The Earthrise Trilogy Part 20

"LET'S DO IT EVERYONE," he shouted, at the top of his voice. A great cheer went up, and Tris was hoisted up on their shoulders and paraded around the shop floor. Work did eventually begin, but it took a while.

The breakthrough had come when John discovered that Kerasite was a super conductor. Normally, they require extremely cold temperatures to work, but Kerasite worked at normal temperature. This is what had made the whole thing possible, that and the bycrilic photoelectric cells as a power source. And, being made out of Kerasite, the whole thing could be carried quite easily by two people. A bycrilic hood was devised to provide shade and electrical power, and high backed seats were used to hide the rear coils. The front coils were housed under the hood where the engine would normally be. The overall effect was that of a small four-by-four. Control came in the form of a joystick for left, right, forward and reverse, whilst a lever with a ratchet controlled height, somewhat like a hand brake. Lastly, there were two small rocket motors fitted, one facing backwards for turbo boost, and the other forwards to be used as a retro rocket for more powerful braking.

The work went very well, aided by the simplicity of the design. The first completed vehicle was ready in just over a day. Tris was given the honour of trying it out, and apart from nearly hitting the ceiling, all went well. They spent the rest of the day calibrating the controls, and it was decided that they needed to fit an altimeter. Once done, they left work ready for the big presentation the following day.

It was the first day of the rest of their lives, and John and Lisa slept in. They were awakened by a commotion outside, and John got out of bed to see what was going on. "Ah," he said, as he peeked out. "Better get up Lees, we have a busy day in front of us."

"What?" she said, still sleepy, "I thought we'd given all that up."

"We have," John rea.s.sured her, "but that doesn't mean we just sit here and vegetate."

There was a knock at the door so Lisa got up and put on her dressing gown. John opened the door to a hearty cheer.

"What's all this then?" Lisa asked, as she stepped outside.

"Happy retirement Sweetheart," John said, kissing her cheek.

"You asked for the first one off the line and here it is."

Tris blushed a little as he said this, but the occasion was very inspiring for him.

"Here's what?" Lisa asked. The row of bystanders parted to reveal the very first Keracraft. Lisa had to do a double take. There it was, shining like gla.s.s and hovering two feet off the ground.

"But there are no wheels!" she exclaimed, "How does it stay up?"

"Magnetism," John answered, "but do you want a lecture, or a lake side drive?"

He didn't wait for the answer, he just grabbed her hand and pushed her into one of the seats. The craft sank a few inches.

"We'll have to make it self-compensating," Tris whispered, to the shop foreman.

John jumped in the other side and it sank a little further. A single notch on the height lever restored the height.

"Right," John called out, "see you later."

He pushed the joystick forward and the craft moved off silently. Lisa looked back and waved as they left.

They left the settlement and headed out for the lake. The craft glided along smoothly and silently. John pulled on the height lever and the craft rose up.

"Steady on Mr. Hammond." Lisa said, looking down. "You don't have your license yet." He let the lever back down and the craft sank to its original height.

"Isn't this fun, we're the first folk on the Moon to own a car, and it's pollution free. No noise, no smell, no waste."

"And no brakes," she interrupted, noticing the lack of pedals.

"True, but there's not much to hit out here, and besides, we can go over anything that gets in our way."

They reached the lake but John didn't stop. The craft flew straight out over the water.

"Now this really is wonderful," she said, with glee. "Thank you dear, I'm very happy with our new car."

She leaned over and kissed him with more than a little pa.s.sion. He responded, and it was some time later when they let go of each other, and realised that they had drifted half way out to the middle of the lake, still hovering above the water.

It was peaceful out there with only the distant sounds of birds singing, and water lapping in the breeze. The sky was a brilliant blue with just a few wispy white clouds here and there.

"A perfect day," she said, "what a wonderful life we are having John, and its all thanks to dad."

They hadn't thought of General Hammond in a long time.

"He'd have loved this place," John said, his eyes moistening, "what a shame he didn't see it."

"But, he did see it John, he saw it long before we did."

John took her hand in his and they set off back to the settlement, the Keracraft slipping effortlessly and silently through the air.

"Keracraft is a bit of a mouthful," Lisa remarked, "we need a better name than that."

"How about 'KC'?" John suggested.

"KC it is then," she agreed, and they headed for home and breakfast.

Chapter Eighteen.

Chapter 9.

