little attention I had paid to it, how little I had cared for it, and then I thought of you, and had to own up to the same crimes against you too. I've been changed Lees, I seem to have a whole new set of values and priorities, I can't explain it. Maybe G.o.d has given me a second chance. I've quit work..."

"What!" she exclaimed.

"It's true, I haven't told them yet, but I just quit, I've had enough."

"Boy, this really is an event, what are we going to do from now on?"

"Be a family, Lees, like we should have been all along."

Lisa sat down not knowing how to respond. "This is quite a shock John," she said, softly, "but a most welcome one. Can I give up work too?"

"Yes, of course you can precious, I want to spend as much time with you as I can." Now it was Lisa's turn for a tear.

That evening, in the Hammond house, there was a mixture of revelation and exhilaration. John became more excited about his new self, and Lisa became more joyful as she heard it. They talked into the small hours and went to bed tired but excited.

The alarm went off much too early for Lisa. How unfair that piece of hardware could be. She staggered out of bed, stood up, and remembered it was her last day at work. She suddenly brightened and even began to sing. John was still lying in bed, but got up as soon as he heard his wife singing.

"I haven't heard you do that since we left Lark," he said, entering the kitchen.

"Well, you'd better get used to it Mr. Hammond, If you insist on making me this happy you'll have to pay the price for it."

"Gladly Mrs. H, but be warned, I may join in with you!" They ate breakfast and she left for school.

On arriving, Lisa had more than a spring in her step.

"What's gotten into you this morning?" Katy asked. Katy had been helping her mom at school for several years, and had become a fine teacher in her own right.

"Daughter, today is the first day of the rest of my life, and my last day here as a teacher."

"What do you mean mom, last day?"

"I'm quitting Kats, Something wonderful has happened to your father, and we've fallen in love all over again. He's quit work too."

"What!" Katy exclaimed, knowing her father's love for his work. "Dad has quit work, is he sick?"

"Ha, not on your life, on the contrary, he's better now than he's ever been. We're going to have the rest of our lives together, we've both worked long enough."

Katy had to sit down at this point, she could see from her mom's face that it wasn't a wind up.

"That means I'll be here on my own from now on."

"Yes, Kats, but you're more than up to the job, and you can train up someone else like I trained you."

"I suppose so," Katy replied, thoughtfully, "but it won't be the same without you around mom."

"I know Sweetheart, but you'll manage."

At that moment, the pupils arrived for cla.s.s and Lisa began to prepare them for her speech.

John had called the department to inform them of his decision. They were shocked, to say the least, but wished him well. John asked to be kept informed as to the progress on the new project that Tris was in charge of. "I want the first one off the line," he joked, but really, he meant it.

Lisa arrived home with a red face, she had obviously been crying buckets. "Tough telling them Lees?" John asked gently.

"Sure was," she sobbed, "you should have seen their faces when I told them, it was heartbreaking."

"I'm very proud of you," John told her, "you're a brave woman. I called the department and told them what I was doing, I think they were as confounded as you were, but they wished me well. I asked them for the first model of the new project off the line."

"Oh, and what's that John?" she asked.

"You'll see," he said, "it's a surprise."

The news filtered up to Tris on the shop floor. "We're going to get the first one built as fast as we can Tris," the shop foreman said. "John has asked for it and we all think it would be a great way to say thanks to him for all he's done for us, and everyone else in Eden, but don't let on."

Tris was all in favour of the scheme and set about playing his part in it. Plans were already drawn up and computerised, so it was just a matter of pushing the start b.u.t.ton, which Tris did.