Second Thoughts Days had pa.s.sed for the Southgate community and the second cabin was built. It was basic, but good shelter from the cold nights. The four newcomers had noticed the very marked difference in temperature between Earth and Eden. This Earth was certainly not the one they remembered from so long ago.

"You having second thoughts Martha?" Betty asked.

"About what Betts?"

"Earth...About being back on Earth."

"You too eh," came the reply, "I don't know what we were thinking, did we really expect it to be like it was?"

"Well, not exactly like it was," Betty replied, "but I didn't expect this. Maybe we should talk to the guys about it when they wake up, see what they think."

"Yeah, OK, but the way they're snoring, that could be some time."

The girls chuckled quietly and then tried to get some more sleep.

"I found it back in the trees behind the cabin Dave, a small plane of some kind, and made out of some very shiny metal. It had obviously crash-landed, but there isn't a scratch on it. They must have come in it, how else could they have found us all the way out here?"

"I don't know Mary, but I'm sure glad they did. We can ask them in the morning over breakfast."

The Thomas family were glad to have their cabin to themselves again. Sharing with strangers had been fine for a short time, but their cabin was small even for five, nine had been no joke.

Breakfast time did eventually arrive, and Betty and Martha were up first and had a dip in the lake.

"Sure wakes you up," Martha said, shivering.

The lake water was very cold, though clear. When they got back to the cabins, the boys were up and making coffee.

"That smells good," Betty said, sitting down by the fire.

"You look a little blue," Jake remarked.

"So would you if you'd been in the water, it's freezing."

Betty shivered as she said it, and Martha was just too cold to comment.

"Listen guys," Betty began, "before the others wake up, we need to talk."

Her body language said volumes.

"Did we make a big mistake coming back to Earth?"

She stopped and looked at both of them. They didn't speak straight away which spurred her on.

"Me and Martha want to go back."

Jake smiled, "See I told you it wasn't just us." Zeek couldn't contain himself at this and burst out laughing.

"Shush," Betty gestured, "you'll wake the family."

"Too late," Martha said, as Sarah came out of the cabin and planted herself on Zeek's lap.

"Me and my shadow," Zeek said, softly giving her a hug. "What do we do about this?" He asked, nodding towards Sarah. The group went silent knowing exactly what he meant.

Just then the remaining Thomases came out of the cabin and sat down by the fire.

"Morning folks," Jake said, "want some coffee?"

Coffee was handed round but there was an uneasy silence. Everyone felt it, but no one seemed to know how to break it.

"Can I go see the plane now dad?" little Paul asked, in a voice loud enough to wake the dead.

"Out of the mouth of babes," Dave said, with an embarra.s.sed smile. "We found your plane in the trees."

"Yes, it's a beaut' isn't it," Zeek replied.

"Where are you from?" Mary asked soberly.

Jake looked at the other three and said, "We're from a long way from here, much further than you think."

Mary was bright and knew that the glider was not made from anything she'd ever seen before. "Just how far?" she asked.

Jake turned and looked into the early morning sky, he pointed to the moon, just setting on the horizon. There was a stunned silence as Jake turned back to face the group.

"That's right," Zeek said, "we're the men in the moon."

The children laughed. Zeek was known as the joker, but David and Mary just looked at him open mouthed.

"It's really true then?" Dave asked.

"Yes, it is," Jake replied, "we really did come from the Moon."

"Then there are people living up there, away from the radiation and sickness," Mary said, turning to Dave and grabbing his arm.

"Yes, it's all true," Betty said, smiling, "it's wonderful up there."

"Then why did you leave?" Danny asked in typical teenage fashion.

"We volunteered to come when we heard your radio message, you needed help, and we wanted to see Earth again."

Danny was satisfied with this answer, but not so Mary.

"How did you get there in the first place, and how did you survive up there?"

"Look," said Jake, "let's have some breakfast and we'll tell you the whole story."

They did just that, and breakfast lasted way into the afternoon that day.

When the story was over, Mary looked up into the sky and said, "So that's why it turned green. We always thought it was due to a change in the atmosphere."

She laughed along with everyone else. It was the first time she had really let go and laughed, but when it was over she asked, "Is there any way to get back there?"

There was a long pause before Jake spoke, "We don't know, this was planned as a one-way trip. Our plane is a glider, it can't take off, it has no engines."

There was another pause, and then Sarah spoke up. "You know a way, don't you Zeek!"